Chapter 463 - 460 North and South (2 in 1)
Chapter 463: Chapter 460 North and South (2 in 1)
As Tree Stick probed toward the green snake coiled on the tree branch bit by bit, Leonardo’s footsteps also slowly moved backward.
The closer he got, the more he retreated as if Tree Stick was coming toward him.
Bi Fang noticed this and gave him a surprised look, to which Leonardo wryly smiled, “I just feel that it’s not safe here at all.”
[I’m dying of laughter]
[If it were me, I’d run too]
[Looks scary]
[Feels like the snake has already spotted Old Fang, staring straight over here]
Hearing Leonardo’s concern, Bi Fang explained very seriously, “Then you’d better back off some more. Bamboo Vipers are very fast, and they can even jump between trees.”
Being used to going solo, Bi Fang hadn’t realized that he should let Leonardo retreat first.
Leonardo was more obedient than he’d ever been, even more so than when he was scolded by his mother during his school days, as he quickly retreated to a distance of ten meters away.
Without hesitation, Bi Fang approached the Bamboo Viper again, “Bamboo Vipers have a strong arboreal nature, often hanging or coiling on branches, and are very agile. So, without solid experience, even if you’re trapped in the wild, try not to catch it to stave off hunger. If you need to catch it, first you have to take precautions, second, use a longer stick to knock it down to the ground.”
“To capture a venomous snake, try to avoid disabling it with your limbs. The moment the Bamboo Viper lands, press its head down with a stick. Bamboo Vipers have large heads and thin necks—most venomous snakes are like this. Once the head is pressed down, it is very difficult to break free. Of course, snake muscles are quite developed, so you need a fair amount of strength to do this.”
“If you’re really so hungry that you can’t go on without eating, and you must take the risk of capturing one, but have no experience with venomous snakes, you can try to use a rock to smash it from a distance…”
While he spoke, Bi Fang had already gotten within two meters of the Bamboo Viper, and the Tree Stick in his hand was less than half a meter away.
Two small drones silently hovered before and behind the Bamboo Viper, allowing viewers to see the snake’s body contract clearly through the gaps in the leaves.
The Bamboo Viper is getting tense!
The Bamboo Viper has good vision, especially for moving objects, so Bi Fang’s movements were not fast, but such a large source of heat was approaching—it couldn’t possibly go unnoticed.
Under the extreme-resolution camera, the Bamboo Viper’s body coiled tightly; at the bend, its scales all flared open like a tightly compressed spring, ready to burst out at any moment.
The two were like predators in a standoff, with neither knowing who would strike first.
Bi Fang calmly focused his mind; the greatest difference between humans and animals lies in the humans’ ability to adeptly summarize experience and conduct targeted analysis, whereas animals act purely on instinct.
Just as the Bamboo Viper’s body was coiled to the extreme, right before it attacked, Bi Fang made his move!
The Tree Stick went straight down from above, chopping toward the venomous snake. The intense heat motion caused the Bamboo Viper to reflexively react, but ultimately it was too late. In the moment it poked its head out, the Tree Stick, cutting through the air, hit it solidly and powerfully!
The branch was broken, and the slender green figure was slashed down by the Tree Stick like a ribbon, its head and tail fluttering towards the sky.
At that moment, no one knew what the Bamboo Viper was feeling, whether it was pain or confusion. When the green snake landed on the ground, viewers clearly saw it writhing in pain, its scales all flared open, just like those of its parasitized kin.
Human strength is inherently immense, and with the whip effect of Bi Fang holding Tree Stick, the snake was nearly broken in two.
Having knocked down the Bamboo Viper, Bi Fang quickly pressed Tree Stick onto the snake’s body, then rolled forward onto the snake’s neck, thereafter pressing down firmly, “The snake’s neck is too small a target, and it’s hard to hit precisely amidst violent struggles. We need to first press down on the snake’s body, then twist the stick in our hand to shift it onto the snake’s neck.”
Bi Fang’s arm muscles slightly bulged, winding together like iron chains, revealing the lines symbolizing strength, pressing down on the snake with a death grip.
The neck of the snake was incredibly fragile, and under such immense pressure, the Bamboo Viper thrashed about wildly, but it couldn’t break free.
The snake’s head was large because of its skeletal structure, and to escape, it would have to crush its skull, but if it attempted to move forward, the pressure on its neck would prevent it from exerting any strength.
Leonardo, who had been watching from behind, saw the Bamboo Viper being subdued and was no longer afraid; he approached excitedly to watch Bi Fang gripping the tree stick, stepping onto one end of it and then placing his feet on both ends.
As the full weight of an adult pressed down, almost at the very moment he stepped on it, Leonardo thought he could hear the sound of bones cracking, after which the viper’s writhing slowly ceased.
Before long, the viper stopped moving altogether and only twitched occasionally.
“I’ve said before that a snake’s head can bite even an hour after death, or even several hours later, so we need to cut off the snake’s head first. Don’t touch it; you can just throw it away.”
Bi Fang stood on the tree stick, and even though the snake had stopped moving, he did not let his guard down. He retrieved from his knapsack a sharp, flat rock and pressed it firmly against the neck of the snake.
Bright red blood splashed out, spraying Leonardo’s face. The ferocious triangular snake head rolled to the side, unconsciously snapping its fearsome jaws.
As Leonardo watched, bewildered, he subconsciously licked the warm blood at the corner of his mouth. The pungent smell surged to his brain, and he immediately bent over to retch on the ground, “This…isn’t poisonous, is it?”
Bi Fang let out a laugh, “Don’t worry, snake venom is a substance mysteriously concocted by nature in their bodies. Essentially, it’s still protein and will spoil and deteriorate when exposed to air, losing its toxicity. As long as there are no open wounds, like mouth ulcers or gastritis, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Besides, there’s no poison in snake blood. Many snakes would die from their venom, like the Feeding Viper and the Egyptian Horned Cobra. If their blood contained venom, they wouldn’t be able to live.”
Upon hearing Bi Fang’s explanation, Leonardo breathed a sigh of relief.
“However…” Bi Fang’s tone shifted as he used the stone knife to flip open the snake’s head, “snakes harbor many parasites, and the blood and gallbladders contain a variety of deadly parasites, such as Echinococcus multilocularis and the Tongue Worm, which can infest the brain, internal organs, eyes, chest cavity, spinal cord, skin, and reproductive system, among other parts of the body.
They can form honeycomb-like cysts in your body—oh, don’t know what cysts are? Imagine your body developing a honeycomb-like tumor, full of holes. Ever seen tripe? It’s similar, but these are hollow cavities, and currently, there’s no medication that can treat them. They can only be removed surgically.”
“As for those who drink raw snake blood and eat raw frogs, the latter tend to be infected with just a few parasites and can be treated with surgery, but those who drink raw snake blood can be infected with hundreds of parasites, making surgery almost impossible to eradicate them.”
“Ugh!” Leonardo clutched his neck, his eyes bloodshot with tears streaming, a continuous flow of saliva dripping from his mouth. He stared intensely at Bi Fang, his eyes filled with pain as he rinsed his mouth with water, over and over.
Utterly disgusting!
Not just Leonardo, but even the audience felt nauseated listening to this.
[Holy shit, this is so disgusting!]
[Wori, why didn’t Old Fang say this last time?]
[I’m eating here, eating!]
[I’m dead]
[Damn it, refund my money]
In the first viewing area, several people were drinking water, and upon hearing these words, they began to retch reflexively.
Bi Fang patted Leonardo on the back, “Don’t be scared; it’s just a joke.”
Leonardo was taken aback and finally began to recover somewhat, his face filled with hope, “Is everything you said a lie?”
Bi Fang shook his head, “I never tell lies.”
“…”
After a pause, as if he realized that he had gone a bit too far, Bi Fang added, “Eating snake gallbladder raw poses a high risk of infection, but the probability of getting infected from drinking snake blood raw is only 0.1%. Plus, you just threw up for so long and even rinsed out your mouth, so no worries, you can rest assured!”
“Ugh~~”
…
In the jungle, Bi Fang and Leonardo continued on their way, but the difference was that Bi Fang was still optimistic, while Leonardo’s complexion had gotten much worse, completely pale.
Even though Bi Fang guaranteed it was safe, he couldn’t help but imagine that scene, and then continue to retch.
Leonardo deeply regretted his decision to keep up, and even more so, regretted why he had just gone over to watch. Now, whenever he heard the word “snake,” he reflexively felt like vomiting.
He didn’t touch the Bamboo Viper at all during the entire process. Watching Bi Fang store the prey in a bag, he really didn’t want to get close unless it was too dangerous in the rainforest.
Bi Fang, however, introduced as usual, “Animals like these that capture frogs, tadpoles, lizards, birds, and small mammals have one thing in common: they like to feed by the stream because that’s where small animals are most concentrated.
They would dig holes and gather here. Large animals, on the other hand, would not do this, and actually, we had already heard the sound of running water before we encountered the Bamboo Viper.”
In the deep forest, Bi Fang bypassed one large tree after another, approaching the direction from which the sound of running water came.
The audience could clearly hear the water getting louder.
Watching Bi Fang’s back, Leonardo looked around at the environment that seemed identical to the starting point and suddenly realized something, “Don’t you distinguish directions?”
Right.
The audience members were also startled; something was off! Normally, Bi Fang would first determine the direction, then make a weapon for self-defense, and afterward, he would look for a water source and obtain game.
Why isn’t he checking the direction now?
[Dumbass, Old Fang isn’t trying to escape but to live in the rainforest for twenty-one days. How important is direction?]
[Ah, I remember now.]
[Forgot about that.]
[But what happens if you really get lost? You can hardly see the sun here, and climbing trees is very dangerous. If you encounter a snake in a tree like Old Fang, I don’t have the skill to escape—I’d be done for.]
[I simply can’t climb trees!]
“If you really get lost, even without seeing the sun, there are many ways to determine direction,” after looking around and walking for a while, Bi Fang and Leonardo finally stopped beside a dark puddle,
with uniform forests all around. Not to mention ordinary people, even experienced hunters could get lost. Without a compass, it’s extremely difficult to figure out direction.
“Can you look at the tree rings?” Leonardo suggested, a method he had read about in a storybook as a child.
To his surprise, Bi Fang shook his head, “That’s really just a scientific phenomenon, good for increasing knowledge, but in practical application, it might be pretty lousy. The first problem is how to find tree rings.”
“Aren’t these all trees?” Leonardo pointed to the trees around him, not quite believing.
Isn’t it easy to see tree rings? Just cut down any tree, right?
“So you mean to tell me that every piece of the way, you’ll have to cut down a tree to determine the direction? Although it’s okay to do so if you’re really lost, the cost is too high; it requires a lot of physical strength and time. Plus, you have to cut down big enough trees to ensure you can see clearly,” Bi Fang said bluntly.
“If you want to find naturally broken trees, that might be even more disappointing. Unless it’s a commercial forest, in the true wilderness, ninety-nine percent of broken trees have rotted apart, without a complete cross-section, and the heart of the tree is almost always decayed, let alone seeing any rings.”
Leonardo’s tree ring suggestion was mercilessly passed, which made him feel quite discouraged.
He realized he knew absolutely nothing about wilderness survival.
Without a compass, or even sunshine, he could not figure out directions at all.
As if reading Leonardo’s thoughts, Bi Fang smiled, “Actually, letting plants indicate direction is not a bad idea, as they generally tend to grow towards the sunlight.”
“Therefore, on the sun-facing side, the plants’ flowers and most of the leaves tend to be more abundant. In the northern hemisphere, they face south, while in the southern hemisphere, they face north.”
“Additionally, moss growing on the trunk will be greener and more luxuriant on the side facing the sun, while the opposite side may turn yellow or brown.”
“For trees with branches, the foliage on the south side of the trunk will be denser as well.”
Bi Fang kicked the moss on the nearby tree, and Leonardo squinted his eyes back and forth, noticing there seemed to be a difference in color?
One side was clearly greener, while the other was a pale yellow.
But when it comes to whether the leaves are abundant or not, that is hard to tell. No matter how Leonardo looked, he felt they all appeared the same, and he said, perplexed, “Ordinary people can only look at the color of the moss. What if they’re colorblind?”
Bi Fang rolled his eyes, “You really find problems. Hand over your watch!”
Leonardo was startled but obediently took off his watch, “Are you going to use the sun and the watch’s hands to find direction? I know this too, but we can’t see the sun, can we?”
He pointed to the sky, the camera showing it.
The dense leaves covered the entire sky, making it impossible to tell where the sun was.
“The sun isn’t such an inconvenient thing!” Bi Fang flipped the watch, not understanding its value, and asked, “Can I take it apart?”
“Feel free to dismantle it, I just use it to tell time,” Leonardo waved his hand. How could he possibly bring a valuable and meaningful watch to the jungle? If it got scratched, that would be a loss.
Once given permission, Bi Fang did not hold back. He checked the watch cover, found it to be cheap street market goods, and pried it open with his fingernail, dumping all the internal parts out. Then, in his palm, he selected the longest second hand.
Handing the remaining parts back to Leonardo, Bi Fang rubbed the second hand on his hair, tore off a piece of leaf, knelt beside the dark puddle, and then placed the second hand on top of the leaf, gently letting it into the water.
The leaf entered the water, creating ripples, and finally, under the watchful eyes of a million people, it slowly turned, stopping at a certain angle.
Looking back and forth, Bi Fang pointed in the direction of the needle, “This is north and south.”