Volume One: The Soul-Drawn Gourd, The Flame of the Spirit Chapter 106: Escape from Shekou

Page 1 of 3

Inside the anaconda’s nest, a visible, mottled orange glow spilled across the darkness.

A nauseating stench kept assaulting Gu Mo’s nose, testing the last thread of his composure.

Around him, seven or eight male anacondas were mating with a female even more massive than themselves.

The live spectacle of pleasure was anything but arousing. If anything, it was downright horrifying.

On the branches of the trees above Gu Mo’s head hung all kinds of “prey rations,” which were probably tributes offered by the male anacondas.

Otherwise, the female anaconda would surely devour them after enjoying herself.

Who would have thought that these anacondas were so clever? They even practiced the old tribute system!

Seeing this, Gu Mo’s mind filled with suspicion.

“Huh... Why didn’t that anaconda hang me from a tree? Does it look down on me?”

The more he thought about it, the more everything suddenly became clear.

“Maybe the anaconda that caught me was running late. It didn’t have time to hang me up before rushing off to mate. What a filthy bastard!”

While entertaining these wild thoughts, Gu Mo lay at the edge of the nest without even daring to breathe loudly. The orange liquid surging inside his bladder was being held back with all his strength.

The laws of nature were simple: the strong preyed upon the weak.

As he pondered this, Gu Mo carefully surveyed the tangled mass of anacondas and noticed that one of them was different.

Looking closely, he saw a large lump on the top of its head, as though someone had beaten it half to death.

If he wanted to escape the snakes’ jaws, he had to find the perfect opportunity.

If his escape went badly, he might die without even knowing how it happened.

Gu Mo quietly panted while observing the surrounding terrain with extraordinary calm, lest he panic and flee in the wrong direction when the time came.

“At this point, someone is bound to ask: Why not just keep pretending to be dead? Maybe the anacondas won’t eat Gu Mo after filling themselves with other prey.”

(Only someone with a decade-long blood clot in the brain could ask such a question!)

One had to understand that anacondas had an astonishing appetite.

Their cavernous jaws could even swallow an entire water buffalo. And after swallowing their prey, they were not always able to digest it completely.

So the anacondas would crawl onto sturdy shrubs or trees and vomit up the half-digested food in their stomachs, leaving it hanging from the branches.

That way, when nearby predators saw the half-digested remains, they would know they had entered an anaconda’s territory.

Looking around, Gu Mo found that although the anaconda nest was fraught with danger, it was relatively spacious. He could escape from almost any direction.

But where to go after leaving the nest was a far more deadly question.

He couldn’t escape the snakes’ jaws only to walk straight into a tiger’s den, could he?

Wouldn’t that mean he was completely finished?

Sometimes, a person could use up all his luck. Who knew what other dangers awaited him outside the anaconda nest?

At present, Gu Mo had only two choices.

First, wait for an opportunity to escape and fend for himself.

Second, sit back and await his death while hoping for rescue.

No matter how he looked at it, both paths were filled with danger.

With a frown, Gu Mo studied the area surrounding the nest and selected what seemed to be the most reasonable route. He prepared to seize an opportunity and run.

Gu Mo was not the kind of man who would simply sit around waiting to die!

Crack!

The moment Gu Mo rolled over, he was so startled that his eyes nearly popped out. An inconspicuous branch beneath him had been crushed by his weight.

Wasn’t this just his rotten luck?

As soon as that crisp, life-threatening sound rang out, the seven or eight anacondas twisted around and turned their heads. Their jewel-like eyes fixed on the source of the noise.

At the same time, Gu Mo fled at a speed that would have put a jingling bell to shame, flinging his legs wide as he sprinted away.

Hiss, hiss...

The sound of tongues flicking in the air immediately echoed through the nest.

Behind him, the seven or eight disturbed anacondas glared at Gu Mo with murderous intent.

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

Anyone would be furious at being interrupted in the middle of “that sort of activity,” let alone cold-blooded animals like anacondas.

As far as the entire world was concerned, apart from humans, no other creature was capable of coveting that kind of pleasure.

With his blood racing, Gu Mo had taken only a few steps before a thick tree root sent him sprawling.

As he lost his balance, Gu Mo berated himself inwardly.

“Oh, hell! I’m done for! One wrong step, and I’ll regret it for the rest of my life!”

With a howl, Gu Mo crashed to the ground, his mouth immediately filling with rotten leaves and mud.

Before long, one enormous, terrifying anaconda after another came rushing toward him. Despite their frightening bulk, anacondas could move with astonishing speed.

In an instant, Gu Mo did not dare think any further. He scrambled up and ran for his life.

Hiss, hiss...

The repeated sounds of flicking tongues behind him were practically a death sentence.

Gu Mo had barely run a few steps when an endless, deep lake appeared before him, blocking his path. The water was so murky that he could not see the bottom.

The fear of the unknown was the deadliest fear of all.

In his desperation, Gu Mo could only turn his head and look around.

There, he spotted a huge sheet of shed bark that resembled a single bedboard. Its size was perfect.

Although the bark was covered in green moss, it looked sturdy enough to support Gu Mo’s weight with ease.

It was nothing short of a lifeline left for him by heaven itself.

Without a second thought, Gu Mo picked up the broad piece of bark and threw it onto the lake.

With a slap, it landed on the unnaturally calm surface, sending up a splash and ripples.

Gu Mo did not have time to think. He took a few quick strides and stepped onto it.

Not long afterward, the sound of something swimming rapidly came from beneath the distant surface.

With dark currents churning below, heaven only knew what kind of danger was waiting for Gu Mo.

Seeing that the situation was growing desperate, Gu Mo began using his hands as oars. But beneath the lake, another predator had already begun to move in silence.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

The seven or eight anacondas, fiercely protective of their territory, reached the shore within seconds.

Seeing them arrive, Gu Mo struck the pose of a victorious champion.

The idiot actually knelt on one knee atop the broad sheet of bark, tilted his head arrogantly toward the shore, and reached out to slap his own tender neck.

Smack, smack, smack!

Several deliciously crisp sounds rang out, and Gu Mo began courting death with a smug grin.

“Come on! Come on! Eat me! You’re nothing but a few oversized worms! I’ve even slain dragons!”

Under such an idiotic provocation, several anacondas really did begin sliding slowly into the water.

Naturally, the first one into the lake was the huge beast with the lump on its head.

It seemed that these filthy giant worms were just as vindictive as they were disgusting. They had no intention of letting their prey escape.

One anaconda alone had already reduced Gu Mo to a pathetic wreck. If all of them entered the water, wouldn’t they tear him apart and devour him completely?

At that thought, Gu Mo was so terrified that his eyes bulged and his soul nearly left his body. He began cursing furiously.

“Damn it! You accursed giant worm! Can’t you tell when someone’s mocking you?”

The instant his tirade ended, Gu Mo could only paddle with all his strength.

Suddenly, ripples spread across the surface near the shore.

Splash! Splash!

To avoid becoming a midnight snack after the anacondas finished their “pleasures,” Gu Mo clenched his back teeth and paddled desperately. His overwhelming instinct to survive supported his exhausted body.

“Damn it, I still have a newlywed wife waiting for me at home! The incense shop is waiting for me to open it!”

At the thought of this, boundless strength surged through Gu Mo’s entire body.

A few seconds later, his blood racing, Gu Mo had traveled a considerable distance atop the broad piece of bark.

Just then, the unsteady sheet of bark beneath him began producing an endless series of scraping and colliding noises.

The already restless surface of the lake suddenly became a scene of utter chaos.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

Crack, crack...

Hearing those eerie sounds, Gu Mo went completely numb. He could only lower his center of gravity and remain perfectly still.

“Damn it—the lake has something enormous in it!”

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a vast patch of blood erupted on the surface not far away. A foul, fishy stench rushed toward him.

At a glance, the lake, which had been relatively calm only moments ago, looked as though it were boiling.

Hiss, hiss, hiss!

An unnervingly savage roar rang out. One enormous anaconda after another began thrashing like mad, hammering the surface with its gigantic body.

It looked like a nightclub dance floor filled with demons, all of them jolted by a high-voltage current.

Smack, smack, smack!

The enormous snakes twisted and battered the lake in obvious agony. Great quantities of bloody water sprayed in every direction, while Gu Mo, clinging to his scrap of bark, looked utterly helpless and pitiful.

Suddenly, Gu Mo narrowed his eyes and stared toward the anacondas.

Hanging from the dark bodies of the snakes were more than thirty piranhas with blood-red eyes.

Who knew how many other bloodthirsty predators lurked beneath the lake?

In almost the blink of an eye, the huge anaconda with the lump on its head had been gnawed down to a skeleton, which sank into the depths.

The lake that had seemed so peaceful moments ago was now stained with blood, crimson ripples spreading across its surface.

The abundance of fresh blood sent the strange piranhas into a frenzy. They began biting even more viciously.

In the minds of piranhas, there was only slaughter and blood. They did not care what kind of prey stood before them.

At times, when piranhas went berserk, they would not even spare their own kind.

The anacondas closest to shore turned around and hurried back toward their nest.

Plop, plop...

Several piranhas, their killing instincts fully aroused, leaped directly onto the bank and drove their razor-sharp teeth deep into the anacondas’ flesh.

Even after leaving the water, the red-eyed predators continued tearing at the snakes without pause.

In the blink of an eye, the anaconda that had reached the shore was covered in wounds, many of them deep enough to expose bone.

Sitting atop his sheet of bark, Gu Mo was scared half to death. Yet his mind had already pieced together what had happened.

The anacondas had suffered obvious injuries during their “pleasures.” That was why the ones that had just entered the lake had attracted the piranhas.

But...

Once the anacondas were devoured, Gu Mo’s situation would become extremely dangerous.

With the butcher holding the knife and him reduced to meat on the chopping block, how could he fail to run now? Otherwise, he would be buried here alive.

With that thought, Gu Mo stopped caring about anything else. He stripped off his hospital shirt, wrapped it around his hands, and began paddling desperately for his life.

One had to admit that, at times, Gu Mo’s mind was remarkably clear.

Crack, crack, crack...

The sounds of chewing continued behind him, making Gu Mo’s scalp crawl and his soul tremble.

Run.

There was only one word in Gu Mo’s mind.

Beads of sweat as large as beans poured from his brow. It was not merely exhaustion—the most important thing was keeping himself alive.

With matters having reached this point, Gu Mo’s face flushed crimson, the veins on his forehead bulging as he summoned every ounce of strength and fled the dangerous area.

Behind him, the sound of the piranhas feeding abruptly ceased.

Still paddling, Gu Mo began to tremble uncontrollably with fear.

Just then, a sharp sound that seemed to split the air came from somewhere in the nearby rainforest...

End of chapter

7017k

Page 3 of 3