"I'm guessing it's because we're all awake that these snakes are more cautious and dare not approach?" Li Xin asked with some curiosity.
However, her words caused everyone to look at Li Xin.
Li Xin thought she had said something wrong and looked at her brother awkwardly.
"Brother, did I say something wrong?" Li Xin felt a little guilty.
Li Cheng smiled and ruffled his sister's hair, "No, you didn't say anything wrong. You've helped us a lot."
Xu An also smiled, and the atmosphere instantly became much more relaxed.
"I also think that's the reason. I feel this place is very strange. The wild beasts here seem to have some intelligence. Although they haven't developed human-level intelligence, they are very wary of humans."
Zhou Haimi nodded in agreement with Xu An's statement, "Yes, I've also noticed that. The silver wolf earlier first scouted at the entrance of the safe house, then provocatively looked at us, and even called for its companions later. These behaviors are too abnormal."
Xu An chimed in, "And those giant sharks before, they were like they had a collective consciousness. If one couldn't win, they would call for companions, and there were even sentinels specifically for scouting. It was as if they had a collective consciousness."
Understanding this, everyone's mood became a little heavy.
After all, fighting a group of wild beasts without any intelligence was entirely different from fighting monsters with intelligence!
"Regardless of whether these monsters have intelligence or not, we must solve the immediate problems. As for intelligence, we humans are the most intelligent beings. Can't we still fight against these beasts? Everyone, pull yourselves together and deal with the current problems first!"
After Zhou Haimi finished speaking, everyone emerged from their dejected mood.
Yes, even if these beasts truly possessed intelligence, they were destined to be enemies.
Humans and these mutated and evolved monsters were already in a life-or-death struggle.
Did they expect these beasts to coexist peacefully with humans after gaining intelligence?
The group no longer dwelled on this issue. Their primary task now was to clear out the unknown snake creatures that were trying to invade their camp.
Li Cheng, along with Guan Shan, began setting up snake traps, while Xu An, Zhou Haimai, and Li Xin started preparing the fire points.
Once everything was set up, Xu An and the others left the tent and found a hidden spot to conceal themselves.
Only Xu An and Zhou Haimai remained in the tent, feigning sleep and acting as bait.
As expected, after the other three had left the tent, flames surrounded the area, and a large amount of heat permeated the surroundings of the tent. Xu An, sleeping inside, could feel waves of heat emanating from her body.
This sticky and humid temperature was precisely what snakes preferred.
Just as Xu An felt she could no longer bear the heat, rustling sounds came from beside her.
The sound was incredibly faint, almost inaudible if one wasn't paying close attention. However, it wasn't the sound of just one snake; it was as if dozens of snakes were gathered together, producing a rustling sound.
It was fortunate that Xu An's hearing had been enhanced, allowing her to hear this sound.
To avoid alerting the snakes, Xu An and Zhou Haimai had previously set up a signal.
Upon detecting the arrival of the snake swarm, Xu An gestured to Zhou Haimai.
Indicating that the snake swarm had arrived.
Zhou Haimai also gestured back to Xu An, signaling that she already knew.
When Xu An felt the time was right, she flipped off the makeshift bed, took out her twin butterfly knives, and plunged them into the backs of the two leading snakes.
The snakes, surprisingly, did not die and continued to struggle, trying to bite Xu An. Xu An grabbed them by their vital spots and forcefully cut them in half.
Zhou Haimai was equally brutal and bloody. She grabbed a snake and tore it in half with her bare hands.
The warm blood splattered onto Zhou Haimai's face, making her look like a shura emerging from hell.
The snakes attempting to enter the tent were almost entirely killed by Xu An and Zhou Haimai.
Li Cheng and the others outside, after receiving Xu An's signal, directly pulled the levers of their pre-prepared traps.
Instantly, screams from the snakes echoed throughout the camp.
While one or two snakes were not much, there were at least hundreds, if not thousands, of snakes here.
The combined power was not to be underestimated.
The snake swarm was subdued with little effort. Only a few snakes still attempted to escape, but they were swiftly cut down and retrieved by Guan Shan, who was guarding the camp entrance.
Guan Shan's swordsmanship lacked any flashy movements; it was simply simple chops, slashes, and thrusts.
However, underestimating Guan Shan based on this would be a grave mistake.
Because although Guan Shan's techniques were not ostentatious, every strike he made was an absolute killing blow!
Every move drew blood!
This was why Xu An felt confident leaving Guan Shan at the entrance, to prevent any escapees and to stop these snakes from going out to report back.
Naturally, Guan Shan did not fail Xu An's trust.
Not a single snake that entered here managed to leave Xu An's tent alive.
After dealing with the snakes, Xu An emerged from the tent.
"How is it?"
"They're all dead. The few that escaped were also killed and brought back by Guan Shan. A total of one thousand three hundred and twenty-eight."
Xu An looked at the dense pile of corpses, which resembled a small mountain, and felt a bit disgusted.
But it was all for the best.
However, Li Xin was not as fortunate. The young girl suffered from trypophobia. Looking at the dense sea of snakes, she felt her scalp tingle, as if she were being hung upside down by her scalp. Goosebumps erupted all over her body.
Li Xin let out a scream and quickly retreated, moving to the very back.
"Help! You're not going to keep these things near our tent, are you? No! I'm going to die!"
Hearing Li Xin's screams, Xu An, who had intended to suggest they could use the snakes as reserve food, suddenly found her words stuck in her throat and never uttered them.
Li Cheng, on the other hand, directly picked up his sister, calling it an excuse to play elsewhere.
Then, he walked over with Guan Shan.
"We've inspected them. These snakes are all non-venomous and completely edible. Their scales are silvery. Apart from being able to move normally in icy and snowy environments, they don't seem to differ from the previous snakes."
"Can these snakes really be eaten?" Xu An asked, her tone somewhat suspicious.
Li Cheng looked at Xu An's current appearance and vaguely realized that she was just a young girl about the same age as his sister.
So, he nodded and assured her, "They can be eaten. Roasted with a sprinkle of cumin, they're delicious." He then scratched his head regretfully, "It's just that I didn't bring any seasonings."