TFWYH – Chapter 19 Encountering an Earth Dragon

Just like that, Tang Wan noticed that the “tail” following her gradually shortened—until only the Li father and son were left.

They wanted to give up too, but it had been a long time since they’d caught anything good.

The outskirts of the mountains had already been trampled by villagers and were full of their traps.

Forget good game—even wild rabbits and pheasants were hard to come by!

Tang Wan must’ve entered the deep mountains to catch that wild boar last time.

Most importantly—it was over 300 jin! And she carried it back alone!

After analyzing this, the Li father and son both concluded that Tang Wan probably had some skills.

After all, she was a butcher’s daughter, wasn’t she?

She came from a pig-killing family—how could she not know a thing or two about fighting?

Tang Wan: Thanks to having a pig-killing dad, I don’t even have to explain myself.

As they followed her, the Li father and son smiled flatteringly whenever Tang Wan turned to glance at them.

She ignored them and kept walking deeper.

Want to follow? Fine!

If she remembered correctly, these two had helped Jiang-shi distribute pork last time. They were pretty warm-hearted. Letting them score a bit of the spoils wasn’t impossible…

If they had the guts to follow her the whole way!

Time ticked on, and Tang Wan kept heading deeper.

The main path became a side trail, the side trail became no trail at all, and every step forward meant pushing aside thick, overgrown plants.

In the deep mountains, the trees were so dense they blocked out the sky. The sunlight that filtered through the leaves was scattered and faint, and the forest grew darker.

Every now and then, distant beastly roars echoed through the woods.

The ground grew damp. Every step sank into soft earth, leaving deep pits behind.

Progress became difficult.

The Li father and son started getting scared.

This kind of terrain… just up ahead must be marshland.

And marshes were dangerous.

Should they keep going?

The Li father and son were wavering.

Ling Sheng was scared too!

The only ones not afraid were Tang Wan and Ling Chen.

The former had martial strength—nothing to fear!

The latter was too young to understand danger—ignorance is bliss!

Ling Sheng nervously followed behind Tang Wan, muttering softly, “Wan-niang, you have to protect me. I’m my parents’ only son… if I die, no one will perform their funerals… blah blah blah…”

“You’re so annoying!” Tang Wan snapped impatiently.

Ling Sheng shut up immediately, not daring to say another word.

With the silence, the tension thickened.

Even their heartbeats sounded loud in their ears.

Suddenly, a rustling came from the dense underbrush ahead.

Tang Wan stopped at once. She shoved Ling Chen into Ling Sheng’s arms and drew the sickle from her waist, stepping in front of them. “Back up!”

Ling Sheng nodded—but before he could speak, a massive snake’s head rose from the bushes.

“Holy mother—!” Ling Sheng practically peed himself, all color draining from his face as he grabbed Ling Chen and bolted.

The Li father and son also turned pale, their legs trembling, ready to flee at any moment.

“Th-th-that’s a ground dragon!“ Old Li stammered, barely able to speak. “I heard legends of dragons in the mountains before… but I thought it was just a myth. I didn’t… didn’t think it was real…”

Tang Wan frowned slightly.

Ground dragon? That’s clearly a green anaconda!

The anaconda is the largest snake species in the world—even bigger than a python. An adult green anaconda is at least seven meters long.

The difference is, pythons have scales.

Anacondas don’t—their skin is like an eel or loach: smooth and slippery.

What Tang Wan didn’t expect was to find one here.

In her world, these things only lived in the Amazon rainforest.