The flesh cabinet, devoid of eyes, ears, nose, or limbs, seemed to exist solely through the colossal maw at its front.
Somehow sensing the trio's positions, viscous saliva dripped from its corners. However, it quickly detected the presence of Qilin blood. With a snap, its great mouth closed, and it prepared to retreat.
Lacking limbs, its movement relied entirely on the friction generated by the rippling rings of flesh around its body, making it incredibly slow. It took a full three to four minutes for it to manage a turn.
"Damn it! You think you can run!" Fatty, seeing this, flew into a rage. Disregarding everything, he lunged to grab the fleshy mass. "Bloody hell, if you don't spit out the antidote today, I'll beat the shit out of you!"
Just as he was about to act, Zhang Qiling reached out and stopped him.
"The poison on its body cannot be blocked by gloves."
"It's very dangerous."
Fatty calmed himself down, and Zhang Qiling pointed to their gas masks. The two looked closely and suddenly noticed something amiss!
...The gas masks were made of specially treated material, yet their surfaces were subtly showing signs of corrosion from the dense poison in the air!!
This seemingly harmless flesh lump was now as untouchable as a hedgehog.
Zhang Qiling stared fixedly at the wriggling, unhurried flesh mass, its movements imbued with a mocking quality. A name suddenly surfaced in his mind.
"Fang Snake."
"Snake?!" Fatty exclaimed in disbelief. "This thing is a snake??"
"This is some ancestral snake that must have bred with a maggot!"
"I knew I was always at odds with snakes! Nothing good ever happens when I encounter them!"
Wu Tianzhen, with his broad knowledge and extensive reading, knew of many strange and rare beasts. Hearing this, he excitedly chimed in, "If it really is a Fang Snake, then there's a solution!"
"I read in 'Zi Bu Yu' that Fang Snakes are full of poison, but they are easily stimulated. If it's stimulated to expel its toxins frantically, once all the poison is out of its body, it will completely lose all ability to resist!"
"Yes, yes!" Fatty nodded earnestly, humbly seeking guidance. "Well said, Teacher Wu. What did the ancients use to stimulate it?"
"Uh... steamed buns."
"Oh, I see!" Fatty immediately turned back to rummage through his backpack, turning it inside out, only to find ten packs of compressed biscuits.
"Do you think these compressed biscuits can even get stuck between its old man's teeth?"
"..."
Wu Tianzhen slapped himself in the face. They hadn't brought much, and the surroundings were filled with dead trees and withered grass. They really didn't know what to use to stimulate the Fang Snake.
There was plenty of mud...
But the Fang Snake didn't eat mud, did it? It wasn't like that Four-Eared Five-Eyed Beast, which ate anything and was not picky at all.
By now, the Fang Snake had wriggled several meters away. Fatty, afraid of the "ying sheng chong" causing trouble if it got too far, quickly took two steps to catch up.
The scene was both comical and pathetic. Zhang Qiling watched, holding his Black Gold Ancient Saber, and couldn't think of a solution either.
The Qilin Fire could burn away the Fang Snake's toxins, but its fierce heat might also kill the antidote.
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard the faint sound of water.
This place had been shrouded in阴气 (yin energy), 怨气 (resentment), and poison gas, with no living creatures daring to approach. Now that the corpse ghosts were dead, the invisible pressure isolating external sounds had largely dissipated, allowing some sounds to filter in.
Zhang Qiling realized the sound of water came from the deep lake a hundred meters away. The lake was bottomless, dark green, and appeared to have no source or outlet, likely formed by groundwater and rainfall. (The lake was mentioned in Chapter 53 upon arriving at Snowman Peak.)
The Fang Snake was not an amphibious creature. Once in the water, it would inevitably release defensive poison gas out of shock. Moreover, the lake was filled with the sound of water, implying that creatures also survived within it, such as—
"Fish."
Wu Tianzhen and Fatty were both frowning with worry, unable to find a solution, when they suddenly heard Zhang Qiling utter this word.
"Fish? What fish?" Wu Tianzhen repeated blankly. "Little Brother, do you want to eat fish?"
"There's nothing here except that damned snake!" Fatty had entered a state of despair and wailed, "Little Brother, if you're hungry, wait until I, Fatty, kick the bucket, and then you can roast that snake and eat it! Consider it revenge for me!"
Zhang Qiling: ...
Helplessly, he decided to explain fully.
"Lure the Fang Snake into the lake."
"There are fish in the lake."
"No way!" Wu Tianzhen's mind raced, and he instantly understood the entire plan, exclaiming in realization, "It can be done like this?!"
"Little Brother, you're a genius!!!"
Zhang Qiling remained silent. Fatty looked left and right, seeing that no one intended to explain to him, the primary victim, and asked anxiously,
"What is it? What lake? Where's the lake? Can't you guys stop talking in halves? Fatty is so anxious right now, like having diarrhea with no toilet!"
This flavorful description successfully made Zhang Qiling take two steps back. Wu Tianzhen choked slightly and finally explained it clearly to Fatty.
"Hmm..." Fatty put on a thoughtful expression after listening.
"This plan is sound..."
"But the Fang Snake isn't an idiot, why would it run into the water so obediently?"
"We all have Qilin blood on us. It doesn't even dare to come near—"
Mid-sentence, Fatty suddenly thought of something, and his eyes zeroed in on Wu Tianzhen.
More precisely, on Wu Tianzhen, whose jacket had just been burned to ashes, leaving him with no trace of Qilin blood.
Wu Tianzhen was still oblivious when Fatty lunged forward, placing a heavy palm on his shoulder with a terrifyingly deep affection.
"Tianzhen!" he shouted. "My good brother!"
"Now is the time for you to shed blood and sacrifice for Fatty, to stick your neck out for me!"
"Ah...?" Wu Tianzhen blinked, then gradually understood Fatty's meaning.
"Ah?!!!!"
"No, you don't mean... I'm the bait, do you?!"
Fatty nodded solemnly, his face practically screaming "You're so smart."
In an instant, Wu Tianzhen felt that his good brother was really hopeless, and perhaps Fatty should be discarded.
"Is there a possibility," Wu Tianzhen actually thought it was a good plan, but he wanted to argue with Fatty, "that you could take off your jacket and give it to me, then you, Fatty, could personally handle this situation yourself~"
Fatty: ... Hiss, that actually works?
Zhang Qiling watched them bicker from the side, feeling a bit confused.
Although the Fang Snake's movements were slow, this was merely the tip of the iceberg. No one knew if there were other dangers. Logically, he should be the safest to act as bait.
After all, his Qilin blood only flowed within his body. As long as it wasn't exposed, it could deceive the Fang Snake for a while.
Thinking this, he subconsciously glanced at his left hand, only to find that the blood had already seeped out, soaking through the bandages.
In an instant, he understood, but this was not a major problem. He just needed to wrap a few more layers to cover it securely.
So he wrapped a few more layers of bandages and waited for a long time, finally finding a gap in their conversation to interject.
"I can—"
"Stop!"
Wu Tianzhen suddenly reached out and cut him off.
"I! Go!"
Wu Tianzhen said, word by word, gritting his teeth.