Chapter 59: They Came Back for Revenge!

Those snake catchers who came down the mountain were actually wearing “clothes” made up of snakes!

The reason they had delayed coming down the mountain was because of this!

In the flickering torchlight, all the villagers, including Hong Tianyun, felt their bodies turn cold.

As snake catchers of Hongjia Village, they had never seen such a formation!

Those people, clad in snake clothes, stepped closer and closer toward Hong Wen and the others.

“Ah!”

At once, some of the weaker-hearted people immediately ran back to the village.

Of course, there were also some who went to fetch weapons, since this snake horde clearly looked strange, and who knew whether they would rush into the village.

Only Hong Wen and Hong Tianyun remained blocking the front of the snake horde.

Behind the villagers clad in snake clothes, Mo Lin watched the reactions of the Hongjia villagers and sneered inwardly.

Everything before their eyes was naturally his handiwork, with the goal of exterminating Hongjia Village and avenging the stab from back then.

How could he not be present?

But since night had already fallen, his ink-dark scales blended perfectly with the darkness, and the snake catchers’ figures obscured him, so Hong Wen and the others did not notice Mo Lin’s presence.

Whether it was these villagers who went up the mountain, or the snakes draped on them, all of them had already become Mo Lin’s jiangshi.

He deliberately staged such a horrifying scene for the night’s massacre, to maximize his goal.

Through the gaps between the snake catchers’ bodies, Mo Lin saw that in the torchlight at the village entrance, Hong Wen still stood firmly in place.

“Heh heh, I knew that boy wouldn’t run. Perfect for me.”

“Anyway, after tonight, Hongjia Village can be renamed—if not a single person with the surname Hong survives, it can’t still be called Hongjia Village, can it?”

Thinking this, Mo Lin grew playful, and one of the human corpses slowly opened its mouth.

Over there, at the village entrance, Hong Tianyun was tugging at Hong Wen’s arm:

“Hong Wen, hurry! We can’t linger here, we need to notify the others in the village.”

Just as Hong Wen was about to leave—

“Hong… Hong Wen...”

Hong Wen snapped his head around, staring in disbelief at the one standing at the very center of the snake horde:

“Hong Jing?”

Hong Jing was his playmate from the same village, and Hong Wen remembered that today, he had indeed gone up the mountain with his father to catch snakes.

“Hong Jing, is that you? How did you… how did you all become like this?”

Hong Wen grabbed the torch from someone nearby and hurled it into the snake horde.

“Crash!”

The horde scattered instantly, but then several giant pythons, enduring the burning heat, forcibly snuffed out the flames before the snakes regrouped once more.

The smell of roasted flesh spread.

Hong Tianyun’s pupils shrank.

These snakes were so fearless they didn’t even fear fire!

By the torchlight, Hong Wen finally saw clearly the face of the one in the middle.

It was a pale, bluish-purple young face.

Obviously, Hong Jing had been deeply poisoned.

Hong Jing trembled as he spoke:

“Hong Wen, run… They didn’t kill us, but controlled us, forcing us toward the village. We can’t resist… their target is our village.”

Hong Wen waved his hand furiously:

“Impossible! I escaped once already, I won’t escape a second time. They’ve already gone back to fetch weapons. Don’t worry, we will definitely save you!”

Hong Jing shook his head with all his strength:

“Hong Wen, hurry, go.”

Hong Wen roared angrily:

“Why! Hong Jing! We’re snake catchers! Don’t give up! There must still be a chance!”

Hong Jing’s face twisted bitterly:

“Because… the snakes already have their king...”

Hong Wen’s expression changed.

A Snake King?

The Lord of Snakes?

What kind of existence could control such a massive horde of snakes, and even direct them purposefully toward Hongjia Village?

Could it be…?

A sudden thought struck Hong Wen’s mind.

He snatched Hong Tianyun’s torch and cautiously took two steps toward the horde.

“Hong Wen!”

Hong Tianyun couldn’t help shouting at his nephew.

If not for Hong Wen being here, he would have already run back to the village with the others.

Yet, unexpectedly, Hong Wen not only refused to retreat, but instead stepped closer to the snake horde!

Cold sweat instantly drenched Hong Tianyun’s back.

But the horde did not react to Hong Wen’s approach, only kept manipulating the snake catchers to march steadily and slowly toward the village.

The thought in Hong Wen’s heart grew stronger and stronger.

When he was only about five meters from the horde—dangerously close—he finally stopped and raised the torchlight behind the snake catchers clad in “snake clothes.”

“!”

With this light, not only did Hong Wen see Hong Jing and the others clearly once again, but he also saw a twenty-meter-long python, half its body raised silently behind the snake catchers.

Even under the torchlight, its scales were still black as ink, as if absorbing all light.

Its body was thicker than the sturdiest pillar in Hongjia Village, its lower half coiled like a small mountain.

The torchlight cast its long shadow diagonally across the ground.

The instant Hong Wen saw that python, he felt nailed to the ground, cold seeping into his very bones, mixed with overwhelming fury.

He clenched his teeth tightly:

“Snake Demon, you’re not dead!”

“Clang!”

A few steps behind Hong Wen, the iron rod in Hong Tianyun’s hand slipped and fell to the ground, though he didn’t even notice.

“No… impossible! Back then, the Taoist clearly killed you. You should have been dead...”

Now revealed before Hong Wen and Hong Tianyun was none other than the Lord of Snakes, the very Snake Demon Mo Lin who had been slain two years ago by the wandering Taoist and burned before the entire Hongjia Village!

Mo Lin gave Hong Wen and Hong Tianyun a cold smile:

“Well, long time no see, you two.”

At this moment, pale-faced Hong Jing, still clinging to a breath, gritted his teeth and said:

“Don’t you understand yet...”

“Look at the snakes beside me! They’re all dead!”

“They are all the snakes killed by our village!”

“They’ve come back to take revenge on the Hong family!!!”

Hong Wen and Hong Tianyun were shaken to the core.

Examining the horde carefully, they were stunned to discover that indeed, just as Hong Jing said, though the snakes seemed to move, they were actually all dead!

It was precisely because they were dead snakes that they could so fearlessly extinguish the flames!

“Click!”

After all, Hong Tianyun was a seasoned snake catcher.

Though Hong Jing’s words and the horrifying dead horde made his heart nearly leap from his throat, he still reacted quickly, seizing Hong Wen’s hand:

“Hurry, go tell the others!”

At that moment, even Hong Wen was dazed, letting himself be dragged along by Hong Tianyun.

“Heh heh, dead snakes, vengeful snakes coming back for revenge against snake catchers—what a fine theme.”

As Hong Tianyun and Hong Wen fled in panic toward the village, the once weak and suffering “Hong Jing” suddenly returned to normal, and the snakes leapt off his body.

Mo Lin slithered out from behind the zombie Hong Jing, watching the Hong family uncle and nephew retreat into the village, laughing coldly:

“Don’t let me down. For the sake of raising your survival rate, I even postponed the village slaughter.”