Preserve thy life

Everyone turned over to look at the distant hill. One by one the hills shook and the snow covering them fell off. Everyone here could not see what was happening clearly because of the strong winds carrying the snow.

At this, Bai Ming felt an intense premonition that the current situation was extremely dangerous. None of the remaining people felt anything and kept looking on to see what was happening. Wu Zhengyi, whose eyes seemed to be glittering with stars, could not help but turn blank.

In a short moment, the hills seemed to start wriggling and uncoil. After uncoiling, the hill like figures lifted their heads up and looked in their direction. The pairs of glowing eyes looking their way made the entire group freeze on the spot. Their hearts skipped a beat. An intense feeling seemed to overwhelm them. 

They were quite familiar with this feeling, but they could not fully interpret what it was. However, those who knew well enough like Zi Yan immediately realized what this feeling was.

Fear!

How long had it been since the last time he felt that.

Zi Yan realized he had made a huge miscalculation. It was the same for everyone. The last time he felt this way was when he faced a beast in the southern forests. This was both his most shameful moment and his greatest horror.

However, at this point, the feeling he got from these figures was on a completely different scale. The two were not comparable in any way. He could not identify what it was or if it even had a name, but for him, all this did not matter. He only knew one thing. If he remained standing here, then he would soon die.

Zi Yan immediately turned and dashed for the castle which was already in his sight.

No one spoke. Or rather, no one needed to be told anything at all. The heart palpitations they were experiencing now were already a clear message telling them that the situation was not a joke. They all turned to the castle.

But would these figures remain still? The answer was obvious.

These figures opened their mouths and roared in the group's direction. In a moment, these figures dropped their heads into the snow. If one were to see this, they would think these figures had hidden in the snow but upon closer inspection. One would see the snow being flung in the air. This sight was reflected in Bai Ming's eyes, which showed just how fast those figures were moving.

The ground beneath them shook. This foreign land, which seemed to be dead before, came to life. Many sounds echoed in this land, howls, and screeches included, but these sounds did not appear to be indicating that their owners were also approaching the group's position. In fact, all these sounds seemed to be moving away from them.

If these sounds were already sounding so far away, then there was no need to ask if their owners were close by. The entire place seemed to be ruled by fear. All living beings, whether one had four legs or two, wings, one eye all fled from this area.

Bai Ming's group felt a familiar energy rushing in their bodies. They had felt this energy coursing through them back when they saw the sabertoothed jaguar. In that moment, their survival instincts kicked in. It was the same at this moment.

With Zi Yan leading in the front, everyone followed.

Zi Yan did not take too long to pass through the rest of the snow-covered ground, as the one in the front he had an advantage. He jumped onto the ice surface, but he did not stop at all as he felt that he was still not safe. All the units that made up his body told him he was still not safe.

He kept running towards the entrance of the castle. He did not even have the luxury to appreciate its sight.

In the next moment, Si Niang, Cui Rong, Bai Ming, and the rest jumped onto the ice and ran without turning back. Zou Qiang also passed through the ice and started running but then heard his fellow calling from the back.

"Help me, someone please…" Han Ding called out in a hysterical tone.

His leg was hurt, and his chest was in pain. This mad dash he had done when he saw the figures looming in the distance had triggered his wounds, which had been silent for a while.

Now his whole body was aching. He could no longer move. Zou Qiang had already stopped and was in a dilemma. He did not know what to do now. Death was approaching in the back.

Knowing this, would he go back in that same direction?

However, at this moment, someone else answered that for him, a figure passed by him, going back to Han Ding. Seeing this, he no longer hesitated and also lept off the ice surface, going back to Zou Qiang.

Bai Ming reached Han Ding, helped him up, and hung his left arm over his shoulder. Next, Zou Qiang did the same on the other side, and they both helped Han Ding reach the ice surface. Without stopping, they proceeded to the entrance of the castle. At this point, Zi Yan, Cui Rong, Si Niang, and the rest had already reached the entrance of this castle.

Bai Ming looked at them but was confused by their expressions and what they were looking it. Was it him? No, it was not him or Zou Qiang. They were looking at the figures behind them.

Bai Ming slowly turned over to look behind, but the sight he expected to see did not happen. These figures, which were pursing them, were no longer thrashing the snow and had stopped at the very part where the ice surface began. They did not cross this line.

Although he was in shock and confused, he did not let the chance slip by and helped Han Ding reach the entrance of the castle. Now standing at the entrance, he looked back to these figures, which had chased after them. What met his eyes were slippery bodies, six to eight feet thick, covered in thick dark black scales, and their heads had a hood, which seemed to cover them.

They were clearly serpents, but Bai Ming had never seen or heard of such a large serpent until today.

They had a pair of fangs in their opened mouths as they flicked their forked tongues at them. They stared at them in a menacing way, with their green colored eyes that narrowed into vertical slits.