Chapter Seventy-Four: Complex Emotions

This rock python was not particularly large, but its speed was extraordinarily swift. Before Lu Chen could catch up, it had already taken advantage of its body, quickly burrowing into the gaps among the vines. Then, opening its jaws wide, it forcefully regurgitated most of its half-swallowed prey. This was a typical trait of pythons: if they sense danger while consuming their meal, they will vomit up the prey to either attack again or make a hasty escape.

“Hiss hiss…”

The black-tailed rock python before him evidently had no intention of fleeing. At this moment, it coiled its body, head raised high, emerald eyes gleaming with a cold, ferocious intent. When Lu Chen had hidden beneath the water, he hadn’t gotten a good look, but now he noticed that this creature’s body was much stockier than other pythons he’d seen. Though its length was over six meters, it weighed nearly a hundred kilograms. It looked as if it had been inflated, which explained how it could escape so swiftly even after swallowing prey.

This creature was no simple beast!

Instinctively, Lu Chen felt that the black-tailed python before him was not to be trifled with. In fact, “strange” was perhaps the best word to describe it. Yet for the moment, he couldn’t quite put his finger on what made it so strange.

While Lu Chen was still puzzling over this, the giant python made its move.

A flash of black streaked by, as swift as lightning. Its jaws opened wide, revealing slender fangs with backward-facing hooks, striking down ferociously. A chilling dread surged over Lu Chen, snapping his mind back to alertness. He leapt up as well, maw agape in response, simultaneously swinging his heavy forelimbs in a sweeping blow.

But the python’s reflexes once again surpassed all expectations. Its sinister head twisted in midair, narrowly evading the deadly claws. Its fangs bit down on the armored scales of his back, though they failed to pierce through.

A flicker of surprise and doubt passed through the black-tailed python’s eyes. Seizing upon the pull, its muscular body instantly coiled around him.

Lu Chen had barely any time to react before his body was bound tightly, as if wrapped up like a rice dumpling.

What was it like to be constricted by a six-meter-long, two-hundred-pound python?

In his previous life, there had been a daredevil abroad who, in order to measure the crushing force of an anaconda, had orchestrated a self-directed “suicide” experiment. Wearing a sturdy helmet and specially designed protective suit embedded with pressure sensors, he allowed the anaconda to coil around him. The results showed that the suit was instantly deformed by the pressure, his heart rate soared above 180, and his body was subjected to over nine thousand pounds of force. If not for timely assistance from his team, he might not have survived.

Creak, crack…

At this moment, Lu Chen felt as though he was being crushed beneath a boulder weighing several thousand pounds. His bones and tendons groaned and popped, threatening to break at any moment.

Many believe that pythons kill their prey by suffocation, through constriction. Lu Chen’s own experience told a different story. He could still breathe, but under the immense external pressure, his blood flow was rapidly decreasing, and his heartbeat had begun to slow…

For an ordinary animal, sudden cardiac arrest would mean instant death.

But Lu Chen was different. Ever since he acquired the “Heart Reinforcement” skill, he had continuously strengthened it with energy points, making his heart several times more powerful than that of a normal animal. Moreover, the saltwater crocodile’s heart was unique, with four chambers that separated arterial and venous blood. Under certain conditions, it could automatically reduce its heart rate to about once per minute.

At present, Lu Chen’s mind remained clear, far from unconsciousness. He knew that if he didn’t break free at once, the constriction would only intensify. Due to the structure of his cervical spine, a crocodile’s head couldn’t twist and rotate at wide angles, robbing his famed bite force of its advantage.

That left only his limbs and tail to rely on.

Claws dug into the ground, he strained, contorting and rolling his massive body.

The motion was not unlike a turtle flipping itself over.

Bang!

With the combined weight of the python and the saltwater crocodile, some six or seven hundred pounds, they crashed heavily to the ground. Using momentum, he rolled several more times in quick succession.

Bang, bang!

A python’s internal organs are not arranged in a compact cluster but stretched out in a band along its body. Closest to the head is the left lung, then, about a quarter of the way down, the heart, followed by the right lung, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine.

Since Lu Chen was wrapped within the python, every brutal roll and crash sent immense reactive force straight into the black-tailed python’s organs.

Reeling from the pain, the python’s grip involuntarily loosened.

Lu Chen’s limbs regained some freedom of movement.

Seeing that his strategy was effective, he rolled even more forcefully.

“Hiss hiss…”

Agony wracked the black-tailed python’s organs, and it finally reached its limit, realizing that this particular prey was not as easy to kill as it had thought.

It decided to abandon its hold, hurriedly uncoiling itself to escape.

But Lu Chen would not let it go. The instant he was free, he darted forward, jaws clamping down on the snake’s tail.

With a violent shake of his head—smack—the python’s body was slammed against a tree trunk.

Another death roll straightaway snapped the vertebrae at the snake’s tail.

The black-tailed python let out a shrill, hissing scream, twisting around to launch another attack.

But now, lacking its tail for balance, its speed was halved.

Lu Chen seized the opportunity, slashing with his claws again and again. Just as he had done when hunting the Burmese python in Tiannan Mountain, he quickly and efficiently broke several sections of the python’s spine, then finished with a fatal blow to the head.

The entire battle lasted less than five minutes, yet it left most of his strength depleted.

After a brief rest, Lu Chen finally realized why this python had felt so strange. Besides its extraordinary aggression, there had been something in its eyes—a mixture of ferocity, mockery, and fear… No ordinary snake could possess such a complex range of emotions!

This creature had undoubtedly mutated!

Suppressing the odd feeling in his heart, Lu Chen dragged the prey into the water, swimming downstream toward the cave.

The bloody scent drifting with the current naturally caught the attention of the three saltwater crocodiles. Their predatory eyes showed a rare gravity and wariness as they climbed into the trees to observe from afar.

As for the little black dot, it leapt into the air, letting out an excited cry and rushing over.

It was the third crocodile!

The three saltwater crocodiles also jumped down from the trees to meet him…

After dividing the python’s body into several pieces, Lu Chen naturally claimed the fattiest portion for himself.

“Black-tailed Rock Python, genus Python, provides 367 energy points.”

As expected, his earlier intuition was correct. The flesh of the black-tailed rock python was even richer than that of the Wild Boar King; a single pound yielded six energy points—the highest among all his prey so far.

Unfortunately, though the creature appeared to weigh over two hundred pounds, its stomach and intestines alone accounted for dozens of pounds. These parts, full of digestive matter and waste, Lu Chen never ate.

Just as he was about to toss them into the fishing trap, he suddenly paused.

Though he couldn’t see through the flesh, he sensed that there was something inside the python’s stomach—a primal instinct drew him toward it.

This instinct seemed to be imprinted in his very genes.

Curious, Lu Chen extended his claws and sliced open the python’s stomach.

A wave of acrid stench assaulted his nostrils… Amid the dark, unidentifiable food remains, there was a fist-sized purple stone radiating an eerie glow.

A stone? Why would a python need to eat a stone?

And the longing he had felt earlier was coming from this stone.

Now that the flesh no longer concealed it, his hunger to devour it grew ever more intense.