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The next day, the young lady exited her house. She was planning to go to the forest again. It turned out that yesterday, after losing her earring she sat against a tree, and involuntarily fell asleep for a small while. In the end, she had to go back to the village to help an old lady with her inn, and she couldn't go to where she initially wanted to.

"Liu Liwei !" she heard someone call her from behind.

Rolling her eyes, she turned around. "It's miss Liu for you." she spat.

Coming her way was the same nuisance of a man that had been bothering her for about a month now. She heard someone suggest to him to test his luck with her, and ever since he never left her alone. She could ignore it at first, but his pesters became more common. She was starting to get really sick of it.

"You know what ?" she talked again. "Don't even call me ! Do you not have a brain to understand human language ? I told you, leave me the fuck alone !"

The man probably thought that by insisting and pursuing her, she'd end up agreeing to him. But the more he approached her, the more she wanted to murder him.

"Is this a way to speak to someone with good intentions ?"

Liu Liwei was so annoyed that she felt like laughing.

"Bring your good intentions far away from me !"

"Are you going to keep saying no to me ?" he cut straight to the point.

"Even if I have to die, I'll never agree. Now get lost."

Without waiting for an answer, she turned on her heels and made her way into the forest.

The man stayed in his place, his eyebrows furrowed. He listened to his friend today and tried to keep his calm and show some respect, but he couldn't understand why she was still so hostile.

Behind a tree, Lan was rolling his own eyes. He had come out of his hole to look for some fruits to eat, but wandered around and ended up at the entrance of the village. What a coincidence, to stumble on them again.

This situation suddenly felt familiar to him. A black snake hiding behind a tree to sneak glances at villagers. Wasn't that what happened in the book ?

He thought it was weird, but pushed the thought back for now. He had time to think about it later, but for now, he wanted to see what was happening with the villagers.

Lan didn't know what he expected, but he got surprised when he saw the man following this girl —Liu Liwei, was it. He was sneaky, trying to stay discreet. Lan easily guessed that he had something in mind, so he followed as well.

As he did, he realized that the way they were heading led to the place he had chosen to stay. He mentally sighed.

I can never have anything good for myself !, he lamented. The forest is so big, why go there specifically ?

When Liu Liwei stopped in her track, the man rushed to hide behind the closest tree. She bent down as if something had caught her attention.

"Huh ? Isn't that my earring ?" she mumbled, loud enough for the two men to hear.

Lan looked from behind his tree. She had picked a shining object, similar to the one he had found earlier. When he looked around, he realized that this was the same place where he had seen her yesterday.

He heard something shift a bit farther, so he turned his attention to look. The man had gotten out of his hiding place and was slowly making his way toward Liu Liwei. Lan instantly noticed the object in his hand : a big knife.

Is he serious ? Killing that girl for saying 'no' to him ?

When he got closer and thought she had no chance to retreat in time, he stopped caring about discretion. He let out some kind of shout as if he wanted her to notice him. His steps became more rapid, and he brandished the knife, ready to deliver the blow.

Yesterday, when he gave up on helping her find her earring, he thought it wasn't a big deal. It was just an earring, and she didn't know he was here —that was what he told himself to ease his conscious. But now, could he think the same way ? Could he ease his conscious again by thinking his presence was still unknown ? It wasn't a matter of earring anymore, but a matter of life and death !

Before he could think further about it, he crawled quickly toward the man, before jumping at him. The man was startled and abruptly stopped running. He even took a step back, but before he could do anything, Lan had already crawled up his arm and planted his fangs in his neck.

This time, when the man yelled, it was of fear. He violently shook his arm, and Lan let himself be thrown away. He had landed near the girl, but simply stood in front of her, and hissed at the man.

This kind of man only knew how to act strong (stronger than they were) when they thought the other party was a bit weak. But when faced with something as strong, or stronger, they would retreat like rats.

"A s- s- snake ! A snake !" he yelled, before running away, dropping his knife at the same time.

Lan was about to be relieved, but his body stiffened instead. What had he done ? Wasn't he supposed to stay hidden ? Not only did he reveal himself, but it was by biting a villager.

Oh no, he thought, as his eyes widened.

The book ! That was exactly what happened in the book ! And how did it end up ? Him being killed ! Then he realized something, so enlightening, it felt like a divine revelation : he hadn't simply turned into a black snake because of a curse, but had transmigrated into this book !

He quickly pictured how it went for him from here. So after that, the man would alert some people, and they'd come for him. They'd stab him, and throw him in a lake. What a bad ending !

But you're coming back later, the voice in his head said.

You think I care ? There are chances that I wouldn't survive at all ! This isn't a game but my life is really on the line ! No no no, I can't take this risk !

He twisted around, ready to flee, but was stopped in his track before he could even advance a single centimeter. Liu Liwei was still standing there, her head tilted on the side, as she looked down at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Uh..." she started, feeling a bit weirded out at how a snake was looking at her with wide eyes. "You're not just any snake, are you ?"

Lan was surprised but quickly realized that he was indeed not acting like 'just any snake'.

She looked like she was about to say something else, but Lan was in a hurry to disappear. It wasn't mentioned in the book, how long these villagers would take to come for him, but the earlier he hid, the better. So without giving her the chance to utter another word, he fled at fast as he could.

"Wait !" she called to him.

As if !, he wanted to tell her that.

He heard running steps behind him and cursed inwardly. Was she following him ? What did she want from a snake anyway ? Couldn't she leave him alone, so he could hide and hope to live a longer life ?

When he saw the pond and his tree, relief spread inside of him. It was the most familiar place for him here. He didn't know he could go faster, but upon seeing it, he sped up.

He climbed up the tree and hid in the deepest part of it. Liu Liwei was close behind him, and he heard her steps abruptly stop. He didn't hear anything for a while, before then once again there were steps. This time, she was walking.

"It's inside..." she whispered.

On the other hand, the man tried his best to reach the village, but his strengths were abandoning him. It became hard to even stand, let alone running ! But he was determined to have this snake killed.

Lucky for him, just as he was about to collapse, he recognized the village's doctor. The latter had noticed him too, but before he could greet him or ask why he looked so agitated, the man collapsed. The doctor quickly ran up to him, and noticed how pale he was. Lowering his gaze, he saw two small holes on his neck, surrounded by a purple mark, and bulging veins.

"Snake..." the man whispered. "Dangerous... should be... killed..." he coughed once.

The action seemed to have drained him of the remaining energy he had. He didn't say anymore, nor did he move a single muscle —he had died. The doctor was shocked. It was his first time seeing a snake bite so ugly. Moreover, the man had left his house just a while ago, so it shouldn't have been long since the snake had bitten him. How was he in such a state already, and so quick to die ? He thought that this snake was really a dangerous beast, and should be eliminated —along with the whole species if there was more than a single one.

He carried the dead man on his back and ran back to the village. Everyone was confused as he passed by them, and some even followed him, questioning him on what happened. But he didn't pay them attention and continued to run to the small hospital. Once he had settled the newly-dead man inside, he heaved a sighed, and exited the place.

"Doctor Chen, you have to tell us what happened !" a man demanded. "What happened to old Xu ?"

Doctor Chen knew those who had followed him were Xu's friends, so he accepted to tell them.

"I was in the forest looking for medicinal plants when old Xu suddenly came running my way. Before he died, he could only tell me that there was a dangerous snake in the forest. Looking at the injury it caused him, the skin on his neck has almost started to melt ! The poison of this snake is really a strong one."

"Since when was there a snake like that here ?"

"Right ? The children play in the forest every day but nothing ever happened to them !"

"From now on, we should forbid them from going. Look what it did to a grown man ! What will it do to kids, then ?"

"More than forbidding them to go, I think we should kill the snake !"

The bunch of men was talking, and upon hearing this last statement, doctor Chen nodded his head and chimed in.

"That's what I think we should do. This poison is fast to act, and I think nothing could save us if we happened to be bitten."

"Then let's not waste any second !" the same man said.

"Right, let's not waste ! We should gather everyone able to go, the more we are, the quicker we'll find and kill him."

After agreeing on that, they dispersed in the village, both to inform everyone of the danger, and to pick weapons.

Meanwhile, Liu Liwei had gotten in front of the tree and bent down to look inside the hollow. Lan didn't plan on biting her, but he hoped to scare her away, so he hissed. She didn't even flinch.

"Inside..." she repeated, and this time he heard her.

Inside ? Yes I'm inside, do you need to point it out ? Now if you could consider that I just saved you, and would leave alone with a chance to live, that'd be greatly-

"All right, just stay here, okay ? The villager will come for you, so don't move from here !"

What ?!

Was she telling him to stay so the villager could find and kill him ? She probably thought that he couldn't understand her, so it didn't matter to tell him.

Lan hissed more aggressively, before hastily crawling down the tree. He wasted no time to get away from this pond. Now that he thought about it, this was the only pond he saw in this forest. Could it be the mentioned 'river' where he would be thrown later ? He should have realized it sooner ! Then getting away from this place was truly the good thing to do.

"No, wait ! Don't go !" she started to run after him again.

Lan was getting annoyed. Wasn't she getting mad at that man because he was sticking to her and not leaving her alone ? Sure, Lan was currently a snake, but she should know that even snakes wanted to be left alone !

But Lan didn't know where to go. He kept going deeper in the forest, but as he continuously took random turns, he felt like he was in fact going in circle. He couldn't tell either, it wasn't like he could one hundred percent recognize each tree he passed by.

What kind of situation had he gotten himself into ? He protected the girl from being killed, but now he was the one who would end up being killed !

He had read enough transmigration novels to know that it wouldn't always go as depicted in the novel, and the one transmigrating could lose his life at any moment. Now not only did he have zero clue about what was going on in the book, but he also knew that there were chances he wouldn't survive if stabbed and thrown in the pond.

He didn't know how long he had been crawling like that, but he started to feel tired. He thought that after all this time, he could allow himself to rest a bit. However, a few seconds after he stopped, he heard countless steps running, and shouts echoing.

This must be a joke ! It was so silent just now, how are they already here ? Don't tell me I am doomed to follow every plot point ! Then no matter where I run, they will just appear there as soon as I stop ?

Lan was thorn between accepting his fate, or still crawling for his life. Though the dilemma didn't last for long. Of course he would crawl for his life !

He was about to go the way opposite to them, but Liu Liwei emerged from there. He didn't think too much of it. After all, this was an open land, he could go in whatever way he wanted to ! So he switched again, but before he could run away, he was suddenly picked up by the throat.

Damn it ! He had been too distracted and didn't notice how close they were getting !

"Is this it ?" the man who had picked him up asked. "Huh ? Miss Liu ?" he suddenly noticed her.

"Miss Liu," another one called her, "what are you doing here ? You should go back quickly, look at what kind of of beast lives in this forest !"

"He's right, just go back."

"You must know that this snake bit old Xu and he died."

Liu Liwei restrained herself to roll her eyes. "I know, I saw him-"

At this point, Lan didn't feel like staying calm anymore, and he started to squirt in the man's hold. It scared him, so he threw the snake, and since no one was paying attention to Liu Liwei anymore, she didn't continue her sentence.

"Don't let him get away !"

"Catch him, catch him quick !"

"You catch him then !"

As a few of them started arguing about it, a more courageous one tailed Lan, as he was already crawling away from them. Seeing this, Liu Liwei followed as well.

The three of them were very fast, and unable to catch up with each other. But the man picked up his pace, and closed on Lan, who couldn't go any faster, without legs.

Seeing him go faster, Liu Liwei did too. When she caught up with the two of them, she saw that the man had already lifted his sword in the air, and was swinging it down.

"No wait !" she yelled, but no one paid attention, so no one heard.

She ran even faster, stopping just beside the man, as she panted. Looking down, she saw an unconscious snake with a sword pining it to the ground.

The man was so happy and proud of himself, that he ran back to the others without taking the time to withdraw his sword. Liu Liwei pulled it out, and threw it randomly.

Her lips were parted in shock, and a thin layer of water covered her eyes. She quickly but gently picked the snake up and ran back too, but in another direction. When she reached the pond, she kneeled and dropped the snake inside.

Lan had just enough consciousness left to feel the water engulf him. He really didn't have a choice, after all. He could only wish it would go like in the book, and he wouldn't drown. Also, it turned out that the one who threw him in was the girl he had saved. It was indeed not mentioned who had done it in the book, but Lan thought it was logical to assume that it was the men.

It was a bit cruel. He died to protect someone he didn't even know, and this someone was the one trying to finish him off by making him drown.