Swallowing Clouds and Exhaling Mist

The White Snake originally thought that saving the herbalist would be the end of it, but she didn't expect to see him again a few days later.

She raised her head high, her cold snake eyes fixed on the rambling herbalist opposite her. He first took out a few boiled eggs and placed them on the ground, then clasped his hands together and bowed three times.

He said a lot, thanking her for saving his life and saying that if anything happened to him, his wife and children wouldn't be able to survive. The White Snake really wanted to say that if he died, other men would support his wife and beat his children, but she couldn't speak. Finally, he asked for her blessings while gathering herbs in the mountains.

The White Snake was speechless. She was careful in the mountains and didn't know who needed blessings, let alone have time to bless him.

She turned and left without eating the eggs.

She was a snake and he was a human. Regardless of any kindness, she couldn't trust humans casually. What if he had poisoned the eggs? In the eyes of humans, snakes were food. Snake gall could be used as medicine, snake meat could be made into soup, and snake skin could be used for decoration. Her five-meter-long body was enough to attract human covetousness. She would never let cheap trust put her in danger.

Seeing that the White Snake didn't touch the eggs and left, the herbalist thought she didn't eat cooked food. He had no choice but to pick up the eggs, shoulder his herb basket, and head up the mountain to gather herbs.

He was quite clever. Knowing that the White Snake wouldn't bite him, he gathered herbs nearby. It was important to know that this area was the White Snake's hunting ground, and no other poisonous snakes appeared.

After all calculations, the herbalist was ultimately blessed, just in a different way.

From then on, the herbalist became a regular visitor to this mountain...

The White Snake coiled around an ancient tree on the cliff, curiously observing this bold human collecting herbs. He even specifically sprinkled herb seeds to cultivate seedlings. If they occasionally met, he would act familiar, sit down, and chatter about how he had collected a lot of herbs recently, enough to feed his whole family, and how he must thank her properly.

His rambling truly annoyed the snake. Who cared about those things? In an era with little entertainment, gossip was just the same few things repeated over and over.

This person had forgotten whose territory he was in, the White Snake thought.

Half a year passed in a daze.

The fruits on the trees were still green before, but now they were fully ripe. The Hundred Thousand Mountains did not have snow. Although the vegetation was green in winter, the temperature still dropped. When the temperature decreased, snakes became lazy and hunted less. During this period, they had stored a large amount of fat in preparation for hibernation.

One thing was as important as eating: cultivation.

Recently, the White Snake had developed a habit: climbing to the top of the cliff and breathing in the sea of clouds when the sky was faintly lit and the valley was filled with mist.

The early morning, with the purple qi rising in the east and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth being abundant, was the best time for Qi refining. It was said that animals absorbed spiritual energy and the essence of the sun and moon to cultivate, but the specific details were unknown. She just relied on her instincts, coiling on a giant rock, raising her head high, opening her mouth, and inhaling and exhaling mist. This was an ability she gained after eating spiritual medicine and growing larger. Swallowing clouds was too far away, but inhaling and exhaling mist in the valley was very easy.

As the sun rose, the mist in the mountains carried the purest spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

After snakes learned to cultivate, the first thing they would likely learn would be swallowing clouds and exhaling mist. It was rumored that snakes had Dragon Bloodline within them, though it was very faint. People often saw giant snakes coiled on the peaks of mountains and cliffs, inhaling and exhaling mist in the early morning. It was rumored that when snakes became spirits, they would summon heavy rain, which was actually a misunderstanding caused by seeing snakes absorbing mist. Summoning wind and rain was an ability only Flood Dragons possessed; snakes could at most swallow mist.

There were many sayings about snakes being able to attract objects from a distance. It was rumored that snakes could suck frogs into their mouths automatically, but the reality remained to be analyzed.

There was once a real incident.

In a remote mountain village, a villager saw a young man from the same village repeatedly hovering more than ten feet above a low cliff, as if playing on a trampoline. The young man found it very amusing and even called the villagers over to experience it. The villagers were terrified because there was a giant snake on the low cliff, its mouth open, sucking air towards the young man. However, the suction force was insufficient. Each time he exerted force halfway, his strength would run out, and the young man would fall back down, repeating the process...

The White Snake raised her head, inhaling and exhaling. Mist within half a meter would be drawn into her abdomen, and then she would exhale turbid air. Diligently and steadily, she accumulated the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within her body.

The misty sea of Cang Mountain hid immortal opportunities; the White Snake raised her head, swallowing spiritual energy.

On the cliff top, a giant white snake raised its body high, inhaling and exhaling the rising white mist.

After a long while.

When the mist dissipated and the sun was about to appear, she stopped absorbing, twisted her body, and descended the mountain.

When the sun came out, prolonged direct exposure would raise her body temperature. The biggest trouble was that being exposed on the mountaintop would easily attract the attention of those eagles and hawks. There was no way around it; her white body was too conspicuous, making her less safe than those colorful snakes.

She arrived at the foot of the mountain and saw the herbalist, who had just entered the mountain and was drenched in dew.

This person's daily rambling could drive a snake crazy. Through the herbalist's nonsense, the White Snake learned that this was the Hundred Thousand Mountains. After becoming familiar with her, he not only talked about his family's affairs but also about his neighbors' affairs. The White Snake had already started considering whether to poison him for the sake of peace and quiet.

As expected, as soon as they met, she heard him rambling again, so she simply walked away without looking back.

For half a year, the White Snake had never eaten any of the herbalist's food.

The rambling fellow bowed to the White Snake's retreating back as usual, then picked up his medicine hoe and went to tend to his herb garden. In half a year, the herbs in the garden had grown luxuriantly. The seedlings he had collected earlier had all grown up, and two of them were worth ten taels of silver.

"When the weather gets cooler, I can dig them up and sell them for money, buy fabric to make new clothes for the children, and buy a sheep for milk, and..."

The herbalist, with his mind full of improving his family's living conditions, squatted in the herb garden, muttering to himself. His stubbled face was filled with a happy smile.

Having a safe place to gather herbs and a private small herb garden in the deep mountains, he absolutely did not realize that his actions had already attracted others' attention...

There were other villagers who made a living by gathering herbs in the mountains. When everyone was struggling, everyone's mindset was balanced. When someone suddenly gathered a lot of herbs and obtained more money, it was easy to make others envious, especially after continuously venturing into the dangerous Hundred Thousand Mountains for half a year and still reaping rewards. The envious suspected that he had encountered a treasure land in the mountains with inexhaustible herbs. Finally, someone couldn't resist the temptation and called upon relatives and friends to begin their plot.

In ancient times, murder for wealth was not uncommon.

One day.

After bidding farewell to his wife and children and shouldering his herb basket into the mountain, the herbalist did not notice three furtive figures following behind him...

In the morning, the White Snake, as usual, inhaled and exhaled mist. After sunrise, she skillfully descended the mountain.

When she was still three hundred meters away from the herb garden, her heat-sensing organs suddenly detected three hot humanoid objects in the garden. The infrared image did not lie. The White Snake was very angry. She had kindly allowed him to gather herbs in her territory, but she didn't expect him to bring so many people. Did he really think the Hundred Thousand Mountains was just the hill behind the village?

The inherent viciousness of snakes flared up. She quickened her pace down the mountain, intending to drive those humans away. If necessary, she could let them taste her venomous fangs, hoping they had brought an antidote herb.

The enraged White Snake descended the mountain furiously!