Zhou Zishu climbed upwards along the rock wall, sucked in a sudden breath, and leapt two, three zhang higher. That python chased after him in relentless pursuit. Out of the corner of his eye, Zhou Zishu glimpsed that Zhang Chengling had made it to the entrance of the cave and was looking in his direction with a face full of anxiety. Letting go of his worry, he kicked off from the rock wall hard, flipping through the air over to him. His body bent like he had been snapped into two, and he dived headfirst into that narrow, cramped space.

No matter how intricately it had been constructed, that artificial python was still a puppet. It followed him over, but that space was truly too narrow, and its waist--which could even break a sword--was not as flexible as Zhou Zishu's.

There was a "crack" in mid-air. Zhou Zishu landed, rolling to the side once he touched the ground--but he had worried unnecessarily, since that snake had only been shortened by half a segment. The half that was still connected was wedged in the narrow entrance, and its giant tail, wiggling in mid-air, looked slightly comical.

Zhang Chengling instantly sprung at him. “Shifu, you haven’t been injured, have you?”

Zhou Zishu looked at him without saying anything. Zhang Chengling was extremely worried, his eyes blinking. If it weren’t for the fact that his shifu’s authority was too mighty most of the time, Zhang Chengling would have pounced on him and felt him up and down to ensure that he wasn’t missing any parts.

Zhou Zishu sighed, and slapped him on the back of his skull, saying. “Internal injury--and that’s also caused by how you’ve angered me. Follow closely behind me.”

Zhang Chengling bobbed his head, and cautiously followed him into the entrance that the great snake had been guarding.

This was a very narrow segment of corridor with a door ahead of them. Zhou Zishu stopped at the door, stretching out an arm to halt Zhang Chengling in his tracks, and instructed him in a low voice, “Stand close to the wall, to one side.”--In such a narrow space, if there was indeed a hidden mechanism that sprung out once he pushed open the door, it would be truly unavoidable.

Zhou Zishu hesitated for a moment, and to err on the side of caution, he instructed Zhang Chengling again, “Hold your breath.”

Then he nudged open the small door with the greatest caution. The hinges squeaked, dust cascaded, and Zhou Zishu’s entire body tensed, but nothing happened at all.