Chapter 657: Mountain Fifty-Five

Moss and vines covered the jagged rocks on three sides of the valley. A few blades of light pierced through the gaps between the branches and leaves of the tall trees in the Evolution Forest, illuminating the mist of the waterfall and three Qiang Snakes in the pool below.

After entering the pool, the three slender Qiang Snakes—two green and one red—stopped pretending to be grass stalks and swam and entwined nimbly in the water.

An eerie, sinister air permeated the place.

Yang Jin quickly scouted the surroundings, confirmed there was no high-risk presence, then walked over to Xia Qing and formed a defensive formation with her. "Any discoveries?"

Although he had not detected any powerful beasts or aggressive Qiang-evolved plants, Yang Jin remained on full alert. Because he was not the only one here—there was also Xia Qing, who had never ventured deep into the Evolution Forest before.

Xia Qing pointed at the bottomless pool. "There are Qiang Snakes below—at least a dozen or so."

Yang Jin's visual evolution level was not as high as Xia Qing's. Only after she indicated the location did he notice the red and green little snakes tangled together, hidden in the crevices of the rock wall two or three meters underwater.

Qiang Snakes had always been considered a rare, high-danger species. This was also why, after discovering them, Zhang San had activated the disaster-elimination protocol, and Yang Jin and Luo Pei had rushed over from the safe zone immediately.

But what he had seen today had overturned Yang Jin's understanding. Humanity's knowledge of evolution was still far too shallow.

Yang Jin took off his backpack. "I'll scout the underwater situation first. You handle the guard duty."

"Alright, be careful." Xia Qing had already used her magnetic sense to scout. Although there were a few aggressive Qiang-evolved plants nearby, their danger level was low—as long as no one touched them, they would not trigger any threat.

But this pool or its surroundings must contain something extraordinary, or, to quote Li Si's famous saying, it was "the combined result of multiple factors," that could draw Qiang Snakes from twenty or thirty li away.

Since the plants above the water surface showed nothing unusual, the key factor among these "multiple factors" was likely hidden in the deep pool that Xia Qing's scouting abilities could not reach.

It was time to bring out the instruments and equipment.

Yang Jin pulled out a fist-sized small underwater detector, placed it along the edge of the pool, and began probing the underwater situation.

"Buzz—buzz—"

Xia Qing, who was on guard duty, felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and commanded directly, "Idiot, idiot, answer the call."

Yang Jin, who was standing beside her directing the underwater detector, heard this and the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.

After the call connected, before Xia Qing could even ask, Zhang San spoke first. "Xia Qing, the python in the northern lake of Mountain Sixty has begun releasing breath containing strong chemical signals outward—it's probably marking territory and attracting a mate. Where have the Qiang Snakes you're tracking swum to?"

The moment she heard Zhang San's words, Xia Qing knew something was wrong. She immediately told Yang Jin beside her, "There's a python in the pool, quickly pull up—"

Before she could finish, she saw that the monitoring screen of the detector Yang Jin was holding had already gone black.

Yang Jin pressed the remote a few more times. "Tell Third Brother there's a large creature in this small pool. It swallowed the small detector I lowered in."

After Xia Qing reported their location and situation, Zhang San analyzed, "It could be a python underwater. You two mark the pool's location first, then install surveillance cameras nearby. Yang Jin, can you two handle whatever's in the water?"

Yang Jin answered confidently, "If it jumps into the water we might not be able to beat it, but if it dares to surface, it will absolutely be no match for me and Xia Qing."

The combination of a top-tier speed evolver and a top-tier sniper was indeed reassuring.

Zhang San ordered, "Very good. If it doesn't attack, you two stay by the pool and capture every Qiang Snake that swims over until none are coming, then withdraw. If it attacks, bring it back if you can beat it; retreat immediately if you can't."

"Copy that." After accepting the order, Xia Qing asked with concern, "Third Brother, things haven't come to blows over at Mountain Sixty, have they?"

The wolf pack's cubs were probably not even a month old yet.

Zhang San had dispatched the tamed birds from Territory Eight, so of course he knew the situation at Mountain Sixty. "The leaders of the wolf pack and the bear pack are both watching the python's movements in the lake. So far, they haven't fought."

After hanging up, Xia Qing discussed with Yang Jin first. "Captain Yang, you keep watch while I make a net for catching snakes?"

After Yang Jin nodded, Xia Qing took steel wire and fine fishing net from her backpack and quickly made a small net. Then she looked around, selected a suitable small tree, didn't even use a knife—walked over, gripped the trunk with her hands, and snapped it. The tree, thicker than an arm, broke with a sharp "Crack!"

Xia Qing neatly stripped off the bark and branches with her knife, fashioned the trunk into a pole for the snake-catching net, and tried it out in her hand.

Good, very handy.

After finishing, she noticed Yang Jin watching her, so Xia Qing explained, "I came out on a personal flight device this time and didn't carry a telescoping steel rod—those supplies are too heavy. Qiang Snakes don't have strong attack power, so a snake-catching net on a wooden pole like this should be sufficient."

Yang Jin wasn't questioning the quality of the snake net, but marveling at Xia Qing's strength and her practiced skill at making tools. "It's sufficient. If it breaks, we can make another—low cost."

Speaking of cost, Xia Qing thought of the underwater detector that had just been swallowed. "The detector you put in the water just now wasn't cheap, was it?"

Yang Jin smiled. "Not cheap, but it was spoils captured from Sufeng. These detectors are very sturdy. Once we catch the creature underwater, we can just fish it back out."

Xia Qing scooped up a fiery-red Qiang Snake swimming against the current toward the small pool, but she wasn't as optimistic as Yang Jin. "If the python in the water happens to be the one that defeated the northern wolf pack last July, we might not get it back."

On July 18th last year, the wolf pack, snake pack, and bear pack fought at Mountain Fifty-Five. Then in the early hours of July 19th, the lead wolf brought the injured Broken-Waist Wolf and Broken-Leg Wolf into Xia Qing's territory to seek help.

After Yang Jin put the Qiang Snake from the net into a bag, Xia Qing asked, "Captain Yang, I forgot to ask later—what was the situation you scouted at the time? Among the wolves, snakes, and bears, who was allied with whom?"

Yang Jin answered, "Based on the surveillance video, at Mountain Fifty-Five that time, wolves and snakes, wolves and bears, bears and snakes were all fighting. We couldn't tell who had formed an alliance with whom."

Later, during the revenge battle at Mountain Sixty on the night of October 21st, Broken-Waist Wolf brought Xia Qing over to treat the lead wolf's wounds. From her observation, the snakes and bears should have been on the same side.

The struggles between animals must certainly be related to food and territory. A bold hypothesis gradually took shape in Xia Qing's mind.

While scouting for Qiang Snakes, she asked, "Last year in mid-May, after the lead wolf first entered the wild boar breeding center to kill wild boars, you chased it, and it seemed to run to Mountain Fifty-Five too. You didn't keep chasing after that, did you?"

Yang Jin understood what Xia Qing was thinking and nodded. "Right. Not just that time. Half a month later, when I gathered full equipment and led a team north to scout the Evolution Forest, we had just entered Mountain Fifty-Five when Broken-Waist Wolf—which later came to your territory for wound treatment—broke into the wild boar breeding center and hunted wild boars again."

In early June last year, Xia Qing, who was hunting porcupines in the Evolution Forest, happened to encounter Broken-Waist Wolf retreating after killing two wild boars.

At that time, Xia Qing knew she was no match for Broken-Waist Wolf, so she stepped aside and let it leave. But she didn't know Yang Jin had gone to Mountain Fifty-Five again at that time. "When you led the team to Mountain Fifty-Five that time, what supplies were you looking for?"