Just a moment ago, Tu Xiao'an had spoken in human tongue. Why could he be so brazen? Because in his eyes, Chen Gao was already a dead man.
Dead men would keep his secret safe.
'Since you want to capture me for money, then I don't need to be polite to you. Besides, Chen Gao was never a good person to begin with.'
Tu Xiao'an felt no need for guilt.
'What does it feel like to kill someone? Maybe it's because I've become a cold-blooded animal, or maybe for some other reason, but I suddenly want to experience the thrill of killing.'
"HISS HISS..."
Tu Xiao'an secretly and continuously controlled the surrounding venomous snakes to attack. Chen Gao's face had turned a sickly pale.
In just a short while, he had been bitten more than ten times by different venomous snakes. The antidote he had taken was having no effect at all.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I was wrong! I won't try to catch you anymore!"
Chen Gao's eyes held the terror of a hunted animal. His lips and cheeks were deathly pale and drawn. The snakes around him attacked with abandon, and he was completely unable to defend himself.
At that moment, a wave of powerlessness and weakness washed over his body. He felt the call of the Death God.
The beast in his eyes had now become his death warrant.
"You beast! If you want me dead, I won't let you get off easy! We'll just take each other down together!"
A vicious resolve suddenly filled Chen Gao. He stared at the Silver White Snake in the distance, a fierce glint in his eyes, and charged recklessly toward it.
He completely ignored all the venomous snakes around him.
Tu Xiao'an didn't move. He sneered inwardly. 'Taking me down with you? Impossible. That's not happening.'
This wasn't a desperate, all-or-nothing gamble; it was tantamount to giving up all resistance. Before Chen Gao could take more than a few steps in his frenzied charge, venomous snakes were already hanging from his thighs, his waist, and his arms.
Maw after maw, fang after fang, drove glistening venom deep into his skin, the poison then coursing through his internal organs.
One step, two steps, three steps... More and more venomous snakes clung to Chen Gao's body. His steps grew heavier and weaker.
"THUD..."
He collapsed within ten feet of Tu Xiao'an, the Silver White Snake. In an instant, his body was piled high with venomous snakes, leaving only Chen Gao's head exposed.
"What in the world are you?!"
As he lay dying, Chen Gao looked at the snake. 'Has this snake really become a spirit?'
"I'll tell you a secret. I'm human."
The Silver White Snake spoke in human tongue again. Chen Gao's eyes went wide, as if he had heard the world's greatest joke, or had just witnessed something utterly unbelievable.
"I don't care what you are! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
Chen Gao's voice was now endlessly weak and faint, like that of an old man in his twilight years who had to use all his strength just to utter a single word.
His body was covered in a pile of venomous snakes. They writhed and slithered over him, tangling together in a horrifying mass. The scene was terrifying to even think about.
A single glance was enough to make one want to vomit.
The snake venom was now ravaging Chen Gao's Life Force. The toxins had fully taken effect.
After a moment, Chen Gao's body began to convulse. He foamed at the mouth, and then blood started pouring from his seven orifices. His appearance was more horrifying than a Fierce Ghost.
It was impossible to tell how many bite wounds from the venomous snakes covered his body.
"AH...!"
Chen Gao let out a sudden, loud cry and his head slumped down. In an instant, even his head was submerged by the swarm of venomous snakes.
Tu Xiao'an watched with indifference, then turned and slithered away, feeling nothing at all.
He had just brutally killed a man, yet he felt no ripples of emotion. 'A person like Chen Gao is better off dead. Who told him to come and provoke me?'
'If you want to catch this snake for money, you'd better have the life to spend it.'
One day later, Chen Gao's body was discovered by a Snake Catcher who was Ascending the Mountain, causing an immediate sensation in Bai Town.
It wasn't rare for a Snake Catcher to be bitten to death by venomous snakes; such incidents were commonplace. But no one had ever died as miserably as Chen Gao. He was the first.
When he was found, a pile of venomous snakes were still on his body, unwilling to leave. They had even turned his corpse into their nest.
Everyone who saw the sight was plagued by nightmares. It was too horrifying.
People couldn't help but secretly wonder: had Chen Gao provoked the venomous snakes of an entire Snake Cave? Why else would he have died so miserably, attacked by so many snakes?
The incident quickly became a lingering nightmare for Bai Town. For the entire next month, not a single Snake Catcher dared to go up She Mountain to catch snakes.
Of course, that all came later.
Tu Xiao'an left She Mountain and appeared in his own backyard an hour later. The moment Xiaobai saw the snake, he excitedly ran over and began licking him furiously, acting very affectionate.
'Stupid dog, get away from me. You're filthy.'
Tu Xiao'an was speechless and rolled his eyes.
He noticed that his older sister still wasn't back, even though it was almost evening.
'Where did she go today?'
Tu Xiao'an was a little worried. He had no interest in playing with Xiaobai and slithered into the house, where he found his mother making dinner.
COUGH COUGH...!
She coughed as she cooked, and every cough made Tu Xiao'an's heart clench.
'Mom's illness is really getting worse. She has to be treated. We can't delay any longer.'
Every time Tu Xiao'an heard her cough, his heart ached. He thought, 'If I were still alive, Mom's illness would never have gotten this severe.'
He had a strong impulse to go to her and reveal himself, to tell his mother that he was still alive and was right there, watching over her.
Tu Xiao'an could reveal himself now—this snake could already speak human language—but he didn't dare. Even if you gave him all the courage in the world, he still wouldn't dare.
He could brutally kill a man on She Mountain without batting an eye, but he truly didn't dare to reveal himself to his own mother.
'How could I reveal myself? Tell her that this snake is her son? It's utterly ridiculous. The biggest joke in the world.'
'Could she handle such a shock?' Tu Xiao'an didn't dare to bet on it. He couldn't afford to lose.
With that, Tu Xiao'an slithered to the main gate, thinking, 'Maybe I should reveal myself to my sister first.'
The sky outside was completely dark by the time Tu Xiao'an saw a slender, frail figure dragging her weary body toward the house.
"Mom, I'm home!"
Tu Xiaoyue said as soon as she walked in the door.
Wen Qiu looked at her daughter and quickly asked, "Yue'Er, where have you been all day? Were you looking for a job?"
"Yeah. I went out for a bit, but I didn't find any good jobs."
Wen Qiu comforted her, "It's alright, take your time. You've been out all day, you must be starving. Come and eat."
There were only two plates of vegetarian dishes on the table. The mother and daughter began their simple meal.
Tu Xiao'an watched from a hidden corner. The sight of the two vegetable dishes made his heart ache. 'The family's situation is really terrible right now. Mom's not well; she should be eating something more nutritious.'
"Yue'Er, Meilin came by today," Wen Qiu said after a moment's thought, deciding to bring it up.
Tu Xiaoyue looked up and said coldly, "What did she come here for?"
Hearing his sister's tone, Tu Xiao'an figured she must still hold a bit of a grudge against Sister Meilin.
She believed it was Sister Meilin who had encouraged him to go up the mountain to catch the rumored Vampire Snake, which had cost him his life.
"She gave our family a large sum of money. A full one hundred thousand yuan," Wen Qiu said with a sigh.
Tu Xiaoyue slammed her chopsticks down. "Is my brother's life only worth a hundred thousand yuan? If it weren't for her, Xiao'an would never have gone up the mountain and lost his life!"
"Yue'Er, don't blame her. You know your brother's personality, don't you? When he wanted to do something, who could stop him? And if he didn't want to do something, no one could force him."
*Sobs...*
Tears suddenly started streaming down Tu Xiaoyue's face. "Mom, I know it's not all her fault, but I just can't get over it! My little brother... how old was he? And just like that, he's gone."
With her brother gone, the entire weight of the family had fallen on Tu Xiaoyue's shoulders. She was afraid she couldn't hold on, afraid her mother's health would only get worse.
Wen Qiu fell silent. She quietly took a bite of rice. There was no sound, only tears, which fell one after another. She covered her eyes with her trembling hands, and a long time passed before she slowly, gradually moved them away. A single second felt like an entire year passing through all four seasons.
"Mom, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have said those things."
Seeing her mother cry, Tu Xiaoyue grew flustered and mentally slapped herself. She had really brought up the one topic she shouldn't have.