Secret Cave

When Qin Fengming regained consciousness, he found himself in a mountain ravine. Looking up, he saw that the cliff top was a good twenty to thirty zhang above him.

Qin Fengming could not help but secretly shudder. He had fallen from such a height and yet had not been smashed to death.

Struggling up from the dead branches and rotting leaves, he gently moved his limbs and felt a surge of joy. Though his body bore many cuts and scrapes, the bones in his arms and legs were all intact.

Even so, Qin Fengming knew that he had wounds all over his body, and blood was still seeping from them. If he did not quickly find some herbs to stop the bleeding, excessive blood loss would leave him unable to move.

Fortunately, he often went hunting in the mountains with his father, so he knew which herbs could stop bleeding and relieve pain.

His injuries made every movement difficult. Just as Qin Fengming's strength was about to run out, he finally found a clump of medicinal grass the villagers often used to stop bleeding.

Sitting beside the herbs, Qin Fengming rested for the time it took to drink a cup of tea before turning sideways. He nearly exhausted all his strength just pulling up the grass. After patting off the dirt, he put it into his mouth and chewed it to a pulp.

By now, Qin Fengming was so exhausted that he could no longer taste the slightest bitterness in the herbs. He spread the crushed grass and its juice over his bleeding wounds, then tore several strips from his clothes and bound them in place. Only then did he feel somewhat relieved.

Before long, waves of tingling numbness spread from his wounds. Knowing the herbs had taken effect, Qin Fengming stopped moving and lay down on the dead leaves, closing his eyes.

Nearly an hour later, Qin Fengming opened his eyes. The pain from his wounds had greatly lessened, but when he looked up at the sky, he found that only a little more than an hour remained before nightfall.

Though Qin Fengming was young, he did not feel much fear at the moment.

Even so, he knew that spending the night in the mountains was extremely dangerous. He had to find a safe place first. As for how to get home, that was no longer something he could consider today.

He slowly searched ahead for somewhere suitable to spend the night and found quite a few berries along the way. After less than half an hour, he finally found a cave in a mountainside about a meter above the ravine floor. With difficulty, he dragged over a dead branch and used it to push some dead leaves and berries into the cave before crawling in himself.

After eating a few berries and resting briefly, the pitch-black night descended. Qin Fengming curled up amid the dead leaves, listening to the insects chirping outside and the distant howls of wild beasts. Fear quietly began to rise in his heart.

At times, he wondered how his father and Grandpa had fought the mountain boar afterward. At others, he thought of his mother and Grandma at home, wondering whether they knew he had fallen from the cliff. Thinking and thinking, he gradually fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke again, the sky was already bright. After a night of rest, whether because children recovered quickly or because the herbs were effective, Qin Fengming's wounds no longer hurt much.

After eating some berries and drinking a little clear spring water, Qin Fengming felt strength return to his body.

Qin Fengming still had the sharp little knife, over a foot long, on his person. Even after falling from the cliff yesterday, he had somehow not lost it.

Qin Fengming cut down a branch as thick as a baby's arm with his knife and sharpened one end into a weapon. He checked the sun, determined his direction, and slowly walked onward. He had to find a lower place so he could climb back up the cliffs in this mountain ravine.

As he was walking, Qin Fengming suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet give way. His body dropped into empty space, falling more than a zhang before striking hard ground. Yet he did not stop. Instead, he rolled downward along a slope.

After wildly clawing with his hands and feet, Qin Fengming finally came to a stop. A cold wind rushed into his face, while everything before his eyes was pitch-black.

After a long while, Qin Fengming gradually adjusted to the darkness and saw a black mountain cave before him. Faint rays of light shone in from all around the cave. By that weak light, Qin Fengming focused and carefully examined it.

Vaguely, he could see that the cave was twenty to thirty zhang long and wide, and three to four zhang high. A small stream flowed along one side, making a splashing sound. Large rocks lay scattered across the ground. Holes also led upward from the stone walls and ceiling around the cave.

The light shone in through those holes.

Suppressing the fear in his heart, Qin Fengming leaned on his wooden staff and slowly stood up. After moving around a little, he began searching the surroundings. To leave this place, he had to find an exit.

As he searched, he suddenly discovered two objects glowing with a faint blue light three or four zhang away. At the sight, he was immediately alarmed. From experience, he judged that some wild beast was undoubtedly watching him. Knife in his left hand and staff in his right, Qin Fengming readied himself.

After a long time, the glowing objects did not move. After some thought, Qin Fengming gently set down the staff, bent over to pick up a small stone at his feet, and hurled it forward with all his strength. At the same time, he immediately picked up the staff again and prepared himself.

With a bang, a hiss immediately came from the other side. Qin Fengming knew that sound all too well. It was undoubtedly a snake.

Attacked, the snake immediately raised its head and slowly slithered toward Qin Fengming. Only when it was a little more than a zhang away did he see clearly that it was a python, as thick as the mouth of a bowl and one or two zhang long. Its forked tongue flickered with hissing sounds, and its two eyes gleamed with a dim blue light.

Sensing its prey before it, the python suddenly accelerated and charged at Qin Fengming with astonishing speed.

Though frightened, Qin Fengming had no choice but to summon his strength and thrust the sharpened stick fiercely at the python's head. With a bang, the wooden stick was bounced away by the python's tough skin.

Its head struck, the python flew into a rage at once. With a lash of its tail, it swept fiercely toward Qin Fengming.

Qin Fengming had anticipated it. He leaped aside and ducked behind a huge boulder, narrowly avoiding the python's strike.

Like this, Qin Fengming circled around the boulder, dodging the python's attacks. Faced with this enormous python, he had no way to fight back.

At that critical moment, Qin Fengming suddenly noticed two huge boulders lying side by side not far away, with a crack between them. His thoughts raced, and he came up with a plan.

After dodging several more attacks from the python, Qin Fengming suddenly sprinted toward the gap between the two boulders. The python naturally pursued him without relent, abruptly changing direction and lunging after him.

Seeing this, Qin Fengming gathered all his strength and darted sharply to the side.

The enormous python could not react in time. In a flash, five or six feet of its front half plunged entirely into the gap between the massive rocks. Its head even emerged from the other side.

Qin Fengming ignored his exhaustion and ran swiftly before the python with the wooden stick in hand, stabbing savagely at its head.

The python writhed in pain without ceasing. The stick snapped into two after only a few strikes. Without time to find another weapon, Qin Fengming gripped his knife in both hands and continued desperately hacking at the python's head.

Under such heavy blows, the python struggled even more violently. The two massive boulders finally began to loosen beneath its immense strength. With one final desperate effort, it broke free of its restraints, opened its blood-red maw, and lunged at Qin Fengming, who was still striking with all his might.

It happened too suddenly, and the two were far too close. Qin Fengming could no longer dodge. At the sight, he was so terrified that his soul nearly flew out of his body.

Acting on instinct, Qin Fengming gripped the knife with both hands, used every ounce of strength he had, and thrust it fiercely into the python's mouth...