Due to the high altitude, the temperature on the mountain was a bit low.
The girls seemed cold, curling up in their seats. The short-haired girl unconsciously moved closer to a heat source, and before long, she snuggled into the man next to her.
The man was so excited that his face turned red, but he didn’t dare move, fearing he might wake her.
Suddenly, the bus came to an abrupt stop.
Those who had been sleeping were jolted awake.
Min Min rubbed her eyes, and asked angrily. “What’s going on, driver?”
The driver: “Nothing, we just encountered a group of snakes crossing the road. We have to wait for them to pass before we can move.”
Bai Lixin looked out the window and indeed saw a line of snakes making their way from one side of the road to the other.
They slithered in an S-shape, slowly moving along.
“Damn,” a male tourist jumped up from his seat. “Why are there so many snakes? I’m going to freak out from this.”
The driver: “Shh, don’t say that. Seeing snakes on Snake God Mountain is a good omen. I travel up and down this mountain over three hundred days a year, and I only see snakes once or twice a year, let alone a whole group like this. If you have any wishes, now’s the time to make them. These little snakes will deliver your message to the Snake God.”
The man muttered another curse before sitting down, closing his eyes, and starting to make his wish.
Bai Lixin watched the dense group of snakes.
They slowly moved into the middle of the road but instead of continuing forward, they suddenly changed direction and circled around the bus.
Before long, the snakes were connected from head to tail and formed a complete loop around the bus.
The driver quickly took out his phone to snap some pictures, clicking his tongue in amazement. “This is really strange. I’ve been driving this mountain road for over ten years, and this is the first time I’ve seen something like this.”
Bai Lixin: “What does it mean when a group of snakes circles the bus, driver?”
The driver shook his head. “I don’t know, but it must be a good sign. Snakes are very spiritual creatures, they wouldn’t do this for no reason. There must be someone of great fortune on board.”
“Ah! What is that?” Min Min suddenly screamed from inside the van.
Bai Lixin followed the direction of her finger and looked down at the green valley below. In the dense green forest, he could faintly make out a long white figure slithering through.
The driver exclaimed in shock, “It’s the white snake! A divine sign! Everyone, close your eyes quickly, don’t offend the snake god!”
Bai Lixin closed his eyes but secretly left a slit open.
It was an enormous white snake, crawling deep in the valley below. The surrounding reference points weren’t just shrubs, but towering trees.
Compared to the giant snake, those trees looked like mere blades of grass.
It didn’t look like a real snake. Its body was entirely crystalline white and somewhat transparent, through its back, you could see the grass beneath its belly.
The snake crawled from the valley below and started approaching the bus.
It wasn’t until the white snake reached the mountain road that Bai Lixin truly grasped its enormity.
Its body was as wide as two of their buses. As it slithered towards the bus, it stopped, raised its head, and flicked its scarlet tongue, blocking the vehicle’s path.
The people in the bus gasped in shock. Bai Lixin subtly glanced around and noticed that at some point, everyone in the bus had opened their eyes.
The driver softly reminded them from the front, “Make a wish quickly, make a wish!”
“Great Snake God, bless my family with safety and grant me overnight riches!”
The white snake circled the bus, its scarlet tongue brushing against the glass, leaving behind a sticky smear.
It seemed to be searching for something. Its blood-red eyes stared inside for a long time, starting from the short-haired girl at the back, then moving to the long-haired girl, then to Min Min, and finally resting on Bai Lixin.
Bai Lixin felt the white snake’s gaze and silently returned its stare.
The two pairs of eyes looked at each other through a glass window, and Bai Lixin didn’t know what it wanted to do.
Three minutes later, the white snake finally withdrew its gaze, turned, and slithered back into the green valley.
The small snakes surrounding the vehicle seemed to receive a signal, following the white snake as they left.
It wasn’t until the white snake disappeared completely that the driver breathed a long sigh of relief. “This was worth it. My life is complete.”
“I’ve lived in Snake God Town all my life, and this is the first time I’ve seen the white snake. It’s not just a legend, it really exists!”
He laughed happily, and looked very excited. “Ladies and gentlemen, today your ride is on me.”
Min Min: “Really?”
The driver: “Of course. For the white snake to appear personally, there must be someone with a ‘Ziweixing’ fate in this car. That person is destined to become someone great in the future.”
“Your ride is free, but I have one request. Can we take a group photo? I’d like to share in the good luck.”
Bai Lixin fell into deep thought.
He was a main god; did that count as the “great person” the driver mentioned?
After visiting the last three temples, they returned to Snake God Town as the sun began to set.
Lunch was eaten at a tourist buffet near the North Temple. It was twenty yuan per person, all vegetarian, all-you-can-eat, but no waste was allowed.
Bai Lixin was full after eating for a while, and he spent the rest of the time watching the four girls devour their food.
Even though they had just eaten a large amount of snacks in the bus, they acted as if they hadn’t eaten for days, perhaps even more ravenous than before.
They ate in large bites, only stopping once their stomachs were visibly bloated.
By the time they left, the server’s hands were trembling as they opened the door for them.
In front of the West Temple, as the driver requested, each of them took a photo with him.
For the rest of the journey, the driver remained cheerful and excited.
Even when Min Min asked him to drop them off at Dong Jing’s house, he happily agreed.
By the time they arrived at Dong Jing’s house, the sky had turned dim.
Dong Qing was sitting by the gate, sharpening a knife.
It was a bone cleaver more than thirty centimeters long. The blade was sharp, and the gleaming white edge reflected Dong Qing’s handsome face.
As soon as Min Min got out of the car, she ran towards him. “Brother Qing, did you miss me?”
Dong Qing finished sharpening the cleaver, stood it against the wall, and with a perfect smile, caught Min Min in his arms. “Of course I missed you. A day apart feels like three years.”
Min Min snuggled into Dong Qing’s embrace and acted coquettishly, “Brother Qing, you’re so sweet.”
Dong Qing: “I’m just telling the truth.”
Bai Lixin quietly stayed at the back of the group, trying hard to control his breathing.
The smell was terrible.
The courtyard was filled with an unbearable stench, and Dong Qing was enveloped in a thick sewer-like odor.
Even the bone cleaver reeked.
But the girls took deep breaths, “It smells so good, I can smell dragon meat.”
Dong Qing laughed, “Haha, you’ve got sharp noses. My mom’s been simmering dragon meat all day just to impress you all. It’s at the perfect stage now, just waiting for you to enjoy.”
Minm Mn hurriedly pulled Dong Qing towards the courtyard, “It’s not that our noses are sharp, it’s just that the dragon meat smells too good. Brother Qing, hurry and take us to eat, we’re starving.”
Dong Qing grabbed the bone cleaver with one hand, and Min Min’s hand with the other, leading them into the courtyard.
Dong Qing and Dong Jing’s house was a small courtyard, similar in style and size to the one where they’d had the barbecue.
At this moment, a large wooden table was already set in the courtyard, with a big pot on a stove beside it. The lid on the pot was rattling from the rising steam.
An even more foul stench came from the pot and overwhelmed Bai Lixin’s senses.
He used all his strength not to vomit.
The table was covered with food—braised pork, pig knuckles, chicken drumsticks… Bai Lixin counted. There were sixteen plates of meat and eight plates of vegetables.
The amount of food could easily feed twenty adults.
Yet there were only nine chairs around the table.
A beautiful woman and Dong Jing emerged from the house, each carrying a dish.
When she saw them, the woman beamed and hurried over. “You must be Dong Jing’s university classmates. Come, sit, make yourselves at home.”
Min Min greeted, “Hello, Auntie. You’re so pretty. This is so generous of you, thank you for all the effort.”
The woman smiled, “Dong Jing is a bit shy and it’s rare for her to bring friends home. Of course, I have to give you all a proper welcome. Dong Jing, Dong Qing, take care of your friends while I finish the last dish.”
With that, she put down the food and hurried back to the kitchen.
At first, the girls seemed like they wanted to wait for the woman.
But Dong Qing said “eat, eat, eat,” three times in a row, the four girls, likely truly starving, didn’t hold back and started to devour the food.
Bai Lixin picked a seat farthest from the pot and stared at the plate in front of him with difficulty.
It was hopeless.
This seemed like the biggest challenge of his life.
Eating beside a stinking sewer—it was almost unbearable for him.
Dong Qing noticed Bai Lixin, “Handsome guy, you’re not eating?”
Bai Lixin rubbed his stomach, “My stomach isn’t feeling well. I ate too much vegetarian food at lunch, and I haven’t digested it yet.”
Dong Qing: “If your stomach’s upset, you should eat more dragon meat. Dragon meat not only beautifies and strengthens the body but also cures all ailments. After you eat, your stomach will feel better.”
Bai Lixin’s face turned pale, “I don’t eat meat.”
Min Min nodded between bites, “Yes, this handsome guy doesn’t eat meat. Just give him some vegetables, and I’ll help him with his meat.”
The short-haired girl: “Why should it be you?”
Min Min: “Shen Qiu, don’t be so greedy. You’ve already taken so much dragon meat, and you’re still not satisfied?”
“Brother Qing, give her less dragon meat later. She’s eaten too much today and needs to lose weight.”
The short-haired girl retorted, “You’re the one who needs to lose weight. Just look at your belly, it’s like you’re three months pregnant.”
Min Min’s eyes widened, “If I look three months pregnant, then you look like you’re five months pregnant! Haven’t you taken a good look at your own big belly?”
Bai Lixin: “…”
He had to admit, all four of the girls’ bellies were quite round.
Five minutes later, two people walked out of the kitchen.
One was Mother Dong, and the other was a middle-aged man in his forties.
Mother Dong was carrying a plate of food, while the man was holding a bag of steamed buns and a case of beer.
They placed the food on the table, and the man enthusiastically opened the beer bottles, “Young people, do you want some beer? Good meat pairs perfectly with good wine—there’s nothing like it in the world.”
The smell from the pot continued to drift over, and the girls looked at the large pot greedily.
Min Min asked anxiously, “Uncle, Auntie, when can we eat the dragon meat?”
Mother Dong quickly stood up, “Oh, how forgetful of me! I’ll serve the dragon meat right away.”
Bowls of dragon meat were brought out and placed in front of them. Bai Lixin glanced at Min Min’s bowl nearby; the pieces of meat were square-shaped, just like the ones they had at the barbecue.
There were no bones, only meat.
Each piece was golden and plump.
