This turned out to be a “wild chicken neck” snake. How could there be such a snake here! I took a closer look; the fiery red comb and the snake’s body, along with its upright, terrifying posture, confirmed that it was indeed a “wild chicken neck.” Cold sweat immediately broke out on my forehead. This type of snake is extremely rare; back in my hometown, it is called “Thunder King Red” (phonetic translation). I saw one when I was a child on the mountain. According to the elders, this snake is the king among snakes, feared by all others. It glides close to the ground, moving like lightning, and its venom is incredibly potent. Wherever it slithers, plants and weeds seem to part on their own. Moreover, this snake cannot be killed; if you do, its kin will come back for revenge.

Later, I read a novel from the Qing dynasty that mentioned this snake as a young dragon, dwelling along the dragon veins of mountains and rivers. It also referred to it as a snake spirit residing on the dragon veins. In some places, there are legends about heavenly thunder striking demons; most of these tales involve lightning hitting the mountains, resulting in the emergence of such snakes. However, this snake has nearly vanished in recent decades, so it was truly unexpected to see one here.

The fat guy and the others had never seen such a snake and were amazed. Among the group, only the quiet oil bottle and I showed a change in expression. However, the fiery red body and fierce posture of the snake made it clear that it was a highly venomous creature, and none of us dared to act recklessly.

Having just escaped from the python’s mouth, encountering a venomous snake was frustrating. I reminded myself that in this place, I really needed to be extra cautious and not wander around carelessly. Fighting a python might have a slim chance of survival, but battling a venomous snake usually means either complete victory or total defeat. No one was willing to take that risk. Moreover, “wild chicken neck” snakes typically do not provoke people; their current threatening posture was a warning, indicating that this crevice might be its lair.

We definitely couldn’t stay here, so I waved my hand to signal them not to adopt an aggressive stance and to back out slowly. Aning pulled out a cold smoke fire and handed it to me as a weapon. I held the cold smoke fire in front of me, so that I wouldn’t have to use my hands to block if the “wild chicken neck” suddenly attacked. We cautiously backed out of the crevice, one by one, and it went smoothly. When it was my turn, I finally breathed a sigh of relief, turned to take a last look inside the crevice, and saw that the snake was no longer visible in the darkness. I thought to myself how fortunate it was that nothing happened.

After coming down from the crevice and stepping into the water, the fat guy used his miner’s lamp to explore outside the waterfall, shining it around a few times. He said, “The big snake is gone; we’re safe now…” Everyone let out a sigh of relief. We went to check on Panzi, who was being supported by the fat guy. He weakly waved his hand and said he was fine, just had some internal injuries from the fall, but he wouldn’t die. We exchanged glances and let out bitter smiles; we were all disheveled and covered in mud. Aning’s chest was almost exposed, and she casually tugged at her clothing to cover herself, but we didn’t have the strength to look closely.

There were only two gear bags left; the quiet oil bottle had lost his black gold ancient knife, and the fat guy was holding my dagger, while his own dagger was also gone. Both the quiet oil bottle and Panzi had numerous blood holes on their shoulders from the python’s teeth, especially the quiet oil bottle, who might have struggled free; many of his wounds were gaping.

I really didn’t expect that a single python could leave us in such a sorry state.

I looked up at the sky; the rain had stopped, and the light of dawn was breaking. The trees at the edge of the canyon were sparser, allowing a glimpse of the morning glow signaling the arrival of dawn. On one side was a waterfall, and on the other, a dense jungle, with the sound of birds chirping all around. If it weren’t for the fierce battle we had just experienced, this would have been such a beautiful scene.

Everyone quietly admired the scenery for a moment, and then the chubby guy asked, “What do we do now?”

Aning walked to the edge of the waterfall, caught some rainwater that was cascading down, washed her face, and said, “Once it gets light, we’ll go back to collect our gear and then find a place to rest. It’s too dangerous here; we need to get out quickly.”

The chubby guy replied, “Damn it, it’s easy for you to say. When we were running just now, it was complete chaos. We didn’t even know where that tree was; how can we find it?”

“We still have to look for it. If we don’t go back now, it will be even harder to find it later when we need it,” Aning said, tiredly pressing her face. She rolled up her sleeves and quickly rinsed her head under the waterfall. After washing, she shook her short hair, and the mud and sand washed away, revealing her pretty face, which finally returned to its usual appearance. She signaled for us to set off.

I sighed at the thought of having to return to that place, but what the woman said was indeed correct; we had to do it now, without a chance to catch our breath. It felt like we hadn’t fully recovered yet.

A few of us picked up our belongings. Aning, being a woman and somewhat clean, pulled open her clothes and rinsed her chest with water after we had walked a bit further. At that moment, my peripheral vision caught a flash of red in the waterfall, and we faintly heard a “gurgling” sound.

I suddenly felt something was wrong and warned Aning, “Be careful, stay away from the waterfall!”

“What’s wrong?” Aning turned to look at me, and for some reason, she showed a faint smile, different from her usual expressions, which caught me off guard.

In that instant, a bright red snake suddenly shot out from the waterfall and coiled around Aning’s neck, raising its head high and emitting a series of shrill, piercing “gurgling” sounds. I thought, this is bad! I dropped what I was holding and rushed over. Just as I took my first step, I saw the snake strike like lightning. Aning tried to block it with her hand but failed; the snake’s head bit into her neck. She let out a scream, yanked the snake down, threw it aside, and collapsed into the water, clutching her neck.

We rushed over, but the snake didn’t flee; it sprang up from the water like an arrow, aiming straight at us. The chubby guy shouted and swung his knife but missed. Just as it seemed he was about to be bitten, the quiet guy, Meng Youping, swiftly grabbed the snake’s head mid-air. The snake’s body coiled around his arm, trying to pull its head free, but Meng Youping used his other hand to clamp down on the snake’s neck. With a twist of his hands in opposite directions, there was a crack, and the snake’s head was twisted 360 degrees. He then threw it into the water, and the snake thrashed a few times before going still, slowly floating to the surface.

We hurried to see Anning. I went up to hug her, but I saw that the expression on her face had already frozen. Her throat moved as if she wanted to speak, tears were streaming down her face, and she seemed to be filled with a thousand regrets. My scalp went numb, and I didn’t know what to do; my whole body started to tremble. Then, in just a few seconds, her gaze became vacant, her body softened, and her head drooped down.