234: Chapter 234 A billion dollars smells good, but you have to be alive to spend it.

No one on the beach answered him, because they saw the forest collapsing as an entire tree line was forcefully shoved apart from the inside by something.

The soaked branches and leaves rustled as they fell to both sides, several bowl-thick tree trunks being bent down and snapping the next second.

Dark brown scales slid out against the muddy ground.

The thing only exposed half of its body, yet a deep trench had already been pressed into the sandy ground.

Several women froze in place.

No one cried out at first.

Their brains hadn't yet had time to connect the thing before them with the word "snake".

Until that triangular head poked out from the shadows of the trees.

Dark yellow vertical pupils swept across the beach, a red tongue flicked out and retracted, and Anan's scream rang out first.

"Ahhh!"

"What is that thing?!"

"Snake… Is that a snake?!"

The moment Yang Ningcong saw that mouth clearly, his knees almost buckled directly to the ground.

He had seen luxury cars, yachts, and private jets.

He had also seen fierce dogs led out to show off, but he had never seen a mouth that could swallow an adult whole.

Acheng was only a dozen meters away from the beach, his face already distorted, looking upon Yang Ningcong and the others like he was seeing his last straw of life-saving rope.

"Young Master Yang!"

"Save me!"

Yang Ningcong subconsciously took half a step back.

Save?

How to save?

The PLB beacon in his hand was still flashing.

Red and green alternating.

That thing could send signals up into the sky, but it couldn't stop the getting-closer snake mouth right before his eyes.

Wang Laoliu had already stood up.

The short blade was held in a reverse grip in his hand, his body lowered, and his eyes locked tightly onto the giant python's head.

This short blade could only break the skin.

Unless it was stabbed into the eye socket or thrust through the vital parts along the oral cavity, it couldn't even achieve a delay.

There was only one chance.

If he bet wrong, he would also die.

Wang Laoliu would not give up his life for Acheng.

Acheng ran even faster.

Fear drained his physical strength and also forced out his ultimate speed.

He could already see the crack entrance.

As long as he ran a few more steps, as long as he was just a bit faster.

The leaves behind him suddenly flattened completely.

The front half of the giant python's body sprang out, and Acheng heard the sound of the wind pressing in from behind him.

He instinctively turned his head back.

That huge mouth had already reached behind him.

"Don't…"

The voice had just escaped when it was abruptly cut off.

The moment the giant mouth closed, Acheng's miserable scream was muffled inside.

The steel pipe smashed into the sandy ground, emitting a muffled sound.

The giant python raised its head.

Acheng's entire person was jerked off the ground, leaving only the sound of out-of-control struggling.

Anan covered her mouth, her knees went soft, and she knelt down on the spot.

Linna screamed until her voice cracked.

Xiao Chuan's eyes glazed over, her body swaying for a moment as she almost toppled over.

Yang Ningcong stood in place, his trouser legs shaking violently.

He wanted to run.

But his legs felt like they were frozen.

Acheng was still struggling, and a distorted cry for help came from inside the snake's mouth, "Save… Save…"

No one dared to approach, nor could anyone approach.

The giant python did not leave immediately.

It tilted its head back, its throat pulsating slowly, and its entire body pushed forward little by little.

Acheng's voice grew lower and lower.

The only thing that fell down in the end was a single shoe.

The beach went quiet for a split second.

The sea waves washed up and then receded.

As if nothing had happened.

Yet a person who had just been discussing 400,000 with Yang Ningcong was already gone.

Seeing that shoe, Anan's emotions completely broke down.

"Ahhhhh!"

She turned and ran, this cry waking up the others as well.

Linna, Xiao Chuan, and the remaining few women all fled toward the other side outside the crack.

No one cared about Young Master Yang anymore, no one thought about Birkin bags, and no one discussed medical aesthetics institutions anymore.

They only hated themselves for not growing two more legs.

Yang Ningcong was still standing in place, his mind completely blank.

After swallowing Acheng, the giant python's body paused for a few seconds.

Its abdomen had a distinctly swollen section.

But it didn't retreat back into the forest.

Those dark yellow vertical pupils swept across the beach, its tongue continually flicking out.

The air was filled with human scent, sweat, and the rank, pungent smell stimulated by fear.

Wang Laoliu's voice came from the side.

"Young Master Yang, run!" This shout was like a slap, pulling Yang Ningcong awake from his nightmare.

He abruptly raised his head.

"Wh… What?"

Wang Laoliu had already taken two steps back.

One of his hands gripped the knife, while the other hand grabbed the backpack beside the crack.

"Run!"

This time the voice was heavier, and Yang Ningcong finally found it in himself to move.

But his legs were shaking so badly that the moment he took his first step, his sole slipped on the wet sand, and he almost tumbled flat onto his face.

"Wait for me!"

No one waited for him; Linna and the others had already run more than twenty meters out.

The others at least knew how to flee. The greatest danger Yang Ningcong had faced over the past twenty-odd years was merely the chained Tibetan mastiff at a friend's house.

Now, this giant python was sliding along the sandy ground.

His mind was left with only a single thought.

This thing shouldn't exist; it wasn't in zoos, nor was it in documentaries.

It didn't exist in the world he understood before either.

"Old Liu!"

Yang Ningcong staggered forward as he ran, his voice already cracking.

"Old Liu, save me!"

The giant python moved again, its massive body sliding completely out of the tree line.

A damp trace was pressed into the sand, its thick snake body swaying left and right, shortening the distance with every single advance.

It didn't run on four legs, yet it was even more terrifying than running.

Yang Ningcong heard the sound of sand grains being crushed apart behind him.

Fine, dense, and growing closer and closer.

He couldn't help turning his head back for a glance, and then he almost collapsed onto the ground.

The giant python's head was less than twenty meters away from him, and a small scrap of tattered cloth still hung beside its mouth.

"Old Liu!"

Yang Ningcong's throat was about to split from shouting.

"Save me! Save me!"

Wang Laoliu did not look back.

His gaze swept across the reef, fallen wood, and that narrow slope on the right, his footsteps maintaining a steady rhythm throughout.

He was looking for a place that could slow the giant python down.

They couldn't go back into the crack.

It was too narrow there; once people squeezed inside, both advance and retreat would be completely blocked off.

The giant python only needed to guard the entrance, and not a single person inside would be able to escape.

Nor could they keep running on the beach forever; human physical stamina couldn't outlast this kind of thing.

Especially a person like Yang Ningcong—he couldn't run for long.

Yang Ningcong's voice continued to come from behind, "If we get back, I'll give you money!"

Wang Laoliu didn't stop. He knew Yang Ningcong had money, and he knew the Yang Family could afford it.

But money couldn't make him turn around right now and throw himself into that snake's mouth.

The giant python was getting closer and closer to Yang Ningcong.

The humid, fishy stench pressed in from behind, and Yang Ningcong shed tears and foul sweat by the handful.

This time it scared him even more than that lunatic Lin Fan.

"One hundred million!"

He roared until his voice broke.

"Wang Laoliu! You save me and get me back! I'll give you one hundred million!"

"Cash! A villa! Women! Whatever you want, I'll give it to you!"

"From now on, you'll be one of the Yang Family's own people! You'll have money to take for the rest of your life!"

"Did you fucking hear me!"

"Ten… Ten billion!"

The few women in the distance heard it too.

Linna's foot slipped, and she fell heavily onto the sand.

Tears came to her eyes from the pain, but she didn't even dare to stop for a second, scrambling up with hands and feet to continue running.

Ten billion is great, but you gotta live to spend it.