Chapter 17: Survive
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was unquestionable that the den of snakes would force Tang Ling to alter his planned out retreat route.
The disturbance from this kind of extremely unstable element would result in a fatal outcome.
Dik-tak, dik-tak.
Tang Ling’s nosebleed started to drip all over the icy-cold ground droplet by droplet. His Precise Instinct, which was utilized to its limit, was devising another action plan.
“When you are facing a ferocious beast, even if you have only a stick in your hand, you must put it to good use. Believe me. It’s a lot better than fighting with bare hands.” It was a piece of advice Uncle Zhang once gave Tang Ling.
Tang Ling carried it in his heart deeply.
Right now, his Precise Instinct was that stick. Other than utilizing it to its limit, he had no other options left.
And at times, one had to use all kinds of methods or even pay all a high price to bring out the full potential of a certain matter.
Therefore, although it was just an instant, Tang Ling had to endure tremendous pain. In that particular moment, everything before his eyes almost turned black as if the Grim Reaper himself had arrived.
His life-risking calculations provided him with another plan. He was unable to retain his old habits of performing another plan with meticulous prediction and arrangement. Right before Tang Ling landed for the last time, he fired two shots without any hesitance.
He used the last two chances to attack at once, and the two shots hit the same spot on the giant snake.
Right now, Tang Ling was less than ten meters away from the ladder.
All the giant snake has to do was one final adjustment and it could crawl towards Tang Ling without any more hindrance.
Despite the delay, the distance between them was actually reducing. There were less than 30 meters in between them.
If its body could crawl forward comfortably, it would take the giant snake less than a second to cover that distance.
Under the light, a large den of black-horned purple-striped snakes had surged towards Tang Ling with the closest one being less than 20 meters away from him.
A clank reverberated as the sewer cover was pushed open and the hazy purplish light, exclusive to the night, shone into the tunnel. While the chilly presence poured into the tunnel desperately, it also meant that his sister had gotten out.
Tang Ling felt the comfort deeply. He held the Desert Eagle which was already empty of bullets in his mouth as he used the light to his advantage. He pushed himself up and dashed over to the ladder at top speed.
At that moment, every muscle in his body was perfectly tuned. After all, this action, which seemed to be like running into a wall, would have crashed without powerful control over it.
Moreover, while he was dashing towards the ladder, he still had to avoid some of the black-horned purple-striped snakes that he calculated would block his way and he could not afford to slow down.
This was a desperate test.
Tang Ling completely emptied his brain. Be it the dangerous giant snake, or the den of black-horned purple-striped snakes, he neglected everything.
His eyes only focused on that enlarging wall before his eyes. To cover a ten-meter distance, given Tang Ling’s speed, a maximum bolt would only take him 0.6 seconds to reach his destination.
He ran crossed the seven-meter distance. His dashing steps perfectly jumped over the attacking black-horned purple-striped snake that blocked his way.
Right before he rammed into the wall, the momentum he gained from the dash was transformed into an upward boost by the explosive jumping force from his legs.
At that very moment, Tang Ling’s muscles and bones were controlled to their maximum limit using a control that was nearly impossible to achieve. He immediately extended his right and latched onto the center of the ladder.
Instantly, his feet stepped on the lower rung of the ladder which perfectly absorbed the tremendous force that might have shaken his body. Then, he climbed upwards relentlessly.
Beneath him was that black-horned purple-striped snake which he leaped over. It lifted its head up and pushed itself to snap at Tang Ling. However, the height of the ladder where Tang Ling managed to latch on determined that the snake would miss its bite.
For the first time, the night looked so beautiful in Tang Ling’s eyes despite every single night in the past being filled with danger and icy-cold devils.
At the exit, the moonlight cast light over three faces: his little sister, Grandma, and Quark.
His grandmother was plagued by worry and anxiety. Almost half of her body lay sprawled over the exit. Quark stepped away slightly, yet he still panted heavily as he watched everything that unfolded down there.
His little sister was very calm. Her beautiful googly eyes reflected the light of the Purple Moon, invoking bitter emptiness.
Tang Ling’s heart sank for a bit as he climbed up rapidly, but in the next moment, he saw his sister extend her hands to him. She wanted to pull him up.
Warmth rumbled in Tang Ling’s heart. Two more steps and he could hold his little sister’s hand.
Then, his grandmother also extended hers.
Quark was a little hesitant to extend a helping hand, but in the next second, he screamed, “Oh my God!” and his body started to tremble fiercely out of control.
Tang Ling did not look back. He did not even spare a glance and grabbed the Desert Eagle from his mouth with one hand and flung it behind him strongly.
A heavy thud echoed. Tang Ling stretched his waist as far as it could go and straightened his body as he grabbed his grandmother’s hand.
Never doubt the power of an old woman from that era. Tang Ling’s weight was not a burden for his grandmother to handle. She used all her strength and pulled him upwards while his little sister grabbed his wrist and pulled with whatever might she had.
The short timing only allowed Quark to extend an arm. He grabbed Tang Ling’s collar and shouted loudly as his body tumbled with the strain. Together with the strength from the last kick off the rung which boosted himself up, Tang Ling was pulled out of the exit.
The cold air enveloped Tang Ling in an instant. The pull that took their utmost effort sent all four of them tumbling.
Before they came to a stop, Quark started to shout incoherently because a giant snake head tore out the exit, only less than a split second away from Tang Ling’s exit.
This was actually the calculated outcome that Tang Ling had concluded with a while ago, therefore as he tumbled, he grabbed a stone with a sharper edge in his hand.
Given the height of the ladder, the giant snake would surely ‘stand’ up again and then use its own launching force to kill him.
However, in the end, he was quicker. He was even quicker than his calculation by a little because of the trio’s help.
In fact, Tang Ling was not nervous at all. He deduced that the giant snake dare not even slither out of the tunnel.
Otherwise, how could the access at the exit hinder it?
The only uncertain element was that since he provoked the snake to this extent, would it even dare to take the risk?
Therefore, Tang Ling grabbed a stone. After coming to a stop from the tumble, he half-squatted next to the giant snake, his body unconsciously blocking his grandmother and his little sister behind him.
Under the moonlight, the head of the giant snake that popped out from the exit showed a very intense expression.
Grudge, reluctance, fury, hesitation... Tang Ling confronted the giant serpent as his hand clutching the stone somehow started to sweat.
He could die, but he could not bear the cost of letting his sister and his grandmother take the risk.
A slightly cold hand tapped Tang Ling’s shoulder, and before he could react, two more petite arms curled up tightly around his neck.
Warm tears and the cold air met, forming icy cold droplets of water that slid down the back of Tang Ling’s neck.
“San San, hurry!” Tang Ling, who had over exhausted himself, sounded hoarse, but his instinct told him he had to move his sister away.
Right at that moment, he saw a trace of an unknown fear flash in the snake’s scarlet red eyes before it recoiled back down the exit.