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Chapter 7: The Serpent's Eye
The snakes were gathering right before their eyes.
Li Xingyuan watched the writhing mass with a growing sense of foreboding.
He was a man of eclectic knowledge—a trait common among writers who dabbled in various fields to craft their stories. Though not an expert in any one area, he recalled reading about similar behaviors in snakes.
Due to the imbalance between male and female populations, snake species often had far more males than females. To compete for mating rights, males would swarm around females, forming dense clusters. These clusters, known as "mating balls," could grow to enormous sizes after hibernation ended, with thousands of snakes vying for dominance. What they were witnessing now bore an uncanny resemblance to such a phenomenon.
The serpentine march halted as the snakes began piling up in front of the vehicle. Tails coiled around heads, heads bit into tails, and countless bodies intertwined, forming an elliptical mound over half a meter tall. The outer snakes fought desperately to burrow inward, seeking access to the females at the core. These snakes varied in size, color, and species—creatures that should never have cooperated under normal circumstances. But this was no longer a world governed by logic.
“Old Liu,” Li Xingyuan said, tapping his companion’s shoulder. A piercing alarm bell of dread rang through his mind. “Get ready to start the car.”
Old Liu nodded; he too sensed the danger.
The mating ball grew larger and taller, a frenzied orgy of blood and scales. Bodies crushed together, flesh tearing and scales scattering as the spectacle became increasingly chaotic and violent. More snakes poured in from all directions, heedless of injury or death.
“What are they doing?” Lin Song stammered, his face pale with shock.
Old Liu started the engine. It roared to life, low and guttural, the tires grinding the snakes beneath them into pulp. Blood and gore smeared the treads, acting as a grotesque lubricant.
It seemed the serpent mass detected their intent to flee. Suddenly, the writhing stopped, and a gap opened at the center of the massive ball.
From within emerged an eye—a colossal vertical pupil nearly half a meter long, glistening with bits of flesh and bone from other snakes still clinging to it. It peered out like a newborn gazing at the world through its mother’s womb.
The golden-yellow slit locked onto the three passengers inside the car. There was no mistaking the intelligence behind that gaze—it was calculating, assessing, deliberating.
Even setting aside the unsettling rationality in its stare, the sheer size of the eye defied comprehension. If the creature to which it belonged existed, what monstrous proportions must its body reach?
But that was impossible. Nature could never produce such a colossal serpent—not in this era. Perhaps only the Titanoboa of ancient times might possess such an eye, but those creatures belonged to a distant past long extinguished.
There had been no sign of such a behemoth among the snakes earlier. Had there been, Li Xingyuan and his companions would have fled immediately.
“Is… is that a hallucination?” Lin Song asked, trembling.
“Probably not,” Li Xingyuan replied coolly, his composure steadier than ever. “Old Liu, avoid it if you can. If not, plow straight through.”
Old Liu grunted in acknowledgment, slamming the accelerator. The military vehicle surged forward like a steel beast unleashed, roaring toward the writhing mass.
No flesh could withstand the brute force of machinery. This immutable truth held firm even here, today. The car smashed into the ball of snakes, colliding with a wall of sinew and scale—or perhaps a storm of death itself. With a muffled thud, severed limbs battered the vehicle, splattering blood across every pane of glass. The ball collapsed instantly, broken bodies flying past the car and disappearing behind them in moments.
There was no giant snake hidden within the mass.
Perhaps it had all been an illusion—or a trick conjured by the interplay of scales and pale light. The massive eye vanished as though it had never existed.
The car careened down the mountain road, windshield smeared with blood. The wipers worked furiously but futilely to clear their vision. Without Old Liu’s iron grip on the wheel, they would have surely plunged off the winding cliffside.
“The brakes are out.”
Old Liu stated the situation matter-of-factly while pulling the handbrake.
The vehicle groaned and shuddered, the engine gasping violently. The once-reliable military jeep now behaved like a bloodthirsty predator gone feral, lurching unpredictably.
Lin Song sat frozen in his seat, lips quivering as he muttered incoherently.
Li Xingyuan, an atheist, found himself praying fervently to every deity he could name.
Yet Old Liu remained steady, his grip unyielding. Like a lion tamer controlling a rampaging circus beast, he wrestled the car back under control, coaxing it to slow and stabilize gradually.
With sweat pouring down his forehead and half his uniform soaked, Old Liu finally brought the vehicle to a stop on the road.
Only then did he exhale deeply.
“We’re safe,” Li Xingyuan said, scanning the surroundings. The snake horde had been left far behind, showing no signs of pursuit—for now.
“But the car won’t run anymore. We need to clean out the flesh clogging the tires,” Old Liu instructed. “Be careful when you get out. Though the road is clear, some snakes clinging to the car might still be alive.”
“The eye!” Lin Song exclaimed, still disoriented, his gaze darting wildly. “That eye! That giant snake… how could it happen? Why?”
“No one has answers,” Li Xingyuan sighed. “My advice? Don’t think about it.”
He patted Lin Song’s shoulder firmly. “Let’s get out, clean the car, and keep moving. We’ve got a long way to go today.”
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