Guarding the Hall on the Mountain

After the White Snake woke up, she found herself standing on the mountainside of a magnificent, towering mountain. The first thing she saw was a giant rock, seven stories high, inscribed with three large characters written in a powerful, flowing script: Shenhua Mountain.

Shenhua Mountain pierces the sky, its peaks dominating the earth for thousands of miles.

The peaks stretched out, leaving the heavens and earth vast and empty. She remembered visiting Huashan on Earth in her past life, but this mountain was even higher, larger, more perilous, and more majestic than Huashan. The White Snake knew she had encountered an Expert. She had been reluctant to be captured and made a doorkeeper, but now it seemed her luck was quite good. Having a powerful backer meant a good life. Even if the Expert casually discarded something they no longer needed, it could greatly benefit a mere snake like her.

The woman led her two young disciples up the mountain, chatting and laughing. The White Snake followed closely behind.

As they traveled, even with the White Snake's severe myopia, she could tell how beautiful the scenery was.

They walked along stone steps at the edge of the cliffs. Waterfalls of all sizes were visible everywhere, the pools clear enough to see fish swimming. Steep cliffs and precipitous peaks soared straight into the clouds, with vast mountain valleys and rugged, strange rocks. Grand halls in the mountains were layered one after another, resembling palaces in the heavens. Stone bridges and long corridors connected the valleys. Ancient pines grew on giant rocks or beside waterfalls. Clouds and mist swirled, creating waves in the sea of clouds. As a gentle breeze blew, stone pavilions appeared and disappeared in the sea of clouds. If one were to sit in a pavilion with a pot of clear wine and play the guqin, it would truly be a paradise on earth.

The White Snake raised her head to look at the sky. A massive formation diagram was slowly rotating. No wonder they weren't flying up the mountain but walking back; the sky must be a forbidden zone for flying.

Along the stone steps and mountain paths, they occasionally encountered cultivators, young and old, dressed in white robes with blue patterns, descending the mountain. Upon seeing the woman, they all bowed and made way.

These cultivators seemed very wealthy, their clothes adorned with silver or gold threads, and they carried swords that were clearly extraordinary. The snake felt as if she could squeeze a lot of oil out of them if she grabbed them and twisted hard.

She gathered a lot of information along the way.

This was Chunyang Palace. The woman was Yu Rong, the junior sister of the Palace Master. The young boy was Yang Mu, and the younger girl was Xu Ling. They were Yu Rong's personal disciples. It was said that Yu Rong only had these two disciples in Chunyang Palace, and countless people tried desperately to get in but failed.

It seemed she had hitched herself to a big shot…

Shortly after, they arrived at the entrance of a massive, ancient archway. Over a dozen guards made the White Snake feel very nervous. The stone archway was inscribed with three characters, "Chunyang Palace," radiating spiritual energy. For some reason, after entering the mountain gate, she found the air exceptionally fresh.

She followed behind the three, passing many squares where disciples practiced their skills, exquisite halls, and stone bridges and long corridors. After a long while, they reached a secluded and quiet, exquisite palace. The palace stood on the edge of a cliff, with ancient pines standing strong amidst the floating clouds.

Looking at the empty hall with only three people, the White Snake finally understood why they had brought her back. It turned out they really needed help guarding the door.

Regardless, it was good that she didn't have to worry about becoming a wallet, a handbag, or delicious snake soup.

There was no need to kowtow or serve tea; there were no rituals. Bringing back a snake spirit to guard the door wasn't the same as accepting a disciple, so there was no need for any ceremony.

"This hall will be your residence from now on. You also need to patrol the divine temples on the nearby mountain peaks. I have already notified the kitchen and the internal affairs department. You can go to the kitchen to eat. Also, remember not to wander around carelessly, or no one will be able to save your life," Yu Rong said sternly.

The White Snake nodded. She couldn't not nod.

Seeing how intelligent the White Snake was, Yu Rong was very satisfied. Then, without regard for whether the White Snake was present or not, she began to teach her two disciples cultivation.

The White Snake simply pretended to be ignorant and found a spot in the hall to coil up and eavesdrop.

The two disciples, Yang Mu, was not very friendly towards the White Snake, often glaring at her. The little girl, Xu Ling, was particularly mischievous, occasionally reaching out to touch the White Snake's scales. Suddenly, not having to worry about hunting or being vigilant against predators, she felt a little unaccustomed to the quiet and safety of this place.

"Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, Three gives birth to all things…"

Familiar words. The White Snake only remembered hearing them in her past life. Although they seemed simple, they were actually profound. Outside the hall, cranes spread their wings and clouds churned. Inside the hall, a White Snake was openly stealing knowledge…

From then on, the White Snake began her cultivation life.

When she had nothing to do, she would wander around the palace, scaring away mice and driving off mosquitoes. Then she would go to the open space in front of the hall to watch Yu Rong's two disciples practice. In the morning, she would go to the cliff edge to inhale the mist and cloud, and whenever she had nothing else to do, she would gaze at the jade bottle on Yu Rong's tea table, which contained delicious elixirs. However, it wasn't a snake's place to eat them.

Three days passed. The White Snake finally remembered that she needed to eat something. She could skip cultivation, but she absolutely could not skip eating. This was a lingering effect from her childhood of not having enough to eat.

Leaving the palace where Yu Rong resided, the White Snake, with a jade pendant hanging around her neck, swam towards the kitchen.

The jade pendant was arranged by Yu Rong, who feared that some disciples in the palace might not know the details and kill the White Snake with a sword. The White Snake was very satisfied with this; being alive was much better than being killed.

She swam through mountains and rivers and over small stone bridges, her forked tongue flicking out. Soon, she followed the scent to the kitchen.

The kitchen was very large, needing to provide meals for everyone on the mountain. While cultivators didn't need to eat every day, they still had to cater to the ordinary low-level disciples and the laborers on the mountain. It was very lively, somewhat like a large cafeteria. Judging by the size of the cafeteria, the White Snake guessed that there were at least nearly ten thousand people on the mountain.

Under the gaze of many eyes, the White Snake slithered into the dining hall. From afar, she saw a large, plump uncle waving at her.

"This way, that snake, come over here~"

The White Snake obeyed the arrangement and swam unsteadily to the kitchen. Another crowd gathered. After this experience, everyone on the mountain should know that there was a new White Snake.

The plump uncle prepared a large wooden basin in the kitchen, filled with meat and bones that were difficult to handle, as well as overly fatty meat.

Very good. Fatty meat didn't matter to a snake and was very nutritious.

Lowering her head, she easily swallowed all the food in the basin. She nodded at the plump uncle and turned to leave, leaving the plump uncle behind, marveling. This was probably the first time in his life he had fed a snake after feeding people.

As she passed a small stream, she dipped her head into the water to wash it, cleaning the bloodstains from the corners of her mouth.

She glanced at the startled crane that had flown up a tree nearby. The White Snake felt it was better not to steal and eat the crane for now. Who knew if it was someone's pet? She could always sneakily eat it in the middle of the night later.

She crawled back to Yu Rong's palace and coiled up on a large rock by the cliff to sleep. Guarding the hall? No one would dare to steal from this place. The White Snake didn't believe there weren't any formations around the hall.

Yang Mu, Yu Rong's disciple, was rigid, and Xu Ling was mischievous. The little girl was always restless, and ever since the White Snake arrived, her eyes had lit up, and she often sought out the White Snake to play. Just now, the White Snake, who had fallen asleep, heard someone approaching.

She opened her snake eyes. Her nearsighted eyes finally made out that it was Yu Rong approaching, but… something seemed wrong.

"White Snake! How can you be so lazy! Get to work quickly!"

The 'Yu Rong' in front of her was scolding the White Snake.

The White Snake flicked her forked tongue a few times, then lazily lowered her head and continued to sleep.

"Aiya! You saw through me again, that's no fun."

The illusion was removed, revealing Xu Ling. It was just Xu Ling disguised as her master to tease the White Snake. The White Snake, after being startled at first, quickly found the flaw. Illusions only confused the sight. Xu Ling and Yu Rong had different scents. Her forked tongue easily captured the scent particles. Moreover, from an infrared perspective, Xu Ling's small stature was very obvious.