Fighting the Green Python (continued)

But now, it seemed that the Snow Bird's ability to grow precious fruit was far from the only strange thing about him.

Tao Qiu looked down at the Green Python, his face expressionless.

"Chirp, chirp."

—There's a price to pay for knowing someone else's secret.

"Hiss."

—I can afford the price, but do you dare come and collect it?

With that, the Green Python sprang up again and lunged at Tao Qiu.

When she opened her jaws again, Tao Qiu swiftly pulled the stopper from a bamboo tube and flung the rotten radish mash inside at her. Fermentation had made its smell even more pungently sour.

A stinking black blur flew toward the Green Python, and she instinctively shut her eyes. But in her surprise, she forgot to close her mouth. The unknown black sludge splattered all over her face, and some even landed in her mouth.

Blinded, she missed her attack and fell under the pull of gravity.

The stench in her mouth shot straight to her head, leaving the Green Python's mind blank for several seconds. She forgot to cushion her fall or adjust her posture, and her massive body slammed stiffly into the ground.

A deep ache spread through her body as scales broke off her skin. Waves of stinging pain washed over her, nearly knocking the breath out of her.

Tao Qiu had deliberately covered the valley entrance with a layer of hard, jagged gravel. It might not have been able to do the Green Python much harm, but it could still cause her some pain.

The Green Python lay on the ground, unable to recover for the moment. Without the slightest hesitation, Tao Qiu brought over all the rotten radish mash he had prepared and dumped it on her head and body.

Perhaps because there was so much of it, the rotten radish mash, whose stench had originally been no match for the original mutated radish, now had a little of its ancestor's power.

Even from a distance, Tao Qiu found the stench unbearable, let alone the Green Python, who was covered in it.

The Green Python had only just regained some of her senses when she took a breath and nearly passed out again.

She struggled to prop herself up. Her eyes were pasted shut, and whenever she opened her mouth, the foul black mud fell straight in.

Compared with an open fight, these disgusting, underhanded methods enraged the Green Python even more.

She thrashed her body, trying to shake off the black mud, but it clung to her as if it had taken root. Very little came off, and her movements only spread it more evenly over her body.

"Hiss... blegh!"

The Green Python tried to curse the Snow Bird, only to forget that her mouth was still full of black mud. As soon as she opened it, the mud flowed straight down her throat. It was so foul and sticky that she instinctively gagged and vomited.

After she threw up, there was much less black mud, but the stench remained.

Never in her life had the Green Python suffered such humiliation. Unable to open her eyes, she relied on her senses and charged at Tao Qiu.

Ignoring the pain in her body, she knew that losing her sight had greatly reduced her chances of biting Tao Qiu. Yet she still reared up, lunged, and snapped at him frantically, as if she had lost her mind.

Tao Qiu dodged nimbly through the air. Unable to find him or muster the strength to leap anymore, the Green Python kept lashing her tail, kicking up waves of dirt and stones and sometimes crashing into the surrounding rock walls.

While the Green Python was going berserk, Tao Qiu quietly flew to the side, lifted a large rock, and dropped it straight down from the air.

He had aimed the rock at the Green Python's head, but she was still a powerful, experienced mutated monster. Even unable to see, she instinctively tilted her head aside.

Her head escaped, but her body was not so lucky. The rock did not scrape off many scales when it struck, but the pain was all too real.

The Green Python let out a hiss and writhed, trying to ease the pain.

But Tao Qiu had no intention of giving her a chance. He lifted another rock.

This time, however, the Green Python was prepared. She forced herself to calm down and stopped attacking at random, instead swaying her head to sense which direction Tao Qiu was in.

The rock fell, tearing through the air. The Green Python swiftly recoiled, avoiding another blow.

That attempt failed, so Tao Qiu kept fetching rocks.

The Green Python was enormous, and the valley entrance was relatively narrow, leaving her very little room to move. No matter how she dodged, she was bound to make mistakes, and Tao Qiu hit her far more often than she avoided him.

Some rocks were smooth and rounded, inflicting a dull ache when they struck. Others had sharp edges that scraped off her scales, causing twice the pain.

The Green Python had already spent too much strength, and now she had suffered several new injuries. Gradually losing ground, she quickly backed away, intending to flee.

Tao Qiu clutched a rock and gave chase with all his might.

On a low mountain by the valley entrance, a tiny green shape lay coiled in the grass, poised to strike.

Just as the Green Python was about to leave the valley, Tao Qiu caught up.

Once Tao Qiu entered its striking range, the green shape sprang into the air, aiming straight for his neck.

"Chirp!!!"

—Dad, look out!!!

The chicks' screams rang out at the same time.

The moment Tao Qiu heard his chicks, he caught a glimpse of the green shape out of the corner of his eye.

As a wasteland overlord who had once snatched fruit from a group of mutated monsters, Tao Qiu naturally had quick reflexes.

Once he realized he was being ambushed, his hand instinctively released the rock before his brain had even issued a command. He raised his arm and seized the little creature that had just flown in front of him.

"Chirp?"

—A snake?

Tao Qiu raised an eyebrow at the little spicy strip twisting itself into a knot in his hand.

"Hiss!" The little snake did not give up attacking after being caught. She opened her tiny mouth and squirted venom straight at Tao Qiu's eyes.

Tao Qiu turned his head to dodge and pinched her head. Now, never mind biting anyone, she could not even flick out her tongue.

The little snake struggled harder, winding her body around Tao Qiu's wrist in an attempt to squeeze hard enough to make him let go.

But to be honest, her strength was only a little more than a tickle to Tao Qiu.

"Chirp!"

—Dad!

The chicks' voices rang out again.

Tao Qiu turned and saw that the chicks had already run out of the cave and climbed up the mountain where it lay. Now they were running and half-flying toward him.

Second Cub was in the lead. She was also the one who had called out just now.

Tao Qiu hurriedly said, "Don't come any closer. Wait for me right there."

The chicks quickly stopped when they heard him. Second Cub lost her footing and fell flat on her face, using her belly to brake.

"Chirp..."

Second Cub was nearly in tears from the pain, but when she thought about the situation, she held them back and obediently let her older brother and younger sister help her up.

The sight broke Tao Qiu's heart, but he had more pressing matters to deal with.

He turned around. Below him, the Green Python, who had been about to flee for her life, had stopped at some point and remained in the valley.

The Green Python was forcing her mud-caked eyes open despite the stinging pain, staring fixedly at Tao Qiu and the little snake in his hand.

Tao Qiu held out the little snake for the Green Python to see and spoke in a certain tone. "Chirp, chirp."

—Judging by her color, she's your child, isn't she?

The Green Python's body went taut, but she did not attack. Instead, even her voice carried a note of caution.

"Hiss."

—Don't hurt her.

Tao Qiu held up the little snake and examined her from side to side. She looked back at him with a gaze full of anger and fear.

"Chirp, chirp?"

—She just tried to bite me. You gave birth to a venomous snake?

Tao Qiu knew the Green Python was nonvenomous. Otherwise, she would have used venom to attack him earlier. But he had not expected her offspring to mutate into a venomous snake. Could it have come from the male snake's genes?

The Green Python did not answer. Perhaps she was thinking about how to get her child back from Tao Qiu.

The little snake was truly tiny, about as thick as Tao Qiu's index finger. He had no idea how long ago she had hatched, but judging by her size alone, he could not have told she was the Green Python's cub.

The sneak attack and struggle seemed to have exhausted the little snake. Now she could barely hold on to Tao Qiu's wrist and was close to falling off, let alone squeezing it tight.

The color of the little snake's scales was also sickly and dull, a stark contrast to the Green Python's healthy, vibrant green.

That reminded Tao Qiu of Third Cub shortly after she had hatched. She had been the same back then, with disheveled, dry down. Standing beside her older brother and sister, she had looked weak and frail to anyone.

"Chirp, chirp?"

—She doesn't look like she's in very good shape. Did you want to steal the fruit I grew for her?

Tao Qiu had assumed the Green Python had come here today for herself. He had not expected her to already have a child.

That explained it. No wonder the Green Python had not immediately come to take the fruit after stealing a tomato, but had waited several days instead. She had probably been seeing whether it had any effect.

With her vulnerable spot in Tao Qiu's hands, the Green Python was completely at his mercy. Even if she wanted to go mad and take him down with her, she had to consider whether she could bear the consequences.

The Green Python did not think for long before making her choice.

She relaxed her body and willingly assumed a submissive posture.

"Hiss... hiss..."

—You can kill me, but please spare her life.

A few seconds later, the Green Python added another sentence.

—I'm begging you.

Even when Tao Qiu had battered her from head to tail, the Green Python had fought back with all her might. Even when she realized she was outmatched, she had only thought of escaping and returning later. She had not shown the slightest cowardice, much less begged for mercy.

But now, for her child's sake, she was willing to give up her pride and dignity and bow down to beg Tao Qiu, a fellow mutated monster.

For a strong-willed mutated monster, begging for mercy was a hundred times more humiliating than being killed.

Tao Qiu did not respond immediately. The scene fell silent, and all the Green Python could hear was the passing wind and her own wildly pounding heart.

She was waiting for a judgment.

Silence. Still silence.

After a long while, it was the Green Python herself who moved first.

She slithered over to the rock wall and aimed her head at a sharp stone edge. When she raised her head to look at Tao Qiu, her eyes already showed her determination to die.