Chapter 131: What is the purpose of incubating snake eggs?

The leaden sky gradually turned dark, pressing heavily over the plains.

The air was incredibly humid and chilly, a sign that rain was imminent. Zhou Yaren felt extremely weak and achy, as if a hundred ants were gnawing at her bones.

"Do you mean that the child's soul entered a snake's womb?"

Voices could be heard coming from the side room from time to time.

"Elder, what happens if one is conceived in a snake's womb?"

Zhou Yaren tried to sit up, but his whole body ached and felt numb, so he couldn't muster any strength. He gritted his teeth, struggled to prop himself up on his elbows, and looked out through the carved wooden window. To his surprise, he could see the lights of thousands of homes.

Zhou Yaren was stunned for a moment, and before she could react from her surprise at how she could see the lights, a huge black shadow stretched out from her.

What is it?

His gaze darkened, and upon closer inspection, he saw a long, bluish-black spine covered with slippery, hard black scales, faintly gleaming with a cold, eerie light, moving along the ground like floating ripples on water, slowly "floating" forward.

As its ventral scales rub against the ground, they roll over the soil and pass through the grass, making a soft, rustling sound.

This is a giant python.

Zhou Yaren's pupils constricted, and a chill ran down her spine.

It seemed to be surveying its territory, its massive body like a brick wall surrounding the courtyard.

Zhou Ya was shocked. He propped himself up and got off the bed, staggered to the door, and opened it.

A cold, damp wind carrying a fishy, ​​pungent smell swept into the room.

The enormous python suddenly raised its head, its emerald green eyes staring intently at the people inside the room, and it looked down at Zhou Yaren, flicking out its scarlet forked tongue.

Zhou Yaren felt a chill run down his spine; the extremely unpleasant fishy smell made him hold his breath.

It sits here, with a bulging section at its belly and tail that is several feet higher than the eaves, like a towering hill.

Clearly, this is a pregnant female python.

Zhou Yaren heard Lin Mu's voice coming from behind a wall: "Does that mean that once that snake lays eggs and the baby snakes hatch, the child will not survive?"

Suddenly, the giant python opened its massive jaws, the black scales on its neck instantly bristling, and its mouth gaped open to its limit, revealing sharp, hook-shaped fangs!

Its fangs, dripping with wet, sticky fluid, lunged at Zhou Yaren!

Is this a pregnant female python out hunting for food?

Zhou Yaren's scalp tingled, and he retreated in a panic. He could almost see into the depths of its scarlet throat, and as the snake's throat contracted, its muscles tightened and clenched, ready to swallow him whole in one gulp!

Just as the forked snake's tongue coiled around her, Zhou Yaren suddenly woke up!

He opened his eyes, but all he could see was darkness; he couldn't see anything.

It was all a dream.

Zhou Yaren, still shaken, gasped for breath. He felt as if he had been frozen in place when the snake's tongue coiled around him in his dream, unable to move an inch, only able to let the giant python swallow him whole. However, the stench and stickiness of the python's saliva were so real, the cold, sticky sensation felt so tangible even after he woke up, as if it were still clinging to his body.

He heard sobbing coming from the other side of the wall, and then he had a nightmare while listening to their conversation.

Zhou Yaren paused for a moment, and just as he was about to raise his hand, he suddenly froze.

Because something inside the blanket moved slowly.

A damp, cold sensation clung to my skin, slippery and moving upwards from my sleeve.

Zhou Yaren's arm instantly broke out in goosebumps, and as the touch moved up her arm, it brought waves of tingling and itchy sensations.

Zhou Yaren subconsciously turned his head to look at the person next to him, and just happened to meet Bai Yuan's half-open eyes, while Bai Yuan's other hand was just reaching into his sleeve.

Zhou Yaren began to speak: "You..."

Although Bai Yuan's fingertips were cool, they did not have that sticky, slippery feeling.

Zhou Yaren suddenly realized something.

It wasn't that Bai Yuan was touching him, but rather...

Bai Yuan pulled two thin, delicate snakes from his sleeve!

The slender snake twisted and coiled between Bai Yuan's fingers, struggling to open its mouth and bite his fingertip. Bai Yuan then flung it away violently, and as it slammed into the door frame, a wind blade sliced ​​the slender snake in two!

With a "bang," the teacup on the table was swept to the ground by the wind blade and shattered into pieces.

Bai Yuan suddenly threw off the covers and sat up, pulling open Zhou Yaren's sleeve to check: "Have you been bitten?"

"No."

Zhou Yaren's arm had no tooth holes, but there were two winding wet marks, which were the slime from the small snake. Two broken eggshells fell from his sleeve onto the couch.

As the third complete snake egg rolled out of the sleeve, a soft scraping sound came from inside the eggshell.

“There’s one more.” Bai Yuan bent down and could see the baby snake moving inside through the thin eggshell. Then, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the eggshell.

With a muffled "plop," a grayish-white snake's head cracked open, and the young snake, still covered in amniotic fluid, slowly emerged.

As soon as the baby snake hatched, it suddenly saw strangers staring at it, so it timidly and fearfully retreated back into the hatched snake.

At the same time, the door was pushed open from the outside, and Lin Mu rushed in first: "What's wrong?"

They heard the crashing noises from the cubicle and, fearing something had happened, rushed over immediately.

Lin Mu had one foot raised in mid-air, but before it landed, he saw the scene inside the threshold and shouted, immediately retreating.

A thin snake, broken into four sections, was seen writhing and twisting among a pile of broken porcelain shards.

"Oh no! How could there be a snake?!"

"What snake? Where is the snake?" Elder He followed closely behind.

Lin Mu strode over and pointed to the blood-stained snake body on the ground for Elder He to see.

Elder He bowed: "Where did this little snake come from?"

Lin Mu saw that Bai Yuan had woken up and immediately stepped forward. Just as he was about to speak, he was shocked to find several eggshells scattered on the bed, and a baby snake was coiled inside one of the eggs.

"No." Lin Mu was stunned. "Where did these snake eggs come from?!"

It's no wonder he reacted so strongly. Anyone would be unsettled to see snake eggs hatching into baby snakes on their bed. Moreover, just a moment ago they were talking about children having snake fetuses next door, saying that the child would die after the eggs hatched into baby snakes. The next moment they saw the baby snakes hatching on Ting Fengzhi's bed. It was bound to have a huge impact on Lin Mu.

Bai Yuan examined the young snake that refused to hatch and said, "I found it before."

Lin Mu was shocked: "You even pick up this kind of thing?"

"Why pick snake eggs of all things?" Elder He strode in. "They actually hatched them! What if they were poisonous snakes? That could be fatal."

Not knowing if it was poisonous, Zhou Yaren said, "It wasn't picked up randomly; it's a baby snake hatched by a Gu snake."

These were the snake eggs they had retrieved from the remains of the corpses when they entered the River Tomb. Zhou Yaren had always carried them with him, and unexpectedly, they had hatched in his sleeve today.

Lin Mu stared in disbelief: "What? A Gu snake?"

Elder He had naturally heard Lin Mu mention it: "Ah, that harmful Gu master?"

“Yes,” Bai Yuan asked, “Are there any pottery jars or anything like that here?”

"Yes." Lin Mu immediately ran to the kitchen and brought back an earthenware pot.

Bai Yuan gently pinched the broken eggshell and placed the timid, fledgling snake into the earthenware jar.

Lin Mu immediately put the lid on: "What are you going to do with this?"

"Let's keep it for now," Bai Yuan asked him. "Do you know how to keep snakes?"

Lin Mu shook his head and turned to Elder He beside him: "Elder, do you know how?"

Elder He had spent a lot of time exploring deep mountains and forests, and was proficient in various medicinal plants, snakes, insects, and rodents, since these were all things that could be used as medicine for doctors.

Elder He did not refuse: "But is the breeding method for this Gu snake the same as that for ordinary snakes, insects, rats and ants? What should I feed it?"

Bai Yuan: "Just raise it like a normal snake. It doesn't matter if it dies."

"Alright then." Elder He agreed, taking the earthenware jar from Lin Mu's hand, wondering if this snake had any special effects, whether it could be used as medicine, soaked in alcohol, or used to detoxify various snake venoms or cure some intractable diseases. He needed to take it back and study it carefully.

At that moment, Bai Yuan turned her head as if she had noticed something, and saw Lin Mu standing in front of the bed, staring straight at her. She raised her eyebrows: "What?"

Lin Mu looked away evasively, his expression immediately becoming somewhat unnatural. He racked his brains before stammering, "You, you're awake."

"Isn't that obvious?" Bai Yuan hummed in agreement.

Are you feeling better?

Bai Yuan nodded: "I'm much better."

He suddenly became tongue-tied: "Then, you, are you hungry?"

Bai Yuan stared at the boy whose eyes were darting around: "During the time I was unconscious, did you slip up and lose your tongue? How come you suddenly started stuttering when you seemed perfectly fine?"

Lin Muteng blushed, whether from anger or something else, provoked by Bai Yuan's words, his almond-shaped eyes widened instantly, and he immediately retorted fiercely, "You're the one who stutters, you're the one who stammers!"

Bai Yuan laughed: "That's good now."

Lin Mu was furious and embarrassed. Before he could spontaneously combust on the spot, Bai Yuan asked again, "I'm a little hungry. Is there anything to eat?"

She wasn't stupid; how could she not see the boy's hesitant, feigned concern?

The embarrassed boy immediately turned off the stove. Lin Mu was clearly taken aback for a moment, then lowered his head and awkwardly asked, "What do you want to eat?"

Bai Yuan wasn't hungry, but she knew that this kid had been scolded terribly by his elders for just cooking a pot of porridge, and then he had been eating steamed buns bought from outside while Zhou Yaren was sitting next to him. He probably couldn't do anything else, so she asked, "Is there any porridge?"

Lin Mu's eyes lit up: "Yes, yes, I'll go make it right away."

Then he rushed out like the wind, almost stepping on the broken porcelain shards at the door. Elder He couldn't stand these brats being so impetuous and reckless. At best, they would fall and get bruised and swollen, and at worst, they would break their arms and legs, which would trouble him to treat them and waste medicine!

Elder He picked up the earthenware pot and chased after Lin Mu, roaring, "You brat, slow down! Come back here later and clean up this pile of shards by the door!"

After the old man and the young man stepped out the door, Bai Yuan's smile faded, and he struggled to support himself against the edge of the bed.

“You’ve been wronged.” Zhou Yaren reached out and supported her shoulder.

When they first retrieved these talismans, they weren't sure if the snake eggs, buried for a thousand years, could still hatch, but now it's been confirmed.

Bai Yuan said, "The Gu Yin is the target of the deadly grudges of the sorcerers of Fangxiandao, and it is by no means ordinary. What is the purpose of this Gu Master digging it out?"

Because they lack understanding of Gu techniques, they find it difficult to guess what the Gu master is trying to do.

However, based solely on the fact that the Gu Master took away Yin Sui, Bai Yuan had already made seven or eight guesses.

Zhou Yaren suddenly felt uneasy. He thought of the nightmare he had just had. Logically, this dream should have been caused by Elder He's talk of "walking on a snake's womb," which led him to dream of a pregnant giant python. But for some reason, Zhou Yaren frowned, feeling vaguely uneasy, as if it were some kind of ominous premonition.

The Gu Master is ruthless and merciless, killing without hesitation. Lu Bing will certainly not have an easy time in her hands.

Perhaps because he thought of Lu Bing, Zhou Yaren's eyelids twitched inexplicably. The unease lurking within him made him extremely flustered, and his chest pounded violently, as if he had suddenly suffered from palpitations.

Bai Yuan looked up and noticed the strange expression on his face: "What's wrong?"

"I suddenly feel uneasy." Zhou Yaren couldn't suppress the fear and felt a tightness in her chest. "I wonder how Lu Bing is doing now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of lightning suddenly streaked through the room, illuminating Zhou Yaren's pale, bloodless profile.

Then, with a deafening roar, thunder crashed down from the sky, rolled through the thick clouds, and surged like a massive, mountain-like millstone, hurtling towards Shanzhou on the opposite bank of the river.