Exotic Snake

Lu Chuan looked down past the sheer cliff, and his heart tightened involuntarily.

On the cliffside below, there was a rock terrace. The terrace was about two zhang wide and more than ten zhang long, and its surface was littered with fallen branches and rotten leaves.

"Chuanzi," Lu Danian said in a solemn voice, "keep your eyes sharp."

"Mm." Lu Chuan nodded heavily.

Facing that exotic snake capable of spitting toxic mist, he did not dare to harbor the slightest carelessness in his heart.

The two found a large tree and tied the ropes securely.

Lu Danian grabbed the rope first and cautiously climbed down, with Lu Chuan following closely behind.

Without mishap, the two landed successively on that rock terrace.

The moment he set foot there, Lu Chuan's gaze was immediately attracted by a plant on the inner side of the rock terrace.

The plant's leaves had long since fallen off, and its main stem was extremely long, about the thickness of a thumb.

However, the valuable part of the yellow essence was its rootstock, which was buried deep within the soil.

Lu Danian stared at the cliff fissure behind the yellow essence:

"Be careful. When I came to scout it out last winter, that fellow was coiled right in the rock fissure behind that great medicine!"

"Even though it isn't as active in the winter as in the summer, it's still extremely dangerous!"

The two men instantly concentrated, remaining vigilant of their surroundings.

The rock terrace looked peaceful, but no one knew where that terrifying great snake was actually hiding.

Even under Lu Chuan's eagle eye, he still failed to discover the figure of that great snake.

After a moment of stalemate, he looked at the piles of withered grass and fallen leaves on the rock terrace.

A bold notion arose.

"Dad, waiting around blindly like this is no solution. The enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, which is far too passive."

Lu Danian frowned: "What do you want to do?"

Lu Chuan pointed at the withered grass on the ground:

"Let's... burn this vicinity for it!"

"First, the firelight and thick smoke can force it to show itself, and second, it can also clear away these annoying dead vines and weeds, making it convenient for us to make our move."

Hearing this, Lu Danian nodded inwardly... This truly was the most effective method to break the stalemate!

"Good!"

The fire raged fiercely on the cliff's rock terrace, and thick smoke billowed upward.

Lu Chuan and Lu Danian had long since retreated to a safe position.

As for the yellow essence, its tuber was buried deep beneath the soil, so it did not fear this brief surface fire.

The fire spread rapidly and soon reached the rock fissure behind the great medicine.

Acrid, thick smoke poured into it.

"Hiss!"

A scalp-tingling hiss rang out!

Without disappointing Lu Chuan, that coiled exotic snake was forced out after all!

It darted out from the rock fissure and, along the dead vines and old tree branches hanging down the cliff face, quickly escaped the fire zone, arriving at a place untouched by the flames.

This great snake was finally completely exposed to the two of them.

As thick as a bowl's mouth, about two zhang long, its whole body was covered in pitch-black scales, and its triangular snake head was raised high, currently locking a deadly gaze onto Lu Chuan and Lu Danian below.

"Strike first to gain the upper hand!"

Before the great snake could make a move, Lu Chuan had already nocked an arrow and drawn his bow, and that pitch-black arrowhead mixed with dark iron was instantly launched outward.

The bowstring vibrated, and the arrow flew like a shooting star!

"Thwack!"

The arrowhead scraped fiercely across the great snake's body, a burst of red blood sprayed forth along with it, and a few black scale armor pieces were also blasted off.

"Hiss--!"

The great snake let out a painful hiss.

Its dark-yellow snake pupils stared fixedly at the hunting bow in Lu Chuan's hand, evidently not expecting this contraption to actually pierce its hard scale armor.

However, the hearts of Lu Chuan and Lu Danian sank at the same time.

The mysterious iron arrowhead had indeed achieved merit, but... it had merely pierced the flesh and blood, bringing forth a spray of blood.

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For such a massive snake body, this was definitely not a fatal wound!

"Chuanzi, this doesn't look good!"

Lu Danian was holding a temporarily whittled three-meter-long hardwood fork, his voice urgent,

"This beast's hide is far too thick! Even the mysterious iron arrowhead could only injure it to this extent! If we drag this out, we'll be at a disadvantage. Why don't we fall back first..."

"Dad, don't panic!" Lu Chuan kept his gaze locked dead on the great snake as he swiftly pulled out another mysterious iron arrow.

"Let me try one more time! It has a weakness!"

The great snake paused to steady itself, the fierce light in its vertical pupils surging violently, clearly completely enraged.

Its massive body sprang forth abruptly, lunging forward with lightning speed!

Lu Danian gritted his teeth, bracing the long hardwood fork hard against the front, precisely intercepting the great snake and entangling with it.

Originally, this job of frontal defense should have been Lu Chuan's, but ever since Lu Danian witnessed his son shoot straight through a withered leaf drifting in the wind from fifty paces away with a single arrow—

He had willingly taken on this most dangerous task!

The great snake failed to achieve its goal with a single strike, but it was not discouraged, lunging forward repeatedly.

Fortunately, Lu Danian was experienced and skilled; with his wooden fork thrusting or parrying, he never let the snake's head easily come close, and man and snake wrestled on this rock terrace.

Failing to break through after a long attack, the great snake evidently grew impatient.

It shrank back abruptly, its snake neck expanding, its giant maw opening wide, and dark-green mist faintly swirling deep in its throat!

Right now... Lu Chuan, who had been drawing his bow and waiting the whole time, finally waited for his chance!

"Fall back!" While uttering the words, Lu Chuan's fingers had already released.

Hearing the sound, Lu Danian also smoothly stepped back.

Within fifty paces, every arrow hits its mark!

The mysterious iron arrow left the string, heading straight for the great snake's opened, giant maw!

In the blink of an eye, it plunged deep into its throat!

"Hiss... rattle..."

The great snake's brewing toxic mist spit was abruptly interrupted, and immediately it began to thrash frantically.

The mysterious iron arrowhead sank deep the moment it entered the flesh, tearing apart its internal organs, causing unbearable pain.

Having fired this arrow, Lu Chuan did not give the great snake the slightest chance, backhanding and pulling the final mysterious iron arrow from his quiver.

Taking advantage of the gap while the great snake thrashed wildly, this time Lu Chuan intended to attack its belly.

Soon, the bowstring rang out once more!

The mysterious iron arrow was still precise and ruthless.

This arrow from Lu Chuan deeply pierced those vulnerable belly scales, and the entire arrow shaft sank into the great snake's body!

"Hiss!"

Suffering successive heavy blows, especially with its internal organs shredded by the mysterious iron arrowhead, the great snake's struggles grew weak and chaotic, its thick, long body gradually going limp.

In the end, after twitching a few times, the great snake stopped moving entirely.

Those dark-yellow vertical pupils gradually lost their luster.

Lu Chuan gripped his hunting bow tightly, staring fixedly at the massive snake corpse.

Lu Danian also leaned on his wooden fork, his face a mixture of lingering fear.

After a full dozen breaths, confirming that the great snake no longer showed any signs of life, the father and son finally relaxed.

They had won...

Lu Chuan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, and then, looking at the great snake's corpse, he said:

"Dad, this great snake... I'm afraid it's no longer an ordinary beast anymore. Its hide is tough, and its spiritual nature is fierce. In my opinion, even if it isn't a true exotic beast yet, it's not far off. Let's bring its corpse back with us as well."

Hearing this, Lu Danian nodded repeatedly:

"That's right! You're right! This beast is probably close to becoming a spirit; how could ordinary mountain goods compare to it?"

To be safe, the father and son first used a firewood chopper to sever that ferocious snake head.

Afterward, the two parted the charred grass ash and began carefully excavating the great medicine.

Not daring to use too much force for fear of damaging this precious medicinal herb, it took them a good half of an hour to completely unearth this stalk of yellow essence.

Lu Danian wrapped up the yellow essence tuber and tested lifting it.

"My goodness..." he muttered, "this weight... at the least it's gotta be twenty catties!"

"As expected of an old item that absorbed a hundred years of sun and moon essence..." Lu Chuan couldn't help but marvel either.

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