Amid the vast snowy expanse, a snake could be seen reverently worshiping the moon. If anyone had witnessed such a scene, they would surely have been shocked.
Unfortunately, apart from that crescent silver moon, no one could see such a scene.
As he gradually entered the right state, Ye Qin felt the crescent moon above his head drawing closer and closer, as though it were enveloping his entire serpentine body.
That icy sensation was like his whole body had been immersed in water, or as if an invisible hand were stroking him from the top of his head. It was simply blissful beyond compare.
Ye Qin's entire body, even his bones, had been stained with silver radiance, giving off an unusual glow.
No one knew how much time had passed before Ye Qin slowly opened his eyes. The silver moon had vanished, replaced by a gloomy sky.
"I can't believe the whole night passed just like that."
Ye Qin could not help muttering to himself. Yet that icy sensation had left him wanting more, and he wished the sky would darken immediately.
Winter days were short and nights long, but he would probably still have to wait until five or six o'clock for the moon to appear.
He returned to the cave, planning to come back out at night to continue his contemplation and absorb the essence of the moon.
For several days in a row, things remained the same. He rested during the day and cultivated at night, like a bat that hid by day and emerged by night. Ye Qin's Taiyin Contemplation had already begun to bear fruit, though it merely possessed the form and was still lacking in spiritual resonance.
Just as when he had contemplated the white bones, Ye Qin was in no hurry. He proceeded step by step; after all, one could not become a great fatty by swallowing a single bite.
He had originally thought that life would remain peaceful like this, but on this day, the calm was shattered by a muffled peal of thunder.
"Rumble—"
In the darkness, Ye Qin seemed to hear some kind of summons.
As if sensing something, he crawled out of the cave. The wind and snow had stopped, but the sky was terrifyingly dark. Thunder rumbled, and the entire earth trembled.
"How can there be thunder in this season?"
Looking up at the sky, Ye Qin could not help muttering to himself.
Ye Qin disliked thunder, probably because his original body had once nearly been struck by lightning and turned into a dried snake. Although he was not so terrified of thunder that he would blanch at the sound, the disgust rooted in his bones still made him uncomfortable.
Purple light suddenly blazed across the sky. In an instant, it split open into a bottomless fissure, like an eye of judgment surveying the land.
"Boom!"
A thunderclap exploded beside Ye Qin's ears, seemingly grazing the top of his head. He could even feel the power of lightning within it, and his serpentine body trembled instinctively.
A bolt of purple lightning struck a stone more than half a person tall nearby, instantly shattering it into pieces.
Ye Qin recovered his senses and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the lightning so close at hand.
He had the distinct feeling that the lightning was coming for him.
What happened next further confirmed Ye Qin's suspicion.
Another bolt of lightning fell beside him, deafening as though Heaven itself had been enraged.
An inexplicable tremor stirred in Ye Qin's heart. Since being reborn as a snake, this was the first time he had experienced such panic.
Even when he had once faced his natural enemy, the eagle and falcon, at that life-or-death moment, he had never felt afraid.
Why were these bolts of lightning coming for him?
Ye Qin's bright-red tongue seemed to sense his master's vexation. It kept flickering, while his heart pounded violently, as if it would break free of his control the next second.
His tail lashed against the tree beside him, sending countless snowflakes rustling down.
Ye Qin grew even more restless and uneasy.
What on earth was the reason for this sudden lightning?
Could it be that his cultivation had triggered such an unusual phenomenon?
After thinking it over again and again, this seemed the most likely possibility.
As for why the lightning had not struck him, Ye Qin guessed that the time had not yet come. After all, he had only just broken through the first realm and entered the second. If that alone could trigger a thunder tribulation, it would be too much.
Why use a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken? Only when he had truly achieved great cultivation would lightning descend upon him and trigger a heavenly tribulation.
Even after figuring this out, Ye Qin still felt somewhat uneasy. He watched the Falling Thunder in the sky, not daring to act recklessly.
On the other side, seeing that the wind and snow had stopped and the weather was gradually improving, Sun Zhenbang and the others entered the mountains once more, hoping to continue verifying clues and traces related to the murderer.
"These past few days, we've stationed people at every mountain pass. We haven't seen any suspicious individuals coming down, so the murderer must still be hiding up there."
"This time, we must bring the criminal to justice. Does everyone have confidence?"
"Yes!"
"Good. Get yourselves ready. We're going into the mountains immediately!"
All the police officers quickly set out, splitting into several groups to search. Although the temperature had risen a little recently, it was still quite cold in the mountains.
There were few places on the mountain where someone could hide, so the officers focused their search on mountain ravines, caves, and other places where a person could conceal themselves.
Yet after searching for half a day, they found nothing. Across the vast mountains, they could not find a human shadow, much less a ghostly one.
Sun Zhenbang decided to let everyone rest for a while and make a brief recovery before continuing deeper into the mountains.
Several young police officers chatted during the break.
One of them, Xie Yixuan, put on a mysterious air. "I wonder who killed those two Poachers. I have a friend who's a forensic pathologist. He said the cause of death was incredibly strange."
His companions immediately grew interested. "How strange?"
"It's hard to explain. In short, it didn't look like something a human had done. It was more like—" At this point, Xie Yixuan deliberately lowered his voice, whetting his companions' appetites.
"If it wasn't done by a human, then who could it have been? Didn't we come up this mountain to catch the murderer?"
"Stop keeping us in suspense. Hurry up and tell us."
Faced with his companions' urging, he cleared his throat before finally saying, "A snake did it!"
At that, the others could not help rolling their eyes.
"Quit blowing smoke here. A snake did it? Why don't you just say you can fly?"
"Exactly. Be careful Captain Sun hears you and chews you out until you're covered in blood. You never do any proper work, and all day long you spout this superstitious nonsense. He might even confiscate all those novels of yours!"
Seeing that no one believed him, Xie Yixuan immediately grew anxious. "No, listen! What I said is absolutely true. My forensic-pathologist friend even showed me the report."
"They found snake scales and DNA on the bodies. At the crime scene, there was no murder weapon, and there were no fingerprints or traces from a third party. If a snake didn't do it, then who did?"
"If you ask me, we shouldn't bother coming up the mountain to catch some criminal. The criminal is a snake, after all. What's there to catch? Yet Captain Sun refuses to believe it. In my opinion, his thinking is just too rigid. He needs to broaden his perspective!"
Xie Yixuan spoke with great enthusiasm, failing to notice his companions desperately signaling at him.
"What happened to your eyes? Are they twitching? Everything I said is true. If you don't believe me, I'll bring the report for you to see next time. Then you'll know how strange it was."
"Sure. Bring it over when you have time next time."
A deep male voice came from behind him.
Xie Yixuan instinctively replied, "Sure. I'll show it to you when we get back—"
When he saw who was standing behind him, Xie Yixuan's voice abruptly cut off. Panic appeared on his face, and he stammered, "C-Captain Sun, what are you doing here?"
The End