Black Snake raised his head toward the sky above the western mountains, steeped in sunset's afterglow. He knew nothing of molten-gold clouds staining the peaks red, nor did he indulge in wistful sentiment.
Through his Thermal Sensing vision, he watched warmth drain from the rocks in wisps and sensed tiny insects rustling about.
The heavens were clear, with no sign of rain anytime soon.
After a little thought, he decided to slither toward more distant mountains, crossing several ridges to hunt. Only ample food could help his body grow, shedding its skin to become longer and larger.
The word "leave" did not exist in Black Snake's mind.
Born without a fixed home, apart from hibernating in winter and breathing in the essence of clouds and mist, he simply chose somewhere to coil up when tired and drank mountain spring water when thirsty, letting the sun and moon rise and fall. Perhaps, someday, he would die silently in some corner of the forest.
His scales brushed against the smooth boulder as he prepared to set out hunting.
"Brother Snake!"
Suddenly, he heard a familiar call.
Black Snake saw Chi Ke approaching, moving slower and slower. His hairpiece hung loose, and his broad robe was covered in grass clippings, dirt, and dust. He had switched to walking on all fours. Like this, he was rather more pleasing to the eye than when he walked on two legs, more like a creature of these mountains.
Chi Ke's chest heaved violently, scattering breaths sour with the smell of food into the wind.
"I've been possessed by an evil spirit. Please help me, Brother Snake..."
Chi Ke climbed onto the flat rock and collapsed, falling flat on his back.
"An... an evil spirit! A ghost..."
Before he finished speaking, an enormous shadow filled his vision. A scaly snake's head was already inches away, its forked tongue flicking rapidly before his eyes, as though subjecting him to some merciless scrutiny!
Black Snake saw something strange along the edges of Chi Ke's silhouette: a blurry phantom overlapped him, twisting and wavering. They were not one being. Rather, it looked as though two entirely different existences had been forcibly mashed together, giving off a profoundly discordant awkwardness, along with a cold, foul stench of decay.
Instinct stirred a powerful sense of revulsion and rejection.
When snakes encountered something unusual, they either fled, issued a warning, or attacked. Black Snake arched his body, gathering strength, then opened his mouth to bare his fangs and hiss a warning.
"Hiss-!"
The hiss reached Chi Ke's ears, and his scalp instantly prickled. It was the most primal warning buried deep in a primate's blood, frightening him until his limbs went weak and cold sweat broke out.
He was not the only one afraid. The consciousness of the possessing ghost was no exception.
Suddenly, Chi Ke felt his whole body lighten. The chill receded, his grogginess vanished, and his head cleared considerably.
Before he could offer his thanks, Black Snake shot away!
Though he could not see the formless Ghost Creature, Chi Ke knew the great black snake was pursuing the evil spirit. The rustle of crushed leaves raced around several bends until the snake vanished from sight.
In truth, had the evil spirit not fled, it would not necessarily have been pursued. But once it ran, it was like a field mouse darting before a snake's eyes, instantly triggering the hunter's most primal killing instinct.
An ordinary snake would have stopped after warning, intimidating, and pursuing it for a short distance. Clearly, Black Snake's nature was no longer ordinary.
When he first saw the evil spirit, Black Snake had not wondered why he could see it. He was more curious about how it bore some resemblance to the living creatures he had seen in that dim gray view. Yet living creatures radiated warmth, while this blurry shadow was cold and carried a pungent, foul smell of decay.
Black Snake glided calmly behind the evil spirit, his tongue trembling lightly as he locked firmly onto its distinctive scent.
Every time the shadow accelerated to flee, he unhurriedly closed the distance again.
The blurry shadow produced no vibrations he could listen for as it moved, and his Thermal Sensing vision showed only emptiness. His eyes could see it, but not clearly at a distance. Only his tongue could pick up the scent of rot.
After several fruitless attempts with his Thermal Sensing, fragments of memories suddenly flashed through his mind—adjusting his perception in that dim gray view. Black Snake immediately switched his mode of perception, focusing his Thermal Sensing on another characteristic rather than ordinary warmth alone.
Sure enough! Under this special perception, the thing's outline became extraordinarily clear!
In an instant, the world reconstructed itself before his eyes.
The formerly blurry, twisted evil spirit revealed its entire outline within his vision. Like ink dripping into clear water, every warped detail lay plainly exposed.
One fled and one pursued as time slipped by.
The dense forest sank into darkness, occasionally punctuated by the faint gleam of nocturnal animals' eyes.
The evil spirit gradually slowed. In Black Snake's vision, its outline weakened as it fled, as though its frantic escape was steadily consuming and diluting it.
So shadows shared something with birds and beasts: sustained running drained them and left them tired.
Then Black Snake hesitated over whether to bite it.
For a snake, if a target could neither fill its stomach nor pose a threat, every scrap of energy spent on it was wasted.
It had nothing to do with survival. Continuing the chase was meaningless.
Just as Black Snake's muscles were about to relax, a familiar heat source appeared between the rocks ahead, cutting off the shadow's escape route.
The chase stopped abruptly.
The night was pitch-black, thick as ink. There was no moonlight, no wind.
The great black snake's presence was cool and steady, his slit pupils utterly unruffled. Ahead, the fox stepped forward with something like a smile.
Trapped between the two beasts, the evil spirit had nowhere to run.
The fox showed Black Snake no hostility, its gaze fixed on the hunted evil spirit. Seeing the fox watch the prey so intently, Black Snake assumed it wanted to eat this thing and decided to see how it would deal with it. Once he learned, he would know what to do the next time he encountered a blurry shadow like this.
When he viewed the fox in this special mode, it remained enveloped in an unusual warmth, just as when he first saw it through that dim gray view. It was different from the cold, blurry shadow.
Both beasts watched and assessed in silence.
Black Snake acted on instinct most of the time, whereas countless thoughts had already flashed through the fox's lively eyes.
The evil spirit suddenly moved, trying to run, only to be swatted back by the more agile fox.
Hmm?
Black Snake tilted his head. How did it hit the shadow?
During his earlier pursuit, he had discovered that he could not touch the cold, rotten-smelling shadow, yet the fox had actually struck it. Recalling the moment carefully, he realized the fox seemed to gather more warmth in its paw as it swiped. He felt as though he had understood something.
He considered how he might gather warmth himself, but he had none of that hot presence. His own was cool, like rain and mountain mist.
Would gathering that coolness work?
Where should I gather it? I don't have paws.
He began to fret again...
The fox glanced at Black Snake, a trace of almost human puzzlement crossing its eyes.
If he came to hunt it down, why was he as silent as a stone?
The blurry shadow tried to flee again, but the fox had already anticipated its movement, leaping nimbly among the jagged rocks and trees.
Its forepaw left an afterimage as it swatted the evil spirit back to where it had been.
The deep darkness did not hinder Black Snake's observations. His slit pupils clearly caught the timing and angles of each interception.
When the panicking evil spirit blundered into Black Snake's attack range, he responded with a sudden strike. Lacking sharp claws, he instinctively bared his fangs, frightening the evil spirit into a frantic retreat.
Black Snake tried gathering his cool presence into his fangs. Unfortunately, he could not manage it. It was very
difficult.
Failure did not matter; he was already accustomed to it. Just as an ambush would not succeed every time, he needed patience. If he did not give up, an opportunity to succeed would eventually come.
And so, beneath the night-shrouded mountain forest, a strange game quietly unfolded. The two beasts chased the shadow as it was repeatedly swatted through the air, as though playing with an amusing ball. The fox was clearly an expert at this game, leaping nimbly and enjoying itself immensely.
Unfortunately, the toy was not sturdy enough.
With every swat and collision, the evil spirit grew thinner and more transparent.
Before long, the blurry shadow stopped struggling.
It stayed where it was, no longer reacting to blows or collisions, its drooping form like a little fledgling chilled by the rain.
Black Snake had not expected the fox to expend all that effort batting it around only to refrain from eating it.
So it could not be eaten. The interest in his eyes instantly faded.
After this incident, Black Snake had gained a few more memories of the fox and was no longer as indifferent toward it as before.
He flicked the tip of his tail. His enormous body steadily changed direction, and he refocused his senses on the wilderness and trees, searching for prey that radiated warmth.
The fox called twice after Black Snake's retreating back, then went off to look for mountain mice and birds' nests as well.
The abandoned phantom drifted mindlessly where it had been left.
When morning sunlight filtered through the branches, the phantom barely managed to shelter behind a tree. Even so, it only lasted a little longer before vanishing completely, without a sound.