The bottom of the hot pot was already bare, with only a few green leaves floating atop the red oil. The meat and meatballs were long gone, and quite a few empty liquor bottles lay toppled beside it.
The two men were still taking turns drinking, one cup for you, one cup for me.
The Scarred Man belched, looking somewhat puzzled. "Come to think of it, Brother Li, why did you suddenly want to catch so many snakes this year? I remember the snake market hasn't been doing well."
It turned out the two men were far from first-timers in the poaching trade.
Over the years, countless wild animals had died at their hands. Those they had skinned and gutted, then sent to restaurants, could be said to have left their hands soaked in blood.
But snakes had not been in much demand lately, and there weren't many buyers, so they rarely set their sights on them.
"I haven't heard of any buyer wanting that many snakes either. Isn't this just wasting our effort? Brother Li, why did you suddenly take an interest in snakes?"
Li Han picked up the liquor bottle, took a huge swig, and shook his head.
"It's nothing much. I just ran into something before, so I thought I'd catch a few more snakes. If we can't sell them, the two of us can soak them in liquor and drink them ourselves. That wouldn't be bad either."
The Scarred Man licked his lips. "They are pretty good for soaking in liquor, but speaking of which, Brother Li, what did you run into?"
Li Han narrowed his eyes. "It was nothing. A snake just killed an eagle hawk."
The Scarred Man immediately lost interest. "I thought it was something serious. Although eagles and hawks are snakes' natural enemies, it's not that strange for them to kill one. If it happens to be a venomous snake, one bite can bring down not just an eagle or hawk, but even a tiger or lion."
"What if I'm talking about a small, nonvenomous snake?"
The Scarred Man wore an expression that said, What kind of joke are you making? He simply assumed Li Han had drunk too much.
"That can't be right, Brother Li. Are you pulling my leg? How could that kind of snake possibly have the ability to kill an eagle hawk?"
An adult eagle hawk's wings, beak, and talons were all fully developed. It could easily pose a fatal threat to snakes.
For small and medium-sized snakes, encountering such a natural enemy left them with virtually no chance of survival.
Li Han recounted everything that had happened that day.
"I originally wanted to shoot down that eagle hawk. I didn't expect that when I chased after it, I'd find it already dead. Judging from the marks on the corpse, it really was caused by a snake. I even found a snake scale at the scene."
After saying that, Li Han took out a charred scale. Unexpectedly, he had kept it all this time.
The Scarred Man took it and examined it carefully. The scale was extremely small. It was clearly black, yet seemed to glow green from underneath, giving it the strange appearance of being half black and half green.
It was probably from a small snake. Though rather unusual, it was not so rare as to be astonishing.
The Scarred Man looked even more surprised. "Brother Li, you're definitely pulling my leg. How could a snake this small kill an eagle hawk? You must have had too much to drink."
The Scarred Man did not take it to heart. After drinking too much, a wave of urination came over him, and he rose from his chair.
"Brother Li, I'm going to take care of some urgent business. Once I'm back, the two of us will drink until neither of us can stand."
At that moment, Li Han narrowed his eyes as he watched the Scarred Man's desperate expression and could not help laughing as he cursed him.
"Lazy people always have more shit and piss. Don't go diving headfirst into the snow and never make it back."
It had only been a joke, yet he never expected his words to hit the mark.
The Scarred Man had drunk quite a bit. He staggered his way to the door.
The room had been surrounded by a stove and filled with hot pot steam, so the temperature inside was extremely high. Now that he was outside, lightly dressed and up on the mountain, the temperature was probably already more than ten degrees below zero.
He undid his belt, and the cold wind struck him in the face. He could not help shivering, and his muddled mind became somewhat clear.
"Strange. Why have those beasts gone quiet?"
The Scarred Man could not help muttering to himself. They usually howled all day long like mourners at a funeral, so their sudden silence was truly unsettling.
He pulled up his trousers. His urge to urinate instantly vanished, and he opened his mouth nervously. "It can't be that something happened, can it?"
The temperature at night was simply too low. The cold wind poured into his throat like knives slicing it.
After all, to them, those living creatures were lumps of gold, each one representing the God of Wealth.
If anything unexpected happened, it would mean several days of work for nothing. Besides, the buyer might come to collect the goods tomorrow. Absolutely nothing could go wrong.
Inside, there were no lights at all. The pitch-black room looked like a monster with its bloody maw wide open, waiting for him to throw himself into its net.
The Scarred Man walked toward the wooden hut, as if taking one step at a time toward hell. For some reason, a chill inexplicably crept into his heart.
"If I'd known it was this cold, I would've brought a coat."
"Bang—"
The Scarred Man pushed open the door. It quickly swung shut behind him, startling him. He could not help complaining, "The wind tonight is awfully strong. It's pretty scary."
That was winter for you. The north wind howled, and especially up on the mountain, its mournful cries sounded particularly eerie.
The Scarred Man assumed it was simply because the wind outside was too strong. He did not see the section of a snake's tail hanging down from the crossbeam before it quickly vanished into the darkness.
Because the room was so dark, he could only feel his way forward. He did not know what he had tripped over, but the Scarred Man stumbled and crashed to the ground, bashing his face until it was bruised and swollen.
"Fuck! Who put a hemp rope in the middle of the room?"
The Scarred Man wanted to throw the rope farther away. He groped around himself, but the area was completely empty. There was no rope, let alone anything blocking his way. "I must be seeing ghosts."
The so-called rope moved slightly. A humanlike mockery flashed through its snake pupils as it silently watched the Scarred Man's actions.
He got up cursing, assuming that he had drunk too much and tripped over his own left foot with his right.
But just now, the Scarred Man had clearly felt that he had kicked something long and slender. He suppressed the unease in his heart.
"Forget it. I'd better find the switch first."
Having learned his lesson, the Scarred Man was much more careful this time. He cautiously felt along the wall and finally touched the switch. However, when he pressed it, the room remained pitch-black, without the slightest response.
Not far away, a light bulb lay quietly on the floor, but the Scarred Man did not see it.
"Damn it, there must've been another short circuit."
The Scarred Man cursed himself for leaving in such a hurry without bringing his phone. Otherwise, why would he be as inconvenient as a blind man now, unable to do anything?
He reached the door and tried to push it open, but all he touched was something cold, smooth, and somewhat hard, just like—snake scales!
The Scarred Man jerked his hand back as if electrocuted, his face filled with horror. "What the hell is this?"
People always felt an overwhelming fear toward unknown things. In the darkness, their senses were magnified countless times over.
The Scarred Man could not help swallowing. He frantically tried to leave the room. Under the weight of his immense panic, the urge he had forced back surged out, and a pool of unidentified yellow liquid appeared on the floor.
An indescribable stench of urine filled the air.
At the same time, deep within the darkness, a pair of snake pupils slowly lit up, brimming with icy coldness and bloodlust, as if an emissary of hell had descended.
(End of Chapter)