C14 The 14th Chapter

"Do you drink?" A small flask was handed over.

Yan Xiuchuan was parched, so he grabbed it and drank like a thirsty animal.

Su Luo watched him and said slowly, "Aren't you afraid I might have poisoned it?"

Yan Xiuchuan paused, wiped his mouth, and replied, "If you wanted to poison me, you wouldn't have needed to bring me all the way out here."

Su Luo smirked, "Maybe I wanted to make sure there were no witnesses!" She laughed and playfully poked Yan Xiuchuan's forehead. "You should be more careful! Not everyone is as nice as I am."

The poke made Yan Xiuchuan stumble back, and his hand brushed against something smooth. In the moonlight, he realized it was a bone. "Oh my gosh!" he yelped, jumping up as if stung by a scorpion.

Su Luo quickly covered his mouth and whispered, "Quiet, or you'll disturb someone."

Yan Xiuchuan nodded, sweating nervously. Once Su Luo let go, he cautiously asked, "Where are we?" Glancing around, he saw the shadowy mounds and knew what they were. Remembering Su Luo's warning about disturbing others, he shivered even more. Who else could be here besides them? Were they living or... not?

Ignoring his expression, Su Luo led him around a corner to a tree, pushing aside some weeds.

Yan Xiuchuan stood frozen, terrified of stepping on the nearby grave. His nanny used to tell him ghost stories to keep him quiet as a child, and though he had grown up brave enough to stand up to Wu Chengzhao, he still held a deep respect for the unseen and the unknown.

Su Luo waved him over. "This is the spot."

Yan Xiuchuan crouched down and noticed a small hole, likely a snake or insect burrow.

"Step back and stay quiet," Su Luo instructed, pulling out a bundle of incense from her pocket. She lit it and blew the smoke into the hole.

After a moment, Yan Xiuchuan heard the slithering of snakes.

Su Luo tossed aside the burnt incense and grabbed Yan Xiuchuan by the collar, leaping up into a tree.

The rustling grew louder, as if hundreds of snakes were approaching. Yan Xiuchuan glanced at the ground and gasped. The earth seemed to ripple and surge, a foul stench filling the air. It was a mass of snakes, some slithering, some coiled, their raised heads swaying like candle flames. He clenched his fists tightly, sweat dripping into his eyes, but he dared not wipe it away. He was as rigid as a statue, only his eyes moving. He glanced at Su Luo, noticing her serious expression.

The snakes formed a tight circle around the incense ash, leaving an empty space in the center. The scene was undeniably eerie. After a while, a giant snake emerged from the cave. It had a triangular head, a black back, and yellow scales with a few black horizontal stripes.

The snake moved slowly forward, and as it advanced, the other snakes retreated. Suddenly, it stopped and opened its mouth to swallow another snake. It moved with incredible speed, leaving only the tip of the tail visible in no time. It repeated this process, consuming a total of three snakes before stopping. Strangely, during its meal, the other snakes didn’t dare to move, let alone resist.

Yan Xiuchuan was puzzled and whispered to Su Luo, "What kind of snake is that? It's so strange."

Su Luo stared intently below. "That's a Black Viper King, a rare and highly venomous creature. Growing in such a sinister place makes it the king of poisons." With a hint of a smile, she added, "You better not provoke it. If it bites you, not even the president could save you."

Yan Xiuchuan, with unexpected boldness, replied, "As long as you can save me, that's enough."

Su Luo gave him a sidelong glance. "You’re all talk. Even poison can't kill you." She nodded, "Though it's extremely poisonous, if you manage to take its bile in time, you might just survive. It's the classic case of using poison to counteract poison."

After a while, the black king snake slowly slithered back into its hole, and the other snakes gradually dispersed. Yan Xiuchuan let out a sigh of relief, "Shall we head home?"

Su Luo asked curiously, "Don't you want the crickets anymore?"

Yan Xiuchuan was silent. After witnessing such a creepy and bizarre scene, who could still think about crickets?

"You stay here, and I'll go catch some crickets for you," Su Luo said, jumping down from the tree.

Yan Xiuchuan wanted to call out to her but was afraid of disturbing other dangerous creatures. Honestly, whether or not she caught the crickets didn't matter anymore; he could always pay someone handsomely to get them.

Su Luo took out a small bamboo tube, focused on a spot, and slowly approached.

Yan Xiuchuan, standing at a distance, couldn't see what was happening below and couldn't help but feel nervous.

Suddenly, Su Luo clamped the bamboo tube down in a flash, so quickly that Yan Xiuchuan didn't even have time to blink.

Sealing the tube, Su Luo waved it at him with a smile, "Got it, come on down!"

Yan Xiuchuan felt embarrassed to have Su Luo come over and help him down, so he awkwardly hugged the tree trunk and slid down slowly.

Fortunately, the tree wasn't tall, and although his clothes got snagged in a few places, at least he didn't end up landing on his backside.

Seeing his clumsy descent, Su Luo laughed until she was nearly doubled over. Noticing Yan Xiuchuan's face turning red, she finally managed to hold back her laughter. "You're doing great, just a few more climbs and you'll get the hang of it." She shoved the bamboo tube into his arms, "Hold on to this. With it, you'll never lose a cricket match again."

Yan Xiuchuan was full of questions, but Su Luo didn't answer. Instead, she grabbed his hand and, using her agility, swiftly flew back the way they came.