The main road lay ahead with Meilin walking along it. Tu Xiao'an, who was tailing her, could only slither through gutters and patches of weeds. If a one-meter-long venomous snake like him were to parade down the main street, he'd become a target for everyone, unable to move an inch.
As someone born and raised in Bai Town, Tu Xiao'an could tell from the direction Meilin was headed that she was going to the Snake Market.
She Mountain teemed with snakes, so business at Bai Town's Snake Market was always booming. A snake was a treasure from head to tail: its meat was nutritious, delicious, and could be made into the finest delicacies; its Snake Skin could be turned into crafts and musical instruments; its Venom contained various proteins and had certain analgesic properties.
There was also Snake Blood, Snake Gallbladder, and snake oil, all of which had a wide range of uses.
This was why snakes were acclaimed as the ginseng of the animal kingdom. In the Compendium of Materia Medica, Li Shizhen had clearly recorded the culinary value and medicinal effects of snakes.p>Then there was the venom. One of its most common uses was being sold to pharmaceutical companies for producing antivenom. But it wasn't just for antivenom; it could also be used to make hemostatic drugs. It was particularly effective for pain relief in late-stage cancer patients. In recent years, drugs made from snake venom have seen widespread use, especially for their blood-clotting properties.
Sister Meilin owned her own snake stall in the Snake Market. Thanks to her reputation as "Lady Bai," business at her shop was always fairly brisk.
Seeing Meilin enter the Snake Market put Tu Xiao'an in a bind. He was a snake now, and moving through a bustling area of human activity was incredibly difficult.
No matter how careful a snake was, it was bound to be discovered eventually.
Besides, he was entering Bai Town's famous Snake Market, a place where snakes were killed and sold. He truly felt like a sheep entering a tiger's den.
Fortunately, Tu Xiao'an was extremely fast. He zipped from one hiding spot to another in a flash, and for the moment, no one had noticed a wild venomous snake darting about the Snake Market.
Meilin would never have guessed that she was being followed the entire time by a venomous snake.
The Snake Market was bustling with people and lined with rows of stalls. Many of the customers were wealthy proprietors, a large number of whom were in the pharmaceutical business.
'Hide in plain sight,' Tu Xiao'an thought. 'Once I get into Sister Meilin's shop, I'll be safe.'
But just then, a surprised voice cried out, "Everyone, look! There's a snake up ahead!"
As soon as the shout went up, Tu Xiao'an cursed inwardly. 'I've been spotted.'
Sure enough, a crowd gathered at the sound of the cry. When they saw a venomous, silver-white snake on the ground, they all stared with wide, horrified eyes.
"Did a snake escape from one of the shops?"
In the Snake Market, it wasn't too unusual to occasionally see a venomous snake on the loose.
"You can tell that's a venomous snake just by looking at it! If it bites someone, they could die! How irresponsible!"
A man with a discerning eye spoke up. "Now that's a fine viper. Such a unique appearance... For the life of me, I can't tell what species it is."
Anyone in the snake business knew that the more vibrant a snake's colors, the more venomous it was. And while this snake was a plain silver-white with no complex patterns, a single glance told you it was no ordinary creature.
"Is no one going to claim it? Could it be a wild one that found its way into the Snake Market?"
Many people thought with amusement that if that were the case, this snake truly had a death wish. Of all the places it could have slithered, it just had to wander into the Snake Market.
"Haha, who cares! If it's a wild snake, then it belongs to whoever catches it!"
The Snake Market descended into chaos. More and more people arrived, forming a tight, impenetrable circle around Tu Xiao'an.
'It's over, it's over,' he thought. 'I've really gotten in over my head this time. There are too many people in the Snake Market; there's no way I can come and go without a trace.'
Tu Xiao'an was panicking. He was being watched by countless pairs of eyes, with nowhere to hide. As people pointed and gawked, he felt like a sitting duck, utterly trapped with no chance of escape.
"Let me get it. I didn't go to She Mountain to catch snakes today, and my hands are getting itchy."
Suddenly, a tall, imposing man stepped out from the crowd. He had a Snake Basket at his waist and his legs were wrapped in bindings; he was a professional Snake Catcher.
"Master Chen, looks like it's your lucky day! That snake is something else, definitely a rare Snake Species. I've never seen such a beautiful one before."
A single rare Snake Species could be worth tens of thousands of RMB. If the breed was good enough, it could even fetch hundreds of thousands.
This Master Chen had a bit of a reputation in Bai Town. He had been catching snakes for over a decade, and many people knew him.
"Everyone, stand back! This snake's fangs look sharp, and its venom is sure to be incredibly potent," Master Chen said, gripping his Snake Hook as he prepared to move on the venomous snake, which stood with its head held high.
In a daze, Tu Xiao'an found the situation absurd. 'Life is like a play, and a play is like life,' he mused. He, too, used to catch snakes just like this, with a Snake Hook in hand. He never imagined that one day he would become the prey for another Snake Catcher.
How utterly laughable.
Master Chen strode forward with the energetic gait of a dragon or tiger. His eyes were bright and focused, gleaming with what looked like Essence. With his Snake Hook in hand, he looked as if he could conquer the world.
The Snake Hook was over a meter long, an indispensable tool for catching snakes. It could be used to pin a venomous snake's head or the back of its neck to the ground, immobilizing it for an easy capture.
'Damn it, what do I do?'
Tu Xiao'an, of course, knew this Master Chen. They had both been Snake Catchers working in the same area; how could they not know each other? In fact, Master Chen was his senior and was highly skilled at catching snakes.
But he wasn't a truly cold-blooded venomous snake, after all. 'Could I really bring myself to bite Master Chen?'
'Forget it. You want to catch me for money? If you push me to the brink, I won't hold back. It's not over until it's over.'
Tu Xiao'an's heart hardened. His Snake Pupils flashed, and a ferocious glint appeared in them.
"Master Chen, be careful! Look how vicious that snake is. It's about to strike!"
A kind soul in the crowd called out a warning to Master Chen.
Master Chen snorted, his face a mask of confidence. He'd been catching snakes for half his life; what kind of ferocious snake hadn't he seen? No snake had ever escaped his grasp.
"Alright, folks, watch closely! See how I take down this viper!"
SWOOSH...
Master Chen slowly closed the distance. When the man and snake were no more than ten feet apart, he suddenly brandished his Snake Hook, thrusting it toward the small, silver-white snake. The watching crowd held their breath.
Tu Xiao'an remained motionless, watching the Snake Hook approach with lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, the crowd saw the small, silver-white snake move like a nimble swallow darting from the water. It swayed and slithered under the Snake Hook with incredible agility, easily dodging the attack.
"What an agile viper! It actually dodged it!"
The onlookers' expressions turned to avid interest. Watching a professional Snake Catcher capture a venomous snake firsthand was quite the spectacle—a scene you didn't get to see every day.
"Go, Master Chen, go!"
A sharp glint flashed in Master Chen's eyes as he watched the snake evade his hook. He said calmly, "A little interesting. You actually dodged that. Now, watch this."
This time, Master Chen didn't try to hook it. Instead, he brought the Snake Hook down like a club, smashing it toward the small silver-white snake. The weapon made a sharp whistling sound as it cut through the air.
This showed just how much force Master Chen was using.