The Snake Catcher's Tale: A New Edition

[In the wilderness of Yongzhou grew a strange snake, black-bodied and white-patterned. Touching plants, it killed them all; biting people, it was impossible to defend against.]

Writing this, Liu Zongyuan set down his brush and sighed. He rose and went to the window, murmuring, "The people's lives are hard. The ferocity of harsh rule is fiercer than that of strange snakes! Ever since the fourteenth year of Tianbao, the affairs of the realm have rotted away. Even strange snakes now run rampant through the villages!"

In the fourteenth year of Tianbao, Emperor Zhidao Dasheng Damingxiao had finally grown incompetent. The Prince of Dongping raised an army in rebellion, and the glorious age of prosperity fell in a single day. Though the rebellion was later suppressed, years of war followed. Powerful lords carved up the realm, and the flourishing scene of the past never returned.

By then, demonic miasma had risen across the Divine Land, and evil spirits abounded. In the imperial court, treacherous ministers held sway and eunuchs meddled in power. Men of ambition like Liu Zongyuan were often banished to remote backwaters, unable to display the grand aspirations and lofty ambitions in their hearts.

Just as Liu Zongyuan reached this thought, a black wind suddenly howled outside the window. A venomous snake with alternating black-and-white rings burst from a ditch onto the street. Wherever it passed, plants withered at astonishing speed!

This was the strange snake from his writing—one of unparalleled venom!

Only, this snake was absurdly huge. It was more than thirty feet long. One sweep of its tail sent houses collapsing, and when it opened its mouth and sprayed, poisonous mist billowed everywhere.

The people in the street fled screaming, not daring to linger.

At the street corner, a plump white pig was chewing cabbage. Before it could dodge, it inhaled a mouthful of poisonous mist, kicked out all four hooves, and died on the spot!

Suddenly, a ragged young man charged over from behind and threw a punch. Fist Wind surged, like a great gust that whooshed through the air and scattered the poisonous mist.

The giant snake was terrified and fled forward at top speed. The young man caught up, forcing it to turn and fight for its life, but the youth sprang up and kicked it squarely in the jaw.

The giant snake spun through the air, dizzy and disoriented. The young man rushed forward, leaped high, and sent the fingers of both hands flying, tapping one after another along the bones of the snake's back.

Crack, crack—the sounds rang out like firecrackers exploding. Wherever the youth's fingers passed, the giant snake's bones and sinews slipped out of alignment.

In the blink of an eye, the youth had tapped from behind the snake's head all the way to its tail, dislocating every bone in its body and leaving it unable to move!

Seeing this, the people in the street cheered. "A Ying! What a fine display!"

The youth was named Xu Ying. His limbs were long and slender, and his ten fingers were fine and elegant, though years spent under wind and sun had darkened his skin somewhat.

He was a famous Snake Catcher from Lingling County, Yongzhou. Though only fourteen, he had already trained himself into a formidable fighter.

Xu Ying grabbed the snake by the tail and was about to leave when Liu Zongyuan came out and called after him. "Xu Ying, why do you catch snakes?"

Young Xu Ying stopped. Seeing that it was Sima Liu of Yongzhou, he hurriedly saluted. "Lord Sima, after this snake is dried, it can be used as medicine. It can cure wind disease, spasms, ulcers, dead flesh, and the three worms. The governor said that anyone who can catch this kind of snake will be exempted from taxes."

Liu Zongyuan smiled. "That's wonderful."

Xu Ying's expression darkened. "My grandfather was a Snake Catcher. He died catching snakes. My father was also a Snake Catcher, and he died doing the same. I followed my father and learned the art of catching snakes. I've been at it for six years now. I'm only afraid that one day I, too, will die catching snakes."

Liu Zongyuan's compassion stirred. "The governor and I are friends. I can ask him to remove this corvée from you and restore your taxes."

At this, the giant snake spoke in a human voice. "Well said, Lord Liu! Xu Ying, I spent years cultivating with great difficulty. Let me off this once. You can pay your taxes, and I can cultivate my Demonic Arts in the mountains!"

Liu Zongyuan jumped in fright. "It's a Snake Demon!"

The giant snake cried, "My grandfather was a Snake Demon. He died at the hands of a Snake Catcher. My parents were Snake Demons too, and they also died at the hands of a Snake Catcher. Now I'm a hundred and twenty years old. I thought I could escape this calamity, cultivate into a dragon, and devour those bastards, but I never imagined I'd also die at the hands of a Snake Catcher..."

Xu Ying raised a hand, gently pulled down on its jaw, and dislocated it. The giant snake could say no more.

Xu Ying's eyes reddened. "Lord Liu, I can survive by catching snakes. If my taxes are restored, I'm afraid I'll starve to death before long. Unless forced to it, who would risk his life to catch a Snake Demon?"

He dragged the Snake Demon away in dejection.

Liu Zongyuan could not hold back his tears. He sighed, "Who knows whether the poison of taxes and levies is more deadly than that of snakes? Strange snakes may be poisonous, but what is more poisonous is extortionate taxation!"

He returned to his room and swept his brush like the wind, writing the immortal masterpiece The Snake Catcher's Tale.

Xu Ying dragged the Snake Demon home and threw it into a large vat. It was already late, and he had no time to deliver the snake to the yamen, so he could only wait until dawn.

Xu Ying lit a fire and cooked, wolfing down a meal before sinking into deep sleep.

The giant snake writhed desperately in the vat, trying to reconnect its dislocated bones. It struggled until midnight, when fierce officials arrived in the village like bandits, smashing, looting, and burning while shouting for the villagers to hand over their taxes.

Xu Ying was startled awake. He rose, lit a lamp, and peered into the vat. Seeing that the Snake Demon was still there, he let out a sigh of relief before lying down and continuing to sleep.

The Snake Demon kept working to reconnect its bones. After who knew how long, it finally fixed its lower jaw—just as the sound of Xu Ying getting up reached its ears.

The Snake Demon sagged in despair.

Xu Ying dressed neatly and came to the vat to look at the Snake Demon again. The Snake Demon remained motionless, thinking, Once I reconnect the bones at the back of my head, I'll suddenly rear up and give him a vicious bite, sending him to meet his grandfather and parents!

Facing the rising sun, Xu Ying slowly breathed in and out, silently circulating the Taiyi Guiding Technique.

With each breath, the sunlight on his face seemed to grow brighter as he inhaled. One could even see tiny motes of light in the air, vanishing into his body along with each breath.

A faint rumble of thunder came from Xu Ying's abdomen. It rose from his dantian with a rolling boom, gradually reaching his throat and nasal cavity, then slowly sank back down into his dantian.

Before long, heat steamed from Xu Ying's body, and wisps of white mist curled upward.

His abilities had not been taught by his grandfather or father.

In truth, he was not his father's biological son. He had been picked up by his grandfather.

His father and grandfather were surnamed Jiang, while Xu Ying was surnamed Xu. Seven years ago, a fire broke out in Xu Family Village. His grandfather rescued Xu Ying from the flames and brought him here.

Xu Ying remembered little of that fire, but he vaguely recalled a breathing method: the Taiyi Guiding Technique.

Whenever he had nothing else to do, Xu Ying cultivated according to the Taiyi Guiding Technique. By now, he had practiced it for seven full years.

Xu Ying had no idea what use cultivation was supposed to have. He had nothing better to do, after all, and practicing in the morning took little time.

During his cultivation, he discovered that the Taiyi Guiding Technique's greatest benefit was that when his qi and blood flowed downward, he could urinate much straighter than before, without worrying about wetting his shoes.

"This thing is useless. It only lets me pee farther." Xu Ying had once sneered at it.

Only after Xu Ying grew older and followed his grandfather and father to catch snakes did he kill a giant snake and realize that the Taiyi Guiding Technique's uses went far beyond merely urinating farther.

Xu Ying taught the Taiyi Guiding Technique to his grandfather and father, but they had started learning too late and progressed slowly. In the end, both fell one after another while catching snakes.

Now, Xu Ying was the only one left in the family.

Three years ago, Xu Ying had already cultivated the Taiyi Guiding Technique to its limit. His qi and blood surged like thunder.

He could clearly sense that there was still a road ahead, with further transformations in the circulation of his qi and blood, but unfortunately, he did not know the technique that came after.

Behind him, the Snake Demon cautiously poked its head out of the vat. Seeing this, it was horrified.

Xu Ying swallowed Solar Essence and tempered his qi and blood faster than even it could. How could the speed at which he refined Solar Essence be called absorbing the sun's essence? He was plainly a monster, opening his maw to swallow the mysteries of the rising sun!

"He's cultivating my Demon Race's cultivation method!" The Snake Demon widened its eyes in confusion. "Isn't he human? How can he cultivate my Demon Race's cultivation method?"

When the sun reached the top of the pole, Xu Ying slowly stopped breathing exercises. The Snake Demon hurriedly ducked back down.

After the sun climbed high, the fire within the sunlight grew blazing hot. If one cultivated a guiding technique at that time, one's qi and blood would grow hotter and hotter, until one might spontaneously combust and die!

Overcultivation harmed the body instead. If one accidentally practiced too long and accumulated more and more fire within, one would need to gather the moon's radiance on the night of the full moon to dissolve the fire and keep one's cultivation pure.

Xu Ying came to the vat, reached in, seized the Snake Demon by its seven-inch point, and lifted it out. With a kindly expression, he said, "I'm not a bloodthirsty man. I ask, you answer. Otherwise, I'll kill you. Understand?"

The Snake Demon nodded repeatedly.

Xu Ying set it down and asked, "How did you become a monster?"

The Snake Demon was very cooperative. "My grandfather was originally an ordinary venomous snake. One day, he accidentally entered Qin Yan Cave. The cave suddenly collapsed halfway, revealing a scroll of scripture and a gourd of medicinal pills. My grandfather ate the pills and suddenly awakened his mind. He became much cleverer, learned to speak, and could read. He then cultivated according to the scripture and became a monster. Later, he passed the scripture to my parents, and my parents passed it to me. The inheritance was orderly, and our family learning had deep roots."

Xu Ying nodded lightly. "Bring me your family's scripture. Let me see it."

The Snake Demon hesitated.

Xu Ying picked up a fist-sized stone beside the well and squeezed hard. Four or five drops of water were forced from it.

The youth released his hand. The stone crumbled into powder. He said calmly, "How do you compare with this stone?"

The Snake Demon made its decision at once, opened its mouth, and spat out a scroll of scripture.

Xu Ying opened it. It recorded a guiding technique called the Great Sun Guiding Technique, as well as a martial arts technique called the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist.

"You're a snake without hands or feet. How are you supposed to cultivate the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist?"

Xu Ying laughed aloud. "Isn't this a martial art meant for Ox Demons or elephant demons?"

The Snake Demon's mouth twitched. Having something to cultivate is already good enough. What right do I have to be choosy? Aren't you cultivating my Demon Race's guiding technique too?

Xu Ying read on. The Great Sun Guiding Technique resembled his Taiyi Guiding Technique, but after pondering for a moment, he discovered that it was far inferior to the Taiyi Guiding Technique in absorbing Solar Essence.

The Great Sun Guiding Technique recorded the realm they were currently in: the Qi Gathering Stage.

Qi gathering meant gathering Solar Essence—the motes of light formed by condensed sunlight—to strengthen the body and increase the vigor of one's qi and blood.

Xu Ying frowned. The Great Sun Guiding Technique in the scripture, like his Taiyi Guiding Technique, ended after the Qi Gathering Stage reached perfection. There was no subsequent technique!

"Did you also sense that there was still a road ahead after reaching perfection in the Qi Gathering Stage?" Xu Ying asked.

The Snake Demon replied cautiously, "After reaching the summit, I only felt my qi and blood full and surging, as though I were about to charge through a pass, but I don't know where that pass is."

Xu Ying frowned, rose, and went to the main hall to fetch a book basket.

He tipped the scriptures out of the basket, spreading them across the floor.

The Snake Demon was horrified. Those scriptures were all kinds of guiding techniques—dozens of them!

Over the years, Xu Ying had caught not only Snake Demons but other monsters as well. Nearly every monster within a radius of dozens of miles had fallen into his hands!

Those monsters had encountered all kinds of fortunes: some had stumbled into ancient caves, some had listened to scriptures from stone walls, and some had discovered hidden realms underwater. That was how they had cultivated into monsters.

Yet every one of the techniques they obtained could only be cultivated to the Qi Gathering Stage. None had any subsequent technique!

The Taiyi Guiding Technique Xu Ying cultivated was the same. Although it could continue to increase his qi and blood cultivation, he could clearly sense that there was still a road ahead. Yet the road had inexplicably broken off, leaving only boundless chaos. He did not know where to set foot.

"Why do all cultivation methods end at the Qi Gathering Stage?" Xu Ying frowned and muttered to himself.

The Snake Demon was filled with righteous indignation. "I think someone is targeting my Demon Race, destroying all our cultivation methods and leaving only the Qi Gathering Stage methods! It's most likely a conspiracy by the human race!"

Xu Ying shook his head. "If they had the ability to destroy the later portions, why not destroy everything outright? Clearly, there must be another hidden reason."

He read through the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist, and his expression suddenly shifted.

This fist technique was a martial art. Its cultivator did not have to be an Ox Demon or elephant demon; any race could practice it. Of course, for a Snake Demon to cultivate it, it first had to transform into human form and grow limbs.

The Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist had a unique way of mobilizing qi and blood, doubling its circulation speed and raising the power unleashed in an instant to that of a divine elephant. Hence, it was called Divine Elephant strength!

As for the words Bull Demon, they referred to the fact that when this fist technique was activated, the qi and blood moved so quickly that it was difficult to remain rational, causing one to fall into a state of madness. Hence, it was called Bull Demon!

Besides that, this martial art caused the body to expand in an instant, becoming several inches or even a foot taller than usual.

The hands and feet also grew larger than normal!

Xu Ying grew interested. In the past, he had subdued Snake Demons and other monsters through brute force. He knew little about fists and kicks. With the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist, his strength would soar!

At that moment, voices came from outside. The villagers were calling, "A Ying, come out and worship the gods!"

Xu Ying tucked the scripture into his shirt and gently pinched the Snake Demon behind the neck. "When I return from worshiping the gods, if you haven't left, I'll dry you into medicine and turn you in. Also, don't harm anyone."

The Snake Demon felt the bones in its neck reconnect. It was both shocked and delighted.

Xu Ying left the courtyard and came to the ancestral hall of Jiangjiatian. The villagers all looked wan and sickly, their clothes ragged and worn, while the ancestral hall was built in magnificent splendor.

Every household in Jiangjiatian had men and women. Wealthy landlords carried cooked chickens and ducks and thick incense sticks. Even poor farmers had to offer fruit and bowls of white rice while holding three sticks of incense, walking one after another toward the ancestral hall.

Those who truly had no money came empty-handed, like Xu Ying.

Xu Ying followed the villagers into the ancestral hall. Incense smoke curled upward, clouds of mist billowing. Behind the incense burner stood a wooden god statue a full sixteen feet tall, its body painted bright red, clad in a green robe, with a blue-green face and fangs.

Amid the incense and flames, smoke streamed into the wooden statue's nostrils.

The wooden statue's chest suddenly swelled. It drew a long breath, sucking all the villagers' incense qi into its belly.

The wooden statue gradually transformed into flesh and blood. It abruptly rose from the shrine, grabbed the chickens, ducks, and fruit offered by the villagers, and began eating. When it ate to its heart's content, it even grabbed incense and candles and stuffed them into its mouth, chewing greedily.

It was the first day of the lunar month, the day of worship. Around Jiangjiatian, the ancestral halls in Xu Family Well, Yangzitang, Shuangji Bridge, Shagou Bay, and other villages were also wreathed in incense.

Statues of gods—some carved from wood, some molded from clay, some cast in bronze, and some forged from iron—awoke amid the incense, transformed into flesh-and-blood bodies, and enjoyed the incense and delicacies offered by the people.

In the mountains and great rivers around Lingling, the Mountain God Temples and Dragon King Temples were also veiled in drifting clouds. In the city, the City God Temple likewise saw the City God awaken to enjoy the sacrifices.

It was not only Lingling. Throughout Yongzhou, throughout southern Hunan, and across the entire Divine Land, incense smoke curled everywhere. Statues guarding villages, townships, cities, prefectures, and commanderies awakened one after another, enjoying the sacrifices of the common people. It was a picture of peace and prosperity.

Yet ever since Emperor Zhidao Dasheng Damingxiao became incompetent and ruined the age of prosperity, throwing the world into chaos, the lords had divided the realm, Imperial Power had vanished, and the gods of the Divine Land no longer possessed the grandeur of former days. Signs of decline had gradually appeared.

"Xu Ying! Jiang Shu! Jiang Lu! You poor wretches came empty-handed, without even incense or candles to offer me!"

In Jiangjiatian's ancestral hall, the god raged and slammed the table. "I only eat two meals from you each month, yet the food you show me doesn't even fill my belly! Do you people of Jiangjiatian still want favorable weather and abundant food? Aren't you afraid that, having angered a god, I'll bring calamity down upon you?"