Old Friend

In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.

White Snake was still five meters long and had not grown any larger. Yet her daily swallowing of mist had made her stronger and tougher, while the slick Snake Scales covering her body had grown whiter and more beautiful. Once, a single glance at her inspired fear; now, she possessed a peculiar beauty instead.

In the pool, triangular ripples continuously spread outward to both sides.

Splash~

Water splashed as she raised her snake head high. Her bath was over, and she leisurely crawled ashore.

She slithered beneath an enormous, ancient Ginkgo Tree thick enough that five or six people would have needed to encircle it with their arms, then rested there. The Ginkgo Tree was very old, with at least a thousand years of Lifespan. Its trunk twisted like coiling dragons and crouching tigers, its crown of Branches and Leaves spread like a canopy. Beneath it lay a smooth boulder, cool to the touch. Only a cold-blooded creature like a snake would enjoy clinging to it in summer.

Suddenly, White Snake, who had been resting, raised her head and looked into the distance. Her infrared sensory organs detected a humanoid figure approaching. She opened her jaws, baring her venomous fangs in warning.

When he came closer, her keen sense of smell told her that he was an old acquaintance—the herbalist.

Just as they had ten years ago, they bowed to each other. Ten years had made the man who risked his life entering the mountains for medicinal herbs even more weathered. In ancient times, harsh living conditions, malnutrition, and all manner of social factors meant people generally had short lifespans. Living past fifty counted as longevity, while those who died in their forties were too numerous to count. Wang Da was only in his forties, yet he already looked like an old man in his sixties. White Snake wondered whether that stooped body could still climb cliff faces to gather Dendrobium officinale.

After years apart, they met again. The herbalist had grown old, while White Snake remained as she had been ten years ago.

"Ten years... I never thought I'd see you again."

The aged herbalist muttered to himself. White Snake raised her head, watching this old man who no longer rambled on.

"I've become a useless old wreck. I can't earn money for the Household anymore, and my son and daughter-in-law have to support me instead."

"..."

"My old wife passed in the spring before last. There was drought, and nothing to eat. She wouldn't listen and ate Guanyin clay. If she hadn't eaten dirt, she could have lived a few more days. Once she ate it, she could only live seven days. I knew... she was trying to save food for the children..."

"..."

"My son has started a family and had a daughter. But deep down, I wanted a grandson more. The Wang family can't be left without an heir."

White Snake listened quietly as the herbalist chattered on. This old man had worked bitterly all his life to feed his Household, yet he had never managed to change its poverty. He did not understand why they were poor. White Snake did. In this ancient age, where class had long since solidified amid chaos, the vast majority of people found it hard to live well. To put it bluntly, merely being alive was already a gift from those powerful Aristocratic Clans and noble houses.

"People outside say there's a white dragon cultivating here. I know it was you they saw. Liu San's wife even said you appeared in her dreams, haha~"

Speechless. When had she ever entered anyone's dreams? Besides, she did not have that ability.

Beneath the Ginkgo Tree, the old man rambled to a White Snake as if speaking to himself...

That afternoon, the herbalist left.

White Snake felt that he might not have long to live. Her tongue could smell that scent of death clinging to him. Perhaps he would be happy. After death, he could meet his old wife again, and he would save food for his son's family as well.

Suddenly, she wanted to seize every moment to cultivate. Death did not taste good. White Snake did not want to die a second time.

Snakes preferred shade. With no experience in cultivation, White Snake could only draw upon the knowledge from her previous life and search for cool, shadowy places to practice Breath Control. She happened to remember the little pool on the cliff where she had swallowed that spiritual medicine. No sooner thought than done—she left the Ginkgo Tree and swiftly climbed to the mountainside. The little pool was still there. A thin stream flowed from a crack in the rocks above and gathered into the pool. The water was clear and sweet. White Snake felt this had to be an excellent place for cultivation.

She coiled herself into a ring, raised her head, and practiced Breath Control.

In the mountains, a White Snake strove to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth so that she would not die...

Several years later.

After a mountain rain, clouds and mist churned like rivers. The boundless fog was like the Milky Way pouring down from the ninth heaven, surging and roaring as it crossed deep valleys, rolled over mountain ridges, and swept onward. Amid the vast sea of clouds, a White Snake stood atop a giant boulder on the Mountain Peak, rising and sinking within the clouds.

For years, she had cultivated, seizing every opportunity to Swallowing Clouds and Exhaling Mist. Her instincts had told her she was right, and the results had satisfied White Snake as well.

Cultivation gave her something to do in her lonely life. Snakes were egg-laying creatures; after hatching, they had no idea who their parents were and had no habit of recognizing siblings. When there was nothing to do, they never met at all. If things got serious, they might even fight. White Snake had lived alone ever since she was born and had never approached other snakes. She counted as a homebody snake who had stayed indoors for over thirty years.

After finishing her Breath Control, she descended the mountain amid a gust of fishy wind.

Recently, White Snake had encountered a problem, and it was a strange one.

For some reason, large snakes kept entering her territory and approaching her. She could not drive them away. Annoyed, she could only use her advantage in size to brutally fling them aside. But after she flung away one, another came; it never ended.

A large snake before her raised its body and danced, following her wherever she went. In her fury, she bit its head and violently flung it away!

White Snake did not understand this phenomenon until much later...

Life had become impossible. She was harassed while sleeping beneath the Ginkgo Tree, and even when she ran up the mountain to cultivate, she was disturbed until she could not practice Breath Control. Drive one away, and a whole group would come. It never ended.

Another four or five large snakes slithered over. Helpless, she could only rely on her speed, far beyond that of ordinary snakes, to flee quickly.

She ran to the other side of the mountain, only for several more large snakes to gather around her.

Fed up beyond endurance, White Snake felt she needed to find a solution. Looking toward the direction Wang Da always took when entering and leaving the mountains, she suddenly felt the urge to go out and take a look—to see the human world, to see what ancient times were like. Since she had come to an ancient age, it would be a betrayal of her snake life not to experience it.

Of course, looking from afar at the edge of the forest would be enough. There was no need to leave the forest and put herself in danger.

Once she made up her mind, she set off. She had no possessions to burden her and no need to consider what to eat or where to sleep. Following that faint human scent toward the outside of the mountains, she slithered in an S-shape and embarked on a new journey.

Two days later.

The farther out she went, the more signs of human activity she found.

For instance, beneath a boulder that could shelter people from rain were many traces of campfires, marks left by chopping blades, and several simple traps. Large animals were rarely seen on the outskirts, and there were fewer varieties of animals. Most were pheasants, rabbits, foxes, and the like. Of course, there were also rats, which could be found anywhere.

After a long while, she finally reached the edge of the woods and saw the village of this world.

Her first impression: poor. Her second impression: very poor. As the saying went, poor enough that even the clanging could be heard—but this place could not even produce a clang. Below the slope stood a cluster of low, ruined Thatched Huts. Beside the creek in the valley were many rice paddies. Two elderly men listlessly treadled waterwheels to irrigate them. A gaunt yellow dog ran along the field ridges. Even the few rats were skinny.

There were just over twenty Households and fewer than a hundred people—a village so small it could not have been smaller.

She remembered the herbalist mentioning his son's family, but she did not know them and could not go looking for them. Forget it. She would take a casual look, then return to the deep mountains. Perhaps those large snakes would have settled down by then.

Thus, White Snake began her career as a peeping tom.

Someone in the village noticed something unusual nearby...

"You tell me, isn't this strange? Yesterday, when I came back from the fields, I saw hordes of rats carrying their young and fleeing the village like refugees. The chickens and ducks won't return to their coops, and the dogs have been barking endlessly every day. It's downright eerie."