Chapter 71 - 67: Giant Python
Qin Ziwen hurried back to the fifth floor.
He opened the window and was met with a shocking scene.
A turbid, mighty flood cascaded from upstream, sweeping along huge swaths of trees, rocks, and shrubs. From a distance, it looked like a furious yellow dragon.
The mountain torrent slammed into the Gated Community’s outer walls, parting and spreading out to either side.
Trees upstream were snapped as the torrent surged downstream.
The surrounding land was submerged, and in the murky floodwaters, the perimeter walls looked like they could collapse at any moment.
The downpour continued.
Building Eight and the garage were on the complete opposite side, so he had no idea what the situation was like over there.
But from what he could see, the floodwaters were flowing around the perimeter walls and spreading outwards.
Faced with such a natural disaster, Qin Ziwen felt a profound sense of powerlessness.
There was nothing he could do, and nothing he could change.
Nature’s calamities are merciless. In their eyes, all things are equal.
Time trickled by to the rhythm of Li Tieshan’s hammering.
After the initial few waves of the deluge, the floodwaters gradually began to subside.
Looking out the window, the world beyond the walls had become a vast marshland.
On the floors above and in the neighboring buildings, residents opened their windows and cursed loudly at the heavens.
Others let out long, unrestrained howls.
They were trapped in the Gated Community. Until the flood receded, no one could leave.
It wasn’t until afternoon, after the flood crest had passed, that the water level finally began to drop.
The area outside the walls was a complete wreck, the ground covered in silt, rocks, and branches.
The residents, who had been cooped up all morning, couldn’t wait to run out of the Gated Community.
Outside the south gate, in an open area near the base of the wall, lay the silt-covered carcass of a deer.
"There’s a dead deer here!" The person who spotted it first was ecstatic, rushing forward to grab the carcass.
To him, this was a gift of food from the heavens.
He hadn’t even had to go through the trouble of hunting; a huge carcass had just fallen into his lap.
He dashed over, lifted the deer’s body, and called for his wife and daughter to come and help.
"You’re not supposed to eat animals that drowned in a flood, are you?" someone nearby commented.
The man quickly became defensive of the dead deer, snapping back, "Why not? It obviously just drowned. It can’t have been dead for long. It’s perfectly fresh."
"It’s still been several hours."
"I heard animals that drown in floods are really dirty."
Others chimed in.
The man turned a deaf ear to their advice, assuming they were just jealous. "You’re just jealous of me! This is a primeval forest, not some polluted river back on Earth. This is all-natural, organic. What germs could there be?"
In a crowd not far away, Qin Ziwen consulted Zhao Pu. "Dr. Zhao, I think I read somewhere that you’re not supposed to eat carcasses from a flood, right?"
Zhao Pu warned gravely, "Absolutely not. This has nothing to do with being ’all-natural.’ If being ’all-natural’ meant there were no germs, there wouldn’t have been plagues, smallpox, or the bubonic plague in ancient times."
He pointed at the deer carcass in the distance and said, "First of all, you have no way of knowing how it died. It could have had an infectious disease before the flood even started. The bacteria and parasites in this primeval forest are far more complex than in any city, and there are no miracle drugs here.
"Second, even if it did just drown, it’s been several hours since the flood crest passed. The temperature isn’t low right now, so a carcass in water will start to decompose rapidly. You’ve probably heard that in ancient times, floods were often followed by plagues."
Dr. Zhao’s voice wasn’t quiet, and the man moving the deer carcass with his wife naturally heard him.
He cursed, "What the hell do you know, ’Doctor’? You doctors are all black-hearted vultures, always ordering a ton of tests every time I go to the hospital. If you want a piece of the meat, come beg me for it. I might give you a scrap. But for an attitude like that? I’d sooner throw it in the river than give you any. You can just stand there and be jealous."
Dr. Zhao fell silent. He knew any further advice was useless. During his practice, he had encountered many patients like this—obstinate, more stubborn than a rock. Unless you just went along with what they wanted, they would question you from every possible angle until you finally gave up arguing.
Seeing Dr. Zhao’s silence, the man grew smug, thinking he had struck a nerve.
Qin Ziwu remarked dryly, "Prenatal care has become far too effective."
Some small animals had also been washed down with the floodwaters. Most were dead, but there were exceptions.
"Whoa, there’s a huge python over here, and it’s alive!"
Everyone rushed over at the news. In a nearby mud pit, a massive, mud-caked snake was writhing.
Sensing people approaching, the great snake began to thrash even more violently.
Deng Guang exclaimed in awe, "It’s huge."
Deng Wen took two steps back, hiding behind her father.
She was already terrified of snakes, and this one before her was like a python-plus.
Its thickest part was nearly the width of a bucket, and its powerful tail sent mud flying with every thrash.
"What a long snake." Qin Ziwen’s expression was grim. He estimated this giant python was even longer than the alpha giant crocodile.
Only in length, of course. In terms of weight, the two weren’t comparable.
Perhaps being swept away by the flood had spooked it, because the giant python was extremely agitated.
When someone got too close, the python suddenly attacked, coiling its upper body into an S-shape and striking out.
𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
The person leaped back and dodged it.
Qin Ziwen, holding his Mountain-Climbing Knife, circled around behind the python and swung his blade while it was distracted.
It felt like he was hacking into a piece of damp wood.
The blade broke through the scales and bit into the flesh.
The giant python recoiled in alarm, its massive jaws snapping back.
Qin Ziwen released his knife and retreated, dodging the python’s bite. He realized his body was much more agile than before. On land, this snake was less of a threat than the crocodile.
Noticing that the giant python’s movements seemed a bit sluggish, the surrounding crowd grew bolder.
Some threw rocks, others hit it with sticks.
Qin Ziwen saw his chance, rushed in from the side, grabbed the knife’s handle, and yanked it free. The instant the python turned its head, he brought the blade down on top of its skull.
Its head split open, the python writhed in pain and tried to slither toward the river below.
Qin Ziwu seized the opportunity, rushing forward and grabbing its tail.
The giant python’s escape was put on pause. One by one, others came over and helped pin it to the ground.
It struggled desperately. Its constricting power was immense, but being pinned down by a group of humans severely restricted its ability to use that strength.
Walking to the snake’s head, Qin Ziwen raised his Mountain-Climbing Knife high and brought it down hard.
The blow nearly severed the snake’s head, leaving it hanging on by just a bit of skin and flesh.
He raised the knife again and swung a second time.
The snake’s head fell to the ground.
With the python dead, he looked hopefully above its body. ’Will a Card drop?’
But even after its body stopped twitching, no Card materialized.
’Looks like it didn’t meet the criteria for a powerful creature in this area.’
It was a bit disappointing, but he had been mentally prepared. After all, during the fight, he had already noticed that this giant python didn’t seem as strong as the five-meter-long crocodile.
After the python was killed, the people on site divided up the meat.
Although the python looked long, its actual weight wasn’t that exaggerated—only a little over 400 pounds.
After removing the bones and organs, the remaining meat was distributed, with each person only getting about ten pounds or so.
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