The mountains echoed with the calls of birds.
Yesterday, a great rain had fallen, and the very air of the forest was heavy with dampness. Every leaf glistened with dew, and in some spots where water pooled, mosquito larvae wriggled to and fro, making the place seem unsettling.
Wang Longhu thrust his gun forward to part the grasses and shrubs, racing along the route marked on his map.
The forest known as ’Yuan Shen’ owes its name to its untamed wildness; dense vegetation, waist-high, blankets the area, leaving no discernible path.
Those venturing into the forest must manually clear a path to ascertain where solid ground is or where treacherous pits lie hidden.
Under Wang Longhu’s relentless advance, the bushes along his route were all cleaved by his gun’s edge. Within half an hour, he had covered roughly four to five kilometers, reaching an area where all signals to the outside world were lost.
In such a place, sustaining an injury that prevents movement or succumbing to poison would mean awaiting rebirth patiently.
Wang Longhu had donned an anti-mosquito mask early on, a helmet-like soft material that enveloped the entire head. The most update n0vels are published on NoᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt
Before him was a retractable white curtain, shielding his full face without impairing vision, while the neck was wrapped with a soft material for comprehensive protection for the herbal gatherer’s safety.
The Zheng family’s factory was undoubtedly committed to creating such gear specifically for herbal gatherers’ protection.
Even the life of a worker is a life.
Sounds of insects buzzed past his ears, but Wang Longhu remained unfazed, his eyes catching sight of a plant growing beneath a large tree, nestled in the shadows of the roots.
This tall plant had upright stems, its leaves were circular and dark purple, glossy and smooth, with golden-yellow veined patterns crisscrossing, exquisitely beautiful.
Had it been in the past, Wang Longhu would have dismissed it as a weed, ignorant of what it was.
But after attending classes and passing exams at the factory, his understanding of Chinese medicine was vastly enriched, enabling him to instantly recognize this plant as Jin Xian Lian, also known as Jin Xian Lan.
A herbal gatherer must not only learn the qualities and appearances of wild medicinal plants but also grasp their various values.
For instance, wild mint also holds medicinal value, as it can refresh the mind, relieve stress, cool heat, detoxify, dispel wind, and induce sweating. Yet, it only fetches ten-something dollars per kilogram, and even if you supply a hundred pounds for the factory’s purchase, it wouldn’t make much money.
But if one were to dig up wild ginseng, priced at 300 per gram or sent to auction, it could lead to a windfall.
This Jin Xian Lian, currently priced at 598 yuan per pound on the market, is considered a fairly valuable wild medicinal plant.
Wang Longhu approached cautiously, extracting it carefully with a soldier’s shovel, storing the whole plant in a specialized collection bag.
This damp, cool place was precisely the environment Jin Xian Lian thrived in, and just as Wang Longhu thought of rising to search nearby for more, a pair of eyes stared back at him from the bushes.
They were pitch-black pupils, cold and devoid of emotion, blended with deep brown and dark green scales that allowed it to perfectly camouflage within the forest, an excellent mimicry.
If not for its eyes catching his attention, even Wang Longhu wouldn’t have realized something was lurking just a meter away.
At the moment of being discovered by Wang Longhu, the creature suddenly burst forth.
Swaying its thick body, it writhed out of the bushes, hurtling straight at Wang Longhu.
Indeed, it was a giant python measuring no less than four meters long!
Its head was merely the size of two fists, yet its body was extraordinarily thick, comparable to an adult’s waist, and the black circular patterns on its skin appeared exceptionally menacing.
As it lunged forward, Wang Longhu could smell through the mask the characteristic stench of the python.
Because he had been collecting Jin Xian Lian, Wang Longhu had placed his large gun on the ground. Now, as the python closed in, the opportunity for the best strike was lost, and holding onto the weapon for defense would only hinder him.
In an instant, Wang Longhu swung his fist down like a battle axe upon the python’s head, instantly feeling the wet, sticky, and pliant texture in his hand.
The chopping force of his punch, in that moment, was surprisingly absorbed by the python’s supple body, taking away seven to eight parts of his strength, failing to kill the creature in one blow. Instead, it drew closer, wrapping tightly.
Over four meters in length, its seemingly bloated body coiled around Wang Longhu, ensnaring his thighs, waist, and arms, exerting its force with the intention to constrict him alive.
Pythons differ from other snakes; their bodies are thick and mostly non-venomous. They usually hunt by ensnaring their prey and relying on immense constriction strength to crush the prey’s bones, finally swallowing them slowly.
Foreign scientists have researched that an adult python can exert a constricting pressure of up to 1 kg/cm² on its prey, and over time, this can reach above 6 times.
If an adult isn’t concerned about being entwined by a python, thirty seconds later, they lose the ability to resist due to blood congestion, ultimately being wholly consumed.