Chapter 103 - 101: The Python of Giant Python Peak

Chapter 103: Chapter 101: The Python of Giant Python Peak

"Isn’t there supposed to be a lake in that direction?" Feng Ling immediately asked Li Qing.

Li Qing frowned. "There is a lake at the foot of Sanqing Mountain called Three Pure Ones Lake, but it’s not in this direction. And this is too close."

He looked around, found a boulder, and scrambled up it to get a better view.

Seeing this, Feng Ling climbed up the boulder as well. The moment she found her footing, she saw the massive creature appear again!

Even though only a small part of it broke the surface, Feng Ling saw it with perfect clarity—

It was a giant white python!

Goosebumps erupted on Feng Ling’s arms. She excitedly grabbed Li Qing’s wrist. "Giant Python Peak is gone, and now there’s a giant python in the water. It has to be the Maze Master!"

Li Qing gritted his teeth, feeling like his wrist was about to snap.

Pei Xianjue was also getting excited. At the thought of this being the first Maze Master to ever appear in human history, she immediately whipped out her phone and started snapping pictures, CLICK CLICK. Unfortunately, all she captured was a blurry afterimage on the lake’s surface.

Huangfu Miaomiao, however, frowned in confusion. "But I haven’t received any prompts..."

"Maybe it’s because we’re too far away?" Feng Ling leaped off the boulder. "Let’s go check it out by the lake. Come on, let’s go, go, go!"

With that, she grabbed Huangfu Miaomiao’s hand, leaving no room for refusal, and hurried down the mountain.

Pei Xianjue, carrying the urn, was just as quick on her feet.

Li Qing remained where he was, frowning at the lake below for a moment. With a helpless sigh, he shouted a reminder, "Take the left path at the fork up ahead! Don’t end up back at Fox Village!"

"Daoist! Hurry up and catch up!" Feng Ling yelled from ahead.

...

Feng Ling was more fired up than she had been since they first entered the Maze.

Her spirits were high, and she didn’t slow her pace. After walking for over an hour, she finally reached the lake she had been so eager to see.

The land along the shore was slightly elevated and strewn with rocks of all sizes. Constantly soaked by the lake, the rocks were covered in slippery green moss, making it impossible to find a foothold.

However, on the side closer to Fox Village, a long wooden boardwalk ran along the shore.

If they hadn’t been affected by the illusion upon entering Fox Village and had managed to walk straight through, they would have found this boardwalk and, consequently, the giant python in the lake.

Huangfu Miaomiao leaned closer to Feng Ling. "Our exploration progress just went up again, by 10% this time."

Feng Ling was full of confidence. "This means this is an important location in this dungeon."

Pei Xianjue stared at the vast expanse of the lake, her expression turning sour. The water here was a hard counter to her Card Ability.

"Xiao Ling, I’m telling you right now, I can’t go in the water," she said to Feng Ling.

Hearing this, Huangfu Miaomiao added, "I can’t go in the water either."

She couldn’t swim, and her Ghost Shadow Form wasn’t waterproof.

Feng Ling hadn’t been counting on them anyway. With a smile, she stripped off her jacket and pants on the spot, revealing a set of dark-colored sportswear, and jumped into the water with a SPLASH!

She moved so fast that no one had time to react.

Pei Xianjue had expected her to at least give some instructions after undressing, but she never imagined Feng Ling would just jump straight in!

Pei Xianjue looked at Huangfu Miaomiao and Li Qing in shock. "Aren’t we going to discuss this first?!"

No one answered.

The two of them were already used to Feng Ling’s haphazard style.

Huangfu Miaomiao picked up Feng Ling’s clothes, folded them, and put them into her inventory. Pei Xianjue was still in a state of shock. "We don’t even know what’s down there! What if something happens?! That python could show up at any second! Shouldn’t we call her back up...?"

SPLOOSH—

A translucent woman’s head surfaced on the lake, sending ripples across the water.

"I don’t see the python, but there’s a box underwater," Feng Ling shouted.

Pei Xianjue stared at her, dumbfounded.

"A treasure box!" Huangfu Miaomiao’s eyes lit up. "Let me open it! Let me open it!"

Feng Ling took a deep breath and dove back into the water. The lake was unbelievably clear. There was no trash, nor were there any signs of aquatic life—no fish, shrimp, snails, or insects. There was only some sparse seaweed and green algae.

She moved the large rock pinning the wooden box down, and the box began to slowly float up on its own. She followed it to the surface, grabbed the box, and heaved it onto the shore!

THUMP. The wooden box landed on the boardwalk.

This was Huangfu Miaomiao’s favorite part. She immediately rubbed her hands together and squatted down excitedly to open the treasure box.

Pei Xianjue and Li Qing were also curious to see what sort of prize a treasure box hidden underwater would contain.

When the box opened, Huangfu Miaomiao let out a curious "Huh?" and then lifted something that looked like a purple cabbage out of it.

Grabbing the wet wood of the boardwalk, Feng Ling deftly pulled herself ashore. "What’s that?" she asked.

Huangfu Miaomiao stared at the cabbage in her hands, bewildered. "The system prompt says... it’s... ’Giant Python Feed’?"

"No way..." Feng Ling took the cabbage from Huangfu Miaomiao, frowning as she weighed it in her hand. "A python that huge eats something this small? Could it possibly be enough?"

’That doesn’t seem very scientific,’ she thought. She casually peeled off a few of the waterlogged outer leaves and discovered the cabbage was very tightly packed. The inner leaves were still dry, and nestled at its core was a deep purple fruit.

The fruit was round and plump. The layers of overlapping leaves had kept it perfectly fresh; despite being submerged for so long, there wasn’t the slightest sign of decay.

"Ah! I get it!" Huangfu Miaomiao’s eyes suddenly widened. "Could it be... I mean, what if this fruit is like a super-concentrated Nutrient Supplement? A tiny one could provide the giant python with all the energy it needs! Otherwise, a python that big would definitely starve to death without food, right?"

"That makes sense," Feng Ling mused. "A body that massive would burn a lot of energy even if it stayed perfectly still every day. But I didn’t see a single fish in the water just now. So where does the giant python get its food?"

Pei Xianjue felt this was all getting a bit convoluted. "...The giant python is the Maze Master. It’s supposed to be hard to defeat. By your logic, does that mean we can just starve it to death by not feeding it? Ugh, that sounds ridiculous..."

"So, should we try feeding it?" Feng Ling gently tossed the purple cabbage into the air and caught it. "Maybe it’s a hint from the Maze," she said with a smile. "Why else would it be called ’Giant Python Feed’?"

Huangfu Miaomiao agreed. "It must be a special item. It’s not like we have any use for it, so let’s give it a try."

Pei Xianjue thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, let’s give it a try."

Li Qing had no objections either, having been a silent bystander throughout the entire discussion.

"So, how do we feed it..." Feng Ling looked out over the calm lake. ’It’s probably just like feeding fish,’ she thought.

She took a deep breath, wound up her arm, and hurled the cabbage out like she was throwing a shot put!

The cabbage hit the water with a SPLASH and then floated back to the surface, bobbing like a buoy.

The four of them stood on the boardwalk, waiting with bated breath for the giant python to appear.

seconds...

seconds...

After thirty seconds, faint ripples disturbed the surface of the water.

The waves grew more turbulent, churning with increasing intensity, as if some underwater behemoth was rapidly approaching—

WHOOSH!

A terrifyingly massive mouth burst from the water and swallowed the comparatively minuscule cabbage in a single gulp!

Its enormous tail rose, carving an arc through the air before crashing back into the water, kicking up violently churning waves.

The violent waves gradually subsided, turning into gentle ripples.

The surface of the lake grew calm...

The giant python was gone.

On the boardwalk, the four of them stared at each other in disbelief.

After a long silence, Feng Ling couldn’t help but blurt out, "It just... left???"