Chapter 14: Jiao (Flood Serpent)
The moment they stepped out of the hut, Langtian froze.
A cold, bone-deep chill ran down his spine, and his blood turned to ice. Never in his life had he imagined witnessing such a sight.
"S-Senior Sister Yue Ling..." he stammered, eyes wide. "Wh-what is that?!"
Shangguan Yue Ling merely patted his shoulder. She looked ahead with a smug smile, eyes gleaming with pride as she puffed out her chest. "Hehe, how is it? Beautiful, isn’t it?"
Langtian slowly turned back toward the spectacle before them—and nearly forgot to breathe.
Standing before them was the colossal skeleton of a demonic beast—a serpent so immense that its rib bones alone towered high above the house they had just left. Each curved rib arched like a pale bridge into the sky, some ending in jagged, broken stumps, others still perfectly smooth and polished by time and wind.
Even the skull was enormous enough to fit five whole houses inside. Its fangs jutted like curved ivory spears, each as thick as an ancient tree trunk. The empty eye sockets gaped down at them, dark and hollow.
The creature’s remains sprawled across the valley, coiling and looping like the fossilized spine of a forgotten god.
Even in death, the sheer aura it radiated was enough to make Langtian tremble. An invisible pressure weighed on him, prickling his skin with goosebumps. He realized nothing else stirred in the valley—not a bird, not an insect, not even a whisper of wind. It was as if the world itself held its breath in the presence of this ancient titan. His heart thundered in his chest.
"D-Dragon?" he managed to choke out.