Zhou Qinglan screamed, which scared Sheng Xiping to the point of trembling in his heart.
"Qinglan, what's wrong?" Sheng Xiping shouted while running in the direction Zhou Qinglan just walked.
"Snake, snake, what a big snake."
Over there, Zhou Qinglan's voice was trembling, and she was about to cry.
When Sheng Xiping walked around two big trees and saw the scene in front of him, he was also shocked.
Two meters away from Zhou Qinglan, there is a tree stump that is as tall as a person and thicker than a millstone.
There was a big snake coiled on the tree stump. The snake was about as thick as Sheng Xiping's wrist, and its curled body seemed to be a foot long.
The big snake's body is covered with patterns one by one. At this moment, the tail is still on the tree stump, and the head and half of the body are hanging in the air.
The snake opened its mouth wide, its bright red tail kept dancing, and it made a hissing sound.
The smuggler stopped more than half a meter away from Zhou Qinglan and was demonstrating towards Zhou Qinglan.
Seeing the big snake's scarlet mouth getting closer and closer to Zhou Qinglan, Zhou Qinglan was so frightened that her hands and feet became weak and she couldn't move.
Without caring about anything else, Sheng Xiping took out the short knife tied to his leg, and with a strong movement of his wrist, the short knife was thrown out instantly.
Not to mention, Sheng Xiping's swing was very accurate, and the short knife went straight to the big snake seven inches.
The short knife was extremely sharp and pierced the big snake's seven inches.
A stream of smelly blood spattered out, and the big snake instantly fell from the tree stump to the ground.
"Qinglan." Sheng Xiping had already arrived in front of Zhou Qinglan, pulled Zhou Qinglan into his arms and hugged him.
"Don't be afraid, the big snake is already dead.
If you touch the hair, you won't be scared. If you pull the ears, you will be scared for a while. You are not scared, you are not scared."
Local elders would say this to frightened children. Sheng Xiping was treating Zhou Qinglan as a child.
How can Zhou Qinglan still be in the mood to care about this at this time?
She was almost frightened to death. She lay trembling in Sheng Xiping's arms and cried loudly.
"When I turned around just now, I saw a snake that big. It opened its mouth and wanted to bite me. It scared me to death."
Where has an eighteen-year-old city girl ever seen such a big snake?
Having just experienced such a dangerous situation, it is human nature to feel panic and fear.
Sheng Xiping put one arm around Zhou Qinglan's shoulders and gently patted her back with the other.
"Well, well, I know, I know everything. I'm here, so you're not afraid anymore."
It was a miscalculation on his part. This incident never happened in his previous life, and Sheng Xiping never expected to encounter such a big snake.
With Sheng Xiping's gentle words of comfort and coaxing, Zhou Qinglan gradually calmed down.
After the shock subsided, Zhou Qinglan realized that she was in Sheng Xiping's arms.
Zhou Qinglan's face suddenly turned red, and she was helpless and wanted to push Sheng Xiping away.
Sheng Xiping also saw Zhou Qinglan's shy and embarrassed look, so he let go of the girl in his arms.
"Come here, stand here and don't move. I'll go over and take a look at the snake."
With that said, Sheng Xiping walked towards the dead snake on the ground.
"Ah? Why do you still want this thing? I'm scared to death."
Zhou Qinglan's voice was vibrating when she spoke, and she looked very frightened.
"This kind of snake is not poisonous, and the meat is very delicious. It will be delicious if you keep it for stew."
Sheng Xiping walked up to it and took a closer look. Only a little bit of skin and flesh was left connecting the snake's head and body, and it was already dead.
Sheng Xiping did not dare to be careless. He did not touch the snake, but walked over and picked up his short knife first.
Use a short knife to chop a stick, and then use the stick to move the snake's head.
Don't blame him for being too careful. After someone killed a snake, he thought the snake was dead and kicked the snake's head with his foot, only to be bitten.
Sheng Xiping poked the snake several times with a stick, but the snake was motionless. It looked like it was completely dead.
Sheng Xiping felt relieved and went over to cut open the snake's belly and take out the snake's gallbladder.
The snake is big, and the snake is also brave, it can almost catch up with an egg.
Sheng Xiping used the white cloth he used to wrap dry food to wrap the snake gall and put it away.
They were on the mountain, and they had already peeled off the snake's skin so they couldn't bring it back.
So Sheng Xiping peeled off some elm bark from the side, only the soft and firm layer inside.
Coil the big snake from tail to head, tie it with elm bark, tie it to a stick, and plan to carry it away.
This big snake is not light, weighing at least more than ten kilograms, and I don’t know how many years it has lived.
"Let's go, let's go find Chen Weiguo and the others."
I dug a bag of Gastrodia elata and trimmed such a big snake. I gained a lot from this trip to the mountains.
Sheng Xiping is not the kind of greedy person, so he plans to stop there today.
Of course, if Chen Weiguo and others didn't want to go out so early, then he could only accompany them for a while further inside.
Zhou Qinglan definitely worshiped Sheng Xiping like a hero now. She listened to whatever Sheng Xiping said without saying a word.
So Zhou Qinglan took the initiative to take the shoulder bag and carry it herself.
Sheng Xiping was carrying the big snake, and the two of them walked one behind the other towards Chen Weiguo.
After taking two steps, Sheng Xiping seemed to remember something and looked back at the terrain and surroundings.
"What's wrong? Is something wrong?"
When Zhou Qinglan saw Sheng Xiping take two steps and stop, he thought something had happened again, so he asked hurriedly.
Sheng Xiping shook his head, "It's okay, I was just wondering why this big snake appeared here?"
In those legends, wherever there is treasure, there will be some strange birds and beasts guarding it.
Such a big snake is very rare. Could it be that it is guarding something here?
If Sheng Xiping had come here by himself, he would definitely wander around carefully and look for any treasures.
But Zhou Qinglan was so frightened by the big snake that she looked like she wanted to get out of the woods right away.
Under such circumstances, how could Sheng Xiping stay and search carefully? Forget it, come back when there is a chance.
Sheng Xiping thought of this, turned around and continued walking forward.
Sheng Xiping shouted as he walked, and someone in the west responded, so the two of them walked towards the west. After a while, they met up with Chen Weiguo and Gao Haining.
"Oh my God, Xiping, what are you doing? A snake? Such a boss?"
Everyone was shocked when they saw what Sheng Xiping was carrying. Tang Fengying and another girl's faces suddenly turned pale.
"Well, I met a big snake on that tree stump and asked me to kill it."
Sheng Xiping nodded. He couldn't handle such a big thing, so there was no need for him to hide it.
"Oh, is that chicken you shot yesterday already stewed?
It's a pity, if this is combined with snake stew, it would be dragon and phoenix soup, which is very tonic."
When Wang Jianshe saw it, he was extremely envious and at the same time felt regretful.
Northeastern people eat less snakes, and the cooking method is not that complicated.
If possible, cut it into pieces, add seasonings and stew in a pot until cooked.
If you don't have such conditions in the mountains, you can just peel off the skin, rub it with salt, put it on the branches and roast it, it will be very fragrant when you eat it.
Anyway, for people of this age, it doesn’t matter what kind of meat it is, as long as it is edible, it is better than wild vegetables.
As for the dragon and phoenix soup mentioned by Wang Jianshe, it is much more particular. It uses chicken and snake to stew it. It is indeed delicious and nourishing.