Autumn geese flew south as the first chill arrived.
Snakes lacked the ability to migrate with the seasons. They could not flap their wings like birds and travel back and forth between north and south with the climate, but after taking human form, traveling became much more convenient.
One morning, Bai Yujun, dressed in neat white martial attire with her hair tied in a ponytail, bid the villagers farewell and boarded the crude wooden boat she had made herself. A bamboo book case sat at the stern, along with eggs, pickled vegetables, and glutinous rice balls gifted by the local villagers. Donning a straw hat, she dipped her oars into the water and joined the great southward migration.
Diving every day was rather boring, so she might as well prepare a little wooden boat. Whether she grew tired of diving or wanted to lie on the boat and bask in the sun, it could serve both purposes.
A gourd also hung from her waist, filled with fruit wine brewed from fruit.
Snakes did not like alcohol, but after becoming a snake demon, drinking a little low-proof fruit wine was no great issue. Besides, hanging a gourd at her waist looked particularly fitting, giving her quite the air of an unbound immortal wandering beneath the clouds.
She rowed downstream, leaving the tributary and entering the waters of the great river.
Morning mist shrouded the great river. A small boat drifted slowly downstream amid the sound of oars breaking the water. From afar, only a figure in white wearing a straw hat could be seen rowing. Her hands gripped the crossed oars, pushing forward and pulling back without pause. Water dripped from the ends of the oars as they skimmed over the surface, then plunged back in to stir the current. The