Yellow Emperor's Scripture of Yin Symbols

Chapter 2: "Yellow Emperor's Scripture of Yin Symbols"

The hawk overhead gave Ye Qin no chance to catch his breath.

He barely dodged its beak, and the next second, its sharp claws came again.

Ye Qin had been somewhat unaccustomed to his snake body, but in this moment, it was as if his Ren and Du Meridians had been unblocked, and he slithered rapidly across the ground.

Even so, the shadow of death above him clung like a bone-deep maggot, impossible to shake off.

Ye Qin was already severely injured, and with this life-or-death chase, his snake body simply couldn't take it anymore, his speed gradually slowing.

Several times, the hawk's claws nearly caught his body, and he could feel his scales being ripped off alive, the pain tearing at his heart.

Massive loss of stamina made Ye Qin's consciousness grow hazy, and he didn't notice a downward slope ahead.

Desperate to escape, he lunged forward, and his body shot down like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, quickly swallowed by a thick patch of grass.

There were plenty of rocks around too, crashing into Ye Qin and leaving him dizzy, stars bursting before his eyes. He could feel his wounds tearing open again, blood gushing out like a spring, splattering onto the tips of the grass beside him.

For a moment, he really wondered if he would die from bleeding dry.

"Bam!"

With a dull thud, Ye Qin finally hit the ground. The heavy impact nearly shifted his internal organs out of place.

Ye Qin forced his eyes open. The light was dim, but whether because he had become a snake or not, it didn't hinder his vision—it was no different from usual.

"Where am I?"

Maybe the heavens saw he was about to die and finally deigned to spare him a bit of luck. As he fell from the slope, somehow, he ended up inside a cave.

Outside the cave, green ivy stretched endlessly, forming a natural barrier that completely concealed it.

No one would have guessed that behind that massive wall of ivy, there was another world hidden away.

The hawk in the sky lost its target, let out a few reluctant cries, then flapped its wings and flew away.

"Looks like my luck isn't so bad."

If he hadn't fallen into this cave, he would probably have become the hawk's meal by now.

Ye Qin let out a bitter laugh inwardly, but all that came out of his mouth was a hiss.

The area was remote, with no animal tracks in sight—maybe he would be the first intruder here.

The ground was a bit damp, and the temperature was much lower than outside.

A cool breeze brushed against his face.

Snakes naturally prefer shade and moisture, so this environment brought Ye Qin a long-lost sense of comfort.

But the chase just now, along with the tumble down the slope, had worsened his injuries. It felt like a fire was burning inside him, a searing pain spreading through every part of his body.

The scales that had been left after the lightning strike were already pitifully few, and now even fewer remained—just a sparse few hanging there, barely clinging on.

His entire snake body was a miserable sight.

Ye Qin could feel his life force draining away bit by bit. Before long, he would lose consciousness completely and sink into eternal slumber.

"So this cave is my final resting place. I hope if I die, I can be reborn one more time..."

Ye Qin thought bitterly, finding solace in the fact that at least he wouldn't be swallowed by some bird or beast.

Suddenly, his body touched something—cold, hard, and a flash of white light flickered past.

He looked closely. It was a pile of bleached white bones!

He thought it was the remains of some wild animal at first, but the bones still had tattered clothes hanging on them, making Ye Qin realize these belonged to a human.

The clothes were worn and ragged, but he could barely make out their shape—a long robe, full of an ancient, classical flavor.

That meant this skeleton was from an ancient person, dead for at least a hundred years.

And from what this snake had witnessed of the world's splendor, Ye Qin knew the current era was modern, with technology roughly at the 21st-century level, while this ancient person was from at least the Ming Dynasty at the earliest.

He had thought this was an abandoned cave, but someone had beaten him here and died long ago.

"Didn't expect to find a companion on the brink of death—an unexpected blessing. On the road to the Yellow Springs, we'll keep each other company, so I won't be too lonely."

Ye Qin mocked himself, as if he could already see his own end as a pile of bones.

He didn't know the skeleton's origins, not even if it was male or female. Perhaps this person had died long ago, unnoticed, until a hundred years later, Ye Qin stumbled in.

"We're both lost souls under heaven. I'd like to gather your bones for a proper burial, but I'm a snake now—my heart is willing, but my strength falls short."

"I don't know if anyone will burn incense for us in the future. If someone does burn paper for me, since we died in the same place, I'll share some with you, to make up for the fate that brought us together."

Ye Qin muttered to himself. His long, thin black snake body stood in stark contrast to the white bones beside him.

The skeleton remained silent, as if listening intently.

A snake and a skeleton—the scene was eerie, yet somehow harmonious.

The quiet cave echoed with a continuous hissing sound, lingering long in the air.

"Oh, what's this?"

Ye Qin slithered, planning to go around to the other side of the skeleton to rest and wait for death, when he suddenly noticed a book lying on the ground.

The book was thick with dust, its corners yellowed and curled, with numerous traces of insect damage.

Eroded by time, the cover was illegible, only a few blurry characters barely visible. Ye Qin stared for a long time, guessing and piecing together, until he finally made out the book's title.

"Yellow Emperor's Scripture of Yin Symbols."

"Can't tell you were a book lover in your past life. Maybe you were a scholar? Heading to the capital for the imperial exams?"

In ancient times, scholars traveled to the capital for examinations, and some died of illness along the long road. Perhaps the one beside Ye Qin was just such an unlucky soul?

There was nothing else by the skeleton, only this book. Maybe the deceased had been reading it before death—why else would it be right there?

As for the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, he had heard of it. It was a masterpiece in Daxia's history, ranking alongside works like "Baopuzi" and "Zhuangzi."

Ye Qin was curious about its contents. What could be in there that someone would cling to even at the moment of death?

But he had no hands or feet now. Trying to turn pages with a snake's body was nothing short of a fantasy.

With blood and strength draining away, Ye Qin's body grew cold—perhaps also because snakes were cold-blooded by nature.

He coiled himself into a ball beside the skeleton, as if that could draw some warmth, looking from afar like a fossil.

Ye Qin grew drowsy, his consciousness sinking like into a swamp, unable to break free no matter how he struggled. He desperately told himself not to sleep.

If he slept now, it might be forever.

But the weakness and pain all over his body seemed to drag him bit by bit into the abyss.

A cool breeze blew from somewhere, giving Ye Qin a moment of clarity. His eyes were already narrowed to slits, barely holding on before passing out.

Not far away, a rustling sound came. The closed book had somehow been blown open by the wind.

As if an invisible hand in the air was slowly turning the gears of fate.

(End of this chapter)