Chapter 9: The City's Spring Grass and Trees Are Deep

  A month later, the weather finally warmed up, and spring returned to the earth.

  The ice and snow are gradually melting, new buds are emerging from the branches, the northern swallows return to sing, and the spring rain is sprinkled on the ground.

  Wang Yang is six years old.

  At the age of six, he was far taller than his peers of similar age, looking like an eight or nine-year-old child, with a height reaching his father's shoulder, around 1.2 to 1.3 meters.

  His muscles were also full of explosive power, with smooth and full lines.

  In the eyes of adults, he has already qualified for survival, and they no longer stop him from entering the forest.

  After six years, especially the experience of venturing deep into the forest, he had a slight understanding of this world full of danger. It was time to fly out of the ivory tower and welcome the vast life.

  It's not about facing a vast life, but rather facing a cruel life.

  Spring forest is countless times more dangerous than winter forest.

  In winter, although food is scarce, many deadly animals are hibernating and will not come out to make trouble.

  But when spring arrives, all things revive, and grasses and trees grow rapidly. You can't see the land under your feet, and you don't know whether you'll step on a venomous snake or centipede with every move.

  It's even more likely that as you walk, a snake or spider will descend from the sky and give you a passionate kiss. All you need to do is find a big tree to lie down under and slowly reflect on your life.

  Especially snakes, Wang Yang was most afraid of snakes. This sticky and disgusting crawling creature would always appear in front of you from time to time.

  Although it is said that snakes are afraid of humans and generally do not attack people actively, this generalization and non-attack are worth discussing.

  Because you don't know if you'll encounter a venomous snake with a hot head, and you don't know if you've entered its territory.

  Especially in this world, beasts roam freely, and the number of animals is countless times that of modern times. Everywhere is a minefield.

  Wang Yang felt this way because he had already discovered three kinds of snakes after entering the forest this time.

  Now he is staring at a snake.

  Elsewhere on the outskirts of the forest, surrounded by towering trees, with dense grass and shrubs at his feet.

  A road about one meter wide is their usual route and also the safest path.

  In front of Wang Yang and his group, a colorful snake blocked the middle of the road, spitting out its tongue, with ruthless eyes flashing with merciless light.

  Its head is round and its colors are bright, it should be non-toxic, but Wang Yang really can't confirm, whether there's toxicity or not can only be known after being bitten.

  The snake is not afraid of people, it coils its body on the road with a hissing sound, looking like it's ready for battle.

  Everyone had to stop and didn't dare get too close.

  In this era, human-snake conflicts have been ongoing because snakes are widely distributed, highly toxic, and well-hidden, often causing fatal accidents.

  Whether people take it as food or not, it bites people.

  So people were both angry and afraid of it, which led to the later snake worship.

  The history of struggle between snakes and humans has been proven by countless fossils for hundreds of millions of years.

  Wang Yang pulled the adult standing in front of him, wanting to make way for the snake to pass through. Who knew that in this world where food was scarce, catching snakes was also an essential skill.

  And they know more about snakes than Wang Yang does.

  Only one adult took off the animal skin on his body, spread it out, and slowly approached the snake. The snake seemed to have a calm demeanor, as if Mount Tai had collapsed in front of it without changing its expression, and did not move.

  He held the skin and slowly swung it back and forth, getting closer and closer to the snake, while his other hand slowly approached the snake's head.

  The snake remained still.

  Just then, he stretched out his hand like lightning and accurately pinched the snake's head. The adults on the side immediately rushed up, cut off the snake's head, and threw it into a grass thicket on the side.

  Throughout the whole process, the snake did not counterattack, or more accurately, it didn't even react.

  Wang Yang couldn't help but feel a little strange, but soon came to his senses. Snakes are ectothermic animals, and their reaction ability decreases linearly when the temperature is below 18 degrees Celsius. At 5 degrees, they will not move at all, and if it gets any lower, they will enter a state of hibernation.

  Although it is now spring, the temperature is only around 10 degrees, and the snake's reaction is extremely slow. In general, it is difficult to quickly evade or attack.

  The adults put the snake's body into a bag and prepared to take it back home as food.

  Wang Yang looked at the snake head that was constantly opening its mouth in the grass, feeling a bit worried. What if he wasn't careful and got bitten by this half-dead snake head?

  But soon he didn't have this worry anymore.

  Because he saw that in a nearby thicket, one or two small animals emerged, and these two small animals were about the same as the fruit civet he caught that day.

  It is eighty centimeters long, with its tail accounting for thirty or so centimeters. It has a yellowish-brown coat and two small eyes that stare widely, black as coal.

  Almost immediately, Wang Yang recognized them as mongooses, archenemies of snakes, fearless of any venomous snake.

  They also specialize in eating poisonous snakes, the more toxic the better. They seem to have a deadly feud with snakes and will bite them to death as soon as they discover one, regardless of whether they are hungry or not.

  Generally, snakes see them and dare not provoke them, taking a detour instead.

  King Yang's eyes lit up, if he could raise some himself and bring them with him when going out, he wouldn't be afraid of snakes anymore.

  Unfortunately, they move faster than snakes and cannot be caught without tools.

  Moreover, he also found that there were some horned frogs by the roadside. They are ferocious frogs with small bodies but extremely large appetites. In their worldview, anything that moves is edible.

  They jumped and jumped, getting closer and closer to the snake's head, opening their big mouths and biting down hard. Once the snake's head was still, they swallowed it whole.

  Having come this far, Wang Yang's sense of security greatly increased; there were many snakes, and also many animals that ate snakes.

  He and the adults continued to move forward, picking fruits along the way, without encountering any particular danger, nor did they go hunting, after all, the large animals seen in the forest were more ferocious than one another.

  Even so, no tigers or wild boars were seen on the outskirts of this forest. It's likely that they also understand that there is a group of predators called humans in this territory.

  Occasionally there were some small animals running around, all of which had discovered people and been frightened away.

  Wang Yang also went to pick fruit, and climbing trees was quite easy for him.

  He took two running steps, stepped on the trunk a few times, then inserted the cone into the tree, and with great difficulty climbed up two meters. Suddenly, a blood-red core appeared in front of him.

  "Snake!" Wang Yang shouted in fright, his hands loosening immediately as he jumped down to the ground.

  He was still in a state of shock and looked over there, only to see that it wasn't a snake at all, but a lizard.

  It's been a day, and Wang Yang still has lingering fears. He can't figure out why there are so many animals in the forest, even though winter just passed not long ago. Where did they all come from? (Kneeling down to beg for collection and recommendation votes!)