Return to the City: The Strongest King

This was all designed by Song Xiaodong.

Whether a battle is won or lost, strength is only one aspect. Timing, terrain, and other factors all influence the outcome of a battle.

This is not only reflected in individual combat but also on large-scale battlefields, where many precedents have shown the viability of weaker forces defeating stronger ones by leveraging various conditions.

Song Xiaodong learned a lot about military tactics in the army, and his battle experience is extensive, far beyond what Qingluan, this fledgling, can compare to.

Even if Qingluan is much stronger, the ultimate victory still belongs to Song Xiaodong.

After mocking Qingluan with a couple of sentences, Song Xiaodong vented his frustration from being chased recently. He swiped his hand, turned his body, and slowly paddled forward.

Now he doesn't need to hurry, as Qingluan is trapped there and can't move at all, so there's no need to worry about being pursued.

"Song Xiaodong, don't go, I don't want to die, help me." Qingluan's voice came from behind.

Without turning his head, Song Xiaodong said, "Sorry, if you don't want to die, figure it out yourself. I'm not going to save someone who wants to kill me."

"Then I won't kill you."

"Haha... that offer is really tempting, but I'm not interested. If you die, you naturally can't kill me." Song Xiaodong said while continuing to paddle forward.

"You..." Qingluan only managed to say one word before falling silent.

Song Xiaodong turned his head and saw Qingluan sinking deeper, with her mouth already submerged in the water. Though she desperately tried to tilt her head back, only her nose remained above the water.

In a few minutes, when her nose sinks underwater, she won't be able to breathe, and no matter how strong a person is, they'd be finished.

Song Xiaodong felt a little sympathy, after all, Qingluan was a stunning beauty.

But so what if she's beautiful? She's an enemy who wants to kill him, and showing mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself, so even though he was reluctant, he pushed himself to paddle forward. Follow current novᴇls on NovᴇlFɪre.nᴇt

A dark shadow suddenly swam under the water beside Song Xiaodong.

Song Xiaodong swept his gaze and was startled. It was a Water Python, though he couldn't see how long it was, with a diameter of twenty centimeters, it was clear how big this python was.

If it were normal water, Song Xiaodong wouldn't be afraid, but in this swamp, he had no place to fight, the territory wholly belonged to the Water Python.

Song Xiaodong dared not move, fearing he'd attract the Water Python's attention.

Fortunately, the Water Python didn't attack him but swam towards his back instead.

Song Xiaodong let out a sigh of relief and paddled quickly. This place was fraught with dangers; he had barely escaped Qingluan's clutches, and he didn't want to fall victim to the Water Python.

Splash!

A great splash sounded from behind.

Song Xiaodong turned and saw the python flipping, seemingly hunting prey — right where Qingluan was trapped.

Song Xiaodong's mouth twitched; Qingluan was indeed unlucky, ending up as python fodder.

But now it's been seven or eight minutes; even if not eaten by the python, she'd likely drown.

"What the heck is this?" Song Xiaodong suddenly sensed something amiss—the Water Python was speeding towards him, with a white figure on its body. Who else could it be but Qingluan?

"Are you kidding me? You're a python; shouldn't you eat people? Why are you saving them?"

Song Xiaodong was flustered, feeling like thousands of *** galloping through his mind, as he frantically paddled to escape the swamp and exploit the jungle to continue eluding Qingluan.

Splash! Again came a giant splash, Song Xiaodong turned back to see Qingluan's figure flying into the air, headed straight for him.

"Oh crap!" Song Xiaodong cursed frantically, paddling desperately.

But Qingluan's speed was too fast, before he understood what was happening, she had already descended over him.

Song Xiaodong raised his palm to strike Qingluan, but as he summoned True Qi, it stagnated, refusing to cooperate. Earlier when clashing with Qingluan, he gave it his all, suffering significant injury, and only focusing on escaping now did he ignore it.

The palm struck out softly without any Vigor.

Unexpectedly, the slap hit Qingluan squarely on the chest, but without True Qi, it had no impact.

At that moment, Qingluan didn't attack, rather seemed to use her body as an attack, directly crashing into Song Xiaodong.

Thud!

Song Xiaodong was hit into the water. Luckily, he was flat against it, not sinking into the mud, though the impact felt like it broke his bones.

"Oh crap!" Song Xiaodong cursed internally, confused by Qingluan's position which didn't seem like an attack.

Struggling to keep his head above water, Song Xiaodong was soon at a loss.

Qingluan lay on his body, with closed eyes and seemingly not breathing, like she was dead.

"Oh crap, she wasn't coming after me, she was flung by the Water Python!"

Reflecting on the situation, Song Xiaodong couldn't help but chuckle bitterly; should Qingluan feel lucky or frustrated, failing to catch him only for the python to deliver him to her.

No! Qingluan wasn't catching him now; given her condition, although possibly alive, she was barely breathing, unable to kill him, and Song Xiaodong could easily end her.

"Damn it!" Song Xiaodong thought of tossing Qingluan aside, but to his chagrin, even unconscious, her arm clung tightly to him, making it almost impossible to throw her off.

In this swamp, he dared not linger; while Qingluan posed little threat, the Water Python was a far greater danger.

Using both hands and feet, Song Xiaodong labored to pull Qingluan towards the shore, like two paired frogs.