The sun blazed fiercely, and the warm breeze carried a dry heat.
Despite it being midsummer, there were no birdsongs or insect chirps.
Apart from human voices and movements, the sounds of other animals were scarce.
Because any creature daring to make noise would be captured as food.
Swish, swish, swish!
Cuilian and Xiao Liu, dressed in skirts, crouched on the ground, revealing large patches of fair skin. They held pig-hair brushes, scrubbing a set of green leather armor.
The armor, adorned with fine scales, shimmered with an emerald-green glint under the sunlight.
It was made from the hide of a Green Water Python.
In the kitchen, sweat dripped from Tang Tang's forehead as she kneaded dough with Taohua, grumbling, "Twenty-seven, twenty-seven Meat Buns!"
"A distinguished General comes to visit and all he brings is a set of snake-skin armor!"
"And then, he eats a whopping twenty-seven of my Meat Buns! Ten coins for three, that's ninety coins! Over a hundred pounds of foxtail millet—no, wait, grain prices have gone up. Hmm, maybe I should raise the price of Meat Buns to twenty coins for three?"
The three women chuckled softly, with Taohua nodding her head in agreement, as if to say, "Miss is absolutely right."
They had long recognized Tang Tang's kind heart and her deep appreciation for food.
She treated them exceptionally well, teaching them martial arts, literacy, and even how to cook Meat Buns.
She even gave them pocket money.
Tang Tang extended her flour-dusted, fair hand, carefully calculating the new pricing: Meat Buns could be sold, but the daily earnings must be exchanged for grain!
The Greensnake soft armor, thoroughly cleaned with lime, soapberries, and rice-washing water, hung on the clothesline in the yard.
As the wind blew, the soft armor swayed slightly, resembling a gleaming piece of green jade.
The green jade dripped water onto the cucumber vines that were bearing fruit.
The cucumbers were small and tender, covered in tiny thorns, with the yellow flowers at their tips still in bloom.
Tang Wen considered plucking one to eat, but seeing his sister still in the yard, he ultimately didn't dare.
He didn't need to guess; he knew she would say, "It's still so small, and you're already eating it?"
"Ah, I bet it could grow to at least a pound and a half!"
"It's only an ounce now, and you're already eating it?"
"Is there no justice in the world?"
Tang Wen retreated to his room for a nap.
In the afternoon, he donned the sun-warmed green soft armor from the yard.
It was thin and lightweight, offering little protection.
Feeling insecure, he ignored the heat and layered on a heavy set of scale armor.
General Zhao had come not only to deliver the soft armor but also to assign a task.
The waterwheels by the lakeside outside the city had been destroyed, and there were suspicions of a Superior Exotic Beast lurking in the water. Tang Wen was needed to handle it.
At the very least, he had to ensure the safety of the craftsmen working by the shore.
Having secluded himself for over a month to refine his skills, Tang Wen felt restless and headed straight to the lakeside.
Two rows of massive waterwheels, three stories high, were laden with large wooden buckets.
The foremost waterwheel lay toppled in the muddy lakeside, where several craftsmen hammered and nailed, working diligently.
Around them, three or four hunting squad captains, clad in barrel-like plate armor, vigilantly scanned the lake's surface.
Tang Wen glanced over and spotted two Silver Wolves nearby.
The two wolves lay on protruding rocks by the lake, their four emerald-green eyes scanning the water.
Even when they sensed Tang Wen's gaze, they merely glanced at him before returning their focus to the lake, occasionally checking on the craftsmen's repair progress.
A collaboration between humans and wolves.
Tang Wen shielded his eyes from the blazing sun and said to Li Ge, who had run over, "Find a few brave souls and set up a shelter for the Silver Wolves over there."
"Ah?"
Tang Wen gestured: "Just enough to block the sunlight."
"Oh, uh, alright! I'll go ask."
Li Ge wasn't sure if he could find someone.
Suddenly, Tang Wen sensed something and his expression changed drastically: "Fall back! Everyone by the lake, fall back!"
His perception didn't give a warning, so the danger couldn't be too great.
Tang Wen leaped high into the air, like a cannonball, and plunged into the lake.
Splash!
Water sprayed everywhere.
Tang Wen opened his eyes underwater.
A snake's body, as thick as a water jar, brushed past him.
A mid-level exotic beast, the Green Water Python!
Tang Wen pulled out a dagger, focused his mind, and hurled it like a projectile!
The dagger shot through the water like a torpedo, creating countless bubbles.
With a hiss, the dagger pierced the python's head.
The giant python thrashed wildly, stirring up clouds of silt!
From the surface, Li Ge looked down at the once-clear lake, now murky and turbulent.
"Commander Tang Wen is battling a beast in the water, go get help!"
"Howl!"
The Silver Wolf let out a non-threatening roar.
As if conveying something.
Li Ge seemed to understand and felt slightly reassured. He turned to the messenger: "No need to go, the thing below doesn't seem too dangerous?"
He lacked confidence as he spoke, glancing toward the Silver Wolf.
A few minutes passed, and the lake surface calmed.
Tang Wen paddled to the surface, weighed down by his scale armor.
Just as he exposed his mouth and nose to breathe, the python's massive corpse suddenly twitched, and a green streak shot toward his lower body.
"Damn!"
Hiss!
The green streak was blocked by Tang Wen's foot.
He felt the sharp sting of fangs scraping his sole.
A superior Green Water Python, highly venomous!
Knowing he couldn't dodge, Tang Wen took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and submerged again.
The water was murky, making it hard to discern directions.
Hiss!
A force transmitted through the water, followed by a green flash.
Tang Wen panicked and quickly raised his arm.
The green light pierced the scale armor, bit through the python skin, and its teeth clashed against the black skin of his arm.
But it didn't even break the skin.
The green light nimbly bounced away and disappeared in an instant.
Tang Wen saw the attacker clearly: a superior exotic beast, the Green Water Python, about three feet long.
This was a characteristic of the Green Water Python species.
Low-level Green Water Pythons were as thick as water buckets.
Mid-level ones were as thick as water jars.
Superior ones were as slender as a child's arm.
As for the Serpent King, it was said to be able to change size.
When fleeing from the Queen and the Silver Wolf King, it shrank its body to escape.
Hiss, clang!
Hiss, clang!
...
The superior Green Water Python was even more agile than the swiftest fish in the water.
It struck and retreated, never lingering.
Tang Wen's newly acquired python skin inner armor was riddled with holes.
In the water, Tang Wen was at a complete disadvantage.
But he remained calm, even closing his eyes, waiting patiently.
Not only would the Green Water Python struggle to penetrate his "Golden Bell Shield," but even if it did, he had just consumed a Greensnake Elixir yesterday, and his resistance to poison was still active. The venom wouldn't be fatal.
[Meditation Martial Art: Golden Bell Shield, Mastery (201→206/3000)]
[...206→210/3000)]
[210→215]
Like specialized training for sudden attacks and high-speed projectiles.
Tang Wen focused entirely on defense.
The Green Water Python was undeniably fast, but it had a fatal flaw in the water.
Before each attack, it caused slight disturbances in the water flow.
These disturbances couldn't escape Tang Wen's spiritual perception.
Even if the Green Water Python was fast, it couldn't outpace his thoughts. In an instant, the Golden Bell Shield's defense was already in place.
The Green Water Python could only retreat time and again without success.
After three, five... a total of twenty-three ambushes.
The lake water returned to clarity, and the Green Water Python was nowhere to be seen.
Tang Wen stood still, thinking that if it weren't for the water muffling his voice, he would have taunted it: "Really? Really? Could it really only attack a mere few times?"
"Skinny dog—no, skinny snake, are you even capable?"
"Those snake gallbladders your wife laid, could they be the offspring of some other male snake?"
Unfortunately, these provocative words couldn't be spoken underwater.
After waiting a few minutes with no further movement, Tang Wen stepped out of the lake, leaving footprints in the mud.
[Meditation Martial Art: Golden Bell Shield, Mastery (361/3000)]
The experience gained was over a hundred points, equivalent to several days of hard training.
"Commander Tang Wen, are you alright?" Li Ge handed him a towel.
Tang Wen removed the shattered scale armor and the snake-scale soft armor full of holes, shaking his head. "Tell everyone to stay alert. Even if you encounter a medium-sized Green Water Python, don't be careless! Especially don't recklessly enter the water."
"Yes, I'll go inform them right away."
As for the mutated beasts in the lake, Tang Wen had no good solution.
After idling for a while, the lake surface remained calm.
Bored, he led a few craftsmen to the pool where two silver wolves were lying.
"Grr!"
One silver wolf bared its fangs, while the other moved away, eyeing Tang Wen warily.
There was some trust between man and wolf, but not much.
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