Invincible Snake Emperor

”Hey, it’s you?”

He had just put on his headphones when a sweet fragrance wafted over from behind him. A moment later, a beautiful young girl appeared before him, wearing denim shorts that showed off her long, fair legs.

With a slightly excited smile, the girl plopped down in the empty seat next to Tu Xiao’an.

Tu Xiao’an glanced over and immediately felt a headache coming on. ’What rotten luck.’

”Hey, you. Don’t tell me you don’t remember me?”

Li Qingzhao greeted him, but he didn’t seem to react.

Tu Xiao’an sighed and frowned. ”We only met once. I wouldn’t say we know each other.”

’Why is this girl haunting me? I take a bus to Wencheng, and I still run into her on the very same one.’

She had shown up when he was on a mission, she was there at the Snake King Festival temple fair, and now—great—he finally makes it to the city, and he still runs into her.

’Does this mean we’re fated to meet?’

’Or maybe it’s an ill-fated connection?’

”Hee hee, even meeting once means we know each other,” Li Qingzhao said, wasting no time getting friendly. Her eyes curved into crescents.

Back at the Snake King Festival, she had been deeply impressed by this handsome yet devilishly charming young man. Especially during the Battle serpent event, when he brought out that tiny little snake. She had absolutely adored it.

Li Qingzhao swore that she would give up her entire fortune just to buy that snake from him.

So far, even though Li Qingzhao had been livestreaming about the Snake Race, showing her audience all sorts of venomous snakes from her phone...

...she didn’t have a single pet snake of her own.

In her own words: ’The Pi Pi Snake I want has to be one I absolutely, truly love. I can’t just settle.’

She was basically searching for one with the same strict standards she’d use to find a boyfriend.

And so, to this day, she still didn’t have a Pi Pi Snake of her own.

Ever since Li Qingzhao saw Tu Xiao’an’s tiny snake, she’d had her heart set on it. To her frustration, she never ran into him again after that.

But the heavens were watching. Her university’s summer break was over, and as she was taking the bus to school in Wencheng, she happened to run right into him.

’The Snake King must be looking out for me.’

”Hey, you. Are you going to Wencheng too?”

Li Qingzhao started trying to get closer to him.

”Yeah.”

”So, are you going for school or just for fun?”

Tu Xiao’an paused. The word ”school” felt a bit foreign to him now. To be honest, at his age, he should be in university.

But after graduating from high school, Tu Xiao’an had thrown himself completely into the Snake Catcher business.

Back then, he had believed that since he was determined to become an outstanding Snake Catcher, going to university was completely meaningless—a total waste of time.

After that, he had unfortunately died and been reduced to a House Snake.

Li Qingzhao’s eyes blinked expectantly as she waited for his answer. Tu Xiao’an could only say helplessly, ”I don’t know.”

It was the honest truth. He just wanted to go to Wencheng and try his luck, but he didn’t have any specific plans.

”Hey, you... could you take out that cute little snake from last time and let me see it again?”

After a bit of forced small talk with Tu Xiao’an, Li Qingzhao finally couldn’t hold back anymore.

This was her real goal.

”Aren’t you afraid of being bitten? You saw how terrifying that snake was during the Battle serpent event,” Tu Xiao’an said flatly.

A three-meter-long King Cobra had been chilled to the core by the tiny snake, turning into a dried-up husk. The memory of that scene was still vivid in Li Qingzhao’s mind.

”I’m not scared. I just want to look.”

For a die-hard snake lover like Li Qingzhao, she’d risk anything.

Tu Xiao’an changed the subject. ”Are you going to school in Wencheng?”

”Yeah! I go to the best university in Wencheng. There are tons of pretty girls there, you know,” Li Qingzhao said, winking at him playfully to get on his good side.

’She might as well have said, ’Show me the little snake, and I’ll introduce you to the beauties at my school.’’

Tu Xiao’an thought for a moment. ”I’ll agree, but only if you show me around your school when we get to Wencheng.”

’I never went to university, so I should at least see what one looks like.’

Besides, Tu Xiao’an didn’t have a place to stay in Wencheng anyway.

’Who knows? Maybe the atmosphere will rub off on me, and I’ll even want to enroll.’

Li Qingzhao’s eyes lit up. ”It’s a deal!”

”Hurry up! Bring out my cute little snake!”

Li Qingzhao was getting impatient. She was a true die-hard snake lover, a fact that completely contradicted her innocent appearance.

A beautiful girl her age, in the prime of her youth, should have shrieked in terror and turned pale at the sight of a snake. That would have been the normal reaction.

”It’s already on your thigh.”

Li Qingzhao was wearing denim shorts today, showing off her long, fair legs. Right then, a small, red-and-white-striped snake was lying on her thigh, wriggling slightly.

”Whoa, it feels so cool!”

Seeing the little snake she had been longing for resting on her thigh, Li Qingzhao wasn’t scared at all. Instead, she let out a sigh of admiration.

A cool sensation spread across her thigh, feeling incredibly comfortable.

”So cute! Sooo adorable! I could just die!”

Not the least bit afraid of being bitten, Li Qingzhao cupped the Taiyin Snake in her hands, unable to put it down.

The Taiyin Snake’s lively Snake Gaze flickered with intelligence. It straightened its tail, standing erect in Li Qingzhao’s palm like a chopstick.

This caused Li Qingzhao to let out lovesick squeals from time to time.

Her occasional outbursts annoyed some of the other passengers on the bus, but many of the men, seeing her youthful and unbeatable beauty, decided not to make a fuss.

A pretty girl has privileges at all times.

Especially a young beauty who was practically overflowing with youthful energy.

”Hey, you, what kind of Snake Species is this?” Li Qingzhao asked, her eyes glued to the Taiyin Snake.

Tu Xiao’an rolled his eyes. ”A Taiyin Snake.”

”A Taiyin Snake?” Li Qingzhao thought for a moment. She didn’t seem to have ever heard of it. Her eyes filled with greed as she said, ”Hey, you, can we discuss something? How about you sell this snake to me?”

”Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of it,” Li Qingzhao added, vowing earnestly.

Tu Xiao’an was speechless and couldn’t even be bothered to answer her.

”Hey, don’t be like that. Let’s talk about it. Name your price.”

Tu Xiao’an glanced at her. ’She talks big. Looks like she’s a rich girl.’

And Li Qingzhao really had the confidence to back it up. She was a popular livestreamer now, earning at least several hundred thousand a month—and that was a modest estimate.

Now, even though she was still a university student, she had a net worth of several million.

A rich kid.

When it came to Snake Species, a rare one could fetch over a million on the market. Li Qingzhao decided to go all in. For the sake of her beloved little snake, she was willing to sacrifice her lifestyle.

Besides, she could always earn more money, but there was only one of this snake.

”You can’t afford it,” Tu Xiao’an said, looking up at her.

Li Qingzhao grew anxious. ”Name a price first! You haven’t even named a price, so how would you know I can’t afford it?”

Tu Xiao’an had originally planned to take the bus to enjoy the scenery, listen to some music, and experience the leisurely life of a normal person, but now this girl had completely ruined it.

She was the type who never gave up, the kind who wouldn’t stop until she hit a wall.

Tu Xiao’an faced her and held up one finger.

Li Qingzhao blinked. That one finger probably didn’t mean ten thousand or a hundred thousand, because she already knew the little snake was a rare Snake Species.

So, that one finger must have meant one million.

Immediately, the corners of her mouth curved into a beautiful arc, and her smile bloomed, as radiant as a flower in full display.