After Qingqing left home on that day, she walked all the way to the old forest on Gouzi Mountain. The air in the forest was fresh, and the smell of realgar was no longer present. Qingqing finally felt much better. However, when she walked out of the village, she inevitably inhaled a lot of realgar, so her face turned pale, she started sweating, and her spiritual power was low. Qingqing drank some mountain spring water and rested on a rock by the creek.

Suddenly, she saw a faint black aura coming from a clump of grass by the creek, which surprised her. Curious, she decided to go and take a look. In the clump of grass by the creek, she discovered an ancient tomb. The tomb had a hole dug underneath, and with just one glance, Qingqing knew it was a snake den. It appeared that snakes had occupied the tomb and turned it into their nest. The black aura she had seen earlier was emanating from this tomb.

Qingqing crawled into the tomb through the hole. It was a very crude burial chamber with three coffins arranged side by side - two large coffins and one small coffin, as if it were a family of three. The coffins were rough and not made of wood, but rather three stone coffins. The surfaces of the coffins were rough and covered in a layer of mossy dark green due to their age, emitting a putrid smell.

Although the tomb was dimly lit, Qingqing's snake eyes allowed her to see in the darkness. She glanced at the three stone coffins and noticed a large black snake coiled on top of one of them. The snake was completely black, its scales shimmering with a faint light, and its body was as thick as an adult's thigh, tightly coiled around the coffin.

The snake was raising its head and exhaling clouds of black mist, causing the aura in the tomb to churn. Qingqing was even more surprised to see a lump on the snake's head that looked like a horn. Qingqing knew very well that if a snake grows a horn on its head, it means it has become an enlightened serpent. When a serpent becomes enlightened, it develops a horn on its head. If it passes through the heavenly tribulation, it can ascend and transform into a dragon.

It is not easy for a snake to reach enlightenment, and it is even rarer for them to grow horns on their heads. However, this snake had obviously taken an unconventional path in its cultivation. Now that it had grown a horn on its head, given enough time, if it truly ascended and transformed into a dragon, it would become a dangerous monster threatening the mortal realm.

Qingqing had a strong sense of justice and didn't want this snake to become a dragon. So she jumped out and interrupted its cultivation. The snake, infuriated by the interruption, fought Qingqing inside the burial chamber. If Qingqing's spiritual power had not been suppressed by realgar, dealing with this demon snake would have been no problem. But with her weakened power and underestimating the strength of the snake, she ended up being bitten by its venomous fangs after a few rounds.

With her vitality damaged, Qingqing decided not to linger and hurriedly escaped from the ancient tomb. Unexpectedly, as soon as she ran out of the tomb, she encountered Zhang Mazzi, a professional snake catcher. Zhang Mazzi was active during the period when snakes were most active, around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival. During this time, he could earn enough money through snake catching to support his family for a year.

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Experienced in his trade, Zhang Mazzi tapped and prodded the grass with a long bamboo pole, clearing away the vegetation. He discovered the ancient tomb hidden in the clump of grass and the hole beneath it. Based on his experience, Zhang Mazzi knew it was a snake den, and he guessed that there must be a large snake hiding in the tomb.

So Zhang Mazzi patiently waited outside the tomb, hoping to catch the snake as it emerged. However, Zhang Mazzi was unaware that by staying outside the tomb, he unknowingly inhaled the serpent's demonic aura emanating from the tomb.

Unexpectedly, instead of the large snake, a small jade-like snake with transparent scales emerged from the tomb. It was none other than Qingqing, who had escaped from the tomb. Qingqing had a stroke of bad luck as she didn't expect a snake catcher to be guarding the tomb. As soon as she emerged from the tomb, she fell into the trap set by Zhang Mazzi.

Having caught snakes for so many years, Zhang Mazzi had never seen such a unique small jade snake before. He was overjoyed and thought that he could sell this jade snake for a good price. Zhang Mazzi released Qingqing from the iron cage, intending to play with the jade snake.

At that moment, the poison inside the snake's body erupted, and it died on the spot. Zhang Mazzi's two sons, seeing this scene, thought that the jade snake was highly poisonous and had bitten their father to death. They rushed into the house to grab their weapons and attack the jade snake.

Fortunately, we arrived just in time to rescue Qingqing. I ran back home to get money to save her, but during that time, an old man passing by took an interest in the little jade snake. He wanted to buy the jade snake to make alcohol and gave Zhang Mazzi a deposit of 200 yuan, promising to come later to collect the snake and pay the remaining 300 yuan.

After dinner, Zhang Mazzi couldn't help but be fascinated by the small jade snake. He opened the cage, wanting to play with it. At that moment, the snake's poisonous energy erupted, and Zhang Mazzi died on the spot.

Seeing this scene, his two sons thought that the jade snake was extremely venomous and had killed their father. They were about to attack the jade snake when we arrived, saving Qingqing from the situation.

Having finished this long story, Qingqing appeared exhausted. She said, "Yang Cheng, I can't stay with you anymore..."

Hearing these words, tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. I couldn't suppress the sadness in my heart, holding the little snake and crying bitterly, "Qingqing, you can't die! You can't die!"

Qingqing leaned close to my ear and said, "Who said I'm going to die?"

I was taken aback for a moment, then let go of her and asked, "Then why did you say... you can't stay with me anymore?"

Qingqing said, "My vitality has been damaged by the snake's venom, and I won't be able to recover in a short time. I need to return to the mountains and use the essence of the sun, moon, and spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cultivate and slowly restore my vitality."

I nodded, not fully understanding, and asked, "When will you be able to come back?"

Qingqing replied, "I'm not sure either. It depends on how my recovery progresses. If everything goes well, it could be one or two months, but if it takes longer, it might be one or two years."

The thought of not seeing Qingqing for one or two years made me feel like my heart was being torn apart. I had become accustomed to having Qingqing by my side, and her sudden departure left a painful void in my heart.

Qingqing said, "I'm leaving tonight. Take good care of yourself while I'm gone! Also, go find Ku Daxian and ask him to take action and kill that snake. You must prevent the snake from transforming into a dragon; otherwise, there will be endless trouble. Once the snake becomes a dragon, it will be difficult to subdue."

After saying these words, Qingqing slowly crawled out of the box and looked back at me at the door. She said, "Wait for my return!"

I cried out and chased after her, but she was nowhere to be seen outside. I shouted loudly in the empty courtyard, "Qingqing, I'll wait for your return! Wait for your return!!"