The village chief's precautions were also recorded in his diary, which benefited Ye Tiancheng when he found it.
Ye Tiancheng was satisfied with the information he recorded from the chief's diary, specifically the weaknesses of the "Mountain God," the black snake.
The chief's diary stated that because he had read many books, the chief did not believe in things falling from the sky. Therefore, he was very cautious of the black snake and conducted many experiments in secret, gradually discovering its weaknesses.
Although he paid a small price, the black snake trusted the chief implicitly. It never imagined being manipulated by a mere human, not even a hint of suspicion arose.
The chief discovered that even though the black snake was different from ordinary snakes, possessing magical abilities and strength, the weaknesses of ordinary snakes were still weaknesses for the black snake. However, some of these weaknesses were not as fatal as they were for ordinary snakes.
For instance, the black snake also feared realgar.
If the amount of realgar was small, the black snake would, at most, instinctively feel aversion and might choose to detour, disliking the presence of realgar nearby. However, it wouldn't cause significant harm.
But high concentrations of realgar were different.
Anyone familiar with snakes knows the relationship between snakes and realgar. The chief was also aware of this. He initially experimented with small amounts of realgar, placing it in a sachet worn on his person.
When the black snake first discovered it, it directly expressed its dislike.
However, after the chief mentioned that even dragons feared realgar, the black snake claimed it wasn't afraid, merely disliked it, and that such a thing had no effect on it, so it said no more.
The chief did not fully trust the black snake's words at the time, as the black snake had not been truthful with the chief from the beginning, such as deceiving the chief by claiming to be the dragon god the village worshipped and boasting about being a dragon.
The black snake had indeed exaggerated. Realgar was not entirely without effect on it.
After all, its initial reaction had already revealed this.
Having been tested and provoked by words, the black snake, to prove it wasn't afraid of realgar, and because small amounts of realgar indeed had no effect on it, could not fault others for using it.
The chief seized this opportunity to conduct a second experiment.
During the second experiment, coinciding with the Dragon Boat Festival, the chief brought a jar of high-concentration realgar wine. The jar was tightly sealed, preventing any scent from escaping, and the black snake was completely unaware.
The chief did not present the wine jar directly to the black snake, further ensuring its lack of suspicion.
However, as they were in the same room, the moment the chief opened the wine jar, the black snake was immediately overcome. Ah, no, it was overcome by the fumes and fainted.
The chief experimented and found that after being fainted by the fumes, no matter how he manipulated the black snake, even pinching its vital spot with considerable force, it could not regain consciousness. It remained intoxicated for a full day before gradually waking up.
This incident confirmed that high-concentration realgar wine was indeed effective.
Upon waking, the black snake was naturally furious. However, the chief claimed it was unintentional and reminded the black snake that it had said it wasn't afraid of realgar, leaving the black snake unable to pursue the matter. However, the chief experienced a period of bad luck afterward before gradually recovering.
The chief wrote in his diary that he suspected the black snake's retaliation was a contributing factor to his misfortune.
There were also some verbal and other probing methods.
The chief learned that weaknesses of ordinary snakes, such as the head or the vital spot, were not as fatal to the black snake, but they could still severely injure it, and in serious cases, could be lethal.
However, at the black snake's level, these weaknesses had evolved to some extent, meaning they were not easily breached. They were weaknesses, but the defenses were more robust.
However, the black snake had a new weakness, somewhat akin to a dragon's: it had a spot similar to a dragon's inverted scale that could not be touched. Doing so would surely enrage the black snake, but if breached, it would undoubtedly be a major fatal point for the black snake.
This was interesting but not entirely unexpected.
The black snake's impersonation of the dragon god was not without reason. On one hand, the village itself worshipped a dragon god. On the other hand, how could the black snake not aspire to become a dragon?
Ye Tiancheng finished reading all the diary entries, confirming that nothing was missed. He had basically obtained most of the information he wanted.
Concurrently, the little fox and the fat man, while perusing the village chronicles, had also learned much about the dragon god.
After they had finished reading the village chronicles, Ye Tiancheng began to exchange information with the little fox and the fat man. He first explained everything he had learned about the "Mountain God," the black snake, to them, and then asked them to tell him about the dragon god.
As this village had truly worshipped a dragon god for many years, if the village chronicles were accurate, the worship could be traced back over a thousand years.
The village did not record detailed descriptions of the dragon god's appearance, but villagers who had seen it seemed to know, and indeed, some villagers had seen the dragon god. The chronicles also mentioned the dragon god opening up lakes for the villagers within its water territory. With the careful searching of the little fox and the fat man, they actually found some results regarding the lakes.
Perhaps to protect the dragon god, the villagers of this village truly revered it and did not wish to harm it. Therefore, they did not record much detailed, factual information about the dragon god, including its water territory.
However, even with vague descriptions, some unusual information was revealed.
After cross-referencing and verification from multiple sources, it could at least be confirmed that the dragon god's water territory was located to the southeast of the village, with a high degree of certainty.
While a direction might seem insignificant, obtaining such information was already quite difficult. It was evident that the recorders of the village chronicles had made a great effort to protect the dragon god.
Based on various records in the village chronicles, this dragon god should indeed be a good entity, whether it was a god or not.
At least Ye Tiancheng and the others no longer had to worry about fighting two bosses at once, facing two evil-aligned monsters. Especially since the dragon god had been worshipped for thousands of years, such a powerful ancient monster would be extremely difficult to deal with.
The last similar ancient monster encountered was Guihu Azhi.
When Ye Tiancheng faced Guihu Azhi, he couldn't say he had a complete advantage, as the situation was special then, and Guihu Azhi was in an abnormal state.
Truly defeating Guihu Azhi was not that easy.
This thought alone was headache-inducing, as Ye Tiancheng had undoubtedly greatly offended Guihu Azhi. From Guihu Azhi's demeanor, he was not one to forget grudges, and one day, Ye Tiancheng would inevitably face him again.
In retrospect, he had let a tiger return to the mountain, although there was no other choice.
After all, if one were to investigate thoroughly, Ye Tiancheng had no better options at the time and no confidence that he could truly defeat Guihu Azhi.
Now that it was confirmed the dragon god was not a similar entity, Ye Tiancheng was actually relieved. If he had to establish another enemy like that, for the sake of protecting his wife and children, Ye Tiancheng would have had to consider distancing himself from them again.
After examining all available information, Ye Tiancheng felt much more confident.
Since the black snake did not seem as formidable, Ye Tiancheng was confident he could handle it. With the enemy not being as powerful as imagined, Ye Tiancheng had more options.
As a double safeguard, to prevent the possibility of not finding fragments from the black snake, and ultimately needing to find the dragon god, Ye Tiancheng did not abandon the effort to confirm the dragon god's water territory.
He contacted Nie Chongyang, providing him with a general direction and asking them to continue investigating. There were also other matters that needed to be discussed with Nie Chongyang.
Initially, Ye Tiancheng had not asked Nie Chongyang and his team to come because he was worried about the black snake being too difficult to deal with. However, after reviewing various documents and information, Ye Tiancheng realized that he could consider involving Nie Chongyang and his team.
Ye Tiancheng told Nie Chongyang, "I was worried about the 'Mountain God' being too dangerous, so I didn't call you over. But I've found some things and realized he's not as powerful as I thought. He could be a good opponent for you to practice against. Would you be interested? If so, I can leave him for you."
Nie Chongyang would not refuse such an opportunity.
It was certainly beneficial to have someone who could help resolve issues. However, giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him to fish. The benefits Ye Tiancheng would gain from directly defeating the "Mountain God" were undoubtedly less than the rewards his own people would gain from personally attempting to defeat the "Mountain God" under Ye Tiancheng's protection.
Nie Chongyang's special operations team had only been established for a short time. It was just starting, and their experience in all aspects was still lacking. Having such a training opportunity, while also ensuring a high degree of safety, was extremely rare.
Any leader like Nie Chongyang with a bit of sense would not miss this opportunity.
Therefore, he readily agreed.
Ye Tiancheng then informed Nie Chongyang of all the information regarding the black snake and advised them to prepare thoroughly, preferably with plenty of high-concentration realgar wine, the more the better, to incapacitate the black snake in one go, minimizing its impact and losses.
This was because certain aspects needed attention.
This village was a tourist resort with many innocent tourists. They had to minimize the black snake's lethality to avoid greater harm to innocent people.
Nie Chongyang diligently recorded all this information. However, besides that, he seemed somewhat disappointed.
Nie Chongyang couldn't help but ask Ye Tiancheng, "So, the dragon god worshipped by this village is not actually a dragon, but a large black snake?"
Hearing Nie Chongyang's question, Ye Tiancheng remembered that he had only mentioned dealing with the "Mountain God" and what the Mountain God was, but not its origin or the fact that it had impersonated someone.
Upon reflection, there was no significant harm in telling Nie Chongyang about this matter.
Nie Chongyang was an official, and from a standpoint of neutrality, there was no need to worry about Nie Chongyang and his team harming dragons or acting unfavorably towards them. Therefore, telling Nie Chongyang was acceptable.
Since that was the case, there was no issue in mentioning it.
Ye Tiancheng replied to Nie Chongyang, "There are actually other hidden details to this matter. While we are indeed dealing with the black snake, the dragon god, although I am still unsure if it is truly a dragon, seems to exist. It has merely been impersonated by that large black snake."
Ye Tiancheng said this with uncertainty in his voice over the phone.