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墨書 Inktalez
I was taken aback for a moment, then quickly addressed everyone, "Snakes are very cunning creatures; they often play dead. Moreover, even a dead snake can be sensitive to infrared signals for several hours. If you put your hand near its mouth, it might suddenly strike and bite you, so never attempt to catch it with your hands."
I instructed a soldier to use a bamboo pole to prod the coiled snake away, then from a distance, I chopped off its head with a knife. At that moment, He Baisha and a few others curiously approached to take a look, but I sternly stopped them. I warned them not to let their curiosity lead them to observe the Snake Head and proceeded to bury it deeply with a piece of rag. A few were quite puzzled, and I smiled lightly, telling them they would understand why by nightfall.
As for the snake, we took it to the kitchen for further processing. The Snake Skin is valuable and can be used in medicine. The Snake Gallbladder is also useful; it can be soaked in liquor to dispel wind and cold and eliminate dampness. With plenty of water around Base, the dry and cold northern climate can be harsh on the skin, while the southern winter is damp and chilling to the bone. I planned to brew some Snake Gallbladder Wine for our winter gathering at Unit so that the soldiers could drink it to ward off moisture.
As for the snake meat, Garfield happily took it to make Snake Soup. Many soldiers at Unit had never eaten snake before, so during dinner that night, many exclaimed how delicious it was.
After dinner and watching the News Broadcast, everyone began to engage in free activities. He Baisha and Garfield insisted on keeping me occupied with their questions; they found everything rather strange. While snakes were common around Base, where could one find a King Cobra? Let alone a King Cobra!
I sat down at the table and asked everyone in return, "First of all, has everyone seen Animal Planet? Do you think Hunan would have King Cobras?" Everyone fell silent, so I continued, "These creatures only live in Yunnan-Guizhou and Guangdong and Guangxi; Hunan does not have them. As for why there was one here, let me tell you a story first; you can judge for yourselves afterward."
Seeing everyone gather around with keen interest, I began recounting an unbelievable story from my training after enlisting last year.
It was July 2000 when I had just graduated from university and was recruited through Special Recruitment directly into concentrated training in Guangxi. That year saw an unusually large number of recruits; I remember we were divided into five teams led by third-year Cadets from military academies who served as class leaders and squad leaders for our three-month pre-deployment military training.
The time was short but required us to transform from civilians into soldiers, which led to an intensely packed training schedule. The first two months were spent on campus training, followed by a month of Live-Fire Shooting training and field exercises. During our time on campus, we woke up at 6 AM each day, ran three kilometers along the Inner Loop Road of the school, then returned to make our beds and wash up. After breakfast, the squad leader would take us to attend lectures; the last two periods of the morning were dedicated to military skills training. After finishing training and lunch, we learned how to fold our beds again before taking a short afternoon nap. In the afternoon, we resumed lectures followed by physical training sessions after dinner.
Sometimes we joked that we changed clothes more frequently than women—at least four or five times switching between regular uniforms, physical training gear, and Camouflage Uniforms.
Although the school was located in an urban area, it had vast teaching buildings, living quarters, playgrounds, military training fields, and a Shooting Range. All Cadet dormitories in the living area were nearly identical: three stories high with half of the third floor serving as study rooms that also functioned as meeting rooms for our entire team. Each floor had one public restroom and one Announcement shower room along with washing areas. In front of the building was a Cafeteria while behind it was a training area for parallel bars. The living area had cement floors for easier vehicle access without any trees or grass.
I was in the last class—the Twelfth Class—and I still don't know what led the leadership to appoint me as class leader. Our class consisted of ten students from various Medical Universities.
Classes officially started on August 1st that year, marking the beginning of my military career and revealing a world I had previously found mysterious.
Military Training life was exhausting and monotonous; fortunately, I had motivation back then as I could frequently correspond with my girlfriend through letters or queue up at one of the few public phones in the living area to share our feelings over long-distance calls. Time passed like this as I gradually adapted to life here and bonded with everyone.
One night in September after Roll Call ended, we rushed up the stairs excitedly. To explain this: many who have attended military academies know that those living on higher floors rush faster after Roll Call because space in the shower room is limited; getting there early means getting to wash up sooner—saving time for writing letters or chatting afterward. So every time Roll Call ended, except for those on the first floor, most others would dash upstairs like they were competing for something.
As class leader positioned at Row A during Roll Call gave me an advantage; as soon as it was announced that Roll Call was over, I bolted toward the staircase.
I was first! A sense of pride swelled within me; my sprinting skills were no joke—while I might not be first in endurance tests, when it came to explosive power and speed, I had full confidence in myself—I was quite agile.
As I dashed past halfway up the second-floor stairs and stepped onto the middle landing platform, suddenly a black stick shot up before me!
I instinctively halted my steps, and upon closer inspection, I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine! What I thought was a stick turned out to be a snake. Its lower body coiled up, making it hard to tell how long it was, but its girth was as thick as a bowl. This one appeared to be a King Cobra. Although I had never seen a King Cobra before, I had watched enough documentaries about the animal kingdom to recognize that this snake, with its swollen neck, was indeed a King Cobra! It was now facing me, less than half a meter away!
I didn't have time to think about where the snake had come from when it suddenly seemed startled and lunged at me. Without thinking, I jumped back and shouted, "There's a snake! There's a snake!"
Fortunately, the staircase was crowded with people, and I fell onto a group behind me. They caught me while simultaneously asking in confusion, "Where's the snake?" "No way! Are you joking?"
I took a moment to steady myself and spread my arms to block those who wanted to move closer for a better look. I shouted, "There's a King Cobra on the upper platform! Everyone, step back quickly! Report to the captain! Is there anyone who can grab tools from the tool room? A shovel or pickaxe will do!"
As I yelled, the crowd slowly began to retreat. A few brave souls pushed forward to get a glimpse. We noticed that the snake remained on the flat stage, showing no intention of moving up or down. What was going on?
After several minutes of standoff, the brothers with tools arrived. I called out, "Those with tools, go up and take care of that snake! We can't just let it come here and then leave!"
No one spoke up at first. After a moment, someone from behind said, "You're the squad leader; you should go first."
I felt uneasy because I've always been afraid of cold-blooded creatures. During my anatomy class in medical school, I had to force myself to catch frogs; dealing with snakes was even worse.
However, there was no choice—the crowd was growing larger and more boisterous. Gritting my teeth, I snatched an engineer's shovel and made my way up.
At that moment, I was young and reckless, unaware of the danger ahead. Gripping the engineer's shovel tightly, I walked forward while keeping an eye on the snake. Thankfully, it hadn’t moved; it remained coiled on the platform.
I carefully stepped onto the platform.
As if disturbed by my presence, the snake reared up again, flicking its tongue and turning towards me as if warning me not to come closer.
I thought to myself that if we encountered each other in the wild, it would be one thing; however, you are now occupying our territory—this won’t do.
While I contemplated this, my foot had already taken another step forward. The snake lunged at me without hesitation. With both hands gripping the shovel tightly, I aimed for its head as it approached from the left side and swung hard from left to right. There was a loud smack as my shovel struck its head; it slammed against the wall before bouncing onto the ground.
It wasn’t dead yet! The snake wobbled and lifted its front half again. Determined to eliminate this threat once and for all, I silently urged myself forward and swung the shovel down towards its head!
Just as I was about to hit it, it suddenly twisted its body and dodged my strike. The shovel hit nothing but air and vibrated painfully in my hands. At that moment, it seized the opportunity and darted towards me in an attempt to bite my hand holding the shovel.
It moved with incredible speed—like a flash of black lightning! By the time I tried to retract my hand, it was too late. I had no choice but to risk it; I dragged both hands back along the shovel towards its head. There was a dull thud as the wooden handle of the shovel collided with its head. The King Cobra clamped down on the handle just inches away from my hand!
I broke into a cold sweat; after all, I'd never fought a snake before. But there was no time for hesitation now—I gripped the shovel tightly and pressed down towards its head while bending over and stepping on what seemed like seven inches down its neck.
Before it could even react, I had already pressed it to the ground with my shovel, my left foot firmly on its neck. With both areas under control, the King Cobra panicked, thrashing its lower body in an attempt to wriggle free. Unfortunately for it, I held it down tightly, and its struggles were in vain. In the end, its entire body was almost coiled around my left leg, which suddenly felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead.
Though the whole process sounds lengthy, it actually took only a minute or two. Seizing the upper hand, I shouted, "Everyone, come here! I've got the snake!"
Immediately, a crowd surged forward. Someone beside me said, "Wang Wei, hold steady! I'm going to chop off its head!"
I looked up to see the captain had arrived, wielding a machete. A wave of relief washed over me; now we had a solid plan. I nodded and continued to apply more pressure with my hands and foot.
"Slowly move your foot back to give me some space!" I wasn't sure what the captain was planning, but I cautiously shifted my foot a few dozen centimeters down the snake's body as instructed. I turned my head towards the captain but hadn't even had time to ask when a flash of steel caught my eye. Suddenly, the part of the snake's head I was pressing down on felt lighter. The snake beneath my foot stopped struggling as well, and the weight coiling around my left leg eased significantly. Had the captain severed the snake's head?
That was incredibly fast! So precise! I was bent over the snake's body; we were only about forty centimeters apart at most. Yet in such a tight space, the captain managed to strike so quickly and forcefully. I couldn't fathom how he did it.
As I pondered this, my head instinctively turned to look at the snake to see what had become of it.
"Don't make eye contact with its eyes!" the captain shouted fiercely.
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