"Brother."
Qin Ziwu quickly walked over, a smile on his face.
Qin Ziwen gave his younger brother a look, and Qin Ziwu obediently stood behind him, secretly giving his older brother a hand signal: "All hung up, same place as before."
Qin Ziwen nodded slightly, "I trust you to get things done."
Receiving his older brother's praise, Qin Ziwu grinned widely, then looked curiously at the crowd gathered ahead, "What are they doing over there?"
"They've set up the trap, covered it with a thin layer of wooden boards and leaves. Now they need to lure the crocodile over, and they're taking volunteers."
Hearing this, Qin Ziwu grew excited, "Are they full on people yet?"
Qin Ziwen lifted his chin, gesturing with his eyes toward that direction, "The volunteer slots filled up long ago. The people who lure the crocodile get an extra share of meat. They finally selected two people."
Following his older brother's gaze, Qin Ziwu saw two young men stretching and warming up.
Then he leaned forward to peek into the trap pit. The bottom was densely packed with spears pointing in various directions—some straight up, others at slanted angles.
"Brother, do you think that big crocodile will actually be lured over?"
Qin Ziwen said, "Man proposes, God disposes. We've done everything we can."
Naturally, he hoped they would successfully hunt the male crocodile leader. Otherwise, what was the point of working so hard for two days?
High-intensity labor consumed a lot of energy and physical strength.
These past two days, he had eaten more meat than in previous days.
And it wasn't just him—he believed this was the wish of many others.
Huang Tao repeatedly and seriously instructed the two chosen men: "If what you lure up isn't the big crocodile, run northeast. Don't come toward the trap. There's a special team waiting to deal with the smaller crocodiles. If it is the big crocodile, just run straight forward."
The two selected men nodded, then carried crocodile entrails toward the river.
The crowd gathered around the trap gradually dispersed, hiding their tracks.
Simultaneously, three SUVs slowly parked not far away, ready to move forward and block the pit once the crocodile fell in.
Everyone was prepared, quietly waiting for the crocodile to take the bait.
By the river, the two men threw the entrails into the water, then backed up seven or eight meters, keeping their eyes fixed intently on the water surface from a distance.
Below the surface, a massive dark shadow gradually became clear.
The two men tensed up.
"Splash!"
The water surface suddenly broke open as the giant crocodile leaped out, its thick limbs quickly climbing along the muddy riverbank. Its powerful tail swept across the water, splashing large waves.
The two men reacted and immediately turned to run.
But the giant crocodile's short-distance burst speed exceeded their expectations.
Before they had run even twenty meters, the person in yellow lagging behind was struck in the lower back by a tremendous force. His hands stretched forward as he fell face-first to the ground.
"Save me!" he shouted toward the front, but his cry was cut short, turning into a scream.
The giant crocodile bit down on his head and upper body with a sickening crunch.
It was like a gruesome scene from a horror movie—juices spraying everywhere.
The man in front heard his companion's scream, his legs weakening so much he nearly fell. He didn't dare look back, continuing to run forward.
But he soon heard the heavy footsteps of the giant crocodile behind him.
The footsteps grew closer. He saw the trap location ahead, a hopeful smile appearing on his face, but then his foot suddenly caught on something. He hadn't noticed the rock and fell forward.
It's over.
That was the only thought in his mind.
Damn it, why was there a rock here?
By the time he scrambled up, the giant crocodile had already charged behind him, opening its massive jaws. Its nearly four-ton bite force was like a giant hydraulic clamp.
"Ah!"
The bloody scene directly shocked the onlookers.
Even though the crocodile was only dozens of meters from the trap, for a moment, no one dared step forward to lure it.
The male leader crocodile had killed two people in a row. Its cold, brutal gaze swept around as if declaring to these two-legged creatures that its territory was not to be violated!
After a moment, the leader crocodile turned around, preparing to return to the river.
A stone flew over its head, landing about two meters behind it.
Its turning motion paused for an instant, then it tilted its head to look at where the stone had landed.
"Thump."
This time, a stone accurately landed right on the leader crocodile's snout.
The air fell into dead silence.
Everyone's eyes focused on the "brave warrior" who had thrown the stone.
An elderly man with graying hair, wearing black long sleeves and pants, stood blocking the path to the trap, fists clenched, eyes wide with anger.
He picked up another stone from the ground and hurled it fiercely at the leader crocodile, roaring, "You beast! Come at me!"
"ROAR!!"
Even without understanding the language, it recognized the provocation.
The old man glanced at the others around him, gave a twisted smile, then resolutely turned and walked onto the trap.
The "cover" on the trap was made from some wooden boards and plastic pieces. Someone with lighter weight could easily walk across it.
"Old man, get down quickly! The crocodile is coming!" someone shouted from the side.
But the old man just shook his head, a relieved smile appearing on his face as he watched expectantly while the crocodile charged toward him.
"CRACK."
The wooden boards beneath his feet groaned under unbearable weight.
"BOOM!"
Both man and crocodile tumbled into the trap pit.
"ROAR~"
The leader crocodile's howls came from within the trap pit.
Huang Tao urged, "Quick, drive the cars to block it!"
Zheng Yuan was stunned, "There's someone in the pit!"
Huang Tao shouted anxiously, "Would anyone survive falling down there? He clearly wanted to die—don't waste his sacrifice!"
The crocodile tried to climb out of the trap pit, but injured as it was, it struggled several times without success. Its claws scrabbled at the pit walls, tearing off large chunks of soil.
The engines of the parked SUVs roared to life, slowly moving toward the pit. The driver's doors were open, and as the vehicles were about to fall into the pit, the drivers leaped out from their seats. One driver jumped out too hastily and accidentally sprained his ankle.
But all three vehicles crashed into the pit. Although the angles weren't perfect, together they acted like three large stones pressing down on the crocodile's back.
As time passed.
The sounds from the crocodile in the pit grew weaker and weaker.
The area around the pit gradually filled with people.
"Hey, stop pushing me."
"It's too crowded up front."
"Don't push from behind!"
Curses and shouts mingled together.
Some people looked and then dispersed. When the crowd thinned out enough, Qin Ziwen walked over. The massive male leader crocodile lay quietly at the bottom of the pit, with three vehicles pressing down on its back at different angles. Some spears had directly pierced through its body, while others might have been broken under the pressure.
At the bottom of the pit, the male leader crocodile's body occasionally twitched.
"Whoa, its tail just moved! It's not dead yet, is it?"
"I didn't study much, so I'm not sure, but I heard these things are cold-blooded animals. Probably like snakes—they can still bite you even after they're dead."
"What's the principle behind that?"
"How should I know! I told you I didn't study much!"
"Wait, what's that!? Look!"
On the back of the male leader crocodile, points of light were gradually gathering. Under the sunlight, these light points were particularly noticeable, like white particles with some special effect applied.
The white particles intertwined in the air, eventually transforming into a gray card floating in space, slowly rotating on its own.
After a brief moment of silence, the crowd of onlookers burst into incredulous exclamations the next second.
......