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Translator: Tamon
Xu Hei stared at all the blood on the ground, his heart beating out of his chest.
[That was close! I almost lost my poor life. Thank the heavens I have quick reflexes to keep me alive.]
Xu Hei would never ever underestimate humans. The suddenness of these two’s appearance made him feel it was premeditated.
“Why does this always happen when I go to a shrine? First was that human pill and Daoist, and now this man and woman.”
Xu Hei cursed to himself, wondering if he was cursed for trouble to seek him the moment he got into a shrine or temple.
Staring back at the vague statue’s features, he had a bad feeling creeping into his heart.
[Is it because I ate the offerings and offended the Mountain God?]
Xu Hei’s tail winded around the bloody corpses and threw them on the offering table. He went to the praying mat and bowed again and again.
“Oh, Mountain God, a tribute out of compensation. I guarantee it is better than roasted duck. I’ll just go now.”
Xu Hei crawled through the window, never looking back as he darted with incredible speed.
Xu Hei vowed to never set a scale on this blasted place ever again. The mountain was a haven as far as he was concerned. In this danger zone that was the shrine, he also included Chen Town.
Behind him, the statue shifted, and the dust drifted down.
The stench of death drew in mangy dogs, but that wasn’t Xu Hei’s problem.
…
…
Back to his turf, Xu Hei’s return to his daily routine.
It would seem that paying his respects did the trick. There were no more nightmares or Chen Fan in his dreams.
He gradually put the event in the back of his mind.
The next two months flashed by like lightning.
Xu Hei roamed the mountain for critters and easy prey, with a few fruits and plants sprinkled in between to complete his diet.
He passed by the farmer outside of Snake Village a few times now, often when he was in the field and teaching his son to work the land.
Coincidence or not, the child kept finding Xu Hei, up that tree or between those rocks.
The two’s eyes met in eternal silence.
“Xiaoniu, what are you gawking at?”
“Nothing.”
The youth went back to work under his father’s admonishment.
Xu Hei’s repeated observations allowed him to learn the kid’s name, Wang Xiaoniu, and his father, Wang Daniu, farmers of the village. Their family also had a grandmother and a younger girl, Wang Xiaoya.
Wang Xiaoniu would rather read than farm, to pass the official examination so he could take his little sister to the city. He’d often go to the watermelon patch in the middle of the night to read under the pale moonlight.
Wang Daniu sighed, too poor to support him with books, but he didn’t want to crush the boy’s ambition either. He would always sigh whenever he thought about this unsolvable situation.
Xu Hei slipped away.
…
“Reading to obtain knowledge…” Xu Hei admired from his perch on a tree.
He also wanted to read and know more about humans’ lifestyles.
Humans came into this world blessed by nature. They were free of dangers, unlike wild animals under constant threat of death.
Alas, reincarnating into a human required skill. Not just any being could enjoy such fortune.
A squirrel climbed up the tree and squeezed into the pine cone-filled tree hollow.
This was its hard work this entire year to pass the winter.
In a flash of blue, a snake tail snatched it and snapped its neck before it even knew what happened.
The snake tail’s owner had been starving for days.
[Do they envy humans as well?]
“Hey, can you understand me?”
Xu Hei sent to the blue snake with his Divine Sense.
The snake jerked in fright and let go of its prey, fleeing for its life.
Xu Hei felt alone and abandoned. He was now capable of conscious thought but had no one to talk to.
Anyway, he didn’t have time for flights of fancy. He was starving.
Xu Hei ate the squirrel and chased after the blue snake to snack on it too.
“May you reincarnate into a human in your next life.”
Xu Hei darted into the forest to begin his hunt of the day.
Alas, the prey was barely enough to fill his belly, let alone increase his cultivation. Cultivating just through breathing Qi was too slow.
He wondered if he’d ever get to dine on another demon.
…
Summer ended and autumn made its presence known with a torrential downpour.
It happened every year like clockwork, flooding the river and making it break its banks. Many fish were carried along with the flow making it the best time to catch them.
This year’s downpour was even more severe, and with tons of salmons. There was always a farmer spreading a net and coming back two hours later with a big haul. Even the unseasoned blacksmith would have a bucket filled with them.
Wang Xiaoniu’s family join the rave as well.
“Another high tide.”
Watching the groups leave the village, Xu Hei was taken back to last year.
He was hiding in the river when he struck the oblivious fishermen. The heavy casualties led to a hundred officers and a demon vanquishing Daoist surrounding him.
Xu Hei had never been so close to dying in his life.
“I better keep to myself.” Xu Hei spoke to himself.
His current knowledge let him know the power of the demon vanquishing Daoist, at the Qi Refining Stage.
He reckoned he had to have turned into a demon last year. It was the only logical explanation for his miraculous escape, from a Daoist no less.
“Dad, we’ve caught enough fish. We can’t eat anymore and would spoil.”
“You know nothing! Take these back while I gather some more.”
Wang Daniu threw the fish at the door, next to the several already full buckets, and went with the net to get more.
Wang Xiaoniu had to give up and carry the heavy salmon into the house.
His head snapped behind and met Xu Hei’s gaze on the hillside in the distance.
Xu Hei had been coming and going around the farm for a while now, getting used to listening to the Wang family’s chatter.
Wang Xiaoniu had been noticing him every single time.
The human and snake, despite having no contact, grew accustomed to each other.
[The Old Snake King is back. Does he also want fish?] Wang Xiaoniu wondered.
In any other case, finding a snake roaming around his house would cause panic, but Wang Xiaoniu never felt that way with Xu Hei.
He gathered his courage and took a step closer.
Xu Hei shrank back.
He watched the humans’ lives from the shadows, but that didn’t mean he wanted to come in contact with them.
Wang Xiaoniu raised a bucked with fish and placed it at the beginning of the hill.
“Old Snake King, everyone is scared of you, but not me. This fish is for you, ” Wang Xiaoniu said as he placed down the bucket and withdrew with a disarming smile.
Xu Hei had learned enough about humans to understand their speech, but doubt remained.
[What’s the dumb kid doing giving me fish? To poison me?]
If it were anyone else offering, he’d never even consider it, but since it was Wang Xiaoniu, the only human he knew the most, he knew the naive kid had no trick up his sleeve.
Besides, he witnessed the father and son bringing the fish home. There couldn’t be any poison involved.
Xu Hei gazed at the bucket and flicked his tongue, feeding his appetite.
“Who cares, one bite won’t hurt.”
Xu Hei crawled over and bit into a fish.
Wang Xiaoniu watched from afar with a silly grin.
Xu Hei found the taste to his liking. [This two-legged animal sure is weird, giving a snake food. Doesn’t he know the story of the snake and the farmer?]
His mind was in doubt, but his body was honest, gulping down the fish in moments. Waste not, want not.
He turned back to Wang Xiaoniu and nodded as humans did.
Wang Xiaoniu’s eyes shone, “The Old Snake King nodded at me. He nodded!”
“Where?”
His little sister hopped out of the house and stared into the distance. When she noticed Xu Hei nodding, she gapped.
Xu Hei made himself scarce, seeing as more and more villagers approached.
The brother and sister were too overwhelmed to notice.
The rumors were all wrong. The Old Snake King wasn’t some man-eating demon, but a polite one.
“I told you, the Old Snake King isn’t a man-eating demon. He even helped us!” Wang Xiaoniu spoke like a sage.
“I know, I know, he ate the demon boar and avenged mother.” Wang Xiaoya spoke innocently.
Just as they finished, they heard a cry.
“Help! The Old Snake King ate another one!”
The mournful cry came from the neighboring blacksmith Zhou’s son.
The brother and sister ran out of their home to look. The villagers fled out of the village in panic, looking terrified. Even the two’s father was among them.
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