Xu Lang blurted out the name—
Blade-Toothed Viper Fish.
Hu Ba Yi and Wang Pangzi had no immediate reaction.
Neither of them had ever heard of such a thing.
But Shirley Yang's face turned pale at once.
"Blade-Toothed Viper Fish? My God—there are Blade-Toothed Viper Fish in these waters? We need to move, now!"
Shirley Yang was better read than the others.
She had heard of Blade-Toothed Viper Fish before.
Naturally, she also knew how terrifying they were.
At this point, though, neither Xu Lang nor Shirley Yang needed to explain any further.
After finishing off the azure-scaled giant python, that swarm of devil-like man-eating fish clearly still wasn't satisfied.
There were still some drifting Water Zhi Bee remains around the raft, along with scraps of python meat carried by the current.
The Blade-Toothed Viper Fish were already charging in.
Now that the distance had closed, Hu Ba Yi and Wang Pangzi could finally see them clearly.
They weren't especially large—just over half a foot long, only a little bigger than a human palm.
Their scales were a pale golden color.
The most terrifying part was their mouths.
Inside were two rows of teeth—
Sharp like serrated metal blades.
Their jaws were still snapping up and down nonstop.
That metallic scraping sound—
Was coming from them.
Between the teeth of many of these Blade-Toothed Viper Fish, there were still traces of the python's flesh.
The moment Hu Ba Yi and Wang Pangzi saw this, they began paddling desperately.
Standing at the rear of the raft, Xu Lang used his entrenching tool as an oar while watching the incoming school closely.
There were even more Blade-Toothed Viper Fish than he had imagined.
From what Xu Lang remembered, in the original adventure of the Iron Triangle, there had only been around a thousand of them beneath Zhelong Mountain.
But the ones before him now were packed so densely that there had to be tens of thousands.
And they were fast.
The raft carried four people plus all their supplies—easily over a thousand jin.
It had never been built for speed.
Even with all four rowing as hard as they could, it still wasn't fast enough.
The fish were almost on top of them.
Xu Lang aimed at the front of the school and activated Gu Poison.
A flash of green light spread over the water.
In an instant, more than a hundred Blade-Toothed Viper Fish rolled belly-up and floated to the surface.
The fish nearest the poison slowed down as well.
Unfortunately, the underground river current quickly diluted and dispersed the poison.
There were still far too many fish left, and they showed no sign of stopping.
Xu Lang immediately released the semi-transparent Golden Silkworm Gu.
Within moments, several hundred more Blade-Toothed Viper Fish were taken out.
But it was still nowhere near enough.
There were simply too many of them in this underground river.
Xu Lang had no intention of continuing a head-on clash.
Aside from their sheer numbers, there was another reason—
Killing these things yielded no energy at all.
That made Xu Lang deeply dissatisfied.
"I'll hold them off. You three get the raft to the shore!"
As Xu Lang saw the water ahead opening up, and the riverbank no longer consisted solely of rock walls like the narrow channel before, but instead revealed a narrow strip of walkable stone shore, he made his decision at once.
The moment Hu Ba Yi and the others heard him, they adjusted course and began steering the raft toward the bank.
Xu Lang kept his eyes locked on the water.
At the same time, he directed the Golden Silkworm Gu to take out any Blade-Toothed Viper Fish that got too close, while making sure none slipped through.
Very soon, the school surged up to them.
Having already fed on the python's flesh, the Blade-Toothed Viper Fish had been driven into a complete frenzy by the scent of blood.
The Golden Silkworm Gu was taking out several fish almost every second, but even that wasn't enough to stop the charge.
Xu Lang raised the entrenching tool in his hand.
Any time a fish leapt up, he struck down hard.
With his strength enhanced by the system, one blow was enough to knock aside more than a dozen Blade-Toothed Viper Fish.
Some of them were completely fearless.
They launched themselves straight at the entrenching tool and bit down on it.
A row of bite marks was left on the blade.
When Wang Pangzi and Hu Ba Yi turned and saw that scene, both were horrified.
The two of them paddled like men possessed and finally drove the raft to the shore.
The moment they reached land, all four jumped onto the narrow bank in a rush and hauled the raft's supplies up with them.
By then, the Blade-Toothed Viper Fish had already reached the underside of the raft and were biting into it wildly.
The thigh-thick bamboo poles and even the synthetic fiber rope—
Were reduced to scattered pieces within only a few minutes.
Before long, nothing remained on the water except broken bamboo fragments.
Old Hu and Wang Pangzi were both gasping for breath in fright.
Xu Lang looked at the shore, then at the way ahead.
"We've already been underground for quite a while. The exit shouldn't be far. Cousin, confirm the direction. We keep moving."
Hu Ba Yi nodded, took out his compass, and confirmed their heading.
Then the four of them, carrying all their gear and supplies, continued toward Worm Valley.
The shore was lined with mushroom-shaped stone formations and was extremely narrow, though still barely passable.
After walking forward for about an hour, Wang Pangzi—who was scouting ahead—discovered a collapse up ahead.
The narrow path along the bank was blocked by fallen rock.
There was no way through.
The moment they got the news, Hu Ba Yi and Shirley Yang both looked grim.
This was trouble.
The way ahead was blocked.
Going back was no better—the narrow channel behind them was a dead end too.
The water there was filled with man-eating Blade-Toothed Viper Fish.
For the moment, they were trapped between advance and retreat.
Although their packs contained enough food and fuel that they wouldn't immediately freeze or starve, if they couldn't find another way out, death would only be a matter of time.
Xu Lang was puzzled.
In the original path of the Iron Triangle, after coming ashore, they had quickly found a side route.
So why was there no path now?
The most likely explanation was that their encounter with the azure-scaled giant python and the Blade-Toothed Viper Fish had happened in a different location than in the original timeline.
Xu Lang frowned and began thinking carefully, searching for a solution.
At the same time, he leaned against one of the mushroom-shaped stone formations at the bank, intending to rest for a moment.
Unexpectedly, he felt something pressing against him.
Xu Lang lowered his head to look—
And a smile immediately spread across his face.
How had he forgotten about these little fellows?