Chapter 250: The Colossal Beast That Terrified Taotie
Taotie lived up to his name—his close-combat skills and reflexes were nothing short of monstrous.
Facing dozens of snakes attacking from all directions, he swung his machete in a wide arc, the blade whistling through the air like a deadly storm.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The sound of steel slicing flesh echoed through the tunnel.
Blood sprayed.
Snake segments rained to the ground, their severed halves still twitching, jaws snapping in futile attempts to sink fangs into Taotie before death took them.
With a cold laugh, Taotie raised his boot.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
One by one, he stomped the snakes’ heads into pulp, as casually as playing whack-a-mole.
“Come out, you coward!” Taotie roared, brandishing his machete. “Hiding in the dark like a damn rat!”
“Hssssss—!”
The response was immediate—a chorus of furious hisses, growing louder, more piercing.
Taotie’s grip tightened. His eyes burned crimson, locked onto the source of the sound.
There.
He cranked his headlamp to full brightness, but the tunnel’s oppressive darkness swallowed the light whole.
Then—
Scratch. Scrape. Slide.
The unmistakable sound of scales dragging across stone.
Something massive shifted in the shadows ahead.
Taotie’s breath hitched.
Even in the gloom, the silhouette was unmistakable—far larger than the serpent they’d blown up earlier. Far larger.
His bravado faltered.
Against something that size, his machete might as well be a toothpick. Even his pistol would barely scratch it.
For the first time, Taotie hesitated.
“HSSSSSS!”
The hiss crescendoed—a battle cry.
A bead of sweat rolled down Taotie’s temple.
Now or never.
With a snarl, he charged.
The darkness rippled.
A nightmare emerged—a serpent’s head the size of a car, armored in obsidian scales, jaws unhinging like a gateway to hell.
Taotie’s muscular frame looked laughably small against that maw.
He dove.
The snake struck where he’d stood, fangs gouging stone. Taotie rolled beneath its belly, machete thrust upward—
CLANG!
Sparks flew. The blade skidded harmlessly off scales.
Shit.
He barely scrambled away as the head whipped around, jaws snapping shut where his legs had been.
Desperate, Taotie leapt onto the serpent’s back, driving his machete into the narrow gap between scales.
SCHLICK!
The blade sank to the hilt.
Black blood geysered as the beast screamed—a sound that shook the tunnel.
Its body convulsed, throwing Taotie off. He hit the ground rolling, barely avoiding the crushing weight of its thrashing coils.
Nearby, a boulder offered meager cover. Taotie scrambled behind it, watching as the serpent writhed, trying to dislodge the machete buried in its flesh.
Every spasm only drove the blade deeper.
Taotie grinned.
Stupid beast.
He drew his pistol, took aim—
BANG!
The bullet punched through a scale, embedding in the skull beneath.
The snake reeled, dazed but unharmed.
Taotie’s smirk vanished.
Not good.
The colossal head swung toward him, eyes burning with primal rage.
He barely dove aside as the serpent slammed into the boulder, reducing it to rubble. Shards of stone pelted Taotie’s back as he sprinted blindly down the tunnel.
Behind him, the hiss of pursuit.
Then—salvation.
A fissure in the wall, just wide enough.
Taotie hurled himself inside.
BOOM!
The snake’s skull cratered the rock where he’d been. The impact shook the tunnel, dust raining down as Taotie curled into a ball, arms shielding his head.
But physics was merciless.
For all its strength, the serpent’s own momentum left it staggering, dazed by the collision.
