When Lin Qiao moved closer and closer toward the source of the aroma, she suddenly sensed a strange scent which was like a strong smell of fish. She turned to look around, and just as she did that, she realized that the aroma she had been following was gone.
She narrowed her eyes and stopped moving, because she felt that she was targeted by something. She couldn't tell if the thing with the fishy smell had scared her prey away, or if the aroma was only a bait for luring her.
She stayed where she was, silently sensing the surrounding environment.
It was the noon as she stood in the middle of the pear orchard, surrounded by thriving pear trees. The ground was covered by grasses; a breeze blew across, rustling the leaves.
At that moment, her feet sensed a very slight vibration. Human beings wouldn't be able to sense that vibration, but she was no longer a human being.
She didn't turn back, but remained calm while looking at the front. She even casually glanced around, as if she was confused and was looking for something in front of her. However, her attention was concentrated on the area behind her.
She felt that the slight vibration was coming closer and closer to her, and was quite strange. It wasn't coming in waves, but seemed to be caused by constant friction; as if someone was towing a long rope forward by holding one of its ends.
Thinking of that fishy smell, Lin Qiao felt that she knew what was coming at her.
When that vibration stopped, Lin Qiao suddenly turned back her head and popped her claws. She swung her shiny claws backward and turned her body around in the meanwhile, then swiftly leaped backward.
Apparently, she had made the right move. When she turned around and drew back, she saw a snake coiling on the pear tree which she swung her claws toward.
That snake was huge, even thicker than the thighs of an adult human being. It coiled on the pear tree, nearly wrapping the entire tree with its body. Fortunately, the mutant pear tree was tall and strong, not as fragile as the normal ones. So, it managed to support this giant snake without breaking.
Hiss!
The snake had been reaching its head toward Lin Qiao. As she suddenly turned back and attacked, it didn't manage to dodge, but let her sharp claws leave three slashes on its head.
However, its skin was incredibly strong! Lin Qiao was able to cut off trees and zombie heads easily, but the harm that her claws did to the snake on its head wasn't so bad.
Being clawed on the head, the snake immediately screeched in pain. Then, it suddenly tightened its body which was coiled on the pear tree and began twisting intensively.
'Damn! What has this snake been fed?' Lin Qiao thought as she focused on the danger ahead of her. She couldn't tell exactly how long this snake was, because it had wrapped countless coils around the tree; but its tail still reached the ground.
She couldn't tell what kind of snake it was either. It was entirely black, looking a little like a cobra, and its scales had a metallic luster. However, cobras were very rare in Sea City, and the commonly seen snakes in this area were vipers and rat snakes.
'What kind of snake is it?' Lin Qiao wondered.
Anyway, whatever snake it was, it was one pissed off snake at that moment.
One of its eyelids were cut by Lin Qiao's claws and was bleeding, but its eyes weren't hurt. Right now, its eyes were fixed with coldness and anger, fixed squarely on Lin Qiao.
It was the king of this region. Because of its giant size, great strength, fast speed, and strong skin, the other animals weren't able to hurt it. But now, it was wounded by Lin Qiao, who was just a prey in its eyes. And the prey had actually hurt it so badly! No wonder it got so infuriated!
Lin Qiao paused briefly after sensing the scent of the snake's blood. She raised her head to carefully sniff it, and then was cheered up.
It smelled nice! Just now, she merely caught a strong fishy smell, but after sensing the smell of the snake's blood, she felt eager to drink it!
Looking at the extra long snake, Lin Qiao's lips curved into a happy smile. She gazed at the snake as if it were a huge meal. She even felt like drooling, like the zombies which had spotted living human beings.
The snake became even more furious as its prey suddenly began to stare at it like it was some kind of food. It tightened its body on the pear tree and raised its head high to look down at Lin Qiao in anger, then widely opened its jaws and let out its fork tongue, exposing its pair of large and sharp fangs.
After that, it suddenly dove down from the tree and pounced on Lin Qiao who was four or five meters away. It nimbly slid off the tree as it widened its mouth to bite Lin Qiao's head.
Despite its giant size, this snake was incredibly fast. Within a blink, it had darted up to Lin Qiao from the tree.
Lin Qiao felt that her eyes were dazzled. Before she could see what happened clearly, she sensed a strong wind blowing in her face along with a strong scent of blood.
She instinctively leaped aside, agilely turned around. Meanwhile, she swung her claws toward the snake's head as hard as she could.
Squeak!
An ear-piercing noise was heard.
Next, she felt that her claws had hit against an aluminum-alloy-like surface and went numb.
Hiss!
The snaked hissed in pain again. Apparently, it had suffered even worse this time.
Lin Qiao quickly stepped back. When she fixed her eyes on the snake again, she saw that it had fallen on the ground, coiled up and twisting intensively. She gave a closer look at the snake and found that she had managed to wound its head once again, on the same side which she had attacked the last time.
While watching the snake struggling on the ground, Lin Qiao took another step backward silently. She did that for no other reason but to avoid being hit by its tail.
The snake twitched intensely. Its tail even whipped at quite a few surrounding trees and broke them, also leaving a series of traces on the grass.
The snake seemed to be in a real pain! Lin Qiao said 'sorry' in her head, and then wondered if she had lost her mind. 'Why the hell should I be sorry?'
At that point, the giant snake gradually quieted down. Its body, which was about ten-meters-long, slowly coiled up. It buried its head in its coiled body without daring to raise it high, only showing its pair of cold and sharp eyes to stare at Lin Qiao angrily and carefully.
Lin Qiao sensed the strong murderous intent and vigilance in its eyes. She knew that just now, the snake believed that it was definitely able to bite her. However, it didn't expect her to be so fast, or to hurt its head.
Therefore, the snake didn't dare to be careless again.
Lin Qiao flicked her claws which were still numb, then flexed her fingers. She didn't think that the snake's head would be so tough. Judging by the noise caused when her claws hit against the snake's head, she estimated that even a normal shotgun wouldn't be able to shoot bullets into its head.