Chapter 420: Stone Shadow: Hang

Both of us fell silent again. I tried once more to identify the "panting" sound. Listening closely, I felt it didn't sound much like panting; rather, it seemed like something was sucking on something. But the sound was very ethereal, and I couldn't tell where it was coming from. The bottom of the crack was completely visible, and there was nothing clinging to the cave walls. The sound should basically be coming from above the crack. Up there, iron chains and stone slabs stood in profusion, making it very hard to discern anything.

I turned around, pulled a sawn-off shotgun from my bag, and simultaneously unrolled some tape to quickly strap the flashlight to the gun. I aimed it upward and looked repeatedly, but couldn't see anything.

There were still cold fireworks in the package. I pulled out a few, lit one, and tossed it upward. It hit the cave wall and fell back down, spraying sparks everywhere.

At this, Xiao Hua was caught between advancing and retreating. The cold firework was extremely bright, dazzling my eyes. A pungent smell of burning metal filled the air.

I looked at the iron chains above, quickly took out another firework, then pulled a piece of thin wire from the bundle of explosives, bent it into a hook shape, and tied it to the tail of the cold firework. That way, even if it couldn't catch on the chains, it might hook onto the cave wall higher up as it fell.

After waiting for the cold firework to burn out, I rubbed my eyes and was about to light another and toss it up when I suddenly noticed that the panting sound had stopped. The entire crack fell silent. I broke out in cold sweat. Suddenly, I saw Xiao Hua's flashlight beam blocked by something, and in a daze, I saw a mass of something fall from above.

Reflexively, I shone my flashlight over and saw a flash of red. I spotted a blood-red thing coiled around the cold firework that had just fallen.

That thing was as thick as a wrist, staring curiously at the cold firework. Its whole body was bloody red, so red it hurt the eyes.

I clearly saw it—a cockscomb snake.

Aside from the cold sweat that seemed to burst out, I wasn't much surprised. With the Queen Mother of the West's jars here, having this kind of snake was only too natural. What frustrated me was why I hadn't thought of it before—when I saw those jars, I should have realized the possibility.

Under the gaze of my flashlight, this red cockscomb snake basically ignored my light. It was coiled around the cold firework, then suddenly rose up and made several panting sounds. I immediately understood what that sound was. It must have heard Xiao Hua's panting and started to imitate it. This kind of snake can always mimic the most frequently used sounds made by other creatures.

Hearing the previous sounds and now the silence, I calmed down a bit. Damn it, at this stage, there should only be one here. I pulled back the bolt, aiming at the cockscomb snake's head. But as I aimed, I realized I couldn't fire.

If I fired in here and the buckshot sprayed onto those copper nails on the side, it would trigger the mechanism and we'd all be dead.

I watched it sniffing the cold firework and showing no reaction to our flashlight or sounds. I made up my mind, struck the cold firework I was holding, and then hooked it onto the iron teeth of the bearings on the side.

At the same time, I quickly dodged to the side. The firework burned fiercely, and a strong smell spread out.

"Come on, come on," I silently chanted. Come out, the smell here is fresher.

The firework burned and gradually cooled down. I aimed my gun at the position of the firework, waiting for the cockscomb snake to slither out. However, as I watched the firework, I sensed something was wrong.

The bright flame illuminated the whole dark chamber. I saw a humanoid thing covered in black hair, half its body emerging from the well opening below, its entire body dripping with water.