Chapter 34: The Dangerous Big Guy

If one were to enter this mysterious island while suffering from severe injuries and on the brink of death, without the presence of highly skilled doctors or those legendary miraculous medicines capable of bringing the dead back to life...

Entering the mysterious island under such circumstances would only serve to delay one's death by a little while.

Lin Li had actually hypothesized what would happen if he entered the mysterious island on the verge of death and ultimately died from his untreated injuries.

After he died, he would likely return to the real world, only to become a delicious feast for the exotic beasts in the wilderness.

At the thought of becoming a gourmet meal for exotic beasts drawn by the scent of blood, Lin Li couldn't help but shudder.

"Damn... I can't let that happen. I have to stay hyper-alert and keep a close eye on my surroundings."

Gripping his spiritual longsword, Lin Li slowly groped his way along the path he had previously taken through the wilderness, searching for any exotic beasts hiding in the grass.

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, twenty minutes...

"What's going on? I've been searching for so long, how haven't I even found a single rabbit beast?"

Lin Li had searched the area he had previously occupied for over twenty minutes, yet he hadn't found even a single rabbit beast, which left him utterly perplexed.

In fact, Lin Li had previously caused quite a stir in this area, killing several rabbit beasts and even taking down the strongest wild boar beast in the vicinity. This had truly given the rabbit beasts living in this area a massive fright.

Consequently, aside from some timid rabbit beasts fleeing during the day, those that had gone into hiding also fled under the cover of night, preparing to find a safer place to settle down.

As it stood, even if Lin Li were to dig three feet into the ground, he wouldn't find a single rabbit beast in this area.

For half an hour, Lin Li searched this area—where rabbit beasts used to be extremely active—for a full thirty minutes, yet he still came up empty-handed.

"I was hoping to hunt five rabbit beasts before sunset this afternoon! Now look at this—half an hour has passed, and I haven't even found a single strand of rabbit hair."

Just as Lin Li's morale was being crushed, a faint rustling sound suddenly came from the distant grass. Although the sound was very subtle, Lin Li, who had maintained a state of extreme vigilance, still managed to capture the anomaly.

*Rustle, rustle, rustle...*

A sudden gust of wind blew, causing the surrounding flowers, grass, and trees to rustle incessantly.

Interrupted by the wind, Lin Li was momentarily unable to lock onto the location of the subtle movement he had just detected.

"Dammit, this wind is coming at the worst possible time."

Because he could no longer pinpoint the source of the faint rustling, and to ensure his own safety, Lin Li made a decisive move to immediately distance himself from the dense vegetation and move toward an open area with better visibility.

The unknown enemy hiding in the shadows seemed to lose its patience when it noticed Lin Li preparing to move toward the open ground.

Having gone several days without food, seeing its prey about to slip away, how could it possibly restrain itself? Yes, the unknown enemy hiding in the dark mistakenly believed that Lin Li was trying to flee.

The sudden wind died down, and the surrounding vegetation stopped its noisy rustling, but the sounds coming from the thick grass not far from Lin Li grew increasingly loud.

*Rustle, rustle, rustle...*

A figure was moving rapidly through the dense grass; the sound of weeds brushing against its body was so distinct that anyone who wasn't deaf could hear that a large object was moving quickly through the brush.

Lin Li, who was in the middle of moving toward the open area, also heard the massive sound behind him. He immediately turned around, retreating backward while keeping his eyes fixed on the source of the noise.

*Rustle, rustle, rustle...*

A terrifying figure crawled out from the thick grass.

Its long body was approximately eight meters long, covered in diamond-shaped black scales that looked quite slippery.

Though this creature lacked legs, its speed was incredibly fast.

Once it caught its prey, it would show no mercy; it would bite down hard on the prey's neck and then coil its body around it.

After killing the prey, it wouldn't chew slowly; instead, it would swallow the prey whole.

Most astonishingly, it could consume prey several times larger than itself.

"Shit!!"

When Lin Li saw the creature crawling rapidly out of the thick grass, his scalp went numb, and he couldn't help but curse.

A snake. A massive snake.

By estimation, this black snake beast was about eight meters long with a diameter of roughly thirty to forty centimeters—easily enough to swallow Lin Li in one gulp.

Snakes, as cold-blooded animals, were ranked alongside cockroaches and rats as one of the three most terrifying creatures that caused most humans to feel an immediate sense of dread.

Seeing that its prey was no longer fleeing, the black snake beast slowed its pursuit.

It crawled slowly to a distance of five meters from Lin Li, coiled its body, aimed its massive head toward him, and occasionally flicked its crimson tongue.

In all his life, this was the first time he had been in such close proximity to such a giant snake, and the fact that the creature clearly harbored ill intentions made Lin Li's palms begin to sweat with tension.

Originally, Lin Li thought that since he had previously killed rabbit beasts and that clearly troublesome wild boar beast, he wouldn't be as nervous as he was during his first combat experience if he encountered another beast.

And the result? Reality gave him a harsh lesson: a novice is still a novice, and he simply hadn't seen enough exotic beasts. This attacking black snake beast made Lin Li experience that same tension he felt during his very first encounter with a beast.

"How do you identify venomous versus non-venomous snakes? I remember hearing that snakes with triangular heads are venomous... This black snake beast has a rounded head, so it should be non-venomous."

Gripping his spiritual longsword tightly, Lin Li stared at the black snake beast's head, making a judgment in his mind.

However, he quickly dismissed his own conclusion.

"No, I saw a science video by a blogger who specializes in snakes. They mentioned that judging whether a snake is venomous based solely on the shape of its head isn't a hundred percent accurate.

Besides, this massive black snake is an exotic beast! It's not an ordinary snake at all. Influenced by spiritual energy, any mutation is possible. Who knows if it's a venomous one?

God!

Even though I desperately want to hunt exotic beasts so that the green fruit on the magical little tree can ripen faster, there's no need to send such a dangerous behemoth my way!"

...

(End of Chapter)