Hearing her cry, Yu Rong turned his head and, catching the moonlight filtering through the leaves, took a slight breath: “Don’t move. This snake is still young, its venom isn’t strong. Don’t be afraid, I’m coming.”
Gu Qingtong was too scared to do anything. Hearing his words, she hugged the tree trunk tightly and kept her mouth shut.
The snake seemed to sense someone climbing the tree trunk nearby and released Gu Qingtong, raising its head and flicking its tongue toward Yu Rong.
Seeing the snake was a foot away from Gu Qingtong, Yu Rong shouted “Close your eyes” and threw a cloud of powder.
Gu Qingtong closed her eyes and held her breath, hearing the snake make a strange sound before quickly slithering down the tree trunk and escaping.
Yu Rong hurriedly untied Gu Qingtong’s clothing and helped her jump down from the tree. Seeing Yu Shi and Yu Guang had also arrived nearby, he softly said: “There are snakes around, but we can’t fight them, only scatter medicinal powder. This isn’t a long-term solution. Go find if there’s an open grassland nearby and gather some firewood to light.”
“Okay.” Yu Guang and Yu Shi ran off, while Yu Rong helped Gu Qingtong sit under a camphor tree and began sucking out the poison.
Gu Qingtong’s arm had a small puncture from the venomous snake, feeling slightly numb. The blood, though not black, was dark red. Yu Rong seemed extremely skilled at handling snake venom, quickly sucking out the poisoned blood and finding some leaf-like plants nearby to chew and apply to the wound.
Watching her professional bandaging, and seeing Yu Shi and Yu Guang had not returned, Gu Qingtong pressed her chest and spoke to distract herself: “Rong’er, you’re truly impressive.”
Yu Rong continued working without stopping, only glancing up: “I could cut a ten-foot python when I was eight. Handling this two-foot green snake is child’s play.”
“Are there many pythons in your mountains?”
“Yes, but they’re raised to train us. Venomous snakes are nothing; the most dangerous are small but highly toxic scorpions and poisonous spiders. If we weren’t alone in these mountains, I would have cut that green snake to avenge you.”
