Chapter 311: Hunting the Thousand-Eyed Snake |
The Thousand-Eyed Snake let out a low roar, its body twisting as it swiftly swam towards Qin Ziwen's direction.
Behind it, the colossal snake puppet gave relentless chase, churning up mud and waves across the seabed.
However, the deep sea was not land; besides front, back, left, and right, there were also the four directions above and below.
Just as the snake puppet was about to pounce, the Dry-eyed Snake's head suddenly plunged downward. Relying on its smaller, more agile frame, it skimmed past the snake puppet.
Then, it transformed into a sharp arrow, diving down, closing in.
Chitu lowered its head in a sliding step, ducking beneath Qin Ziwen, ready to carry him away.
Below, the Dry-eyed Snake's movements abruptly froze.
A shadow far deeper than the seawater erupted from the darkness.
A massive palm, covered in faint scales, with deep blue skin and knuckles bulging like hammers, rose from below, slamming heavily into its abdomen.
The Thousand-Eyed Snake's massive body jolted violently, its upward momentum brutally severed.
Before it could counterattack, another fist, carrying the force of a thunderous avalanche, arrived with a deafening crash!
The fist struck the Dry-eyed Snake's flank, like a heavy hammer hitting a leather drum, producing a deep, muffled thud. A visible ring-shaped shockwave exploded outward from the point of impact, seawater was forcibly expelled, forming a brief vacuum that then collapsed with a roar.
The Dry-eyed Snake's back arched high, all its air pores flaring open.
Mogu leveraged the momentum, pulling hard, actually managing to drag the upward-trending Thousand-Eyed Snake back down. Then his other fist descended like a pile driver.
One punch,
Two punches,
Three punches.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Each sound louder than the last.
The Dry-eyed Snake was pummeled, its abdominal cavity churning, internal organs aching in agony.
It raised its serpent head, gave a fierce shake, its savage eyes locking onto Mogu. It opened its maw wide and viciously bit towards its target.
Mogu's gaze remained steady. With a roll, he agilely slipped to the other side, evading the attack.
Simultaneously, the snake puppet charged in from behind, its enormous body pressing forward. Its massive form coiled like a lock, tightly entangling the Thousand-Eyed Snake.
The Thousand-Eyed Snake struggled desperately, but found itself locked in a stalemate.
Normally, the snake puppet wouldn't engage the Thousand-Eyed Snake in such a deadlock, as it would only waste energy without achieving any real damage.
But now, there was external force.
Mogu leaped up, executed a precise flip, and landed steadily atop the violently writhing head of the Thousand-Eyed Snake.
By the faint phosphorescent light, Cao Biansheng and the others finally got a clear look. "It's him?"
Cao Biansheng recognized that formidable brother, who seemed to be riding atop the giant serpent's head.
The snake puppet and the Thousand-Eyed Snake were neck-to-neck. From within the snake puppet's empty eye sockets, a pale, icy bone spear slowly extended, reaching out to Mogu's side.
Mogu glanced, his left hand gripping the scale gaps tightly to stabilize himself, his right hand firmly grasping the offered bone spear.
Holding it aloft with a single arm, his body arched like a bow.
In that instant, he resembled a hero stepping out of ancient Greek mythology.
No battle cry, no dramatic wind-up.
His arm raised high, the bone spear pierced through the water current, viciously plunging into a pore-like gap on the back of the Thousand-Eyed Snake's neck.
"Pfft—"
The sound of penetration was swallowed by the churning seawater.
The Dry-eyed Snake thrashed wildly.
Its tail whipped about violently.
Mogu pulled out the spear, raised it high again, and aimed for the same spot, driving it down with immense force.
The Dry-eyed Snake opened its maw, desperately spewing venom.
The seawater grew turbid from the venom, spreading outwards in all directions.
As the water was stirred, it quickly diluted and dispersed.
Chitu sensed something was wrong, turned its head, and bolted.
Cao Biansheng and the others followed closely behind.
After putting some distance between them, they looked back. Above the strait, the two entangled giant serpents were slowly sinking into the seabed...
Qin Ziwen didn't receive the notification for the Home mission's completion, so he knew it wasn't dead yet.
Only when the massive serpentine body settled into the churning, sandy seabed did a small section of spear shaft, like a nail, remain firmly fixed in the Dry-eyed Snake's neck.
From the snake puppet's eye sockets, another bone spear slowly extended.
Mogu took the bone spear, stepped onto the Dry-eyed Snake's head, lowered his body, raised the bone spear high with both hands, and aimed straight for its eye.
"Pfft!"
The Thousand-Eyed Snake's vertical pupil snapped wide open, its tail arched high, but it remained firmly pinned beneath the snake puppet.
Until the light in its eyes completely faded.
On the back of the Dry-eyed Snake, two crimson-red cards slowly materialized.
Mogu waved a hand, grasping the two cards.
Almost simultaneously, Qin Ziwen heard Home's prompt,
【Completed Hunting Ladder Level 3 Mission: Hunt an Adult Dry-eyed Snake】
【Reward Obtained: Upgrade Card · Resource Upgrade Card*1, 80 points】
Qin Ziwen rode Chitu closer.
In the icy depths, the snake puppet slowly turned its head, looking towards Qin Ziwen and the others.
Then it lowered its head, bit onto the tail of the Dry-eyed Snake's corpse, and began swimming leisurely towards the direction of the fish-man tribe.
Qin Ziwen gestured for them to follow.
The moment he turned around, Qin Ziwen suddenly felt every hair on his body stand on end.
In that split second, he felt as if he was being watched by something utterly terrifying.
This sensation lasted only a very brief moment before receding like a tide.
When he came to his senses and looked beside him, Cao Biansheng's face was pale—not pale from waterlogging, but a ghastly white of lingering fear.
The two exchanged a glance, confirming that what just happened was definitely not an illusion.
Beneath them, Chitu's ears were even pinned back flat against its head like airplane wings. It kicked off with all four hooves, accelerating into a frantic gallop forward without looking back.
Mogu let out a low grunt, power surged through his legs.
"Boom—"
The seabed shuddered violently, kicking up a massive cloud of sand and silt.
Mogu stretched his arms forward, resembling a burly whale shark swimming wildly through the deep sea.
Cao Biansheng snapped back to reality and hurriedly gave chase, but his speed was the slowest. Even though he had broken through to Superhuman, in terms of speed, he was still far behind the Yan brothers.
Ahead, Chitu, which had run far ahead, circled back. Its eyes were teary, and a large bump had swollen on its forehead.
Only after seeing Cao Biansheng and the others did Qin Ziwen's expression ease slightly.
He reached out a hand, signaling for them to get on.
Cao Biansheng glanced at the not-so-spacious saddle, waved his hand, preparing to defer.
The three Yan brothers exchanged looks, but none of them mounted the horse either.
At that moment, Mogu returned. He glanced at the four of them, said nothing,
reached out, scooped all four up in one motion, and placed them on his own back.
He nodded at Qin Ziwen, then, carrying the four little attachments, surged forward in a powerful swim.
By the time Qin Ziwen and the others caught up to the fish-man tribe, the snake puppet and the Thousand-Eyed Snake's corpse had only just arrived.
The snake puppet slowly opened its massive maw. From within its oral cavity, a nimble figure wriggled out.
Immediately after, a second one, a third one...
So these Priest Clan fish-men had all been inside the snake puppet's belly.
But when the fourth Priest Clan fish-man emerged, something seemed off. This fourth fish-man's skin had turned a purplish-brown color. It turned around and dragged something out from within the snake puppet's mouth.
"Plop~"
A sticky, gooey mass, from which a vague outline could barely be discerned, was pulled out.
This was also a Priest Clan fish-man, only its body's skin was completely ulcerated, flesh corroded, revealing stark white bone. Lying on the ground, its chest rose and fell faintly; it was probably still breathing.
That wasn't all. Immediately after, the fourth Priest Clan fish-man ducked back inside, fumbled around for a bit, and dragged out a lump resembling meat jelly.
This thing barely retained a humanoid outline; one could only just make out that it had once been a living creature.
The fish-men gathered around all lowered their heads in silent mourning for the heroes of their clan.
The Fish-man Chieftain swam over. "This is the reason why the Hunter Clan of our tribe has gone extinct, and why the Priest Clan grows fewer and fewer."