This time, when they came up the mountain to find the snake den, the village brought all the snake-fighting medicines they had.
But bringing these was far from enough, because they didn't know how deep the cave was, or if there were any of the pythons that had appeared in the village before. Everyone had to take these uncertainties into account.
Yunqi also took the opportunity to exchange many things, including the last grenade stored in his space, some medicine powder, and snake nemesis, which were exchanged with some items in the large bag he brought.
Seeing large bags of realgar powder and sulfur powder appear between the two of them, and judging from Yun Qi's expression, he seemed to want to keep taking more out.
Si Cheng held her hand and whispered, "You can't take it out again. Everyone knows the weight of this bag we brought, and this should be about right."
Yunqi looked around and found that everyone was eating dry rations to replenish their strength and no one was looking this way. She neatly put the things into her bag, picked them up and weighed them in her hand before stopping.
After a quick dinner, everyone sat on the edge of the mountain, pondering how to deal with the snakes that inhabited the entire cave.
After much discussion, it seemed that every approach had its flaws and shortcomings.
When Wu Yong and the others saw that Si Cheng had finished eating and was sitting there resting, they gathered around.
Wu Tianxiang got straight to the point, asking, "Have you thought of a solution?"
Si Cheng lifted the large backpack that was between her and Yun Qi in front of them without saying a word, gesturing for them to open it themselves.
Wu Tianxiang and the others had no idea what he was up to, and they were also curious about what was in the bag, so they quickly unpacked their backpacks.
One by one, cloth bags wrapped in layers of plastic film appeared before everyone.
Wu Yong: "What is this?"
Seeing that they were all holding a copy and about to open it, Yunqi quickly stopped them, saying, "These contain realgar powder and sulfur powder, so you can't open them now."
Upon hearing that it was one of these two powders, everyone quickly resealed the plastic bag they had opened. Wu Yong asked, "You guys have such good stuff?"
Yunqi answered them with the excuse he had prepared beforehand, "When we were storing supplies, we bought a bunch of random things and we had forgotten about this stuff. We just happened to find it when we were cleaning the cellar that day. We have a little more at home besides these, but we don't know how effective it will be against those snakes."
Liu Fengya brought his nose closer and carefully examined it. "My master still has a little bit left, and the smell isn't as strong as this one. It must be effective."
Everyone was even more convinced when Liu Fengya, who came from a family of snake catchers, said this. Yun Qiao asked, "Then how do you use this? Can so many of them eliminate all the snakes?"
Liu Fengya glanced at him and said, "What are you thinking? This is just a precaution. If we sprinkle some more around the entrance of the cave, I believe the snakes won't try to escape. We'll have to figure out what happens inside ourselves."
Yunqi nodded in agreement. She had originally found these things only to stop the snakes in the cave from escaping.
Moreover, there were no large-scale chemical agents available to eliminate so many snakes at that time, so everyone was about to face a fierce battle.
Si Cheng said, "Don't be so optimistic yet. We can't make a move tomorrow. We need to find out if there are any other exits nearby."
Si Cheng didn't know if these snakes had developed a certain level of sentience. If they weren't caught in one fell swoop, it might invite the snakes' revenge.
The giant snake that attacked Pinghe Village earlier was only because it had suffered a loss there, so it brought several pythons to the village to retaliate.
Moreover, during severe droughts, so many animals form alliances, which must involve some changes that people are unaware of. It's just unknown whether these changes will be good or bad in the future. In any case, for a long time, humans will have to compete with these animals for territory.
This entire snake pit must be wiped out in one go, otherwise it will definitely leave a hidden danger for the village.
After hearing this, many people nodded in agreement. Hou Yunhai said, "Then let's search around here tomorrow, and it would be best to search the entire mountain area."
Yunheng: "But we don't know which parts are the snake caves and which are the other exits. What will we do then?"
Yun Xun said, "No matter how big or small the hole is, as long as you find it, seal it up tightly. It's best to block it with some stones inside."
As for snakes burrowing, the villagers aren't worried at all. They just need to seal off the other entrances and smoke them in, and none of them will be able to escape.
Moreover, Sicheng and his group brought so much sulfur this time; if they just add some to the fire, they'll surely escape.
Now that the decision was made, everyone rested early and began to work separately as soon as it was dawn.
The rain continued to fall, and the ground became difficult to walk on.
But no one complained of hardship or fatigue. Whenever they found a hole, no matter how big or small, they sealed it up tightly.
Another small group of people also began collecting rotten, dry branches, dragging them to the bottom of the mountain, where they found piles of dry branches not on the surface of the trees.
Whether on the mountain or at the foot of the mountain, everyone searched very carefully this time. In order to avoid missing anything, they even blocked all the small holes within about ten meters of the mountain.
Perhaps it was because there were too many people staying still on the mountain that the snakes became alert, because some snakes started to roam around here, as if they were patrolling this area.
Of course, none of the snakes encountered returned; they were dealt with on the spot.
Seeing more and more snakes surging out, everyone knew they had to deal with it quickly. If it really was a sentient snake controlling a snake den, the longer they waited, the harder it would be to deal with.
In order to keep all the snakes, everyone disregarded the approaching darkness and ran towards the snake den with the supplies they had prepared.
Si Cheng led a few people to prepare for the first checkpoint. Although they had prepared everyone mentally beforehand, seeing so many snakes up close still made them nervous.
Sensing human presence from afar, the snakes began hissing warnings, their heads held high, already poised to attack.
Upon opening the prepared realgar powder and sulfur powder, a strong odor immediately filled the air.
The snakes, which had been raising their heads to warn them, immediately retracted their heads and began to retreat into the cave upon smelling the two scents.
Seeing this, they knew that what they had in their hands was indeed the nemesis of these snakes. Suppressing their discomfort from the stench of the snakes, the group began to sprinkle the powder around the cave entrance. Wherever they went, the snakes began to retreat.
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