Chapter Fifteen: Capturing Snakes

  Since the fish couldn't be found, it wouldn't be good to return empty-handed, so Long Chen started thinking of other ideas. In the eyes of ordinary people, the barren mountain ridge was desolate, but in Long Chen's eyes, it was full of treasures everywhere.

  As he walked down the mountain along the stream, Long Chen noticed that there were some snake skins in the withered grass by the creek. It was very likely that there was a snake den nearby. Among soldiers who had undergone real wilderness survival training, how many hadn't eaten snake meat? Sometimes when conditions didn't permit, they could only eat it raw, which was also quite "fresh and delicious". Of course, if conditions allowed, using bullets to start a fire and roasting the snake meat made it even more delicious.

  Xu Cheng followed Long Chen up the mountain for a while, and suddenly saw Long Chen's entire body lean forward. He then supported his body with his fingers and toes just as he was about to hit the ground, steadying himself. Afterwards, he slid around like a spider, seemingly searching for something.

  This made Xu Chengke feel awkward, the other party was after all the captain, a superior, and at this moment the superior had "fallen" down. Standing like this made him feel so uncomfortable. He gritted his teeth and slowly bent down to imitate Long Chen's posture, but how could his finger strength and body coordination compare to Long Chen's? His whole person was prostrated, yet he couldn't move using the strength of his fingertips and toes.

  Long Chen is searching for a "snake den" around the shed skin, but snakes don't dig holes. They usually occupy mouse burrows or find natural caves as their nests. It's already winter, and snakes have been hibernating for a long time. The snake den has not had any snakes entering or exiting for a long time, so it slowly gets hidden by the surrounding weeds and other plants. It's very difficult to find now. Long Chen is lying on the ground like this, he can extend his sense of touch on the ground, and even imagine himself as a snake to search for its nest.

  This is called "sweeping" a hole, and each type of person has their own way of sweeping.

  After sweeping around on the ground, I finally found a relatively secret cave. The cave was in the midst of thick weeds and even had a layer of spider webs at its entrance. It wasn't easy to discover it.

  Found the entrance, what's next is to check if it's really a snake cave. Long Chen concentrated his energy in his dantian, transmitted it to his ten fingers, and then he bounced back up with the power of his fingertips, standing upright again.

  "What are you doing?" Looking at Xu Cheng who was still lying on the ground just like himself, Long Chen couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  Xu Chengke didn't have Long Chen's strong finger strength, so he had to land on one leg first and then stand up, not even bothering to brush off the dust on his body. He smiled and said: "Looks like you're looking for something, let me help you find it."

  "Alright, now I've found it, lend me your knife for a bit."

  Xu Chengheng handed his knife to Long Chen, who plucked the blade and produced a deep, resonant sound. The weight of the knife was substantial, a testament to its superior quality as a military-issue weapon. In contrast, the knives he had distributed earlier would produce a brittle ringing sound when plucked. Although the reliance on weapons during the Cold Arms Era was not as high as in later eras, equipment remained a crucial factor in determining the outcome of a war.

  Gently brushing aside the weeds beside the cave, Long Chen used his knife to loosen the mud around the entrance and then dug a few more strokes towards the entrance, excavating some of the tunnel.

  "Is this the snake cave?" Xu Cheng only now understood what Long Chen was looking for, and he was greatly surprised. He had seen Dragon General's exceptional martial arts skills before, but did he also have the skill of catching snakes?

  Long Chen nodded, running his hand over the wall of the cave. The feeling was relatively smooth, probably due to snakes frequently coming and going, rubbing against the walls. After digging a few more times, he didn't find any insects coming out, so Long Chen basically confirmed that this was a snake hole.

  "Lucky for us, there's probably a snake den down there. Go find me a withered branch." Long Chen leaned on his knife, half-crouching beside the cave entrance.

  Xu Cheng responded with a sound, ran out to find an adult arm-long withered branch and handed it over to Long Chen.

  Actually, probing a snake hole is best done with a willow branch that has good flexibility. If the entrance to the hole is curved, the willow branch can also be bent to probe inside. However, it's clear that we don't have such ideal conditions right now, so let's try using this dry branch instead. In survival training, soldiers usually use iron wire to probe snake holes, but we don't have that option now.

  He inserted the withered branch into the cave, and Long Chen secretly rejoiced. It seemed that this snake cave was relatively straightforward, without any twists or turns, as the withered branch went in smoothly.

  "Come over and use the branch to poke inside vigorously." Long Chen called out to Xu Cheng, then he himself pressed his ear to the ground to listen.

  Xu Cheng also squatted down, grasping the end of the branch and making an effort to poke inside. Long Chen listened intently, and finally, a "rustling" sound came from inside.

  Good fellow, this might be a big nest, it's quite loud.

  Long Chen signaled Xu Cheng to stop, pulled out the withered branch from the cave entrance, and began the most critical phase - excavation.

  Digging also has places to pay attention to, it should be dug from the lower mouth of the hole to the upper mouth, so as not to let the soil at the upper mouth fall down and cover the entrance, losing the target. As the digging deepens, the excavated soil should be cleared out of the pit in time with hands, keeping the cave bright and the pit clean at all times.

  Long Chen was busy with caution, and Xu Cheng could only watch. He didn't dare to lend a hand casually, in case the cave collapsed and all their efforts were wasted.

  Long Chen dug deeper and felt that the soil layer was getting softer and softer. He was even more certain that this must be a large nest.

  "Snake!" Xu Cheng exclaimed.

  Long Chen waved his hand, indicating not to panic. As he continued digging, four black-browed rat snakes, also known as "caihua snakes", appeared at the entrance of the hole. The snakes were now hibernating and had been disturbed by the dry branches earlier, causing them to move slightly. At this time, they basically had no attacking power. However, even if these snakes were in their prime, Long Chen would not be afraid. In his previous life, in the tropical rainforest, Long Chen loved to catch snakes with his comrades on trees as a way of supplementing their food. Snake meat was high in nutritional value and could provide a lot of energy.

  Gently lift out these four snake gourds and put them aside, Long Chen continues to dig, this is just the entrance, there are already four snakes, what about below?

  After a while, Long Chen finally dug out the cave and the situation inside could be clearly observed.

  Xu Cheng stretched his neck and looked inside, he couldn't help but take a breath of cool air. Geez, the layered snakes were all stacked together like mosquito coils, at first glance it was indeed frightening.

  Long Chen's face also showed a hint of solemnity. The snakes on top are often venomous, while the ones below are non-venomous. Although the snakes are still in hibernation at this time, even if you hold them in your hand and play jump rope, nothing will happen. However, it's always better to be safe than sorry, especially when there is no antivenom available in school or in the military camp. Getting bitten by a venomous snake would be a big trouble.

  Long Chen's hands shot out simultaneously, his fingers swiftly grasping the seventh inch of the two uppermost abdominal snakes. He then quickly withdrew his hands, feeling the two snakes begin to stir restlessly, a sign that they were about to awaken. Of course, this process was extremely slow.

  "Cut off his head quickly."

  Xu Cheng busily followed the instructions, taking a knife to cut off the snake heads that Long Chen was holding onto. Long Chen then threw the two headless snakes on the ground and used a branch to push the severed snake heads far away. Even though these snake heads had been chopped off, they could still open their mouths and bite people. He wasn't worried about himself, but rather that Xu Cheng might accidentally get bitten by one of the severed snake heads.

  After dealing with the top two snakes, Long Chen carefully observed whether there were any more venomous snakes in the pile. The belly snake was venomous but relatively mild, so it usually lay on the surface of the snake heap.

  "Alright, no venomous snakes left, you dare to catch it?" Long Chen smiled and pointed at Xu Cheng.

  Xu Cheng swallowed his saliva, staring at the snake nest with some difficulty. Normally, people would be terrified when they first come into contact with a snake nest, but once they get used to it, it's fine. Long Chen also stopped teasing him and reached out to take out the snakes one by one from the nest. Summer is the most active period for snakes, with strong aggression, but at this time, the snakes were still in hibernation, just like babies taking a nap, unless you're extremely unlucky, winter snakes generally won't bite you.

  Long Chen took out about eighteen thicker snakes, adding to the four leeches taken from the entrance of the cave earlier, a total of twenty-two. Those small snakes were released by Long Chen deeper into the cave, they were not much bigger than earthworms and didn't have much meat, this kind of thing doesn't need to be done too thoroughly, it's also for long-term benefits.