As dusk approached, the desert was dyed orange by the setting sun. After resting, Yang Yu and his companions set out again, stepping on the sand surface which was still warm, searching for the underground maze in the desert.
Stepping into the area marked by Jiaosha, I felt that this place was no different from other areas, with the same changing sand dunes and endless yellow sand.
Qingshi carefully used a long wooden cane to poke the sand to scare away the snake.
Even his father couldn't sense the poisonous snake lurking under the sand, which meant that the snake was most likely a desert animal.
Since it is a desert animal, it will react to some extent when it senses the vibration, so everyone will be happy if we can catch the poisonous snake directly in this way.
Yang Yu and the others followed Qingshi carefully. From Jiao Sha's description, the poisonous snake moved very quickly, so they had to catch it before it rushed out and bit Qingshi to avoid more casualties.
Walking on the yellow sand, suddenly, Qingshi felt a slight vibration under his feet. This feeling was very similar to quicksand flowing under his feet, but it was completely different.
Before Qingshi could make a careful assessment, a long golden snake shot out from the sand like lightning.
When Yang Yu noticed the poisonous snake, he quickly put up his shield, used [Protect], and came to Qingshi's side. He slashed at the poisonous snake with his sword. The snake turned its body flexibly in the air, adjusted the direction of its attack, and actually bypassed Yang Yu's first attack.
If it were an ordinary person, he would have dodged it in time, but it was Yang Yu who was here. Even though the venomous snake was twisting strangely in the air, Yang Yu just threw out his shield neatly.
"[Intercept]"
An illusory shield unfolded in front of Yang Yu, and the poisonous snake hit the illusory shield.
As agreed in advance, Ias pulled out the arrow from the quiver, instantly aimed at the poisonous snake, and used the [Sure-Hit Arrow], while Bai Jin chanted magic and used her own magic power to perform the [Ice Cone Technique], trying to freeze the sand surface where the residual heat had not yet dissipated.
The venomous snake slammed into the shield, realized something was wrong, twisted its body, adjusted its direction on the illusory shield, and pointed its head towards the sand surface.
But before it could twist its body and dive into the sand, Iyas's arrow whizzed in. The arrow first disappeared in mid-air, then reappeared without warning and hit the venomous snake in the middle.
The poisonous snake did not stop twisting and continued to dive into the sand. Fortunately, Bai Jin used her own magic power to construct an extremely fast magic, and the [Ice Cone Spell] arrived in time, freezing the bleeding wound of the poisonous snake, the sand, and the arrow that shot through it together.
The poisonous snake swung its tail frantically, but it could not get into the sand. After struggling for a few times, it stopped moving.
Yang Yu opened the panel, but no information was displayed on it.
Only ordinary creatures will not display any information.
In other words, the thing that hurt Jiaosha was really just an ordinary poisonous snake.
After confirming that there was no danger, Yang Yu carefully approached the exposed snake tail and pulled it out of the sand.
The smooth scales, the warm blood, and the extremely slow wriggling sensation all prove that this venomous snake is still alive.
However, perhaps because it was seriously injured, or perhaps it was affected by Bai Jin's ice magic, the snake's movements became so slow.
Taking out the minerals and herbs from his bag, Qingshi could not wait to get close to the snake, his simple-minded eyebrows fluttering, but the next moment, Qingshi frowned, froze in place, and muttered to himself,
"How is it possible? How could it be this kind of snake?"
Noticing the strangeness on Qingshi's face, Yang Yu asked, "What's going on? Why are you so sad?"
Qingshi shook his head and said, "This snake is called the Desert Golden Python, and it is the most common snake near the Gobi Desert.
It is a non-venomous snake."
"Non-venomous snake?" Yang Yu shrugged as he swung the snake in his hand. "Then I've worked in vain, right?"
Looking at the snake in Yang Yu's hand, Qingshi frowned again, "If it is a normal desert golden python, it should live in an area very close to the edge of the desert, where it can prey on small birds and mice, and it should not appear in such a deep desert.
I have seen desert golden pythons before, and they do bury themselves in the sand to ambush weak prey, and their attacks are also extremely fast, but it is absolutely impossible for them to jump out of the sand and attack passers-by like this."
The hand that was shaking the snake stopped abruptly. Yang Yu carefully pinched the snake's head and looked at the snake from the front.
The snake's originally vertical pupils now looked gray and extremely turbid, as if it had cataracts.
"This snake's eyesight is not very good, is it possible?"
"Snakes don't rely solely on their eyesight to hunt."
Hearing Qingshi's assertion, Yang Yu suddenly remembered that he had seen in the animal world before that most snakes rely on the heat emitted by living things to hunt. They hunt by constantly spitting out their tongues to detect the heat around them.
Yang Yu was not sure whether snakes living in the desert, buried in the sand, used thermal imaging to hunt.
Perhaps, it simply relies on the vibrations on the sand surface to hunt.
Yang Yu subconsciously increased the strength of his hands to force the snake to open its mouth. Only then did the snake twist a little more violently. Yang Yu looked into the snake's mouth and frowned.
"What did Yang Yu discover?" Bai Jin and Iyas were a little puzzled, while Hake stood aside in fear.
Yang Yu simply pointed the snake's head towards the crowd.
This snake had no tongue at all, and its mouth seemed to have been gnawed by something, leaving a large nest.
Bai Jin and Yias felt a chill in their hearts. Bai Jin searched her memory for knowledge to try to explain, while Yias tried to calm down as much as possible.
She had passed many snakes when she went out hunting, but she had never seen anything like this.
After cutting the arrows off the snake's body, Yang Yu placed the snake on the sand. The snake jumped a few times and then stopped moving.
I don't know if I can still make snake soup now. Forget it. Eating wild game seems to be quite dangerous.
Dispelling the thought that suddenly came to his mind, Yang Yu looked at Qingshi, "Have you ever encountered such a situation?"
Qingshi shook his head vigorously. "I don't think a desert golden python like this can hunt, or even launch an attack like it did just now. It's like it's being controlled by something."
“We cannot rule out this possibility.”
In Yang Yu's mind, a creature that he had heard of before emerged - the fish louse.
It is a creature of the same order Isopoda as the internet-famous creature giant gnat and the woodlice that are raised at home. When they are young, they attach themselves to the gills of fish. When they grow up, they will eat the fish's tongue and replace it. Studies have shown that they emit a pheromone that controls the fish's diet and only allows the fish to eat specific food.
Could this snake in front of me be parasitized by a similar creature
That creature used some method to manipulate the golden desert python, making the non-venomous golden desert python poisonous and prone to attacking humans
At present, Yang Yu is still unknown.
(End of this chapter)