HPDBC Chapter 63 Analysis
Chapter 63 Analysis
Song Chen did not answer immediately. He walked to the middle of the crowd, squatted down, picked up a dry twig, and drew a few strokes on the ground.
"I've been watching that snake."
The dead branches drew simple lines on the gravelly ground, outlining the terrain of the deadwood forest and the location where the snake was coiled.
Song Chen pointed to the treeline with a dry twig: "First, it didn't chase beyond the treeline, not because it didn't want to, but because it couldn't."
"A mid-stage Tier 3 Azure Scale Viper, at full speed, is at least several times faster than us, yet we managed to escape. Don't you find that strange?"
Zhou Yuan's eyelid twitched.
Song Chen continued, "But it stopped at the edge of the treeline."
"This indicates that there is a problem with its physical fitness or speed, either its injury has not fully healed, or there are other reasons that restrict its range of movement."
Zhao Hu's brows relaxed slightly, but not completely.
Song Chen drew another circle on the ground to represent the location where the snake was coiled.
"Secondly, its posture is incorrect. A healthy Tier 3 beast, upon sensing an intruder, should be in an attack posture, with its body leaning forward and its head raised, ready to pounce at any moment."
"But it's coiled up."
Song Chen raised his head and glanced at everyone: "It never stood up from beginning to end; it remained coiled up the whole time."
Liu Dong asked thoughtfully, "You mean... its abdomen or spine also has injuries?"
"It's uncertain, but it at least indicates that its condition isn't as good as we thought."
Liu west swallowed hard, the fear on his face subsiding somewhat, but his doubts deepening: "But... but its aura, that oppressive feeling of blood and energy, it's clearly only at the mid-stage of the third tier..."
Song Chen nodded: "Yes, its blood and qi strength is indeed at the mid-third level, but blood and qi strength and combat ability are two different things."
He pointed to the snake's location with a withered twig: "Isn't it strange that a snake, even with damaged venom glands, old abdominal wounds, and weakened stamina, can still maintain the aura and power of a mid-stage third-level cultivator?"
After he finished speaking, the room fell silent for a few seconds.
Zhao Hu looked at the simple lines on the ground, his gaze becoming increasingly serious.
This young man's observational skills and composure far exceeded his expectations.
While everyone else was fleeing for their lives, he was observing; while everyone else was filled with fear, he was analyzing.
"Third." Song Chen stood up.
He didn't continue talking about the snake, but instead changed his perspective.
"Aren't you curious how a severely injured peak-stage Tier 3 viper could recover to mid-Tier 3 level in just a few days?"
These words were like a needle, piercing precisely into everyone's heart.
Yes.
Intelligence reports that the snake was severely injured by the Ironback Bear, its abdomen torn open, its venom glands damaged, and it was on the verge of death.
At a normal recovery rate, it would take at least several months to recover to the mid-stage of stage three.
It's only been a few days?
Zhao Hu narrowed his eyes: "You mean... something is helping it recover?"
Song Chen did not answer directly.
He was silent for two seconds, then his eyes changed.
A faint golden light shone from the depths of his originally dark pupils.
The light was faint, but it was exceptionally clear in the dim light of the psionic particles, like two ignited golden stars.
Everyone was surprised.
Song Chen explained, "This is a B-level superpower, the Eye of True Sight."
"We can see the flow of psionic energy, the distribution of blood and qi within the beasts, and... some things that are invisible to the naked eye."
The atmosphere of the scene completely changed.
Looking into Song Chen's golden eyes, Zhao Hu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
How many cards does he still have up his sleeve?
Zhao Hu's voice was somewhat hoarse: "What did you see with your True Sight?"
The golden light in Song Chen's eyes slowly dissipated.
He squatted down again and drew a more detailed picture on the ground with a dry twig.
His withered branch touched the middle of the snake's body: "I saw an unusual gathering of psychic energy beneath the scales on the snake's abdomen. It wasn't its own life force, but something external that was continuously releasing energy."
He looked up, his gaze becoming serious.
"The characteristics of that kind of psionic fluctuation can only be emitted by at least an S-rank item."
"S-rank?!"
Upon hearing this, Liu west's voice cracked.
Zhao Hu's breathing also became rapid.
What does an S-class baby mean?
The price starts at least at one billion, and the value can even reach tens of billions.
Even the most dangerous snake in the middle stage of the third tier is only worth tens of millions.
But if there's an S-grade treasure in its lair, then it's a different story.
Zhou Yuan narrowed his eyes, and the calculation in his gaze began to turn again.
He glanced at Song Chen, then at the direction of the withered forest, his lips moving slightly as if he were plotting something.
Liu Dong's expression also turned serious as he weighed the pros and cons.
Needless to say, Liu west's eyes gleamed with greed, his earlier fear almost completely washed away.
Zhao Hu remained silent for a long time. He stood up, walked up to Song Chen, and asked, "Are you sure?"
Song Chen met his gaze: "My true vision has never been wrong."
This statement is false.
His True Sight did indeed see the unusual gathering of psionic energy, but he wasn't sure what that energy was.
But he spoke with enough certainty.
Because he knew that to bring this group back together, it wasn't enough to just say "this snake can be killed"; they needed something greater than fear.
greedy.
Human greed is always more powerful than fear.
Zhao Hu remained silent for a few more seconds.
Then he bent down, picked up a stick from the ground, weighed it in his hand, and used it as a makeshift weapon.
Tell me your plans.
Song Chen knew that this meant Zhao Hu had agreed.
He looked at Zhou Yuan.
Zhou Yuan met his gaze for two seconds, then slowly nodded.
He didn't speak, but he took another poison vial from his waist and placed it in a convenient spot—a gesture that signified his return to the group.
He looked at Liu Dong and Liu west.
Liu Dong was silent for a while, then gave his younger brother a push. Liu west gritted his teeth, his expression struggling for a few seconds, before finally nodding heavily.
He looked at Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan smiled at him and gestured for him to proceed.
Song Chen withdrew his gaze, squatted down again, and tapped the dead branch in his hand onto the topographical map of the dead forest.
His voice was calm and clear, as if he had rehearsed the plan countless times in his mind.
"We won't fight head-on."
"The deadwood forest is about 400 meters wide. The snake is coiled up near the southeast exit, and its range of movement is limited, which means we only need to face its limited counterattack distance."
"Zhao Hu and Zhou Yuan will enter from the front, making noise to attract its attention. They don't need to attack; they just need to make it think the threat is coming from the front."
"Liu Dong and Liu west circled around to the flank and lit a fire in the woods. The Green-Scaled Viper is extremely sensitive to high temperatures; once the fire starts, it will instinctively move in the opposite direction, which is the southeast exit."
"Shen Yuan waited near the southeast exit, using her wind-based abilities to control the direction of the smoke, so that the smoke would cover the snake's perception range, interfering with its vision and spiritual perception within the smoke."
"And me..."
Song Chen's dead branch was located directly behind the snake's coiled position, in a blind spot obscured by tree roots and a culvert.
"Sneak in from behind."