The mountain wind blows away the clouds and mist, and the green mountains stretch out for thousands of miles.

There are mountains and mountains, the clear water is like a mirror, and the scenery on both sides of the river is like a gallery in the sky.

You can vaguely hear folk songs echoing in the fields. Deep in the Taihang Mountains, people here still practice the ancient way of life, almost isolated from the world.

This is the conclusion Li Xian came to after observing for a long time.

The scarlet letter swallowed the air and processed the smell factors brought in the air. It smelled the smell of decay, and another old man in the village was about to leave.

It is no longer a human being, but a snake.

The wisdom of what was once a human being and the tyranny of the serpent in this world combined to create the most unreasonable apex predator in this green mountain.

Li Xi'an calculated the age of the snake based on the number of times he hibernated. So far, it has probably lived for 255 years. In fact, he himself can't figure out why a snake can have such a long lifespan.

More than two hundred years of spring and autumn have passed without any sign of aging.

It's still strong.

The red scales rose and fell with the breathing, and the muscles hiding terrifying power slowly exerted force, pulling Li Xi'an's huge body forward.

The friction of the scales played a mournful movement, and Li Xi'an decided to visit his friend.

It watched him grow from youth to getting married, and now he is old and about to die.

The young people of his generation are the last to remember it, and he was the last of them.

The red scales reflect the cold light like pig iron, and the snake's body is winding and seemingly endless.

In the end, the big snake disappeared into the deep pond beside the village, and no one noticed it.

Li Xian is confident that it is the apex predator and no one in this land can threaten its survival, but it is also well aware of human beings' terror and greed. What's more, the cables and telephone poles in the village have already shown the times.

So, it's very careful.

It just went to say goodbye to an old friend, and it had no intention of making itself known to the public.

Lin Youxiang was lying on the bamboo chair, tapping the armrests with fingers like dead branches.

He is already old and his life is passing away.

I have to leave, and if nothing unexpected happens, it will be today.

"Alas..." Sighing softly, the old man closed his eyes and relaxed his mind.

Gray memory fragments flashed through his mind, including when he was a child and playing in the water with a few friends in the summer, his father holding a bamboo pole and roaring while he ran around in front of him, and a good night with his wife when he got married, and what he got.

The joy of the child becoming a father is even more...the big red snake guarding the mountain.

He was floating in it, and the memory was like a bubble that enveloped him and shattered at the touch of it.

Mountain God......

He and the older generation all called the big red snake this way.

The heavy rain that summer fell endlessly, and the leaden clouds were endless. The whole world seemed to be only gray and white. The cold heavy rain washed his face. At that time, he was twenty years old, in his prime, and the young man in the village.

People carry sandbags to block the rapidly increasing water level in the river.

To no avail.

This kind of natural disaster is simply beyond the power of human beings to contend with. Heavy rain poured down, and the half-leg-deep creek at the entrance of the village turned into a raging river in less than half an hour.

Then, the flash flood fell from the sky. The flood was surging, carrying the power of nature to submerge everything. The yellow flood roared, mixed with broken branches and gravel, pouring down, and everyone was desperate. But the clouds split at this time, thick and heavy

A crack opened in the black clouds, revealing the blue sky behind, and the sun suddenly shone down.

The warm light gave his cold cheeks some feeling, and also allowed him to see clearly the huge thing winding in the distance.

They did not dare to call it "snake" and could only call it a god. The heavy rain stopped, the mountain torrents receded, and the giant creature raised its head and looked in their direction before disappearing into the mountains.

That look has never been forgotten by the old man. The eyes on his head were dazzling golden, like candles burning on a dark rainy day.

So they called it Nanzhu. The mountain god Nanzhu, the candle of Nanshan. They even built a temple after the flood to enshrine a coiled snake-shaped statue.

"When we climb over the mountain in front of us and reach the top of another mountain, we will see a vermilion temple with a big red snake as big as a water tank. The old man is coiled there, and it's up to him to see which naughty boy runs around to eat him...

..." Occasionally, he would tell these made-up stories to the children in the village. In fact, he had neither seen the temple nor seen the big snake again. But he hoped that one day it would appear in the temple they built, so that

He can tell that person that they have never forgotten.

It's a pity that he is the last person in the village who still remembers the mountain god. I wonder if anyone will worship him in the temple after his death?

The old man heard the rooster crow in the yard, which was so heartbreaking that even the black dog, which was as old as him, started to growl.

Wake him up from his frothy dream.

"What's going on?" The old man was puzzled. He picked up his crutch and walked slowly to the backyard.

There used to be a small stream flowing through the backyard, but now it is called a river. The water flow is not fast. It is normal for the villagers to cast a net to catch some fish and shrimp.

All the chickens, ducks, pigs and dogs raised in the yard were barking like crazy.

"Clatter--" the sound of water flow started, and a huge thing raised its head from the river.

The old man's eyes suddenly widened, he thought of something, and he staggered towards the river bank regardless of his crutches.

Then, he was shrouded in shadow.

The red snake looked at him quietly, its eyes were the same as before, dazzling gold, its huge body was lurking in the river, and row upon row of red spirals could be faintly seen at the bottom of the river.

Li Xi'an stared at the dying old man in front of him.

There seemed to be a wave of excitement in the heart that had been silent for a long time. Even it itself didn't know why it wanted to risk entering a human village.

It has been a human for decades and a snake for hundreds of years, and its ideas and concepts have long since changed. If it were to face a human who threatened it, it would kill it without hesitation without any psychological burden, but the thought of being exposed to the person in front of it would

When an old man passes away, the world really doesn’t remember him, and it’s hard to avoid feeling a little emotional.

Maybe this is because it is still Li Xi'an, rather than simply a cruel snake.

Decades ago, a flash flood occurred deep in the Taihang Mountains, and heavy rain lasted for three days and nights.

Black clouds rolled over the city, and there was thunder surging through it. This was coming for it. According to the documents and books it knew when it was a human, this might be the so-called tribulation? Although the heavy rain passed, it did feel that it had become stronger, but it could not

It's not as magical as what's written in the book.

The village was almost flooded due to the heavy rain caused by it. After noticing it, it actually dispersed the heavy rain and flash floods with a sudden thought. Only then did it realize that it seemed to have become unlike the ordinary creature in the impression. But no matter what, it always belonged to

This mountain is not the wandering pedestrians in the steel forest before.

But he began to pay attention to every detail of the village at the foot of the mountain, and noticed the people who had seen it. They told stories to their children, saying that they should respect this mountain. Although the children heard it half-understood, they still left it in their hearts.

seeds. They also built temples so that it could enjoy incense like a god, even though it seemed of no use to it.

"Lord Mountain God..." The old man raised his arms tremblingly, as if he wanted to hug him.

Li Xi'an stuck out his head and prepared to lower his body, but the old man did not hug it. The old man knelt down and did not even raise his head again.

Gee, I'm in a dilemma. It murmured in its heart, thinking that it was okay to let the old man hug him, but being treated like this made it feel a little heavier. What is there to pray for?

Li Xi'an was speechless.

The old man didn't seem to think about getting up at all. He pressed his face against the muddy ground of the river bank and didn't care that his palms were covered with mud.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but he was very old. He bowed his body like this and couldn't feel the flow of time. He heard the sound of water, and the waves hit his face and surged back into the river.

The chickens and ducks in the yard stopped, and the old black dog lay down in the earth den again.

It's gone. The old man knows it.

When he stood up, there was a red scale in front of him, the size of a baby's hand, and its texture was like fine jade. The scales were buried in the soil of the river bank, as if that person was still watching him.
Chapter completed!