In the end, the team of fifteen also disappeared on She Mountain. Not a single person made it back down.
The people of Bai Town grew even more terrified. The next day, another team of twenty was ford to continue the search up the mountain, but the result was the sa.
They never returned.
Call the police! Call the police! The families of the missing frantically reported the disappearances. With so many people gone in such a short ti, it was more than enough to attract the attention of the authorities.
Soon, She Mountain was cordoned off, and no one was permitted to go up the mountain easily.
Police cars, sirens wailing, roared up and stopped by the large bluestone at the foot of She Mountain. Group after group of uniford officers ascended the mountain, carrying the hopes of the people of Bai Town.
Had the people who went up the mountain really been eaten by a man-eating monster, or had so other accident befallen them?
No one knew the true answer. Their only hope lay with those officers.
As ti passed and night fell, the people of Bai Town fell into despair.
Not one of the uniford officers returned. She Mountain, a place teeming with snakes, had beco a dark Bottomless Pit. Anyone who entered was swallowed without a trace.
Snake Catchers had vanished. Police officers had vanished. All of She Mountain was shrouded in the terrifying shadow of death. The incident was so impactful that it shocked the entirety of Wencheng.
It even alard the high-ranking officials.
However, in the Snake King Temple...
The temple's incense burned without end, as worshippers ca in a steady stream.
At this mont, the Snake King Temple was thriving with incense smoke. Many families of the missing had co to pray for the Snake King's blessing, begging for the safe return of their loved ones.
A man-eating monster had appeared on She Mountain. Though everyone had called the police, the only result was an increase in the number of the missing.
And so, one by one, they ca to the Snake King Temple of their own accord to pray for the Snake King's protection.
"Lord Snake King, please protect my husband and let him co down safely from She Mountain. He went into the mountains three days ago and hasn't co ho."
An anxious middle-aged woman kowtowed to the statue again and again. As she did, a clear stream of tears trickled down her face.
At the sa ti, an eight- or nine-year-old boy knelt before the Snake King statue. He very seriously and properly kowtowed three tis, then raised his head. With bright eyes and a slightly childish voice, he said, "Lord Snake King, my dad promised that if he caught a good snake on She Mountain, he'd buy my favorite toy. I don't want the toy anymore. I just want my dad to co ho safe."
The elderly, won, children—scenes like this played out one after another inside the Snake King Temple.
People ca in a continuous stream to kowtow and make wishes, and their prayers were surprisingly uniform: they all hoped for the safe return of their family mbers.
And behind the Snake King statue, a miniature Gold and Silver Snake lay hidden, listening to the wishes of the supplicants.
'Vampire Snake, have you finally returned to She Mountain?'
Rumors of a man-eating monster on She Mountain were now spreading throughout Bai Town. For the past several days, people had been coming constantly to kowtow and pray for the safe return of their families.
Tu Xiao'an pretty much had it figured out. 'A man-eating monster? It has to be the Vampire Snake. It's returned.'
'For a Giant Snake that's grown to twenty ters, eating people is nothing strange.'
More and more people who went up the mountain had disappeared in recent days, but what puzzled Tu Xiao'an was that none of the Electric Bees he had spread across She Mountain had reported any news of the Vampire Snake. This left him slightly confused.
'But the gravity of the situation has far exceeded my imagination. It looks like I have to go up the mountain imdiately.'
'Whether for my own personal grudge or to prevent more people from coming to harm, I have to act now.'
But just as Tu Xiao'an made up his mind, he was suddenly startled. A glance outside revealed a dense crowd of people surging into the temple hall. Each person solemnly held three incense sticks high, as if they were performing a task of great importance.
At a glance, Tu Xiao'an recognized many familiar faces among them—they were all respected local Snake Catchers. To his surprise, he even caught sight of his own master, Shen Zhennan, out of the corner of his eye.
Shen Zhennan was supporting an old man with a full head of white hair, his back bent like a bow, who was leading the procession. The old man's hands were like withered wood, and his forehead was deeply lined by the passage of ti.
When Tu Xiao'an got a clear look at the old man's face, he was so shocked he nearly fell off the statue.
"This humble one, Lin Defeng, on behalf of the people of Bai Town, beseeches the Snake King to erge into the world, vanquish the Demon, and save the people of Bai Town from this calamity!"
The old man walked before the Snake King statue, shook off Shen Zhennan's supporting hand, raised the three incense sticks high, straightened his stooped fra, and shouted in a voice that bood like a great bell.
The shout was so powerful it seed to have drained every ounce of strength from his body.
"We beseech the Snake King to erge and vanquish the Demon!"
Inside the incense-filled temple hall, the crowd, their faces solemn and respectful, roared as one. The sound echoed from the rafters, seeming to linger in the air.
Legend has it that hundreds of years ago, a great Huo Luan epidemic struck the Bai Town region. In their desperation, the people kowtowed and petitioned, begging the Snake King of She Mountain to erge. On that occasion, a magnificent, massive Giant Snake appeared in the skies above Bai Town. Like a Divine Spirit descending to the mortal realm, it spat fire and drove out the plague.
Now, a man-eating monster had appeared on She Mountain, and Snake Catchers were disappearing one after another, leaving behind neither a living soul nor a single corpse.
The entirety of Bai Town was living in terror, and the authorities were unable to resolve the situation quickly.
In just a few short days, the number of missing people had surpassed fifty.
Calling them "missing" was being optimistic. In their hearts, everyone understood that their loved ones were likely never coming back.
After the crowd echoed his plea, the old man, Lin Defeng, shouted once more, "Please, Snake King, erge and vanquish the Demon!"
Finishing his shout, he raised the three incense sticks, bent his knees toward the statue, and dropped heavily to the ground.
As the old man moved to kneel, the crowd behind him followed suit, dropping to their knees one after another. But once they were all kneeling, they realized the old man himself had not actually touched the ground.
Lin Defeng stared at the Snake King statue in astonishnt, his cloudy eyes slowly widening with an expression of overjoyed surprise.
It wasn't that he wouldn't kneel, but that he discovered he simply couldn't. It was as if a Formless force was holding him up, preventing him from touching his knees to the ground.
Hidden behind the statue, Tu Xiao'an was overco with awe and panic when he saw the old man about to kneel before him. If he could, he would have been the one to kneel and kowtow three tis to the old man first.
Who was this old man...?
He was the most respected elder in Bai Town. In his day, he had a resounding title known throughout the region: the Snake King among n, immune to all poisons.
His disciples were spread throughout Bai Town, the most famous of whom was the Snake Catching Master Shen Zhennan, who now stood right behind him. He was one of the old man's Direct Disciples.
In the presence of the elder Lin Defeng, even a master like Shen Zhennan was nothing.
Why was Tu Xiao'an so overwheld with awe? The reason was simple: his own father had also been one of the old man's Direct Disciples.
Strictly speaking, this was his grandmaster.
Tu Xiao'an never imagined that the unrest on She Mountain would be enough to disturb this venerable elder from his peaceful retirent.
'What a sin,' he thought.
'Then again,' he mused, 'if anyone is qualified to beseech the Snake King to erge, it's this old man.'
At this mont, the dense crowd in the temple hall knelt in worship. Only the old man stood, gazing intently at the Snake King statue. An indescribable feeling filled his heart; the elder had sensed the Snake King's presence.
Just at that mont...
"Ding... Mission triggered: The She Mountain Catastrophe. Host must resolve the crisis on She Mountain. Upon completion: Level 3, Reward: 1,000,000 Faith Points."
The system's voice quietly echoed in Tu Xiao'an's mind.
Instantly, his Snake Gaze flashed with a brilliant light. This was the mont Tu Xiao'an had been waiting for: a mission trigger.
In the temple hall, before the Snake King statue, the shimring golden silhouette of a snake began to flicker in and out of existence.
In an instant, everyone stared with looks of utter shock, no one daring to move a muscle.
The Snake King had manifested...
Suddenly, the shimring golden silhouette shot toward the heavens, transforming into a streak of golden light. It let out a long, resonant cry that filled the temple hall, and then vanished in a flash.
DONG... DONG... DONG...
From outside the temple hall, the deep, distant tolling of a bell rang out.
The Snake King has erged, and the bell tolls long...
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