Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Mandarin Ducks at Play—He Wants to See the Human World
Along the way.
Jiang Linxian lay sprawled on Green Snake's head. He saw the ordinary people living under the dynasty's rule, and he also saw bandits who had claimed mountains as their territory.
Occasionally there were even sword-bearing wanderers of the martial world debating who was truly the number 1 swordsman in the land.
Was it Xiahou, or Yan Chixia, or perhaps the Sword God, Feng……
All of it together proved that this dynasty's rule was far from stable—there were even faint signs of a dynasty in its final years.
Finally, Green Snake spoke.
"Little Snake, we're here."
The sunlight fell just right on the mountaintop.
Jiang Linxian raised himself up and looked ahead.
At that moment the summit still carried mist drifting up from the valley floor, wreathing itself among the ancient pines and cypresses on the mid-slope.
Daylight seeped through the haze, dyeing the morning clouds a faint crimson-gold, falling precisely upon a cave dwelling.
Jiang Linxian's first impression was one of soaring heights and long rivers—this scenery surpassed most of the famous landmarks he had ever seen, and most importantly, there was a cave dwelling as good as any crafted by nature.
Before this, he had only ever lived in a grass burrow.
The strength of the two snakes—White and Green—must be considerable; along the entire journey Jiang Linxian had not spotted a single mountain sprite or wild demon, at most only ordinary birds and beasts.
The most important thing of all was that here he could clearly feel the Spiritual Energy was far more concentrated.
The two snakes led Jiang Linxian into the cave dwelling.
In the cave dwelling, where the clouds and mist were thickest, no ordinary person could reach.
Thousand-year vines hung at the entrance, ferns growing lush and soft—yet gazing inward, it opened into a world of its own.
The depths of the cave dwelling were not damp or dark; rather, they were like a secret realm gently cradled by the mountain itself.
The domed ceiling had natural fissures, letting heavenly light filter through like thin silk.
At the center of the main chamber lay a spring of clear water, its bed paved with jade-smooth white and green stones.
The moment Little Green got home she set Jiang Linxian straight down and dove into the spring, calling out:
"Sister, come quick!"
White Snake followed her into the spring.
In Jiang Linxian's eyes, the two snakes wound around each other in the water like a pair of Mandarin Ducks at play.
Every now and then splashes of water fell onto his head.
Jiang Linxian had no intention of joining them—even a moderately large splash could swamp him entirely.
He went to explore other parts of the cave dwelling.
Inside, stone stalagmites rose like a forest; water droplets fell with a drip-drip-drip, their sound ethereal and hollow.
One side of the stone wall had been polished smooth as a mirror, reflecting the shimmering water-light; on the other side grew a cluster of nameless Spirit Grass that would glow faintly like scattered stars in the night.
The air was forever suffused with a cool, damp mist, the earthy scent of rock, and a faint, clean, cold fragrance that belonged distinctly to serpents.
Very good—this place truly was fit for living.
Far more comfortable than his grass burrow.
Yet for Jiang Linxian, no matter how fine it was, it remained only a temporary shelter; there was every chance that his being brought here was nothing more than Little Green's passing whim.
Only growing stronger himself—as much as possible—was the right path.
Otherwise being abandoned was perfectly normal, and this was not the first time Jiang Linxian had been abandoned, so he trusted no one but himself.
He found a spot and was about to curl into a ball to rest when a green serpent's tail came unerringly from a distance, found his position, coiled around him, and flung him.
A precise splash—barely a small ripple.
Jiang Linxian was like a little boat at the mercy of a river's waves, drifting wherever the current took him.
The only difference was that he would not sink. Just as he was floating across the surface of the pool, a pair of jade-green slit pupils appeared before his eyes, followed by serpent lips slowly parting—a thin flush of red seeping through a base of green and white.
Jiang Linxian could even clearly see the soft pink flesh deep inside Little Green's throat; he had absolutely no doubt that he could be swallowed whole.
Even knowing it was likely a bluff, he dared not gamble. His body twisted into an S-shape as he swam desperately outward.
Just as he was about to fall into Little Green's open maw, Jiang Linxian suddenly flew into the air—more precisely, he was nudged upward by White Snake.
Jiang Linxian landed atop White Snake's head; White Snake, meanwhile, faced Little Green directly.
"Little Green!"
Even White Snake could not watch any longer—if this kept up, this little snake was going to be tormented to pieces.
"Sister, I was just scaring him just now. Even if he had come closer, at most I would have……"
Little Green flicked her forked tongue. She would not eat one of her own kind, let alone one this beautiful—otherwise she would not have brought this little snake home.
After a thorough cleaning.
Jiang Linxian was at last temporarily settled in the cave dwelling.
It was just that falling asleep while encircled by Little Green in the middle left him somewhat uneasy.
But in the blink of an eye, many days had passed.
Full sunlight split the veil of mist, and the entire mountain woke in an instant.
The dripping of water, the tentative first cries of spirit sparrows, the deep muffled roar of distant waterfalls coming back to life—all woven together into the mountain's slow, stretching breath as it eased its limbs in the lingering spring chill.
Jiang Linxian opened his slit eyes. His body had grown several more centimeters than before, reaching a length of 35 centimeters.
This pace was fast even compared to pythons, yet in the eyes of the two snakes—White and Green—it was still the growth of a hatchling.
He still felt a measure of unfamiliarity with the new environment, though it was slowly giving way to something more like home.
As for the two snakes, they seemed to yearn deeply for life among humans.
Every day Jiang Linxian could hear them discussing the food of the mortal world, the martial world, festivals, and even something as intangible and fleeting as love.
He never heard any mention of a master or teacher figure.
There were folk rumors that Lady White had once been a disciple of the Old Mother of Lishan, yet Jiang Linxian had not caught even a trace of such a conversation.
Perhaps it was simply that he was still too weak and the information he could access was limited.
Lady White was not necessarily Bai Suzhen.
White Snake had originally been called Little White, but since Jiang Linxian was even smaller than her, she had now given herself a name from the human world.
She called herself "Lady White."
Or perhaps Lady White had already chosen the name long ago and simply needed a reason.
Because when Little Green heard Lady White's name, she too clamored to have a name—except her vocabulary was rather limited.
The rest was resentment toward the new National Preceptor.
For Pudu Cihang had issued orders to capture snakes among the common people, and had even established a dedicated department for that purpose.
As for Pudu Cihang, Jiang Linxian knew something of him—he was a centipede Sprite who had achieved cultivation and wished to devour an entire nation's destiny to fulfill his ambition of transforming into a dragon.
A centipede Sprite transforming into a dragon—it sounded inconceivable.
Yet there was indeed a possibility of success. Only, even if the transformation truly succeeded, it would likely produce a wicked dragon—and a misshapen, neither-here-nor-there wicked dragon at that.
Several months passed in the mountain.
After Jiang Linxian had grown into a proper snake, his sense of time became very faint; each day was nothing but eating and sleeping.
He was deeply fond of sleeping—it seemed that sleep made him grow faster.
The only way to gauge time was by the seasons.
But even that was unreliable—it could only offer a rough estimate.
By now his body length was close to 1 meter; the changes were growing ever more pronounced. The most noticeable was that faint patterns had begun to appear on his scales, giving him a rather extraordinary appearance.
Were it not for the Dragon Pearl within him nourishing him with Spiritual Energy every day and flushing impurities from his flesh, he would have grown even faster.
Beyond that, Lady White and Little Green were returning to the cave dwelling less and less frequently.
From their conversations it was not hard to discern that Lady White appeared to be nearing Manifestation.
The reason for Manifestation was to prepare for an assassination of the current dynasty's National Preceptor, Pudu Cihang.
Because now Pudu Cihang was not only capturing ordinary snakes—he had begun moving against all serpent-kind demons as well.
Was it part of the process of transforming into a dragon?
Jiang Linxian could only guess as much; otherwise he truly could not fathom why a centipede Sprite would fixate on tormenting snakes.
Lady White and Little Green returned to the cave dwelling less and less, yet before they left each time, they always left sufficient food for Jiang Linxian.
Manifestation……every time his thoughts reached this point, a glimmer of light would flash in Jiang Linxian's eyes. Though he had grown accustomed to a serpent's life, that did nothing to diminish his longing to Manifest—to become a person again.
The form of a serpent and the form of a person—he wanted both.
The human world—he also wanted to see it for himself.
The following day.
Jiang Linxian woke from his sleep, startled awake by rolling thunder from outside.
He crawled out of the cave dwelling and climbed to the highest branch of the tallest tree on the mountaintop, and at last saw it clearly.
Above a certain mountaintop, long-accumulated thunder clouds roiled without cease.
Dark clouds pressed low over the city as though they would crush it.