Wu Tianzhen, who was in the middle of bickering with Fatty, noticed Zhang Qiling suddenly bandaging himself. For a moment, he thought the troublesome fellow had finally understood the meaning of taking better care of himself.
To his surprise, Zhang Qiling then declared that by covering his blood, he could act as bait.
Wu Tianzhen: ...
How to put it, he felt the failure of his education.
He was so annoyed that he didn't want to say anything more. With a few quick steps, he rushed forward and blocked Fang Snake, intending to be the bait himself.
However, judging by his aggressive stance, he looked less like he was playing a harmless and delicious meal and more like he was about to scatter Fang Snake's ashes.
Fortunately, Fang Snake was brainless. As soon as it sensed a large prey without the Qilin blood, its drool threatened to drown it. It eagerly shuffled forward, following Wu Tianzhen.
Seeing the plan proceeding smoothly, Fatty breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he noticed Zhang Qiling, who had been left behind, looking bewildered, and he sighed again.
... For some reason, he felt as if he, who didn't even have a girlfriend, had suddenly become the father of two children.
Wu Tianzhen could pacify himself, so there was no need to worry about him.
Thus, Fatty's expression turned serious. He solemnly took the Black Gold Ancient Sword from Zhang Qiling's hand, and then solemnly placed it back into Zhang Qiling's hand.
"Xiao Ge, our safety depends on you!"
Zhang Qiling was startled, then quickly became resolute, gripping the sword tightly and nodding.
Fatty: Alright, that's handled too.
... Alas, Fatty is so tired.
---
Fang Snake did not understand the complex psychological activities of these people. Its eyes were only on that large piece of food!
Initially, Wu Tianzhen cautiously played the role of bait, fearing that Fang Snake might suddenly attack him.
However, he soon realized he was worrying unnecessarily.
Fang Snake was drooling so much it seemed close to dehydration, but its physical structure dictated that it could only move little by little. It was already so agitated that it was biting the ground with its mouth open to help drag its body.
... It almost felt pitiful.
He completely relaxed and even found the job a bit boring.
Then, he glanced ahead and saw Zhang Qiling scouting the way, holding the Black Gold Ancient Sword, his body tense, his expression sharp, and looking exceptionally alert.
Zhang Qiling always had a poker face, so this sudden change almost scared half of Wu Tianzhen's soul away. The hairs on his body instantly stood on end, and he felt a sense of crisis as if a monster of the caliber of a prehistoric dragon was about to appear!
He instantly drew his gun and held it in his hand, crouching low and looking around furtively, trying to find where the monster was.
"Hiss hiss—hiss!"
It was Fatty, who had sneaked to his side, out of Fang Snake's detection range, gesturing to him from afar.
"It's not that, Tianzhen, why are you suddenly doing this?"
Wu Tianzhen observed and saw that Fatty was also holding a gun, making him even more cautious.
"Is there some danger? I don't see anything. Why are you both holding weapons??"
Fatty: ...
Would you believe me if I said I just took out my gun to match Xiao Ge's mood?
But he certainly couldn't say that; Zhang Qiling had excellent hearing.
Fatty didn't know Morse code, and he was tormented by his inability to communicate. In the end, he could only bang his head against a tree and wave his hand at Wu Tianzhen with no will to live.
... Next time, Fatty vows to figure out a way to communicate without speaking!
Wu Tianzhen didn't understand Fatty's good intentions. This made him even more certain that an unspeakable crisis was quietly approaching, and he became increasingly nervous.
For a time, only Fang Snake's happy world was achieved.
Fortunately, the path wasn't too long. As dawn approached, Fang Snake, guided by Wu Tianzhen, finally and slowly arrived beside the deep lake.
Although their reasons for tension differed, all three greatly relaxed.
The lake was exceptionally vast, reflecting shimmering scales between the mountain walls. Its color was deep, and its interior was completely obscured.
When they first saw it from a distance upon arriving at Snowman Peak, they thought the lake was at the same level horizontally. However, upon reaching it, they realized its extremely high geographical position.
The water in the lake was full to the brim, level with the shore, appearing as if it would overflow with the slightest ripple.
Below it was a cliff, suggesting that when the lake was full, it could even be the source of a waterfall.
Wu Tianzhen, having successfully completed his task, was about to proceed with the next part of the plan when he discovered a problem.
Fang Snake, though foolish, wasn't that foolish.
Now that it had reached the water's edge, it finally realized something was wrong. For a moment, it lost interest in the food that was so close and tried to turn and flee, its fleshy rings shifting.
Just as Wu Tianzhen was about to grit his teeth and jump into the water to continue luring it, a deafening roar sounded!
The Fang Snake, which hadn't finished turning, shot into the lake like a bowling ball, becoming a blur and creating a massive wave!
On the shore, Fatty thumped down the thick tree trunk he had used to hit Fang Snake, lightly blowing dust off his palm with an air of a reclusive master.
Beside him, Zhang Qiling, who had just finished cutting down the tree and stripping its bark, silently sheathed the Black Gold Ancient Sword.
Wu Tianzhen: ... You guys are truly ruthless.
---
Regardless of the process, Fang Snake finally successfully entered the water.
It was likely its first bath in its life, and it was overwhelmed and confused. As soon as it surfaced, it began to roll frantically like a drum in a washing machine.
A deep purple toxic gas exploded outwards, only to be quickly suppressed by the water pressure. It could only repeatedly unleash toxic gas, trying to escape with this sole skill.
Fatty watched for a while and asked in surprise, "Why aren't any fish coming up? Does this lake have no living creatures at all?"
"I say, Fatty," Wu Tianzhen said helplessly, "You should use your brain. Otherwise, leaving it there doing nothing would be so lonely?"
"This Fang Snake releases poison as soon as it enters the water. What fish would be so inconsiderconsiderate as to swim here now?"
"Fish were just our secondary preparation in case Fang Snake didn't exude poison immediately upon entering the water; they weren't essential."
Fatty suddenly understood, but he still felt a bit embarrassed. So, he shouted to cover himself, "Well, how could I not know? I was just worried Xiao Ge might want to eat fish later, so I was thinking ahead!"
Zhang Qiling, who had been quietly dragged into the center of the battlefield: ...??
He glanced at the pitch-black lake with a large meatball rolling around inside. For a moment, he didn't know what consideration Fatty had for saying that he wanted to eat fish from it.
To prevent Fatty from speaking recklessly again, and because he had just discovered something new, he spoke up to interrupt their nonsensical chatter.
"There are living things."
Following Zhang Qiling's outstretched finger, the two of them discovered that dots of white particles intermittently appeared in the dark water, densely surrounding Fang Snake.
... These things were actually gnawing on Fang Snake??!!