I Am Your Natural Enemy

To be honest, apart from the fact that there are a lot of snakes here, that slippery feeling made Wen Yan a bit uncomfortable, but in other aspects, it felt quite familiar.

The Little Green Snake led Wen Yan here and saw a man dressed in traditional clothes, a strong, dark-skinned man, striding out from the village.

”Is it Comrade Wen Yan?”

”It’s me.” Hearing this address, Wen Yan felt solemn respect; it was the first time he was addressed this way: ”And you are?”

”Hello, hello, I am Brother Ye of Xiao Ye, you’ve worked hard this time.”

”It’s nothing, Big Sister Ye had a bit of an accident, got slightly injured, her mobility is inconvenient, so I’m here on a business trip to run an errand for her.”

Brother Ye outside the village received the two Golden Pagodas Wen Yan brought back. He took out the branches and leaves, dipped them in rainwater, continuously sprinkling them, and escorted the Golden Pagoda into a small house at the village entrance.

Wen Yan didn’t ask much, he roughly knew that this should be a custom. Those who died outside cannot enter the village easily.

In some places, when people are about to die, they are quickly brought back to the village by their family to pass away there, so they can be buried in the ancestral graves and have the funeral conducted in the village.

Some customs are similar, so Wen Yan wasn’t surprised and didn’t ask much, as long as his task was completed.

Arriving here, Wen Yan was arranged a welcome feast, along with bonfire and barbecue, and the people in the village were very enthusiastic.

Especially after hearing that Wen Yan was a disciple of Fuyu Mountain, they became even more enthusiastic.

”An ancestor of our village was originally a disciple of Fuyu Mountain, and the early knowledge about zombies was left by that ancestor. Slowly it evolved into what outsiders call a Corpse Catcher.

We were one family a thousand years ago, you coming here is fate, come, have a drink.”

Brother Ye held a large bowl, very happy, if it weren’t for Wen Yan just taking a sip, he would have already had three bowls like drinking water, Wen Yan even felt he was being persuaded to drink.

The lively celebration lasted until late at night, Wen Yan, a bit dazed, was escorted back to his room.

He had one bowl, others had seven or eight, and in the end, they were lively and energetic, helping him back to his room...

Late at night, after the celebrants in the village had gone back to rest, Little Green Snake sneaked into Wen Yan’s room.

The gray cloth wrapped around Wen Yan’s arm quietly lifted a bit, glanced at Little Green Snake, and then continued to pretend to be dead.

Little Green Snake crawled onto the bamboo bed, coiled next to Wen Yan, looked at him, and then slept contentedly.

The next morning, Wen Yan opened his eyes, glanced at the Little Green Snake by the bed, and his eyelid twitched slightly.

”Why did you come to me?”

”I want to transform!”

”Why do you come to me if you want to transform?”

”That’s how the stories go! I had a sister, who sneaked into a man’s room at night, and transformed the next morning!” Little Green Snake raised its head, loudly proclaiming, as if stating a truth.

”...”

Wen Yan smacked his lips, thinking, who told this unlucky kid these stories, how much was omitted?

”That’s because those people reached a certain level of cultivation, you don’t even think, Lady Bai has been cultivating for a thousand years already, if it was that easy to transform, why would so many demons bother cultivating out there? Am I right?”

”Uh...” Little Green Snake felt a bit dizzy, for a moment couldn’t think it through, and felt Wen Yan made a lot of sense.

”Don’t think too much about those absurd things, study more, cultivate more, and take stories with a grain of salt.”

”Oh...” Little Green Snake drooped its head, lying by the bed, somewhat disheartened.

Its little head thought it could transform upon waking up this morning, unexpectedly, nothing changed, and it was freezing.

Wen Yan smiled, reached out his hand, pointed in the air, and blessed Little Green Snake with a bit of Yang Energy.

”I’m leaving today, still have things to do, you cultivate well, there will be a day when you transform, when you do, I’ll invite you to the city for a meal.”

”But I’m afraid I can’t leave even if I transform, there’s a curse here, people and demons here, if they leave for a while, they’ll be cursed and encounter misfortune.” Little Green Snake murmured disappointedly.

”Is there such a thing? Then how does Big Sister Ye leave without trouble?”

”Only a few lucky ones can escape this curse, I’m not exactly sure.

Anyway, those who die outside have to be sent back, or there will be bigger trouble.

Sister Ye has to come back once a year, or every one or two years.

Stories are indeed deceptive, I may have to wait five hundred years to transform.

Five hundred years, I won’t live that long...”

Little Green Snake became overwhelmed with sadness, opening its mouth, crying loudly.

”You already said stories are deceptive, how do you know it’s five hundred years?”

”Uh...” Little Green Snake was stunned on the spot, not reacting for a long time.

Wen Yan smiled, left the room, and went to say goodbye to the villagers.

After eating, Brother Ye personally escorted him out, but just after leaving the village, Brother Ye’s face turned very unpleasant.

In Wen Yan’s eyes, it looked like he was seeing strands of black air climbing up Brother Ye’s skin, transforming into patterns, spreading over his body.

Turning his head, Wen Yan saw it was like countless strands of black air emerging from everything in the entire village, like black army ants converging from all directions, flowing onto Brother Ye through his feet.

A foreboding aura started to manifest here.

”He’s about to have a curse outbreak, he’s going to die.” Little Green Snake, hanging from a tree, half its body dangling down, looked at Brother Ye and said.