Chapter 22: The Serpent’s Trial

The air inside the Snake Temple was so thick it felt suffocating. The dim candlelight flickered, casting eerie shadows on the coiled serpents surrounding them. Golden-ringed kraits, king cobras, and green vipers slithered silently, as if whispering secrets to one another.

Lin Han felt a sharp sting in his right eye—an unmistakable sign that the karmic threads were shifting. Fate was turning a page he had yet to read.

"What kind of trial are you asking us to pass?" Noya asked coldly, her Malay kris already drawn, its blade glinting under the flickering light.

The old man smiled faintly and gestured toward an ancient scroll resting on the altar. "This is the Serpent King Sutra, a text that holds the true path to mastering spiritual energy. But it is also a seal. If you wish to uncover its secrets, you must first pass the Serpent King's trial."

As soon as he finished speaking, the temple's candles abruptly extinguished, plunging the room into utter darkness.

"Hiss—hiss—"

A strange rustling noise came from above. Lin Han snapped his head up, but all he could see were dozens of golden eyes slowly opening in the shadows.

"Shit…" His throat went dry, fists unconsciously clenching.

A massive figure slithered out from behind the sacred shrine—a jet-black python, nearly three meters long! Its scales shimmered with a metallic sheen under the faint light, and its emerald-green eyes locked onto Lin Han with eerie intelligence.

"Tell me that's not the Serpent King…" Lin Han muttered under his breath.

"You're only half right," the old man said calmly. "That is merely the guardian. The real Serpent King has yet to awaken."

Noya had already taken a combat stance. Though her shoulder injury hadn't fully healed, her determination was unwavering. "If this is a trial, then how do we pass? Kill it?"

The old man shook his head. "The Serpent King is no ordinary beast. If you approach it with killing intent, it will devour you instead."

The moment he spoke, the black python lunged forward, its massive jaws opening wide, sending a gust of foul, damp air straight at them!

Lin Han instinctively dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the serpent's attack. But the temple floor was slick, and he crashed into a stone pillar, the impact knocking the wind out of him.

The python's tail lashed out violently, forcing Noya to retreat as well. She cursed under her breath, her eyes narrowing with sharp focus. "No killing intent? Then we need to calm it down first."

She swiftly pulled out a talisman, flicking it with her fingers. The paper ignited with a faint blue glow, drifting toward the serpent like a firefly.

But just as the charm was about to touch the python, Lin Han's right eye burned with an intense warning—

"Noya, watch out!"

The python's body trembled violently, and suddenly, all the snakes in the temple began to writhe in agitation, as if answering some unseen call. A deep, guttural growl resonated through the air, a sound so ancient it sent chills down Lin Han's spine.

A creeping dread coiled around his heart, an instinctual fear that something far worse was about to awaken.

"The trial has only just begun." The old man's voice echoed through the darkness. "Prepare yourselves."

—Serpents do not speak, but their eyes can glimpse the secrets of the world.

The air was thick with moisture and decay, as if the walls of the Snake Temple were breathing. Lin Han's right eye still throbbed with pain, and the world before him seemed shrouded in a dim, murky veil. The light bent in eerie distortions, casting shadows that flickered like ghosts.

The massive three-meter-long black python slowly raised its head. Its emerald-green pupils were like whirlpools, reflecting the deepest unease buried within Lin Han's heart.

"Do not be afraid."

A ghostly voice echoed in his mind—whispering right into his ear, yet also rising from the depths of his own consciousness.

Lin Han stiffened.

—Who was speaking?

He jerked his head around, scanning Noya and the old man. But their expressions remained unchanged; they had clearly heard nothing.

The black serpent did not strike again. Instead, it coiled itself in the center of the temple, flicking its tongue as if waiting. On the ancient stone walls, the serpent carvings seemed to tremble in the flickering light, as if coming to life.

"Lin Han?"

Noya's voice was cautious. She had sensed something was off about him.

Lin Han pressed his lips together. The voice returned, rasping and ancient, as though it had seeped through the cracks of time itself.

"You… can see the threads of fate."

His pulse pounded violently.

—This voice… was coming from the snake?

Lin Han stared in disbelief at the enormous python, and its gaze bore straight into him. It was an eerie feeling, as though something unseen was reflected in its eyes—something that had been watching him all along.

"Who are you?" Lin Han asked in his mind, testing the connection.

Instantly, the temperature in the temple plummeted. The dozens of snakes coiled around the sacred statues froze in place, as though the entire space had fallen into unnatural stillness.

"My name… is Rakshasa."

A flood of images crashed into Lin Han's mind—towering tidal waves, a shattered temple, blood pooling in the cracks of ancient stone, and in the darkness, a colossal serpent opening its eyes…

Lin Han gasped, his right eye flaring with unbearable pain, as though something was trying to burrow into his consciousness.

"Enough!"

He bit down on his tongue, forcing the sharp sting of pain to clear his mind.

In an instant, the whispers vanished. The temple returned to normal, and the black serpent remained motionless, as though nothing had happened at all.

Noya frowned. She had noticed something wrong. "Lin Han, just now—"

"I'm fine." Lin Han took a deep breath, suppressing the lingering dread. "But I know how to pass this trial."

He turned to the serpent, his voice steady. "What we seek is not the Serpent King's power… but its memories."

The old man's eyes flickered with understanding, and then he smiled—a slow, knowing smile.

"At last, you understand…"