The black snake remained motionless, lying low.
Until its senses recovered, it had no intention of coming into contact with anything.
But things went against its wishes. The patch of contrasting temperature paused, then headed straight toward it. As the distance closed, its outline gradually sharpened. When it stopped, the black snake saw a fox.
From the distinctive details of its appearance, it recognized the fox it had seen during the day.
Yet the fox's current state defied common sense. Its leaps were unusually light, and it was the only source of heat nearby.
The fox cautiously maintained a safe distance, hopping about with obvious delight.
The black snake was full of wariness and had no desire whatsoever to interact with the fox.
Whenever the fox came too close, it immediately gave a hoarse warning hiss.
"Hiss!"
The fox hastily drifted backward.
Once it stopped, it called to the black snake several times, but the two could not communicate effectively at all.
The black snake felt faint heat radiating from the fox, warm and gentle, while the fox felt a coolness seeping from the snake's long body, so very much like rain and mist.
Just as the black snake was sinking into anxiety over its weakened senses, wary of the fox's unusual behavior, everything in the dim surroundings suddenly dissolved and flowed, spinning and twisting wildly!
The next moment, its vision hurtled backward beyond its control. The fox rapidly receded and shrank until it vanished...
Instinctively, it raised its head.
It saw moonlight spilling through the opening above, slanting across the cliff face. The space beneath the rock was quiet.
"..."
Bewilderment. Confusion.
It was still coiled in its hibernation spot, having never moved an inch. Its sense of smell and heat detection were normal, too.
That instantaneous journey there and back was far too strange. The gray, faded mountain forest, the fox that carried warmth-the same world, yet in two different palettes. Those incomprehensible images overlapped and clashed in its mind.
The black snake, which should have sunk into hibernation, could no longer sleep.
It discovered that the longer it lived, the more questions it had. Before it could untangle the last mystery, a new problem was already weighing on its mind.
The passing years brought no answers, only an accumulation of further confusion.
Seeing the light falling through the opening overhead grow brighter, it simply gave up on sleeping. It slipped silently out of the cave, its heavy body crushing dead leaves as it moved. Seen from above, it resembled a winding black line painted in thick ink, approaching the giant rock.
The mountain trees had shed all their leaves. Without that cover, the red heat source atop the distant rock stood out starkly.
Ripples stirred laboriously in the black snake's simple brain, giving rise to a vague notion unlike anything it had ever experienced.
Ask.
That thought drove it to approach Chi Ke of its own accord, hoping to obtain answers from him.
The giant rock halfway up the mountain stood like a terrace.
Chi Ke sat casually on a cushion. A mountain breeze came gently, stirring his beard and hair. Gazing at the empty, desolate autumn mountains, he recalled the lush vitality of summer. The two scenes converged in his heart, inevitably bringing a faint melancholy.
The hunter had extended the path to the giant rock, gathering flat stones and adjusting their angles to build steps for an easier ascent.
The book boy carried a basket on his back, craning his neck to watch a squirrel.
The yellow dog ran merrily over the rock, taking advantage of the great snake's hibernation to come up and enjoy the view. Standing at the edge with its tail raised, it surveyed the valley, feeling splendidly imposing.
Suddenly.
The mountain wind changed direction, bringing the black snake's scent. With a whimper, the yellow dog shot away, fleeing down the mountain in panic without looking back.
Chi Ke froze for a moment, then turned and saw the great black snake appear without a sound.
"Brother Snake?"
He remembered the hunter declaring with absolute certainty yesterday that snakes should all be retreating into their holes to hibernate at this time of year.
Then what was this great black snake doing here, very much alive and right before his eyes?
The black snake stopped and raised its head, bringing its cold vertical pupils level with the man's gaze. It dared to come so close because it believed Chi Ke posed no threat to it.
After several months together, it had long since seen that Chi Ke was frail, slow and clumsy in his movements, and lacked sharp claws or fangs.
It drew close and met his eyes, flicking its forked tongue.
Then nothing followed.
Snakes were born without the ability to speak. Their facial structure was like a mold frozen in place, incapable of forming expressions. Or rather, their simple brains had no emotions at all; they could only convey warnings through posture and movement.
The black snake wanted to ask, but the shackles it had been born with left it at a loss as to how.
Its tail tip twitched. Anxiety arose in its mind, deeply uncomfortable.
Chi Ke, meanwhile, was eager to share his joy at acquiring an alchemy furnace.
"Haha! Brother Snake, could you possess the gift of knowing things before they happen, and have come expressly to explore the wonders of alchemy? Once I refine an elixir of everlasting life and agelessness, I certainly won't forget to share it with you. The furnace is ready, but alas, medicinal ingredients are hard to come by. I'm afraid I'll have to wait until next year before I can begin refining."
"..."
This time, the black snake watched and listened attentively. Though it did not understand his meaning, it did its utmost to catch every vibration of his voice, trying to commit each syllable to memory.
Perhaps it would forget everything as soon as it turned away, but at least it was willing to try.
Having exhausted the subject of alchemy, he took out that ancient scroll again and earnestly lectured the black snake. They might not meet again until spring warmed the coming year and the stream ran loud once more. Since they were parting for now, he would take the chance to say a little more.
The morning sun slanted across the withered mountain wilderness. White frost melted on yellowed grass and leaves, glittering briefly before quietly disappearing into the soil...
The lecture fell silent. The black snake slid down from the giant rock and left.
The mountain wind was a little cold, but loneliness was the wind that cut deepest into the bones. Chi Ke fell silent, assailed by an emptiness with nothing to grasp and nowhere to settle. Beyond the mountains, no one believed him; they even mocked him. Now his only listener had gone into hibernation, too.
He held a pine nut between his fingers, but for a long time did not bring it to his mouth.
His loneliness came not from his secluded life away from the world, but from the boundless heavens and earth, the vast and elusive Great Dao.
"It'll snow soon."
When he first entered the mountains, it had been sweltering, with cicadas still calling. Yet in the blink of an eye, snowfall was approaching. Feeling the changing seasons and the urgency of passing time, his desire to cultivate grew all the keener.
After finishing his breathing exercises, he hurried down the mountain along the path.
There was much to do to prepare for winter.
The hunter and the book boy reinforced the thatched roof, filling gaps in the walls with yellow clay mixed with straw. Every day, they busied themselves collecting dead trees from the hillside, tying ropes around them and dragging them back to the little courtyard. They split them into suitable lengths and stacked them neatly in the grass shed and beneath the eaves.
Looking at the firewood piled throughout the courtyard, the hunter often marveled at how easy it was to gather wood deep in the mountains.
The mountains were especially cold.
The shallow water along the pool's edge began to freeze, setting a transparent rim around the ink-dark water. The little stream's flowing voice gradually grew hoarse.
In the early mornings, vapor from the stream coated the branches and dead grass along its banks in white frost. Several places on the hillside bore unusually thick frost, some among scattered rocks, others in the grass. The hunter knew these concealed holes or fissures where warmth from the earth escaped.
One tranquil dusk, the sky darkened early. Lead-gray clouds brushed the mountain peaks. The wind stopped. It was very quiet, and even a little warm.
At first, there were tiny flecks of snow, easily overlooked without a careful look.
Night fell.
Dense, soft snowflakes filled the sky, falling with a rustle so faint that, by listening carefully,
one could hear them touch the dead leaves. White gradually smoothed over the ground.
The yellow dog lay in its bark-built kennel, waiting quietly like the other animals in the mountains.
On the cliff face, pine branches slowly bent beneath the snow. When the accumulated snow fell away, they swayed a few times before returning to their resilient stance.
Loose snow struck the ground with muffled thuds.
A few crystalline flakes drifted into the cave through the opening, only to melt into tiny raindrops in midair.
The black snake was sleeping in a muddled haze when its awareness suddenly cleared. Without realizing it, it had appeared outside the cave again. This time, it was on the familiar giant rock, and through its blurred vision, the familiar valley lay blanketed in white.
Since there was no danger, it might as well stay awhile and figure out what was happening.