Chapter 13
Hunting was her specialty.
In the apocalypse, those bizarre high-level mutated beasts and birds had caused countless deaths every time they appeared.
By the later stages of the apocalypse, after Ling Cheng’en had led her subordinates in wiping out the zombies, her attention shifted toward those elusive mutant beasts. In the end, relying on her elite personal guard, she hunted down every terrifying creature that others feared to face.
Surely the prey in this beast world couldn’t be more dangerous than those chaotic mutant monsters?
“Xiao Xi, what are you eating? Let me try some.”
Wu Zhuo leaned closer to look at the golden-yellow mashed potatoes in Ling Xiao Xi’s bowl and reached out to touch it, only to get smacked by Xiao Xi’s spoon.
“Don’t stick your hands into my bowl. This is mine.” Ling Xiao Xi guarded his food fiercely and glared at Wu Zhuo. “My sister made this. If you want some, beg her.”
“En-jie—”
Wu Zhuo stared at Ling Cheng’en with pitiful eyes.
Ling Cheng’en closed her eyes briefly. Fine. He was still just a fifteen-year-old boy.
“Come to my house. There’s still a little left. Eat first, then we’ll head out.”
Wu Zhuo instantly beamed with joy. Scooping up Ling Xiao Xi—who was noisily stuffing his face—he hurried forward so quickly that Xiao Xi bounced around while pounding his head with tiny fists.
The journey to Snake Mountain Tribe was rather far, so Wu Zhuo simply transformed into his giant eagle form and carried Ling Cheng’en there directly.
It was Ling Cheng’en’s first time riding an unprotected flying mount like this. After rising into the sky, she was initially curious, but very quickly became completely obedient.
Because Wu Zhuo flew extremely fast—far faster than her full-speed sprinting on land.
Even though Wu Zhuo wasn’t yet an adult, carrying her for an hour of flight didn’t seem to tire him at all.
Snake Mountain lay south of Stone Forest Tribe, though slightly to the southeast rather than directly south.
Flying there only took about an hour.
Ling Cheng’en patted Wu Zhuo’s back and asked, “Do you come here often?”
Using the wind to glide forward with his broad wings, Wu Zhuo answered cheerfully, “Of course! In the entire Beast Plains territory, nowhere has more snakes than around Snake Mountain.”
“I’m a Golden-Crowned Giant Eagle beastman. My favorite prey is snakes. You don’t understand—snake meat is delicious, especially tender!”
Wu Zhuo knew Ling Cheng’en didn’t really like snake meat. In the past, he often came out here to hunt snakes for snacks and would bring some back for her.
But his En-jie always took very little. Sometimes she simply said she didn’t like it and told him to eat it himself.
On the other hand, Ling Xiao Xi—that little brat—was terrified of snakes, yet never missed a meal when snake meat was served.
Ling Cheng’en wasn’t afraid of snakes. She simply disliked them.
“When you come here to hunt snakes, doesn’t Snake Mountain Tribe cause trouble for you?”
Wu Zhuo looked toward the towering black mountain in the distance and laughed.
“Of course I wouldn’t hunt inside Snake Mountain Tribe territory. They have their own rules. Everything within one kilometer of Snake Mountain belongs to them, and outsiders aren’t allowed to hunt there.”
“But beyond that one-kilometer boundary, they don’t care if beastmen hunt snakes.”
“And actually, the snake beastmen eat snakes too.”
Ling Cheng’en was surprised.
“So snake beastmen don’t avoid eating creatures of their own kind?”
Wu Zhuo shook his head.
“Snake Mountain Tribe is different. Their beastmen mainly transform into Devouring Giant Snakes. Devouring Giant Snakes are extremely vicious—they eat any kind of flesh.”
“I heard from the old beastmen in our tribe that during the years of great drought on the wastelands, they even hunted wandering beastmen before…”
“But Devouring Giant Snakes fear us Golden-Crowned Giant Eagle beastmen the most, so Snake Mountain drove away all large flying beastmen nearby to protect their people.”
“Wouldn’t the flying beastmen go to war with them over that?”
Wu Zhuo quickly shook his head.
“No. Our Golden-Crowned Giant Eagle clan is special. We never live in large groups. Most of us survive in small family units, usually on cliffs and remote mountains.”
“So once the giant snakes unite and attack, even fierce Golden-Crowned Giant Eagles can’t hold them off. Adults might avoid the attacks and ambushes, but many weak younglings would die during those sneak attacks.”
“Besides, flying beastmen are fast anyway. Living farther away is actually safer. We mostly just come here occasionally to hunt, and even if they want revenge, they can’t find where we live.”
“Then you…”
Ling Cheng’en knew she was asking too many questions and risked sounding suspicious, but she still felt gathering information was more important than maintaining a perfect disguise.
Wu Zhuo was such a chatterbox that after she merely said two words, he spilled everything like pouring beans from a jar.
“I’m different. I was picked up by the tribe’s old beastmen when I was still a cub. Every elder in the tribe shared meat with me every day. I haven’t repaid them yet, so how could I leave?”
Ling Cheng’en patted the fully matured feathers on his back and praised him.
“I didn’t expect you to be such a grateful beastman!”
Wu Zhuo became dizzy with happiness from the compliment. Proudly, he carried her in a circle through the sky before heading straight toward Snake Mountain Tribe’s forbidden zone.
Ling Cheng’en grabbed onto his feathers tightly, nearly thrown off, and smacked him on the head.
“Fly properly! If I fall to my death, you’re done for!”
Wu Zhuo immediately behaved himself and kept his body steady.
But just as they were about to land, a massive blue-gray snake suddenly lunged upward from below, opening its jaws to bite them.
Ling Cheng’en was just about to counterattack when Wu Zhuo instinctively dodged sideways, slipping past the snake’s fangs.
But because Ling Cheng’en hadn’t held on properly, she was thrown straight off his back.
Feeling annoyed, she flipped through the air and landed directly atop the giant snake’s back. Clenching her fist, she smashed a punch into its enormous head.
With just that single punch, the giant snake—whose body had been raised nearly ten meters high—slammed headfirst into the ground with a tremendous crash, causing a small earthquake across Snake Mountain.
Two nearby snake pits collapsed instantly. Countless snakes buried beneath dirt and shattered stone scrambled out in panic, fleeing in every direction.
Seeing the giant snake sprawled on the ground with its tongue hanging out, unmoving for a long while, Ling Cheng’en finally jumped down from its head.
She casually leaped onto a nearby boulder and looked at the countless little snakes fleeing from the aura she emitted.
Wu Zhuo descended from the sky and landed beside her. After transforming back into human form, he scratched his head guiltily.
“En-jie, I really didn’t mean to throw you off just now…”
“It’s fine.”
Ling Cheng’en didn’t mind that his instinctive dodge had accidentally sent her falling.
If it had been her, she probably wouldn’t have done much better.
These Snake Mountain people were seriously outrageous. They attacked the moment guests arrived without even asking questions first.
“So this is a Devouring Giant Snake?”
Ling Cheng’en looked at the snake, nearly twenty meters long, and for the first time felt her transmigration had been pointless.
How was this any different from the mutated giant snakes of the apocalypse?
“Yep, this is a Devouring Giant Snake. Adult ones usually have blue-gray scales. But Snake Mountain’s young clan leader is different. He’s already eighteen—an adult—but his scales are purple. A very rare and extremely beautiful shade of purple.”
After speaking, Wu Zhuo slapped his mouth lightly.
“Look at my memory. I almost forgot you’ve already seen Chang Yinbo’s beast form before. Back then you even praised how pretty his color was.”
Ling Cheng’en: “…”
What could she even say?
She didn’t even know whether Snake Mountain Tribe’s young clan leader was tall, short, fat, or thin.
Well, now she knew a little more.
The young clan leader of Snake Mountain was named Chang Yinbo.
His beast form was a purple Devouring Giant Snake.
Just as she was organizing all the information in her head, an angry roar echoed from the mountain.
“What ignorant junior dares to cause trouble on my Snake Mountain?!”
