The End

Because they needed a raft large enough for nine people, the workload was enormous. Jack and the others helped at first, but they were office workers who had spent years sitting behind desks. Before long, Jack and the others were running out of strength. After more than half the work was done, Meng Zu told them to rest while he, Bill, and Achuan handled the finishing touches.

While resting, Jack went to wash his face and noticed a Blood Orchid relief carved onto one of the Lopa Tribe's water jars. He told Sam, Gale, and Gordon about it, guessing that the Blood Orchid could not be far from here. He once again proposed searching for it, but to his surprise, all three opposed him. Jack's expression turned ugly.

After night fell, it started raining again. Meng Zu and the other two rushed to finish the raft by eight o'clock. Achuan let out a long breath and said, "That's it. Let's call them over and leave."

Meng Zu and the others found Sam's group in one of the houses, but Jack and Gordon were nowhere to be seen. He asked, "Where are those two?"

Sam said, "Jack and Gordon are sorting through the luggage in another house. I'll go get them."

Kerr did not want to stay here for another second. He said directly, "Let's just go over there. Once we grab the luggage, we'll leave on the raft."

The group headed over together. The moment they entered, they saw Gordon leaning against a pillar without moving. Sam walked toward his backpack and said, "Gordon, it's time to go. Where's Jack?"

But Gordon only swayed slightly and let out faint groans. Everyone immediately realized something was wrong and rushed over to inspect him. Achuan saw a small blister on Gordon's arm, with two tiny puncture marks above it. "He was bitten by a Stone Spider."

"What?! Where's Jack? Could he have done this?" Since Jack was still nowhere to be seen, Gale immediately thought of one possibility.

Sam suspected Jack as well, but she still found it hard to believe. They needed to question him first. "Let's find Jack and ask him if he did it."

Just then, Meng Zu suddenly felt his danger sense react. "Wait! A Giant Python is coming. Grab your guns!"

Kerr searched through the long gun bag. After lifting several backpacks, he found six double-barreled hunting rifles buried underneath. He cursed, "Damn it, that bastard Jack took the ammunition!"

Meng Zu came over and took a look. When he realized his Remington M870 was gone, he cursed unhappily, "Fuck! That guy took my Remington."

Meng Zu picked up a double-barreled hunting rifle and opened it. There was ammunition inside, but only one round. "Each gun only has one bullet. Hold onto your guns. Don't fire as soon as the Giant Python arrives. If I miss, then you shoot."

Knowing that a Giant Python was coming, Sam and the others' hearts pounded wildly. With Gordon collapsed here, everyone could only stay inside the house and wait for it to arrive.

Meng Zu heard movement on the roof. When he looked up, he saw the body of a Giant Python sliding past a gap in the roof. He did not warn the others aloud, because Sam's group was nothing like Bill and Achuan. They could easily fire wildly in panic.

Meng Zu nudged Bill with his elbow and gestured toward the roof. Bill immediately understood. Looking up, he spotted the Giant Python's body and involuntarily tightened his grip on the gun.

Meng Zu watched the Giant Python's movements. Finally, when it poked its head through a hole beneath the eaves, Meng Zu decisively raised his gun and fired. Bang! A large hole appeared in the Giant Python's head, and then it rolled off the roof and crashed to the ground.

The Giant Python's sudden fall frightened Kerr and the others into raising their guns, but Meng Zu quickly stopped them. "It's already dead. That's just a reflex. It'll stop soon."

After about three minutes, the Giant Python's thrashing grew weaker and weaker until it finally lay completely still.

Looking at the Giant Python's massive corpse, Gale said, "Let's get out of here. Forget Jack. He can go wherever he wants."

Meng Zu threw away the gun in his hand. Without bullets, it was no different from a fire poker. He took the hunting rifle from Achuan and had him carry Gordon as they headed for the raft.

But when they arrived, they found only a few scrape marks on the ground. The raft had vanished. It was obvious that Jack had secretly taken it.

Doctor Ben immediately cursed, "That damned bastard!"

"What do we do now? Can we build another boat?"

Bill shook his head. "We may not have enough materials, and it would take too much time. If another Giant Python attacks, we'll be in danger."

"We still have a way!"

Sam drew a map on the ground. "Jack's target is the Blood Orchid. The river bends, so we can take a straight route and reach the Blood Orchid first. Then we can take the raft back."

Looking at Gordon on Achuan's back, Gale asked, "What about Gordon?"

Ben suggested, "How about we leave two people here to look after Gordon? The rest of us can find the raft, then come back for him."

"No. It's too dangerous here. We can't split up." Meng Zu immediately rejected the suggestion. Unless he stayed behind to take care of Gordon himself, whoever remained would definitely die if they encountered a Giant Python.

Meng Zu thought for a moment and said, "Let's make a simple stretcher and carry Gordon with us."

Gordon was tall and heavily built. Carrying him on someone's back the whole way would drain too much strength. With a stretcher, it would at least be much easier.

Bill and the others agreed with Meng Zu's plan. They quickly made a simple stretcher, placed Gordon on it, and set off with Ben, Kerr, Achuan, and Gale each lifting one corner.

Sam and Bill led the way while Meng Zu remained at the rear, responsible for their safety from behind. Following Sam and Bill, they entered a cave. There was water inside, and it was extremely dark. Even with flashlights, the visibility was poor.

In the cave, they encountered a Giant Python. Fortunately, Bill was skilled enough to blow its head apart with a single shot. Not long after leaving the cave, two Giant Pythons emerged from the trees. Meng Zu blew one of their heads apart with one shot. Bill and Sam shot the other in the body, knocking it down. Meng Zu pulled the machete hanging from his waist, rushed forward, and chopped off its head.

After dealing with the two Giant Pythons, the group continued onward under Sam's guidance. At last, they saw the Blood Orchids in the distance—and Jack as well. Although the Blood Orchids were right in front of them, Sam and the others only wanted to leave. They ignored Jack and secretly went to look for the raft.

Meng Zu was in no hurry to take the Blood Orchids. He had already memorized the location. Once he got Sam and the others out, he could come back for them himself.

They found the raft and placed Gordon on it first. While Sam searched through Jack's backpack, she found a Stone Spider inside a bottle. She picked up the bottle and asked Achuan, "Achuan, this is a Stone Spider, right?"

Achuan took a careful look and nodded. "Yeah, that's it. When did he catch it?"

Gale said, "Forget that for now. Let's get out of here!"

At that moment, Jack unexpectedly returned in secret, holding Meng Zu's Remington M870 shotgun. Seeing that Meng Zu had a gun, he quietly approached Sam. By the time Meng Zu noticed movement, Jack burst out of the bushes and pressed the gun to Sam's head, threatening Meng Zu to throw away his gun or he would blow Sam's head apart.

Meng Zu was not only unfazed by such a threat, he almost wanted to laugh. Even if he threw away his gun, he could instantly take a pistol from his storage space. He could blow Jack's head apart before Jack had time to react. But wanting to see what this guy intended to do, Meng Zu followed Jack's demand and threw the hunting rifle into the river.

Once Jack saw that no one had a gun to threaten him with, he moved the barrel away from Sam's head and pointed it at the group, ordering everyone to pick the Blood Orchids.

Hearing that, Meng Zu gave up on the idea of taking Jack's gun. Like everyone else, he pretended to be threatened and headed toward the Blood Orchids with them.

Soon, they reached the place where they had seen the Blood Orchids. However, the flowers grew on the far wall of a deep pit. The pit was filled with a mating ball of Giant Pythons, and only a fallen log stretched across the middle. The log's surface was covered in moss, making it easy to slip. Beneath it were the Giant Pythons. If anyone fell, they would certainly die.

Jack pointed his gun at Meng Zu and tossed him a backpack. "Evan, you're the most agile. Go pick the flowers."

Meng Zu's eyes lit up at those words, but he still pretended that he had no choice under the threat of the gun. Carrying the backpack, he slowly crawled across the log and reached the Blood Orchids. He picked one and pretended to put it into the backpack, but actually stored it in his storage space. After collecting more than twenty flowers, he finally turned around and slowly crawled back.

Just as he was about to reach the other side, Meng Zu noticed a Giant Python below had detected the movement overhead and was slowly climbing up the rock wall. He immediately stopped moving.

Seeing Meng Zu stop, Jack stepped forward, pointed his gun at him, and shouted, "Throw me the bag!"

When Meng Zu neither spoke nor tossed the backpack over, Jack angrily fired a shot at the log behind Meng Zu. "Give it to me now, or I'll shoot you dead!"

The shot blew apart a large section of the already rotting log. The log swayed downward, and at that moment, the Giant Python climbed up and poked out its head.

The Giant Python stared directly at Jack, who stood beside the pit. Jack was startled by the snake's sudden appearance and hurriedly turned his gun toward it. But the moment he moved, the Giant Python struck with lightning speed and bit down on him.

In unbearable pain, Jack fired wildly at the Giant Python. Wounded by the shotgun blast, the Giant Python writhed in pain and fell into the pit with Jack. At the same time, its body slammed into the log. Meng Zu released the backpack, braced himself with both hands on the log, and leapt onto the edge of the pit just before the log fell.

Bill and Achuan rushed over and pulled Meng Zu up. Bill saw another Giant Python below being stirred awake and said urgently, "Damn it, a Giant Python is coming up! We don't have any guns left."

Meng Zu remembered the barrel of gasoline on the raft and immediately had an idea. "We still have gasoline and flare guns. We can use them to blow up these Giant Pythons. Otherwise, we won't be able to escape."

"Alright, let's do it." Everyone agreed.

Fortunately, the raft was not far away. Before the Giant Pythons could climb up, Achuan and Ben hurriedly brought over the gasoline. Meng Zu took it, opened the barrel, and poured some gasoline over the Giant Python that was climbing up. At the same time, he secretly took out his only one-kilogram TNT charge from his storage space and placed it beneath the gasoline barrel. He threw both the barrel and the explosives down, then fired a flare at the Giant Python that had just poked out its head.

The gasoline on the Giant Python immediately ignited. It writhed in agony and fell back down. Just as Meng Zu and the others had run two or three meters away, a huge explosion sounded behind them. The ground shook violently, and landslides appeared along both sides of the pit. The shaking lasted four or five seconds before everything finally calmed down, allowing everyone to climb back to their feet.

When they turned around, they saw that nearly a meter-wide section of the pit's rock walls had collapsed. The pit had been half-filled with dirt and rocks, and the Blood Orchids had disappeared as well.

Seeing this, Gale said blankly, "The Blood Orchids were destroyed!"

Then a rumbling sound came from the distant rainforest. Bill and Achuan's expressions changed at once, and they shouted, "Run! That explosion triggered a mudslide!"

Everyone hurried back onto the raft and rowed away with all their strength. They finally escaped the area before the mudslide arrived.