Cutting-Edge Technology R&D Center

Chapter 8: The Bite

As the sun set, on a grassy hill not far from Lanjia Village, Ma Ling directed all the students in her class to slowly sit down in a circle. The afterglow of the sun shone on their faces, and several students had already taken out the guitars they’d prepared long ago to show off their skills. “Everyone, sit down. Now we’re going to play a very old and sacred game: ‘Drop the Handkerchief.’ I won’t go into the rules in detail, but we’re playing an upgraded version. Any student who gets caught...” Ma Ling took out a handkerchief and said with a chuckle. But among the seated students, several suddenly jumped to their feet. Accompanied by a blood-curdling scream, they immediately drew everyone’s attention. “Ah…” A girl’s scream suddenly rang out, her voice filled with fear. She immediately ran away, pointing with trembling fingers. “What’s wrong…?” Ma Ling asked urgently. “A snake… a snake!” The screaming girl pointed with a trembling finger at the boy rolling on the ground. Ma Ling looked over and immediately spotted a greenish-blue snake on the boy’s back, clamped tightly onto his skin. The boy was rolling on the ground, as if trying to shake off the greenish-blue snake, but it seemed to be biting down even tighter. “Ma Ye… stop struggling. The more you struggle, the tighter the snake bites.” Everyone stared blankly at the boy writhing on the ground, as if they hadn’t yet processed what was happening—not even Ma Ling or the teacher leading the group had fully grasped the situation. Upon hearing that voice, however, they immediately felt as though they’d found a source of stability. “Stop it, Ma Ye…” Ma Ling and their chaperone, Teacher Zhou, shouted urgently. Hearing their words, the boy named Ma Ye forced himself to endure the excruciating pain and slowly stopped struggling. However, a hint of fear flashed in his eyes, for he sensed his body beginning to go numb. “This snake seems to be venomous. My body feels a little numb…” Ma Ye’s face betrayed a look of fear. “It’s okay, the venom isn’t strong. It’ll pass in a moment.” A voice cut through the crowd and slowly approached Ma Ye, who was lying on the ground. Only then did they realize that the person who had spoken was none other than Fang Bing. Seeing that he was clearly about to grab the snake on Ma Ye’s back, they all watched nervously, not daring to even breathe. Hearing Fang Bing’s words, Ma Ye felt as if he’d been given a soothing balm; he lay there quietly and cooperatively, though cold sweat had already begun to bead on his forehead. As Fang Bing slowly approached, he stopped just a step away, then took a sudden stride forward. With lightning-fast precision, he pressed his hand firmly onto the snake’s head. The snake wasn’t large, and once Fang Bing had it firmly gripped, it began to struggle violently. Fang Bing slowly pulled the snake down from Ma Ye’s back, near his waist, while gritting his teeth. He glanced at the struggling snake, then ran his other hand along its body until he found its vital spot—the “seven-inch mark”—and squeezed hard. “Strike a snake at its seven-inch mark”—there’s a reason for this saying. This is the snake’s weakest point; it takes only a slight amount of force to crush it to death. The other students looked at Fang Bing, whose expression remained calm, then at the greenish-blue snake that was slowly ceasing to struggle. Suddenly, it was as if they were seeing Fang Bing for the first time... Beneath that calm facade, he seemed like a predator at the top of the food chain—crushing not a snake, but an ant. Fang Bing quickly dropped to one knee, lifted Ma Ye’s shirt, and immediately saw a large patch of jet-black skin; his expression grew extremely grave. “Fang Bing, is there no hope for me…?” Although Ma Ye couldn’t see Fang Bing’s expression, his solemn demeanor had already given him a sense of the gravity of the situation, and his voice was filled with fear. Ma Ye’s words snapped Ma Ling and the teacher leading the group out of their daze. They hurried over to Ma Ye’s side… As they looked at the dark, blackened skin slowly spreading, Teacher Zhou, the group leader, immediately felt her vision go dark and lost her balance. She had brought the class out on this field trip; if anything went wrong, she, as their teacher, would certainly be held responsible. “Fang Bing, can you counter this poison…?” Ma Ling was the first to snap out of it. Seeing Fang Bing’s composed expression, she felt a slight sense of relief, assuming he could neutralize such a poison. Meanwhile, a fierce will to survive flashed in Ma Ye’s eyes as she turned her head slightly to look at Fang Bing. But Fang Bing’s reaction took Ma Ling by surprise—she watched as he calmly shook his head. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry down the mountain…” Ma Ling said urgently. No sooner had Ma Ling spoken than Fang Bing cut her off. “That was a green slender snake… It’ll take us at least two hours to get down the mountain, and the trail is extremely rough… Besides, someone bitten by a green slender snake can’t be jostled…” Fang Bing didn’t finish his sentence, but Ma Ling understood exactly what he meant… She saw the hint of despair in the look in Ma Ye’s eyes. Agitated, she shouted at Fang Bing. “Fang Bing… what do you mean? Are we just going to stand by and watch our classmate die? If you won’t save her… we’ll carry her down ourselves.” The slight admiration Ma Ling had felt toward Fang Bing just moments ago vanished instantly, because he spoke with such cold detachment—as cold-blooded as a reptile. Fang Bing knelt halfway on the ground, glanced back at the agitated Ma Ling, and said nothing. Instead, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and made a call. “Right… call 120 quickly.” Ma Ling hurriedly took out her phone and dialed 120; the call connected immediately. “A classmate of mine has been bitten by a venomous snake…” As soon as the call connected, Ma Ling spoke urgently, while the other students watched her anxiously… “Please describe what the venomous snake looks like…” The person on the other end of the line seemed to sense the panic in her voice and got straight to the point without any small talk. “Appearance…” Ma Ling hurriedly looked at the snake, but was interrupted by Fang Bing’s somewhat anxious voice. “Just say it’s a Green Slender Snake…” Fang Bing’s tone was somewhat hurried, a stark contrast to his previous composure. Resigned, he hung up the phone. He hadn’t actually dialed 120; he’d called Wang Hao, because he’d once been bitten by this very Green Slender Snake, and Wang Hao had effortlessly neutralized the venom. That was why he’d recognized the Green Slender Snake at a glance. But since he couldn’t get through to Wang Hao, he was starting to feel anxious. Wang Hao had told him that the Green Slender Snake’s venom was extremely potent—if treatment wasn’t administered within an hour… it could very well be fatal. He knew Wang Hao was in Lanjia Village, a little further in, and it wouldn’t take him long to get there, but since he couldn’t reach him by phone, he was growing increasingly anxious. “It’s the Green Slender Snake…” Ma Ling glanced at Fang Bing, who had finally lost his composure, and was somewhat surprised, but she spoke nonetheless. “Please give me your exact address immediately. If there’s a clinic nearby, have them administer a blood-suppressant injection right away.” The person on the other end paused for a moment upon hearing Ma Ling’s words, then spoke urgently. “We’re on… Caoshan Mountain, south of Gancheng.” Ma Ling suddenly had a sense of foreboding and stammered as she spoke. “Anyone bitten by a Green Slender Snake must not move. I’ll dispatch an ambulance immediately. Please keep this line open—I’ll have a snake expert contact you right away.” Ma Ling listened as the call was abruptly hung up; her sense of foreboding grew stronger by the moment.