Distant mountains shrouded in haze, drizzle filling the skies.
Accompanied by the lodious sound of mountain songs echoing back and forth, Jiang Yuebai stepped into Snake Village in the southwest of Baipu Domain.
The village is nestled deep within the rainforest of lush mountains and clear waters, with moist air, towering ancient trees, vines wrapping around them, and rare exotic flowers and plants abounding.
It’s just that... there are quite a few snakes.
Ever since Jiang Yuebai entered the mountains, a casual swing of the stick would bring out five or six snakes of various colors from the bushes, and often there were snakes that, like hanging vines, would drop down unexpectedly, giving him a scare.
Even though I can glare those snakes to death with my eyes, spotting them suddenly still makes my hair stand on end.
Aside from the countless small villages in Baipu Domain, there are primarily five great villages, each nad after one of the Five Poisons.
The place where Jiang Yuebai and Yun Shang agreed to et is Snake Village, one of them.
At the entrance of the village, there stand six tall, ancient wooden pillars on either side of the road, each intricately carved with a different kind of snake, its head hanging downward from the top, mouth open and hissing, full of wildness.
A stele also stands at the entrance,
[Extraordinary People Keep Out, Violators Will Be Killed]
Jiang Yuebai felt a chill down his spine, looking around carefully without spotting any special identification array, nor did the entrance have guards checking.
Adjusting the hairpin on top of his head, Jiang Yuebai walked with steady eyes through the muddy ground, passing by several Witch Clan cultivators dressed in blue with silver ornants.
"Seems... alright?"
Having confird everything was alright, Jiang Yuebai began appreciating the scenery within the village, with stilted buildings built along the mountains, arranged with rhythm and grace.
Standing on the buildings, one can gaze afar at the misty and vast Coiled Snake River, with the Ten Thousand Mountains stretching endlessly.
Gethered crowds bustling, the noise boiling over, full of the sll of gunpowder.
The moss-covered green brick paths, beside which Witch Clan maidens hold wine bowls and negotiate loudly with shop owners opposite, in a dialect Jiang Yuebai didn’t understand but found intriguing.
Looking all around, Jiang Yuebai noticed the cultivators here mostly dressed in black and blue, adorned with varied silver ornants and dark red patterns, mostly snake totems, with a few of scorpions and centipedes from other villages, evidently cultivators from other Witch Clan villages.
Aside from that, the local cultivators are won who stride proudly in front, while n carry scimitars at the back, like guards.
Within the shop along the road, those calling the shots behind the counter are won, while n are the ones running errands.
Witch Clan in Baipu Domain regards won highly, even foreign cultivators must abide by their rules.
In the Five Great Villages, being able to rely on powerful won is an honor for the local n of the Witch Clan.
Hiss hiss!
A snake suddenly slithered out from nowhere, Jiang Yuebai jumped back in fear of stepping on it, followed by the sound of breaking wind, a shadow ca crashing towards him.
Jiang Yuebai’s eyes sharpened, turning around with a slicing hand, splitting what was thrown at him into two.
Upon landing, he realized it was just an ordinary... embroidered ball?
Raising his eyes, Jiang Yuebai saw a Witch Clan male cultivator standing at the street corner in deep blue attire, a late-stage Qi cultivation practitioner, strong and muscular, looking at the embroidered ball on the ground with an injured expression.
In the end, the brawny male cultivator nodded to Jiang Yuebai before turning to leave.
"Young lady, first ti in Baipu Domain?"
At the wine shop entrance by the roadside, a middle-aged woman in Foundation Establishnt Stage with a green snake wrapped around her arm said in an accent Jiang Yuebai could understand while pouring the wine, "In Baipu Domain’s villages, when a woman fancies a man, she directly catches him, and when a man courts a woman, he throws the embroidered ball. If she agrees, she catches it, if not, she mustn’t catch it."
Jiang Yuebai asked puzzled, "What if you accidentally catch it and don’t want to agree?"
The middle-aged woman covered the wine jar, "If you et a reasonable one, a few comforting words and they scatter, but if you et a persistent one, they might keep pestering you. In Baipu Domain, loyalty is an excellent trait in n, once the embroidered ball is caught, the man considers himself yours."
Jiang Yuebai’s little Ganoderma mushrood with fear, thankfully not catching it earlier on.
"Would you like to co in and try the flower cakes and mushroom soup snake stew? Our local wine here is also quite good."
Jiang Yuebai bowed his hands in thanks, "Thank you, Mr. Xie, I have an appointnt with a friend, visit again later."
The middle-aged woman watched Jiang Yuebai’s retreating back, and spoke to the snake on her arm, "Such a charming young lady, with high cultivation, sure is a hot commodity～"
Jiang Yuebai arrived outside Wangjiang Building ready to find Yun Shang, suddenly recalling Yun Shang’s previous letter instructing him to disguise as a man.
Confused for the answer, Jiang Yuebai went to find a place, donned a set of black samurai clothes, took out an Evil Wind Saber in hand, drawing sharp brows, eyes starry, bold and valiant.
Finding the house rented by Yun Shang in the backyard of Wangjiang Building, seeing the Witch Clan male cultivator guarding her door, Jiang Yuebai imdiately understood why Yun Shang wanted him to dress as a man.
Clearing his throat, Jiang Yuebai walked over and called, "Shang, I’ve co to take you away."
Before he approached, the rough Witch Clan male cultivator sprang to his feet, hostile eyes scanning Jiang Yuebai.
The door was pulled open from within, still the original sweet and adorable Yun Shang after years apart, seeing Jiang Yuebai, mist filled her eyes, rushing to hug Jiang Yuebai’s waist.
"Why have you co only now?"
Over the years, Jiang Yuebai grew quite a bit, with Yun Shang’s head now only reaching his lower lips while embraced.
"Alright, alright, as soon as I received your letter, I hurried over without pause, no more crying, let’s first deal with the matter at hand."
"Mmm～"
Yun Shang nodded pitifully, Jiang Yuebai shielded her behind, raising his chin, eyes unfriendly glaring at the distant Witch Clan male cultivator.
"I don’t understand your Witch Clan’s rules, but she is my person, I won’t allow you to harass freely."
Yun Shang bravely poked out half a head from behind Jiang Yuebai, "I, I... I already told you, I only accidentally accepted your embroidered ball."
With Jiang Yuebai’s mid-stage Foundation Establishnt cultivation displayed, the Witch Clan male cultivator rely in the Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation, he saw their hands tightly bound together, utterly defeated.
In the end, without excessive entanglent, he cupped his hands in farewell.
But before leaving, he spoke sorrowfully to Yun Shang, "If he treats you poorly, you can co to anyti, I am willing to follow you always."
Jiang Yuebai:......
Yun Shang’s cheeks flushed red, angrily exclaid: "You, you... you better give up!"
After saying that, she shrunk back behind Jiang Yuebai, not coming out again.
After the Witch Clan male cultivator left, Jiang Yuebai couldn’t hold back laughing anymore.
"Hahaha..."
Yun Shang was infuriated, hitting Jiang Yuebai on the arm, "What’s so funny!"
Jiang Yuebai laughed uncontrollably, Yun Shang stood on tiptoe to cover his mouth, "Keep laughing and I’ll... I’ll... ouch!"
Yun Shang blushing ran back to her room, Jiang Yuebai wiping tears of laughter followed closely behind.
As soon as entering, Jiang Yuebai was drawn by the alluring aroma of food, seeing the table full of Snake Village’s specialty dishes, along with a book titled Love Gu Tribulation flipped open face down on the table.
"Shang, you seem to have been living well these days～" Jiang Yuebai teased.
Yun Shang’s face flushed to the point of bleeding, stamring to explain, "I, this... this is all for you."
Jiang Yuebai glanced at her, "You didn’t wipe clean your mouth."
Yun Shang quickly turned away trying to wipe her mouth with her sleeve, after wiping finding it perfectly clean, hearing the sound of Jiang Yuebai’s giggling behind.
It wasn’t until seeing Yun Shang that Jiang Yuebai’s spirit finally relaxed completely these past years, no longer always wary when encountering any person.
"Alright, I won’t laugh anymore, let’s eat and talk, I have a belly full of things I want to say to you."
Jiang Yuebai sat down, picked up a piece of the flower cake to eat, soft and sweet, truly delicious!
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