Zhang Mazzi carried the iron cage and walked away, tears blurring my vision instantly.

Helplessly watching my wife being taken away by someone, the feeling was unbearable.

I pounded the ground fiercely, feeling like a coward.

Only when Zhang Mazzi's figure disappeared at the intersection could I barely manage to get up from the ground.

I staggered back home. My mother was arranging dishes, but when she saw me, she exclaimed in surprise and quickly called my father and grandfather.

"Cheng'er, what happened to you? Did you get into a fight?" My mother rushed over and hugged me with concern.

I was covered in dirt, bruised and bloody.

My father, seeing my appearance, angrily said, "Tell me who bullied you, I'll take care of him!"

Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed, "Save Qingqing... Qingqing has been taken away..."

"What? What happened? Qingqing... isn't she a spiritual snake? How could she be caught by someone?" My father couldn't believe it.

My mother also said, "Yes, didn't Qingqing go back to the mountains a few days ago?"

I cried and told them what had happened just now, how the snake catcher Zhang Mazzi caught Qingqing and demanded 500 yuan for her, and now someone had paid a deposit to buy Qingqing for making snake wine. I wanted to buy Qingqing back with money, but I didn't have enough. I got desperate and tried to snatch Qingqing back, but I was beaten up by Zhang Mazzi.

My father handed me a hot towel and asked me to wipe my face. He said, "Qingqing must have been injured and lost her spiritual power, which is why she was caught by Zhang Mazzi!"

Liu Qingqing was a spiritual snake, and Zhang Mazzi was just an ordinary person. It shouldn't have been possible for him to hurt Qingqing. So how did Qingqing get injured? Moreover, Qingqing looked severely wounded, curled up in the cage without any response when I called her. That's why I was so anxious.

My grandfather slapped the table and said, "Let's go, I'll help you save Qingqing. Zhang Mazzi dared to beat you like this; we can't let it go!"

My father put on his coat and said, "Let's go together! Anyone who dares to bully my son, I'll twist their heads off!"

My mother stayed at home while my grandfather and father took me and hurriedly went to Zhang Mazzi's house.

As soon as we arrived at Zhang Mazzi's door, we heard cries of despair coming from inside.

Something had happened at Zhang Mazzi's house?

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We walked in and saw Zhang Mazzi lying on the ground, with his elderly mother wailing and clinging to him, sobbing loudly.

Zhang Mazzi's two sons ran out of the room, one carrying a machete and the other holding a shovel, both filled with anger.

But Zhang Mazzi's face was covered in black energy, his eyes closed tightly. It was clear that he was gone.

We were astonished by this scene, not understanding why Zhang Mazzi suddenly died.

The old woman on the ground cried and shouted, "Go, ** that green snake. It bit your father..."

My heart sank. What does that mean? It couldn't be true that Qingqing killed Zhang Mazzi? Qingqing bit him?

Zhang Mazzi still held the iron cage in his hand, which was open, but the green snake had disappeared without a trace.

My grandfather quickly asked the sobbing old woman what had happened.

She said that Zhang Mazzi had opened the cage, intending to take the green snake out to play, but somehow he suddenly fell to the ground. When she rushed out, she found that Zhang Mazzi had already passed away, and the green snake had slipped into a crack in the corner of the wall.

I was shocked and looked at Zhang Mazzi's hands. There were no signs of snake bites. Could it be that Liu Qingqing used some magic to kill Zhang Mazzi? But that couldn't be right. Liu Qingqing was severely injured, and if she could use magic, she would have escaped long ago and didn't need to wait until now. There was also no need to kill Zhang Mazzi.

Something was amiss. Zhang Mazzi was probably not killed by Qingqing. The most urgent thing was to save Qingqing so that we could find out the truth.

Zhang Mazzi's two sons, seeing their father lying dead, became furious. They searched the yard everywhere for traces of the green snake.

At this moment, the elder son shouted, "Found it, over here!"

In the corner of the wall, Liu Qingqing curled up, looking exhausted, even lacking the strength to escape.

The younger son raised the shovel and roared, "Kill it to avenge our father!"

Before he could do anything, my grandfather suddenly snatched the shovel away.

The elder son was taken aback and before he could react, my father quickly rushed forward and took the machete from him as well.

My father looked back at me, signaling me with his eyes. I was overjoyed and quickly went forward, picking up Liu Qingqing and running out of the yard.

The elder son and the younger son were furious, shouting angrily, "What are you doing?"

The old lady on the ground also shouted, "What's the meaning of this, Yang family?"

My grandfather said, "This snake is highly poisonous. I'm afraid it will continue to harm people, so I took it out to dispose of it!"

After saying that, without waiting for a response, my grandfather and father also ran out of the yard.

I held Liu Qingqing in my arms, my heart pounding relentlessly. It was so close; if I had been just a moment late, Liu Qingqing would have been ** by them.

I rushed back home, grabbed a box, and put Liu Qingqing inside.

Then, I asked my mother to find some herbs to stop bleeding and applied them to Liu Qingqing's wounds. I also gave her some water to drink.

"Qingqing, how are you? Are you okay? Don't scare me!" I leaned next to the box, anxiously asking.

After a while, Liu Qingqing finally raised her head slowly, spat out her tongue, and called my name, "Yang Cheng!"

I reached out and touched Liu Qingqing's head, unable to hold back my sadness, "Qingqing, tell me what happened, why did it turn out like this? Why did you end up like this?"

Liu Qingqing sighed, "Believe me, Zhang Mazzi didn't kill me!"

I nodded, "I believe you, of course I do. But how did Zhang Mazzi die? He was fine before, but why did he suddenly die?"

Liu Qingqing said, "When Zhang Mazzi was on the mountain, he inhaled the toxic air of a demon snake. His body was good, so he managed to hold on until now and then died!"

"Toxic air of a demon snake?!" I froze for a moment. "What demon snake?"

Liu Qingqing said, "On Hook Mountain, there is a black snake that has become a demon. I was injured by that demon snake, which is why I fell into Zhang Mazzi's hands! And Zhang Mazzi died because he inhaled the toxic air of the demon snake!"

A chill ran down my spine. A black snake that had become a demon?!