Although the Titanoboa was fast, it was still a notch slower than Qin Tian. In less than half a minute, the Titanoboa was left far behind.
But serpents have an extraordinary “sense of smell”—almost on par with the Wild Boar Herd. With its tongue flickering, it could track prey by scent left in the air, easily determining the direction of escape and even calculating the prey’s exact current location.
Precisely because of this, even when Qin Tian had vanished from the Titanoboa’s line of sight, the Titanoboa could still correctly chase in the direction where Qin Tian was.
A desperate chase ensued. Wherever Qin Tian and the Titanoboa passed, birds took flight in alarm and fierce beasts fled in panic. The once deathly silent Bamboo Forest was suddenly filled with chaos and noise.
It was worth mentioning that, while escaping, Qin Tian saw many traces left behind by the Titanoboa’s movements. In a flash, he understood—the reason the Wild Boar Herd had stampeded was precisely to flee from the Titanoboa’s hunt.
But Qin Tian still couldn’t quite figure out why there was such a long interval between the two boar stampedes. Then again, now wasn’t the time to ponder such matters. Clearing his mind of distractions, Qin Tian focused on ways to survive.
***
It had been one minute since he used his ability, which meant Qin Tian only had two minutes left to think.
Usually, two minutes wasn’t even enough to space out, let alone come up with a way out of a crisis in such a short time. It was almost impossible.
As for that so-called theory that, in moments of mortal danger, a person’s consciousness slows time and everything around seems to move in slow motion—that’s just nonsense from watching too many movies.
Two minutes, no matter the situation, was always that brief. To Qin Tian, it felt even shorter than usual. In the blink of an eye, only one minute remained.
Worse still, the intense, high-speed running had left Qin Tian gasping for air, his legs gradually going numb and losing all feeling.
“I can’t keep running. If I go on, before the Titanoboa catches up, I’ll collapse from exhaustion first!”
“Should I try a method from the Compendium of Beast Taming?”
“The Titanoboa’s body is huge—who knows if three Poison Arrows will be enough to kill it.”
“Maybe…I can hide behind the Titanoboa.”
In the final half minute, Qin Tian’s mind spun at lightning speed. Then, he made a decisive stop, sitting directly on the ground, panting heavily.
***
Right now, his body temperature soared, his mouth dry and tongue parched, breath ragged—just like a machine about to overload.
There was no doubting the Titanoboa’s speed. Qin Tian had barely rested a minute before that massive form came surging at him.
Gritting his teeth, Qin Tian stood and nocked an arrow to his bowstring.
The effective range for a flat shot with the Recurve Bow was about fifty meters, but to ensure the arrow could pierce into the Titanoboa’s body with enough force, it was best to wait until it was within thirty meters.
For that reason, Qin Tian stood his ground, waiting for the Titanoboa to draw nearer.
Five hundred meters!
Two hundred meters!
One hundred meters!
The waiting was agonizing. In those moments, Qin Tian’s mind held only one thought—to run. Only by clenching his teeth did he suppress that urge.
It was like waiting for a car to slam into you—the psychological pressure was overwhelming. In his eyes, everything else faded away except the Titanoboa.
When the Titanoboa was just dozens of meters away, Qin Tian finally got a clear look at its form.
Compared to ordinary snakes, there wasn’t anything particularly unique about the Titanoboa, except that it was dozens of times larger. The only real difference was its scales.
The Titanoboa’s scales had a peculiar color—a steely blue sheen, glinting like metal in the sunlight.
When the Titanoboa was about thirty meters from Qin Tian, it opened its bloody maw, lunging at him. At the same time, Qin Tian released his bowstring and darted to the side.
With over twenty meters of leeway, it was enough for Qin Tian to dodge easily. In contrast, the Titanoboa’s inertia made it impossible for it to stop in time; missing its strike, it barreled forward.
Taking the opportunity, Qin Tian nocked and fired again, shooting his last two Poison Arrows into the Titanoboa’s body.
The Titanoboa’s body stretched over a dozen meters long. At this moment, its head hadn’t turned back yet. Qin Tian seized the chance, dashed forward, and with a leap, landed squarely on the Titanoboa’s back, clinging tightly to its body.
All three Poison Arrows struck home—one in the Titanoboa’s head, two in its body. Yet, the venom on the arrows had no effect; the Titanoboa showed not the slightest sign of being poisoned.
The Titanoboa turned its head, preparing to attack again, only to realize that Qin Tian had vanished.
But by the scent left in the air, the Titanoboa knew Qin Tian was nearby. It slithered about, searching the area. But Qin Tian was already lying flat on its back—how could it possibly find him?
Wherever the snake’s head turned, its body followed. Unless the Titanoboa had eyes on its back, or Qin Tian came down himself, it would never find him.
Qin Tian finally caught a temporary respite.
***
Why do people say “hit a snake at seven inches”? Because a snake’s heart is at that spot. But this isn’t precise, as snakes vary in size; not every heart is exactly seven inches from the head. Scientifically, a snake’s heart is at about one-seventh its body length.
By rough estimation, Qin Tian guessed the Titanoboa was sixteen or seventeen meters long. That meant its heart would be around three meters from its head.
Qin Tian’s current position was about seven meters from the head—midway along the trunk.
Carefully, Qin Tian crawled toward the Titanoboa’s heart.
The Titanoboa’s scales were slick, and the snake itself kept moving as it searched for Qin Tian, making his crawl toward the head strenuous. A single misstep and he’d slip off.
The larger the animal, the less sensitive it is to stimuli on its body, and for something as massive as the Titanoboa, this was especially true. Qin Tian made it all the way to the heart’s location without being noticed.
Locking his legs around the Titanoboa’s body, Qin Tian raised his Survival Knife and plunged it hard into the serpent, roaring, “Die, you bastard!”
With his shout, the Survival Knife stabbed deep into the Titanoboa. But even before it reacted, Qin Tian knew the blow had done little harm.
The flesh was thick and tough. He guessed the Survival Knife barely pierced the muscle, nowhere near the bones, let alone the organs protected inside. If it were a human, this stab would be like getting pricked by a needle.
But once the arrow is shot, there’s no taking it back. Qin Tian kept stabbing the Titanoboa, again and again—the blade flashed, stabbing into the giant snake more than a dozen times, trying to gouge a hole.
A fraction of a second later, the Titanoboa let out a pained roar, its body twisting violently, its massive tail slamming the ground with muffled thuds. The bamboo leaves all around fell in showers.
Unable to keep attacking, Qin Tian bit down on the Survival Knife, clinging to the Titanoboa for dear life to avoid being flung off.
Fortunately, this thrashing didn’t last long before the Titanoboa calmed. With his attacks yielding no results, Qin Tian dared not move rashly, simply lying still atop the Titanoboa, afraid it would shake him off.
“Rest first. Wait until my strength is back, then I’ll think of another plan.” In his heart, Qin Tian spoke to himself.
Right now, Qin Tian was utterly spent. Even if he wanted to do something, he simply had no strength left.
Perhaps the sudden pain made the Titanoboa reconsider, or perhaps there was another reason—Qin Tian couldn’t tell. Once the Titanoboa settled down, it unexpectedly left the area, slithering deeper into the Bamboo Forest.
Unable to get off, Qin Tian was left with no choice but to ride along with the Titanoboa.
***
Qin Tian had left the Camp just after one in the afternoon. The journey had taken more than an hour, and though it was only afternoon now, the thick, unbroken clouds above made it seem as dark as evening inside the Bamboo Forest.
When not hunting prey, the Titanoboa moved much slower, though still a bit faster than a human’s jog.
“This Bamboo Forest really is enormous. We’ve been moving for so long and still haven’t gotten out.” After an hour, Qin Tian had recovered about thirty percent of his stamina.
At this point, he just sat on the Titanoboa’s back, surveying the surrounding Bamboo Forest.
He might look relaxed, but in truth, he only dared act this way atop the Titanoboa. If he got down, there’s no way he’d be so bold.
Withdrawing his gaze, Qin Tian looked again at the Titanoboa, mind racing with thoughts.
“With only a Survival Knife, killing this Titanoboa is unrealistic. I’ll have to find a way to escape.”
“Snakes rely on scent to track prey, but even after trailing my scent for so long, the Titanoboa didn’t find me, and in the end even turned away and left. I suppose it’s given up on me as prey.”
“In theory, as long as I leave quietly, I should be able to slip away unnoticed.”
“But that’s just theory, not reality. I must be prepared for the Titanoboa to discover me at any time.”
“My stamina is only at thirty percent. If I use my ability now, I can last at most a minute. To maximize my chances of escape, I’d better wait until I’ve fully recovered before making a move.”
Just then, Qin Tian suddenly caught a whiff of a foul stench. At first, it wasn’t that strong, but as time passed, it grew more and more pungent, eventually becoming so overpowering it made him want to retch.