The White Serpent

"Whoosh—"

At that moment, an arrow whizzed past my ear, flying straight toward the cave behind me. In the same instant, Zhang Yi and the others vanished. A chilling realization struck me—this might all be an illusion, yet it felt so real. Perhaps, in the face of the Demon Clan, we were truly this fragile.

"Get out of the way!" a voice shouted at me.

Before I could turn around, I saw a massive white serpent standing before me. Its gaping maw revealed razor-sharp fangs, its tongue flicking in and out, and its blood-red eyes locked onto me with an eerie intensity.

"Don't look into its eyes!" The voice rang out again.

Instinctively, I averted my gaze and thrust my short sword toward the serpent's neck. It recoiled swiftly, dodging the strike. I shifted my stance, changing my thrust into a slash, but the serpent evaded once more. That was exactly what I wanted—just as it continued to retreat, my sword came crashing down.

From my time hunting snakes, I had learned that when a serpent rears up, its body either coils beneath it or extends slightly forward beyond its neck. Even if it pulled its neck back, the lower part of its body would still be within my strike range. I had assumed that even if my blade couldn't sever its body, it would at least sink deep into its flesh. However, the serpent's scales were incredibly tough, and my sword left only a shallow cut.

Enraged, the white serpent reared back violently, preparing to strike. Just then, another arrow shot past me, striking precisely at the serpent's neck. Yet, this beast was enormous—an arrow lodged in its flesh was no more than a twig caught on thick skin. Even so, the sting made it pause for a brief moment, giving me the chance to escape.

I leaped back two or three steps, distancing myself from its attack range. At that moment, I caught sight of the person who had fired the two arrows to save me—a young man with dark skin, a stocky yet compact build. He held a curved bow in his hand, but his quiver was now empty. A plain iron sword hung at his waist, and he stood just a few steps away from me.

"I'm out of arrows," he said, panting.

"Then we'll fight it in close combat," I replied curtly.

Just as we finished speaking, the serpent, agitated by the arrow wound, turned its attention to the young man.

"Run! Circle around the tree!" I shouted, signaling him to use the massive tree nearby—so large that it would take three people to encircle it—to evade the serpent's attacks.

The young man was quick on his feet. Tossing aside his bow, he drew the iron sword from his waist while running. As he led the serpent around the tree, I finally caught a full view of it. It was at least four or five meters long, as thick as a tree trunk, and its entire body was covered in white scales. Only its belly bore three palm-sized black circular markings, evenly spaced from head to tail.

On the second lap around the tree, its head was still chasing the young man, but its body had unknowingly begun to coil around the trunk. Seizing the moment, I rushed forward and slashed at its body. However, my short sword, with its curved tip and single-edged blade, merely scraped along its scales without piercing through.

"Damn, are you even trying?" the young man shouted at me mid-run.

"Give me your sword!" I suddenly realized that his weapon—a standard, double-edged iron sword with a sharp point—was far better suited for piercing.

Without hesitation, he tossed his sword to me. I caught it and immediately lunged forward, driving the blade into the serpent's underbelly. Just then, the young man happened to run past me and accidentally bumped into my hand, forcing the sword deeper. The blade pierced all the way through the serpent's body, pinning it to the tree. We both pressed down on the hilt, trying to keep it impaled.

The white serpent thrashed wildly, its body convulsing in agony. As it felt the blade slicing deeper into its chest, we quickly let go and retreated. The lower half of its body was now split open, spilling foul-smelling fluids and blood onto the ground. The stench was overwhelming.

Even so, the serpent was not yet dead. It writhed, attempting one last counterattack. I quickly flipped my short sword into position and unleashed a Five Consecutive Slashes at its head. Though it dodged the first two strikes, my third swing finally struck its neck. A torrent of blood and vile fluids splattered onto me, making me nearly gag from the stench.

With a loud thud, the white serpent collapsed. After twitching a few times, it finally lay motionless.

Exhausted, we both slumped to the ground, staring at each other in silence for a long moment before regaining our composure.

"I saw a small pool of water nearby when I arrived. Let's go wash this off," the young man suggested. Covered in foul-smelling fluids, I had no objections.

After washing up, I changed into the light armor and new boots that Aunt Yu had given me, along with a pair of leather gloves. To my surprise, the gloves turned out to be magic equipment. The moment I put them on, a warm sensation coursed through my body, making my skin, muscles, and bones feel sturdier.

Even more unexpectedly, the young man also had a Qiankun Bag. He pulled a clean set of clothes from it and changed. Examining his bag closely, I noticed it was almost identical to mine, except mine had a golden dragon embroidered on the opening, while his bore a red bird.

"You okay?" he asked, noticing me staring at his bag.

"This Qiankun Bag…?" I inquired.

"Oh, you mean this cloth pouch?" He chuckled sheepishly. "So it's called a Qiankun Bag?"

"Yeah. Where did you get it?" I asked, surprised that he didn't even know its name.

As we walked from the pool back to the cave, he introduced himself as Gu Bing, a resident of Snake Valley Village. His father was the village physician, and his Qiankun Bag was made by a woman in the village known as Granny Xiong. Apparently, she was skilled in crafting various fabric items, but no one in the village knew her origins.

Gu Bing had entered the mountains in search of medicinal herbs and to catch snakes, harvesting their snake gall for medicine.

While dealing with the white serpent's carcass, I wasn't sure if its flesh was edible, so I decided to cut it into pieces and store them in my Qiankun Bag. As for its snake gall, I let Gu Bing keep it—after all, he had saved my life. He hesitated at first but eventually said, "How about I soak it in wine and treat you to a drink later?"

The serpent had also exuded a large amount of thick, oily secretion. Gu Bing suggested storing it in a container—it might be useful, even if just for lighting torches.

I found myself warming up to Gu Bing's straightforward and honest nature. After cleaning up the remains, we built a fire at the cave entrance and chatted.

"It's already dark. If we try to leave now, we'll just get lost in the mountains. Looks like we'll have to stay here overnight," Gu Bing remarked.

"Yeah, it's getting chilly. I hope it doesn't rain," I replied, recalling that my original plan had been to sleep in the cave. "By the way, what's the deal with that white serpent?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Gu Bing shook his head. "I've only heard the village elders say that there are many creatures in Ninefold Ridge that have lived for hundreds or even thousands of years, and snakes, in particular, have the longest lifespans. Once these creatures live long enough, they develop illusionary abilities that can confuse people. You looked like you were possessed just now—I called out to you for a long time, but you didn't respond. In the end, I had no choice but to take the risk and shoot an arrow."

So it was an illusion! But that vision had been too real. It seemed that not only did it create an illusion, but it also stirred up my deepest fears. As for the Black Markings on the white snake's belly, Gu Bing said that a few days ago, Old Wu, a skilled snake catcher in the village, had also encountered a white snake in Second Ridge with two Black Markings on its belly, though it was much smaller than the one we had just seen. They hadn't dared to catch it.

"Second Ridge, a white snake with two Black Markings; Third Ridge, a white snake with three Black Markings." I muttered to myself, "Do you think if we go further into Fourth Ridge, there will be a white snake with four Black Markings?"

"Haha!" Gu Bing laughed and shook his head. "I don't know. Almost no one from our village has ever gone into Fourth Ridge."

Perhaps there was a white snake in every valley, all the way up to the Thousand-Year White Serpent at the peak of Ninefold Ridge. Maybe... who knows?

"By the way, let's check out the cave," I suddenly remembered that we'd been talking for so long but hadn't actually gone inside.

The two of us lit our torches and entered the cave. It was spacious but not very deep, and the stench inside was overwhelming. Other than some skeletal remains, there was nothing of interest. Because of the foul smell, we decided to camp outside for the night. So, I took out my Temporary Tent from my Qiankun Bag, set it up against the rock wall, and positioned it near the fire.

"Hey, why does your tent fabric have this symbol on it?" Gu Bing suddenly pointed at the tent cloth.

I hadn't noticed before, but now that he mentioned it, I saw a faint emblem on the edge of the fabric. Though not very distinct, I could make out a crossed Axe and Greatsword Emblem, with a circular shape below them, inside of which was a design resembling a tiger's head. This fabric was something I had torn from Grandfather Pan's courtyard—I hadn't paid attention to whether it had a symbol on it at the time.

"You've seen this emblem before?" I asked.

"I have, but I'm not sure if it's the same one," Gu Bing scratched his head.

"Where?" I pressed him. I didn't know what this emblem represented, but it was either connected to Grandfather Pan or to the Orcs who had delivered the lumber.