Chapter 2: The Life-Dependent Snake

  Yu Xianyao turned his head to look at Lan Xiaohai, who was already scared out of his wits and had lost control of his bladder. Hiding behind Yu Xianyao's back, he trembled constantly, his body eerily cold, like a block of ice. It wasn't until the faint golden light on Yu Xianyao's body shone onto Lan Xiaohai's heart that he slightly calmed down.

  Yu Xing Yao comforted him: "Don't be nervous, this is my contract beast, not an evil spirit!"

  "What's going on with Benming Gu?" Xiaohai asked curiously, but his eyes remained tense and fixed on the movement by the coffin.

  It was ten years ago when Yu Xianyao went to visit the old spiritual head of Pangu Dragon Room, and the old spiritual head planted this Benming Golden Snake Gu for him. According to what his parents said at that time, this is the most powerful Gu technique in She Village, and as long as it is cultivated successfully, great things can be achieved in the future.

  As for the snake gong, as a She ethnic minority person, I, Yu Xiang, know it all too clearly. The snake gong can be roughly divided into two kinds: one is called the living snake gong and the other is called the yin snake gong.

  The venom of the yin snake is mixed with that of a hundred other snakes to form a deadly poison, which is fatal if ingested. Initially, it causes vomiting and diarrhea, followed by abdominal distension, loss of appetite, dry mouth, feverishness, and flushing of the face. In severe cases, there are signs of internal movement and noise in the abdomen and viscera, leading to rapid decomposition and death.

  Sheng She Gui is formed by gathering hundreds of insects in a container, which after years opens to reveal live snakes and is named Sheng She Gui. The symptoms of poisoning are similar to those of Yin She Gui but also have great differences. After the poison enters the body it transforms into small snakes that bite randomly inside the body and eat flesh.

  What's even more frustrating is that at night, the small snakes become even more active. There are also external snakes that enter through the pores with the wind to bite, attacking from both inside and outside, making it impossible to seek treatment. It makes people suffer unbearably, and the fate of the person being cursed is completely controlled by the one who cast the curse.

  However, this Benming Jinshegui was still an enigma to Yu Xianyao. For ten years, the only benefit that Yu Xianyao could feel from this Benming Jinshegui was that it helped him build a strong physique. As a result, although he was only sixteen years old, his body was as robust as a bull's, with great strength and extremely agile movements.

  Raising this life-giving Golden Snake is not easy. The Golden Snake itself is a spiritual entity, visible but intangible. Its body resides in the chest of Yu Xianyao, while its head is hidden within his heart. Every day, he must ingest highly toxic substances to fill his entire being with venomous energy, using his own poisonous blood to nourish the Golden Snake, allowing it to grow even stronger.

  It's been ten years, plus the special training of Old Spirit Head's ancient martial arts. At this moment, Yu Xingyao can be considered a top-notch master in the world of martial arts. However, in today's society, ancient martial arts are only used for physical fitness and health. Real masters don't use their fists or feet anymore.

  Darkness, the entrance of Zhu Zi Cave was blocked by collapsed rocks, and at this moment there were only two beams of light from the miner's lamps. The light reflected off the damp cave walls, creating a sparkling glow, and from time to time came the sound of bats flying in dense flocks.

  In the quiet cave, the sound of dripping water made one's hearing numb. Suddenly, a crisp crack sounded. Yu Xianyao felt a chill run down his spine for an instant. Mu Ran turned around to look at the source of the sound, and it was still that stone coffin without a lid. It was still in the same position as before, but now the arm with only white bones had moved away from the edge of the stone coffin.

  The bony hand of the forest pointed straight at the sky, and the creaking sound came from the bony hand. Under the illumination of the mining lamp, the bony hand moved again, and a series of creaking sounds started. The bony hand was like an old mechanical arm, stiffly and slowly climbing up the edge of the stone coffin once more.

  As the bony hand moved in a slow series of jerks, the creaking noise continued to echo through the cave. The bats on the walls let out terrified squeaks and the dense fluttering sounds came again.

  Everything in front of him made Yu Xiang feel a chill run down his spine, and after calming himself down, he adopted the stance of an ancient martial art, with his horse stance steady and his fists charged with energy, ready to meet any unexpected changes at any time.

  His body was implanted with the Golden Snake's life-governing Gu, but over the years, his master Old Ling had only taught him ancient martial arts. As for the use of the Golden Snake Gu and exorcising evil spirits, he was completely clueless; if it weren't for the Golden Snake Gu on his body, he wouldn't even believe that malevolent spirits existed in this world.

  As the bony hand moved, another skull emerged from the coffin. This time the skull was even more terrifying and gloomy, with some rotten flesh and dry, disheveled hair remaining on its face in the beam of the miner's lamp. The two eye sockets were empty without eyeballs, and the nose had rotting flesh hanging down, being eaten away by insects.

  Its snow-white teeth were exposed in the beam of light, constantly trembling, as if enduring immense pain.

  Lan Xiaohai let out a terrified cry after witnessing this scene, and then fell to the ground with a thud amidst the sound of flapping bat wings, losing consciousness. Yu Xianyao's legs, which had been steady on his horse, also began to tremble, and he was almost scared urine-less.

  For sixteen years, he had never seen any ghosts. This sudden stone coffin, plus the sudden moving skull, made him thoroughly frightened. The deep-seated fear in his heart was completely blown open, and facing such a sudden change, it was no longer possible to describe his inner heart with fear.

  He felt his body was stiff and unable to move, with beads of sweat the size of peas constantly rolling down his forehead, just like the cold water dripping from the cave wall. The stones hitting the ground made a "pata pata" sound, echoing continuously in the quiet cave.

  At this moment, the bats no longer chirped and flapped their wings, as if they had suddenly disappeared and made no more noise. In the darkness, there was only the sound of dripping water and the sound of Yu Xianyao's sweat falling to the ground.

  The skull's head also moved, and the sound of its creaking drowned out the sound of dripping water. Its dark cave-like eyes stared at Yu Xiangyao, instantly making him feel a chill run down his spine as if all the spirits of the dead had risen.

  "Blah blah~ Blah blah~" The skull's mouth opened, and it seemed like there was a tongue inside that was moving around, making an eerie sound.

  Yu Xiang's face turned deathly pale, he wanted to open his mouth and shout, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make a sound.

  At this moment, he stood there like a sculpture, if not for the breathing, it would be just like a flesh Buddha. The creaking sound became more and more sparse, and gradually, half of the skull man's body had emerged from the stone coffin.

  Its movements are extremely stiff and slow, with white bones exposed all over its body. Rotten flesh hangs from its chest, with maggots crawling around.

  Suddenly his leg stood up, and the leg was still a little better. Except for the white bones on the sole of the foot, the whole leg was still wearing tattered pants, with rotten flesh visible through the holes, but not to the point of being white bones.

  It stepped out of the stone coffin, and a chill swept across its face. Yu Xingyao's chest suddenly tightened, and the golden light became even more dazzling. Then, a golden triangular snake head emerged like a shadow. The snake's tongue darted in and out, as if it was distinguishing the temperature in the air, searching for food.

  Yu Xianyao almost fainted, this golden snake pattern was hidden on his body. But in ten years, he had only seen it twice, once when the golden snake pattern was implanted into his body as a child, and the other was now. He found that the golden snake pattern seemed to be much larger than before, originally only the size of a small finger, but now it was as thick as a big thumb.

  As soon as the golden snake appeared, the skull's movement stopped. The empty eyes stared at the golden snake motionless, seemingly hesitant. The golden light emitted by the golden snake became even more dazzling, illuminating half of the cave. At this moment, Yu Xianyao finally regained his ability to move, and he no longer felt cold and stiff in his body.

  "What era did you come from, you ghost? What do you want to do by running out here?" As soon as he regained his ability to move, Yu Xianyao jumped up and, to boost his courage, scolded loudly and questioned.

  However, the skull did not respond to him, its empty eyes still staring at the golden snake brooch on his chest, as if it was really afraid of this small golden snake without a physical body.

  The skull didn't move, and Yu Xiang discovered that his golden snake belt seemed to be able to intimidate it. So he plucked up the courage to pick up a stone from the ground and threw it at the skull. His movements were extremely sharp, and with one throw, he used all his strength. With a loud crack, the skull rack fell to the ground.

  Yu Xianyao was stunned, so fragile? Can actually be so fragile? He was overjoyed, never thinking that his own skull, which had been battered to death, would be so fragile, and it would collapse with just one hit from a stone.

  However, his inner joy did not last long. The sound of "pa la pa la" kept coming, and in the light beam, the skeleton frame recondensed together again, forming a complete skeleton man. Climbing on one side of the stone wall, it slowly got up, leaving Yu Xingyao stunned once more.

  What's going on again? Yu Xingyao felt a chill in his heart, and cold sweat and goosebumps crawled all over his back.

  Only to see that the skeleton man's whole body was shaking constantly, and the insects on his body fell to the ground. Those rotten flesh also fell off in a large piece, emitting a dark black foul smell that made Yu Xianyao almost vomit.

  Its footsteps were trembling, as if it was going to walk towards Yu Xingyao. At the same time, its bony hands also slowly lifted up. Its fingers curled into claws, and its mouth slightly opened, exhaling a stream of black air.

  The distance was getting closer and closer, the skull's empty eye sockets stared tightly at the golden snake on Yu Xianyao's chest. It seemed to be wary of the golden snake, yet also seemed fearless!