Vipers could kill people because they possessed venomous fangs and venom. Thus, what made them deadly was mostly their snake venom.
For nonvenomous snakes, killing a person was basically impossible—except for enormous pythons, which could suffocate people to death by constriction.
But what had Li Han seen?
The snake before him was only a little over a meter long, making it a medium-sized snake. It was nothing unusual, yet it could pierce straight through a person's chest!
How had it done that?
Li Han racked his brains but could not understand. The contempt he had shown before was long gone. His expression changed drastically, his face turning as pale as a sheet of paper.
Ye Qin, of course, would not give him time to think. The next wave of attacks had already arrived.
The black-and-green snake body became the sharpest sword in the world. A cold glint flashed faintly as it transformed into a weapon capable of taking lives.
The black sword shot straight through the air!
All of this placed immense pressure on Li Han. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would have found it hard to believe that such power could belong to a medium-sized snake.
Even a python probably did not possess such explosive force.
He dodged frantically again and again. When he let his guard down for a moment, the snake's tail struck him, and a searing sensation immediately spread across his skin.
A bloody mark ran from his forehead straight to the corner of his eye. His already fierce face now looked even more ferocious.
Li Han gasped heavily, his blood surging to his head. His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead as he gripped the machete in his hand.
"Damn it! I'm going all out against you. You're just a snake. Do you really think I'm afraid of a beast like you?"
There were people who, when trapped in a life-or-death crisis, either became terrified and waited for death or erupted with extraordinary courage and strength, like maddened wild beasts.
Li Han was clearly the second kind. Besides, his hands were already stained with human lives.
Li Han suddenly swung his machete, hacking at Ye Qin almost without regard for his own life. "I'll hack you to death! If you won't let me live, then don't expect to live either!"
Ye Qin merely watched his frenzied movements in silence.
In the eyes of others, a crazed Li Han was not someone to provoke. But in Ye Qin's eyes, his movements were utterly disorganized, his steps chaotic. He was merely a spent force, riddled with openings and flaws.
All show and no substance—nothing more than that.
Li Han's eyes were blood-red as he stared fixedly at the snake before him, facing it as if it were a great enemy.
Perhaps it was only his imagination, but in those cold, bloodthirsty snake eyes, he seemed to see humanlike contempt and mockery.
"Damn it, how dare you laugh at me! You're just a lousy snake. What right do you have to mock me?"
Li Han roared himself hoarse, but the trembling note at the end of his voice betrayed his truest feelings.
He lunged forward. The snake actually remained motionless, and the corners of his mouth split into a sinister grin, as if he had already seen the beast hacked into pieces by his own hand.
"Clang—"
A resonant hum rang out. Li Han felt his palm go numb, as though he had struck something incredibly solid. The machete nearly fell from his hand.
He had expected to see the snake split in two, its flesh and blood reduced to a mangled mess.
Yet Ye Qin remained completely unharmed. Forget a wound—even a white mark had not been left behind.
Li Han's smile stiffened on his face. His eyes widened as indescribable terror surged from the depths of his heart. "How can this be?"
He nearly thought he was holding a plastic knife. Yet only yesterday, he had used this very blade to strip the hides and fur from dozens of animals. It was sharp beyond compare.
Li Han refused to believe it and hacked several more times. But the snake's body seemed made of copper skin and iron bones. Not a single wound appeared; instead, several notches opened in the blade.
The hand holding the machete trembled violently, like that of someone suffering from Parkinson's disease.
What was the origin of this snake?
Could it be a mountain spirit or monster, seeking revenge because he had killed so many of its kind?
Otherwise, how could there be such an inconceivable "divine snake"?
Li Han seemed to think of something. He hurriedly pulled a black-and-green scale from his pocket and compared it with the snake before him.
Other than the scale in his hand being slightly smaller, they were virtually identical.
So the two sides had crossed paths long ago!
"This snake is the one from before—the one that hunted its natural enemies!"
In an instant, Li Han's mind filled with all sorts of strange tales and supernatural notions. The color drained from his face, and his body began to shake uncontrollably.
This brawny man who had once killed people had stripped countless animals of their hides and fur without even blinking. Who knew how many living creatures had died by his hands?
Li Han had never believed in karma or the cycle of retribution.
Yet now, as he looked at the snake not far away, regret arose in his heart for the first time, along with indescribable terror and fear.
Realizing he was no match for the snake, Li Han turned and fled. Then he heard the whooshing of wind behind him, as though something were rapidly closing in.
His eyes widened. From the corner of his eye, he saw a green snake tail sweep viciously toward the back of his head, accompanied by the shadow of death.
"No, don't! Snake Grandpa, spare me!"
Li Han ran for his life, but how could his speed possibly compare with Ye Qin's?
In the split second between lightning and fire, Li Han met those snake eyes and saw coldness and death. His entire body felt as though it had plunged into an abyss.
Would Scarface have seen something similar before he died?
Li Han's biggest mistake had been exposing his back. Or, tracing things back even further, he should never have poached in the first place, let alone come to this mountain and kill so many snakes.
But it was too late for regret now.
Ye Qin watched the fleeing figure ahead, his gaze that of someone looking at a corpse. The cat-and-mouse game could end. He suddenly whipped up his tail.
In the snowy ground, the snake's tail seemed like a judgment whip descending from the heavens, reflecting a verdant light.
"Bang!"
Along with the muffled impact came a sound like a knife cleaving open a watermelon.
The snake's tail struck Li Han's head. The tremendous force smashed his skull open, and the crack of breaking bone could even be heard.
White brain matter mixed with flesh burst out and sprayed across the pure white snow, forming patterns like red plum blossoms.
Li Han crashed to the ground.
The blood of these people had soiled the pure, clean snow.
Ye Qin looked at his body with a trace of distaste. Then he returned to his former, unruffled expression and vanished into the swirling snow.
"After this battle, I have a certain understanding of my own strength..."
The white snow and black snake body formed a stark contrast.
The heavy snow did not stop. Before long, it covered the traces on the ground, leaving behind only two inexplicable human-shaped mounds.
No one knew what had happened here.
The next day.
Fog City, Lin Chuan City, Chengkou County.
Chengkou Police Station received a report saying that poachers had been spotted operating in the area.
The police soon organized a team and headed over. The person who had reported it was an elderly forest ranger.
"This morning, I saw a group of people sneaking up the mountain. When I asked what they were doing, they refused to say anything and acted like thieves. I suspect they were engaged in illegal poaching."
Winter and spring were when poachers were most active and brazen. On top of that, the area was mountainous, with a diverse ecological environment. Although the government had strictly prohibited poaching, there were always people willing to take the risk.
The police set up an ambush and blockade at the foot of the mountain. Sure enough, they caught the group and immediately brought them back to the station for questioning.
At first, the men tried to argue and make excuses. But they could not withstand the police interrogation and eventually confessed everything. Only then did the police learn that they were not poachers, but buyers.
(End of chapter)