Chapter 45: The Black Snake Gambit

  Having driven away the first poisonous snake, Li Mang continued to venture deeper into the mountains of Cuiji. The more he walked, the more centipedes there were on the trees and the more snakes there were on the ground. He could only walk a little and then stop, walk a little and then stop again, his speed gradually slowing down as well. Fortunately, he had plenty of time now.

  The snake on the ground was driven away by the yellow powder, but the abdominal worm Li Mang on the tree had no choice. He considered whether to bring an umbrella with him. Although these worms do not bite people and will not attack him actively, thinking about it makes his hair stand on end if they fall on his body.

  In addition, some large caterpillars are also toxic, and the fine hairs on their bodies can quickly cause human skin to become allergic and itchy.

  The ones with thorns on their bodies are even more vicious, commonly known as 'nail worms'. The thorns on their bodies are more severe than bee stings, causing excruciating pain and high fever. In severe cases, they can even be fatal... These are just the ordinary kinds in reality, let alone the caterpillars in this eerie mountain. Li Mang looked around cautiously with every step he took, as if he was walking on thin ice.

  Especially the large caterpillars on the branches above his head, when Li Mang walked underneath, he felt like all the hairs on his body were standing up, and his entire body was extremely uneasy, always on high alert.

  "Hiss!"

  Another hissing sound came from the front, Li Meng didn't mind, after all, they had encountered a snake every few steps along the way, and were already used to this rustling sound.

  However, the rustling sound that followed made him feel uneasy. He looked up to see a large black snake with a diameter of about 4-5 cm and a length of over 2 meters rapidly approaching him. The oval-shaped snake head was as big as a teacup, and if opened wide, it could swallow a huge fist.

  What surprised Li Meng even more was its speed, the dry leaves flew backward and splashed, and its shadow had already arrived in front of him, opening its mouth with sharp teeth and pouncing to bite from a distance. Fortunately, Li Meng's reaction speed was not slow, grabbing the snake stick and sweeping it horizontally.

  "Bang!"

  What was hit was the snake's neck, but due to the haste of the action, the force of this stick itself was not great. Under the influence of mechanics, the two-meter-long body of this big snake did not fly away, and its tail even flew back towards Li Meng.

  "Damn it!" Li Mang was shocked and instinctively reached out to grab the snake's body.

  Those who are skilled at catching snakes know that when hitting a snake, hit it seven inches from the head, and when grabbing a snake, grab its head. Especially for this kind of purely wild and fierce big snake, grabbing its body not only has no effect but also risks being bitten back by it at any time.

  "Hiss!"

  This is a ferocious species in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, although not entirely a spiritual beast, but also considered half a spiritual beast. In all aspects, it is not comparable to ordinary snakes in reality. As soon as Li Mang caught it, its head quickly reversed and bit down on Li Mang's arm.

  "Ah!"

  Li Mang let out a blood-curdling scream, the sharp and slender snake fangs pierced straight into his wrist, even touching bone, bright red blood instantly splashing out along its teeth.

  Li Mang put down the snake stick and used his free hand to pry open its mouth, but the force of the snake's mouth was so great, and the long teeth were tightly embedded in the flesh. Those who had been bitten by snakes before knew that at this moment, the snake's mouth seemed to be stuck to their hands, and it was impossible to pry them open with force.

  Li Mang also discovered this point and could only give up, bending down to pick up a rock from the ground and heavily smashing it onto its seventh inch.

  "Hiss!"

  The black snake that had been suffering finally loosened its grip, and Li Meng, who was ready, smashed a stone onto its forehead with great force, causing its mouth to crack open. Unfortunately, the ground was too damp, so the first blow of seven inches did not break its gallbladder, and now smashing its head also had little effect.

  However, being smashed like this, the black snake couldn't help but feel dizzy for a moment. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Mang finally grasped the snake's head with one hand and grabbed its body with the other. Without caring about the stench, he used his hands to pull and tear at the snake's body, causing its joints to make cracking sounds as they dislocated.

  Thus, although it had been very powerful before, the dislocation of its spine made it unable to exert too much force for a short time, and it was soft and weak, allowing Li Meng to manipulate it at will.

  Although his entire wrist was covered in blood, Li Meng's heart was filled with a sense of victory and joy, it was the double joy of winning the battle and reaping the rewards. Despite being injured, he felt invigorated all over, if only he could drink a delicious bowl of snake soup, wouldn't that be wonderful?

  "Lucky it wasn't a venomous snake, otherwise today would be enough to choke me. Let's go back and deal with the wound first!" Li Mang still had lingering fear, bent down and used his free hand to pick up the snake hook and headed back."

  Zhaoyao Mountain has become Li Mang's base, and he has placed everything he brought from the outside world here. For now, only Zhaoyao Mountain is the safest place, with only a few wild chickens and no other living creatures. He can rest assured that his home is settled here. He even thought that if he could build a residence here and open up two acres of land to grow vegetables and fruits, this life would be simply better than being an immortal!

  Thinking of Li Mang, he felt a surge of excitement. Looking at the snake soup, it still needed some more fire time. He then went out to buy various seeds and seedlings, two activity boards, a large bed, and corresponding supplies. He had the driver take them to a remote area, and while no one was around, he brought them into the Shan Hai Jing, piece by piece.

  It's been some time since Li Mang obtained the Shan Hai Jing, and he has already become familiar with its key points. As long as it is something that can be tightly grasped and lifted by him, it can enter the Shan Hai Jing along with him. A complete wooden house was impossible for him, but disassembling it wasn't difficult, it just required a few more trips back and forth.

  After moving all the purchased items into Zhao Yang Mountain, Li Meng finally enjoyed the black snake stewed chicken and small turtle soup. The black snake had been around for decades, its medicinal effect was even stronger than the honey from Tang Ting Mountain. After eating a few bowls, Li Meng's whole body turned red, his body was filled with unrelenting energy, and the medicinal effect inside him urgently needed to be refined. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he built the plank house, working at a very high efficiency, and finished building it within an hour. At the same time, he could also dissipate the intense medicinal power of the black snake.

  He put up a bed, spread out the mats and quilts, and a simple home took shape, giving Li Meng a great sense of accomplishment. But he was not satisfied yet - how could one have a home without land? So he drank two more bowls of delicious snake soup to replenish his energy, picked up his hoe and started developing a vegetable garden and orchard by the banks of Lixi River, and planted the fruit saplings and vegetable seeds he had just bought.

  It took Li Meng a whole day to set everything up, but he didn't feel tired. Apart from the black snake and wild chicken stewing the small turtle soup taking effect, it was mainly because of the sense of accomplishment in his heart that made him not feel a bit tired.

  Lying on the brand new big bed inside the activity board house, Li Mang smiled and entered a dreamland, which was something he hadn't had in a long time. Since entering the Huang's mansion? No, to be precise, since graduating from college, he had been forced by life to live every day, losing his contentment and freedom. He hadn't been able to do what he wanted to do like today for a very long time, feeling extremely happy and carefree.

  But after falling asleep, Li Meng's eyebrows gradually furrowed, and the scenes he saw in front of the Destiny Sky Disk today flashed through his dreams one by one.

  ……

  PS: This chapter was owed from yesterday, it's a bit late and the word count is still a bit short, but considering I stayed up all night to write it, please don't mind. If you're willing, please spare a recommendation vote!