Chapter 15: The Bible and the Cross

Indeed, it was touch and go!

Antonio had just watched that snake with his own eyes, so he had no confidence in his heart either.

He was uncertain whether a handgun would be of any use in the rainforest, facing two of the world's largest pythons. You must understand, ordinary military and police personnel using handguns can hit a moving target beyond 30 meters mostly by luck; those who can do it by skill are even fewer.

Sometimes at 20 meters one can use a handgun, hit a moving target seven or eight times out of ten shots, and that already counts as excellent in assessment.

So handgun duels mostly occur within 20 meters.

Now the opponents are snakes; no matter how huge a snake's body, it is still a snake, and snakes attack prey at very high speed.

A distance of ten-odd to twenty meters, for a seven- to eight-meter python, might be just an instant's lunge to reach prey 20 meters away.

So Antonio was uncertain whether, taking a handgun into the rainforest to fight desperately against green anacondas on their home turf, there was any chance of winning.

One can only say do one's best! Hearing there was mortal danger, and that they were about to face the world's largest python, everyone was panicked.

Especially the youngest girl, so frightened her two legs trembled nonstop.

"Mom, are there really pythons? If I'd known I wouldn't have come out, I don't want to die!!"

She couldn't help crying out.

"What use is crying now!

If you want to survive, you have to do as the guide says, quickly squat down!"

To survive, forcibly pulled by her reporter mother, she squatted beside that gas stove and began lighting the dry branches and wet leaves on the ground.

Everyone fumbled to ignite the hastily gathered dry branches and leaves; thick smoke billowed, and everyone's flashlights and headlamps shone toward the direction the two green anaconda pythons would come from.

However slowly the green anacondas crawl, by now they should have appeared.

Sure enough, very quickly, under everyone's tense gaze, in the gradually thinning drifting smoke, a giant python as thick as a water bucket and seven or eight meters long appeared in the illuminated area of ten-odd headlamps.

Everyone's breathing stopped in that instant, because right then, another even larger one actually appeared, at least ten meters long.

A good while passed before someone noticed they had nearly suffocated, and only then recovered their breath.

Cindy's gun-holding hand was sweating; in the rainforest, if you have no certainty about something, don't do it.

It is said that in America there was a man carrying a hunting rifle hunting wild boar; the boar was hit by one shot but didn't die, instead went mad, and while the man was caught off guard it crashed into him.

Then the boar ran away, and the man died too.

That was still with a hunting rifle, power far stronger than the handguns in their hands, so while staying vigilant she turned her gaze toward Antonio, the one making the decisions.

Antonio was still directing everyone: "Nobody move, don't run! This kind of python mainly relies on heat imaging and smell to capture prey; they are blind.

Just like frogs, as long as you don't move, after losing the help of smell and heat imaging, it cannot see where you are.

Ladies and gentlemen, everyone face the direction of the pythons and hide behind the fire, continue burning wet leaves.

Damn it, I need that smoke thicker!"

Finished speaking, Antonio looked at Chen Yaozu: "Mr. Chen, trouble you to help us look again, besides these two in front of us, are there any other pythons?"

He worried that besides these two guys who already count as colossi among pythons, there might be other accomplices, and if they launched a pincer attack unawares, that would be trouble.

After all, they truly couldn't build a ring of fire and then have ten-odd or twenty people hide in the middle of the fire pile; that way they would suffocate to death.

Chen Yaozu also cautiously had the Brazilian beauty ghost wander a circle around, confirming that in the surroundings the only creatures that could pose a threat to this group of theirs were the two giant pythons in front.

After the Brazilian female ghost finished scouting and returned to report, Chen Yaozu then spoke: "There are no other fierce beasts in this vicinity!"

Antonio, Cindy, and the others breathed a sigh of relief; compared to the panicked crowd, they still had some confidence in their hearts.

Just as everyone stood ready, hiding behind the fire pile to conceal their figures and throwing wet leaves into the fire to produce smoke, looking tense and alert, unexpectedly these two giant pythons were not charging at them.

Instead, right there on the flat ground not far away, the two green anaconda giant pythons actually began sticking together, entangling together, and then started their grand plan of reproduction.

Antonio wiped the cold sweat emerging on his forehead with his hand; it scared him to death, he thought he was going to meet his end here today!

Unexpectedly, this place was actually the rendezvous of these two giant pythons, and the reason these two giant pythons came here was not because they fancied them as food, but because today's task of reproduction was more important.

When snakes entwine with each other, and when snakes swallow food, those are actually their most vulnerable moments.

For Antonio, who knows snake habits well, from the moment these two world-class giant pythons entwined, the heart-pounding suspense of facing a crisis was already gone.

Everyone still squatted, not daring to move, until watching these two snakes' entanglement reach a white-hot stage; mustering courage yet steeling his heart, Antonio hesitated a moment, but still quickly carried two handguns and carefully crept over.

With a few gunshots, the two giant pythons that had just fallen into tender intimacy were solved just like that.

So, no matter how powerful a creature, during reproduction it is truly very vulnerable.

Chen Yaozu did not volunteer; before transmigration he did rescue work, he knows what professional matters are — professional people must do professional things.

He is not unfamiliar with guns, but currently lacks practical combat experience, cannot be like Antonio and them, for whom shooting to hunt is already familiar to the point of being second nature.

So, although it's a pity such a huge giant python didn't die by his own hand, he actually still breathed a sigh of relief. Although he is a transmigrator, and also has a treasure similar to a Golden Finger, and even now has a Brazilian female ghost as a servant girl.

What can that do?

It's not invulnerability; such a python only needs to coil around you, and crushing all the bones in your whole body is a light matter.

If someone stabs you with a knife, without timely rescue you might also die.

So whether transmigrator or Golden Finger, neither is something he can now be arrogant enough to look at the sky with; the humility that should exist must still be there.

Just like now, two existences that are equally colossal at the world python level, weren't they just shot dead by two peanut-sized bullets!

Chen Yaozu felt some resentment in his heart over these two giant pythons being ended in such a child's-play manner.

Transmigrating through the Amazon tropical rainforest and encountering a primeval giant python — after all, not just anyone can have such a spectacular experience.

Crisis past, even that night they roasted snake meat to eat, and I must say, it was quite delicious; even the little girl who had been scared witless just now ate with relish.

However, having suffered such a huge fright, in the end there were few who dared sleep; only Chen Yaozu and a few guides took turns sleeping soundly.

But when day broke on the second day, they still had to continue on the road; even if these people slept poorly, they still had to walk.

Fortunately though, ever since encountering those two giant pythons, it seemed everyone's luck had turned from extreme misfortune to good fortune.

No accidents appeared along the way, and the road was still good to walk; several days without rain, the jungle ground seemed to have dried slightly.

Anyway, these past few days they have been traveling through the rainforest very smoothly, and no one fell or anything due to the slippery ground.

Everyone had only one wish: to leave this primitive tropical rainforest as soon as possible; they had encountered an extreme danger once, and did not want to encounter a second time.

After leaving the rainforest, they quickly went to the town to buy a change of clothes, and took off their wet, dirty clothes.

They wolfed down some local food, then continued on their way, now riding in a vehicle.

When they reached the bank of the Panama Canal heading north, they did not pass through the ship locks.

The ship locks were nearby, but not everyone was allowed through.

The narrowest point of the Panama Canal was over 150 meters, and at its widest it was only three or four hundred meters at most.

So, to avoid the checkpoint, they crossed the river by boat.

Twenty-plus people in small boats, in two batches, using a diagonal wake, crossed the Panama Canal and entered the dock on the opposite bank.

After crossing the canal, everyone's luck seemed very good; they headed north all the way, left Panama, and passed through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala into Mexico.

They also happened to see a Wife-Selling Fair in Honduras.

That's right!

In this godforsaken place called Honduras, men could actually sell their wives, even treating women as property, feeling like ancient times.

It was mainly like going to a fair! That was very strange.

But they were only bystanders and did nothing; after watching, they continued on their way. But since entering Mexico, Antonio's route was not easy to manage, and he paid bribes several times at checkpoints along the route.

But fortunately, apart from those times he paid money, the route of the vehicle Antonio hired remained smooth, and he actually managed to get everyone safely to the US-Mexico Border.

But first he took everyone into a store; this time the store was not an Eastern Store.

"Now everyone must go into the store and buy a Bible and a cross.

Because you are about to enter America; after entering, if you want to obtain legal Illegal Residency, you must first serve some time in prison.

If short, you'll come out in a few days or half a month; if long, it could be several months or years.

So you must have a good Statement.

Basically, every one of you who entered America on foot came this way.

Remember the process.

Find a way to slip across the Border Line; after crossing the border, immediately call to Surrender.

The Border Police will arrest you and take you to Prison, and conduct an Interrogation on you.

And with the Bible and cross in hand, you can say this to the officer interrogating you:

Because my Homeland does not allow believing in Christ, there is no Religious Freedom.

So for the freedom of the soul, a Devout Christian like you had no choice but to Leave Home and enter America on foot.

Remember this reason is the most important!"

(Chapter End)