Chapter 13: Descending the Mountain
However, when Mo Lin looked more closely, he realized that the human face on the snake’s head was actually an illusion caused by the peculiar arrangement of his scales.
In essence, they were still snake scales.
Looking at the reflection of the human-faced python in the water, Mo Lin was somewhat dazed:
Although his snake head resembled a human face, which could be seen as a wonderful coincidence, Mo Lin did not think so.
Because after carefully sensing it, Mo Lin discovered that something was flowing within his body, just like the so-called demonic power in storybooks.
“Human face, demonic power.”
“Could it be that after eating Hong Tianfeng, I have turned into a serpent demon?”
After swallowing Hong Tianfeng, only his snake head had changed for now. But what about in the future?
If he continued to eat, would his body change more and more?
At present, the length of this deep sleep was truly astonishing.
He had directly passed through his first hibernation.
But the results were equally astounding.
He had completed his planned third shedding before hibernation, and just as expected, he transformed from snake into python, skipping the so-called “five hundred years” of legend.
Now his body showed features of a human face, and demonic power was flowing inside.
But there was also confusion.
What exactly had caused all of this?
Was it that a snake became a demon after eating a human?
Or was there some secret hidden within Hong Tianfeng?
If he ate humans again, would he gain the same kind of benefits?
Mo Lin withdrew his gaze from the pool:
“It seems that even just to become stronger, I will need to test it again on another human.”
“I just don’t know when those snake catchers will come back up the mountain.”
“They’ve taken the initiative so many times—perhaps it’s my turn to be the one who takes action?”
“If eating humans really does bring far greater gains than eating other animals, then why should I bother staying in the mountains?”
But before that, Mo Lin decided to first see what level his current strength had reached.
As a human-faced python, just stretching his body allowed Mo Lin to clearly feel the resilience and explosive strength coursing through him.
Mo Lin slithered to a tree and swung his tail against it.
The tree, rooted by the pool for years and so thick that two men would need to encircle it, shook violently under Mo Lin’s lash before slowly settling down again.
“With one lash of my tail, if it landed on a person, I fear it would be enough to send them flying.”
Next, Mo Lin coiled himself, let demonic power flow, and suddenly sprang upward.
His body directly leapt to the treetop, reaching the lush canopy above.
Mo Lin opened his mouth and snapped, catching a startled bird between his jaws.
His body dropped back to the ground with a heavy thud.
With just a few gulps, the bird was swallowed whole.
“If a human saw this, it would be undeniable proof that I am a serpent demon.”
One had to know, at this moment, Mo Lin’s python body already weighed as much as a grown man.
Yet he had seemingly defied gravity, leaping to a height level with the trees.
This was simply terrifying.
Then Mo Lin moved to another tree, opened his mouth, and bit down.
As if the tree had met a wood-shaving machine, the hard trunk offered no resistance against his fangs, splitting directly in two.
Mo Lin spat out the wood chips, gaining insight.
It seemed that after his third shedding and transformation into a python, his strength had indeed skyrocketed.
Judging from these experiments, ordinary pythons were no match for him at all.
If represented numerically, Mo Lin’s stats at this moment would be:
【Abilities: Devour, Shedding, Poison Resistance, Snake Venom, Transformation into Demon】
These were values that even eating dozens of honey badgers might not achieve.
Mo Lin felt joy in his heart.
Then he turned his gaze down the mountain forest.
In the distance, he could faintly see wisps of cooking smoke rising and dispersing into the sky.
He had been in this world for quite some time, but apart from a few snake catchers, he had not encountered any other humans.
Based on his guess, snake catchers would not venture deep into the mountains, preferring to stay near the edges.
Which meant, the human world should not be far.
After completing his third shedding, Mo Lin could not help but develop the thought of going down the mountain to take a look.
Not that he planned to stay down there right away, but at least he could gather information about snake catchers and the like.
If the opportunity arose, Mo Lin would not mind eating a couple of humans.
Mo Lin’s guess was correct.
Geographically, his rebirth location was indeed very close to human society.
After slithering for less than half an hour, Mo Lin had already seen a village, roughly a hundred houses when counted.
Because the weather was still rather cold, there were few people wandering on the dirt roads.
Only a few children could be seen playing.
After observing the village, Mo Lin carefully noticed that compared to the tightly clustered houses, there was one that stood out.
It was at the edge of the settlement, not completely isolated, but distinctly apart.
What drew Mo Lin’s attention even more was that this house was far too close to the mountain where he resided—almost right at the foot, so near he could slither into it just after descending.
Normally, to avoid flash floods and landslides from heavy rain, even mountain villagers who relied on the land would build at a safe distance from the slopes.
But this house seemed utterly unconcerned.
Mo Lin could not help but grow curious:
“Just as well, this house is the closest to me. I’ll go take a look.”
Thus, a several-meter-long python crept slowly toward that outlying house from an unnoticed corner.
As he drew closer, Mo Lin discovered another detail.
While other houses showed no concern for appearance as long as they were livable, this house at the mountain’s edge had a painted exterior.
“It seems this household is wealthier than the others.”
Mo Lin chose a tree, coiled up among its leaves, and observed this new human world through the shadows. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ noveⅼfire.net
He noticed that other households kept a few chickens or ducks in their yards, but the painted house had no animals whatsoever.
Moreover, after shedding, Mo Lin’s hearing had greatly improved.
Though he had no external ears, it was easy for him to pick up the noises of villagers.
And yet, he heard no sound of children from that house.
Was it childless? Or were the children out playing?
Mo Lin clung silently to the tree, patiently watching every move in the village and inside the houses.
Many snakes could remain motionless for hours in the same spot while waiting for prey. As an evolved python, Mo Lin was no exception.
An entire day passed, and Mo Lin stayed still among the branches.
Under his gaze, throughout that day, only a man in his forties entered and left the house.
Even those who passed the small path leading to it avoided it like a trash heap.
That man was without doubt the owner of the house.
Although Mo Lin did not know his identity, one thing was clear—the man was not well-liked by most of the villagers.
Mo Lin calculated in his heart.
After eating Hong Tianfeng, he had gained far more than expected.
To test whether it was Hong Tianfeng’s peculiarity or simply the effect of eating humans, Mo Lin would need to consume another.
And this middle-aged man, a fellow villager of Hongjia Village just like Hong Tianfeng, of similar age and appearance, was undoubtedly a suitable target.
Most importantly, the man was inconspicuous.
Even if Mo Lin ate him, it would not be discovered immediately.
Thinking this, Mo Lin no longer hesitated.
He slid down from the tree and made his way toward the house.