Hunter Xu, who was walking at the very front, turned around and held up the fishing net in his hand.
"The trap didn't catch the giant snake. This is your family's fishing net; it was dragged here."
Qin Sang stepped forward and saw the tattered fishing net in Hunter Xu's hand, which was stained with brownish blood.
"What did you use as bait?"
"Pig lungs," Tian Yougen replied. "And a piece of pork, totaling about ten catties."
Qin Sang speculated:
"The snake probably broke free from the fishing net first, then vented its anger by coiling around a large tree and throwing it down to hit people."
Hunter Xu felt a bit of regret:
"If it failed once, it'll probably be hard to catch later."
Qin Sang handed the fishing net back to Tian Yougen and wiped her hands.
"Let's go, head down the mountain."
After Qin Sang finished speaking, she called for Da Huang, and Da Huang quickly bounded to her side.
Judging by Da Huang's state, Qin Sang estimated that there were indeed no giant snakes around; moreover, snakes naturally preferred to be active at night, making the daytime relatively safe.
Of course, that was only within the camp.
The villagers' expectant gazes soon turned to disappointment. No one was willing to go into the mountains to cut wood anymore, not even to the foot of the mountain.
Thus, everyone stayed in the camp to dig trenches. With over a hundred people digging together, the progress was visibly fast.
The Village Chief also picked a spot and assigned several people to dig a well. Everyone felt that the hope was slim, but they obediently dug, holding onto the thought that they might get water for their labor.
The excavated soil was transported by ox cart to the riverbed outside the mountain pass to create a barrier. Once the trenches in the camp were finished, they would divert the riverbed outside.
The trenches in the camp were all dug, and the water Qin Sang had brought into the mountain was also distributed on the surface.
They tried pouring water into the well the Village Chief had dug, but after dozens of liters went down, it quickly vanished, absorbed completely by the soil.
Qin Sang knew this wouldn't work. The soil in the surrounding mountains and forests was parched; without a water vat at the bottom to hold it, the water couldn't be stored at all.
By dawn, the Village Chief saw the slightly moist soil at the bottom of the well and said with a look of surprise:
"There's water down here! Everyone, dig quickly! Maybe if we dig another two meters, we'll hit water."
The villagers looked helpless. This well was already ten meters deep, deeper than the one in the village; if they dug any further, it would collapse.
But they had to keep digging if there was even a sliver of hope, otherwise, they would all die of thirst.
The water everyone carried could last three days at most. Families knew the water wasn't enough to drink, so they stopped making flour porridge and ate roasted or simmered food for all three meals, not even needing to urinate once a day.
If this continued, their bodies would eventually suffer.
At night, the family lay in the tent. Having not bathed for a long time, the tent was filled with the unpleasant smell of sour sweat and stinky feet. It was so hot and thirsty that they couldn't sleep at all.
Qin Sang lay at the entrance of the tent and overheard the conversation between the eldest and the third brother outside:
"I saw a sour jujube tree on that mountain when I was cutting wood the other day. Tomorrow I'll go pick some sour jujubes; they can quench our thirst to some extent."
Tian Sangui said nervously:
"Big Brother, do you want to die? There's a giant snake in the mountains. What if you run into it?"
"It won't happen. Haven't you seen that the giant snake hasn't appeared for five days? I'll go and come back quickly; I won't be that unlucky."
Tian Dazhuang was persistent, but Tian Sangui disagreed:
"There are still a few mouthfuls of water at home. Big Brother, if you're thirsty, go take a sip. Don't gamble with your life, okay?"
"San Gui, I'm saying just in case. If I don't come back, you... please take care of your sister-in-law and niece, okay? They are very good and easy to provide for..."
Tian Sangui immediately refused:
"No, I won't. Big Brother, if you don't come back, I'll... I'll sell Sister-in-law and Eldest Girl..."
Tian Dazhuang was clearly anxious: "San Gui, you..."
Tian Sangui said crossly:
"If you won't take care of them yourself, why expect others to? If you're afraid I'll sell Sister-in-law and Eldest Girl, then stay obediently in the camp tomorrow and don't go up the mountain to pick sour jujubes."
"You..."
Qin Sang felt frustrated listening from inside the tent. She had water, but she needed an excuse to bring it out.
If the giant snake didn't die, even if she was willing to take the risk, Da Zhuang and San Gui wouldn't agree.
Hearing Eldest Girl's occasional coughing in her sleep, Qin Sang knew she had to go out.
These past few days, the giant snake hadn't appeared again, but everyone knew it was in these mountains, watching them from some corner.
Every night, Qin Sang waited until everyone was asleep at midnight to scout the mountains and forests with a Drone, but she couldn't find it at all.
Qin Sang started looking for caves.
Once I find you, I'll definitely kill you.
The next second after this thought surfaced, the Drone flew to the waterfall opening of the riverbed. The waterfall had long since dried up, revealing a cave about one meter wide.
The Drone flew inside, and in the dark image, a pair of blood-red eyes suddenly appeared.
Qin Sang's hand tightened, and her breathing hitched for a few seconds. Looking at the controller's screen, it felt as if she were confronting the giant snake in that damp and eerie cave herself.
It was hair-raising.
The giant snake, about ten meters long, had its body coiled into a mosquito coils shape. The Drone's movement had disturbed it; its large head rose up, and its body quickly slithered towards the Drone.
Qin Sang quickly controlled the Drone to retreat. Damn it, the giant snake was chasing it.
Qin Sang hurriedly got up and walked out. Si Jin sat up again, eyes barely open, and asked groggily:
"Mother, are you going to relieve yourself? Do you want me to accompany you?"
Qin Sang said without looking back:
"Go to sleep."
Saying that, she ran outside without looking back.
Da Huang immediately pricked up its ears and followed.
While controlling the Drone to escape, Qin Sang took a large white pig out from her space.
As soon as the large white pig appeared, Da Huang opened its mouth to bark, but Qin Sang hurriedly grabbed it:
"Don't chase."
She muffled Da Huang's mouth so it couldn't make a sound.
The large white pig bolted towards the riverbed. With no trees or roots to block it, the pig quickly rushed to the deep pool under the waterfall. By the time it discovered the danger, it was too late to stop; the entire pig fell straight down, letting out a piercing shriek.
The large white pig's shriek caught the giant snake's attention. The snake turned around and headed towards the deep pool.
Qin Sang let the Drone hover for a while before controlling it to turn back and slowly approach the deep pool. She saw that the giant snake currently had its jaws wide open, trying to swallow the entire large white pig.
Snakes can swallow prey several times their own size; nature documentaries have filmed pythons swallowing goats and bison.
However, pythons usually choose a safe place to eat such large prey because after swallowing it, they need a long time to digest the food.
Since this giant snake chose to swallow the pig right at the deep pool, it was likely that this area, along with their camp, was its territory. Another reason was that the pig weighed three to four hundred catties, and the snake probably couldn't drag it back to the cave.
The giant snake first swallowed the pig's head, then its body. More than an hour later, Qin Sang watched on the controller's display as the pig's last two hooves and a section of its tail were slowly swallowed by the snake.
The corners of Qin Sang's mouth slowly curled up.
Enjoy your last meal to your heart's content!
Your time of death has come.