Chapter 7
C7 – Do You Want to Apply for a Card??
A Great Green Snake was deep in slumber atop a tree branch.
Clinging to the serpent’s body was a black ant, roughly the size of a mantis, brandishing a pair of large scythes as it inched along.
This black ant, wielding a formidable Scythe Hand, was none other than Lee Tian.
Treading lightly across the snake’s scales, Lee Tian was so cautious that he scarcely allowed himself to breathe aloud.
With Scythe Hands poised, he moved gradually from the snake’s midsection to its neck.
As he neared the Green Snake’s heart, tension mounted, and his own heart pounded more fiercely.
After what seemed like an eternity, Lee Tian reached the vicinity of the snake’s heart.
But the sight of the tough green scales made him waver. What was his next move?
“The snake scales can be lifted!” he realized.
Lee Tian nudged one of the scales upward and glimpsed the flesh beneath—the Green Snake’s vulnerability.
Without hesitation, he held the scale up with one hand and with the other, thrust the Scythe Hand beneath the scale, targeting the snake’s weak spot, ready to slice.
A chilling hiss broke the silence, and Lee Tian spun around.
Somehow, the Great Green Snake had awakened and was now fixing a piercing gaze upon him.
The air crackled with an awkward tension.
Yet, an idea sparked in Lee Tian’s mind.
He began to soothe the Green Snake with gentle strokes, and with a disarming smile, he asked, “Would you like to apply for a card?”
The snake responded by flicking out a crimson tongue, as if to say, “You dare to try and kill me?”
As the tongue withdrew, the Green Snake lunged with its jaws agape, striking with astonishing speed.
Startled, Lee Tian bolted, but in his haste, he forgot to retract his right hand, leaving it trapped under the scale.
With the Green Snake’s gaping maw closing in, he knew he had to escape or become its next meal.
“You don’t have to kill me!” he pleaded.
In a critical moment, Lee Tian acted with swift decisiveness, hoisting the scythe in his left hand and bringing it down on his right arm, severing his own hand in a single, resolute stroke!
As he freed himself, he spat a strand of spider silk, shooting it straight into the mouth of the Great Green Snake. In the snake’s frantic attempt to close its jaws, Lee Tian rolled off its back and plummeted to the ground.
Hindered by the undigested rat in its belly, the snake moved clumsily and, unable to spot the tiny black ant, it gave up the pursuit.
Lee Tian was remarkably light, and despite the fall, he emerged unscathed.
Yet, his right hand was irretrievable.
“I really shouldn’t risk tangling with the big ones!” Lee Tian grumbled. His gaze fixed on the still Great Green Snake perched on a branch, his eyes blazing with fury: “Someday, I’ll chop you into eight pieces!”
With the intense pain of his severed limb, he trudged away, his mood as dark as the shadows that enveloped him.