Everyone suddenly felt their scalps tingle—this sound, why did it sound exactly like the mutated giant serpent on the move?

Yes.

The mutated giant serpent… it… it… it was back.

In just a few breaths, the terrifying, glistening body of the serpent made a dramatic entrance. Its head rose up, tongue flicking, and its eyes locked hungrily on the delicious prey in front of it.

“Run—”

“Run now—”

…

Feng Ziyang and Huo Xiao shouted at the same time.

Huo Xiao grabbed Zhuang Xiao’s hand and the whole group bolted into the forest.

Talk about cursed by eight lifetimes of bad luck…

Was this mutated serpent dead set on targeting them? It was everywhere!

Originally, Huo Xiao was worried that Zhuang Xiao’s physical condition wouldn’t hold up and that she’d drag them down. But unexpectedly, as they ran, Zhuang Xiao yanked her hand out of his and darted ahead of everyone.

Huo Xiao: …

Future mercenary team members: …

Was this going to be another split?

The mutated serpent’s speed was far greater than theirs—it quickly caught up and was now almost side by side with them, racing forward.

But strangely: the serpent didn’t spare them a glance. With a “whoosh whoosh,” it blew past the group, heading in the direction Zhuang Xiao had disappeared into.

The ignored group: …

Huo Xiao didn’t slow down one bit, continuing to sprint after the serpent.

Panting behind him, Feng Ziyang and the others: …

As Huo Xiao’s figure was about to disappear into the dense forest, Hu Qianli gasped out between heavy breaths, “Captain Feng, are we… are we really following them?”

Normally, they avoided the mutated serpent like the plague—and now they were actually chasing it?

This really was a first.

Feng Ziyang turned back and gave only one word: “Yes.”

On Feng Ziyang’s side, they soon lost track of Huo Xiao, while Huo Xiao was frantically searching for signs of Zhuang Xiao.

The wrist device had terrible signal in the blind zone—after several attempts, Huo Xiao still couldn’t reach her.

He was now extremely anxious and utterly clueless.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Xiao was blindly running, with the sound of the serpent’s scales scraping the ground constantly behind her.

She had no idea she had run too far ahead and was now completely separated from Huo Xiao and Feng Ziyang’s group.

After breaking out of the forest, she suddenly felt her whole body bathed in a red glow.

Damn it—she had accidentally entered a high-radiation zone.

She quickly turned back, only to crash head-on into the open jaws of the mutated serpent. A wave of putrid stench hit her square in the face.

Using her small size and agility, she slipped past the serpent’s body and darted back into the forest.

Why the hell was this thing so fixated on her?

She kept running for another half hour through the woods before she finally couldn’t take it anymore. Gripping a large tree for support, she panted heavily.

The mutated serpent coiled around the trunk, head raised high, tongue hissing continuously.

Zhuang Xiao threw all her bags to the ground, gripped the dagger tightly in her hand, and took a ready stance.

Enough. She wasn’t running anymore.

It was either her or the snake today!

In a flash, she fired a wrist dart directly into the serpent’s mouth.

This time, she hit the mark.

The dart was coated with a potent dose of water hemlock poison. She didn’t know how effective it’d be against a mutated serpent, but hey—this was a good test.

Enraged by the attack, the serpent lunged at her.

And so began a game of dodge and chase—one human, one snake, weaving through the forest…

Gradually, Zhuang Xiao noticed something was off. The serpent’s movements were slowing down and becoming erratic.

Was the poison kicking in?

Still, she didn’t dare let her guard down. If that thing managed to coil around her, it’d squeeze the life out of her in seconds.

Just as she was playing hide-and-seek with the serpent, a bunch of uninvited guests appeared overhead.

They perched on branches, screeching and chattering nonstop—almost like they were cheering for the ground-level battle.

The newcomers were none other than the mutated squirrels who had once stolen Zhuang Xiao’s backpack and chocolate.

Now they were bouncing from branch to branch, their fluffy tails twitching like they were watching a live drama.

The serpent visibly slowed, and Zhuang Xiao seized the opportunity to fire another dart—this time aiming straight for its eye.

The serpent recoiled in pain. Its sluggish body, as if burning its final reserves of life force, charged at her with a burst of rage.

But the poison had already taken effect. The serpent’s head slammed full-force into the trunk of the tree next to her.

BOOM.

Leaves rained down like a green shower.

The mutant squirrels scattered in a panic.

The serpent’s head drooped, and its entire body collapsed limply to the ground.

A moment ago, Zhuang Xiao had thought her life was over. Now she stood there dumbfounded, mumbling to herself: “That’s it…?”

Well damn, that water hemlock was more effective than she thought. Now she was wondering—would it work on other venomous creatures too?

As the saying goes, fight poison with poison.

She stayed hidden for a while longer, making absolutely sure the serpent was stone-dead before creeping forward and giving it two hard kicks.

“That’s for picking on me alone…”

“That’s for picking on me alone…”

…

Seeing that the fight was over, the mutant squirrels returned to their seats in the tree and resumed chattering like an excited audience.

From being chased to standing over a corpse, Zhuang Xiao couldn’t stop the doubts swirling in her mind.

How did she outrun a mutated serpent?

How did she run for so long without getting tired?

How did she even…

Basically, this accidental detour into the blind zone was making her question whether she still knew herself.

But that wasn’t the most urgent issue now.

Where the hell were Huo Xiao and Feng Ziyang?

This forest was massive—how was she supposed to find them?

While mulling this over, she sliced off a piece of the serpent’s meat and placed it on her wrist device. “Beep beep. Low-radiation mutation. Edible.”

Looking at the hundreds of pounds of snake meat before her, Zhuang Xiao’s mouth curled downward in sadness, her heart weeping rivers.

Why was it always her who suffered?

High up in the tree branches, rows of mutant squirrels sat in neat lines—one, two, three… ten of them—occasionally shouting down or whispering to each other.

Looking at the human below, their collective impression seemed to be:

“She doesn’t seem very smart, does she?”