The giant snake lay submerged in the pool, bobbing with the ripples.
Seeing their leader dead, the smaller snakes showed no grief. Instead, they scrambled onto the giant snake, burying their heads to drink its blood and tear at its flesh. The pool became a chaotic scene of struggle for the bloody remains.
Fatty, while being bandaged by Wu Tianzhen, bared his teeth and witnessed this, offering a mock eulogy for the giant snake.
"Filial piety, truly filial piety to death."
Fatty's wounds were not deep but numerous. It took considerable time to tend to them all.
After finishing with Fatty, Wu Tianzhen turned to see Zhang Qiling leaning against a rock, staring blankly at the pool, appearing no different than usual.
The hand that had been cut was still slowly bleeding. It had become pale and rotten from being soaked in water and repeatedly torn. Yet, Zhang Qiling himself seemed to have no intention of re-bandaging it.
"Little Brother, let me tend to your hand," Wu Tianzhen approached, his tone filled with concern.
Zhang Qiling, lost in thought, heard this but still had no intention of bandaging his hand.
The place they were heading to later would likely have many more snakes. Leaving his hand like this would save trouble then.
"No need."
He refused calmly, straightening up from the rock he was leaning against, subtly lowering the hand that had been covering his chest.
In fact, the impact from the snake had been quite painful. Although it hadn't caused any injuries that affected his mobility, the ache hadn't subsided until now.
He wasn't deliberately hiding it from the other two; he just felt it was a bit strange to mention it.
... He still cared a bit about his image.
Fatty saw Zhang Qiling approaching and, though he had some thoughts about the unbandaged wound, he figured Zhang Qiling must have his reasons for not dealing with it. After some deliberation, he pretended not to notice and enthusiastically called out.
"Hey, hey, Little Brother, come here!" he said with a mischievous grin. "Come and see! The masterpiece painting 'A Bunch of Filial Children' Hahaha!"
Zhang Qiling followed his gaze. From this angle, the tangled mass of colorful snakes was even more impactful.
Wu Tianzhen, who had followed, couldn't help but exclaim in disgust, "You can watch something so disgusting. I'm impressed."
The pool water was thick with the smell of blood. Under the light, the ripples turned a dark red.
Fatty was still laughing uncontrollably beside them. He had no idea what he would think when he learned later that the exit was at the bottom of this pool.
That's right, Zhang Qiling had discovered this exit during his struggle with the giant snake.
Halfway through the fight, the giant snake realized it couldn't win and had intended to escape through this opening. However, he had grabbed its tail and dragged it back out.
It seemed this was the snake's usual passage for moving between different spaces. The other side of the tunnel should also lead to a sizable pool.
Politely waiting for Fatty to finish laughing, as he was catching his breath, Zhang Qiling finally spoke.
"The exit is at the bottom of the pool."
Upon hearing this, Fatty, who was about to take a breath, choked, unable to exhale.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"
"Damn it! In here—" he pointed at the pile of snakes, his voice trembling. "Down here?!!!"
Zhang Qiling nodded affirmatively, very calmly.
But the other two were far from calm.
"Oh, man!" Wu Tianzhen recalled how he had just called these snakes disgusting, and now he was about to dance with them. For a moment, his legs felt weak.
Although he had fought bravely against the snakes earlier, if he had a choice, he really didn't want to swim in a pool full of snakes and have intimate contact with them.
But life, as it often does, cruelly offered no room for choice.
Before entering the water, Fatty re-secured the treasure seal on his chest. Seeing the pale-faced Wu Tianzhen, he finally felt a pang of conscience and prepared to offer some comfort.
"Hey, Tianzhen, cheer up. Look, you even brought your smart device, right?"
"When the time comes, you just tap it! Hey, go online and post it!"
"What do you call this? This is the real 'Man and Nature'!"
"What do you say, the path to riches is right before your eyes!"
Hearing this rather absurd comfort, Wu Tianzhen couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
"Mmm-hmm, thank you so much for your 'guidance,' Fatty!"
He drew out the last two words to express his defiance. But for some reason, after spending so much time with Fatty, he felt like his brain had been washed by something strange. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Fatty's idea wasn't entirely unreasonable.
It wasn't about getting rich, but the experience of being in a pool with a bunch of snakes seemed quite rare and worth documenting.
With that thought, he adjusted the direction of his smart device, ensuring it could fully capture every "lucky" snake.
The viewers who suddenly saw a pile of snakes up close: ... I really thank you, thank you both!!!
Zhang Qiling saw that they were ready and was the first to enter the water.
He submerged without a sound, moving through the cluster of snakes like a swimming fish.
The blood drops from his palm spread out, creating a safe path through the pool.
Wu Tianzhen and Fatty followed his path, heading towards the bottom of the water.
The pool bottom was indeed coated with that special pigment. Zhang Qiling, relying on his memory, roughly identified the location of the passage. Upon reaching it, he fumbled around and finally found the exit.
They entered one by one. After a long and dark waterway, their surroundings suddenly opened up considerably!
The passage indeed led to another sizable pool. However, strangely, the surface of this pool was covered with fine, grayish-white fabric scraps.
Zhang Qiling and Wu Tianzhen were the first to reach the shore. Both were startled by the scene before them.
Fatty, lagging a step behind, was exhausted as he swam ashore. As he haphazardly grabbed the edge, he caught hold of a hand. He assumed it was Zhang Qiling or Wu Tianzhen, in a burst of brotherhood, coming to pull him up.
His vision was blurry with water. Without looking, he pulled, muttering, "You guys have a conscience after all, remembering Fatty!"
However, with a *snap*, the grip in his hand loosened, and he fell back into the water!
"You can't be serious!" He struggled to surface, looking at Zhang Qiling and Wu Tianzhen standing side-by-side on the shore, observing him. "I only said a few words, and you threw me back in the water? Holding such a grudge?!"
But then he saw Wu Tianzhen's face contorted with an indescribable expression.
"Uh, Fatty, maybe you should take a look at what you're holding?"
"Huh? I'm not holding anything? What could I possibly—" Fatty shouted as he looked down, and his eyes met the pale, severed arm he was still holding.
Fatty: ...
"The owner is over there!" Wu Tianzhen whispered, a hint of schadenfreude in his tone, pointing to where Fatty had just emerged from the water.
There lay a female corpse in white clothing, her arm severed and trailing into the water. Her eyes were wide open, staring intently at Fatty, as if expressing the victim's displeasure.
Fatty: ... Holy crap!!!
He scrambled back into the water and solemnly placed the severed hand back onto the corpse's stomach. Then, he clasped his hands together!
"Jade Emperor, Queen Mother, Erlang Shen, Monkey King, Buddha of the West, Guanyin Bodhisattva, God, Jesus, Hallelujah..."
"No, what's with this East-meets-West invocation?"
"You wouldn't understand, I'm performing a soul-sending ritual for her!" Fatty muttered a few more words, like "Don't come looking for me, I'll burn incense for you." He then climbed ashore, feeling a sense of relief. But as soon as he turned around, his vision went white!
The shore was densely covered with white-clad female corpses, some rotten, some intact, some dismembered.