Zhou Qinglan screamed, which startled Sheng Xiping so much that his heart skipped a beat.
"Qinglan, what's wrong?" Sheng Xiping called out as he ran in the direction Zhou Qinglan had just gone.
"Snake, snake, what a huge snake!"
Over there, Zhou Qinglan's voice trembled violently, and she looked like she was about to cry.
When Sheng Xiping walked around the two big trees and saw the scene in front of him, he was also startled.
Two meters away from Zhou Qinglan, there was a tree stump that was as tall as a person and thicker than a millstone.
A large snake was coiled on the tree stump. The snake was about as thick as Sheng Xiping's wrist, and its coiled body looked to be about ten feet long.
The snake's body was covered in segmented patterns; its tail was still on the tree stump, while its head and half of its body were suspended in the air.
The snake had its mouth wide open, its bright red tongue waving incessantly, making a hissing sound.
The snake's head stopped more than half a meter away from Zhou Qinglan, taunting her.
As the giant snake's scarlet maw drew ever closer to Zhou Qinglan, she was so frightened that her limbs went weak and she was unable to move.
Sheng Xiping didn't care about anything else. He pulled out the short knife tied to his leg, and with a flick of his wrist, he flung the knife out instantly.
Sure enough, Sheng Xiping's swing was incredibly accurate, the short knife aimed straight for the snake's vital spot.
The short knife was incredibly sharp and pierced directly into the snake's vital spot.
A spray of foul-smelling blood gushed out, and the giant snake instantly fell from the tree stump to the ground.
"Qinglan." Sheng Xiping had already arrived in front of Zhou Qinglan and pulled her into his arms.
"Don't be afraid, the giant snake is already dead."
"Petting its fur won't scare you; tugging its ear might startle you for a bit, but don't be afraid, don't be afraid."
Local elders often use this kind of talk with frightened children; Sheng Xiping is just trying to coax Zhou Qinglan like a child.
Zhou Qinglan was in no mood to care about such things at this moment.
She was terrified, trembling all over, and clung to Sheng Xiping in his arms, bursting into tears.
"I just turned around and saw a snake that was huge, with its mouth wide open, trying to bite me. It scared me to death."
Where had an eighteen-year-old city girl ever seen such a large snake?
Having just experienced such a dangerous situation, it's only natural to feel panicked and afraid.
Sheng Xiping put one arm around Zhou Qinglan's shoulder and gently patted her back with the other.
"Yes, yes, I know, I know everything. I'm here, so don't be afraid."
He miscalculated; this never happened in his previous life. Sheng Xiping never expected to encounter such a large snake.
With Sheng Xiping's gentle comforting words, Zhou Qinglan gradually calmed down.
After calming down a bit, Zhou Qinglan realized that she was in Sheng Xiping's arms.
Zhou Qinglan's face flushed red instantly, and she frantically tried to push Sheng Xiping away.
Sheng Xiping also noticed Zhou Qinglan's embarrassed and awkward appearance, so he went along with it and released the girl from his arms.
"Come here, stand here and don't move. I'm going to go take a look at that snake."
As he spoke, Sheng Xiping strode toward the dead snake on the ground.
"Huh? Why would we still need this thing? It's terrifying."
Zhou Qinglan's voice was still trembling as she spoke, indicating that she was quite frightened.
"This snake is non-venomous, and its meat is exceptionally delicious; it makes a wonderful soup."
Sheng Xiping walked up and took a closer look. The snake's head and body were only connected by a little bit of skin and flesh, and it was already dead.
Sheng Xiping didn't dare to be careless. He didn't touch the snake, but went over and picked up his short knife first.
He chopped a stick with a dagger and then used the stick to nudge the snake's head.
It's no wonder he's overly cautious; there's a story of someone who killed a snake, thought it was dead, kicked its head, and got bitten.
Sheng Xiping poked the snake several times with a stick, but it didn't move at all; it seemed to be completely dead.
Sheng Xiping was relieved and went over to cut open the snake's belly, taking out the snake's gall bladder.
The snake was big, and its courage was also huge, almost as big as an egg.
Sheng Xiping used the white cloth he used to wrap dry rations to wrap the snake gallbladder and put it away.
They were on the mountain, and it would be difficult to bring the snakeskin back now that they had peeled it off.
So Sheng Xiping peeled off some elm bark from the side, only keeping the soft and firm inner layer.
They coiled the large snake from tail to head, bound it with elm bark, and tied it to a stick, intending to carry it away.
This snake is no small creature; it must weigh at least ten kilograms. I wonder how many years it has lived.
"Let's go find Chen Weiguo and the others."
We dug up a whole bag of gastrodia elata and even caught such a huge snake. This trip into the mountains was quite fruitful.
Sheng Xiping wasn't the greedy type, and he planned to stop there for today.
Of course, if Chen Weiguo and the others didn't want to leave so early, he could only accompany them a little further in.
At this moment, Zhou Qinglan absolutely idolized Sheng Xiping like a hero. She listened to whatever Sheng Xiping said without question.
So Zhou Qinglan took the bag and carried it herself.
Sheng Xiping carried the large bunch of snakes, and the two of them walked towards Chen Weiguo, one in front of the other.
After taking a couple of steps, Sheng Xiping seemed to remember something and looked back at the terrain and the surrounding area.
"What's wrong? Is something the problem?"
When Zhou Qinglan saw Sheng Xiping stop after taking two steps, she thought something had happened again and hurriedly asked.
Sheng Xiping shook his head. "It's nothing. I was just wondering why this giant snake would appear here?"
In those legends, wherever there is treasure, there will be strange birds and beasts guarding it.
Such a large snake is extremely rare. Could it be guarding something here?
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