Xiao Ming's hands trembled as he controlled the drone, causing it to shake violently. Startled, the ice dragon opened its maw and exhaled a stream of white mist, instantly freezing the drone, which then plummeted into the river below the cliff.
The screen went black, and the three men were struck silent. The scene had been too shocking. Long Xiao muttered to himself, wondering if his current strength was enough to deal with this giant serpent.
A minute later, Old Hu finally closed his agape mouth and exclaimed, "My god, there's really a giant dragon."
"Brother Long, how do we deal with this behemoth?" Xiao Ming asked, having completely lost confidence.
Long Xiao shook his head. "I have no way to deal with it. Killing it might be easy, but subduing it is extremely difficult."
Old Hu was utterly bewildered. He had thought Long Xiao wanted to kill the ice dragon for money, not considering that Long Xiao intended to subdue it.
"A'long, you want to subdue this dragon? Even if you subdue it, where would you take it?"
Long Xiao shook his head. "I don't want to take it away. It will stay here. I just want to subdue it and have it guard the cave for me."
"You want this cave," Old Hu finally understood Long Xiao's intention.
Long Xiao nodded. "Yes, I want to have my own cave dwelling. I can come here to stay for a few days when I have nothing to do. With this ice dragon as the gatekeeper, no one will disturb me."
Everyone has their ideals, and Long Xiao's ideal was rather grand. Having his own cave dwelling guarded by a dragon was something only Long Xiao would think of.
"How will you subdue it?" Old Hu asked.
Long Xiao pondered for a moment. "To subdue it, I must first let it know how powerful I am. I'll beat it up first."
Old Hu felt like crying and laughing at the same time. If they could beat up the ice dragon, subduing it wouldn't be a problem. The most difficult part now was figuring out how to beat the dragon.
Dragons were legendary creatures. For one person to beat a dragon was indeed extremely difficult.
This time, what Long Xiao planned to do was something even Xiao Ming couldn't believe he could achieve. Xiao Ming admired Long Xiao the most and considered him his idol.
"Alright, let's not talk about this. We'll go back and prepare, and come back tomorrow," Long Xiao said.
Back in the car on the small hill, Old Hu drove the battered car shakily back. Long Xiao closed his eyes and began to ponder how to deal with the giant serpent.
Large pythons were generally thick-skinned and had hard scales. Ordinary swords and sabers would be unable to cut them. If they used firearms, they might accidentally kill the giant snake.
After much thought, Long Xiao decided to try weapons like swords and sabers.
Long Xiao's strength had grown recently. His ability to control objects had extended to a radius of thirty-five meters. Although it was only a five-meter increase, the weight and number of objects he could control had increased significantly.
The more objects controlled, the more mental energy and vital force were consumed. Recently, Long Xiao had found a spiritual energy cultivation technique in the "Dragon Scripture" which allowed for rapid progress.
By the time they returned to the city, it was already bright. Old Hu went home to rest, while Long Xiao and Xiao Ming drove Old Hu's dilapidated Jinbei minivan to start shopping.
First, they purchased a batch of ropes, iron hooks, and steel chisels. The cave entrance was on a steep cliff face, and they would need ropes to get close to it.
For weapons, Long Xiao chose cleavers. Seeing Long Xiao buy a hundred cleavers, Xiao Ming was so happy he almost jumped for joy.
"Brother Long, are you going to play with cleavers too?" Xiao Ming asked excitedly.
Long Xiao nodded. "No matter how high your kung fu is, you still fear a cleaver. I'll learn from you and try playing with cleavers once."
Cleavers could only chop. Perhaps cleavers couldn't cut through the python's scales. Long Xiao decided to get more pointed items, so that if necessary, they could pry open the python's scales before chopping.
Small pointed items couldn't pry open the python's scales, and large ones couldn't fit into the gaps between the scales.
After much deliberation, Long Xiao selected a batch of iron hooks from the hardware store.
They tied five iron hooks together, so that when they hooked something, at least one hook would catch on a scale.
In addition to these, the two bought many other items they thought might be useful. By afternoon, they had a truckload.
To enhance their attack effectiveness, Long Xiao bought a small truck and a batch of plastic buckets, and then bought a quantity of gasoline at a high price from a gas station.
Everything was ready by the time darkness fell. They parked the two vehicles in the courtyard of the inn, and Long Xiao and Xiao Ming rested well for the night.
The next morning, Old Hu reappeared. Without asking what Long Xiao had bought, he set off with the two of them.
This time, they were in a hurry and didn't stop to eat at that restaurant. They drove straight to the riverbank without stopping, and it was almost dark.
Climbing down the cliff using ropes in the dark to confront a giant python was extremely dangerous, so Long Xiao decided to postpone the action until the next day.
This time, Long Xiao and his companions brought tents. Xiao Ming also brought a hot pot and bought a large quantity of food. They planned to stay there for a few days.
Inside the tent, the three of them gathered around the hot pot. Xiao Ming was eating with sweat dripping from his forehead, happily saying that eating like this was more satisfying than eating in a restaurant.
As the three of them were eating and drinking, suddenly, they heard a strange footsteps outside the tent. The footsteps were quick and landed very lightly, so lightly that Old Hu didn't even hear them.
Long Xiao and Xiao Ming suddenly stopped their chopsticks and both looked outside the tent.
"What's wrong? Did you hear someone coming again?" Old Hu asked.
Long Xiao nodded. "This time, it doesn't sound like a person. It's a four-legged animal."
"Is it a wild rabbit? We're eating hot pot, and we don't have any rabbit meat."
Long Xiao shook his head. "It's definitely not a rabbit. This animal should be about the size of a dog."
"I like dog meat too," Old Hu said happily.
Xiao Ming shook his head. "You probably won't get to eat this dog meat. This dog is no ordinary dog."
In ancient times, Western Sichuan was full of oddities and endless marvels. If there was an ice dragon beneath the cliff, it wouldn't be surprising for a strange dog to appear.
Long Xiao looked at Xiao Ming, and Xiao Ming looked at Long Xiao. Xiao Ming said, "Brother Long, if this dog isn't ordinary, let's keep it."
Long Xiao nodded. "It's good to have an extra dog to guard the house. Sometimes animals are more spirited and loyal than people."
The two put down their chopsticks, stood up, and left the tent, quickly disappearing into the dark night.
Old Hu had become accustomed to the way these two acted and their abilities. After they left, Old Hu continued to eat with peace of mind.
Half an hour later, Long Xiao and Xiao Ming returned to the tent, followed by a silver-gray wolf.
The wolf was bruised and battered, with bloodstains on its silver-gray fur, mixed with dirt.
Long Xiao sat down and looked at the silver-gray wolf. "Xiao Ming, what name do you think we should give this silver wolf?"
This was a rare silver wolf. The "Dragon Scripture" recorded that in ancient times, people in China had formed silver wolf legions.
In that ancient great battle, the silver wolf legions achieved remarkable feats. For some reason, they were not recorded in Chinese history. Even that prolonged great war had become a legend that could be told in just a dozen words.