The group traveled for quite some time aboard the flat boat until, when the sun was high overhead, they finally glimpsed the distant shore.
Overnight the forest had become flooded, and as they traveled with the current, they moved from the edge and into the depths of the forest.
Previously, neither Bai Junjun nor Li Wenli had ventured into the forest; they only stayed active along its edges.
Considering the forest’s fathomless depths, and the unknown dangers lurking within, everyone instinctively steered clear of it.
Now, driven by the Earth Fire, the group had no choice but to move deeper into the forest.
But the deeper they went, the deeper the water became, almost submerging the trees around them until only clumps of treetops resembling little hills remained visible.
Drifting amongst this vast expanse of water for a long time, they finally saw the end of the lake, and Xiao Shan was the first to excitedly exclaim,
"We’re reaching the shore, we’ve finally reached the shore."
Having been on the boat all morning, his excitement had turned into exhaustion, and he now felt a floaty and dizzy sensation.
Xiao Shan, being a true man of the mountains, naturally didn’t realize this was seasickness.
Bai Junjun activated her Special Ability to get the small boat to the shore more quickly.
However, trouble struck at their most relaxed moment.
Unnoticed, ripples began to emanate behind Bai Junjun.
By the time Li Wenli, Bai Junjun, and Bai Lingyu turned around, alert, they were shocked to see a gaping maw, opened to 180 degrees, lunging at them from behind.
Before Bai Junjun could make out what the gaping maw belonged to, Li Wenli shouted, "Get down."
Bai Junjun almost reflexively pushed the three children in front of her down as Li Wenli’s Wind Blade barely missed her head.
The Boa originally intended to swallow the prey at the stern first before dealing with the rest.
But before it could sink its teeth into its prey, its mouth felt a sharp pain.
As its snake head reared back in pain, its lengthy tail soared out of the water and tightly coiled around the small boat.
By then, Bai Junjun had reacted, growing water weeds from the bottom of the lake to wrap around the small boat like a cocoon, leaving the Boa squeezing what seemed like a dead tree log.
The Boa itself couldn’t comprehend what had happened; it had entwined a living creature, yet it ended up with what seemed like a tree stump.
Nevertheless, it didn’t give up its attack, instead coiling around this ’stump,’ seemingly determined to shatter it into pieces in its fury.
Although Bai Junjun had timely used water weeds to fend off the Boa’s attack, she wasn’t an Earth-series Ability user, so her defense wasn’t as solid as a defensive shield, and the vessel’s occupants were still in danger of being crushed by the Boa’s powerful constrictions.
At this moment, Li Wenli’s abilities were far from her own, and she had to rely on herself.
Bai Junjun left them with, "Take care of them,"
and then she squeezed out from among the water weeds.
At that moment, the Boa was still tightly coiled around the ’log,’ and when it saw an ant emerge from within, it immediately prepared to attack, eyes gleaming.
Wounded by the Wind Blade, the Boa, with its mouth dripping blood, river water, and saliva, spewed the mixture towards Bai Junjun.
Bai Junjun, with evident disdain, dodged and quickly grabbed the short arrows from her pocket.
With no one around, Bai Junjun didn’t even bother with the pretense of setting up her crossbow; she directly controlled the arrow feathers to attack the Boa’s eyes.
On Bai Junjun’s command, 24 short arrows shot out simultaneously.
The Boa seemed to sense the danger of the short arrows and didn’t confront them head-on.
It craftily avoided them and continued its attack on Bai Junjun.
However, to its surprise, the arrow feathers it had dodged came back around.
Some pierced its vital area seven inches behind the head, and several others embedded into its eyes.