Su Wanwan, don't move, trust me.

Lin Yu and Su Heng had both already squatted down, waiting for Xie Beishen to make his move.

Xie Beishen looked at the wild chickens—three in total. He took three small stones from his pocket that he had put there that morning, and walked in front of Lin Yu.

Spotting the wild chickens ahead, he aimed two of the small stones he held in his hand with pinpoint accuracy at the heads of two of the birds.

With two crisp thuds, both wild chickens were instantly struck, fluttered a few times, and fell completely still.

The third wild chicken, startled, squawked loudly and fluttered its wings in a frantic escape.

Xie Beishen was lightning fast and incredibly coordinated; he immediately hurled the remaining small stone in his hand toward the direction of the fleeing bird.

His movement was both swift and precise.

In a split second, the wild chicken flying through the air was knocked down.

Lin Yu jumped up in excitement and shouted, "Brother Shen, you are too incredible!"

Admiration filled Su Heng's eyes: "Brother Xie, you are simply my god! I must learn this skill; if I do, our family will have meat to eat every single day."

With that, he placed the back basket he was carrying onto the ground and strode quickly forward to retrieve the wild chickens.

Su Wanwan had taken in every detail of Xie Beishen's stone-throwing display.

His movements were outrageously handsome.

Especially when it came to the wild chicken flying through the air—how on earth did he manage to be so devastatingly accurate?

She walked over to Xie Beishen, her brows curving into a smile as she grinned broadly. "Xie Beishen, you are simply amazing. The wild chicken was flying so fast, yet you still managed to hit it. Impressive!"

Seeing her brilliant smile, Xie Beishen thoroughly enjoyed her praise, the corners of his mouth lifting into an involuntary, subtle curl. "You can learn this too if you practice enough."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yu turned to Su Wanwan and said, "You have no idea, Brother Shen used small stones to teach that punk Ma Zhiming a lesson just this morning."

"How did he deal with him?" Su Wanwan asked with curiosity.

Lin Yu then recounted how Ma Zhiming had been struck in the foot by a stone earlier that day.

After listening, Su Wanwan's eyes rippled with amusement.

At that moment, Su Heng picked up the three wild chickens and held them up in the air. "They're pretty heavy! Each one weighs more than three catties. Brother Xie, you are truly amazing—you even smashed their heads right open."

He then placed the three wild chickens into the back basket, covering them with wild vegetables to avoid drawing the attention of villagers.

Xie Beishen glanced at the chickens' heads. Why had he exerted so much force? When he hunted wild chickens in the past, their heads had never burst open like this! Could it be that his strength had increased? Looking surprised, he said, "They are indeed plump. We'll stew them tonight."

The group tidied up and prepared to continue down the mountain.

Su Wanwan noticed something not far from where the wild chickens had been struck, though it wasn't quite clear. Driven by curiosity, she walked over, parted the bushes, and discovered a nest of wild bird eggs.

A surge of delight immediately lit up her eyes—there were more than a dozen of them. She picked one up in her hand, stood up, and called out to the others, "Second Brother, look! Wild bird eggs. How could you be so careless? Didn't you see them just now?"

The three of them looked over toward Su Wanwan, equally surprised when they saw the eggs in her hand.

Su Heng laughed good-naturedly. "The wild chickens weren't lying right there, so I really didn't see them." Just as he finished speaking and started to walk over, he heard Xie Beishen's sharp, stern shout: "Stop! Don't move!"

Su Heng froze instantly in his tracks and looked at Xie Beishen, whose gaze was fixed intently on the branches directly above Su Wanwan's head.

Following Xie Beishen's line of sight, Su Heng looked up. When he clearly saw what was coiled on the branch, his heart leaped into his throat in sheer panic, and a bone-chilling terror swept through his entire body.

There, intertwined with the green leaves, was a green, patterned snake coiled around the branch directly above the right side of Su Wanwan's head.

Had one not looked closely, it would have been entirely invisible. It was a venomous snake, extending its greenish head toward the left side of Su Wanwan's face and flicking its forked tongue.

Lin Yu also stared at the snake. It was highly venomous; a single bite would undoubtedly be fatal, defying even the gods to save her.

Hearing Xie Beishen's solemn warning, Su Wanwan did not dare to make a single movement. She watched as Xie Beishen swiftly pulled a small dagger from his trouser pocket and removed the leather sheath covering the blade.

He raised his hand, aiming in that direction.

At the same time, the distinct sound of hissing reached her ears.

Snake—one of the animals she feared most in the world.

This thing was far more terrifying than a rat.

Was she really going to meet her end right here?

The realization that it was a snake instantly drained all color from her face, sending a freezing shiver down her spine.

The wild bird egg she held in her hand remained suspended in mid-air, her hand beginning to tremble slightly.

Though she forced herself to appear calm, her scalp was already beginning to tingle numbly.

Xie Beishen said in an earnest voice, "Su Wanwan, don't move. Trust me, I won't let it bite you. Close your eyes."

Hearing this, Su Wanwan tightly closed her eyes.

Just as the snake reared its head and lunged toward Su Wanwan, Xie Beishen hurled the military dagger straight at the serpent's head.

The next second, the snake was severed cleanly into two sections and dropped onto the ground.

Lin Yu was the first to speak up: "It's dead! It's dead!"

Cold sweat had already broken out on Su Heng's forehead, and he finally let out the breath that had been suspended in his chest.

As soon as Su Wanwan heard Lin Yu announce that it was dead, the strength drained completely from her legs, and she stumbled forward.

Just as she expected to hit the ground, a familiar, chillingly cool scent suddenly enveloped her, and a pair of strong arms caught her firmly.

He pulled her entirely into his embrace, holding her tight.

Her cheek pressed closely against his warm chest, and through the thin layer of his shirt, she could clearly feel his strong, steady heartbeat.

She opened her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly, and when she raised her gaze, she locked eyes with Xie Beishen's dark pupils, which were currently filled with deep concern as he looked down at her.

Xie Beishen used one large hand to cradle the back of Su Wanwan's head while resting his other hand on her back to soothe her. "It's okay. It's okay now."

The broad embrace made Su Wanwan feel as though all danger had been sealed away, filling her with a profound sense of security.

In that instant, her heart raced violently.

Seeing the two of them locked in an embrace, the vein on Su Heng's forehead throbbed. He quickly stepped forward and grabbed the arm of the person in Xie Beishen's arms: "Sis, let go. Let go, it's fine now. The snake is dead."

The two of them were holding onto each other far too tightly; it was simply unwatchable.

Seeing how frightened his sister was that she wouldn't even let go—though thank goodness Xie Beishen was there, otherwise the consequences would have been truly unthinkable—Su Heng said, "Brother Xie, my sister was just terrified, please don't take it to heart. Once again, thank you so much, otherwise it really would have been dangerous."

Reluctantly, Xie Beishen loosened his grip. "It's fine. As long as she's safe."

Only then did Su Wanwan release her hold. Being hugged like that by him, and with her second brother watching, felt quite embarrassing.

Her gaze followed Lin Yu's line of sight down to the ground, and her legs grew weak all over again, half of her scalp tingling anew.

The green snake was lying there severed into two halves, its head still twitching, its mouth opening and closing rhythmically.

Su Heng and Xie Beishen simultaneously grabbed Su Wanwan by the arm—one on the left, the other on the right.

"Don't look," Su Heng and Xie Beishen said in unison.

Only then did Su Wanwan withdraw her gaze.

Seeing that she had finally steadied herself, Xie Beishen walked over to his military dagger, picked it up, and wiped the blade clean with a leaf.

He glanced at Su Wanwan and, seeing that the color had finally returned to her face, let out a quiet sigh of relief.