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Translator: Tamon
Xu Hei’s mind snapped awake, taking a deep breath to recover some of his faculties.
Spreading his Divine Sense, he picked up on the two hunting dogs sniffing above, as well as the footsteps behind.
[It’s a trained hunting dog to sniff out snakes!] Xu Hei started.
He knew these hounds well, picking up a snake’s scent with ease and tracking it to its lair.
But since he was twenty meters below ground and used bear dropping to hide his scent, they could never find him.
The hounds sniffed for a while then shrunk back to the side, having picked up nothing.
The pack went to another area to search.
Xu Hei relaxed. It wouldn’t have made a difference even if he was found out, not when he burrowed so deep.
But the many footsteps above gave Xu Hei a headache.
“What a pain. I can’t even hibernate in peace.”
The dogs barked, getting the hunters’ attention. They dug up a rock and exposed the hibernating snake beneath.
It was two meters long, a forest rattlesnake. Its flesh could be eaten and its venom was good for alchemy.
Hibernating snakes were stiff from the cold and powerless to move. The humans cut off its head, took its gallbladder, peeled its skin, and placed everything in bags.
Xu Hei saw everything with a steady calm, wishing they would just go away already.
Reality rarely conformed.
“It’s getting late. Make a fire so we can eat, then we’ll leave.” The leader shouted.
“Alright!”
The large group only grew larger as everyone gathered around a pile of wood.
Xu Hei was close to blowing a gasket. [Couldn’t you eat elsewhere?]
He noticed the two men in the lead, a charming youth and a rotund middle-aged man.
They wore black python robes and had lofty demeanors, as well as faint Spiritual Energy fluctuations.
The python robe was the standard snake catcher attire.
“Snake Catchers!”
Xu Hei’s eyes flashed. [They’re the leaders in charge of the snake hunt this winter.]
But unlike other years, this time there were far too many people, over thirty.
Not just hunters, but youths, farmers, and even Wang Daniu.
They all gathered around the bonfire.
They threw the snake meat they butchered into the pot, the fresh kill vibrant in the boiling spring water.
Its aroma filled the air, turning lively as they ate the snake soup.
“Humans have so many livestock, but it’s never enough. Why must they go after snakes?”
Xu Hei observed his kind being eaten, frustration and anger taking hold, yet he couldn’t fight himself from gulping.
He suddenly felt a pang of hunger.
“Brother Wang, how is it?”
The old hunter, Li San, sat next to him.
Wang Daniu drank some soup and said bitterly, “The mountain is no place for me. After this trip, I’m going home. It’s almost New Year.”
“Ha-ha, home. Xiaoniu will surely make something great of himself.” Li San said with hearty laughter.
Wang Daniu hesitated. “Seeing so many people recruited this time, and with the immortals venturing into the mountains so often, I get the feeling we’re not here just for snakes. They’re looking for something…”
“Shh!”
Li San cut him off with a hard face. “Everyone knows it, but we don’t ask, nor try figuring it out. We do our part, get paid, and that’s enough.”
Wang Daniu nodded.
…
The two snake catchers stood outside their group, looking serious.
“Senior Brother, we’ve reached our target and these guys outlived their usefulness. They could also leak out our situation. Should we…”
The youth’s eyes flashed, holding a purplish pill.
The stout man’s cold tone curbed his plans. “Fool, have you learned nothing in the Celestial Monitoring Bureau? You think they won’t notice the poison?”
Celestial Monitoring Bureau did not condone blatant atrocities on mortals by cultivators, snake catchers included.
“Senior Brother, you mean…” The charming youth put away the pill, asking for guidance.
The stout middle-aged man huffed with arrogance. “There’s a bear hibernating nearby.”
The charming youth caught on, cupping his hands.”Brilliant, Senior Brother. Now I know why you picked this area. You already thought of everything.”
The stout man stood straighter under his praise.
Their conversation wasn’t carried out with words, allowing Xu Hei to hear them perfectly.
He kept his Divine Sense fixed on the two just in case, but their plan left him shivering.
[Can’t you murder people somewhere else?]
The loss of human life didn’t matter to him, just that it might affect his hibernation.
Celestial Monitoring Bureau was sure to eradicate any demon here if thirty people ended up dead.
The main issue was that the demon bear was nearby.
Xu Hei had scouted the place thoroughly before hibernating and saw no sign of any demon bear. The demon showed up afterward, out of sheer bad luck.
Unlike snakes, bears were mammals that could regulate their temperature. It could wake up from hibernation and go on a murder spree once disturbed.
[Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Should I go burn incense to Buddha?]
Xu Hei grumbled inside.
The young snake catcher took out a bottle of fine wine and offered it to the men.
“Friends, thank you for all your hard work these past few days. This will be our last trip to the mountains. After we eat, you can return home.”
“Here’s a toast to you!”
The villagers cheered, eager to share the wine among themselves.
Hardly ever did they get the chance to even taste immortal wine, let alone drink it.
“Many thanks, immortal!”
“Bottoms up!”
As the youth finished his drink, so too, did the others.
It wasn’t poisonous, just your average spirit wine, stronger than normal. If cultivators became tipsy after a drink, humans were hammered.
“That’s some damn good wine!”
“It’s the best drink I’ve ever had!”
“Ha-ha, don’t be shy, have some more!” The young snake catcher offered.
The folks were smashed in no time at all, many too drunk to get up.
Rumbling came from afar and the ground shook.
The two furthest drunks screamed in terror as they ran over, sobered up on the spot.
“A demon’s coming! Run!”
A shadow loomed over them from behind and squashed them to a paste, splattering gore and blood everywhere.
The demon bear roared, shaking the forest.
“Help, it’s a demon bear!”
“Run for your lives!”
The men were fleeing every which way in a vain attempt to escape with their lives.
Given how intoxicated they were, this meant slamming into trees, or tripping over themselves and crawling to escape. Some even thought they were dreaming, just standing there.
It was pandemonium.
“More people are dying again.” Xu Hei sighed.
As he saw the humans in a bad light, to begin with, he just wanted them to go die somewhere else and not dirty his lair.
His Divine Sense made him a silent observer of the massacre.
The demon bear had been reaping lives left and right.
Its speed belied its size, jumping into them like a wolf among sheep. Each strike was a guaranteed execution in a gory fashion befitting a raging animal.
“Save me, immortal! Save me!”
“Help! Don’t leave us!”
The villagers screamed, losing their minds before such a bloodthirsty demon.
The two snake catchers fled since the start, with the charming youth drinking while running.
Li San was the only sober hunter among them.
“Immortal, you can’t just leave us to die!”
He threw himself at the youth, grabbing his leg, only to be kicked with a savage look.
“You mongrels brought this on yourself and now you ask to be rescued? Leave me out of it!” Zhao Wenzhuo raved at him.
“Junior Brother Zhao, pick up the pace.”
The stout middle-aged man urged from up ahead.
Zhao Wenzhuo spat in disgust and jumped over thirty meters, landing right next to Xu Hei’s lair entrance.
Li San gnashed his teeth and took the bow from his back and shot.
Zhao Wenzhuo leaned out of the way, but the arrow nicked the storage bag on his waist, scattering its contents everywhere.
Pills, jade vials, talismans, and two spirit wine bottles.
The wine bottles shattered and it seeped into the ground.
“You’re dead!”
Zhao Wenzhuo flared. [How dare a filthy human attack his better?] Yet he did not go killing the man, rushing to gather his stuff instead.
Before reaching mid Qi Refining Stage, he could not control things from afar.
“Senior Brother, you have to help me!” Zhao Wenzhuo shouted.
The middle-aged man was annoyed, though still went to help him with his things. He picked up a pill and stuffed it in his own storage bag.
Sure, he gave a hand, but returning them was another matter.
Xu Hei watched the wine seeping into his cave carrying some pills as well.
He stayed clear from it, sticking to the wall, so it would flow past him.
“What did I do to deserve this?” Xu Hei cursed as his cave filled with wine.
Just then, Zhao Wenzhuo picked a talisman from the ground and filled it with Spiritual Energy.
“What are you doing?!”
The middle-aged winced, slow in his reaction to reach his storage bag.
Zhao Wenzhuo made a sign and the talisman exploded in a green flash. A savage wind picked up and struck the middle-aged man.
“Agh!”
The middle-aged screamed in the air, sailing straight for the slaughtering demon bear.
Xu Hei gawked at the sudden turn of events.
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