Encountering a Snake - Chapter 1

The town below was once again shrouded in the sound of firecrackers as Shen Jue opened his eyes. After a brief moment of confusion, he remembered it was another New Year’s Eve.

 

This was the third New Year’s Eve since his father had passed away.

 

Shen Jue descended the mountain and returned to the Shen residence. The mansion still stood grandly, with pavilions, towers, carved railings, beautiful gardens, and lotus ponds… but the pond was filled with withered lotus stalks, and the water’s surface was coated with a thin layer of ice. Occasionally, a gust of wind would blow through, scattering some dead branches and leaves across the ice. In just three years, this mansion seemed to have become much lonelier. When Shen Qingxuan was alive, he had ensured the servants maintained the place. Now, with Shen Qingxuan gone and the old steward passing away the following year, the residence had fallen into silence.

 

Old Master Shen had also passed away.

 

In merely three years, they had bid farewell to three people. Shen Jue went to the Buddhist hall, but Old Madam Shen did not see him; she saw no one. Ever since Shen Qingxuan’s passing, Old Madam Shen had locked herself in the Buddhist hall. After Old Master Shen followed him, she never left the hall again.

 

Standing in the southern courtyard for a moment, Shen Jue gazed at the place where he had grown up, almost afraid to recall it. The memories were too beautiful, too painful. His father’s sly smile, lying drunk in the beauty pavilion in his father’s arms, holding the ruler to smack his palm, painting in the courtyard—all of it was gone. That person’s appearance and laughter could only be found in memory, and if one day he too passed away, who else in this world would remember him?

 

Shen Jue thought, no one would remember him.

 

The snow had stopped and then started falling again. The sky was filled with swirling snowflakes as Shen Jue tightened his cloak.

 

Shen Zhen had returned before the New Year. Perhaps due to the series of bereavements in the family, he had fallen ill and was granted leave to recuperate at home. This was his first New Year spent at home after many years away. The wine on the table was warm, and the dishes were hot, but the air was cold. It was a reunion night with all loved ones gone. Shen Zhen dismissed the servants and poured himself a drink.

 

Shen Jue pushed open the door. The two looked at each other, both surprised. They had only met twice; Shen Zhen was not very familiar with his nephew, even less so than with Yi Mo, who at least had spoken to him. He did not expect Shen Jue to return tonight, and Shen Jue had no idea his uncle had come back. After the initial surprise, Shen Zhen waved him over to sit beside him.

 

Shen Zhen studied his brother’s child. Though not his biological son, there were some similarities in their expressions. Both were calm and serene.

 

After a moment of silence, Shen Zhen spoke up, “If I’m not mistaken, you should be ready for your coming-of-age ceremony.”

 

“Yes,” Shen Jue replied.

 

“The ceremony will be held at the Shen family ancestral hall. How does that sound?”

 

“Good,” Shen Jue said.

 

There was a lull in the conversation.

 

After a while, Shen Zhen continued, “Take good care of your health. I will be heading south. Once you have your coming-of-age ceremony, you will be an adult. What are your plans for the future?”

 

Shen Jue said nothing.

 

Shen Zhen added, “You may not be of the Shen bloodline, but you are still a member of the Shen family. I hope you will stay here to manage family affairs… When I go south, I won’t be able to take care of things here.”

 

“Are you trying to pass the family business on to me?” Shen Jue asked quietly.

 

“I have no worries handing it over to you. A child raised by my brother will not be lacking.”

 

“My father raised me not to inherit the family business,” Shen Jue looked at him and smiled slightly. “Moreover, I’m not my father’s biological child. When you go south, my being so young, who would be willing to let me be the clan leader?”

 

“Are you afraid they will bully you?” Shen Zhen asked.

 

“No,” Shen Jue replied. “My father once said that in the future, I could do whatever I wanted, just not to become the clan leader.”

 

Shen Zhen became curious and asked, “Why not?”

 

“My father said it was not the life for his son, wasting away years in mundane matters and human relationships,” Shen Jue said, laughing lightly, his eyes filled with fondness. It was an emotion that involuntarily emerged when discussing loved ones.

 

Shen Zhen noticed and, after a moment of silence, asked, “Then what do you want to do?”

 

“… I haven’t thought about it yet,” Shen Jue said, pausing before adding, “Perhaps I will follow my father to cultivate.”

 

“Cultivate?” Shen Zhen said. “Why? Is life at home not good? Is being human not good?”

 

“Not at all; life at home is very good. My grandparents and others have never treated me as an outsider,” Shen Jue paused, “but… I still want to cultivate; I don’t want my lifespan to be too short.”

 

“At your age, talking about lifespan is rather inauspicious,” Shen Zhen said. “It’s New Year’s, after all.”

 

“If I live a bit longer, I can stay with my father,” Shen Jue said, his tone calm yet melancholic. “He no longer has my father. If, in a few decades, I’m also gone, I wouldn’t know how he would spend the rest of his years.” After a slight pause, he said, “So I don’t want to take over the family business. I want to accompany my father.”

 

At this point, Shen Zhen also felt sad. Although he had spent many years away, he had still heard news of family matters. Initially, he had not understood his brother’s choices and had even resented them; after all, the Shen family had a proper lineage and was a respected family in the region. His brother’s actions undoubtedly brought shame to the family. He had complained and written angry letters. But over time, that resentment faded. He knew his brother well, and it seemed that even if he were a demon, he would not be too bad. Until the day Shen Qingxuan was buried, he had seen that person at the gravesite. He clearly saw the five words engraved on the tombstone, and they remained etched in his mind. It would not be an exaggeration to say it was a deep and lasting impression. It even gave him a strange feeling, as if his brother was dragging “humans” down with him.

 

After drinking a cup of wine, Shen Zhen sighed, “How is your father these days? It’s the New Year; you should invite him to join us.”

 

“My father is indifferent. With my father gone, he will not go anywhere,” Shen Jue said.

 

Shen Zhen nodded upon hearing this. “Very well then.”

 

“In the years you weren’t home, my father often talked about you,” Shen Jue said, noticing the atmosphere had grown heavy. He switched the topic, smiling, “He said you brought glory to the Shen family.”

 

“Then why don’t you seek a career for yourself?” Shen Zhen laughed as he spoke of himself. “You seem to have no such intentions; clearly, your father merely said it for show and doesn’t take it to heart.”

 

“Not at all,” Shen Jue quickly defended. “My father believes that you serve the country with loyalty while he manages family affairs, so you won’t be distracted.”

 

“And you? Since you don’t pursue fame, it seems you don’t desire wealth either…” Shen Zhen asked with interest, “What do you want?”

 

Shen Jue was silent for a moment. “I want to become a person like my father.”

 

“Hmm?” Shen Zhen sat up straight.

 

“… For the sake of my father and me, my grandmother never understood him. Although my grandfather said nothing, he also distanced himself from him. The clansmen looked down on him, and everyone in the business circle discriminated against him. Young maids and boys were unwilling to serve him, and on the streets, everyone avoided him. Yet my father… never bowed down.”

 

“No matter how others laughed at him, humiliated him, excluded him in business, hoarded his goods, sabotaged his shops, or even burned down the Shen family granary… my father never yielded, and he never even mentioned it in front of us.”

 

“I want to become a person like my father, willing to go to any lengths to achieve his goals, regardless of life or death.”

 

“And yet, always standing tall, without a shred of shame.”

 

Shen Jue lowered his head and took out the little clay dog, playing with it in his palm. His voice grew softer, “Father passed away, and only then do people say he lived a carefree and extravagant life. In fact, they are mistaken; Father never lived carefreely, not even for a single day.”

 

Shen Zhen was speechless.

 

The two of them sat in silence for a while. Shen Zhen then asked, “What about you? Your situation must have spread early on, right? Growing up, have you ever been bullied?”

 

Shen Jue shook his head, “Father took good care of me; no one dared to bully me.”

 

Shen Zhen sighed, “Your brother is very protective of his family.” He couldn’t help but recall events from his childhood, and he smiled, “Your father used to bully me all the time.”

 

“I know. Father told me.” Shen Jue also smiled.

 

“Did he ever mention that when he was young, he only allowed himself to bully me and never let anyone else humiliate me?” Shen Zhen raised his wine cup, “He probably never mentioned it. But I always remember that when I was six, a cousin of ours hit me over a piece of candy, and your brother tied him up and beat him for an hour, and he didn’t let him down for half a year.” As he spoke, Shen Zhen’s brows curled up in a smile, “Though at that time he hated me.”

 

However, Shen Jue knew nothing of these past events. When Shen Qingxuan was alive, he only mentioned this to Yi Mo; no one else knew.

 

Shen Jue did not rashly respond. The reason was simple: his uncle had used the word “hate.” This word would astonish anyone in any context, but used in this moment, it was even more chilling. Shen Jue was not a reckless child; Shen Qingxuan would not raise a child with a reckless character. So, he merely nodded and smiled, remaining silent.

 

Shen Zhen observed him with deep meaning. He intentionally spoke such words, expecting some sort of response, but to his surprise, the youth in front of him was calm, his eyes tranquil, as if he hadn’t heard anything at all. Shen Zhen was certain he had heard, but he didn’t want to say anything. Shen Zhen couldn’t tell if his silence was because he didn’t know the history or because he deemed those matters unimportant. He couldn’t decipher Shen Jue’s thoughts, even though he was over twenty years older. Shen Zhen thought of his brother, who had taken that secret to the grave, never to speak of it in his life. How much composure must one have to achieve that? Glancing at the young man before him, Shen Zhen sighed, “Your father raised a good son.”

 

Shen Jue smiled, a bit shy, “Uncle is overpraising me.”

 

“Stay with me tonight. Let’s finish the New Year here before going back.”

 

“That might not be possible,” Shen Jue politely declined, “Father is still in the mountains. If I don’t return, he’ll just sleep by Father’s tomb for the night.”

 

Shen Zhen’s mind flashed back to those words: a widow. How deep must her feelings be for a thousand-year-old demon to dare to call herself a widow?

 

Waving his hand, Shen Zhen said, “After you finish this cup, you may go. I don’t consider you a child or an outsider. If you think of it later, just come sit with me and have a drink.”

 

Shen Jue drank the wine and got up to bid farewell. As the wooden door opened, the night wind swirled in with snowflakes, and Shen Zhen softly said from behind, “Death is determined by fate. Tell your father not to be too sad. My brother has gotten what he wanted.”

 

Shen Jue paused for a moment before closing the door and leaving.

 

Treading on the snow, he returned to the mountain villa. The house was empty. Shen Jue lit the brazier, warmed some wine, and set it out before going to find his father.

 

On New Year’s Eve, the ground was blanketed in white snow. Yi Mo had transformed into a serpent and coiled up on Shen Qingxuan’s tombstone, sleeping. When Shen Jue found him, snowflakes had completely covered him, and the white mound on the tombstone lay silent. Not even the sound of footsteps could wake him. Every winter for the past three years, Shen Qingxuan would hold the serpent Yi Mo in his arms, keeping him warm, as if afraid he would freeze. Now that Shen Qingxuan had passed away, the one who used to embrace him in the cold was gone. No matter how tightly Yi Mo coiled around the tombstone, he could not warm it. It could only grow colder, increasingly so.

 

Shen Jue transformed into a wolf, his black and shiny fur looking majestic. However, he carefully approached, bending his forelegs and shrinking next to Yi Mo, resting his head against the serpent covered in snow, and closed his eyes.

 

When he woke up, he was already lying on the bed inside the house, the charcoal fire crackling warmly, and a quilt covered him. Shen Jue jumped out of bed, and Yi Mo was sitting at the table, drinking the warm wine by himself.

 

Three sets of bowls and chopsticks were laid out on the table.

 

“Father,” Shen Jue respectfully approached and bowed, sitting down beside him. There was still an empty seat next to him, but no one came to sit.

 

“After you perform the coming-of-age ceremony, I will go down the mountain,” Yi Mo said淡淡道: “Will you stay in the mountains to cultivate, or will you return home?”

 

Shen Jue was taken aback, “I was raised by Father and you. Since Father is gone, wherever you are is my home.”

 

“I am going to a place you cannot follow,” Yi Mo stated.

 

“Where does Father want to go?” Shen Jue looked at him, pondering for a moment, “Could it be that you want to find Father?”

 

Yi Mo did not respond.

 

Shen Jue stepped aside, suddenly kneeling at his feet, and said gravely, “Father once instructed that if he were to seek, you must stop him. Father said that in the next life, he wouldn’t recognize you and didn’t plan to. He wanted to live differently in his next life.”

 

Yi Mo lowered his eyes, looking at the top of his head, “Can you stop me?”

 

Shen Jue’s expression changed slightly, “I cannot stop you.” He continued, “But if Father insists on going, I will follow.”

 

“I don’t even know where he is, whether he has reincarnated or not. It might take hundreds of years to find him. How will you follow?”

 

“I was born of a wolf mother and naturally possess a demon core. I only need to practice diligently; living for a few hundred years is not a problem. Though I cannot stop Father, Father cannot shake me off either,” Shen Jue said resolutely, “If we find Father, it would count as a reunion. If something happens along the way, at least I can lend a hand.” As he spoke, Shen Jue prostrated on the ground and bowed his head, “I ask Father to grant this.”

 

Yi Mo remained silent, quietly drinking wine. It was only after a jar of wine was finished that he nodded and said, “Once the coming-of-age ceremony is complete, we’ll leave.”

 

“Yes.” Shen Jue smiled, returning to his chair. Once the matter was settled, the atmosphere seemed to relax a bit. Looking around, Shen Jue asked, “Father met Father here?”

 

Yi Mo pointed outside the window to the wooden railing, his expression revealing nothing in particular, casually saying, “There, he splashed a cup of tea on me.”

 

So, he turned his head and bit him, the poison quickly coursing through that frail body, spreading from the muscles to the blood vessels, from the blood vessels to the organs, the lethal poison ultimately seeped into the bones.

 

And he, however, was backfired upon.

 

The poison named Shen Qingxuan also infiltrated his bones.

 

From then on, there was no redemption.

 

Shen Jue looked at the wooden railing covered in white snow under the moonlight and chuckled, saying, “Father once said he never expected that splashing a cup of tea would lead to meeting a beautiful snake.”

 

Setting down the empty wine jar, Yi Mo said, “Go to sleep.”

 

That night, the firecrackers below the mountain did not cease all night, but they were no longer related to them.