Chapter 25: Snake Grandfather, spare my life!

Venomous snakes can kill people because they have fangs and venom; thus, the deadly ones are mostly those snake venoms.

For non-venomous snakes, wanting to kill a person is basically impossible, except for those giant pythons, which can kill by constriction, causing suffocation.

What did Li Han see?

The snake before him was just over a meter long, a medium-sized snake, not uncommon, yet it could pierce a person's chest!

How could this be done?

Li Han racked his brains in vain; the earlier contempt had vanished from his expression, his face suddenly turned ashen like a blank sheet.

Ye Qin certainly wouldn't give him time to think so much; the next wave of attack had already arrived.

The black-green snake body became the sharpest sword in the world, a cold glint flickering faintly, turning into a sharp instrument capable of taking a life.

The black sword came straight, flying through the air!

All this gave Li Han immense pressure; if he hadn't seen it himself, he would hardly believe such power could belong to a medium-sized snake.

Probably even a python doesn't have this much explosive power.

He kept dodging in a flustered manner; a moment of inattention, and he was accidentally struck by the snake's tail, instantly feeling a burning sensation.

A bloodstain ran straight from his forehead to the corner of his eye; his originally fierce countenance now looked even more hideous.

Li Han panted heavily, his blood surging to his head, his eyes bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead, gripping his machete tightly.

"Damn it, I'll fight you to the end; it's just a snake—how could I possibly fear this beast?"

There are such people who, in a life-or-death desperate situation, either succumb to fear and await death, or erupt with unparalleled courage and strength, like a mad beast.

Obviously Li Han is the latter type, especially since his hands are already stained with human lives.

Li Han brandished his machete wildly, almost recklessly charging forward: "I'll hack you to death! If I don't get a break, neither will you."

Ye Qin merely watched his frenzied actions in silence.

To others, the frenzied Li Han was hard to provoke, but in Ye Qin's eyes his movements were lawless, his steps disordered, merely a spent force, full of flaws and loopholes everywhere.

Strong on the outside, weak within—nothing more.

Li Han's eyes were blood-red, fixed tightly on the snake before him, as if facing a great foe.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but in those icy, bloodthirsty snake eyes he seemed to see a human-like disdain and mockery.

"Damn, dare to mock me? You're just a broken snake—what right do you have to laugh at me?"

Li Han's hoarse, exhausted roar was just a trembling whisper, betraying his truest feelings.

He lunged forward, yet the snake remained motionless on the spot; the corner of his mouth twisted into a grim grin, as if he already saw the beast torn apart by his own hands.

"Clang—"

He heard only a humming; Li Han felt his tiger's mouth go numb, as if he had struck an incredibly solid object, his machete almost slipping from his grip.

He had expected to see the snake's body cleaved in two, a bloody mess.

Yet Ye Qin remained unharmed—not a wound, not even a white mark.

Li Han's smile froze on his face; he widened his eyes, an indescribable fear welling up from his heart: "How could this be?"

He almost thought he was holding a plastic knife, yet just yesterday he had used this very blade to strip dozens of animal pelts—it could be said to be extremely sharp.

Li Han, unwilling to believe, hacked a few more times, but the snake's body was like bronze skin and iron bone, leaving no scar; instead, his blade acquired several nicks.

His hand holding the knife trembled violently, like that of a Parkinson's patient.

Just what is this snake's origin?

Could it be a mountain spirit, coming for revenge after seeing him slaughter so many of its kin?

Otherwise, how could there be such an unbelievable 'divine snake'?

Li Han seemed to think of something, hastily pulling a black-green scale from his pocket to compare with the snake before him.

Aside from the scale in his hand being slightly smaller, the rest were virtually identical.

It turned out they had already crossed paths earlier!

"This snake is the very one that previously hunted down its natural enemy!"

For a moment, Li Han's mind filled with many strange tales from Liao's Studio; the blood drained from his face, and his body involuntarily began to sway.

This burly man who had once killed a person, eyes unblinking, had stripped countless animal pelts—who knows how many living beings have met a miserable end at his hands?

Li Han never believed in karmic cycles or retributive rebirth.

Yet now, looking at the snake not far away, his heart felt regret for the first time, along with an indescribable fear and dread.

Knowing he was no match for this snake, Li Han turned to flee, but heard a whooshing wind behind him, as if something kept drawing near.

He widened his eyes; in his peripheral vision he saw a green snake tail lashing suddenly toward the back of his head, accompanied by the shadow of death.

"No, don't! Snake Grandfather, spare my life!"

Li Han ran as if his life depended on it, yet how could his speed possibly match Ye Qin's?

In the flash of lightning, Li Han met the snake's gaze, seeing coldness and death; his whole being felt as if plunging into an abyss.

Who knows what the scarred man saw before he died—perhaps a similar scene.

Li Han's worst mistake was exposing his back, or, tracing further back, he shouldn't have poached, even come to this mountain to slaughter so many snakes.

Now regretting it is too late.

Ye Qin watched the fleeing figure ahead, his gaze like that upon a corpse; this cat-and-mouse game could end, and he flicked his tail sharply.

In the snow, that snake tail seemed like a divine whip of judgment descending from the heavens, refracting a verdant light.

"Bang!"

Accompanied by a dull thud, the sound was like cleaving a watermelon with a blade.

The snake's tail whipped Li Han's head, the tremendous force causing his skull to burst open, even the sound of bones cracking could be heard.

White brain matter mixed with flesh burst forth, spraying onto the pristine snow, forming a pattern of blooming red plum blossoms.

Li Han crashed to the ground.

These people's blood stained the pure white clean snow.

Ye Qin watched his silhouette, his eyes showing some disdain, then returned to his previous calm demeanor, disappearing into the heavy snow filling the sky.

"This battle, I have made a certain judgment of my own strength."

The white snow and the black snake's body form a stark contrast.

The heavy snow did not stop; it quickly covered the traces on the ground, and for no reason, two human-shaped bumps appeared.

No one knows what happened here before.

The next day.

Wu Du, Facing River City, City Gate County.

City Gate Police Station received a report call, saying they had discovered poacher activity.

The police quickly organized personnel to go there; the informant was an elderly forest ranger.

"This morning, I saw a group of people sneaking up the mountain; when I asked what they were doing, they didn't answer, acting like thieves, I suspected they were engaging in illegal poaching."

Winter and spring are when poachers are most active and rampant; moreover, this area is mountainous with a diverse ecosystem, and although the government has ordered a ban on poaching, it cannot be ruled out that some people will take risks.

The police set up an ambush at Mountain Base, indeed caught that group, and immediately took them back to the police station for interrogation.

These people originally wanted to make excuses, but unable to withstand the police interrogation, they confessed fully, only then learning that they were not poachers but buyers.

(End of Chapter)