When Qin Fengming regained consciousness, he found himself in a mountain ravine, looking up, the cliff top was a good twenty to thirty feet high.
Seeing this, Qin Fengming was secretly alarmed; he had fallen from such a height but had not been killed.
Struggling to get up from the withered branches and rotten leaves, Qin Fengming quietly moved his limbs and was inwardly delighted; although he had many scratches on his body, all the bones in his hands and feet were intact.
Despite this, Qin Fengming knew that he had multiple injuries on his body, and fresh blood was still seeping out. If he did not quickly find some hemostatic herbs, he would lose too much blood and be unable to move.
Fortunately, he often followed his father into the mountains to hunt, so he knew which herbs could stop bleeding and relieve pain.
With injuries, moving was very difficult. Just as Qin Fengming's strength was about to run out, he finally found a cluster of herbs that villagers commonly used to stop bleeding.
Sitting beside the herbs, Qin Fengming rested for about a quarter of an hour. Then he turned his body and, using almost all his strength, pulled out the herbs. He brushed off the dirt and put them into his mouth, chewing them thoroughly.
At this moment, Qin Fengming, due to exhaustion, could no longer feel the slightest bitterness of the herbs. He applied the chewed herbs and their juice to the bleeding wounds, then tore off several strips of his clothes to bind them. Only then did Qin Fengming feel some relief.
A moment later, a tingling sensation came from the wounds. Sensing this, Qin Fengming knew the herbs were taking effect, so he stopped moving, lay on the dead leaves, and closed his eyes.
Nearly an hour later, Qin Fengming opened his eyes. By this time, the pain in his various wounds had greatly diminished. He looked up at the sky and found that there was only a little over an hour left until nightfall.
The young Qin Fengming, at this moment, did not feel much fear.
Despite this, he also knew that spending the night in the mountains was extremely dangerous, and he had to find a safe place. As for how to get home, that was not something he would consider today.
He slowly searched for a suitable place to spend the night. Along the way, he found many berries. After a little over half an hour, he finally found a Mountain Cave about one meter above the bottom of a cliff face. With difficulty, he pulled over a dead branch. Qin Fengming used the dead branch to move some dead leaves and berries into the cave, then he also crawled inside.
After eating a few berries and resting briefly, the dark night arrived. Qin Fengming curled up among the dead leaves, listening to the insects chirping outside the cave and the distant roars of wild beasts, and at this moment, he couldn't help but feel a little scared.
One moment he thought about how his father and grandfather would later fight the wild boar, and the next he thought about his mother and grandmother at home, wondering if they knew he had fallen off the cliff. Thinking and thinking, he unknowingly fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up again, it was already bright. After a night's rest, whether it was a child's strong recovery ability or the good efficacy of the herbs, the pain in Qin Fengming's wounds was no longer severe.
After eating some berries and drinking some clear spring water, Qin Fengming felt his body regain its strength.
At this time, Qin Fengming still carried his sharp little knife, which was more than a foot long. Even after falling from the cliff yesterday, this small knife had not been lost.
Qin Fengming cut off a branch as thick as a baby's arm with his small knife, sharpened one end, and used it as a weapon. He looked at the sun in the sky, determined his direction, and slowly walked forward. He had to find a low-lying area to climb up the ravine's cliff.
As he was walking, Qin Fengming suddenly felt his feet give way, his body became empty, and he fell downwards. He fell a good ten feet before hitting hard ground, but his body did not stop; instead, he rolled down an inclined Dao.
After Qin Fengming randomly clawed with his hands and feet, his body finally stopped. He only felt a cold wind blowing in his face, and everything before him was pitch black.
After a long while, Qin Fengming slowly adapted to the darkness and saw a pitch-black Mountain Cave before him. This Mountain Cave was illuminated by many faint lights from all around. With the faint light, Qin Fengming concentrated and carefully examined the Mountain Cave.
Vaguely, he saw that the Mountain Cave was twenty to thirty feet long and wide, and three to four feet high. On one side of the Mountain Cave, a small stream flowed, making a gurgling sound. Some large stones were scattered on the ground. On the surrounding stone walls or the top of the Mountain Cave, there were also some holes leading upwards.
The light shone in from these holes.
Suppressing his fear, Qin Fengming leaned on his stick and slowly stood up. After a brief stretch, he began to search his surroundings. To get out of this place, he had to find a way out.
As he was searching, he suddenly discovered two glowing objects, shimmering with a faint blue light, about three or four feet away from him. Upon seeing them, he was immediately startled; based on experience, this was undoubtedly some wild beast watching him. Holding the knife in his left hand and the stick in his right, Qin Fengming prepared himself.
After a long time, the glowing objects did not move. After some thought, Qin Fengming gently put down the stick, bent down, picked up a small stone at his feet, and threw it forward with force, while immediately picking up the stick again and getting ready.
With a bang, a "hissing" sound immediately came from the opposite side. Qin Fengming knew this sound very well; it was undoubtedly a snake.
The snake, being attacked, immediately raised its head and slowly slithered towards Qin Fengming. When they were about ten feet apart, Qin Fengming finally saw clearly that it was actually a python, as thick as a bowl and one or two zhang long. Its forked tongue flickered with hissing sounds, and its two eyes gleamed with a faint blue light.
Sensing its prey right in front of it, the python quickened its pace and rushed towards Qin Fengming very swiftly.
Upon seeing this, although Qin Fengming was afraid, he had no choice but to gather his strength and forcefully thrust the sharpened stick in his hand towards the python's head. With a bang, the wooden stick was bounced back by the python's tough skin.
The python's head, being attacked, immediately became enraged. It swung its tail and fiercely coiled towards Qin Fengming.
Qin Fengming had anticipated this and, with a jump, dodged behind a large rock nearby. He narrowly avoided the python's strike.
In this way, Qin Fengming began to dodge the python's attacks by circling the large rock. Faced with this enormous python, Qin Fengming had no way to deal with it.
Just at this critical moment, Qin Fengming suddenly discovered that not far from him, there were two large rocks arranged side by side with a gap in between. His mind raced, and he thought of a plan.
After dodging the python's attacks several more times, Qin Fengming suddenly rushed towards the space between the two rocks. The python naturally pursued relentlessly, changing direction and suddenly lunging fiercely behind Qin Fengming.
Seeing this, Qin Fengming mustered all his strength and suddenly dodged to the side.
The huge python, however, was too slow to react. In a flash, its entire front section, five or six feet long, plunged completely into the crevice between the two enormous rocks. Its head even emerged from the other side.
Upon seeing this, Qin Fengming, disregarding his fatigue, quickly ran to the python with the stick in hand and forcefully poked its head.
The python, in pain, struggled continuously. The wooden stick broke into two pieces after only a few pokes. Disregarding the need to find other weapons, Qin Fengming gripped the knife with both hands and continued to desperately strike the python's head.
The python, enduring such heavy blows, struggled even more violently. The two large rocks, under the python's immense strength, finally loosened. With the python's final desperate effort, it finally broke free from its restraints, opened its blood-soaked mouth, and suddenly lunged to swallow Qin Fengming, who was fiercely striking it.
Due to the suddenness and the extreme proximity of the two sides, Qin Fengming could no longer dodge. Upon seeing this, he was instantly scared out of his wits.
By instinct, Qin Fengming gripped the knife with both hands, used all his strength, and suddenly thrust it into the python's mouth…