Chapter 126: Han Shizhong Battles the Giant Python

"Your Majesty, you wish to see our sect leader?" Zhang Yu looked at Zhao Huan with a puzzled expression.

Zhao Huan nodded and said, "Do not worry, I harbor no ill intent. I am prepared to offer your Taoist school an opportunity—a chance to become the preeminent faith of the realm."

Zhang Yu was bewildered; such concepts had never crossed her mind before.

"Ever since Xuanzang traveled west to retrieve the scriptures during the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism has flourished across our Central Plains. Has our Taoist school never considered expanding our temples to India, the Great食 (Dashi), or even as far as Rome?" Zhao Huan asked.

In truth, Taoism was divided into inner and outer sects. Much like Buddhism, the inner sect focused on preaching Taoist doctrines and spreading its philosophy, while the outer sect specialized in martial arts, walking the world to uphold justice and eliminate tyranny.

Zhang Yu was essentially an outer sect disciple. She was not well-versed in the propagation of Taoist philosophy, but the vision Zhao Huan painted stirred her heart.

"Your Majesty, I shall request leave to go and present this matter to Liang Fengying, our eighteenth-generation sect leader. I am certain that once she hears this, she will be delighted," Zhang Yu said, her voice filled with excitement.

It was the first time Zhao Huan had seen the girl so joyful, and he couldn't help but tease her: "Request denied. If you leave, who will guarantee my safety?"

Hearing that her request was refused, Zhang Yu’s face stiffened involuntarily, a flicker of grievance in her eyes. However, upon catching the glint of amusement in Zhao Huan’s smile, she realized he was merely playing with her. She offered a bow of farewell and slipped away quietly.

Standing in his study, Zhao Huan gazed at the map before him, feeling as though time was slipping through his fingers.

"It has been over two months," he murmured to himself. "You troublemaker, you should have reached your destination by now, shouldn't you?"

Far away in the north, a man with a fierce countenance stood shirtless on the deck of a ship, brandishing a gold-chased tiger-head spear. In his hands, the weapon seemed alive, every thrust and parry imbued with an unstoppable momentum.

"Achoo!" the man suddenly sneezed.

"My dear, I told you to put on your clothes before practicing, but you wouldn't listen. Even though it is midsummer, these northern lands are not like our home in the south. You must not be careless." A woman of heroic bearing emerged from the cabin. Seeing him sneeze, she hurried over with his tunic.

"How long has it been since we set sail?" The man paid no heed, tossing the garment over his shoulders, his bronze skin glistening with a cold sheen under the sun.

"It has been over two months," the woman replied softly.

"So long already. I wonder how things are faring with His Majesty?" The man was none other than Han Shizhong, whom Zhao Huan had dispatched by sea two months prior to launch a surprise attack on Shangjing, the capital of the Jin Kingdom.

"His Majesty is a genius of the age; he will surely hold off the Jin army’s force of three hundred thousand. You need not worry, my love. But we are now deep within enemy territory, so we must exercise even greater caution," counseled Liang Hongyu, Han Shizhong's wife.

Han Shizhong nodded and said to her, "His Majesty is benevolent to have allowed you to join this campaign. We must give our all to repay his imperial grace."

Liang Hongyu nodded, looking at the man before her with deep admiration. It was hard to imagine that Han Shizhong, once a common street brawler, had risen to become a general commanding sixty thousand troops.

After she had joined him, Liang Hongyu had developed her own martial prowess, necessitated by the constant trouble Han Shizhong’s brawls brought upon them from local thugs.

In his youth, Han Shizhong had been quite unsightly, his head covered in sores, causing people to instinctively avoid him. It was rumored that one day, a giant python appeared in the river outside his hometown.

The beast would emerge frequently to bite passersby, eventually rendering the area too dangerous for anyone to traverse.

Since the river was the town's only source of water, the residents were forced to petition the local authorities for help. However, the official runners sent to hunt the snake returned empty-handed, having lost several men in the process. Consequently, the authorities abandoned the river to the serpent, and it became a forbidden zone for the townsfolk.

Upon hearing this, Han Shizhong—perhaps emboldened by the heavy drinking he had engaged in that day—stumbled toward the riverbank.

"You wicked beast! Come out and meet your death!" he roared at the water.

The python, having gone hungry for days due to the lack of prey, saw a man practically delivering himself as a meal and lunged from the river without a second invitation.

Clutching a heavy axe, Han Shizhong engaged the serpent, the commotion drawing the attention of the nearby villagers.

Han Shizhong was truly bold; he swung his heavy axe with such ferocity that it created a wall of steel. Every time the python lunged with its maw, he would beat it back with a strike of the axe.

After being struck several times, the serpent’s ferocity was fully ignited. With a hiss of rage, it disregarded its own safety and coiled itself around Han Shizhong.

*Thud!* The axe bit into the python’s hide, but failed to sever it. Stung with pain, the beast grew even more savage, wrapping itself tightly around Han Shizhong until he looked like a serpent-skinned parcel. Seeing the danger, Han Shizhong did not surrender. He tried to reclaim his axe, but it was too late; the python had bound his entire body, leaving only his head and hands exposed.

*Hiss!* The python opened its blood-red maw, preparing to swallow Han Shizhong’s head.

Cold sweat drenched Han Shizhong. As the jaws descended, he did not abandon hope. He thrust his hands forward, grabbing the upper and lower halves of the snake's mouth.

Man and beast entered a stalemate. The python strained to snap its jaws shut and crush his skull, while Han Shizhong exerted every ounce of his strength to pry the mouth open, refusing to let the creature bite him.

Realizing it could not crush him with its jaws, the clever beast began to constrict its body, attempting to crush the life out of him through sheer pressure.

Han Shizhong immediately felt the air leaving his lungs.