Chapter 46: Grilled Octopus Balls

The giant python charged with terrifying speed. A Tier 3 Esper, reacting just a split second too slowly, was swallowed whole in a single gulp.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhh!"

The teammate directly behind him had half his body snapped up. Before he could unleash his esper ability, he was bitten clean in half.

Fresh blood splattered across the accumulated snow, creating a stark, horrifying contrast of red and white.

"We can't keep dodging like this! We can't outrun its speed!"

Sizhe was the first to react, hurling dozens of lightning blades backward. The moment they connected with the massive serpentine body, they detonated in a flurry of crackling arcs.

While the giant python's physique was colossal, the hardness of its scales was only average.

As the bolts of lightning struck its hide, over a dozen scales exploded instantly, spurting out small jets of crimson blood.

"Hiiiiissss!"

The giant python wailed in agony. Its cold, slit-like pupils locked onto the culprit below, and it lowered its massive head, preparing to snap him up in its jaws.

Sizhe stood his ground without flinching, condensing a massive ball of lightning in his hands as he roared, "Weiran, right now!"

"Coming!"

Lin Weiran simultaneously hurled a fireball. The lightning and fire did not repel each other; instead, they fused seamlessly into a devastating ultimate move that burned with roaring flames and flickered with electric shocks.

Before the giant python could open its mouth to snap them up, Sizhe and Lin Weiran struck simultaneously, shoving the "thunder-fire sphere" directly down the beast's throat!

A roar that shook the entire valley echoed in their ears.

Lin Weiran and the others were standing close enough to be blown backward over a dozen meters by the shockwave, their eardrums nearly ruptured.

The good news, however, was that the giant python could no longer lurch forward. Its sharp fangs were blown to smithereens, and its forked tongue was scorched into a bloody mess. It lay collapsed on the spot, struggling in agonizing pain and roaring endlessly as its thrashing serpentine body crushed everything in its path.

Staggering to his feet, Sizhe's first instinct was to search for Lin Weiran.

"Weiran, are you okay?"

She was lying facedown in a snowdrift three or four meters away. A shallow bloody scratch marred her cheek, and when he looked down at her motionless right leg, it was clearly broken!

Sizhe lifted her into his arms. Even now, Lin Weiran managed to maintain enough composure to push against his chest.

"Don't worry about me! Quick, go kill that giant python!"

Sizhe gave her a deep, unwavering look. "Alright."

The handsome man turned and rushed toward the giant python, reforming the lightning blades in his hands.

The giant python's slit pupils caught sight of the tormentor approaching, a flash of actual terror crossing the depths of its eyes.

It was merely an ordinary python that had lurked beneath the mountains of City G, growing to such a monstrous size simply because it had lived long enough.

Before the apocalypse, it had deliberately burrowed deep into remote mountains, carving out network after network of subterranean tunnels beneath the volcanic strata. City G had plenty of mountains and few people, allowing it to remain completely undiscovered for all these years.

After the apocalypse began, it had occasionally devoured some zombies, making its massive physique even more colossal... Until the snowstorm struck. Facing a sudden plummet in food supplies, it had boldly crawled out of its underground den, intending to gorge itself before retreating for a long, luxurious hibernation.

Never in its wildest dreams had it expected to get beaten to a pulp the moment it emerged!

"Hiiiiissss!"

Struggling violently, the giant python whipped its head around and bolted back along the path it had come from, plunging headfirst into a pitch-black subterranean tunnel the moment it spotted one.

With another earth-shaking tremor, the greater part of its black serpentine body vanished in the blink of an eye.

Sizhe's subsequent attack only managed to strike its tail, blasting away a few more scales in a spray of blood before the tail whipped out of sight as well.

Hot Spring Village finally returned to peace... No, to a deathly stillness.

The surrounding area was a landscape of ruins and debris. The once-picturesque scenery and distinctive architecture had been utterly destroyed. The greenhouse that the two factions had fought over was also ruined beyond recognition, all the crop vines trampled into mud, and even the ripe tomatoes crushed into juice and ground into the soil.

Sizhe once again scooped Lin Weiran up in his arms. "How are you holding up?"

Lin Weiran offered a bitter smile. "My right leg seems to be broken; I can't move it."

Their remaining two teammates stared in lingering terror at the direction the giant python had vanished. Remembering the companion they had just lost, they urged anxiously, "That giant python clearly lives in this mountain! We'd better get out of here right now!"

None of them could have anticipated such rotten luck, running right into the day the giant python emerged from hibernation.

If a nightmare like this happened every once in a while... neither teammate could guarantee that the next person dying in its jaws wouldn't be themselves.

Sizhe glanced back at the desolate Hot Spring Village and ground his teeth. "Let's go! Back to City G!"

City G didn't have hot springs, but at least it didn't have giant pythons.

The group arrived in a flurry and departed in a rush.

Only the empty Hot Spring Village remained behind. Perhaps some survivors would return eventually, but upon witnessing the devastation before their eyes, they would surely weep with regret.

...

"Sister Susu! Let's go soak in the hot springs!"

Pang Cancan hurried over, clutching a towel and toiletries, and excitedly knocked on Susu's door.

Susu opened the door and asked, "Where is Lerui?"

"He's helping Wei Yan and the others build the vegetable greenhouses," Pang Cancan replied. "He can't soak with us anyway, so never mind him!"

The hot springs in the back mountain had been partitioned into two zones—one for women and one for men—offering excellent privacy.

Ever since the day the snow started, Pang Cancan had been looking forward to soaking in the hot springs. Now that the houses had finally been cleaned and organized and life had stabilized, she wasted no time coming over.

"Sister Susu, come keep me company, please, pretty please!"

Susu felt a trace of temptation, but still turned her head back toward the room. "Xiao Hei..."

"Is it still sleeping?" Pang Cancan poked her head inside, catching a faint glimpse of a pitch-black python coiled up on the bed, sleeping soundly without a single care in the world.

"Yeah, after feeding it that Tier 4 crystal core, it conked out again."

Perhaps the temperature had dropped further, or perhaps the energy within the Tier 4 crystal core was simply too abundant and required time to absorb. In any case, Xiao Hei's sleeping cycles had grown even longer.

Pang Cancan observed for a moment and coaxed, "Anyway, it's not going to wake up anytime soon. Sister Susu, come soak in the hot springs with me! Who knows, when we get back, it might still be asleep!"

That was actually quite probable, seeing as Xiao Hei's shortest sleeping duration had already reached eight hours.

Susu hesitated for a few seconds, ultimately yielding to Pang Cancan's pitiful expression.

"Alright, let's go together."

The two of them set off with their toiletries, passing several barren fields along the way where they spotted Wei Yan and the others busy constructing the vegetable greenhouses.

Lerui spotted them first, waving happily. "Sister Susu, Sister Cancan, are you going to the hot springs?"

"That's right!" Pang Cancan encouraged him. "You work hard so that Sister Susu and I can enjoy ourselves, got it?"

"Got it!"

Lerui replied with utmost seriousness, amusing Guan Zixun nearby.

"What? So young and already trying to be a protector of the ladies?" He vigorously ruffled the little boy's hair. "Keep dreaming, that spot is mine now."

Lerui glanced at him. "No, it isn't."

"Oh? Then whose spot is it?"

Lerui answered with a straight face, "Xiao Hei's!"

Xiao Hei, the python currently deep in hibernation.

Guan Zixun was left speechless. Wanting to vent to Brother Wei, he turned his head only to see that Wei Yan had already walked up to the field ridge and was talking to Susu.

"You shouldn't soak in the hot springs for too long; be careful of getting dizzy."

"Some of the pools are smaller and suited for you to use, but others are too deep—you'd best stay away from those."

"That area hasn't been developed, and the surrounding rocks are uneven, so you need to watch your step."

"Got it, got it!" Pang Cancan linked her arm through Susu's. "Don't worry, Brother Wei, I guarantee I'll bring Sister Susu back safely!"

Wei Yan froze.

After a moment of silence, he fished several tomatoes out of his pocket. "Here, take these. You can eat them like fruit."

Susu smiled and took them. "Thank you."

Once the two women had walked away, Guan Zixun sidled up to Wei Yan.

"Brother Wei..."

Wei Yan asked, "What is it?"

Guan Zixun hesitated, starting and stopping. "Never mind, it's nothing."

He had discovered a massive secret, but he could only keep it bottled up inside as he went back to continue building the greenhouse.

"What massive secret?" Zheng Wenxiu asked, offering a perfunctory response while continuing to work.

Guan Zixun had no choice but to elaborate. "Don't you think Brother Wei has been acting overly enthusiastic these past few days? Even if Susu saved his life, the way he looks at her is weird..."

Zheng Wenxiu looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm looking at an idiot who finally realized what's going on."

Guan Zixun: "..."

Unable to accept this, he tossed his building materials aside. "No way, does Brother Wei actually like Susu? What on earth does he see in her?"

Zheng Wenxiu countered, "What about you? What do you like about her?"

Naturally, everything about her!

When Guan Zixun didn't answer, Zheng Wenxiu guessed it anyway. "You like that she's pretty, right in line with your aesthetic. But Brother Wei values both her beauty and her kind heart; in that respect, he's already on the next level."

"I value inner beauty too!" Guan Zixun protested stubbornly.

Zheng Wenxiu replied with a cold sneer, "Hmph."

Guan Zixun fell into a brooding silence.

Ten minutes later, he quietly crept up to Wei Yan and whispered, "Brother Wei, I'm not going to yield."

Wei Yan: "..."

He cast a cold glance at the fellow, turned on his heel, and walked away to another section of the field.

Yield?

Wei Yan raised his head to look in the direction Susu had gone, a flicker of self-mockery crossing his eyes.

Even if Guan Zixun really did yield to him, would she automatically become his?

...

"Whoa! So hot!"

"Whoa! So comfortable!"

"Whoa! It's snowing outside, but it's really not cold here at all!"

The hot spring was an open-air pool. The snowflakes drifting down melted long before they touched the water, leaving very little accumulated snow around the edges.

Pang Cancan stripped off her clothes and slipped into the pool, feeling no chill whatsoever. She was so excited she let out a series of gasps.

Receiving no response after a while, she turned her head and saw that Susu had settled into a smaller, separate hot spring pool nearby.

"Sister Susu, why aren't you sharing a pool with me?" Pang Cancan rested her chin on the rock ledge, looking curiously at Susu's back and reaching out to poke her shoulder.

Wow, so smooth! I gotta touch it again!

Susu quickly dodged. "I-I'm not really used to bathing with other people."

Mainly, because neither of them was wearing anything, sitting face-to-face in the water was just too awkward.

Pang Cancan pouted. "Then you must have never lived in a school dormitory, otherwise you'd have seen it all long ago."

Susu smiled faintly and bit her lip.

Before the apocalypse, her family background had been quite decent, and she had essentially been raised in comfort. She truly had never experienced bathing communally with others.

Wait until Xiao Hei wakes up, I'll bring it here... But could a snake even handle water this hot?