Alienated Martial Arts.

Chapter 649: Teng Snake
As night fell, Cangyuan City gradually fell silent.

Because of the continuous rain, most people turned off the lights and went to sleep early after dinner to relieve their tired bodies after a day of hard work.

Only restaurants, teahouses and casinos were still lit, providing entertainment for those with free time and money.

Another period of time passed.

Even these places were closed, and the whole city finally became completely quiet.

Only the wind and rain howling from the mountains made the doors and windows rattle, bringing with them a strong smell of damp and cold.

There was a tavern with lights still on, and the candlelight was swaying and changing shape in the wind.

A portly middle-aged man was looking through the accounts carefully. From time to time, he would take a sip from the wine flask beside him, then pick up a few dried fruits and put them into his mouth to chew slowly, looking quite relaxed and contented.

As he turned the last page of the account, he drank the remaining wine in the pot in one gulp, and a tired but satisfied smile appeared on his greasy face.

Although the continuous rainy days have brought inconvenience to the lives and work of many people, the restaurant business has become booming.

Many herbalists and hunters who are unable to go into the mountains would come here to kill time, even if they only ordered a pot of wine and a dish of boiled beans. If they sold a lot, they could actually make quite a profit.

The owner of the tavern closed the account book, squinted his eyes, leaned back on the greasy counter, picked up the somewhat cold tea at hand and drank it slowly, and began to plan his business and life for the next few days.

This continuous autumn rain shows no sign of stopping.

Although it is a good thing in the short term, as it has more than doubled the profits of the wine shop, if the snow continues into winter, or even closes the mountains due to heavy snow, this year will be extremely difficult.

Also, he had heard not long ago that the foreign tribes in the northern grasslands were showing signs of moving south again.

If this is true, Cangyuan City will probably have to go through another disaster of war, and who knows what a tragic scene it will be with countless lives lost.

"You still have to prepare your gold and silver in advance, and be ready to leave immediately if the situation changes."

"Fortunately, I bought a farm in the south of the city last year. There are horses in it ready to transport goods. As long as I can escape from the city as soon as possible, I can escape along the path to the south."

“It’s a pity for this tavern. When I first took it over from my father, I realized that it was once one of the properties left by a great man. It was passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years before it came into my name.

The old ancestor with the surname Shi seemed to have a good relationship with the Taoist of Qinglin Mountain, who was known as the number one in the sect. That was why he was able to become the most powerful person in the entire Cangyuan City from a small leader of a grassroots gang.

Unfortunately, more than a hundred years have passed, the ancestor of the Shi family has passed away for many years, and even the first disciple of the sect who seemed like an immortal has long disappeared, leaving only many legends to be passed down in the world..."

The tavern owner thought silently, poured himself another pot of wine, and started eating with the few remaining dried fruits.

He suddenly remembered that the warriors who stopped by to rest the day before had mentioned in their conversation the afternoon before that something seemed to have gone wrong in the Northern Wilderness. Even several holy places had been uprooted. The major tribes had suffered heavy losses and were almost on the verge of extinction.

But in the opinion of the tavern owner, most of these people are bragging.

With the gradually weakening national strength of the Zhou Dynasty, it is no longer as powerful as the Taizu and Taizong in the past, nor does it have the tyranny and strength of the Emperor Wu, nor the suppression of the Taoist priest. It is already very difficult to maintain a balance of power with the Northern Wilderness. How could it have the spare energy to mobilize a large army of experts to launch a northern expedition?
What's more, if a large army really wanted to march north, various news should have come from inside and outside Cangyuan City. How could we not hear any information at all?

Therefore, we still have to prepare early. At least we have to have a secret place to take refuge, enough food and warm clothes, so that the whole family can withstand the next possible upheaval.

Thinking of this, he carefully put the account book into the drawer, then stood up, walked to the door and shouted to the kitchen, "Xiao Yue, Xiao Yue!"

Soon, a shop assistant who was about sixteen or seventeen years old and looked thin and weak came over and said, "Boss, what can I do for you?"

The innkeeper asked, "You've been busy downstairs tonight. Have you heard any important news?"

"In reply to the master, that group of hangers-on and gamblers didn't have much to say. They just talked about this obviously abnormal autumn rain, and the rest was all kinds of gossip and trivial matters..."

"Oh, I almost forgot one thing. Tonight, an old customer got drunk and insisted that he had entered Cangmang Mountain this morning. Before he had gone very far, he saw a demon tiger flying in the wind and a dragon rising into the sky. He was so scared that he didn't even dare to take the herbs he had collected, and he fled back in a hurry."

"A demonic tiger rides the wind, and a dragon rises into the sky?"

The shopkeeper spat out a peanut shell, with a disdainful expression on his face, "I would rather believe that the Northern Wilderness army will arrive at the city tonight and capture and kill all of us like two-legged sheep than believe him."

He sipped the remaining wine, and after a long silence, he continued, "Don't tell me these drunken nonsense. Come to the tavern at dawn tomorrow morning, and go with me to the farm in the south of the city to see how our cattle and horses are doing recently."

"Don't worry, shopkeeper. I'll be here early tomorrow morning."

At this moment, there was a sudden muffled bang.

The door of the tavern was suddenly pushed open.

The cold wind and rain whistled in from outside, instantly soaking large areas of the floor.

A man stumbled in, slipped and fell flat on the ground.

But he was completely unaware of this, and just shouted in horror, "Master, something has happened, something terrible has happened!"

The tavern owner was startled, and the wine he had just drunk immediately turned into cold sweat, instantly soaking his inner clothes.

His throat surged and he asked in a trembling voice, "What happened? Is it the Northern Wilderness Army that is attacking us?"

"No, it's not the Northern Wasteland, it's the Cangmang Mountain!"

"A demon army has rushed out of Cangmang Mountain and has slaughtered all the villages outside the city. The fall of the entire Cangyuan City is likely to happen in a moment!"

The tavern owner suddenly thought of the demonic tiger riding the wind and the dragon soaring into the sky, and his face turned pale.

He took a deep breath and gulped down all the wine in the pot. After calming himself down, he said in a deep voice, "Turn off all the lights. Then tell me clearly what on earth came out from the Cangmang Mountains and slaughtered all the towns and villages outside the city!?"

The man gasped for air and trembled as he spoke, "Those people in the inner city have already started to flee from the south gate. When I came here just now, I saw a dragon with wings on its back, flying in the clouds, circling back and forth in the northwest direction."

This news was like a big cold hand, tightly grasping the heart of the tavern owner and trying hard to squeeze it inward, making his mind go blank.

Endless fear has completely enveloped him.

Can't even think normally.

Outside the tavern, heavy rain was falling.

No one said another word in the tavern.

The hall, which was noisy and bustling not long ago, now seemed to have turned into an ice coffin.

It was cold, silent, dark and gloomy, without a trace of life.

Only the whistling sound of the wind outside and the sound of the rain hitting the windows and exterior walls brought an even more heart-pounding feeling of fear.

The owner of the tavern was trembling with fear, and instinctively wanted to pour some more liquor into his mouth. His fingers had just touched the wine jug when they suddenly stopped without any warning.

The next moment, he turned around with difficulty and looked towards the window on the side that had just been blown open.

Amid the sound of wind and rain, he seemed to hear light footsteps.

In between, there were some meaningless snoring.

It's like a spoiled cat, rubbing against people's feet.

The tavern owner swallowed his saliva and reached out to grab a sharp knife on the counter.

Click!
At this moment, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky.

The rainy night is instantly illuminated as bright as day.

In an instant, the rain outside the window suddenly froze, like an extremely terrifying picture, frozen in the deepest consciousness of the tavern owner.

It was not a cat, but a terrifying giant tiger.

It was still chewing half of the corpse in its mouth.

Blood dripped down and fell to the ground with the rain, dyeing large areas of bluestone dark red.

Perhaps it noticed the prying gaze, the tiger, which was completely white without a trace of other colors, turned around and looked back.

The two eyes were like a deep abyss, emitting a heart-pounding cold light.

The lightning disappeared and the tavern became dim again.

Only the crunching sound of chewing, mixed with the wind and rain, could be heard.

"Master, wake up. We can't stay in this city any longer. We have to leave immediately, even if it means losing our lives. The farther we run, the better!"

"Where are you going? Didn't you see that demon tiger?"

The tavern owner was in a trance, almost unable to think normally, and just asked instinctively.

"Demon tiger?"

"What demon tiger?"

The man who came to report the news had a confused look on his face, and subconsciously looked outside in the direction the tavern owner was looking.

"There's nothing outside the window. Master, are you dazzled?"

He spoke in a nonchalant manner, picked up a bench in one hand as a weapon for self-defense, and prepared to go to the wall to close the window that was blown open by the wind.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Suddenly there was a slight clicking sound.

A long tongue, like a javelin, suddenly pierced the man's chest.

Then he suddenly pulled his body out of the window and disappeared into the dark rain outside in an instant.

The tavern owner and the waiter looked at each other, and saw surprise, fear, and unbelievable helplessness in each other's eyes.

The next moment, the two men fled frantically into the box inside the hall, huddled in the cold and damp corner, completely ignoring their clothes that were soaked by rain and blood, and dared not even move.

Time passed little by little.

The various noises outside became more and more frequent.

Like a death curse, it continued to reach the ears of the two people along with the wind and rain.

It was like a terrifying shadow that was getting closer and closer, bringing unbearable chills and increasingly strong sleepiness, enveloping them little by little.

In the box completely shrouded in darkness and silence, the owner of the tavern would bite his lower lip tightly every once in a while in order to stay awake, and slowly chew and swallow a small piece of meat, using the intense pain and the strong smell of blood to keep himself awake and not fall asleep.

For him, physical injuries and pain can actually alleviate this feeling of extreme fear.

If he had not been concerned about the farm in the south of the city and the cattle and horses on whom he had placed high hopes, his tense heartstrings might have broken long ago and he would have turned into a cold, stiff corpse.

I don't know why, he is just too tired.

If possible, he really wanted to close his eyes and fall asleep.

However, because he didn't want to die yet, he was determined not to lose consciousness.

Otherwise, you would be like Xiao Yue, who accidentally closed his eyes and then lost all life.

But as time went by, the owner of the tavern became somewhat desperate. He felt that it would be difficult for him to continue holding on. Perhaps in the end he could die like Xiao Yue, with an intact body.

It's just a pity for the farm in the south of the city, and the cattle and horses that were carefully raised...

pat!

Suddenly a soft sound reached his ears.

Then he seemed to feel a long-lost warmth coming from every part of his body. He felt a little lazy, and the feeling of coldness and sleepiness just now was gone.

Squeak!

There was another soft sound.

It turned out that the door of the box was pushed open.

The locked buckle and the bench behind the door did not work at all, and a hand easily pushed the door open and let someone in.

The tavern owner exerted so much force that he bit off a large piece of flesh from his lower lip.

He suddenly woke up under the combined effects of intense pain and the smell of blood, and looked towards the door in fear.

Have those monsters that have been wreaking havoc in the city finally found their way here?

Is he going to die soon?!
A series of thoughts came to his mind. The tavern owner recalled the tragic death of his steward who was pierced through the chest by a tongue. The string that had been tense in his heart suddenly broke. Without thinking, he pulled out the dagger hidden at his waist and stabbed it fiercely at his throat.

Click!

His wrist holding the knife was caught.

Then he saw a young man in white clothes and robes, as gentle as jade, squatting down in front of him. He asked with a puzzled tone, "Am I that scary? Why did you commit suicide without saying a word when you saw me?"

"You, you are..." The tavern owner gasped and said tremblingly.

"My surname is Wei, and my given name is Tao."

He casually put the dagger aside and continued in a calm voice, "I am also a native of Cangyuan Outer City. I was just passing by this time. I felt something in my heart and wanted to go home to take a look. It can be regarded as fulfilling a wish before the final decisive battle."

Wei Tao calmed him down, turned his head to look at the dark fog surging outside the door, and suddenly raised his hand lightly, grabbed a long tongue that shot out from the fog, pulled it in front of him and examined it carefully.

Without seeing him make any movement, a shrill howl came from the darkness outside the door, and then the long scarlet tongue turned into ashes and disappeared, leaving no trace of its existence.

"Clouds come from dragons, winds come from tigers, and the flying snake emerges from the mist."

"It seems that the changes are getting faster and faster. I didn't expect that the first person to come out was the real Teng Snake who was supposed to appear in Wuji Palace."

“I just don’t know what the difference will be between the Teng Snake that was reborn by the Lord and the original Holy Spirit Teng Snake.”

Wei Tao clapped his hands and brushed away the non-existent dust. "Do you know when the fog covering Cangyuan City began to appear?"

The tavern owner took a deep breath, stared at the gentle face in front of him, and his mood calmed down involuntarily.

But in the next moment, it seemed as if a ray of light flashed, instantly dispelling the darkness and illuminating his heart.

The last name is Wei, and the given name is Tao?
So, his name is Wei Tao! ?

According to legend, the Qinglin Mountain Guardian of Dao who inherited the mantle of Emperor Wu and mastered the unique skills of the entire sect until he entered the realm of immortality! ?

Wasn't Wei Daozi already gone from the mortal world? He could actually come down from the immortal world and even appear right beside him! ?
The tavern owner was so excited that his eyes rolled back. He felt relieved and suddenly felt sleepy. He fell into a deep sleep without saying a word.

(End of this chapter)