Chapter 20: Giant Rainforest Python

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Giant Rainforest Python

"Come on, Xiao Fish, you don’t trust me after I’ve been through hell and back for you?"

A playfully sad voice, tinged with mischief, came from another path up the mountain.

To Shi Zhile, it looked like he was coming down the mountain path. But to Jiang Yuxing and the other two, Chuyi seemed to have crawled out of a clump of grass.

Jiang Yu said, "Why are you walking through the grass when there’s a perfectly good path?"

Chuyi turned to look back the way he came, his face a mask of confusion. "But I did come up the path. Is there another one besides this?"

He looked around and pointed. "Aren’t there just two paths? One up, one down!"

Great.

Three groups of people, and each saw a different route up the mountain.

’The game designers must want the team to have internal conflicts!’

Everyone fell silent. It wasn’t that they didn’t believe each other, but that they believed each other *too* much. After all, no one was in the mood for jokes.

Shi Zhile breathed a sigh of relief. ’Looks like I’m not being singled out.’

"There’s a high probability of danger in the fog. We should just head up the mountain first."

Jiang Yuxing was the first to nod. "Alright. We’ll take what looks like the downhill path to you first."

「A quarter of an hour later, the five of them were once again back at their starting point.」

Shi Zhile pointed to a rock in the center. "I put this rock here. The impression in the mud where the stone basin was is still visible."

Wang Peng shone his torch on the ground and, sure enough, he saw the mark.

"Looks like we picked the wrong path."

Chuyi looked toward the only uphill path he could see, then shamelessly latched onto Jiang Yu’s arm. "Wifey, let’s take this one."

The group followed him, but soon, they had once again circled back to the start.

With only one path left, they walked in silence. And still, they ended up back where they started.

The sky began to brighten, though it remained overcast.

As the group gathered to discuss their next move, a rustling sound drifted up from down the mountain. Faintly, they could also hear the screams of other people.

The group was instantly on guard.

The small snake on her wrist suddenly reared up, flicking its tongue uneasily.

Wang Peng jumped in fright. "Sister Zhile, you keep a snake?"

"I found it on the path. Listen. Doesn’t that sound like a body dragging across the ground?"

Jiang Yuxing’s eyes narrowed for a moment. When he opened them again, his expression was grim. He placed a hand on Shi Zhile’s shoulder, signaling for everyone to be quiet.

"Put out the torches. It’s a giant python. We can’t afford to mess with it."

The scraping sound grew louder, accompanied by a dragging noise from the tall grass. A damp, bloody stench filled the air.

The stench grew stronger. The giant python seemed to be following a scent, slowly closing in on their position.

Everyone’s heart was in their throat. The area they were in was relatively flat, with no good places to hide.

To hide, they would have to enter the forest, but a thick fog had now risen among the trees. Getting lost in there would be even more dangerous.

Jiang Yuxing whispered, "Get into the trees. We’ll wait and see what happens."

With that, he pulled Shi Zhile toward a short, bushy tree.

Trees with dense foliage were easier to climb and offered better concealment.

The two of them hid in one tree, while Wang Peng and the other two spread out among the others.

While they were hiding, Shi Zhile took out two axes and handed one to Jiang Yuxing.

Jiang Yuxing took it. A panel appeared, and he glanced at it in surprise.

’She’s already reached Level Two. Her Passive Skills are really something.’

The scraping sound was no longer slow; it became rapid and violent.

At the edge of the thick fog, a pair of enormous, vertically-slitted pupils glowing with green light appeared.

It slithered around a massive tree, its body twisting and sliding through the dense woods. Branches and rubble flew, and the ground trembled slightly.

The snake’s head was about to pass them by. Just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, it abruptly reared up and whipped its head back around.

Its cold, slitted eyes scanned the trees. Its tongue flickered manically. Before anyone could react, the python’s tail swept toward them.

"Jump!"

At almost the exact same moment, everyone leaped from the trees.

Tree trunks snapped, and the spots struck by the python’s tail were instantly obliterated into splinters.

Shi Zhile’s pupils contracted. She violently yanked the person beside her, diving to the side. At almost the same instant, the python’s massive, open maw descended from above, its sharp, stinking fangs gouging a hole in the earth.

Having missed, the python’s tail whipped around again, slamming down on the group from above.

They scattered, and the tail smashed into the ground, carving out a deep trench.

Shi Zhile was gasping for breath, a cut on her hand from the flying debris bleeding profusely. The others had also suffered various scrapes and cuts. Spurred on by the scent of blood, the python instantly reared up.

Its eyes looked down on them, as if selecting its next meal.

A sharp dagger appeared in Wang Peng’s hand, and he lunged, stabbing at the snake’s body.

"If it’s not going to leave us alone, then we have to fight!"

The dagger struck the snake’s scales, sending up a shower of sparks, but it failed to even pierce the skin.

Wang Peng’s attack enraged the python. It twisted its body, flinging him away to crash through two trees.

It lowered its head and charged, intent on running them all down.

Seizing the opportunity as she dodged, Shi Zhile flung the axe in her hand at its underbelly.

The axe sank into its flesh and passed clean through. Blood sprayed as the python shrieked in pain, its body thrashing wildly.

Trees as thick as water buckets were snapped in half. The five of them had to dodge not only the python but also the falling timber. The scene was one of utter chaos.

The python was utterly furious. Ignoring the pain, it lifted the upper half of its body into the air and brought it crashing down on them.

They were surrounded by splintered wood with nowhere to retreat. Jiang Yuxing dodged around the python’s head, used its body as a springboard to leap up, and slammed his axe into its vital spot.

The snake’s head thrashed violently from the pain, flinging Jiang Yuxing into the air. An instant later, the axe came loose, and he plummeted to the ground along with it.

The tremendous impact made him spit out a mouthful of blood, and his Life Value plummeted.

Seeing its prey grievously injured, the snake’s head lunged again. At the critical moment, Chuyi shoved Jiang Yu and Shi Zhile aside, dodged the attack with his axe raised, and brought it down on the same wound at the snake’s vital spot.

Blood gushed out, and Chuyi was sent flying.

The python crashed to the ground. The axe was buried deep in its flesh, and as its massive body continued to writhe, the weapon disappeared completely into the wound.

Its thrashing also successfully kept everyone at bay.

Blood continued to seep from the wound, but for a creature of its immense size, the loss was a mere drop in the bucket.

It wasn’t dead. Its enormous eyes were fixed on them.

The Green Snake on Shi Zhile’s wrist stirred. It silently flicked its tongue, licking the blood from the back of her hand.

Unseen by anyone, its eyes turned from black to red, and it bared a set of tiny fangs at the giant python.

The giant python swayed slightly, then turned and plunged back into the forest.

It had retreated, but not entirely. Its upper body was hidden in the fog, while its lower body and tail remained fully exposed to their view.

It was waiting. Waiting for the pain to subside so it could gather its strength and strike again.

They had to get out of there. If they were encircled by the python’s massive body, death wouldn’t be far off.

Shi Zhile helped the three men to their feet and hastily retrieved her own axe.

Wielding a dagger, Jiang Yu stood guard beside them. Of the five, she was the least injured.

"This is our chance. Let’s go, now!"