Translator: Tamon
Xu Hei dug a pit outside the valley where he lay the Old Snake King’s body and placed a large rock as a tombstone.
He copied humans’ custom of laying the dead to rest in the hope it would reincarnate into a better life, a human free of suffering.
A snake lived for just ten years. The Old Snake King would’ve died soon anyway, from old age.
[All awakened creatures care for their offspring. I believe that is why you gave me the Snake Fruit.] Xu Hei thought.
He kowtowed three times.
He didn’t know if the Old Snake King was his parent, grandparent, or something else, but one thing was certain, it was his senior.
There wouldn’t have been Xu Hei without it.
Xu Hei returned underground and put the Snake Fruit Tree in the storage bag. He left Valley of Serpents the same way he came, going back to his old turf.
With the snake catchers having caught wind of the Valley of Serpents, staying here was pointless.
Xu Hei didn’t know what would happen to it, but with the snake catchers hunting so many snakes each year, he saw this place doomed. It was only a matter of time.
Approaching a creek, he noticed a human lying on the edge, entirely black and covered in snake bites.
Song Shiyu couldn’t move, her breathing becoming weaker and weaker.
“Her?���
Xu Hei’s eyes turned savage, feeling the urge to rush in and swallow her.
But then he paused.
“How did the snake poison her and why is she just laying there? Hmm.”
Xu Hei was cautious in his observations.
Spreading his Divine Sense, he saw everything from deep below the ground to high in the sky.
His Divine Sense reached ninety meters, as far as a late Qi Refining cultivator, yet he did not find a single clue.
No one in sight, or senses, and no trap. Song Shiyu was breathing her last as well.
“Did Zhao Wenzhuo do this?” Xu Hei started.
Then it hit him.
Why was the Old Snake King’s head blocking the Valley of Serpents’ entrance to begin with? It was even propped with a tree.
A snake head would remain alive for much longer after death. No snake catcher would make such a basic mistake.
The body was taken, yet the head, filled with venom, remained. Peculiar, highly peculiar!
Xu Hei’s instincts went haywire the more he thought.
[What is Zhao Wenzhuo up to? Why did he plot to kill his Head Senior Brother and now his Senior Sister?]
When he finished off Ding Hai, it was due to a conflict of interest. [But what about now?]
Xu Hei dared say the snake catcher in the octopus was also Zhao Wenzhuo’s fault!
“What is he after? Why is he doing this?” Xu Hei’s shock grew.
A large snake crawled over and swallowed Song Shiyu’s legs, working its way up.
Xu Hei confirmed there was no trap.
Song Shiyu might be dying, but she used Turtle Breath to seal her meridians and acupoints, preventing the venom from causing more damage.
This led to sealing her movements as well, playing dead.
Xu Hei didn’t intervene, not to finish her nor to take her storage bag. He just left.
Everything about this stank, and he was too paranoid to rush things with so many unknowns.
Since the woman lived and Zhao Wenzhuo didn’t kill her, why then would Xu Hei risk it?
For all he knew, she could have some conditional magic treasure on her that triggered upon her death. Without his scales, he’d be finished.
As he crawled away, he heard a boom from behind, followed by a huge column of fire, three hundred meters tall.
Xu Hei sighed and sped away.
…
On a hill outside Snake Village lay two tombstones surrounded by grass.
Zhao Wenzhuo kowtowed three times. “Dad, mom, sister, I’ll avenge you!
“Liu Tong, Chen Xue, Ding Hai, Song Shiyu, and Mu Yun have followed you. Only three remain!”
Zhao Wenzhuo gnashed his teeth with bloodshot eyes. “They will all die, Chen Daoling and all his disciples!”
Zhao Wenzhuo stood and returned to the Valley of Serpents covered in wounds.
He released the venomous snake poisoning him and got knocked out.
…
An hour later, two figures arrived outside the Valley of Serpents, an elder and a youngster. The elderly stared at the python’s bloated belly and sent a sword wave.
Splat!
The serpent was severed and Zhao Wenzhuo burst out in a gory mess.
The youth rushed over and relaxed after taking his pulse. “He’s still breathing. Any later and he’d be dead.”
He took out a pill and fed it to Zhao Wenzhuo, helping him circulate his cultivation method.
Chen Daoling was grave. “Just what kind of demon thinks it can just kill two of my disciples?”
His Divine Sense spread as he entered the Valley of Serpents with a sword in hand.
…
The perpetrator, Xu Hei, took a long trek to return to his mountain.
It was five miles in the mountains, away from Snake Village and a more than safe distance from Valley of Serpents. He took two days to get back.
Xu Hei spread his Divine Sense, now that he was on familiar ground, and found all his prey accounted for, making him relax.
Though there were a few extra wolf droppings that made him frown, anything was better than human traces.
Xu Hei put it aside and rushed to his old hibernation lair.
In the familiar black cave, Xu Hei finally relaxed.
He spat the storage bag and scanned it with Divine Sense.
He did a rough inspection on the way here. Taking out one of the dozen jade slips, he checked it with Divine Sense.
Xu Hei’s mind was flooded with information.
“Elemental magical arts, Fireball, Water Bullet.”
“Elemental motions, Earthen Motion, Water Motion, Fire Motion.”
“Basic magical art, Attraction.”
Everything inside the jade slips was about the magical arts the cultivators used.
Xu Hei was aware of them due to the human memories he inherited, but there was no clear explanation of how to train them. Until now.
Everything he needed was in these jade slips, letting him begin his training.
Xu Hei’s body was tough and swift, but now that he had magical arts, he was confident no snake catcher could take him on!
“This is how I differ from demons, having a similar mind to that of humans letting me learn their magical arts!
“Let’s see you try to catch me now, Snake Catchers!”
Xu Hei’s eyes were hard. He would inherit the Old Snake King’s final wish.
He would live on!