Beating the Grass to Startle the Snake

"Qin Lixing, let's stop and rest for a bit, I'm really too tired!" Liang Huaishan, one of the three girls, said.

Because of her injury and the unbearable pain in her arm, Qin Lixing was already irritable. Hearing Liang Huaishan's words, he retorted indifferently, "If you're tired, can't you just push through? It's just a sprained ankle, not a broken one!" But he still stopped.

"Qin Lixing, what are you talking about?" Liang Huaishan asked, somewhat angrily.

"Forget it, Shanshan, let's sit down and rest for a while," Yang Yantong said from the group. This girl was the one Qin Lixing liked quite a bit, someone he wanted to confess to but had no opportunity. She was very beautiful, with a melon-seed face that had a hint of baby fat, and large eyes that seemed to speak. Perhaps due to the long journey, a lot of her strength had been depleted, so her voice was a little weak.

"Sun Hongkai, if you hadn't accidentally gotten your backpack wet, we could be using GPS to find our location right now. Would we be lost?" Liang Huaishan turned to another guy in the group and complained.

"It was an accident! Besides, it's easy for you to say that. Why didn't you carry the GPS yourself?" Sun Hongkai muttered.

"You..." Hearing Sun Hongkai's reply, Liang Huaishan was instantly angry and wanted to retort, but she was stopped by Zhang Mei.

"Shanshan, don't say any more," Zhang Mei said, rubbing her foot and trying to persuade Liang Huaishan.

Qin Lixing took out his phone to check, only to find that it still had no signal. He dejectedly threw his phone back into his backpack, then took out some mineral water and biscuits to eat. He glanced at Yang Yantong and saw that she wasn't paying attention to him. Instead, she took out her own water and food, offered them to Zhang Mei and Liang Huaishan, and then sat quietly eating.

Looking at Yang Yantong from the side, her profile was truly stunningly beautiful. But thinking about her attitude towards him, he felt immensely disappointed. He had tried so hard, yet she had never responded. Couldn't she show even the slightest reaction?

The more Qin Lixing thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt, and the greater his anger grew. Now, facing this situation, he was also filled with restless frustration. He couldn't help but grab a nearby stone and throw it into the distance.

Yang Yantong was actually a smart girl, and her family's conditions were also good. However, after interacting with Qin Lixing, she found that this guy wasn't very broad-minded and had a somewhat dark inner nature. That's why she hadn't responded to Qin Lixing's attentiveness at all; she wanted to extinguish his hopes. She hadn't wanted to come on this hiking trip at first, but she couldn't refuse her good friend Liang Huaishan's pleading, so she reluctantly agreed.

But she hadn't expected Zhang Mei to sprain her ankle, Qin Lixing to get injured, the GPS to get wet and become unusable, and for everyone to get lost. This was truly more than just an ordinary accident. She didn't know if they would be able to get out of the mountains today.

"Shanshan, Meimei! Don't worry. We haven't gone too far into the mountains, and we can just retrace our steps. Even though we're lost, the general direction is still fine. We should be able to get out," Yang Yantong said to Liang Huaishan and Zhang Mei.

"It's all my fault! If I hadn't sprained my ankle and held everyone back, perhaps everyone would have already gotten out," Zhang Mei said, feeling somewhat depressed.

"Meimei! It's okay. When people travel, they're bound to encounter all sorts of difficulties. As long as we stick together and help each other, we can overcome them!" Yang Yantong encouraged.

"Tongtong is right!" Liang Huaishan chimed in.

Sun Hongkai took the GPS out of his backpack and tried pressing the power button to see if it would turn on. Unfortunately, the device showed no reaction at all, not giving him any face. He casually patted it, as if trying to shake out any water inside.

"No use patting it, it won't work no matter how much you pat!" Liang Huaishan said, rolling her eyes at Sun Hongkai when she heard the slapping sound.

"Bang!" With a loud noise, Sun Hongkai, who was about to retort, was startled. He looked over and saw that Qin Lixing, while throwing the stone, had accidentally missed and it landed in the grass not far from him.

"Hey, Old Qin, can you be more careful?" Sun Hongkai said, feeling a bit annoyed.

Qin Lixing didn't reply. He just glanced at Sun Hongkai, then turned and picked up another stone, throwing it into the bushes in front of him.

"Ah! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Suddenly, Sun Hongkai shouted and quickly stood up. He grabbed a grey-brown snake, about half a meter long, by the tail and swung it out, sending it flying into Yang Yantong's arms.

The three girls had been sitting together, close to each other. Yang Yantong happened to be closest to Sun Hongkai. As a result, the snake landed in Yang Yantong's arms. In her shock, it bit her once before darting into the grass and disappearing.

"A snake bit my leg!" Yang Yantong said, feeling her legs go weak. She immediately sat down on the ground.

The two girls, along with Qin Lixing and Sun Hongkai, were all startled. They had no experience dealing with snakebites and didn't know what to do.

The two girls gathered around Yang Yantong, looking at her helplessly and anxiously, but they had no idea what to do.

"I saw on TV that after a snakebite, you should tie a rope to stop the blood flow," Liang Huaishan said.

"I have a rope here!" Zhang Mei took out a zip tie from her bag, which she used for bundling things, and handed it to Liang Huaishan.

The bite was near the base of her leg, so tying it was a bit difficult, but Liang Huaishan had no other choice. She could only tighten the rope deeply around her upper thigh. It was really close, but there was no other way.

"Qin Lixing, come quickly and check if that snake is still around!" Zhang Mei turned and said to Qin Lixing.

"I, I..." Qin Lixing was a little scared. He was actually very afraid of snakes, but he couldn't show it in front of the girls, so he didn't know what to say.

"What do you mean 'I'? Are you even a man? If you hadn't thrown rocks randomly, the snake wouldn't have come out!" Liang Huaishan said with some complaint.

"What do you mean throwing rocks randomly? Don't just spray people! It was Sun Hongkai who got scared and acted recklessly!" Qin Lixing suddenly felt his fur bristling. It was an accident, how could he be blamed? Besides, the snake was in the grass, who could have seen it?

The group started blaming and accusing each other, and for a while, their morale was scattered. However, not long after, Yang Yantong felt her leg going numb, and her mind became a little hazy. She immediately lay down.

"Stop arguing, Shanshan, Shanshan! I feel a little dizzy!" Yang Yantong said weakly, feeling her body going soft, her heart pounding, and a fever, with aches all over.

Seeing Yang Yantong's condition, they all panicked and felt helpless, not knowing what to do. In their anxiety, Liang Huaishan and Zhang Mei started shouting for help nearby, hoping someone would hear them. It was their last resort.

Sun Hongkai also felt ashamed and joined the two girls in shouting, thinking that since they were near the outskirts of the mountain area, someone might pass by.

Qin Lixing watched the three of them shouting, but felt resentment in his heart! They were all blaming him, all talking about him. But when he suggested this trip, everyone was overjoyed. Now that something happened, they blamed him! It was really too much, it would be better if he died! he thought twistedly.

At this moment, he no longer felt any affection for Yang Yantong. He was just annoyed, thinking he might as well leave alone. He paced back and forth a few times but still couldn't make up his mind, only pacing in place like a headless fly.

"Qin Lixing, why aren't you shouting? You're a guy, your voice should be louder, hurry up and shout!" Liang Huaishan complained.

"In this desolate mountain, will shouting attract anyone?" Qin Lixing said.

"Whether there's anyone or not, how can we know if we don't try?" Zhang Mei said.

"Then you guys shout, don't drag me into it!" Qin Lixing turned and walked away, standing dozens of meters away.

The two girls were immediately surprised and helpless. They didn't expect Qin Lixing to be this kind of person, showing such a lack of responsibility when faced with a problem.

Yang Yantong was already somewhat unconscious, but she still had awareness in her mind. Hearing Qin Lixing's words, her heart sank even further, and tears involuntarily flowed. She never expected a trip to turn out like this. Was she going to die here? She was so young, she didn't want to die!

The other three could only continue shouting, doing their best and leaving the rest to fate!