Lu Zong didn't have time to speak; he scrambled off the rock, scrambling desperately to climb away from it, shouting loudly, "Fatty, Ma Xiong, get away from there! It's dangerous!"

Fatty and Ma Xiong exchanged a look, then glanced back at Lu Zong desperately fleeing, realizing some danger must have occurred. They quickly followed the path Lu Zong had taken, asking, "Lu Zong, what did you find?"

Lu Zong was so scared his mind felt slightly scrambled, and he stammered out in panic, "I just... just saw... that rock... the rock, it wasn't..."

Fatty cursed, "Damn it, why are you stuttering? At your pace, we'll be eaten by that giant snake before you even finish explaining."

Lu Zong took a breath and continued, "I didn't see that rock before. That rock grew there later."

Fatty and Ma Xiong both gasped in shock, then glanced back at the rock. The stone was still standing there, perfectly normal.

Fatty asked, "Lu Zong, what do you mean? Explain it clearly; don't leave us hanging."

Lu Zong clarified, "I mean, when I was observing the terrain earlier, I deliberately scanned the area, and there wasn't a rock this size. I'd stake my life on it, that rock materialized afterward; it wasn't there before."

Ma Xiong scoffed slightly, "Lu Zong, you must be overly sensitive from the scare. How can a rock just grow? You must have made a mistake."

But Lu Zong remained steadfast, insisting, "No mistake. I searched carefully and deliberately at the time. If a rock this large were present, I would have spotted it instantly. Look, I even saw a rock a hundred meters away, let alone this one, which is less than ten meters from us. This rock definitely grew here later."

Fatty and Ma Xiong remained unconvinced. "Forget it, forget it. Let's not argue about it now. We need to find Ganda first."

As soon as the words left his mouth, they heard a sharp crack, like stone fracturing. They looked down and saw that the rock was slowly bulging outward. Viewed from their angle, it truly looked as if the stone was slowly emerging.

Lu Zong exclaimed in amazement, "Look! That rock is growing out of the mountain, and it's still growing!"

Fatty and Ma Xiong stared at each other, at a loss for words, simply gaping at the bizarre sight.

They blinked, and then they heard a deep rumbling sound as the rock finally detached and fell from its perch. Lu Zong burst out laughing, "See? After we slept on it, the rock ripened and fell off!"

But he immediately felt embarrassed, noticing Fatty and Ma Xiong were laughing. He had long held a personal standard for judging his own behavior: anything that amused Ma Xiong, anything that seemed worthy of a chuckle, was trashy nonsense. At that moment, Ma Xiong was laughing uncontrollably, which showed Lu Zong just how inappropriate his own outburst had been.

He grew slightly annoyed and said, "Stop laughing, both of you. We need to escape."

As soon as he finished speaking, their laughter abruptly ceased. Lu Zong looked at them curiously, wondering, Why are they being so obedient this time?

He followed their frozen gazes, and every expression on his own face solidified. Because there, where the rock had been, a pair of lantern-sized eyes were glaring at the three of them.

After a long moment, they snapped out of their stupor, screaming as they scrambled upward. All earlier nonchalance had vanished, replaced by sheer terror. Their adrenaline surged, and they clawed frantically toward the summit.

They noticed a vine as thick as a man's waist directly above where the rock had been, so they quickly grabbed onto it and began ascending rapidly. This offered much faster progress.

However, after climbing for a long time, there was still no movement below them, which caused the three a moment of doubt. "Could those eyes down there be dead? Or was it just our imagination?"

Curiosity forced him to look down again, nearly causing him to faint a second time. The head was now fully extended, its cavernous mouth gaping wide, positioned directly beneath the three climbers. Lu Zong calculated that he could easily stuff Fatty entirely inside it.

The rock-growing incident suddenly made a terrifying sort of sense: the giant snake must have been pushing its way out of a crevice, forcing the stone outward.

But now a new danger emerged, and he almost wished he hadn't found the answer.

But it was too late.

The great serpent continuously flicked out a tongue that resembled a tiny flame, its blood-red eyes fixed on the trio, utterly unconcerned. This was likely the first time in three thousand years it had seen fresh meat, and it intended to feast well.

Fatty stared at the serpent's colossal head, his voice trembling with fear. "Lu Zong, I suspect the three of us aren't enough for its daily ration. I might qualify as its breakfast, but you two combined would barely fill its stomach by lunchtime. Wait, where is its stomach?"

The three quickly turned around, trying to gauge the monster's girth and the true length of its body. But they could only ever see the serpent's head; the rest of its form remained hidden.

Fatty sighed disappointedly. "Ah, I might never see this giant snake's belly in my lifetime. Maybe we'll start a family and a career inside its stomach, but we won't even get a glimpse of our new dwelling's exterior. That's rather tragic."

Ma Xiong chimed in agreement, "How are you going to start a family inside there? Who would you marry? I'm not doing that with you."

The two began chatting back and forth, attempting to ward off the paralyzing fear of death, but the chill in their hearts only deepened. The creature below seemed supremely confident, waiting with its massive jaws open for them to fall. Ma Xiong joked, "This guy must think pies fall from the sky, but we aren't pies. You know, I have athlete's foot. That counts as revenge for us."

Fatty, however, was riddled with regret. "Damn it, I should have caught AIDS earlier! I'd infect this snake and give it a warning: your Fatty isn't just any easy snack."

Lu Zong, meanwhile, had been meticulously studying the vine in his hand, comparing it to the surrounding tendrils. His brow furrowed, and his expression turned grave. He grasped a sharp stone and jabbed it downwards.

He felt the vine shudder.

Sweat immediately beaded on his forehead, and a torrent of perspiration broke out below his belt. He yelled toward Fatty and Ma Xiong, "Ma Xiong, Fatty, get away from the thickest vine you're holding—move, it's dangerous!"

Then, ignoring everything else, he began climbing furiously, actively avoiding the single thickest vine as if it were Death itself.

Fatty and Ma Xiong, seeing the sweat and panic on Lu Zong's face, instantly anticipated danger and scrambled desperately to move away.