The rocks at the summit had grown ever smoother. Black Snake lay coiled on the peak, drawing in the morning mist with long, slow breaths.
The morning mist gradually dispersed. First, the peak occupied by the great snake emerged; then the Daoist temple's blue tiles and upturned eaves appeared through the thin veil, and sunlight spilled down.
Black Snake gazed down at the winding mountain path.
Many pilgrims climbed slowly, gathering and dispersing along the way before converging on the stone terrace outside the Mountain Gate.
Voices rose in a hubbub, and wisps of blue smoke from the incense burner curled together into a haze.
He Ning seemed to be on duty in the hall today. A few days earlier, Black Snake had asked her to come up the mountain and take advantage of the frequent heavenly thunder during the rainy spell, to see whether she could draw it down to dispel her demonic affliction.
She had refused very firmly. What a pity.
After glancing at the roof ridges and blue clouds of incense, Black Snake slid down the jagged rocks and headed straight east.
Black Snake remembered that farmland covered the west, where people were densely settled. To the north and east, the mountains were high, the forests thick, and people scarce. The south remained unexplored; that could wait until there was some spare time.
There was a river to the east, and fish in the river.
Although breathing in clouds and mist was enough to fill the belly, after so long, it still felt a little unnatural. After years of Black Snake's depredations, the mountain had long since lost all its large beasts. The remaining wild mice and rabbits were left for Fox and Weasel.
Black Snake followed the rolling ridgeline for a while, then descended and traveled