Chapter 40: Hunting the Snakes of the Cavern – (I)
Tang Mu fell into a state of deep contemplation after he finished observing the details of the snake cavern. He stood before the cave opening as the gears in his mind turned and settled in place to form a feasible action plan.
Only two options were available if he wished to successfully hunt the other serpentine beings close to his level without alarming the peak rank one boss in the deepest end of the cavern.
One way forward was to use baits, like incapacitated pseudo-rank-one rabbits, to lure the serpents from the cave. But, the problem with this method was that he couldn't control the number of enemies he could bait.
If he was lucky, he could repeatedly lure out one snake at a time until he killed off all the creatures. However, if he was unlucky, he might even attract the whole den of snakes, including the peak rank one, after throwing an alluring bait into the cavern.
The other option was to remain patient and bide his time. He was confident that the snakes would leave the cave eventually. They had to hunt, sunbathe, look for other mates, or do other things that serpents do. Bearing all that in mind, Tang Mu only had to wait for them to exit the cave before putting a few hypersonic arrows through their heads to end their lives.
It was the safest option since his battles outside the cavern would not easily alarm the peak rank-one.
But the plan also required time since he could only act after the enemy left the cave. Depending on the snake species, the waiting time could be a few hours or days. In the worst-case scenario, he might even have to wait a month before a snake, such as a python, moved out of its den.
Well, all things come to those who wait.
I have to eradicate these snakes one way or another. But the best option is the second. I only have to waste a bit of time waiting for the snakes to exit, and then I'll finish them off one by one without risking much.
Tang Mu's eyes gleamed as he considered a few points. He understood that a hunter's patience was an active part of the challenge involved in capturing any prey. He knew the most effective way to trap the game was by giving it time to exit its hiding place. Then, everything else would be straightforward, as he would be in the right place at the right time to complete his hunt.
With the plan in mind, Tang Mu retraced his steps down the slope and returned to the tree shadow about three hundred meters from the cave opening. His eyes flashed with mysterious symbols as he used his Mentifery powers to manifest the shadow stealth array and disappear in the tree shade.
After ensuring his body was already concealed in the shadow, he took a deep breath and settled on the rocky ground in a cross-legged position. He intended to wait for the serpents to exit the cavern before acting on his plans.
Dusk quickly arrived, and the sun sunk below the horizon in the west as he waited and used his spiritual sense to surveil the cave opening. But he didn't lose his patience. He remained in place as the night fully descended, giving way to the pale crescent moon shining like a silvery claw in the night sky.
Tang Mu was a little bit out of sorts as it was his first time experiencing the night in the painting world.
The chilly breeze swept across his skin, compelling even his robust physique, already baptized with massive amounts of psionic energy, to tremble with cold. He summoned his military-style combat jacket from the star orb storage space and donned it as his ears picked up the growing number of savage roars and other animal sounds in the distance.
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He immediately felt warm and looked up at the crescent moon and the blanket of stars stretching to infinity. He sighed and wondered whether everything was real or something like a dream.
He had already been in the painting world several times. But he had never understood whether it was a dimension within the mural itself or if it was just a place in reality connected to the Star God Pagoda. Nevertheless, he was also confident that he would eventually get answers to all his questions if he continued adventuring within the magical dimension.
Tang Mu waited in the shadows for almost another hour until his spiritual sense detected some activity just beyond the opening of the snake cavern.
He triggered his perception and noticed that four pythons exuding energy waves at the level of rank one primary-stage metaphysical beings were exiting the cave. They slithered out of the entrance and soon dispersed down the slopes to hunt prey in the surrounding area.
Chance!
The thought flashed within Tang Mu's mind as he triggered his spiritual sense to build a one-kilometer perception sphere around him. He was fortunate that the ability worked well at night, and he effortlessly used it to keep track of the pythons that were moving at a not-so-quick pace as they hunted small nocturnal animals like honey badgers, bush pigs, springhares, and giant rats.
Tang Mu thought for a moment before targeting the one furthest from him. His shadow veil array was even more effective at concealing his traces during the night. He maintained this stealth ability and slowly headed down the slopes. He sneakily approached the giant python that happened to be wriggling its long body around a honey badger.
When he reached the 150-meter mark from the serpent, he summoned his death's whisper-long bow and a special arrow from the star orb storage space. He then nocked the arrow onto the string and fed his psionic energy into the weapon to activate its electromagnetic runes.
It was at that point that a desired change happened in the distance. The giant python had just finished constricting the badger. It was now beginning to open its maw to swallow down the helpless prey.
Tang Mu witnessed all this with his spiritual sense and immediately moved to complete his hunt. He pulled back the string and aligned his posture before shooting the hypersonic arrow straight toward the open maw of the serpent in the distance.
Everything that followed happened in a flash, with the hypersonic arrow covering the 150-meter distance in almost no time. It flickered forward and punctured straight down the open maw of the massive python without giving it any chance to react.
Such was the power of an attack that could move at more than five times the speed of sound. With just one sneak attack, Tang Mu used the arrow to incapacitate a metaphysical being at the same rank as him.
But even then, he was far from done if he wanted to end the creature without attracting any trouble to himself. The snake had already let out a painful hiss that had caught the attention of the other pythons in the surroundings. Through his spiritual sense, he could perceive them raising their serpentine heads and extending their forked tongues toward the source of the sound. But they had yet to move and were still feasting on their prey in various locations.
Tang Mu knew that he had to act immediately, at least before the injured python could let out another hiss that could attract its counterparts over.
He went through a series of actions, from summoning an arrow out of the star orb's storage space to nocking it onto the string and activating the electromagnetic runes within two seconds. Then, he used the runic bow with expert familiarity to nail the head of the giant python still wriggling around on the ground.
The movements of the giant serpent slowly ceased as the hypersonic arrow sapped the life out of its entire being. It was soon deader than dead and lying still on the ground.
Tang Mu confirmed that it was no longer a threat through his spiritual sense. Then, without deactivating his shadow veil stealth ability, he raced to the location and retrieved his arrows before stowing the corpse into the star orb storage space.
After cleaning up the traces of battle, he breathed a sigh of relief and triggered his spiritual sense to take notice of the actions of the other three pythons. They had yet to show any abnormal reactions. They were still hunting, meaning they were yet to sense that he had slayed one of their counterparts.
Excellent!
Tang Mu's thoughts bubbled with excitement, and he nimbly moved toward the location of the other python. Within a minute, he used his speed, spiritual sense, stealth, and hypersonic arrows to end the creature's life. He stowed its corpse within the star orb storage space and cleaned up the traces before continuing his hunt.