"Ah, you inadvertently broke the secret of Xinglong Manor."
"Turns out they breed snakes to feed on humans, and they're quite picky about their food."
"They claim that one can successfully conceive only under the protection of the Snake Mother, but in reality, they use the pollution from the Snake Mother Temple to erode these fetuses, turning them into neither human nor ghost, crafting an excellent tonic for the snake creatures."
"The longer a child withstands the erosion, the more they are favored."
"Those mutated before birth are the least regarded, called 'medicinal dregs,' merely enough to whet their appetite, worth only a few thousand."
"One year's worth of mutated 'Elevation Pill,' is considered ordinary, barely enough to satisfy hunger, priced at ten thousand."
"Two years aged, can be called 'medium grade,' fifty thousand per pill."
"Three years superior, harder to acquire, priced at one hundred thousand per pill."
