At Fu Guoping’s command, the rest of his men sprang into action.

Three men ran out from the group. They had swapped their guns for long bamboo poles—procured from who knows where—with sharp knives tied to the tips. Then, fearless of death, they charged forward to provoke the great snake.

The "aggro" was successfully drawn. The great snake lunged and coiled violently. Before one of the pole-wielding men could even utter a sound, he and his bamboo pole were ruthlessly crushed beneath the serpent’s body.

One of the two men running at the front stopped short, letting out a heart-wrenching scream: "Er Linzi!"

At that moment, the others, who had long been ready, forcefully threw one heavy black net after another at the great snake.

Two nets missed, but the remaining three successfully covered the great snake’s head.

The great snake thrashed its body, causing the nets to entangle it ever tighter.

BANG!

The great snake’s head jerked to the side, and a spray of blood burst from its eye.

Nearby, Fu Guoping lowered his gun and gave a harsh command: "Kerosene! Realgar!"

"Second Master, we’re out of realgar!" someone shouted.

"Then just set it on fire!"

Dozens of torches were thrown at the great snake from all directions. It dodged most of them, but as soon as one or two found their mark, the great nets soaked in tung oil immediately caught fire.

More kerosene was splashed on, and the Black-Scaled Python soon became a fiercely burning "fire snake."

The great snake rampaged madly, forcing the encirclement to widen. The gunfire, however, only grew more intense.

The fiercest man in the group, a bald brute, even shouldered a heavy machine gun by himself, got close, and unleashed a barrage on the great snake.

After being riddled with bullets for a while, there was a sudden KAKAKA sound. Accompanied by a strange cracking of bones, its entire body seemed to shrink rapidly, becoming as soft as a noodle.

The burning nets that had been wrapped around it loosened and fell away. After shrinking and softening, the great snake turned and began to crawl toward a dark area nearby.

The dense gunfire abruptly ceased. Everyone was stunned by the scene before them, which defied all logic.

Until Fu Guoping roared, "Don’t let it escape!"

Before the men could open fire again, a figure, as if long prepared, shot out from the side, landing directly in the great snake’s path of escape.

The great snake lowered its head, seemingly intending to swallow the person whole. But just as it drew near, there was a deafening BOOM!

God knows how many sticks of dynamite and grenades the man had strapped to himself. The scorching wave of fire from the explosion sent the entire snake flying.

"Da Linzi!..."

A sorrowful murmur rose from the crowd.

Fu Guoping’s face was expressionless. Leading by example, he raised his gun and quickly advanced toward the spot where the snake had been blasted away.

Just then, someone lunged out from the side and blocked his path.

"Master! Master!"

With his hands tied behind his back, Huang Youde latched onto Fu Guoping’s thigh with his teeth, pleading desperately, "That’s my Huang Family’s guardian spirit! I’m begging you, please don’t hurt it..."

CRACK!

Fu Guoping smashed the butt of his rifle directly into Huang Youde’s mouth, shattering half his teeth. He then stomped a foot heavily on the man’s face, his previously suppressed emotions erupting all at once.

"Fuck you! Protecting your family means plaguing a thousand others, is that it?!

Do you have any fucking idea how many of my brothers have died?!"

After speaking, Fu Guoping spat viciously. With bloodshot eyes, he shouldered his gun and walked on.

...

The gunfire continued for a full quarter of an hour, interspersed with the occasional roar of explosives.

Fu Juemin stood in the distance. He hadn’t fired a single shot from start to finish, yet he was drenched in a hot sweat, his heart utterly and completely shaken.

The Civil Affairs Bureau had nearly exhausted its supply of bullets and gunpowder. The Black-Scaled Python, riddled with who knows how many bullets, finally slammed heavily onto the ground at some point and moved no more.

Only after a few brave men cautiously ran up to confirm the great snake’s death was the "man-snake war" finally declared over.

The glow of flames lit up the sky. The entire desolate village and its wild surroundings were now filled with the thick smell of smoke and burnt flesh.

Fu Guoping was already directing his men to tend to the wounded and clear the battlefield. Seeing that no one was paying attention to the Black-Scaled Python’s corpse lying on the ground, Fu Juemin slowly walked toward it.

Only up close could one truly appreciate the monstrousness and terror of the great snake.

The charred, twenty-meter-long serpentine body lay motionless on the ground. Even though it was clearly dead, the sight still sent a slight chill through Fu Juemin’s heart.

He finally understood why Qian Fei had so gravely warned him against the idea that ’practicing martial arts could let him fight Demon Fiends.’ A monstrous existence like this was truly not something a mortal body could ever hope to oppose.

’Unless...’

’Unless I reach the Heart Intent Realm that Uncle Tong mentioned, or even the Grandmaster Realm...’

As Fu Juemin thought, he saw the black scales on the great snake’s body glinting with a mysterious, cold light in the firelight. He was suddenly overcome with the urge to reach out and touch them.

But just as he extended his hand, before his palm could even touch the scales, in the next second...

A massive black snake with its bloody maw wide open suddenly shot out before Fu Juemin’s eyes, lunging straight for his face.

WHOOSH—

Startled, Fu Juemin stumbled back several steps. His first thought was that the great snake wasn’t completely dead, and he was finished.

But in the blink of an eye, the vision vanished without a trace. The Black-Scaled Python was still lying motionless on the ground.

’Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Or is the stress so great that I’m starting to hallucinate?’

Fu Juemin blinked, and just as he was wondering about it, a faint red virtual panel automatically appeared in his field of vision.

When he saw the changes that had appeared on the panel, he froze, stunned speechless for what felt like an eternity.

...

「At the hazy light of dawn.」

A group of several dozen men from the Civil Affairs Bureau walked along a country path, holding torches.

At the rear of the procession followed a horse-drawn cart made of a simple wooden frame. The cart was half-dragging, half-carrying a snake corpse over twenty meters long, plowing a deep furrow in the path.

Fu Juemin walked in the middle of the group, shoulder to shoulder with Fu Guoping, and the two were talking.

"...Huang Youde and his family will be handed over to the County Government to answer for their actions.

As for the body of this Snake Demon, it’s for our Civil Affairs Bureau to handle..."

"Second Uncle, what’s the use of keeping this snake corpse?" Fu Juemin asked.

"To sell for money, of course."

Fu Guoping chuckled. "What do you think supports this large outfit of men under my command? Your father’s charity alone?"

Fu Guoping glanced back at the snake corpse. "This kind of weird Demon Fiend stuff is worth the most money.

The skin, the meat, the bones, the innards... it can all be sold.

Some people like to eat this stuff. They say it can prolong life and is of great benefit to martial artists."

Fu Juemin’s expression flickered when he heard this. "Does it really have such a miraculous effect?"

"Perhaps."

Fu Guoping shook his head. "I’ve never tried it.

These beasts... most of them have eaten people."

Upon hearing that, the flicker of interest in Fu Juemin’s heart was instantly extinguished.

The thought of cutting open the snake’s corpse and finding half-digested human remains inside... even if it was the most nourishing thing in the world, he wouldn’t be able to take a bite.

"...Besides, Westerners are also very interested in this stuff."

Fu Guoping continued, "Ship it to Shenghai, and a whole crowd of people will be scrambling to buy it."

"What do Westerners want with it?"