Chapter 8: Brown Crag Snake
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gao Peng studied pa.s.sionately because he hoped to find a method to resurrect his parents through the knowledge he obtained.
This was how Gao Peng managed to transform from a ‘dead fish’ student who had no interest in studying, to a top student in school.
Because he had dreams; because he had ambitions. And those were to bring his parents back to life.
If he chose to be an ordinary person, then he did not have any right to chase after his ambitions.
Gao Peng dug up the soil beneath the Blood Lilyturf to reveal the snow white rhizome of the plant. What looked like miniature carrots were growing out from under the rhizome. It was hard to imagine that under such a small plant was such a large ma.s.s of underground stems.
Although Gao Peng had read up on Blood Lilyturfs, this was the first time he saw and touched one in real life.
Da Zi kept circling around Gao Peng curiously, its pair of antennae flying about constantly. It stared at the Blood Lilyturf root in Gao Peng’s hand, then rested on his elbow and stared at him with pitiful puppy-dog eyes.
Gao Peng laughed out loud. He was just examining this plant and had no intention of actually bringing it back with him. But if Da Zi wanted to eat it, why not? Gao Peng fed Da Zi the piece of root that he held in his hand. Da Zi’s mandibles opened and closed as it ate in big mouthfuls. A clear liquid flowed out of Da Zi’s mouth parts.
Centipedes were originally omnivorous creatures, and some even ate moss. Eating a bit of Blood Lilyturf root should have been no problem at all.
Afterwards, Gao Peng stepped into what seemed to him a dreamlike paradise, as he searched the grove next to Mirror Lake for all sorts of different plants. Various plants that previously only existed for him in books were right there in front of his very eyes. There was a Transforming Vajra Osmanthus, a Blue-Winged Paperplant…
This little grove was like a treasure trove to Gao Peng.
Da Zi, who was following Gao Peng about, suddenly stopped, the pair of antennae on its head shooting upright like two long towers. Its eyes shone with a cautious light.
The sound of rustling from a bush behind Gao Peng alarmed him. The dark green bush was shaking constantly. From the frequency of the shaking and the size of the bush, Gao Peng could determine that whatever was making the rustling was not too large.
As if sensing Da Zi’s presence, whatever was in the bush seemed to not dare to come near. After hesitating for a moment, the shaking in the bush stopped. The creature hidden in the bush seemed to be trying to retreat from the back of the bush.
Da Zi got excited and looked eager to rush into the bush, but was stopped by Gao Peng. There was no way to be sure that Da Zi would not fall into a trap after chasing the creature into the bush. The creature could be trying to lure Da Zi in.
The wisdom that these monsters had was not to be underestimated. Although most monsters did not have very high intelligence, it was not the same thing as wisdom.
Intelligence was inborn; but wisdom could be acc.u.mulated through experience.
Gao Peng pulled Da Zi along with him as he took two big steps backwards. After taking a careful look at his surroundings to make sure there were no other threats around, he picked up a rock from the ground and tossed it a bit in his hand.
Then he sent it flying towards the bus.h.!.+
Su su–
The bush suddenly shook violently as though something in it was alarmed.
After a moment, a grey figure suddenly shot out from the bush. Ssss! It went straight towards Gao Peng.
Gao Peng carefully stepped backwards and at the same time, Da Zi fiercely leapt at that gray figure. Da Zi’s speed was not slow either.
A purple and a grey blur crashed in mid-air at a speed so fast that Gao Peng could not see each figure clearly with his naked eye. He only saw purple and gray afterimages entangled with each other in a complete blur.
Momentarily, probably after finally locking onto each other, the two images finally landed on the ground with a thud. Da Zi’s thousands of legs were wrapped tightly around the body of a greyish brown python.
Before the cataclysm this would probably be called a python, but now in this new era, this was merely a small, ordinary snake.
The grey-brown python was around three meters long, while Da Zi was only two meters long. Hence, at the rear end of Da Zi, there was a segment of tail sticking out, occasionally thras.h.i.+ng about.
Looking at the python, a stats table automatically appeared in Gao Peng’s mind.
[Monster Name]: Brown Crag Snake
[Monster Level]: Level 6
[Monster Grade]: Normal
[Monster Attribute]: Earth
[Monster Condition]: Healthy (Panicking)
[Monster Weakness]: 1. Wood 2. Snake Saliva Gra.s.s is excellent in repelling Brown Crag Snakes, when exposed to high amounts, movements of Brown Crag Snakes will be slowed and their bodies will become stiff.
[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade]: …
Snake Saliva Gra.s.s… typically, around the areas that Brown Crag Snakes inhabited, there would be places where Snake Saliva Gra.s.ses grew. But for him to rush off at this crucial time to find some Snake Saliva Gra.s.s? This was simply too difficult a task. Right now, Da Zi was in a stalemate with the Brown Crag Snake. If he were to run into any other monster while searching for Snake Saliva Gra.s.s, he would have no choice but to end his role as the protagonist.
Another reason he wouldn’t look for the gra.s.s was that the problem at hand seemed to be manageable. Although Da Zi was a level lower than the Brown Crag Snake, it was only a level and not a tier difference; hence there was not much difference in power.
Furthermore, within monsters of a normal grade, the Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede was definitely ranked a lot higher than a Brown Crag Snake. Gao Peng could see that Da Zi had sunk its mandibles into an area just behind the head of the Brown Crag Snake. Da Zi’s fangs had sunk deep into the snake’s flesh. This was an optimal position for Da Zi, for although the Brown Crag Snake could still move its head a bit, all it could bite was Da Zi’s back carapace.
The Brown Crag Snake opened its mouth wide in an effort to bite the purple carapace. Its lower jaw unhinged, opening almost 180 degrees wide. Then it bit down viciously on the carapace.
The fangs did not go through the carapace… The Brown Crag Snake, in a very human-like manner, looked as though it were sh*tting bricks. It’s eyes were wide and its mouth just froze in that open, biting position.
At that moment, the Brown Crag Snake was in an extremely compromising position. Its body was trapped by Da Zi’s thousands of legs which were like nails sinking into its body. No matter how it thrashed about, it could not get loose. Da Zi’s Fangs were also like two drills stuck into its body, continually injecting large amounts of venom into it.
In Gao Peng’s vision, the condition section of the Brown Crag Snake kept flas.h.i.+ng red. Its status continually worsened as it dropped from “slightly injured” to “minor injuries,” to “medium injuries,” to “serious injuries.” The Brown Crag Snake struggled for its life initially, rolling around the ground and thras.h.i.+ng into trees, leaving pieces of tree bark all over the ground and making dull thudding sounds.
As the injuries worsened, the Brown Crag Snake gave up in the end. It quietly lay down on the ground and stared blankly ahead with eyes that looked as though it had given up on life.
The words “serious injuries” flashed rapidly, and by this time, the words turned into a dark red color. The red color gradually disappeared like blood being drawn out from the words themselves. In the end, only the color of black remained as the words changed into “fatally injured.”
After ten minutes, the color of the words “fatally injured” visibly faded, leaving behind a single greyish-white word: “deceased.”
Apparently, snakes had something unique about their nervous system that allowed them to react immediately when attacked. This mechanism still remained even after death, as long as the sensory organs around its head had not been decomposed; meaning that they could still pose a lethal threat. As many snakes possessed powerful venom, cases of dying from snake bites after a snake was dead were not that rare.
Even if the Brown Crag Snake were venomous, being bitten by its sharp fangs would be like having two hooks embedded and stuck in one’s flesh.
Gao Peng picked up a long stick and poked the Brown Crag Snake experimentally.
The Brown Crag Snake lying motionlessly on the ground suddenly flipped around and bit down viciously on the stick. No matter how hard Gao Peng shook the stick, he could not shake off the Brown Crag Snake. Its eyes however, remained a dull white, without any signs of life in it. The snake simply maintained its position, biting onto the stick.
After waiting an hour, Gao Peng finally used the stick to coil the carca.s.s of the Brown Crag Snake around it. He then took out a nylon bag and placed the Brown Crag Snake into it. Practically every part of a monster’s carca.s.s was worth something. All he had to do was to bring this back to certain specialized shop to fetch a good price for the snake.
Da Zi lifted its upper body up, and flopped onto Gao Peng. Its eyes were staring at the dead Brown Crag Snake and its saliva was almost flowing out.