Chapter 140: Chapter 140: Battle

In the dense forest,

Nan Feng and Shen Rong flanked Chang Xia, shielding her from either side.

“Should we fight?” Maple Leaf asked. “The signal flare’s been sent. The tribe can be here in half an hour at most.”

If they fought, they’d have to stay put and wait.

If not, they could leave right away and continue south toward the river.

No one spoke, all tacitly agreeing to let Chang Xia decide. Maybe she hadn’t realized before, but now she was starting to understand.

This trip to investigate the small river to the south—

The tribe probably saw it as a training exercise, though there were a few too many supervisors tagging along. Clearly, they still didn’t quite trust her. It was a bit awkward, but deep down, Changxia was secretly pleased.

After all, who wouldn’t be happy to be valued so highly by the tribe?

“Kill—” Changxia said.

She was self-aware enough to know she had some strength, but not enough to be reckless. She’d push herself more once her physical abilities caught up. For now, caution was best. She definitely didn’t want to be nagged by the elders afterward—that was no easier to deal with than their constant matchmaking and baby talk. Just thinking about Elder Ximu’s nagging, which everyone in the tribe dreaded, made her shudder.

Almost everyone turned pale at the mention of Elder Ximu.

“Let’s do it—kill them,” Maple Leaf said cheerfully.

Changxia’s decision brought a collective sigh of relief.

Thank goodness she wasn’t stubborn and chose to stay. The dense forest was crawling with snakes—who knew what other strange things might be happening by the river? Even though none of them feared a fight, it was better to play it safe when facing the unknown.

Besides, White Lake was right behind them. If the snake swarm got out of control and flooded into the lake, things would spiral out of control.

Black-tailed snakes, thunder snakes, five-step snakes, grass snakes…

Any snake you could name was here, and plenty more you couldn’t. There were tiny snakes as thin as chopsticks and giant pythons as thick as tree trunks.

In short—

This patch of dense forest had turned into a veritable snake pit.

On the ground, in the trees—

Everywhere you looked, there were writhing, tangled snakes.

“So gross!” Changxia didn’t dare go deeper into the fight—not out of fear, but because when any animal appears in such overwhelming numbers, even ants can feel creepy. Let alone these countless snakes—the sight alone made her scalp tingle.

“Don’t go any further,” Chen Rong said.

At his words, everyone quietly retreated a dozen steps, holding their ground and killing any snakes that came too close.

“What’s going on with all these snakes?” Changxia flicked the blood off her bone knife. Her basket had long since been tossed aside—she definitely didn’t want a snake (or several) suddenly slithering out of it mid-battle. Just imagining it made her shudder.

Maple Leaf said seriously, “There really are too many.”

Earlier, she’d held onto a bit of wishful thinking. But the deeper they went into the forest, the more that hope was crushed.

The closer they got to the river, the more snakes there were. Snakes of all shapes and sizes were coiled together, forming bizarre snake-balls that rolled along the ground.

Damn—

Just looking at it gave them chills.

South Wind said, “Even if all the snakes from the Weishan poison zone came here, there shouldn’t be this many, right?”

The poison zone had not just snakes, but also scorpions and poisonous insects—not just snakes alone.

Staring at the dense mass of snakes in the forest, everyone’s mouths went dry. This time, it wasn’t from hunger—it was from fear.

“This is really weird!”

“I’ve lived so many years, and I’ve never seen so many snakes at once.”

Yadong and the others looked grim. The oppressive presence of the snake swarm made them all tense up and get serious.

Time ticked by.

The pile of snake corpses in front of them grew larger and larger.

The thick, bloody stench spread on the breeze in all directions.

Normally, such a strong smell of blood would attract countless wild animals. But the forest was now ruled by snakes. Not a single beast, insect, or bird could be seen—the woods had become eerily silent.

Meanwhile, Elder Pukang and Elder Senda, who had hurried over from the tribe, had just set foot on the wasteland north of White Lake. A wave of thick, bloody stench hit them. They exchanged glances, seeing the fear in each other’s eyes.

They quickened their pace, heading straight for the heart of the forest.

Changxia’s group hadn’t left long before, and their tracks were still visible among the trees.

This helped Pukang and Senda move even faster.

“How can the smell of blood be this strong?” Senda, small and thin, darted through the forest. Compared to him, Pukang was much more forceful, leaping forward without a care for any obstacles.

“Heh heh—” Pukang laughed. “I’m more curious what kind of trouble Weishan’s cooked up this time. There aren’t any wild beasts in the forest, so with a smell like this, a lot must have died.”

“That’s snake blood…” Senda’s face changed. “Poisonous snakes? Did something happen in the Weishan poison zone, sending all the venomous creatures this way? Who’s been patrolling White Lake lately? Why didn’t anyone notice anything?”

“It’s that kid Shen Nian. He’s steady—if something weird happened, he wouldn’t have missed it,” Pukang said.

That made both elders’ hearts sink.

That meant the mutation in the White Lake forest happened after Shen Nian’s patrol.

If Changxia hadn’t randomly suggested checking the river, they might not have discovered the problem until the snakes had already invaded White Lake.

“Little Changxia—!”

In a flurry of wind and rain, Pukang and Senda burst through the forest and caught up with Changxia’s group.

At first, they tried to get their bearings, but as the bloody smell grew stronger, they simply followed it to its source.

“Elder Pukang, you’re here!” Changxia breathed a sigh of relief, delighted.

“Heh heh—” Pukang laughed loudly. “What happened here?”

“A snake swarm—so many snakes?” Senda stood on a branch, casually swinging his black blade to cut down attacking snakes. Hunched slightly, he peered into the depths of the forest, where the mass of snakes seemed endless.

“Elder Pukang, Elder Senda!” Maple Leaf and the others called out, carefully retreating. In front of them, the pile of snake corpses had formed a low wall, blood staining the ground red—a truly gruesome sight.

Changxia looked curiously at Elder Senda—this was her first time meeting him.

He wasn’t tall, and the aura around him seemed to flicker in and out of existence. But when Chang Xia’s gaze fell on the strange weapon in his hand—a blade as long as a staff—she couldn’t help but widen her eyes.

A horizontal blade. A very unusual weapon.

Tribe members usually didn’t use weapons much. Elder Senda was the first elder Chang Xia had ever seen wielding one, and it was even a weapon resembling a sword.

“Chang Xia, you’ve done well,” Senda said with satisfaction.

It was clear that Chang Xia had already seen blood. As a member of the beast tribe, it wasn’t physical weakness that was feared, but a timid heart.

Chang Xia had been sheltered too much by the tribe; Elder Senda had truly worried she would be afraid to shed blood.