“Damn it, damn it!” The veins on Quark’s forehead twitched. He was obviously in a panic, yet he dared not speak too much in fear of startling those so-called dangers.
Sometimes, all it needed was a single word to make a man collapse.
The atmosphere plunged into silence again. Tang Ling half-squinted his eyes and seized the rare window of opportunity to rest.
The closer to danger, the calmer he was. This was also another type of instinct of his which he could not explain.
In the middle of all the suffering, Quark quietly drew some distance away from Tang Ling and company. Several types of expression ran through his face as he struggled. Then, he took a unique-looking black item out from his bag.
Tang Ling saw everything.
“I think we can give my method a try.” Quark’s action had undoubtedly used up his other hidden trump card, so he thought of ditching Tang Ling and company.
However, it was not necessary to reveal it or stop it. Tang Ling had his own plans. In fact, the senses were only a support tool; the key was the solution. Tang Ling would never put his hopes in others.
He had been observing things closely, and now, it was time to make a move.
Listening to Tang Ling’s words, Quark’s expression changed a tad, but he quickly added, “Are you confident enough?”
Since the beginning, Quark had never let go of the unique-looking thing in his hand even though Tang Ling could not tell what was it for. It was a tube connected to several irregular squares!
Nevertheless, he did not doubt the usefulness of the item.
“Here. We climb up from here,” Tang Ling spoke after he quietly paid attention to the item in Quark’s hand for less than half a second.
He did not have to answer Quark. All he did was release the rope, lift his little sister and hop up. His little sister then reached the spot that he pointed at.
It was a metal pipe that almost reached the ceiling of the tunnel. It was very common back in the settlement. From time to time, such a robust metal pipe would appear.
Then, Tang Ling lifted his grandmother, and this time, Grandma climbed up by herself.
“Do you need help?” Tang Ling glanced over at Quark.
Quark was deeply shocked by the youngster’s nimbleness and strength. Even though he was absolutely clear that the people of this generation were much stronger when compared to the old civilization, the clean and quick hands of this youngster must have ground through life and death.
“Just give me a raise.” Quark did not act tough.
Tang Ling did as he requested. After Quark managed to lie down on the metal pipe, Tang Ling ran for several steps then leaped up lightly and landed on the metal pipe with almost no noise.
It against made Quark feel like he had underestimated Tang Ling.
“What next?” Quark had no idea what Tang Ling ought to do after getting up on the metal pipe. He followed the suggestion because he could not think of another way and was forced to comply. He would never waste his own trump card. Even more so, the wasted resources behind this trump card would pain even him.
“You guys stay here,” Tang Ling commanded softly. He then lightly and slowly climbed along the metal pipe, moving forward almost 3 meters.
‘Is this kid trying to climb over through the pipe? Are you kidding me?’ Quark’s cheeks were twitching! Firstly, even with the metal pipe, he could not avoid the black-horned purple-striped snake. Secondly, this pipe was less than 30 meters in length with many twists and turns, and would never reach the exit.
While Quark quietly watched, he made his own plans deep in his heart.
After climbing forward for about 3.5 meters, Tang Ling stopped. He carefully tore around 30 grams of meat from his jerky which was not much anyway.
Then, Tang Ling held the strip of meat in his hand. His brain was operating at full capacity at the moment.
Black-horned purple-striped snakes had a maximum sensitivity range of 27 meters towards sounds. The strip of meat that he was about to toss out must be within the 25-meter range ahead. The soft vibration of a 30-gram piece of dried meat falling on the ground would not be enough to startle the nearest snake.
There were still many noises in a seemingly quiet environment after all, such as the whoosh of flowing air, and black-horned purple-striped snakes were not interested in all kinds of soft noises.
The precise grasp over the situation had a more important meaning: he was unable to startle the other black-horned purple-striped snakes.
It was near their den after all, so these bastards were very close to each other.
There was more than one danger that he had to overcome. While Tang Ling must use his Precise Instinct to calculate every single one of the intricate points, he still had to carry it out first.
Two streams of warm liquid rolled down from his nostrils. Compared to before, his burden had increased.
Licking the blood with his tongue away, Tang Ling boldly tossed the dried meat out. It perfectly landed in the 25-meter range.
Rustling noises were heard in less than a second time. Soon, a robust black snake wriggled over.
The signs such as the mottled purple stripes on top of its black skin and the sharp horns at the tip of its head pointed out that this robust one was a black-horned purple-striped snake. It was not an adult as it was only around 10 meters in length.
Tang Ling gently pulled out the sharp metal stick he had on his back and picked a suitable angle to wait.
The snake was slightly disappointed by the tiny piece of jerky, yet it still chose to devour it without a second thought.
Tang Ling’s hand holding the metal stick was absolutely firm, not even trembling in the slightest.
The beasts shared similarities. Regardless of what it devoured, the head of the snake would cock up.
Even though it was just a piece of jerky, the black-horned purple-striped snake slightly lifted its head up.
Now!
Tang Ling struck like a lightning bolt. The moment the snake cocked its head upward, the sharp metal stick pierced 3 inches below the snake’s head.
Without even the slightest struggle, the snake died in silence. The weak spot at the spot was attacked, instantly cutting off all the snake’s senses.
Moreover, with Precise Instinct in play, the point that Tang Ling attacked was the ultimate weak point!
In addition to that, the hunting experience that he traded with years of putting his life in danger played a tremendous role too.
It made Tang Ling think of Uncle Zhang. He thought of the knowledge and experience the man had taught him. He also remembered that Uncle Zhang once said that legend claimed that the weak spot of a snake in the past was actually at the spot 7 inches below the head.
The claim was obviously ridiculous. As a matter of fact, there were many outrageous claims about all sorts of beasts.
Tang Ling did not care about any of those. All he could think of was Uncle Zhang’s lost and doubtful smile when he said that. ‘I wonder if his family managed to escape.’
The distraction frustrated Tang Ling, so he quickly silenced his thoughts. There were still problems that he had to solve.
Quietly resting for around a minute later, Tang Ling continued to climb forward on the metal pipe.
If there were to be any fortunate events along the way, the twists and turns of the metal pipe that was extended for an extra 30 meters would be it. Nonetheless, he managed to solve most of the problems.
Without any help, Tang Ling carried out probably the hardest hunt in his entire life and his Precise Instinct was used to the limit.
More and more blood from his nose filled his mouth with a salty and coppery taste.
Unfortunately, he could not wipe it off. The slightest movement would foil his entire plan, so all he could do was quickly lick the blood with his tongue.
Fortunately, black-horned purple-striped snakes were not sensitive towards smell. Otherwise, the bloody smell...
Twenty minutes later, Tang Ling had dealt with 6 black-horned purple-striped snakes.
However, there was still one spot, which was the last spot. Even using the metal pipe could not solve it. It was the dangerous spot that suffocated him!