A-Guang hurriedly grabbed his arm. "Seriously? You're really going straight over? Carrying a bamboo basket in plain sight, too? Isn't that practically admitting you did it?"
"What the hell does it have to do with me? I'm carrying a bamboo basket because I'm going beachcombing. The tide just went out, and we're going to pick up some seafood to go with our drinks tonight. We're not working tomorrow anyway."
"Uh..."
A-Zheng and Xiao Xiao promptly gave him a thumbs-up. That excuse worked-it was very believable. It wasn't as though they hadn't done that sort of thing before.
"Then we might as well circle around and get on our bicycles. That'll work even better. We can show up openly!"
"Sure, let's do that. Our brains all work pretty well. Still good for something!"
"What kind of thing is that to say? Come on, hurry up. If we're late, someone else will catch them. I put a hell of a lot of effort into catching those."
Talking as they went, the four headed into the shadows and circled around, passing the back door of the house opposite the Wang family's home. Along the way, they heard Old Wang, still shaken, telling his horror story.
"I was sleeping perfectly well when my neck suddenly felt chilly. Something cool and soft crawled across it. I woke up and felt around, and it scared me into sitting bolt upright..."
"Oh, heavens, I nearly got scared to death..."
"Us too. In the middle of the night, I suddenly felt something wrapping around my foot. It was slippery and soft, and it moved. It even crawled up my leg... It was terrifying..."
Delighted surprise appeared on all four faces. So the snakes had all climbed onto the beds, onto their legs and necks. No wonder they had