The tree canopy above us is actually quite close, only about two or three meters away, and I can clearly see the scales of the snake. This is a tree python, thickest at about the width of a bucket. The canopy is dense, and most of its body is hidden inside, so I have no idea how long it is. What amazes me is that the scales of the snake reflect a golden-brown hue under the light of the mining lamp, making it look as if the snake has been gilded.

When we climbed up earlier, there surely weren’t any pythons around; this snake must have slithered over while we were resting among the tangled tree canopies. Pythons move very slowly when not hunting, and they are quite stealthy. There is a light breeze outside, and the sound of rustling leaves fills the jungle; everyone is a bit dazed and has no idea. Even Panzi, who is on watch, hasn’t noticed its approach.

However, it’s not surprising to see a python here; tropical rainforests are the natural habitat of pythons, and after witnessing so many strange occurrences, a mere large snake doesn’t seem to tighten our nerves.

Panzi and the others have seen a lot in their lives and remain surprisingly calm; nobody moves or screams. This type of snake has a long striking distance, and we don’t know if it’s interested in us. If we move carelessly and startle it, it could strike in an instant, and being in the trees puts us at a disadvantage.

We are in a standoff, while the tree python slowly coils down, its massive head hanging below the branch, looking at us with its yellow, venomous eyes that make one extremely uncomfortable in the dark.

Panzi has already raised his gun, still trying to push the fat guy, who is impossible to wake up no matter how much he pushes. The black gold knife of the mute oil bottle is also resting behind his waist, with a dagger gripped in his other hand. Everyone instinctively shrinks back, trying to maintain distance from the snake.

I am at the back, thinking that if it were to attack, it wouldn’t target me first. I glance down at the ground, pondering whether jumping down would be feasible. After all, we are up in the trees, and there is quite a height; moving around is difficult, and a direct confrontation would likely put us at a disadvantage.

After the heavy rain, the waterfalls on both cliff sides converge at the bottom of the canyon into numerous small streams. Now these streams have merged, and the muddy ground beneath the trees has turned into a black swamp. Below should be tree roots and mud, and I wonder if I could even escape.

Just then, I turn my head to look at the rainforest in front of me, and I hear the sound of the canopy shaking again, rustling; this time it seems to be coming from behind me.

Turning around, cold sweat pours down my back like a waterfall. Hanging just behind my neck is a slightly smaller tree python, also golden-brown in color. This one is about the thickness of my thigh and is only an arm’s length away from my face, with a strong, foul odor wafting toward me.

I am so frightened that I shrink forward again; the people in front of me pull back, and I move forward, causing us to huddle together with no way to retreat.

Now, we truly dare not move at all, all of us frozen in place. A person stares at the snake, and the snake stares back at the person, even our breathing feels constricted.

I felt something strange in my heart. Pythons are solitary animals with a strong sense of territory, and they rarely hunt in pairs unless it’s mating season. Could it be that the rainy season here is their mating period? That would indeed be an inconvenient time to come across them. The two pythons, one in front and one behind, seemed to be consciously planning to ambush us. They were likely a male and female that had just mated. The thought of human remains inside a snake’s body made me feel nauseous, and I thought to myself, “Damn, I really don’t want to become a snack after your happy moment.”

We were at a stalemate for a long time, neither side moving. The pythons might not have seen humans very often and were momentarily confused about the situation, so they didn’t dare to attack. Moreover, the presence of the two men, Mute Oil Bottle and Panzi, was quite imposing; they stared at the snakes like stone sculptures, and it seemed the pythons could sense the underlying danger and hesitated.

After about ten minutes, the two pythons, unable to find a flaw in our defenses, slowly retreated into the treetops, seemingly wanting to give up. Watching the snakes coil back up, I couldn’t help but let out a slow breath of relief. Panzi also relaxed his tense body, and the gun muzzle gradually lowered. I felt fortunate; to be fighting snakes in a place like this was not a good idea. Not to mention the snake’s attack power, just falling from here would be disastrous.

But just as I was about to quietly exhale and calm my nerves, the fat guy beside me suddenly turned over, let out a vague snore, and even made a long nasal sound. That sound broke the extreme silence, startling everyone. An Ning hurried to cover his mouth, but it was already too late. The entire tree shook violently, and a gust of foul wind swept through; the front python poked its head back out. This time, its body was arched into a U shape, clearly preparing to attack.

Panzi immediately raised his gun, but it was still a moment too late. The python’s head struck like lightning. In an instant, Panzi barely ducked, and the snake’s head lunged at him from the side of his head. Behind him, Mute Oil Bottle had poor visibility and couldn’t dodge in time, getting bitten on the shoulder. Then, the muscular python’s body whipped in like a whirlwind, and in a split second, its upper body crashed down on the snake bones beneath our feet. The already precarious pile of bones instantly collapsed, and we were knocked over by the snake’s body. The ground beneath us gave way, and everyone fell into the pile of snake bones.

Fortunately, there were a lot of vines entangled within the snake bones. As the bones broke and collapsed, the vines caught various parts of our bodies. I scrambled with my hands and feet, grabbing a vine and sliding down a few meters before getting stuck. Looking up, I saw Mute Oil Bottle tightly wrapped up by the python, lifted into the air. The black gold ancient knife had been knocked somewhere, and the snake’s body coiled tighter and tighter. Mute Oil Bottle struggled with all his might but was helpless.

I was filled with anxiety and shouted for Panzi to shoot. Turning around, I couldn’t see Panzi and had no idea where he had fallen. Just then, I saw Mute Oil Bottle suddenly shrug his shoulders, and his whole body shrank down, slipping out of the python’s coils and landing on a branch. He quickly flipped over and jumped onto the tangled vines, sliding down until he reached my side, shouting at me, “Give me the knife!”

I quickly reached for my knife, but I was so nervous that I couldn’t pull it out after several attempts. At that moment, the python realized it had wrapped itself around nothing and became furious. It suddenly coiled back up the tree and, in the blink of an eye, was right in front of us, its head twisting as it lunged to bite.

“Damn it!” I cursed loudly, watching the gaping mouth of the snake coming directly towards my face. The visual impact was something few people would ever experience. The oil bottle guy grabbed a vine and yanked out a bone, throwing it at the python. The snake dodged in mid-air, buying us a little time. The oil bottle guy shouted at me, “Jump down!”

But by that time, I was already dazed and didn’t know what I was thinking. My reflexes kicked in, and I curled up instinctively, unable to react in time. In that instant, the snake’s head arched back again, and the oil bottle guy clicked his tongue, kicking me hard and sending me flying out.

That kick was incredibly powerful, and the vine I was holding snapped. In my panic, I flailed around but couldn’t grab onto anything, falling freely downwards, crashing into several branches before landing heavily on the ground. Fortunately, there was water and mud below, and I rolled around a few times, ending up face-first in the muck, but it didn’t hurt too much.

In a daze, I was helped up and dragged out. After a few steps, I started to feel a burning pain all over my body. Wiping the mud off my face, I saw that it was A-Ning and the Fatty who were supporting me. Looking around, I noticed all the mining lamps had fallen into the mud and extinguished, everything was blurry. Panzi was aiming his gun at the tree, but from below, the treetop was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.

“Are you okay?” A-Ning asked me.

I shook my head, saying I was fine, but they kept dragging me out. I insisted that we couldn’t leave that kid in the tree!

Just as I finished speaking, the whole tree shook violently. The oil bottle guy jumped down from the trunk like a monkey, and at the same time, a huge shadow wrapped in leaves and bark came crashing down like the wind. The two shadows tumbled together into the muddy water. Before the splash even settled, I saw the python lunging at him, and the oil bottle guy ducked and vanished into the splash.

Seeing this, I thought, “What the hell, he’s actually wrestling with that snake!” I shouted to Panzi, “Hurry and help!”

Panzi didn’t wait for me to finish; he was already cursing as he rushed over, dodging the splash and aiming his gun. Finally, he fired the first shot. His marksmanship was exceptional, hitting the snake right in the head, causing it to twist in mid-air. The oil bottle guy rolled out from under the snake and took off running. The snake wasn’t dead, though; it flipped around like a spring and lunged at him again. But Panzi fired again, forcing it to retreat. He then backed up and shouted to us, “I’ll cover you! You guys get out—!”

Before he could finish, another python suddenly shot down from the tree, biting into Panzi’s shoulder and lifting him off the ground in an instant.

The attack was too fast; no one had time to react. We were all horrified, and he was already coiled up in mid-air. Watching him flail his arms and legs, my heart sank, and I thought, “It’s over!”

Just as the words were spoken, Panzi showed remarkable courage in the face of danger. With a swift motion of his hand, he flipped out his folding military knife and thrust it upward, driving it forcefully into the snake’s eye. The giant python writhed in pain, releasing its grip and crashing into a tree, tumbling down with blood all over its face. Then, A-Ning lit two cold fireworks from his backpack, struck them against his knees to ignite them, and rushed between the python and Panzi, using the cold flames as a barrier while shouting at us, “Drag him away, run!”

I shouted, “No! The cold fireworks aren’t hot enough!” A-Ning replied, “You know, but the snake doesn’t!”

The Fatty and I rushed over, helped Panzi up, and ran into the woods. However, we had barely taken a few steps when suddenly, a splash accompanied by a wave of mud came rushing towards us. Turning around, we saw that the enormous python behind the oil bottle was still alive, its head covered in blood, furiously chasing after the oil bottle, who was now charging towards me, with the massive snake dancing wildly behind him, almost as if it were flying.

The python was furious! The consequences were severe! A phrase suddenly popped into my mind, and seeing the situation made my legs go weak. The oil bottle shouted, “Get down!” The Fatty grabbed me and ran a few steps before suddenly dropping into the water. The python was upon us in an instant; the oil bottle and A-Ning rolled into the mud, and the massive body of the snake coiled around my back. It came to a sudden stop, crashing into a nearby tree, nearly breaking it, and leaves and debris rained down like a shower.

We scrambled to our feet, disoriented and unable to tell east from west. The Fatty’s killing intent surged as he cursed, “Damn it, let’s fight it!” Saying this, he drew the knife from my waist and charged at the dazed python. I hurriedly rushed up to him, wrapping my arms around his waist to stop him from going forward. The oil bottle also got up, and I saw that his shoulder was covered in blood, clearly a serious injury. Breathing heavily, he pointed to the jungle and shouted, “Run! These two snakes are not right!”

Seeing the oil bottle injured like that made the Fatty hesitate. He quickly picked up Panzi and threw Panzi’s gun to me. I raised the gun to cover our retreat as we fled into the jungle. Just as we plunged into the underbrush, splashes of water erupted behind us; the snake was coming again.

None of us had time to look back. Beneath the trees was a thicket of dense shrubs and ferns. As we charged in, the branches were thorny, scraping against my bare skin and drawing countless lines of blood, causing me to wince in pain. But there was no time to think about that; I gritted my teeth and ran like crazy.

No one expected we could achieve such speed in the jungle. If we had maintained this pace, we would have crossed the canyon by noon. We quickly reached the edge of the canyon, where the cliffs were lined with waterfalls, and the water rose to our knees, making it impossible to run fast anymore.

Turning back to look, I was shocked to see that the snake had hardly lost any ground; its serpentine body slithered through the bushes like lightning. We wanted to run further, but ahead was the waterfall—there was no way out. The Fatty shouted angrily, “Damn it, who led the way!”

Several people were panicking; the water was so deep here, and we couldn’t move, while the python was incredibly agile in the water, making our situation dire. At that moment, Aning saw something and shouted to us, “Over there!”

We followed the beam of her miner’s lamp and saw a crack behind a waterfall in the rocky cliff that seemed like a hiding spot. The fat guy yelled, “Hurry up!”

We rushed over and dashed into the waterfall. The opening of the crack was very narrow; the python definitely couldn’t get in. It was a tight squeeze for us humans, and several of us had to turn sideways to fit inside. The inside was filled with water, and we barely managed to squeeze in, but the fat guy couldn’t get in no matter how hard he tried.

We desperately pulled him, and he pushed with all his might, but he could only get one leg inside. Aning, already inside, shone the miner’s lamp toward the crack’s opening, revealing the massive head of the snake just outside the waterfall’s curtain—a huge shadow. The fat guy panicked and shouted, “What are you shining the light at? Turn it off!”

I went up to cover his mouth and whispered for him to be quiet. But everyone knew hiding was futile; we grabbed our weapons, ready to fight for our lives.

Strangely, the python lingered outside the waterfall, not probing its head inside. After a few moments of wandering, it surprisingly turned and left.

At that, we exchanged bewildered glances, utterly confused. If the snake had just poked its head inside, the fat guy would have surely been done for. We couldn’t have stood by and watched; it would have been a fight to the death, and at least half of us would have been doomed. Why did it suddenly leave? Was it afraid of the waterfall?

At that moment, we heard a series of “cluck cluck cluck” sounds coming from deep within the crack, resembling a chicken’s call. The sound of rushing water outside wasn’t loud, but the chicken-like calls were particularly distinct, and we all heard them at once.

Everyone turned their heads, finally having the energy to observe the crack. We noticed the water inside was only waist-deep, and looking further in, it seemed to lead to a dead end. However, at the very end of the rocky crevice, something was standing there. This thing was completely hidden in the darkness, and with the dim light from the miner’s lamp, we couldn’t make it out at all.

For a moment, my vision blurred, and I couldn’t see clearly, but the posture of that thing standing there sent chills down my spine. I couldn’t articulate what was so strange about it, so I asked Aning to turn the miner’s lamp towards it.

As the light illuminated it, the creature revealed its true form. I stared for two or three seconds, unable to comprehend what I was seeing—those were two or three seconds of extreme shock. Then I finally reacted, hardly believing my eyes.

At the very back of the crack, there was a snake about the thickness of a wrist. This snake was not a python; it was bright red all over, with a sharply pointed triangular head, and astonishingly, it had a large comb like a chicken on top. What shocked me even more was that this snake was standing upright, its head lowered, glaring at me with fierce eyes, its entire posture resembling that of a person without arms or legs.

I found myself almost unable to move as I stared into the snake’s eyes, until Aning tugged at me. In that instant, I realized what I was looking at and understood why that giant snake had abandoned us. The childhood fear I had long buried surged through my entire body.