Chapter 1: The Old Snake Awakens
The old snake did not remember when it first gained intelligence.
It only remembered that it was famous in the nearby village area as the Snake King, notorious for having devoured over twenty lives. The authorities had encircled him, and the demon hunters had pursued him, but none ever succeeded in capturing him.
As a result, a legend spread throughout the village about the old snake king eating people, scaring children into staying indoors, keeping their lights on at night, and causing snake hunters to patrol the area all night.
The exact number of people he had devoured was forgotten by the old snake, but he remembered the last two.
The first was a youth named Ren Dan, who was being chased by an old Taoist priest and ran into the mountains.
“Ren Dan should pay for his life. How can you escape after consuming so many of my medicinal materials?” the Taoist priest shouted while pursuing him.
The youth, Ren Dan, ran for a whole day and night, exhausted and covered in wounds. He knelt before a Bodhisattva in a ruined temple, crying out for the Bodhisattva’s protection.
Seeing his pitiful state, the old snake decided to end his suffering and swallowed him.
The Taoist priest, who had just arrived at the ruined temple, witnessed this scene and screamed, “No! My elixir!”
“I’ve spent ten years making Ren Dan, spit him out!”
Feeling remorseful for the priest’s despair, the old snake swallowed him as well, so he could be reunited with Ren Dan inside his belly.
The old snake only remembered this.
After that, he began to develop intelligence and acquired much knowledge about the human world.
For example, snake catchers are those who catch snakes; Taoist priests practice spells; Ren Dan is a type of human-shaped elixir that prolongs life and increases cultivation.
There were also strange and peculiar bits of knowledge from human stories and texts that appeared from time to time.
“Since humans have names, I’ll give myself one too. I’ll call myself Xu Hei!”
He liked the human world’s story of Xu Xian, so he chose Xu Hei as a substitute for his nickname “Old Black Snake.”
In fact, he envied humans, who were born with intelligence, while Xu Hei didn’t know how many cycles of reincarnation he had gone through before gaining intelligence.
He wanted to cherish this life and never die easily!
The more one has, the more one fears losing it. The old snake, who had once known no fear, became anxious about life and death.
“Humans are too dangerous. I should stay away from them. Fierce beasts are also quite frightening. I’ll stick to safer food.”
Xu Hei decided to avoid humans and fierce beasts. Eggs, poultry, and livestock would become his main targets.
In the days that followed, Xu Hei wandered around small towns and villages by rivers, stealing chickens, ducks, fish, geese, and small rodents.
As days went by, the story of the old snake king eating people faded, but livestock began to disappear in large numbers. The fish in the ponds also dwindled, causing residents to avoid letting their chickens and ducks roam outside, bringing them all back home.
Xu Hei had a large appetite, capable of eating several chickens in one meal, and the village’s poultry could not withstand such consumption.
Xu Hei had not eaten for seven days.
During this time, Xu Hei had fully digested human knowledge. His body had grown to five meters in length, and a demon core had appeared in his abdomen.
“With the demon core, I am now a serpent demon,” Xu Hei said with delight.
The demon core was his core, similar to the dantian of human cultivators. Although only the size of a fist, it was his most valuable possession.
The birth of the demon core meant he was no longer an ordinary beast but a demon beast.
However, excessive stealing had led to a loss of food sources.
He dared not hunt large beasts, mainly out of fear of injury. Compared to risking danger in the wild, he preferred to be a petty thief, stealing chickens and ducks.
“It’s been a long time since I last ate. I need to find something to eat in the town.”
Xu Hei, moving his massive body, slithered toward Chenjia Town.
Chenjia Town was the largest town in the area. As its name suggested, the Chen family was the wealthiest household, and the town had the most abundant food. Xu Hei, who had lived in the area for years, was well aware of the Chen family’s location.
Xu Hei carefully and quietly crawled into the Chen family’s backyard.
In the Chen family’s backyard, many livestock were kept. Xu Hei flicked his tongue to sense the scents in the air and his eyes lit up.
Pigs were his favorite food—fatty and filling. Eating one could sustain him for a month. Unfortunately, the pigs were kept in a pigpen.
Since gaining intelligence, he had never eaten pork because he was afraid of being discovered by humans.
“After eating one pig, I’ll stop.”
Xu Hei, feeling ravenous, coiled his body and climbed onto the roof beams. Like a leech, he slithered in and stealthily entered the dark pigpen.
The pigpen was large. Xu Hei found a corner and crawled in along the wall. The pigs, sensing a snake approaching, grunted and instinctively backed away but were not too frightened. Some even curiously nudged him with their noses, thinking he might be food.
This was also why Xu Hei preferred pigs—they were less wary compared to other animals that would run away at the sight of him.
Without hesitation, Xu Hei opened his gaping maw and bit into a small pig, swallowing it whole.
Given his size, which previously allowed him to swallow live humans, devouring a somewhat smaller pig was no challenge.
The pigs immediately screamed in terror, scrambling to the corners of the pen, realizing the danger.
It took Xu Hei a considerable effort and two minutes to swallow the pig. His body swelled up, becoming oval-shaped.
“Time to leave,” Xu Hei thought, but then an idea struck him.
Since he had gone through the trouble of sneaking in, why not eat a little more?
With the demon core, his digestion speed had greatly increased. He estimated that he could digest the pig within half a day.
Xu Hei flicked his tongue again and surveyed his surroundings. It was night, and Chenjia Town was quiet. Distant snoring could be heard. As long as he made no significant noise, he should not be discovered.
Even if someone went to the toilet in the middle of the night, his speed would allow him to escape without much trouble.
With this in mind, Xu Hei coiled around another fat pig and swallowed it. This time, it took him a full five minutes to finish. His body expanded, resembling a small hill.
The pigpen had only five pigs in total, and with three remaining, Xu Hei could no longer move. He curled up in a dark corner and began digesting his meal.
Xu Hei estimated that by dawn, he would have nearly digested everything.
Suddenly, the door to the pigpen was kicked open. Xu Hei, startled, quickly coiled up into a small ball and hid behind the wall.
A bloodied figure was thrown into the pigpen. It was a young man, fairly handsome but covered in wounds and barely alive.
“Is this trash going to die?”
“Even if he dies, so what? He dared to vie with Young Master Qiu for a woman. This is his fate!”
The two men at the door clapped their hands and left the pigpen.
The young man’s eyes were tightly closed. The faint breath he had left flickered for a moment before disappearing without a trace.
A human had died right under Xu Hei’s eyes.
This person seemed somewhat familiar, possibly the young master of Chen Family Village whom Xu Hei had seen before.
Xu Hei quickly moved away, climbing up to the roof beams. It was said that death was very ominous, and he did not want to be associated with such bad luck.
As soon as the two men had left, Xu Hei planned to wait until they were far away before leaving and never returning to this place.
The young man who had just died opened his eyes again.
Xu Hei’s pupils constricted as he recalled a term from the Taoist knowledge he had acquired. His breath stopped, and he dared not move. The term “reanimation” was something he learned from the Taoist priest.
He saw the young man sit cross-legged, a trace of surprise in his eyes. He mumbled to himself, “Chen Fan? Haha, to think I have the same name as this immortal.”