392: Chapter 391 Zhao Lintai's Life Hangs by a Thread

"Pfft—" A mouthful of blood mixed with murky muddy water suddenly sprayed from the man's mouth, splashing onto the stalactite in front of him and leaving a striking red mark.

Following that, the man's body, like a puppet with cut strings, slid slowly down the slippery rock wall before finally collapsing limply.

The Giant Black Python paid it no mind at all. Its scarlet vertical pupils swept across the direction where Si Yao was hiding, seemingly confirming whether she posed a threat. Afterward, it twisted its massive body, its scales scraping against the cavern floor with a low 'hissing' sound, and submerged into the shallow pool, swimming rapidly toward the Dragon Head Stalactite where Qin Yi was located.

The commotion of the man's body hitting the rock wall just now instantly pulled the consciousness out of Qin Yi's Sea of Consciousness.

He had just been planning his Breakthrough to the Dark Strength stage, but at this moment, he could clearly feel the oppressive aura of the Giant Black Python drawing closer and closer.

Qin Yi's heart leaped into his throat. He prayed silently—please don't let it be coming to settle scores because of the dragon saliva liquid. He hadn't reached his Breakthrough to the Dark Strength stage yet, and he hadn't even taken the 'Intermediate gene strengthening potion' he had just acquired. Even if it wanted to settle scores, it could at least wait until he was ready...

The Giant Black Python slowly circled the Dragon Head Stalactite, its bucket-thick body surrounding the stalactite. Its scarlet vertical pupils looked down at Qin Yi, finally fixing their gaze in front of him. Its forked tongue flickered repeatedly in front of Qin Yi, and damp, fishy breath sprayed onto his cheeks, much like a pet dog trying hard to please its owner.

Qin Yi, however, tensed his body, not daring to make the slightest movement. He tried his best to keep his breathing steady, though cold sweat had already beaded on his palms.

After waiting for another moment, the Giant Black Python made no further moves. It slowly shifted its body and stopped in the shallow pool at a distance neither too close nor too far from Qin Yi. It submerged its entire body into the pool but kept its head outside, then slowly closed its vertical pupils, appearing as if it had begun to rest with its eyes closed.

Watching this scene, Si Yao was quite surprised to discover that if this Giant Black Python grew horns on its head, it would look extremely similar to the Dragon Head Stalactite!

After waiting a while longer, seeing that the Giant Black Python had completely ceased moving, Si Yao cautiously walked toward the man who was lying limp on the ground, his life or death unknown.

The light in the cavern was dim, and she walked extremely slowly. It wasn't until she was just a few steps away from the man that she saw his face clearly and exclaimed in surprise: "Zhao Lintai? How could it be you!"

Si Yao crouched down and reached out to pat Zhao Lintai's face hard. Seeing that he had no reaction, she reached out to check his breath. After confirming he was still breathing, she shook Zhao Lintai's shoulders hard, trying to keep her voice low: "Zhao Lintai! Wake up! Can you hear me?!"

However, no matter how Si Yao called out, Zhao Lintai showed no reaction at all.

At this moment, Qin Yi opened his eyes, braced himself against the stalactite to stand up slowly, and walked toward Si Yao, asking with concern as he approached: "Si Yao, are you alright?"

Hearing Qin Yi's voice suddenly from behind, Si Yao turned around abruptly. Seeing that Qin Yi had also woken up and was walking toward her, a flash of surprise immediately crossed her eyes. She stood up and hurried to meet him: "Qin Yi, you're awake? Do you feel any better?"

"Yeah, much better. How are you feeling?" Qin Yi nodded, his gaze subconsciously scanning Si Yao up and down. But as his line of sight swept to her chest, he stopped abruptly—the clothes on Si Yao's chest were still torn, and a patch of snow-white skin was vividly displayed before Qin Yi's eyes.

Qin Yi had already seen it when he first entered the cavern, but at that time, he was only focused on saving her and hadn't thought about anything else.

Now, seeing it again, he felt somewhat at a loss. He cleared his throat and asked again: "Are... are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

Si Yao naturally noticed Qin Yi's gaze. Following his gaze, she looked down and realized her clothes were torn, and her cheeks instantly flushed with a blush. Fortunately, the light in the cavern was insufficient, which just happened to conceal her embarrassment.

She pulled on her clothes calmly, gathering the torn parts together, and said softly: "I'm fine, thank you, Qin Yi. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have been in grave danger this time."

"The one who should be saying thank you is me." Qin Yi waved his hand, his tone sincere. "Bai Ruoxue and her group's target was me; it had nothing to do with you from the start. In the end, you were injured because of me. If you hadn't blocked that fatal blow for me at the critical moment, my little life would likely have been lost here."

"No! It was I who implicated you." Si Yao's eyes dimmed, and her voice carried a hint of self-reproach. "If I hadn't dragged you to the Southwest to pretend to be my boyfriend, Zhao Lintai wouldn't have held a grudge against you, nor would he have joined forces with Bai Ruoxue to harm you! So, I should still be the one thanking you."

What was going on? Si Yao was actually taking the initiative to admit her fault, and while speaking, she seemed to have the air of a little woman who didn't quite dare to look at him.

Qin Yi looked at her, always feeling that the Si Yao after waking up seemed very different from her previous 'tomboy' personality. Could it be caused by the True Qi of the 'Jade Maiden Heart Sutra' in her body? However, this Yin-attribute True Qi was perhaps a bit too immediate in its effects...

After the two exchanged a few more words of thanks, Qin Yi's gaze finally turned to Zhao Lintai, who was sprawled on the ground. His brows furrowed slightly: "How is he? Is he still breathing?"

Si Yao nodded and said: "He's still breathing, but his aura is very unstable. He must have sustained very serious injuries."

"How did he end up like this?" Qin Yi crouched down to examine Zhao Lintai's injuries. When he saw the wound that had pierced through his arm, he asked in confusion: "Huh, was this caused by Bai Ruoxue's ice awl? Could it be that Bai Ruoxue wanted to kill him?"

"That should be it." Si Yao analyzed from the side: "You previously guessed that Bai Ruoxue from the Hongmen School came to the Southwest not to protect Zhao Lintai. Now it seems your guess was right. Her original purpose was to kill Zhao Lintai to silence him, but she didn't expect to run into you here, so she temporarily changed her target to you."

Qin Yi nodded thoughtfully. His gaze fell on the mud covering Zhao Lintai's body, and he suddenly remembered something—when he came over from the swamp earlier, he saw bubbles constantly rising in the swamp and felt something was wrong at the time. Now, seeing the mud on Zhao Lintai, a thought suddenly emerged: "The mud on his body is exactly the same as the swamp we encountered when we came over. Could it be that the water in this cavern pool is connected to the swamp outside?"

"Connected?" Hearing this, Si Yao looked toward the hole at the entrance and frowned, saying: "I just walked around the cave, and apart from that hole, there is no other exit. That Giant Black Python just now also came in from that hole. Thinking about it, if we want to leave, we can only go out through that hole."

Qin Yi looked at the Giant Black Python that was resting with its eyes closed and lowered his voice to say to Si Yao: "I feel that the giant python doesn't seem to have any hostility toward us. Since it was able to bring Zhao Lintai in, perhaps it can also take us out. It's just that I don't know if it's willing..."

Si Yao nodded toward Qin Yi. Suddenly remembering something, her eyes lit up, and she grabbed Qin Yi's arm, saying: "By the way, aren't you looking for the Dragon pulse? Is this cavern where the Dragon pulse is located? Look at the wound on your arm—hasn't it healed?"

Qin Yi looked down. Sure enough, the wound that had originally been deep enough to see the bone had now completely healed, without even a scar left behind!

Could it be the effect of the dragon saliva liquid? Or perhaps, was it because of that stalactite?

"My guess is that it's the combined effect of that stalactite and the water in this pool!" Si Yao said, pointing to the shallow pool, and continued: "I just discovered that the water in that shallow pool is very magical. When I stood in it, the True Qi in my body moved uncontrollably along my Meridians, as if it could Cultivate on its own. Also, the stalactite you were lying on just now is shaped exactly like a Dragon head. I even specifically bit my finger to test it, and the wound healed very quickly! So I think this must be the Dragon pulse you are looking for!"

After hearing Si Yao's explanation, Qin Yi immediately asked the System: "System, what's going on with that shallow pool and that Dragon Head Stalactite? Why do they have such magical effects? Is it really because that is where the Dragon pulse is located?"

[Ding! Reporting to the host, this place is exactly the core of the Dragon pulse! The legend that a black Dragon once fell in Zhuilong Valley may not be fictional, but an event that actually occurred. The Dragon-head-shaped stalactite is exactly what the black Dragon's bones turned into after it died; the water in the shallow pool is the spirit liquid formed from the evolution of the essence blood within its body after the black Dragon passed away. As for that Giant Black Python, it must have come here by accident, and by absorbing the spirit liquid and Dragon Qi for a long time, it developed intelligence. According to the System's speculation, it should have already evolved into a 'Boa'!]

"A Boa?!" Qin Yi subconsciously looked at the Giant Black Python, his heart full of shock—legend has it that a snake Cultivates for five hundred years to become a python, a python Cultivates for five hundred years to become a boa, a boa Cultivates for five hundred years to become a jiao, and a jiao must Cultivate for another thousand years before it can follow rivers to the sea and Incarnation into a Dragon! This is the folk legend of the Jiao's journey!

Thinking this, Qin Yi couldn't help but ask: "System, do you mean to say that the Giant Black Python has already lived for at least a thousand years? This is too unbelievable!"

[Ding! Reporting to the host, one drop of dragon saliva liquid can only condense every fifty years. The dragon saliva liquid the host collected previously consists of at least twenty or thirty drops, so it can be inferred that this 'Boa' has lived here for at least a thousand years.]

"So the folk legends were all true..." Qin Yi muttered to himself, his gaze toward the Giant Black Python gaining a bit more awe.

"Qin Yi? What are you saying? What is true?" Seeing Qin Yi staring at the Giant Black Python and muttering to himself, Si Yao raised her hand to poke his still-bare upper body and asked.

Qin Yi snapped out of it, laughing 'haha' as he said: "Oh, no, nothing, I just thought that if this really is the Dragon pulse, then could that giant python be the black Dragon from the legends of Zhuilong Valley?"

"Uh... if you put it that way, it really is possible! Otherwise, how else can one explain why this cavern is so magical?" Si Yao imagined the scene of the black Dragon falling, its body turning into the stalactite and its essence blood turning into the pool water.

A moment later, she shook her head, casting these unrealistic thoughts aside. Pointing at Zhao Lintai, who was still lying limp on the ground and hanging by a thread, she asked Qin Yi: "Qin Yi, let's stop worrying about those irrelevant things for now. Do you think we should drag Zhao Lintai over to the stalactite to recover from his injuries? His aura is getting weaker and weaker; if we drag this out any longer, I'm afraid he really won't be saved."