Chapter 691 - 690: Meddling

Chapter 691: Chapter 690: Meddling

Yan Feifan, Wang Chuan, and the others followed the cries for help and rushed into a sparse grove of trees, where they saw a scene that made them gasp.

A man of about thirty was jumping and hopping around in a panic, endlessly crying "Help!"

Three or four meters away from the man stood a woman with heavy makeup. She was wearing sneakers, capri pants, and a tight T-shirt, with long, curly, wine-red hair and a small bag slung over her shoulder.

The woman’s face was filled with terror, and she stood there, her body rigid, because a snake was coiled around her left shoulder.

Five or six meters away, two other young tourists, likely a couple, were actually holding up their phones and filming.

As soon as he arrived, Yan Feifan got a clear look at the snake on the woman’s shoulder.

The snake’s body had alternating black and white bands, with the white ones being narrower, and its tail was long and thin.

Yan Feifan recognized it at once.

’Holy hell, this is the infamous Silver Ring Snake! It’s the most lethally venomous snake species in China.’

The Silver Ring Snake’s venom is extremely potent, containing two neurotoxins: alpha- and beta-bungarotoxin.

When a victim is bitten, they don’t feel any pain. Instead, they feel sleepy, and the area around the bite goes numb.

As the venom spreads rapidly, the toxins affect the neuromuscular junction, blocking nerve transmission pathways. This prevents striated muscles from contracting properly, leading to respiratory paralysis.

Typically, after being bitten by a Silver Ring Snake, a victim will die from respiratory paralysis within tens of minutes to a few hours.

The mortality rate for Silver Ring Snake bites is extremely high, exceeding ninety percent without prompt and specific treatment.

Even with neurotoxic antivenom available for treatment today, it’s still extremely dangerous, and the outcome is a toss-up.

The relatively good news is that although the Silver Ring Snake is widely distributed in China, it has a relatively mild temperament and rarely bites unless provoked.

Incidents of Silver Ring Snake bites are rare in China.

However, when a Silver Ring Snake is laying or incubating eggs, or when it is startled, it may suddenly attack and bite.

Yan Feifan noticed that this Silver Ring Snake was slithering slowly on the woman’s shoulder and, for the moment, showed no intention of striking.

He pointed at the man who was still shouting and ordered in a low voice, "You! Shut up and stay quiet!"

Perhaps momentarily stunned by Yan Feifan’s calm and sharp demeanor, the man stopped shouting and jumping.

"Chuan, Sis, Su Ye, you all stay here and watch. Let me handle this!"

As he said this, Yan Feifan slowly walked toward the woman.

Seeing this, Duan Yu quickly moved to stop Yan Feifan, but Wang Chuan reached out and held him back.

"It’s just a snake. Feifan can handle it."

Duan Yu said urgently, "But that’s a Silver Ring Snake! It’s highly venomous! What if..."

Wang Chuan cut him off. "No matter how potent the venom is, it has to bite him first. With how nimble Feifan’s hands are, it won’t get the chance."

"If you go over there, you’ll only interfere..."

While the two were talking, Yan Feifan had already tiptoed to a spot two meters in front of the woman.

"Don’t move. Imagine you’re a tree!"

The woman wanted to nod in response to Yan Feifan’s soft instruction, but then she remembered what he’d said and simply blinked her eyes instead.

Yan Feifan took another step...

Just then, a loud ringtone suddenly blared from the small bag slung over the woman’s shoulder.

The Silver Ring Snake, which had been slithering slowly on the woman’s shoulder, froze...

A moment later, the startled Silver Ring Snake jerked its head up, opened its mouth wide, and lunged for the woman’s neck...

At that very moment, Yan Feifan moved.

He pushed off his rear left foot with sudden force, and his right leg, which he had lifted and was about to set down, instead shot forward in a massive lunge.

At the same time, Yan Feifan’s right hand shot out like a bolt of lightning...

...and with swift, ruthless precision, he grabbed the snake right behind its head, yanking it off the woman’s shoulder.

Less than a second passed between the ringtone sounding and Yan Feifan springing into action.

Yan Ziruo, whose heart had been in her throat and who hadn’t dared to blink, only saw her brother’s shadow flash by.

By the time she processed what had happened, she saw Duan Yu, Feng Jian, and Wang Chuan rush forward, and she hurried after them.

Yan Ziruo ran to her brother’s side and saw the snake’s body coiled tightly around his right arm.

Although the snake’s head was gaping wide, looking fierce and terrifying, her brother had it gripped tightly just behind the head.

Seeing that her brother hadn’t been bitten, Yan Ziruo let out a long sigh of relief, but then her anger flared.

"Feifan, why do you always have to be the hero? Did it have to be you? Is everyone else less capable than you?"

Duan Yu also spoke, his tone a mix of blame and disappointment. "Mr. Yan, my job is to ensure your personal safety."

"When you do this, it makes me look bad."

Feng Jian added awkwardly, "Mr. Yan, you could have absolutely let us handle something like this."

Facing the concerned and reproachful looks from his sister, Yu Suye, Duan Yu, and the others, Yan Feifan quickly explained, "This wasn’t me being reckless or impulsive, or having some sudden bout of heroism."

"The main reason is that I was absolutely confident."

"It’s just catching a snake with my bare hands. It’s simple. I’m confident my reaction speed is definitely faster than its strike."

"Since I was sure I could do it, there was no need to let you guys take the risk."

"What if there had been an accident?" Yan Ziruo retorted.

Yan Feifan said smugly, "Even if there had been an accident, I was confident I could handle it."

"Just like when the phone suddenly rang..."

Suddenly seeing his sister raise her hand, Yan Feifan quickly ducked behind Yu Suye.

Just then, cries of "OW, OW!" rang out.

Everyone looked toward the sound and saw the rescued woman punching and kicking the man who had just been crying for help.

The man was dodging back and forth in a small space, crying out in pain.

Seeing this, Yan Feifan and Wang Chuan stepped forward and separated them.

"My savior, I’ll thank you properly for saving my life in a moment..."

The woman shouted indignantly, "That phone call just now... it was from this bastard!"

"He was trying to get me killed!"

"I’m going to beat him to death!"

The man quickly explained, "Honey, let me explain! I was trying to call the police, but I was in such a panic that I hit the wrong button and dialed your number by mistake."

"I was just so nervous, I didn’t mean to..."

’Although the explanation was somewhat plausible, Yan Feifan felt it was mostly illogical.’

’After dialing the wrong number, you can just press cancel to end the call.’

’After he had grabbed the snake’s head, he’d heard the phone ring for another two or three seconds before it stopped.’

’Was he really so panicked and scared stupid that he couldn’t react?’

Yan Feifan looked at the woman and asked, "How did this venomous snake get on you?"

The woman said, with lingering fear, "This is embarrassing, but my husband and I saw this spot was secluded, so we thought we’d get a little intimate."

"We’d just started kissing when, out of nowhere, this snake fell right on my head."

"That bastard just abandoned me and ran..."

At this, the woman’s anger flared up again, and she waved her fists, trying to rush over and hit her husband.

However, Yan Ziruo and Yu Suye held her back.

Yan Feifan glanced at the man’s still-panicked expression, then at the snake head in his hand, and said, "This is a scenic area, and an island surrounded by water, no less."

"Normally, the management staff would conduct regular patrols and inspections. They wouldn’t let a deadly venomous snake like this show up here."

"Perhaps this venomous snake was brought here by someone?"

Yan Feifan then said to the woman, as if joking, "You sure are unlucky."

"For such a rare venomous snake to just so happen to fall on your head... With your kind of luck, you should have bought a hefty life and accident insurance policy!"

The woman gave a dry laugh and said, "To be honest with you, my savior, I actually do have a multi-million..."

The woman abruptly stopped talking.

A moment later, her expression turned terrifying as her gaze shot toward her husband.

"Let me ask you, have you been gambling on sports again?"

The man hesitated for a moment before quickly replying, "No, no! I quit. I really quit."

The woman took her phone out of her shoulder bag and said coldly, "I still have those guys’ numbers."

"I’ll give them a call and find out how much more you owe..."

As she said this, the woman started to dial a number.

"Honey, you have to believe me! I really quit..."

The man anxiously tried to defend himself as he walked toward his wife, but Duan Yu blocked him with an outstretched arm.

Suddenly, the man changed direction and rushed toward Yan Feifan...

"I’ll teach you to meddle!"