Chapter 14
Along with the roar came an even larger Devouring Python.
Its scales were a darker shade, and its jade-green eyes were as huge as lanterns, glaring down at the two standing on the rock below.
The moment it saw the unconscious younger clansman on the ground, the Devouring Python flew into a rage. Its massive tail, heavy with terrifying force, slammed toward them.
Ling Cheng’en grabbed Wu Zhuo beside her and leapt lightly into the air, effortlessly avoiding the attack.
Landing atop the still-unconscious giant snake, she said coldly, “Attack again, and I’ll kill it right now.”
The furious serpent immediately halted, though its anger was obvious.
“Release him. Who exactly are you people?”
“I’m here to collect a debt. My father is Ling Xiao, chief of the Stone Forest Tribe.”
Ling Cheng’en knew her own name meant little here. She had never personally participated in the previous battles, and to these notoriously ill-tempered snake beastmen, she carried little intimidation on her own.
But the instant her words fell, the Devouring Python suddenly went silent.
Meanwhile, the snake beneath her feet gradually regained consciousness. Dizzy, it shook its head and turned to look at the two on its back, clearly intending to launch a sneak attack—
Only to be smacked on the head by the elder serpent’s tail before it could move.
“Have you lost your mind? She knocked you unconscious with one punch, and you still dare try to ambush her?”
The later-arriving giant snake transformed into a middle-aged beastman. Around his waist was an impressively crafted snakeskin skirt. He struck the younger snake again and barked coldly,
“Get back.”
Ling Cheng’en and Wu Zhuo jumped down from the serpent’s body, watching as the gray-green snake slithered away, quickly disappearing among the jagged rocks and towering hundred-meter trees.
Once the younger snake was gone, the middle-aged snake beastman finally dropped his stern expression and forced out an awkward smile.
“So it’s the young chief of the Stone Forest Tribe in person. That boy didn’t recognize you earlier. He was only following the tribe’s orders to stand guard here. Anyone crossing the boundary is attacked immediately—he meant no offense.”
Ling Cheng’en had no patience for meaningless pleasantries. Just getting here had already wasted an hour, and she still needed to visit the Blackwood Tribe afterward.
Too lazy to circle around the issue, she asked directly,
“I’m here to take someone back. Where’s your young chief?”
“Uh… well…”
Seeing his strange expression and hesitant tone, Ling Cheng’en immediately realized that retrieving the person would not go smoothly either.
“I’m already here,” she said flatly. “Whether he’s injured, crippled, or dead, I should at least see him for myself.”
At this point, Ling Cheng’en had completely given up pretending to be polite.
The snake beastman’s face twitched awkwardly.
“No, no… our young chief isn’t dead, injured, or crippled.”
“Then where is he?”
“He left.”
Once the words were out, the beastman seemed to relax considerably and spoke more steadily.
“Our Snake Mountain Tribe mainly consists of exiles banished from the southern Beast King City. The young chief was exiled here together with his mother. Two days ago, a team arrived from Beast King City, saying his family had been cleared of all charges. They took them away.”
“By now, they should already have reached the border of the Northern Beast Plains. If Young Chief Ling insists on chasing them, you could probably still catch up… though you would have to cross the border.”
Ling Cheng’en: “…”
Wu Zhuo immediately exploded in anger.
“Your Snake Mountain Tribe has no honor at all! You promised to hand over Chang Yinbo, yet you let people from Beast King City take him away!”
“If word spreads that you break agreements so easily, no one in the Northern Beast Plains will ever trade with Snake Mountain again! Let’s see how your tribe survives on the wasteland then!”
Ling Cheng’en, however, remained calm.
She casually sat down on a nearby rock, grabbed a little black snake winding around her ankle, and flung it far away.
“You expect me to believe that and race thousands of miles to chase after him?”
She lifted her mist-dark eyes and stared directly at the middle-aged beastman.
“Your Snake Mountain Tribe lost the war. At such a critical time, when tribute is due, your young chief simply left without concern?”
“Or did you think that once Chang Yinbo disappeared, the Stone Forest Tribe could do nothing to Snake Mountain? At worst we’d demand more prey, and in the end there would be no real consequences—so you decided to just smash the jar and give up?”
Ling Cheng’en was young, and her voice was not loud, yet every word drenched the opposite beastman in cold sweat.
“So what if he’s a noble exiled from Beast King City? Do you really think running away erases this debt?”
The snake beastman lowered his head.
“We can provide double the prey. We only ask that the Stone Forest Tribe let this matter rest.”
Ling Cheng’en shook her head.
“No need. The prey will remain according to the original agreement. One day, I’ll personally drag him back here myself. When that time comes, whether he lives or dies will be my decision.”
“Wu Zhuo, let’s go.”
She turned and headed down the mountain.
Wu Zhuo transformed into a giant eagle and swept past her. In the blink of an eye, the girl and eagle soared high into the sky, racing northward.
Only after they had completely left Snake Mountain territory did Wu Zhuo finally ask,
“En-jie, why didn’t you take the double payment? The man already ran away. Our tribe fought a whole war for this—we should at least gain something from it, right?”
Ling Cheng’en glanced down at Wu Zhuo beneath her and snorted softly.
“You think it’s that simple? If we accepted double the prey, it would mean we’d given up on their young chief.”
“They claim he was taken away by Beast King City’s people—but whether that’s true or whether he simply fled the marriage agreement is entirely their own story. I can’t exactly cross the border myself just to verify it.”
“Forget it. That brat had better truly have been taken away by Beast King City. Otherwise, if he ever dares return to Snake Mountain Tribe…” She sneered. “He’ll suffer for it.”
Wu Zhuo still sounded unwilling to let it go.
“So that’s it?”
Ling Cheng’en smacked him lightly on the head.
“What else? Slaughter every snake in Snake Mountain Tribe?”
“You might not mind the effort, but I do.”
If they truly enraged the Devouring Pythons, it might not end in mutual destruction, but the Stone Forest Tribe would absolutely suffer devastating losses.
It wasn’t worth it.
Sitting cross-legged on Wu Zhuo’s back, she looked down over the boundless Northern Wastelands and declared with overwhelming ambition,
“Wu Zhuo, don’t limit yourself to petty gains right in front of you. One day, I will lead our people across the wasteland border and become the sole ruler of this land.”
Wu Zhuo was so shocked by her words that even his wings stiffened.
“En-jie… having great ambitions is good, but the wasteland border truly cannot be crossed lightly.”
“The southern lands are filled with Beast Cities and powerful beastmen. Every time disasters strike and corpses cover the Northern Wastelands, people try to cross the border searching for new homes…”
“And every single time, they die without leaving even bones behind.”
“It’s enough for us to stay in the Northern Beast Plains. Becoming the ruler here alone would already be incredible!”
Ling Cheng’en looked at the timid golden-crowned giant eagle and did not argue.
But inside her, pride surged fiercely.
Why couldn’t they cross the border?
People should strive for a better life while they are alive.
Why were the beastmen of the north unworthy of living in the south?
Why should being born in the north brand them forever as criminals, refugees, and inferior beastfolk?
She refused to accept it.
“Let’s go. To the Blackwood Tribe.”
The seed growing in Ling Cheng’en’s heart became stronger and stronger, and a certain conviction within her intensified.
But at this moment, no one yet knew—
That within her burned the ambition to stand above all equals and the determination to tread across the eight directions of the world.
