Qin Ziwen hurried back to the fifth floor.
Opening the window, he witnessed a shocking scene.
The muddy floodwaters surged like a mighty torrent, carrying large amounts of trees, rocks, and shrubs downstream from upstream. From a distance, it looked like an angry yellow dragon.
The mountain flood crashed against the residential complex's outer wall, spreading along the walls to both sides.
Trees upstream were snapped, and the torrent poured downstream.
Large surrounding areas of land were submerged, and the courtyard wall looked precarious amidst the muddy floodwaters.
The heavy rain continued to fall.
Building 8 and the garage were in completely opposite locations, so he didn't know what condition they were in.
But from what he could see, the mountain flood was bypassing the courtyard wall and spreading to both sides.
Facing such a natural disaster, Qin Ziwen felt deeply powerless.
There was nothing he could do, nothing he could change.
Nature's fury was merciless; in its eyes, all things were equal.
Time slowly passed to the rhythm of Li Tieshan's blacksmithing.
After experiencing the initial waves of flood impacts, the waters gradually calmed.
Looking out the window, the area outside the courtyard wall had become a vast marshland.
Upstairs and in neighboring buildings, some residents opened their windows, cursing loudly at the heavens.
Others let out long, mournful cries.
They were trapped inside the residential complex, and no one could leave until the floodwaters receded.
It wasn't until afternoon, after the flood peak had passed, that the water level gradually receded.
The area outside the courtyard wall was a complete mess, with mud, rocks, and branches scattered everywhere across the ground.
Residents who had been cooped up all morning eagerly rushed out of the complex.
Outside the south gate, on the open ground near the base of the wall, lay a deer carcass covered in mud.
"There's a dead deer here," the first person to discover it exclaimed excitedly, quickly moving forward to grab the deer carcass.
In his view, this was heaven-sent ingredients.
He didn't even need to go through the trouble of hunting - he just found such a large carcass right here.
He rushed over, lifted the deer carcass, and called for his wife and daughter to come help.
"Animals that drowned in floodwaters probably shouldn't be eaten," someone nearby commented.
The man quickly protected the dead deer and retorted discontentedly, "Why can't it be eaten? This clearly just drowned in the flood and hasn't been dead long. It's still fresh."
"But that was several hours ago."
"I've heard that animals that drown in floods are very dirty."
Bystanders chimed in one after another.
The man turned a deaf ear to others' warnings, believing they were just jealous of him. "I think you're all just jealous of me. This is a primitive forest, not polluted river water from Earth. This is pure, natural, and green - there aren't that many germs here."
Not far away in the crowd, Qin Ziwen consulted Zhao Pu, "Doctor Zhao, I remember reading somewhere that carcasses from floodwaters shouldn't be eaten, right?"
Zhao Pu cautioned seriously, "Absolutely cannot be eaten. This has nothing to do with being pure natural. If pure natural meant no germs, ancient times wouldn't have had plagues, smallpox, or the Black Death."
He pointed at the deer carcass in the distance and said, "First, you can't determine how it died at all. It might have had an infectious disease before the flood came. The germs and parasites in this primitive forest are much more complex than in cities, and there won't be any special medicines here.
Second, even if it really did drown in the flood, several hours have passed since the flood peak. The temperature isn't low right now, and corpses decompose rapidly in water. You've probably heard that floods in ancient times were usually followed by plagues."
Zhao Pu's voice was quite loud, and the man moving the deer carcass with his wife naturally heard him.
He cursed, "What do you doctors know? You medical people are all shady characters - every time I go to the hospital you order a bunch of tests. If you want some meat, come beg me, and I might give you a little. But with your attitude, I'd rather throw it in the water than give you any. Go ahead and be jealous."
Hearing this, Zhao Pu fell silent. He knew persuasion was useless - during his practice, he'd encountered this kind of stubborn, rock-headed people before. Unless you went along with what they wanted, they'd challenge you from every angle until you gave up arguing with them.
Seeing Zhao Pu's silence, the man looked triumphant, feeling he had hit Zhao Pu's weak spot.
Qin Ziwu remarked with feeling, "Some people's ability to protect their ego is just too good."
Along with the floodwaters came some small animals, most of which had stopped breathing, but there were exceptions.
"Wow, there's a huge python here, and it's still alive!"
Everyone rushed over upon hearing this and saw a large snake covered in mud rolling around in a mud pit not far away.
Sensing people approaching, the snake thrashed even more vigorously.
Deng Guang exclaimed in amazement, "So big."
Deng Wen retreated two steps, hiding behind her father.
She was already afraid of snakes, and this one was like a python plus version.
Its thickest part around the middle was nearly the size of a bucket, and its powerful tail splattered large amounts of mud with every thrash.
"What a long snake," Qin Ziwen said with a grave expression. He estimated this python's body length exceeded that of the leader crocodile.
Of course, that was just in length - their weights weren't comparable.
Perhaps the experience of being washed downstream by the flood had frightened it, as this python was quite aggressive.
When someone stood too close, the python suddenly launched an attack, bending the front half of its body into an S-shape before springing forward.
The person leaped backward, easily dodging the strike.
Qin Ziwen, holding his machete, circled around to the python's rear and took advantage of its distraction to deliver a chop.
He felt like he was chopping into a somewhat damp piece of wood.
The blade cut through the snake's scales and sank into its flesh.
Startled, the python opened its mouth wide and snapped back in retaliation.
Qin Ziwen released the machete and retreated, avoiding the python's bite. He realized his body was indeed much more agile than before - on land, this python was less threatening than the crocodile.
Noticing that the python's movements seemed somewhat sluggish, the surrounding people grew bolder.
Some threw stones, while others struck it with sticks.
Seizing an opportunity, Qin Ziwen rushed from the side, grabbed the machete handle, and pulled it out. As the python turned its head, he chopped down on its head.
The python's head was split open, and in pain, it quickly tried to escape toward the river below.
Qin Ziwu seized the moment, rushing forward to grab the snake's tail.
The python's escape was put on pause, and people gradually came over to pin it to the ground.
It struggled desperately. While its constricting power was formidable, being held down by a group of humans greatly restricted its ability to exert force.
Walking up to the snake's head, Qin Ziwen raised his machete high and brought it down heavily.
This chop nearly severed half the snake's head, with only some skin and flesh still connecting it.
He raised the machete again and delivered a second chop.
The snake's head fell to the ground.
As the python died, he looked hopefully at the space above the giant snake's body. Would it drop a card?
But even as the snake's body stopped struggling, no card materialized above it.
Apparently, it didn't meet the criteria for being considered a powerful creature in this area.
Though somewhat disappointed, he had been mentally prepared for this outcome. After all, during the struggle with the python, he had noticed that this python didn't seem as formidable as the five-meter-long crocodile.
After the python was killed, the people on site divided the meat.
Although this python looked quite long, its actual weight wasn't that exaggerated - only about four hundred jin.
After removing the bones and internal organs, when the remaining meat was distributed, each person only received about ten jin.