"Good sword! Indeed, it's a good sword!" Ku Quanzi stroked the peach wood sword while listening to my story of borrowing the sword.

I nodded, "That Wang Baochang is really despicable. He only agreed when I mentioned the reputation of Master Ku!"

Ku Quanzi gave me a disdainful look and pointed at the peach wood sword, "I mean this sword... It's a good sword!"

I awkwardly smiled.

Ku Quanzi said, "The last incident should have taught him a lesson. Let him be!"

I asked my father to help me take a few days off from school, pretending to be sick. In reality, I wasn't sick but went with Ku Quanzi into the mountains to search for the snake demon.

Before we set off, Ku Quanzi asked my father to help us contact a snake catcher.

This man in his fifties, even Zhang Mazzi respectfully called him "Master." He was probably the most skilled snake catcher in the village. Not only did he catch snakes, but he also raised them and had a deep understanding of snake behavior and habits. We were to call him "Jiu Ye."

Why Jiu Ye? It's not because he was the ninth child in his family, but because he only had nine fingers.

With two hands and ten fingers, Jiu Ye had only nine fingers, missing the little finger on his right hand.

Legend has it that Jiu Ye had a remarkable life story. When he was a child, he was bitten on his right little finger by a venomous snake. In those days with rudimentary medical care, the best way to save his life was to amputate the finger.

After having his right little finger amputated, his name became "Jiu Wa Zi," which means "Ninth Child."

As the saying goes, "Once bitten by a snake, one is afraid of ropes for ten years." Logically speaking, after being bitten by a venomous snake and having a finger amputated, Jiu Wa Zi should have developed a deep psychological aversion to snakes. However, Jiu Wa Zi not only didn't fear snakes but became intensely interested in them. From then on, he couldn't stop himself from studying the various habits of snakes. He transformed into an expert snake catcher. With age, Jiu Wa Zi gradually became known as Jiu Shu (Ninth Uncle), and later Jiu Ye (Ninth Lord).

Jiu Ye rolled up his sleeves and pant legs to show us the pockmarked scars on his wrists and ankles, many of which were from snake bites.

Ku Quanzi informed Jiu Ye about the dangers of this mission, but he didn't ask anything else from Jiu Ye. He just asked for his help, relying on his experience to find the hiding place of the snake demon. As for what would happen next, it was up to me and Ku Quanzi.

Hook Mountain was vast, and Qingqing only told me that the snake demon was hiding in a thicket near a mountain stream. There were so many streams in the area, and the terrain was vast. How could I find that ancient tomb? Moreover, what if the snake demon wasn't inside the tomb? So, we needed an experienced snake catcher to guide us and lead us to the hiding place of the big snake.

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The weather had already become hot. The sound of cicadas echoed in the woods, and the air was oppressively heavy. We were like dumplings steaming in a pot, with sweat soaking through our clothes.

Jiu Ye's face was covered in beads of sweat the size of soybeans, but he remained calm and never complained.

Holding a bamboo pole in his hand, he lowered his head and carefully pushed aside the grass, searching for traces of the snake.

Jiu Ye asked me what the big snake looked like, especially the thickness of its body.

I gestured with my hand, "I heard it's as thick as an adult's thigh!"

Jiu Ye nodded and continued to patiently search with his head lowered.

Although he was quite old, his eyes were still bright and full of radiance, sweeping through the grass like a flashlight.

Suddenly, Jiu Ye called out, "Hey, don't move!"

My legs froze in mid-air, and I didn't dare to move.

Jiu Ye crouched on the ground, his sharp eyes carefully examining the surface, and pointed to the northwest, saying, "I think I've found traces of that big snake. It crawled from here towards the northwest not long ago!"

I was amazed. Jiu Ye truly deserved to be called a snake catcher if he could detect traces of a big snake from the ground.

I imitated Jiu Ye and crouched down, trying to see for myself, but I couldn't make out anything.

In my eyes, it was just an ordinary thicket.

Jiu Ye said, "Just as humans have roads, snakes have snake paths! Snake paths refer to the routes that snakes often crawl along. Snakes are peculiar creatures; they like to remember their way. If you observe a snake for a long time, you'll notice that its crawling path for hunting and wandering is almost always the same and doesn't change.

Of course, due to different geographical environments, some snake paths may leave faint traces or be destroyed and covered by other factors. In those cases, you must start from very subtle details to determine the direction of the snake path!"

After a pause, Jiu Ye added, "It's a skill that can only be acquired after many years of accumulation!"

Jiu Ye waved us over and continued to follow the snake path under his feet.

After a while, we heard the sound of flowing water, and a mountain stream appeared in front of us.

Following the stream, we quickly found the ancient tomb.

The tomb was hidden amidst a thicket, with a snake hole beneath it. Waves of black demon aura drifted out of the hole from time to time, just like what Lui Qingqing had described.

I started to feel nervous. The snake demon must be inside this ancient tomb.

I wanted to see how powerful the snake with horns on its head was. It had even injured Lui Qingqing.

Damn it, I came here today for Qingqing's sake!

Ku Quanzi gestured for us to stay back, away from the demon aura.

Thinking of Zhang Mazzi's tragic death, I quickly moved far away.

"This is the snake hole, I'm sure of it. The snake you're looking for is hiding inside this ancient tomb!" Jiu Ye said.

The snake hole was too small for us to enter, so we had to force the snake out of the tomb.

Jiu Ye said it was easy. He improvised and found a lot of wild mugwort, lighting them up and piling them up at the entrance of the snake hole.

We stood far away, and after the mugwort burned, thick smoke filled the air.

Jiu Ye covered his nose and mouth tightly, ran over, and fanned the smoke, making it flow into the ancient tomb.

Mosquitoes, ants, and other bugs detested the smell of mugwort; they were extremely "allergic" to it.

Before long, rustling sounds came from the entrance of the snake hole.

Suddenly, a burst of black demon aura erupted from the hole, scattering the mugwort piled at the entrance.

Following that, a dark figure shot out.

I was startled and instinctively took two steps back. The legendary snake demon had finally revealed itself.

I saw the demon snake coiled on the ground, completely black. Its head was raised high, and its venomous tongue flickered angrily.

My gaze fell on its head, and indeed, I saw a large tumor hanging from it, resembling a dragon horn.

The snake demon had wrapped a corpse beneath its body. Upon closer look, I was even more surprised—it was Zhang Mazzi's corpse!