Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei's consciousness suddenly awoke. He took a breath of spiritual energy, regaining some of his senses, and then extended his divine sense.

On the surface, he saw two hunting dogs sniffing ahead, while behind them came the sound of human footsteps.

"These are trained hunting dogs; they can smell snakes!" Xu Hei thought, alarmed.

Xu Hei knew these hunting dogs well. Wherever a snake had passed, they could sniff it out and easily find the snakes' hibernation spots.

However, Xu Hei was hiding twenty meters underground and had deliberately covered his scent with bear dung. There was no way they could smell him.

Sure enough, the two hunting dogs sniffed for a moment, then backed away in panic, moving to the other side.

The group behind them quickly changed direction and continued their search.

Xu Hei breathed a sigh of relief. Even if they found him, they couldn't do anything at such a depth.

But having such a large group of people wandering above him was quite a headache for Xu Hei.

"What a bother, I can't even hibernate in peace," Xu Hei grumbled to himself.

Before long, the hunting dogs started barking, and the hunters gathered around, digging up a large stone to find a hibernating snake beneath it.

The snake was two meters long, a forest rattlesnake. Its meat was edible, and its venom could be used for refining medicine.

The hibernating snake was cold and stiff as iron, completely immobile. The humans cut off its head, extracted its gallbladder, skinned it, and put it in a bag.

Xu Hei watched the entire process without any emotional reaction, just hoping they would leave quickly.

However, things didn't go as he wished.

"It's getting late. Let's start a fire and eat. We'll head down the mountain after we finish," the leader shouted.

"Alright!"

Instead of leaving, the large group gathered around, piling up firewood in an open space.

Xu Hei was so angry he almost cursed out loud. Of all places to eat, they had to choose here.

At this moment, he noticed the two leaders: a handsome young man and a chubby middle-aged man.

Both were wearing blue-black python robes, exuding an extraordinary aura with faint spiritual power fluctuations within them.

These python robes were the attire of snake catchers.

"Snake catchers!" Xu Hei's eyes flashed. Without a doubt, this was a snake-catching team led by a snake catcher. Every winter, they would enter the mountains in large numbers to catch snakes.

But this time, there were too many people, over thirty in total.

Not only were there hunters, but also some young men and farmers who had never been in the mountains before. Even Wang Daniu was among them, which was quite odd.

The group started a bonfire and set up an iron pot.

The pot was filled with freshly caught snake meat, cut into segments. The meat was fresh and lively, and they poured in mountain spring water, cooking it over a high flame.

Before long, the aroma spread everywhere. The group drank snake soup and ate snake meat, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"Humans raise so many livestock, yet they're not satisfied. Why do they have to eat snakes?" Xu Hei watched his kind being eaten, feeling both angry and involuntarily swallowing his saliva.

Suddenly, he felt a bit hungry.

"Old Brother Wang, how are you feeling?" The old hunter Li San sat next to Wang Daniu, smiling as he asked.

Wang Daniu took a sip of snake soup and said bitterly, "The mountains are still not for me. After this trip, I'll go home. It's almost New Year anyway."

"Haha, going home is good. Your Little Niu will surely make a name for himself in the future," Li San laughed heartily.

Wang Daniu hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually, I always feel that the immortals coming into the mountains so frequently and gathering so many people isn't just for catching snakes. It seems like they're looking for something..."

"Shh!" Li San interrupted him halfway.

Li San's face turned serious, and he said in a low voice, "Everyone knows what's going on. We shouldn't ask too many questions or overthink it. Just do our part and take the money."

Wang Daniu nodded.

At this moment, the two snake catchers stood on the outer edge of the crowd, discussing something with serious expressions.

"Senior Brother, now that we've found the place, these people are useless and might leak information. Why don't we..." The handsome young man took out a green-purple pill, his eyes flashing.

The chubby middle-aged man immediately stopped him, saying coldly, "Fool, do you think the Astrology Bureau is blind? If we poison them, they will definitely find out."

As cultivators, snake catchers couldn't recklessly harm mortals. The Astrology Bureau wouldn't stand by and do nothing.

"So, what do you suggest, Senior Brother?" The handsome young man put away the pill, asking respectfully.

The chubby middle-aged man snorted coldly, arrogantly saying, "There's a bear demon hibernating nearby."

The handsome young man's eyes lit up, and he cupped his fists, saying, "Senior Brother, you're brilliant. No wonder you chose this place; you had a plan all along."

The chubby middle-aged man struck a mysterious pose, remaining silent with his head held high.

Xu Hei heard every word of their conversation.

Xu Hei had been keeping an eye on these two with his divine sense and now felt a chill run down his spine.

"Can't you kill people somewhere else?"

He didn't care whether the humans lived or died. The problem was, could he still hibernate in peace?

If two or three dozen people died, wouldn't the Astrology Bureau dig three feet into the ground to exterminate demons and monsters?

And Xu Hei knew the root of all this: there was a bear demon nearby.

Before hibernating, Xu Hei had checked the area and found no traces of demonic beasts. But if one had moved in after he started hibernating, there was nothing he could do. It was just bad luck.

Bears were different from snakes. Bears were warm-blooded animals. Even if they were awakened from hibernation, they would go on a killing spree.

"What a lousy place. Why am I so unlucky? Should I burn some incense and pray to a Bodhisattva?" Xu Hei pondered.

At this moment, the young snake catcher took out a jar of fine wine and offered it to the crowd.

"Dear villagers, thank you for your hard work these past few days. This is our last trip into the mountains. After this meal, you can all go home!"

"I toast to you all!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd cheered. They eagerly took the wine jars, each filling a cup.

This was spirit wine, something they usually never had the chance to even smell!

"Thank you, Immortal, for the wine!"

"Let's drink it all!"

As the young man drank, the crowd followed suit, downing their cups in one go.

The wine was not poisonous, just ordinary spirit wine, but it was quite strong. Even cultivators would feel dizzy after drinking it, let alone mortals.

"Good wine, good wine!"

"I've never had anything this good in my life!"

"Haha, drink up, everyone. I have more!" The young snake catcher laughed.

Before long, the crowd was dizzy, with many people passing out on the ground.

Just as the crowd was getting drunk.

In the distance, a rumbling sound suddenly came, and the ground shook as if the entire mountain was trembling.

Two drunken men came running from afar, their faces filled with terror, their drunkenness scared away.

"Not good, a demonic beast is coming! Run!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a dark shadow fell from behind, smashing the two men into a bloody pulp.

Then came the earth-shaking roar of a bear demon, echoing through the forest.

"Help! It's a bear demon!"

"Run!"

The entire hunting team fell into chaos. Everyone woke up in a panic, scrambling to escape.

However, the wine was too strong. People were crashing into trees, falling to the ground, rolling and crawling. Some were even talking in their sleep, unable to run at all.

The outcome was predictable.

"Sigh, more people are going to die," Xu Hei sighed.

Xu Hei had no sympathy for humans. He just hoped they would die far away from his cave, so it wouldn't be a mess.

He moved a bit closer to the surface, allowing his divine sense to see further.

By now, the bear demon had started its massacre.

The bear demon moved swiftly, charging into the crowd. With a single swipe, it could kill a large number of people. Wherever its paw swept, people were smashed to pieces, blood and flesh flying everywhere, extremely gruesome.

"Immortal, save me, save me!"

"Help! Don't leave us!"

Screams filled the air. The villagers had never seen such a monster, and they were scared out of their wits.

However, the two snake catchers had been prepared and were running the fastest. Even though the handsome young man was drunk, he still ran like a leopard.

Only Li San, the most sober hunter, remained.

"Immortal, you can't just leave us to die!" Li San rushed forward, grabbing the handsome young man's leg, only to be kicked away with a look of disgust.

"You filthy peasants caused this mess, and you have the nerve to ask for help? You brought this on yourselves. Don't bother me!" Zhao Wenzhuo shouted angrily, his face red.

"Junior Brother Zhao, hurry up," the chubby middle-aged man urged from ahead.

Zhao Wenzhuo spat towards the back and leaped ten meters, landing near Xu Hei's cave entrance.

Li San gritted his teeth, picked up his crossbow, and fired an arrow.

Zhao Wenzhuo dodged, and the arrow flew past him, but it hit his storage bag, scattering its contents all over the ground.

Pills, jade bottles, talismans, and two jars of spirit wine fell out.

One of the spirit wine jars shattered with a crash, and the wine flowed into the cave.

"Damn it!" Zhao Wenzhuo was furious. A mortal daring to attack an immortal was outrageous! But he had no time to deal with the mortal and bent down to pick up his things.

He hadn't reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining and couldn't retrieve items from a distance.

"Senior Brother, help me!" Zhao Wenzhuo shouted.

The chubby middle-aged man was very annoyed but stopped to help pick up the items, grabbing a handful of pills and stuffing them into his own storage bag.

He picked them up, but whether he would return them later was another matter.

Xu Hei, hiding in the cave, saw the wine flowing down and some spirit pills rolling in, dissolving upon contact with the liquid.

Xu Hei quickly moved aside, pressing against the stone wall to let the wine flow past him.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Xu Hei cursed, the entire cave now filled with the smell of wine.

At this moment.

As Zhao Wenzhuo was picking up a talisman, he suddenly squeezed it in his palm, infusing it with spiritual energy.

"What are you doing?!" The chubby middle-aged man's face changed, reaching for his storage bag, but it was too late.

Zhao Wenzhuo activated the talisman, and a burst of green light erupted, unleashing a fierce gale that blew the chubby middle-aged man away, sending him flying towards the bear demon.

This sudden turn of events left Xu Hei dumbfounded.