Volume 1: Planet of Ten Thousand Beasts Chapter 44: Exotic Herb

No one expected the edge of the collapse to extend right to Li Juxu’s feet. Whether the explosive force was too immense or the ridge too fragile, Li Juxu plummeted down the opposite side of the ridge, away from the canyon.

On this side, clouds and mist swirled endlessly into a bottomless abyss. No one knew what lurked down there; even the blood wolves refused to approach the edge, and any fool knew it was best not to fall. Li Juxu tried to grab onto something to steady his body, but his hands grasped only empty air. As he tumbled downward, he faintly heard the shouts of Drummer, Cao Gang, and Wang Xiaoxin, before sound was abruptly cut off in an instant.

For a few seconds, Li Juxu’s mind went completely blank, but the instinctive desire to survive soon drove him to frantically claw at anything on the cliff face, grabbing whatever he could. However, the sheer rock wall offered only loose gravel, which did nothing to stabilize his descent and instead shredded his hands into a mass of wounds.

The world spun wildly, entirely beyond his control. Just when he thought his life was coming to an end, a tremendous force slammed into his waist—it was the rope. The rope tied around his waist must have caught or snagged on something. The downward momentum and the sudden tension of the rope collided violently at his waist, and for a fraction of a second, Li Juxu felt as if he were being torn in two. Intense pain caused his vision to black out, but the instinct for survival made him cling desperately to the rope. As his body slipped further downward, he caught a glimpse of a half-meter protrusion of rock slightly below and to his side. Pouring all his remaining strength into a roll, he reached out and locked his arms around the rock. Fortunately, cushioned by the slack of the rope, the downward force was manageable, and he successfully used the rock to steady himself. Then, he saw the heavily deformed Kui-23 sniper rifle sliding down alongside the rope, which had somehow become entangled with the weapon, wedging it into a crevice and saving his life.

That massive downward pull dislodged the rifle from the fissure, and it continued its descent into the abyss. During the process, the rope unwrapped itself. Li Juxu watched helplessly as the rifle slipped past him, too weak to grab it. In the blink of an eye, the rifle shrank into a tiny black speck and vanished into the darkness, not even making a sound upon impact.

After resting for a moment to recover a sliver of strength, Li Juxu hauled himself up onto the rock, pressing his back against the cliff face. Sitting upright was far more comfortable than lying prone.

His first priority was to reel in the rope and secure it firmly around his waist; this was a literal lifesaver. His second priority was to unwrap a piece of chocolate and pop it into his mouth—first, to soothe his nerves, and second, to replenish his energy. Barring any miracles, he would have to climb back up entirely on his own, which would be impossible without sustenance.

He looked up. Above him lay only the pitch-black night sky. Whether due to the angle or the staggering height beyond his field of vision, the ridge was completely invisible, and no sound drifted down from above. He could not tell whether Cao Gang and the others had given up on the rescue or if he had simply fallen too deep for their voices to reach him.

Though every muscle in his body ached, he had to endure it. He carefully inspected himself and found that, by some miracle of misfortune, he only had superficial scrapes. No bones were broken, and he had suffered no internal injuries. The worst damage was to his palms, which were laced with dozens of cuts from the sharp gravel. If only he had thought to wear leather gloves.

He once again marveled at the potency of the serums. Had he not consumed the strength and bone-fortification serums, his condition would have been far worse; he might already be just another corpse at the bottom of the cliff.

He chose not to begin climbing immediately. Even if he made it to the top right now, escaping was impossible. Given the nature of the blood wolves, they would undoubtedly guard the area until dawn. The hours remaining until daybreak would be his time to rest. Just as he untied the rope to tether himself to the rock so he wouldn't accidentally fall off if he dozed off, a strange fragrance drifted past his nose.

"What is that scent? It smells amazing," Li Juxu muttered in wonder. He had never smelled anything so pleasant, and the aroma instantly made his mind much sharper. His eyes scanned the cliff face, and the benefits of his night-vision ability came into play. About twenty meters away, he quickly spotted what looked like a cave. He could not tell whether it was a deep cavern or merely a shallow recess, but judging by its surface area, it could easily accommodate two or three people—far better than his current precarious perch on a rock that could give way at any moment.

Li Juxu was no rock-climbing enthusiast, but he was far from a stranger to it. Whenever a sniper reached a new location, securing a commanding vantage point meant mountain climbing and rock scaling were everyday occurrences. While he couldn't compare to a professional climber, his skills far exceeded those of a beginner. He took out the medical gauze from his gear, carefully wrapped his ten fingers, double-checked his equipment, and began inching his way toward the cave. The rock face was rough and not overly difficult to traverse. His night-vision advantage helped him sidestep numerous hidden hazards, and within seven or eight minutes, he safely slipped into the cave. It was about a meter wide and roughly a meter and a half deep, forming an irregular semi-circle.

Just as his entire body squeezed inside the cave, a streak of dark light shot out from the interior. Completely unprepared, Li Juxu felt every hair on his body stand on end. Before his conscious mind could even process the threat, his fingers instinctively flicked a playing card forward. The card moved faster than the initial attack, striking the dark light like a bolt of lightning. It sliced through, its momentum unspent, and embedded itself deeply into the soil ceiling above.

*Clack!*

The dark light that had nearly touched Li Juxu’s forehead dropped to the ground, already severed into two pieces, yet still writhing and twisting. It was a snake, roughly the thickness of a chopstick and pitch black. In the dead of night inside a pitch-black cave devoid of any light, Li Juxu thanked his lucky stars for his night-vision eyes; otherwise, he never would have spotted the serpent until it was too late—until the moment of its bite.

He didn't recognize the species, but he was a hundred percent certain that if it bit him, the consequences would be catastrophic. Retrieving the playing card from the soil ceiling, a sudden surge of satisfaction washed over him. All those countless hours of practice had finally paid off. However, he also recognized his own flaw: his cognitive and conscious reaction times were simply too slow. He had dodged this crisis purely on instinct, but next time, he might not be so fortunate.

He kicked the snake's head over the edge of the cliff. Snakes possessed incredible tenacity, and a severed head would not die for quite some time; getting bitten out of sheer carelessness would be a tragically foolish way to go. With the danger cleared, he finally had the leisure to inspect the interior of the cave, which was dominated by a pink plant growing in the corner.

Resembling a cluster of red coral, it stood about three inches tall with seven or eight orchid-like leaves. The strange, refreshing fragrance that made the mind so crisp and revitalized was emanating entirely from this plant.

"Guarded by an exotic creature—this has got to be something good!" Li Juxu didn't recognize the herb, but intuition told him it was a treasure. He immediately pulled out a vacuum bag and meticulously excavated the plant along with the soil at its roots, sealing it away.

Then, his gaze fell upon the carcass of the black snake. Remembering how drinking snake blood earlier had granted him night-vision, he wondered if this unusual serpent might also bestow some unexpected ability.

While the snake's body still retained a hint of warmth, he grabbed the carcass and sucked greedily on the wounds. Only a few wisps of blood came out—not even a few drops. He felt a pang of regret for not drinking it sooner. After a moment's thought, he decided to eat the snake meat as well. It tasted remarkably like chicken, with no fishy odor whatsoever, and the bones were pleasantly crunchy. He waited for a while, but detected no physical changes, leaving him slightly disappointed. After double-checking the surroundings to ensure absolute safety, he leaned back against the cave wall and slowly drifted off to sleep.