Chapter 216: Cobra Under Attack!

Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Cobra Under Attack!

Now that Zhang Yun had this Experience, his body seemed much more prone to restlessness. Just thinking about Xiuxun brought his mind back to the time she fell into the water and he had to pull her up. Of course, the restlessness could also be because he had absorbed too much Energy from the coffin last night.

He was just pondering whether to pretend to go ashore and stage a coincidental encounter, but he quickly realized the approaching footsteps sounded wrong. As they drew nearer, he could clearly hear that the newcomer was likely a woman, but her tread was much heavier than Xiuxun’s.

As soon as he realized this, Zhang Yun was secretly surprised. In the past, just hearing footsteps from a distance would have been impressive, and identifying someone required him to be very familiar with them. Now, he could naturally distinguish the weight of someone’s steps?

"Zhang Yun! You really are here!"

"Huh?" Hearing the shout, Zhang Yun looked over and saw a tank... uh, a woman who was a bit more than just pleasantly plump, arriving at the shore.

"It’s me, Li Cuicui from Wa Village! We went to the same elementary and middle schools back in the day."

"Ha, hello."

Zhang Yun had absolutely no impression of her. Li Cuicui? Looking at her, it didn’t seem like she was just passing by coincidentally. He wondered if she had specifically come to ambush him.

"I heard you often guard the fish here, so I’ve been coming over to take a look these past few days. I want to buy some fish from you!" Li Cuicui crouched down on the bank, smiling brightly at Zhang Yun in the water.

Zhang Yun felt a bit disadvantaged in this position... He sank a little deeper, leaving only his head exposed.

"I’ve already sold all the big fish here, so I don’t have anything suitable at the moment. There are people selling fish in your village too!"

Giving a perfunctory reply, Zhang Yun swam toward the middle of the pond, feeling that Li Cuicui had ulterior motives that had nothing to do with fish.

"Brother Yun, I heard you don’t have a girlfriend yet? Are you going on blind dates? With your qualifications, you shouldn’t need to, right?"

"Uh... I already have a girlfriend," Zhang Yun forced a smile.

Li Cuicui burst into laughter on the shore. "Brother Yun, are you rejecting me? Did you think I was going to recommend myself? You’re wrong! I want to introduce you to my younger sister. She’s younger and prettier than me, and she even went to college. She’s a perfect match for you! Come on up, I’ll show you her picture! We can even video call her right now!"

"It’s not convenient for me right now. You should go back first," Zhang Yun said, not even bothering to offer a polite excuse to meet some other time.

"Then let’s add each other on WeChat first. What’s your phone number?" Completely oblivious to his reluctance, Li Cuicui proactively took out her phone. It looked like she even wanted to take a picture of Zhang Yun swimming.

Getting a little annoyed, Zhang Yun simply dove underwater, pretending not to have heard her.

"These are your clothes, huh? Why are they so dirty? I’ll take them and wash them for you!"

Faintly hearing this from underwater, Zhang Yun popped his head out to look. Li Cuicui had scooped up his clothes in her arms and was already running away, her heavy footsteps going THUD THUD THUD.

He thought, "WTF? Stealing my clothes in broad daylight? Did she think she was Niu Lang and I was Zhi Nv?"

Zhang Yun swam toward the bank and listened to Li Cuicui’s footsteps. After confirming she wasn’t hiding behind the bushes waiting for him, he quickly climbed ashore and dashed to the small wooden cabin.

This was a bit much... The rumor going around was that he only had a million yuan anyway, which wasn’t even enough to buy a large apartment in the city. Was there really a need to be this enthusiastic?

However, considering her sheer tonnage, she really had no choice but to be proactive. This supposedly young and pretty sister was definitely a sham.

"Good thing I came prepared!"

Last night, when he was organizing the Peach Blossom Spring Space, he had brought a Storage Box inside and prepared a few extra sets of casual clothes like T-shirts and shorts. He simply took out a set and put it on.

The only slight regret was that he hadn’t prepared any underwear... He would just have to enjoy the breeze.

THUD THUD THUD!

The footsteps were coming back!

It seemed Li Cuicui hadn’t gone far. She had deliberately pretended to leave, planning to return once he came ashore, but she hadn’t expected Zhang Yun to be so fast.

Zhang Yun absolutely did not want to see her! She wanted to take his dirty clothes? Then let her take them. He had worn them down into a tomb and rolled around in a graveyard, anyway.

Grabbing his hoe, Zhang Yun beat her to the punch and headed into the mountains. He could still faintly hear Li Cuicui calling out to the pond with a silly grin on her face.

The ginseng matter was very important—it involved an order worth tens of millions and potentially even more clients in the future. However, the Fufeng Grass issue was far more urgent, as it concerned his dad’s headaches!

Zhang Yun was quite familiar with the ginseng area on Bijia Mountain. The wild seedlings had no commercial value and wouldn’t be recklessly plucked by anyone, so he could go looking for them at any time. But when it came to this Fufeng Grass, he didn’t have a single clue.

The thought that Li Cuicui might follow the mountain path to find him after failing to ambush him left Zhang Yun feeling a bit helpless. He decided to simply walk further into the deep mountains to search. He refused to believe that a "light tank" like her could hike very far up the mountain trails.

Fufeng Grass... Zhang Yun searched again and again. He had thought it would be easy to find, but after several hours, he hadn’t even seen a single shadow of it! Furthermore, because he was unfamiliar with it and terrified of missing it, he observed everything so carefully along the way that his eyes ached.

By noon, the sun was glaring, and Zhang Yun had gone deep into the mountains. He felt that such an aimless search wasn’t going to work, so he carefully studied Zhang Lifeng’s description of the Fufeng Grass’s habits once more.

HISS... HISS...

Zhang Yun suddenly heard a faint sound. In the past, he might not have noticed it, but with his now acute hearing, he immediately detected the noise and quickly analyzed it further.

A snake?

He immediately looked around, and upon seeing what it was, he instantly froze, not daring to move his head.

Zhang Yun had been standing under the shade of a tree looking at his phone. Unbeknownst to him, a large snake had silently slithered over. It was currently coiled on a nearby branch, less than half a meter away from his head. He didn’t dare to move because this was a venomous snake. Its head was shaped like a spoon—locally known as a "rice spoon head," but scientifically known as a cobra!

The sound he had just heard was the noise of it flicking its tongue.

Zhang Yun’s immobility was out of instinctive fear. Since childhood, everyone had always told him to be careful of venomous snakes. Now that a massive snake, possibly three meters long, had appeared right next to him, he was naturally tense.

But he quickly snapped out of it, realizing he didn’t need to be afraid of it!

The last time he was bitten by a small venomous snake, he had clearly felt the effects of the poison. It was Xiuxun who had helped cut open the wound and squeeze out the toxic blood. But now, he had consumed more of the Mysterious Petal and absorbed a massive amount of Spiritual Qi from Ancient Artifacts. He shouldn’t be afraid of its venom!

Yesterday, when Qi Luo was hit by a Poison Needle, the Mysterious Petal was able to clear it; it just needed a little time. Without the worry of the venom, a mere bite was nothing. He might even be able to catch it alive!

"Easy now, don’t move! Let’s see if I can catch you. Hmm... am I supposed to grab it by its seven inches?"

Muttering to himself, Zhang Yun slowly raised his hand.

The cobra had originally coiled over to launch a sneak attack. Now, finding that its prey wasn’t afraid and even seemed to be taking the initiative, it was actually a bit bewildered.

HISS...

Watching it flick its tongue, its spoon-like head larger than a fist and its body as thick as an arm, slickly coiled on the branch, Zhang Yun still felt a chill run down his spine.

Never mind catching it alive—safety first!

As if sensing Zhang Yun’s intention to give up, the cobra seized the opportunity and lunged straight at his face! If it managed to bite him, his entire nose would probably be torn to shreds.

Zhang Yun’s decision not to try catching it alive didn’t mean he was going to run away. Instead, he ducked into his Personal Space and retrieved both the Blood Demon Blade and a longsword!

The cobra’s body was still coiled on the branch as its head darted toward Zhang Yun’s face, only to hit empty air. Its target had simply vanished, leaving the snake utterly bewildered, unsure whether it should stay on the branch or retreat.

Right then, Zhang Yun reappeared!

Snakes were incredibly agile and blazingly fast. Seeing its target reappear, the cobra—despite the situation being far beyond its comprehension—rapidly attacked out of pure instinct!

Zhang Yun was already prepared, and both his hands struck out swiftly and simultaneously!

His left hand swung the longsword in a wide arc, cleaving toward the snake’s body on the branch. Being several meters long and coiled up, it should be easy enough to hack into. In his right hand, the Blood Demon Blade, being shorter and more nimble, slashed straight at the lunging snake head!

The cobra was indeed fast, but the current Zhang Yun was equally fast!

He couldn’t fully divide his attention. Zhang Yun’s main focus was on the highly venomous head right in front of him, leaving his left hand somewhat uncoordinated. Although the longsword chopped onto the branch, it seemed to glance off the slippery snakeskin, failing to sever its body as expected.

However, the Blood Demon Blade was far sharper. Coupled with the shorter distance and the superior dexterity of his right hand, he was able to instantly adjust his angle even when the snakeskin caused a slight slip. Applying optimal force, he sliced directly into the snake about a foot below its head.

The cobra opened its massive maw as if trying to swallow Zhang Yun whole, looking both disgusting and terrifying.

Afraid of getting venom sprayed in his eyes, Zhang Yun immediately dodged to the side the moment the Blood Demon Blade hit its mark, pulling the blade forcefully outward. In an instant, the dagger sliced several more inches through the flesh.

This wasn’t enough to kill the cobra. The severe injury only provoked its ferocity. It frantically retracted its head, loosened its coils from the branch, and launched itself off like a spring, crashing into the tall grass.

"Don’t run!" Zhang Yun pounced right after it, attacking simultaneously with both sword and blade!

THWACK!

The Blood Demon Blade plunged into the grass. This time, the longsword struck the snake’s body, but the creature was simply too slippery. Deflecting the force of the blow, the sword failed to cut the snake in two, only tearing off a strip of skin as the cobra thrashed and made its escape.

The fact that he hadn’t finished it off after all that left Zhang Yun feeling somewhat indignant. Using both hands and feet, he scrambled up and chased it right into the brush.

If it had been a small snake like last time, easily hiding under grass or rocks, finding it would have been difficult. But this snake was several meters long. No matter how fast it moved or how much it slithered, it made a huge commotion. Furthermore, with Zhang Yun hacking from behind with his longsword, it didn’t dare stop to hide.

The chase quickly brought them to a moss-covered cliff face. Stripped of the tall grass’s cover, the snake became much more conspicuous, and scaling a sheer cliff was naturally far harder than slithering through underbrush or branches.

CLANG!

Just as the longsword glanced off the snake once again and struck stone, Zhang Yun successfully plunged the Blood Demon Blade deep into the cobra’s body!

The cobra thrashed wildly, frantically whipping its tail and spitting venom. But because Zhang Yun was positioned behind it, he remained completely unaffected. Aside from firmly gripping the Blood Demon Blade with his right hand to maintain control, he also used the longsword in his left hand to pin its head down.

Zhang Yun felt the thrashing tail wrap around his waist, immediately constricting. However, by the time it completed its second loop, it went limp. After all, the Blood Demon Blade could absorb blood, and it was rapidly draining away the beast’s Energy.