'If I were to enter the Mysterious Small Island while seriously injured and on the verge of death... without any highly skilled doctors or legendary resurrection medicines... entering the Mysterious Small Island would only serve to postpone my death for a short while.'
Lin Li had actually considered what would happen if he entered the Mysterious Small Island on the verge of death and ended up succumbing to his injuries.
'If that happened, I'd probably just return to the real world after I died. And then... I'd become a delicious feast for some Mutant Beast in the wilderness.'
The thought of becoming a feast for a Mutant Beast drawn by the scent of his blood made Lin Li shudder.
"Damn... I can't let that happen. I have to be on my guard and pay close attention to my surroundings."
Clutching his Spiritual Longsword, Lin Li cautiously followed the path he had taken through the wilderness before, searching for any Mutant Beasts hiding in the tall grass.
Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, twenty minutes...
"What's going on? I've been searching for so long. How have I not found a single Rabbit Mutant Beast?"
Lin Li had been searching the area for over twenty minutes, but to his bewilderment, he hadn't found a single Rabbit Mutant Beast.
The truth was, Lin Li had previously torn through this area, killing several Rabbit Mutant Beasts. To top it off, he had also taken down the strongest creature around, the Wild Boar Beast. This had thoroughly terrified all the Rabbit Mutant Beasts living there.
As a result, some of the more timid Rabbit Mutant Beasts had fled during the day. By nightfall, even those that had been hiding had fled under the cover of darkness, seeking a safer place to make a new home.
At this point, Lin Li could have turned the entire area upside down and he still wouldn't have found a single Rabbit Mutant Beast.
Half an hour. Lin Li had spent a full thirty minutes searching the area where Rabbit Mutant Beasts were once so common, yet he had come up with nothing.
'I was hoping to hunt five Rabbit Mutant Beasts this afternoon before sunset! And now look... half an hour has passed, and I haven't found so much as a single rabbit hair.'
Just as Lin Li's morale was beginning to flag, a faint rustle suddenly came from the tall grass in the distance. Although the noise was soft, Lin Li, who remained on high alert, still caught the unusual sound.
RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE...
A sudden gust of wind swept through, causing the surrounding plants and trees to rustle loudly.
The interference made it impossible for Lin Li to pinpoint the source of the faint, unusual noise he had heard just moments before.
'Damn it, what rotten luck. This wind couldn't have come at a worse time.'
Unable to pinpoint the source of the sound and wanting to ensure his own safety, Lin Li acted decisively. He immediately backed away from the dense vegetation and moved toward more open ground.
The unknown enemy hiding in the shadows seemed to grow impatient when it saw Lin Li moving toward open ground.
It had been starving for days. How could it stand by and watch its prey slip away? Yes, the hidden enemy had mistaken Lin Li's repositioning for an attempt to flee.
The sudden gust of wind died down, and the cacophony from the surrounding flora ceased. But from the dense grass not far from Lin Li, the rustling grew louder and louder.
RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE...
A figure was moving rapidly through the thicket. The sound of its body crashing through the undergrowth was so distinct that anyone who wasn't deaf could tell something large was moving quickly through the grass.
Lin Li, still moving toward open ground, heard the loud crashing sound behind him. He immediately spun around, backing away slowly while keeping his eyes fixed on the spot where the noise was coming from.
RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE...
A terrifying figure crawled out of the dense grass.
Its long body, roughly eight meters in length, was covered in diamond-shaped black scales that looked incredibly slick.
Despite having no legs, the creature was incredibly fast.
Once it caught its prey, it showed no mercy. It would sink its fangs into the victim's neck and then wrap its body around them, constricting them.
After killing its prey, it wouldn't chew its meal. Instead, it would slowly swallow the victim whole.
Most astonishing of all, it was capable of swallowing prey several times its own size.
"HOLY SHIT?!"
When Lin Li saw the creature emerge from the dense grass, his scalp went numb and he couldn't help but let out a curse.
A snake. A huge snake.
At a glance, the Black Snake Beast was about eight meters long and thirty to forty centimeters in diameter. It could easily swallow Lin Li whole.
For most people, the cold-blooded snake ranked right up there with cockroaches and rats as one of the top three creatures that could make one's skin crawl on sight.
Seeing that its prey was no longer running, the Black Snake Beast halted its pursuit.
It slowly slithered to a stop five meters from Lin Li, coiling its body and raising its massive head to face him, its scarlet, forked tongue flicking in and out.
In all his life, Lin Li had never been this close to such a colossal snake. The creature's ill intent was palpable, and his palms began to sweat with nervousness.
Lin Li had thought that after killing the Rabbit Mutant Beasts and that tough-looking Wild Boar Beast, he wouldn't be as nervous as he was during his first fight if he encountered another Mutant Beast.
But what was the reality? Reality had just served him a harsh lesson. A rookie was still a rookie; he simply hadn't seen enough Mutant Beasts. This attacking Black Snake Beast let Lin Li re-experience the intense nervousness of his very first encounter.
'How do you tell a venomous snake from a non-venomous one? I think I remember that snakes with triangular heads are venomous... This Black Snake Beast's head is round, so it should be non-venomous.'
Lin Li thought to himself, gripping his Spiritual Longsword tightly as he stared at the Black Snake Beast's head.
But he quickly dismissed his own conclusion.
'No, that's not right. I remember watching an educational video by a blogger who specializes in snakes. He said that judging a snake's venom by the shape of its head isn't one hundred percent accurate.
Besides, this huge black snake is a Mutant Beast! It's not a normal snake at all. It's been influenced by Spiritual Energy, so anything is possible. Who the hell knows if it's venomous or not?
Oh, good heavens!
I know I'm desperate to hunt Mutant Beasts so the little green fruits on the Magical Little Tree will ripen faster, but you didn't have to send me something this dangerous!'
...