Invincible Snake Emperor

Tu Xiao’an was in control of the Thunder Attribute, and he felt a surge of exhilaration. He had long since grown accustomed to the sight of people kneeling before him.

His current appearance and the accompanying phenomena were even more intimidating than they had been on She Mountain.

Even he was starting to doubt that he wasn’t the Snake King.

A brilliant light flashed in his Snake Gaze. He looked toward the large locust tree in the courtyard and his eyes narrowed.

There were no dark clouds filling the night sky, no howling winds, no rumbling thunder. A piercing white light suddenly erupted, like a thick silver serpent or a snow-white blade, striking the base of the nearby locust tree.

BOOM...

CRACK...

The great locust tree was instantly obliterated. A wisp of green smoke rose and drifted into the air.

The Zhao Family members were scared out of their wits. The large locust tree in their courtyard was as old as the ancient residence itself—a true centenarian. Its branches intertwined, and its lush, spreading foliage was like a cloud of jade that completely blotted out the sky. An adult couldn’t even wrap their arms around its trunk.

And such a century-old tree was destroyed in the blink of an eye.

”The Snake King is angry! The Snake King is angry!”

Elder Zhao was utterly terrified. As the saying goes, a clear conscience fears no knock in the dead of night.

Suddenly, Elder Zhao felt a sharp gaze land on him. It was an indescribable Snake Gaze, as if it could see through everything.

The Snake King was looking at him, as if he intended to lay bare all his secrets.

”You deserve to die.”

A strange voice suddenly echoed in Elder Zhao’s mind. He froze, gasping a short, convulsive breath as a tremor ran through his entire body.

THUD... THUD... THUD...

”This lowly one deserves to die! This lowly one deserves to die!”

Elder Zhao began kowtowing like a madman, slamming his forehead against the ground to beg for forgiveness. Each impact was sickeningly solid. After only a few, a pool of blood stained the ground.

The Zhao Family members stared in a daze as the old master kowtowed to the Snake King, crying out that he was guilty. It was such a miserable and desolate sight it could bring tears to one’s eyes.

A man of his age, kowtowing like that... even a strapping young man wouldn’t be able to endure it.

But with the Snake King before them, no one dared to move. No one dared utter a single word of protest, terrified of offending the Divine Spirit.

The Snake King was high and mighty above them. They could only hold their breath and gaze up in awe, not a single thought of resistance in their minds.

THUD... THUD... THUD...

Abruptly, the Zhao Family courtyard fell deathly silent. The only sound was Elder Zhao continuously slamming his head on the ground as he pleaded for his punishment, not daring to harbor the slightest hope of being spared.

After countless prostrations, Elder Zhao was on the verge of fainting. One of his grandsons rushed forward to stop him, crying out, ”Grandpa, stop! The Snake King is gone!”

”The Snake King... is gone?”

Elder Zhao looked up in shock. The sky above the courtyard seemed to have returned to its usual calm. There was no Thunder, no shadow of a snake—only the pitch-black night, which seemed intent on Devouring him.

”No, the Snake King is still here. He’s still here!”

Elder Zhao was terrified and uneasy, muttering to himself. He felt as if that insightful Snake Gaze was still branded on him, following him like a shadow.

The House Snake had been killed by the Snake King, so he, an old man, was no longer being forced to commit suicide. But the great stone weighing on Elder Zhao’s heart hadn’t lightened in the slightest.

In fact, it now felt as heavy as a mountain.

He had not lived well these past few decades, constantly tormented by his own conscience.

”Quickly, help me to the front room!”

Elder Zhao seemed to have become a little unhinged, as if he had to do something that could not be delayed for even a second.

”Master, what’s wrong?”

The old butler pushed a wheelchair over and helped him into it.

Elder Zhao just kept insisting they go to the front room. Soon, a group of people complied with his request, taking him to the front room of the Zhao Family estate.

Inside the front room, Elder Zhao looked up at the rafters. A red cloth was wrapped around a bone-shaped object, hanging high from a crossbeam. In the dim light, it seemed to carry the resentful tears from the corner of a woman’s eye, emanating a strange and sinister aura.

”Someone, get it down.”

The moment Elder Zhao spoke, everyone was stunned speechless. The butler, especially, said with fear and trepidation, ”Master, you gave strict orders back then. No one is to touch that piece of Hongxin Wood. You said touching it would affect the Zhao Family’s feng shui and invite a bloody disaster!”

”Get it down now!”

Elder Zhao pointed a trembling finger at the beam, his expression a complex mixture of emotions. The blood on his forehead stained his wrinkled face, making him look savage and terrifying.

The butler dared not say another word and ordered someone to take down the piece of Hongxin Wood, which had been hanging from that very beam for fifty years.

”Give it to me. Give it to me!”

Elder Zhao held out his hands, which trembled so violently it seemed he had to summon every last ounce of his strength just to take the Hongxin Wood.

”Xinlan... Xinlan... I’ve wronged you. It was I who wronged you...”

Clutching the Hongxin Wood with both hands, Elder Zhao instantly lost control and began to wail, his sobs leaving everyone at a loss.

”Grandpa, Grandpa, what’s wrong?”

”Master, are you all right?”

Those around him were at a loss. So much had already happened tonight. Just when it seemed like the ordeal was finally over, the old master had to start this.

”All of you, get out! Everyone, out!”

The old master waved his hand dismissively at the crowd. They all looked at one another before obediently retreating, leaving him alone in the room.

After everyone had left, Elder Zhao carefully cradled the Hongxin Wood as if it were his most precious treasure, terrified of damaging it.

His eyes filled with a look of obsessive love.

”Xinlan, it’s been fifty years... Are you well? I only did what I did back then because I wanted to keep you by my side forever, to keep you here in the Zhao Family.”

”But I was wrong. I’ve wronged you. I failed to protect you in life, and I failed to give you a proper burial in death. I have let you down.”

’He hadn’t just failed to give her a proper burial; he had nearly ground her bones to dust.’

Elder Zhao’s words were heart-wrenching, tears streaming down his old face. Contained within that Hongxin Wood were the remains of the woman he had loved most in his life.

The passage of time had blurred his memory of the elegant woman’s face, but her image remained seared into the deepest corner of his heart.

The only people he had truly wronged in his life were her... and the unborn child in her womb.

When the House Snake came for revenge, when members of the Zhao Family began to die, Elder Zhao knew. This buried past was about to be unearthed, and the debt he owed had finally come due.

Suddenly, as if it had grown wings, the Hongxin Wood violently tore itself from his grasp and shot into the air.

”Xinlan! Xinlan!”

Elder Zhao tumbled right out of his wheelchair. He stared at the Hongxin Wood suspended in mid-air, his eyes wide with horror.

”Xinlan, is that you?”

A flicker of excitement stirred within Elder Zhao.

”You should go to the underworld and beg for her forgiveness.”

The room was empty. Everyone was gone, leaving only Elder Zhao. But now, a strange and cold voice echoed through the space.

At some point, a resplendent Gold and Silver Snake had appeared before Elder Zhao. It held its head high, its Snake Gaze watching him with cold indifference.

”Lord Snake King.”

Elder Zhao’s body instantly went rigid as stone. He threw himself prostrate on the ground, trembling with fear.