The Mythic Age 08 : Two Serpent Demos

Last time, we talked about how Yi took down Fengxi and was celebrating with Yao. But during the celebration, Yao noticed something off—Feng Meng seemed jealous of Yi's achievement, and that made Yao worried about Yi's safety.

Before he can finish, Yi cuts him off, surprised: "Wait, seriously? Emperor Zhi only has six divisions total, right? And he sent three of them just to deal with those two problems? Isn't that a bit overkill?"

A minister nearby jumps in and explains, "General Yi, what you don't know is—Jiu Yin is located in Kong Ren's territory. That's why Kong Ren requested heavy troops to protect his land." Yi nods and says, "Well, if three divisions are already on it, then I guess there's nothing left for us to do, right?"

But Yao sighs and says, "Actually... it's the opposite. Those three divisions suffered heavy losses. And we just got a new order from Emperor Zhi—he wants us to take care of those two monsters immediately."

Hearing that, Yi drops his smile and turns serious. "You've gotta be kidding me. Three divisions couldn't take down just two monsters? What kind of creatures are we talking about?"

Wu Chengzi steps in and says, "General, earlier you left in a hurry, so I didn't get to explain. This Jiu Yin—it's not a child. It's a nine-headed serpent. And the real problem is... the heads regenerate. Kill one, and another one grows back soon after. The only way to kill it is to destroy all nine heads at almost the exact same time. Otherwise, it's basically immortal. And on top of that, each head can spit fire and water. The range and power are insane—no one can even get close. That's why Emperor Zhi's army suffered such heavy losses. You have to be careful."

After hearing this, Yao starts to panic. He's thinking—even if Yi and Feng Meng shoot perfectly together, they can at most take down two heads at once. There's no way they can destroy all nine at the same time. So what now? But just as he's worrying, Yi suddenly speaks up. "Oh... that's it? Alright then. I'll take care of Jiu Yin."

Feng Meng immediately responds, "Master, don't say that so casually. Wu Chengzi just said—you need to kill nine moving targets at almost the exact same time. How are you supposed to do that by yourself?"

Yi just smiles and says, "Relax. If I say I can do it, I can do it. Just come with me—you'll see. Leave it to me."

And just like that, Yi leads his army west toward the deadly river to face Jiu Yin. Jiu Yin had been wreaking havoc there for a long time, leaving the land completely barren. So when Yi arrives, he can spot the massive nine-headed serpent from far away.

The soldiers had never seen anything like it before—they're all shaking in fear. But Yi stays calm and says,"Yep. That's definitely it. Easy target."

Then, without any rush, he pulls out nine arrows. He draws his bow—and fires. One after another after another. Even though the arrows are released at slightly different times, Yi controls the force perfectly. All nine arrows fly through the air at incredible speed—arriving at the exact same moment.

Jiu Yin never saw it coming. It never imagined someone could attack from that far away. In a split second—like a flash of lightning—all nine heads are hit at the same time. Jiu Yin collapses instantly. Dead on the spot.

The soldiers are completely stunned. Like... is that even possible? Yi doesn't explain anything. He just calmly says, "Alright, Jiu Yin's dead. Go dig up some realgar—we've got to report back."

After returning, everyone reports to Yao and praises Yi as the greatest archer in the world. No one expected he had such an insane technique—firing nine arrows at once.

But at that moment, Feng Meng shows a flash of resentment again. He thinks to himself,"So... you were holding back this move and didn't teach me?" Even though it's just a brief look, Yao notices it again. He thinks, "I knew it... something's not right with Feng Meng. I need to find a chance to warn Yi."

The truth is, Yi isn't selfish at all. He had already taught Feng Meng everything he knew. As for this nine-arrow technique—it was something Yi recently came up with just to challenge himself out of boredom. He had just mastered it, so he hadn't had the chance to teach it yet. He also never expected he'd need to use it so soon. But sometimes, it's these small coincidences... that slowly push things toward tragedy.

While everyone is still celebrating, Yi doesn't forget his mission. He tells Yao, "That's enough for today. Next, I'm heading to Dongting Lake to take care of Xiu Snake." Yao says, "You just got back. Why not rest for a couple of days?" Yi smiles and replies, "I'd love to. But if I rest for two more days, who knows how many people will die. I'd better deal with this monster first—then I can come back and rest properly." And so, Yi sets out once again—leading his army toward Dongting Lake to face Xiu Snake.

After arriving, he leads everyone up a hill. He remembers Wu Chengzi saying that Xiu Snake could swallow an elephant whole. So Yi figures—it must be huge. If that's the case, climbing to higher ground should make it easy to spot.

So......did he find it?......Yeah.

When Yi and his men reach the mountain... they don't even need to search. They see the Xiu Snake immediately. Because this thing... isn't just big. It's insanely huge. So huge that Yi's jaw practically drops. "This... this thing is basically a moving mountain." Yi snaps in frustration: "Why didn't Wu Chengzi just say it clearly?! He said it was big—but he didn't say it's like eight hundred zhang long! Good grief... even if we all have realgar with us, how are we supposed to kill something this size?!"

After thinking for a moment, Yi turns and gives Feng Meng a look. Feng Meng instantly gets it. The two of them raise their bows—each aiming at one of the snake's eyes. Then—They fire at the exact same time. The Xiu Snake is fast asleep. It never expects an ambush. So just like that—both of its eyes are hit. Blinded instantly. The monster goes berserk.

It rolls violently across the mountain, roaring in pain, spewing massive amounts of poisonous gas from its mouth. Luckily, Yi's soldiers are all carrying realgar, so they're protected from the poison. But the animals on the mountain aren't so lucky. Some are crushed by the snake's massive body as it thrashes around. Others drop dead from the poison on the spot.

Yi takes one look and realizes—this is bad. "If this keeps going, the entire mountain is going to be destroyed." He immediately orders all the soldiers: "Fire at its head—and aim for the heart! Don't stop!" And so, arrows rain down like crazy.

No one even knows how long it goes on. Eventually, everyone runs out of arrows... except Yi and Feng Meng. And only then do they notice—The Xiu Snake has gone completely still. Silent. Motionless.

So... is it dead? Looking at the shattered rocks and crushed trees all around...honestly, who would dare to go check? Yi tells everyone to hold. They wait. And wait. After a long while—still no movement. Finally, Yi and Feng Meng draw their bows again, putting all their strength into it, and fire several more arrows into the beast.

No reaction.

Not even a twitch.

"…Yeah. It's dead."

Only then does Yi give the order: "Move in. Finish it. Cut it apart."

As Yi approaches the body, he suddenly remembers—Wu Chengzi had asked him to bring back some of the snake's meat and skin for medicinal use. So Yi tells the soldiers to start collecting some. Seeing this, the local villagers get curious. "Wait... is this stuff valuable or something?"

They see the soldiers digging into the carcass, so they start rushing forward too, trying to grab some for themselves. Yi immediately stops them:"Hey! Don't touch it! This thing is highly poisonous! If you don't have realgar, getting close could kill you! We're taking the meat and skin back to make medicine. If you don't know how to use it, don't just rush in like this—it's too dangerous!"

After collecting what they need, Yi looks at the massive corpse and thinks—"We can't just leave it here." Judging from what just happened, if the body is left behind, who knows how many people—or animals—will get hurt. So Yi gives another order: "Cover it with realgar first. Then bury it with soil. We can't let this poison harm anyone nearby."

The soldiers follow his command. They keep buryin... and burying... and burying... Until finally, it's done. But the body is so massive that—the burial site actually forms a small hill. Later on, people name this place Baling. So if you've ever been to Baling in China...now you know just how enormous that Xiu Snake really was.

With Jiu Yin and Xiu Snake both defeated... does that mean peace has finally returned to the land? Or... is something else coming?

How would this story unfold?

We'll have to wait until next time to find out.