"Hu~ I'm old, I'm old! I'm really useless. I can't even fight a rookie now." As soon as Zhang Dadan left, the old woman seemed to have deflated and kept sighing at herself. At the same time, she kept sizing up the young man who had fought alongside her.
Zhou Zhen, who was watching Zhang Dadan leave, turned around and smiled. He said gently, "Granny Snake, what are you saying? If Zhang Dadan hadn't swallowed the Martial Stone, how could he have fought with you?" When he spoke to this point, his tone changed. "Granny, I've heard that you raise many strange and mysterious little fellows. I wonder if you have any clues about this fellow who stole the Icy Silkworm?"
"Hahaha, you, little friend, is so sweet. You don't look like those ruthless Demon Slayers. What you said is indeed true. Let me take a good look. To be honest, I'm also a little curious. Who exactly could steal the Icy Silkworm under our noses?" At this point, Granny Snake's benevolent face changed and became a little fierce.
That was true. After all, how many people who could survive in the martial world were really kind?
She took a few steps forward to where the rat was, then lowered her body to observe carefully. She rubbed her fingers together and stirred up some dust. Then, she brought it to her nose and sniffed it. She frowned in thought and could not help but mutter to herself,
"What's this smell?" As she spoke, she suddenly placed the dust in her mouth and tasted it. Then, her expression turned ugly. "Pee? Rat pee! No, that's not right. This trace belongs to that rat."
Beside her, Zhou Zhen was also a little puzzled by Granny Snake's series of actions. Were these doctors who played with snakes and poison all so abnormal?
Not long after, Granny Snake shifted her position and arrived in front of a reclining mark. "This is?"
"What's this?" Zhou Zhen squatted down beside her and asked Granny Snake curiously. This was because the mark was too obvious.
Granny Snake ignored Zhou Zhen. She stretched out her hand and gently stroked the various parts of the mark, as if she was caressing her lover's fingers. Of course, if someone could magnify her fingers at this moment, they would definitely see some strange little creatures. As she stroked, just as she suddenly made a subtle scratch, her fingers suddenly paused for a moment before returning to normal.
Throughout the entire process, her expression changed. In the end, she quickly glanced at Zhou Zhen from the corner of her eye and slowly spat out a word. "Snake!"
"Snake?" Zhou Zhen was shocked. He could not believe it. "Impossible, right? How could a snake appear here and eat the rat and the wooden box?"
Unexpectedly, Granny Snake glared at him. "Are you questioning my years of experience? I've played with snakes for so many years. How can I not know if it's a snake? If I'm not wrong, it should be a Myriad Snake. Now that the spring sun has arrived, this Myriad Snake should have just woken up to hunt. It happened to see it and ate it."
"Is that so?" Zhou Zhen looked at Granny Snake suspiciously and replied. He vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but he could not figure out what it was. After all, he did not know much about snakes.
"In that case, let's part ways here and go our separate ways." At this point, Granny Snake stood up again and left as if nothing had happened. However, at this moment, her heart was filled with hesitation and a hint of joy that she could not explain. Was it really just a snake?
Zhou Zhen crossed his arms and held his chin. He stared at Granny Snake who was getting further and further away and muttered to himself.
...
At night, the bright moonlight shone on the forest like water. The lively scene during the day had long disappeared, leaving only the forest in a mess. However, at this moment, a figure appeared. It was a figure that should have left.
Granny Snake!
It turned out that Granny Snake had never left. She had only pretended to leave in an attempt to deceive Zhou Zhen. At this moment, she seemed to have seen Zhou Zhen leave and leisurely return. As for why she came back, one had to mention her discovery today.
She was still reminiscing about the scratch at noon today. Was that mark today really a snake? A Myriad Snake?
Yes and no.
When faced with Zhou Zhen's question, Granny Snake had indeed answered honestly and did not lie at all. However, there was something she did not say. She did not tell him everything she had discovered.
There were indeed traces of snakes there. This was true, but why was there a sharp scratch in the traces?
Although she did not have time to think about it at that time because of the urgency, with her many years of research on snakes, she realized that the location of this scratch was indeed on the body of the unknown "snake" at that time, and not drawn by an eagle that accidentally landed.
Hence, she subconsciously hid it. After all, they were not related, so there was no need for her to tell him everything. Then, she suppressed her curiosity and pretended to leave. She waited until Zhou Zhen was about to leave before coming back to check.
As she was thinking, Granny Snake came to the mark again. It was only when she saw that the marks were still there that she breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness they hadn't been destroyed.
After all, during this period of time, she had already carefully recalled the mark several times. In the end, she inexplicably realized that this mark looked a little like a jade claw.
The marks of the snake's body and the jade claws, coupled with the inexplicable uneasiness of her baby today.
Was this the trace of an earth dragon? No, that was not right. The scratches of the earth dragon could not be so sharp. Moreover, it was impossible for her baby to feel uneasy facing the earth dragon. Only higher-leveled species or natural enemies would make it feel so uneasy.
However, her baby had been nurtured for so many years. Ordinary snakes were no match for it. Then…
She had a premonition and could not wait any longer. She bent down and began to observe carefully. Because she had left once, she had made preparations during this period of time. Therefore, countless small insects crawled down from her body and covered the smell she directed. Soon, they were painted on the ground like ink. Then, it formed a mysterious creature that looked like a long claw on the ground.
The moment she saw this mark, Granny Snake's eyes widened. Her expression froze and she could not believe her eyes.
This, this, this mark was…
All of a sudden, Granny Snake's heart began to beat rapidly because this meant that her guess might be right! Subconsciously, she looked around suspiciously. Even if there was no one around, she decisively dismissed these little bugs.
No, she could not be so decisive. Granny Snake shook her head decisively. She thought about how much manpower and resources the great Imperial Court had spent since the founding of the country. It had taken nearly a thousand years.
Yet they had never found such a mysterious and powerful creature. How could she meet it so easily now? She also needed to carefully check if there were any other traces around.
Thinking of this, she ordered the little bugs to remember this smell and began to slowly search. However, she did not notice the presence of another person in the darkness…