06

Hiss!

Liang Feixing wanted to retract his hand back quickly but the snake was too fast. He instinctively shut his eyes thinking he wouldn't be able to escape being bitten. But the pain he expected never came.

He heard a tussle beside him so he opened his eyes to look and found Zhang Wei on the floor, struggling with the snake which he held by the throat. The snake was slippery and wanted to escape but Zhang Wei's grip was too tight. This made it angry and it hissed, sticking out its tongue to spit at him.

But Zhang Wei seemed to have expected this and quickly pried his jaw apart, tearing it into two with force. The snake lost all its power after this and slid onto the floor, hissing in pain until it died.

Once Zhang Wei was done, he instantly looked at Liang Feixing who still stood there, watching in awe. He gave him a probing look. "What were you standing there for? Waiting for it to bite you to death?"

Liang Feixing finally came to his senses and when he heard Zhang Wei's derisive tone, he clicked his tongue with complaint. "It was too fast, okay? I could not even avoid it."

"Next time, just grab it by the throat and choke it to death or rip its jaw," Zhang Wei muttered before leaning down to pick up the snake that had already bitten itself to death.

"It has the same color as the plant so it camouflaged under it." Liang Feixing responded and when he saw Zhang Wei's actions, he asked, "You're taking it?"

He nodded and Liang Feixing stared at his green robe that had already gotten dirty from the tussle with the snake. "Your robe got dirty."

Zhang Wei looked down at it for a second before slipping the dead snake and herb he plucked into Liang Feixing's satchel. "Leave it."

"Okay." Liang Feixing nodded. "We'll soon return home. Only the Ghost Mushroom is left. We should rest for a while before we go deeper into the forest."

Zhang Wei looked up at the sky before saying, "The sun is already out. If we want to go into the deep forest and return home today, we have to go quickly before the sun begins to set. By the time the sun sets, more beasts would have come out and it will be tricky for us."

"Oh." Liang Feixing mouthed, "Let's pluck some fruits to eat on the way then."

He quickly found some ripe persimmons before they continued on their journey. As they walked, Liang Feixing glanced at him and muttered in a low voice, "You seem different today."

Zhang Wei paused and looked at his face for a moment before regaining his composure. He asked, "How am I different?"

Liang Feixing looked thoughtful as he chewed on the fruit. "Hm. You seem calm and you're not even afraid. Before you won't even dare to linger around wild beasts not to talk of stealing a prey from them."

"It's just luck," Zhang Wei muttered calmly and bit into the persimmon in his hand.

"That's too much luck for one day." Liang Feixing snickered in response and laughed.

They didn't speak much after that as they gradually grew tired from walking for so long without finding a single Mushroom that even resembled the Ghost Mushroom.

About four hours later, they finally found one lying on a dead stump.

"Ah! Finally," Liang Feixing exclaimed excitedly as he quickly plucked it. He ran a finger over its shiny red cap and murmured, "It looks quite flashy."

Zhang Wei nodded and stretched his arms tiredly. "We should get going now."

Liang Feixing nodded and opened his satchel to keep it. But just then, five figures appeared in front of them. It was the first time they ran into other humans since they entered the forest and it was Quan Che and his gang.

When the latter saw the two of them, he instantly snickered, "Eh? If it isn't Liang Feixing and his dumb friend. What are you two doing here?"

Then, he noticed the mushroom in Liang Feixing's hand and his eye instantly shone. "Is that a Ghost Mushroom?"

"I think it is." One of the boys behind him whispered.

Quan Che rubbed his palms excitedly and looked at Liang Feixing. "It's really it. We've been looking for it all day."

Liang Feixing instantly tried to put it in the satchel however Quan Che quickly strolled over, attempting to snatch it. But Liang Feixing quickly slipped it in and shut the satchel.

"What do you want, Quan Che?" He frowned. "Just go your way and we'll go ours."

Zhang Wei paused to look at the faces of the five people who had blocked their way while Liang Feixing stiffened beside him and looked uneasy. He scoured through his memories about this Quan Che but could not remember much about him except that he seemed to like picking on them.

"What if I say I don't want to?" Quan Che snorted and gave a sneaky smile. "Actually, I can let you go. Under one condition."

Liang Feixing stared at him warily. "What do you want?"

Quan Che grinned. "Drop all the things you've picked and I'll let you go." And he paused for a second, his smile turning menacing. "Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude."

Liang Feixing's face turned ashen. "You... Don't go too far!"

"What can you do to me?" The other party laughed and looked at the people in his group who immediately snickered.

He turned back to Liang Feixing and taunted, "Or you think you two losers can do anything to the five of us? Don't tell me you forgot the beating we gave you the last time."

It was only then that Zhang Wei remembered that he seemed to have waylaid the host and Liang Feixing on a hunt before and demanded them to give him all they had. When they resisted, he and his team assaulted them and took everything away, leaving both boys hospitalized for three weeks.

"Quan Che! Don't go too far!" Liang Feixing seemed really angry now. But Zhang Wei noticed that he seemed to be panicking.

Quan Che laughed. "Will you hand it over or not?"

Liang Feixing looked at Zhang Wei who was still quiet and seemed to be making a tough decision. When Quan Che saw this, he was more pleased and threatened, "I don't have time to waste."

Then he turned to his group. "Boys! Get them."

Instantly they pounced over and wanted to snatch the satchel hanging around Liang Feixing's neck. He instantly stepped back and cried out, "Quan Che, don't be so greedy. Why do you need to snatch what we have when you can get yours!? You scheming bastard!"

Quan Che seemed furious upon hearing his words and pounced over, raising a fist to punch him in the face. "Say that again!"

He slammed his fists into Liang Feixing's face causing him to crash onto the floor and Zhang Wei moved instantly to protect him but Quan Che was obviously stronger than both of them. He kicked him sharply in the stomach, causing Zhang Wei to fall to his knees and he held his stomach in pain.

Quan Che could not be bothered with him and moved back to Liang Feixing who had just regained himself and was about to sit up.

One of his friends wanted to approach but he raised a finger in warning. "No, don't come. Let me deal with this little shit myself."

He pounced on Liang Feixing and tried to snatch the satchel from him but Liang Feixing held it tightly to his chest, causing him to be defenseless against the other party. Quan Che landed one more punch on his face causing him to let go of the satchel instinctively.

And upon getting the chance, Quan Che instantly reached out to snatch it. But just then, Zhang Wei who had just regained himself, moved forward and grabbed his wrist.

Quan Che looked surprised that he would attack and before he could react, his arm was twisted backwards. Zhang Wei pulled him to the back, but Quan Che managed to land a punch to his side, causing Zhang Wei to stumble. Liang Feixing, seeing his struggle, rushed to help, distracting Quan Che with a well-placed kick to his shin.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Zhang Wei kicked Quan Che in the knee, forcing him to stumble. He immediately slammed him into the ground, causing dust to fly in the air.

He instantly tried to get up and fight back but Zhang Wei pulled his arm up and pressed down on his acupoints forcing him down as he looked at his friends who had rushed over to help him.

He gave them a cold stare. "Stop right there."