Chapter 51 Hanging

Neither of us spoke, and I was able to hear the “panting” sound again. After listening carefully, I felt that it wasn’t panting, but more like a sucking sound. But the sound was dispersed, so I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. The bottom of the crevice looked clear and there was nothing lying on the cave wall, so the sound had to be coming from above. But there were so many iron chains and stones there that it was very difficult to see anything.

I pulled out the short-headed shotgun in my bag, took out some adhesive tape, and quickly tied the flashlight to the shotgun. I looked at the area repeatedly, but I couldn’t see anything.

There were still cold fireworks in the bag, so I pulled a few out and threw one up. It hit the cave wall and sent sparks flying everywhere.

As a result of this, Xiao Hua neither advanced nor retreated. The cold fireworks were so bright that I was instantly blinded, and there was the pungent smell of burning metal in the air.

I looked at the chain above and quickly pulled out another one. I then pulled out a thin piece of iron wire from the bundle of explosives and tied it to the tail end of the cold firework in the shape of a hook. In this way, even if it couldn’t be hung on the chain, it could still hang on the higher cave wall when it fell.

When the first firework went out, I rubbed my eyes and immediately went to throw the next batch. At this time, however, I suddenly found that the panting had stopped and the whole crevice was quiet. 

I broke out in a cold sweat. 

Xiao Hua’s flashlight was suddenly covered by something, and I watched in a daze as something seemed to fall down from above.

I reflexively shined my flashlight into the crevice and saw a flash of red. On the cold fireworks that had just fallen, there was a blood-red thing lying on the ground.

It was as thick as my wrist and was curiously staring at the cold fireworks. Its whole body was colored a painful-looking red.

It was a cockscomb snake.

Other than the cold sweat that seemed to be pouring from my body, I wasn’t surprised. There were jars from the Queen of the West’s country, after all, so it was perfectly normal for these snakes to be here. But to my dismay, the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind before. When I saw these jars, I should have immediately been aware of this possibility.

Despite my flashlight’s beam, the red cockscomb snake basically ignored me and coiled around the cold fireworks. Then, it suddenly raised up and emitted a few gasps.

I immediately understood what the sound was. It must have heard Xiao Hua’s breathing and began to imitate it. This snake was able to copy the most frequently used sounds that other creatures made.

As I listened to the sound in the quiet space, I managed to calm down a little. Damn it. At this point, there was only one thing I could do. I pulled the bolt back on the gun and aimed at the cockscomb snake’s head. But when I looked at it, I found that I couldn’t fire.

If the pellets sprayed the nearby copper nails and triggered the mechanism, then we’d both die.

I watched as the snake sniffed the cold fireworks, ignoring our flashlights and the noises we were making. I struck the cold fireworks in my hand, hooked them around the iron teeth of the bearing off to one side, and immediately rushed to the other side. As the fireworks burned fiercely, the strong smell started to spread.

Come on, come on, I thought to myself. Come on out. The taste here is fresher.

The smoke burned and gradually died down. I pointed my gun at the position of the fireworks and waited for the cockscomb snake to slither out. But when I looked at the fireworks, I found that something was wrong.

The bright flames lit up the whole dark room, revealing a man-shaped thing covered in black hair. It was leaning out of the mouth of the well, and half covered in water.

<Chapter 50> <Table of Contents><Chapter 52>

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Updated 11/19/2020