Villagers and the Snake

As Yun'er waited eagerly, the White Snake returned, dragging a hundred-pound wild boar that had been strangled to death.

It released the boar, glanced at Yun'er, then nodded toward the boar on the ground. This was a gift for Yun'er's family. Catching a hundred-pound piglet was laughably easy.

"This is for me?"

The White Snake nodded.

Yun'er's eyes curved into crescents with delight. She skipped and shouted all the way home, while the White Snake turned and slipped into the forest.

Yun'er's family, so hungry their chests clung to their backs, had picked up a wild boar from the mountain. Word quickly spread through the village. With food at last, Yun'er's father was not stingy. After slaughtering and skinning the pig, he sent meat to several other households that had run out of grain. Only by supporting one another could they keep going. The countryside folk were simple and honest, and living on the edge of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, they could only be safe by huddling together. Otherwise, the mountain beasts could turn into a demolition squad at any moment.

If they ate the pork sparingly, it could last several days. They were even more reluctant to throw away the organs. It was said that people in the county town never ate offal, but when there was no grain, nothing edible could be discarded.

After the wild boar was gone, Yun'er picked up two mountain pheasants on the Back Mountain. Her parents had already begun changing their attitude toward her.

Once or twice, it could still be called good luck. But when Yun'er, whose household had no food left, picked up another wolf, the villagers finally felt that something was wrong...

You might be able to get a wild boar, and you might pick up pheasants, but how could a fierce wolf in the prime of its life be found by a little girl?

On the hillside.

Several dozen villagers surrounded the wolf carcass. Yun'er stood in the middle, her head lowered in silence.

Though the food had helped the villagers through their difficulties, this was far too strange. If things went badly, they might very well treat Yun'er as a monster and throw her into a fire to burn alive. Such things were not unusual.

"Yun'er, what happened with this wolf?"

"..." Yun'er lowered her head and rubbed her fingers together without speaking.

"Who brought it here? Could it have been some great hero passing through our village?"

The great hero Yun'er's father spoke of was one of those martial artists who roamed the Jianghu. Yun'er, who had been rubbing her fingers together with her head lowered, switched to twisting the corner of her clothes. She still shook her head.

The man froze. Could it have been an immortal?

"Did the gods see how miserably we were living and decide to help us?"

She still shook her head.

Feeling that the matter was deeply bizarre, Yun'er's father had no choice but to threaten her.

"Yun'er! You must tell the truth! Otherwise, don't call me your father anymore!"

A neighbor wanted to stop him, but Yun'er's father waved him off, signaling that it was fine. Then he stared coldly at his daughter, thinking that if she still refused to speak, he would have to use a broom on her.

Those words were perhaps the harshest rebuke a seven- or eight-year-old Little Girl could receive. Yun'er panicked at once. Remembering how her parents especially liked her younger brother and deliberately neglected her, she grew more frightened the more she thought about it. She feared that her family truly did not want her anymore. She still remembered her mother viciously calling her a money-losing burden...

With a wail, Yun'er burst into loud sobs.

The surrounding villagers were terribly embarrassed. It felt rather like a group of adults bullying a Little Girl.

As expected, Yun'er, still only a child, confessed everything. That rebuke was like a curse, frightening the seven- or eight-year-old girl out of her wits. Between sobs, she slowly explained what had happened.

In the dense forest not far away, the White Snake sighed inwardly. After thinking it over, she decided to show herself from afar before hiding again to observe what happened next. If they intended to harm Yun'er, she would have no choice but to carve a bloody path through them and bring Yun'er into the mountains.

From within the crowd, a shout terrified everyone.

"Look! The White Snake!"

Everyone followed the person's gaze and saw a huge, somewhat beautiful White Snake...

Yun'er wailed as she ran over, throwing her arms around the White Snake. Tears poured from her eyes as though they cost nothing. If the White Snake had not already roughly guessed what had happened, she might have gone over and taught those people a lesson to vent Yun'er's anger.

She lowered her head and rubbed it twice against the girl's back in comfort.

After showing herself and declaring her presence, she turned and slithered back into the forest. She made a wide circle to observe from the other side, and only after seeing that the villagers had not done anything to Yun'er did her snake heart finally settle.

Afterward, tales of the Snake Immortal began circulating through the village again. Some villagers even brought yellow paper and candles to burn offerings where the White Snake had appeared. Besides thanking the Snake Immortal for delivering food, they made wishes as well. Some prayed for Favorable Winds and Timely Rain the following year; those were generally the more sensible villagers. Others wished for a good husband and a good marriage; those were girls of fifteen or sixteen. Still others prayed to be granted a son, since having daughters made it easy to be looked down upon in the village. In short, all manner of performances began.

Every few days, the White Snake would deliver wild game to the village, such as wild boars. Most often, it was wolves, because the wolf packs were far too arrogant deep in the mountains and irritated her.

Wolf meat could be eaten, while wolf pelts could be sold for money to buy grain. Though the villagers still could not eat their fill, they could at least endure the damp, cold end of the year.

But good times did not last. The strange happenings in the mountain village drew the attention of outsiders.

One day.

Yun'er ran quickly toward the Back Mountain. She did not care even when she fell and scraped her little hand.

"Big Snake, run! People from the town have come and said they want to catch you and sell you for money! Lots of hunters have come, and there are even people riding big horses!"

The White Snake had indeed noticed that an extra group of people had appeared in the village. Her thermal vision clearly showed the crowd, along with hunting dogs and horses. In the end, she had still attracted the attention of certain greedy people.

"Daddy told me to warn you to leave quickly. Big Snake, hurry and go!"

The snake head nodded. The White Snake turned and slithered toward the mountains.

Behind her, Yun'er, her face gray with dust, finally let out a sigh of relief and waved at the White Snake's retreating figure.

Many people had come to the village, most of them hunters and Household servants carrying great sabers. It was said that the town clan chief had personally led the group. Upon hearing news of the White Snake, the clan chief who lived in town immediately summoned hunters to enter the mountains and capture her. The White Snake had saved the villagers who had run out of grain. Men, women, old, and young knelt on the ground and begged the master to spare her, only to receive a barrage of lashes.

"Clan Chief... please, spare the Snake Immortal..."

"Yes, yes, please spare the Snake Immortal. When we had nothing to eat, the Snake Immortal brought us food and let us survive. The Snake Immortal is kind..."

The Household servants swung their whips and lashed them. The villagers were furious but dared not speak.

They bribed several villagers to reveal where the White Snake usually appeared, then headed for the Back Mountain with great nets and hunting bows. Naturally, they found nothing, but the hunting dogs reacted fiercely, barking nonstop toward the deep mountains.

The next day, led by those villagers, the snake-catching party marched grandly into the mountains. White snakes were rare, and a White Snake so enormous and spiritually aware was rarer still. Catching her would guarantee profit, whether she was given as a gift or sold for money.

These people did not know that they were walking step by step toward death. The Hundred Thousand Mountains had a fearsome reputation for a reason; it was no legend.

Within a mountain valley, a group of people advanced slowly.

In the distance, the White Snake's cold eyes glanced at the crowd. She turned and slithered away, deliberately leaving behind a strong scent. She did not head toward the Ginkgo Tree valley where her nest lay, but toward another forest she rarely visited. The White Snake was a snake, a cold-blooded animal. Words such as cruel and vicious were not jokes when used to describe snakes. Those who had entered the mountains to capture her were about to face the savage revenge of a snake...

The hunting dogs grew increasingly frenzied.

"Put your backs into it, everyone! We'll catch the big snake soon! Whoever catches it will be rewarded!"

Under heavy rewards, brave men would surely emerge. Thus, the already exhausted party accelerated once more in pursuit. The villagers among them were puzzled, wondering whether the hunting dogs had led them in the wrong direction. After all, the valley where the White Snake appeared was on the other side...