It's rare for a man to live to seventy, as the old saying goes. Elder Zhao was eighty-two today. He had lived long enough; even if he were to die now, he would have co out ahead.
He never expected that now, when he should have been enjoying the bliss of a large family, his sons would die one by one before he did.
He crawled toward the Crowned Snake, which held its head high, radiating a monstrous Killing Intent. The approach of death brought him no fear or terror. 'Perhaps if I die,' he thought, 'this can all co to a perfect end.'
With every inch he crawled, scenes from the past flashed before Elder Zhao's clouded eyes. The people and events of his life rose and fell like a roller coaster.
Fifty years ago, Zhao Changmin's family—he was not yet Elder Zhao then—hired an elentary school teacher to tutor his son. She wasn't a local but had co from out of town. She was as beautiful as a flower, with an elegance as subtle as a chrysanthemum's.
From the mont he saw her, Zhao Changmin was smitten with his son's tutor. Unfortunately, he was already a married man.
The new society had been established. Like nature in spring, everything had a new order, a new Law. A man could no longer have three wives and four concubines; he was permitted only one.
Despite having a wife, he pursued the teacher relentlessly. In those days, Zhao Changmin was the most famous Snake Catcher in Zhao Village and exuded a rugged manliness. Gradually, the teacher's defenses crumbled, and she made the greatest mistake of her life.
Soon after, the teacher found herself pregnant. Zhao Changmin secretly installed her in the most remote courtyard of the Zhao estate, promising her that he would divorce his wife as soon as she gave birth to their child.
But a secret that big couldn't be kept forever. Zhao Changmin's wife discovered the pregnant teacher in the back courtyard. She was filled with rage and resentnt—rage at her husband's betrayal, and resentnt for the teacher's shalessness. But above all, she was terrified that Zhao Changmin would divorce her.
In those days, being divorced was a fate worse than death for a woman. Her life would be utterly ruined.
On the day the teacher went into labor, Zhao Changmin's wife secretly bribed the midwife. Then, while the teacher was at her most vulnerable, the wife went in and smothered the exhausted woman with a quilt, murdering her in cold blood.
A mother and her unborn child, dead in an instant. It must be said, a woman's fury can be a terrifying and venomous thing.
Afterward, the midwife told Zhao Changmin that the teacher had been unable to deliver and had died of a massive hemorrhage, the child perishing with her in the womb.
Zhao Changmin was devastated by the news but believed her story. After all, a private birth was fraught with risk.
His wife thought her deed had been carried out in perfect secrecy, fooling everyone. But she hadn't fooled a small, erald-green Snake.
The teacher's body was buried in secret. Everyone thought the matter was closed, but soon, strange things started happening at the Zhao Family's ho.
Before long, his wife also died unexpectedly. No one even knew the cause of death.
But her death had been a grueso one.
Fearing karmic retribution, the midwife later confessed everything to Zhao Changmin. Only then did he learn the horrific truth of how the teacher and his unborn child had died.
But what was done was done. What could he do? He suspected the strange occurrences in his ho were the work of the teacher's restless, vengeful spirit.
So, Zhao Changmin summoned a Daoist. The Daoist proposed a solution: exhu the teacher's corpse, break her bones, and coil them like a snake around a long, slender wooden beam. This beam was then to be encased in a hollow wooden shell and installed as a crossbeam in the house. This, the Daoist claid, would protect the family from harm.
The teacher's spirit would then transform into a House Snake, watching over the Zhao Family and bringing them good fortune.
However, the Daoist added a warning: if the House Snake were ever to leave, disaster would plague his descendants for generations, and there would be nothing he could do to stop it.
What Zhao Changmin didn't know at the ti was that the Zhao Family already had a guardian House Snake.
Later, when a House Snake appeared, he assud it was the manifestation of the teacher's spirit. He never told a soul.
A person makes countless mistakes in a lifeti. So can be corrected, so can be atoned for. But so mistakes, once made, are like spilled water—impossible to take back.
Elder Zhao crawled to within a ter of the Crowned Snake, close enough for it to kill him with a single, effortless bite.
"Kill , and let it all end."
Elder Zhao gazed calmly at the Crowned Snake, his tone as even as if he were speaking to another person.
The Crowned Snake radiated a fearso Killing Intent. A sinister chill emanated from it, making one feel as if they were treading on thin ice. Its body rose, becoming more and more erect. Then, in tune with the ripples in the air, the vibrant stripes covering its body began to change dramatically.
First, the vibrant stripes turned a deep scarlet. Then, from scarlet, they shifted to violet. As everyone watched, stunned into silence, it transford into a venomous snake covered in purple stripes.
The shades of purple covering its body seed to flow across its stripes, creating a stunning, ethereal, and elegant sight. With a uniquely noble air, the Crowned Snake looked down upon Elder Zhao.
Its Snake Gaze seethed with hatred and contempt, and it longed to sink its fangs into him. Yet, it forcefully suppressed its Killing Intent. Opening its mouth, its voice as cold as Frost, it said, "I promised my master I would not harm you. If you wish to die, you must do it yourself."
"Master?"
Tu Xiao'an was taken aback. 'This mutated House Snake has a master?' he thought.
'It's the Zhao Family's House Snake, so who could its master be?'
'Is it killing them one by one just to force Elder Zhao to kill himself?'
But Elder Zhao simply revealed a faint smile. He looked at the Crowned Snake with composure. "If I kill myself," he asked, "will you spare the people of my Zhao Family?"
"You people of the Zhao Family deserve to die," the snake hissed. "There isn't a good one among you. I told you I would slaughter you all."
It is said that snakes are cold-blooded and heartless. The fable of the farr and the snake teaches us to keep our distance. They are said to be fiercely vengeful, seeking retribution for the smallest slight. Even if you show them kindness, they will not necessarily return it.
But that last part was debatable. Why did this Crowned Snake harbor such hatred for the Zhao Family? And who was its master?
'Is this master dead or alive?'
'It was obvious the master had so connection to Elder Zhao.'
'This was a secret known only to the Snake and Elder Zhao, it seed.'
The Crowned Snake's murderous words struck Elder Zhao like a sudden, cold gust of wind. He froze for a second, then gave a wretched laugh.
Suddenly, Elder Zhao produced a dagger that glinted coldly, pointing it at the Crowned Snake.
The Crowned Snake remained perfectly still, its Snake Gaze watching with Leng Ran.
"Grandpa, kill that snake!"
"Grandpa, you were the most famous Snake Catcher in Zhao Village! You can kill that wicked Snake, I know you can!"
Seeing Elder Zhao reveal the dagger, the crowd standing by the morial hall was instantly energized, as if grasping at a final straw.
At these words, the Crowned Snake's purple stripes seed to shimr, beautiful as a flower yet bewitching as a distant light. Instantly, the Qi around it exploded, kicking up violent gusts of wind. The courtyard grew as bleak and bitterly cold as the dead of winter.
"I will kill you one by one."
The Crowned Snake let out a sound like a weeping Fierce Ghost, a resentful wail that made everyone's skin crawl.
Elder Zhao's eyes filled with sorrow for his family's fleeting prosperity. He looked at the hate-filled Crowned Snake and cried out, "The mbers of the Zhao Family are dying at the hands of their own House Snake! What more is there to say? It is the will of heaven!"
Made by the House Snake, broken by the House Snake.
Ever since the teacher's bones had been hung in the rafters, the Zhao Family had enjoyed smooth sailing. The family grew and prospered. He himself beca the chief of Zhao Village, keeper of the Zhao clan's genealogy, a man of great prestige and respect.
But when the House Snake left, the Zhao Family's fortune was exhausted. And now that the House Snake has returned, it has brought a bloody catastrophe upon them.
User Comments
0 comments from readers