Swallowing the Stars: Starting with Panlong

Chapter 43: The Nest

Lin Yun chased the Devouring Python through several streets.

Although severely injured, the Devouring Python remained incredibly fast in the water. It frantically fled along the canal, its massive body leaving a trail of churning white spray in its wake. Lin Yun sprinted across the ruins on the bank, nine throwing knives circling around him, ready to strike at any moment.

"You run really fast." Lin Yun gritted his teeth and sped up.

He knew that if the Devouring Python escaped into the depths of West Lake, he would never be able to catch it again. West Lake was tens of meters deep, with complex underwater terrain and many other aquatic monsters. In his current state, his chances of winning a fight against a wounded high-level lord-class monster underwater were slim.

The Devouring Python seemed to realize this as well, and desperately fled towards West Lake.

A man and a snake chased each other in the night, passing through collapsed bridges, abandoned docks, and flooded streets. The canal grew wider and deeper—West Lake was almost there.

Lin Yun knew he couldn't wait any longer.

He quickened his pace and, just as the giant python was about to enter West Lake, leaped onto its back.

The Devouring Python sensed the intruder on its back and frantically twisted its body, trying to throw him off. The massive serpent writhed in the water, creating waves several meters high. Lin Yun gripped the edge of a scale tightly with one hand, while wielding the Blood Shadow Battle Blade in the other, slashing repeatedly at its body.

However, the scales of the Devouring Python were too thick, and the battle blade could only leave shallow scratches on them.

Lin Yun gritted his teeth. He knew he couldn't kill this snake using conventional methods. A high-level lord's defense couldn't be easily broken by the mental power and sword of a mid-level war god.

He needs another way.

Lin Yun closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the depths of his soul.

There, fragments of the rules of death spun slowly in the darkness like black stars. All the insights gained from the necromancy inheritance stele surged into his mind at that moment.

Soul attack.

This is the most bizarre and deadliest method in necromancy, directly attacking the enemy's soul. In the world of Panlong, this is the necromancer's trump card. In the world of Swallowed Star, he has never used it, and is even unsure if he can use it at all.

But now, he has no other choice.

Lin Yun transformed all his mental energy into soul power, condensing it into an invisible spike that pierced the depths of the Devouring Python's consciousness.

In that instant, he "saw" the soul of the Devouring Python.

It was a massive, eerie blue orb of light, larger than any undead creature he had ever seen in the Netherworld. The orb was filled with savagery and madness, but at its deepest core, there was a warm glow—its protective instinct, something it refused to relinquish even in its dying moments.

Lin Yun's soul spike pierced the ball of light.

The Devouring Python's soul trembled violently, letting out a silent scream. The sound didn't travel through the air; it exploded directly in Lin Yun's mind, shaking his very soul. Blood gushed from his nose, his ears rang, and his consciousness began to blur.

The Devouring Python's body suddenly stiffened, ceasing its struggle. It floated in the water, its massive body swaying gently with the current, as if it had lost consciousness.

It's now!

Despite the excruciating pain that felt like his soul was being torn apart, Lin Yun controlled nine throwing knives to fly out simultaneously. The knives lined up in a straight line in the air, aiming at the spot on the Devouring Python's head where Lin Zheng had previously shattered its scales, and stabbed into it repeatedly.

The first throwing knife pierced the crack, deepening the wound by an inch.

The second, the third, the fourth... the throwing knives pierced the same wound one after another, each one deeper than the last.

When the eighth throwing knife pierced through, the skull of the Devouring Python was penetrated.

The intense pain jolted the Devouring Python from its dazed state. It let out a deafening hiss, its body twisting wildly, throwing Lin Yun off its back. Lin Yun tumbled several times in the water, barely managing to regain his balance.

On the head of the Devouring Python, a fist-sized hole was gushing out eerie blue blood. It was on its last breath, but it did not fall. With its last strength, it swam towards the bottom of the lake.

The Devouring Python moved slowly, but it persisted. Its massive body dragged a deep trench in the lakebed, and blood gushed from the wound, staining the surrounding water red. It was like a dying warrior, using its last bit of strength to return to somewhere.

Lin Yun hesitated for a moment, then chased after him.

The Devouring Python's breathing grew weaker and weaker, and its body grew heavier and heavier. It finally swam to the ruins at the bottom of a lake—an ancient building that had sunk to the bottom of the water. Before its great rebirth, it might have been an ancient temple or palace on the shore of West Lake. Huge stone pillars lay collapsed at the bottom of the lake, and the broken walls were covered with aquatic plants. Exquisite carvings were faintly visible in the silt.

The Devouring Python swam to the entrance of the largest building in the ruins, where its body finally gave way. Its head slowly sank into the mud, and its last breath escaped from its body, turning into a string of bubbles that rose to the surface.

It's dead.

It died at the entrance of its lair, just steps away from its target.

Lin Yun floated in the water, looking at the enormous python's carcass, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside him. It could have easily swum upstream, escaped to the surface—that would have been its chance to survive. But instead, it chose to go downstream, to the bottom of the lake, to this ruin, until its last breath was exhausted.

It was determined to get back here, no matter what.

Why?

Lin Yun's gaze fell on the entrance to the ruins. In the darkness, a deep cave entrance could be vaguely seen, pitch black inside, with nothing visible. But his mental power told him that there was something inside.

A strange, heart-pounding aura slowly wafted out of the cave.

Lin Yun swam towards the cave entrance. The entrance was narrow, just wide enough for one person to pass through. He squeezed in sideways, revealing a long passageway with walls covered in faded bas-reliefs. The passageway was very narrow, the water barely flowed, and visibility was extremely low. Lin Yun's mental energy could only cover a range of about ten meters.

He swam forward cautiously.

The tunnel seemed endless; the further in you went, the colder and clearer the water became. I don't know how long I swam, but suddenly the space ahead opened up.

Lin Yun surfaced and found himself in a huge stone chamber. A crack in the ceiling allowed moonlight to filter through, casting dappled shadows on the dark water. In the center of the chamber was a protruding stone platform, which remained unsubmerged.

Lin Yun climbed onto the stone platform.

Then he saw a plant.

It grows right in the center of the stone platform, its entire body a vibrant green, crystal clear, emitting a faint fluorescent glow. The plant is only the size of a palm, with six leaves arranged in a circle around the top, each leaf as thin as a cicada's wing, revealing the green light flowing through its veins. In the center of the leaves, a round, red fruit lies quietly, its surface smooth as a mirror, gleaming alluringly in the moonlight.

Lin Yun held his breath.

He had never seen such a plant before; it didn't resemble any species on Earth, but rather... something from legend.

He crouched down and carefully examined the plant. Six leaves surrounded the red fruit, their shape so regular it resembled a meticulously sculpted work of art. The fruit's fragrance was faint yet invigorating, instantly refreshing with just a whiff.

The Devouring Python risked its life to return here, just to protect this plant.

Lin Yun reached out and gently touched the red fruit. The fruit trembled slightly, and a warm energy flowed from his fingertips into his body, making him feel as if his blood was boiling, like a hungry beast smelling blood.

His pupils suddenly contracted.

This fruit...

Lin Yun took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He didn't know what this plant was, what its side effects were, or how long the Devouring Python had been protecting it. But now was not the time to study it.

He took a sealed box from his backpack, carefully dug up the entire plant, roots and all, and placed it inside. The roots were shallow, only embedded in a thin layer of soil on the surface of the stone, suggesting that the plant didn't need much nutrition.

After putting the sealed box into his backpack, Lin Yun took one last look at the stone chamber.

Moonlight streamed through the cracks, scattering into silvery spots on the water's surface. The blurred reliefs on the stone walls appeared and disappeared in the light and shadow, as if telling a forgotten story.

He didn't know what the plant was, but he knew that anything that a high-level lord-level monster would risk its life to protect was definitely not an ordinary thing.

Lin Yun turned and jumped into the water, swimming out along the passage he had come from.

When he emerged from the ruins, the corpse of the Devouring Python had already sunk into the mud at the entrance. Lin Yun glanced at the giant python, then used his telekinesis to begin dissecting it, carefully collecting its intact scales, skin, gall bladder, and other important materials before swimming upstream.

The moment he broke through the water's surface, he gasped for breath of fresh air. Moonlight spilled onto the surface of West Lake, shattering into silvery spots. The ruins on the shore stood silent in the night, as if guarding something.

"Lin Yun! Lin Yun!"

Shouts from Shenyang echoed from afar. The other members of the Thunder Blade Squad searched along the lakeside. Lin Zheng, leaning on his sword, limped at the front, his face filled with anxiety. Liu Xu, supported by Luo Fang, was pale, but her eyes were constantly searching for something.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Lin Yun emerge from the water.

"You little brat!" Shenyang ran over and pulled him out of the water. "You scared us to death! You chased after him all by yourself, were you crazy?"

Lin Yun gave a wry smile. He was soaked to the bone and exhausted. He plopped down on the ground, looked up at the sky, and let out a long breath.

"Kill him," he said.

Lin Zheng walked over, leaning on his knife, and looked down at him: "Where's the body?"

"At the bottom of the lake, next to a ruin," Lin Yun said. "It's too big to bring back. I only took the snake gall, scales, and snake skin." Lin Yun pointed to the snake skin rolled up like a small mountain and hundreds of intact scales next to him. The scales were exquisite, like works of art, and the camouflage patterns on their surface constantly changed colors under the light.

He took out a snake gall from his backpack. In the moonlight, the gall was about the size of a human head, and its entire body was a dark blue color, emitting a faint glow.

Lin Zheng looked at these things and remained silent for a long time.

"The gall bladder, scales, and skin of a high-level lord-level Devouring Python..." His voice was a little hoarse. "This time, you earned more by yourself than all of us combined."

Lin Yun shook his head: "Without the captain blocking its way, without Sister Liu attracting its attention, and without everyone restraining it, I couldn't kill it by myself. These materials should be distributed according to the rules."

He paused, then added, "And I found something else at the bottom of the lake."

All eyes turned to them.

Lin Yun took the sealed box out of his backpack and opened the lid. Under the moonlight, the emerald green plant emitted a faint fluorescent glow, with six leaves surrounding the red fruit in the center, so beautiful it seemed unreal.

Everyone held their breath.

"This is..." Shenyang's eyes widened. "What is this?"

"I don't know," Lin Yun said, "but the Devouring Python risked its life to swim back there to protect it. I found it in its lair."

Lin Zheng stared at the plant for a long time before slowly saying, "When we get back, have someone identify it. Before that, don't tell anyone."

His gaze swept over everyone: "What happened today is all confidential. No one is allowed to talk about Lin Yun being a mentalist or about this plant."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They all understood the trouble that would ensue if these things were leaked.

Lin Yun put the sealed box away again, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes.

His mental energy was almost completely depleted, and his soul power was also nearly exhausted; he felt as if he had been hollowed out. Yet, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

The Devouring Python died, but Liu Xu survived. The wall between Lin Zheng and Liu Xu finally collapsed.

Moreover, he also obtained that mysterious plant.

It was worth it that night.

He touched the sealed box in his backpack, and his consciousness gradually sank into sleep. This time, he really needed to rest.