Black Snake took a moment to pry open the sack and look inside. It was full of gleaming yellow metal. Unfortunately, it was not silver.
It was heavy. Black Snake wound its way back to the cave and casually left it in the corner where it usually stored nuts.
Black Snake only knew that silver was valuable and could buy lots and lots of eggs. As for this pile of yellow stuff, it would leave it here for now. One day, when it had time, it would carry a piece over for He Ning to examine.
Looking out from high above, it saw tiny points of light moving all across the wilderness.
An especially conspicuous cluster of heat sources had gathered in the direction of the County Seat.
It hurried back to coil at the crossroads, digesting its food while keeping an eye on the mountain path, making sure no evil spirits slipped up the mountain amid the chaos.
The person who had coughed up blood had probably been taken away. Only a scattered mess of horse bones and entrails remained in the clearing. A few feral dogs prowled nearby, sniffing around, while several wolf howls came from a more distant mountain hollow.
It would probably all be cleaned up before daybreak.
Having a full belly was wonderful. It could laze about without a care.
Figures flitted through the crossroads, fleeing and pursuing, crossing paths in panic. Some were frightened out of their wits and tried to plunge into the dense forest uphill, but after only a few steps, something unseen seemed to push them back, leaving them stumbling dizzily onto their original route.
Only at dawn did it climb to the summit to wait for the morning mist to breathe in.
But something was strange about the morning mist