Chapter 74

Yin Xiaoxiao: “…Is it really no problem like this?”

As Yin Xiaoxiao was mumbling, Mo Laoda looked at Yin Xiaoxiao in confusion. “Is there a problem?”

“Is there a problem? You’re actually asking me if there’s a problem?” Yin Xiaoxiao was agitated. Even the volume of his voice rapidly increased several levels. “This kind of thing ought to be very important and very classified, right? Why did you speak of it so casually? Why? This should not lightly be made known to other snakes, okay!”

Hua Xiaohua immediately glared at Yin Xiaoxiao, a bad expression on his face. Even Yin Dabai’s face looked tense as he looked at Yin Xiaoxiao.

Mo Laoda was puzzled. “Why is it very important and classified? We’re all vipers. What can’t be spoken of?”

Yin Xiaoxiao was becoming excited, “If it’s unimportant and not secretive then why are you, I and Mo Dayi the only ones going? Why not bring other snakes? Isn’t it clearly because it’s very important and very classified?!”

Mo Laoda was a little impatient. Why was the Little Idiot so inky ¹ today? “I am the Clan Head. There are ways to summon vipers. If many vipers are needed, there’s no need to have a long column of vipers rushing along behind on the journey!”

Yin Xiaoxiao choked, angry. “You! What kind of attitude is this?! Now it doesn’t matter whether I continue to speak!”

“Okay okay, what are you arguing about?!” Unexpectedly, it was Hua Xiaohua who interrupted the argument between Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda. “Didn’t you say that in the future you would be partners? Then why are you fighting now?”

Yin Xiaoxiao “hmph”ed and turned his head without speaking. Behind their bodies, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda’s tails curled around each other. Yin Xiaoxiao, in his heart, did a victorious fist pump.

“If you two have time, it would be better if we all go together to check out those strange creatures.” Mo Laoda issued this invitation to Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua.

Hua Xiaohua and Yin Dabai looked at each other and agreed.

“Eh? How did I catch up to you two so quickly today?” Just as they were going to set out, Mo Laoda and the others heard a confused voice coming from behind them. Turning their heads to look, it turned out that it was Mo Dayi who, just now, caught up with Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao.

“These two are?” Mo Dayi ² looked at the two vipers beside Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao.

“My Dad and Pop.”

“Ah, it’s you two!” Mo Dayi suddenly smiled a brilliant smile. “Xiaoxiao is really a nice snake! Our Laoda likes him a lot! He says that, in the future, he’s going to marry Xiaoxiao, so I’m really happy for the two of them!”

Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao: “….”

Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua thought to themselves, “This Mo Dayi, is there something wrong with his head?”

Anyway, all the snakes were finally present and the party of five set out to continue to their destination.

Because Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua had joined the procession, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao could no longer break away from the group (even when it was only Mo Dayi remaining as the sole snake, it was still called a group) and resumed a normal pace. This made Mo Dayi feel incomparably grateful that Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua had come.

Mo Laoda’s group of snakes headed towards the area where the strange creatures had appeared, and a party of the strange creatures was also headed in the direction of Mo Laoda’s group. When it got dark, both sides would meet.

A viper’s sense of smell and sense of hearing far exceeded that of an ordinary snake, so naturally it also exceeded that of a human’s. So when Mo Laoda heard the sounds of the humans walking, the humans didn’t detect the group of vipers at all.

This group of humans that was going to encounter Mo Laoda’s group of snakes was, naturally,  one of the eight teams of tomb robbers. The jialama of this group of tomb robbers was from the previously mentioned Wang family. The old family head was dead, and the successor was ambitious, so this ambitious member of the Wang family was now heading a team of people. His name was Wang Yanzhen. At the same time, the Wang family’s second son and second master had something of a good reputation among tomb robbers.

Indeed, the number of tomb robbers that Wang Yanzhen had gathered into a group outnumbered that of Zhou Feng’s group.  In all there were fifteen people, most of them Wang family members, but there was also a habitually silent middle-aged man who, in grave robbing circles, was a rare expert. At the moment he was following Wang Yanzhen, partially to find the treasure in this snake tomb but also partially to repay the debt he owed to Wang Yanzhen for saving him from the police.

While Wang Yanzhen was a youngster, he was quite meticulous and careful in his work, not like the kind of youngsters of today who were frivolous and  impatient. Not only was he willing to listen to the suggestions of those who were older, Wang Yanzhen really did know that, even though he indeed had some skill in tomb robbing, those who were older had what he didn’t: experience. In the snake tomb, the advice given by the middle-aged man was very important. Wang Yanzhen only dared to come to the snake tomb because the middle-aged man was accompanying him.

Wang Yanzhen’s group walked very gently and cautiously. They had already traveled for a week, and Wang Yanzhen’s party had just recently traversed the mountain top.

“Uncle ³ Xu, when do you think we will find this tomb?” Taking a break at noon, Wang Yanzhen, smoking a cigarette, walked over to the middle aged man, sat down beside him and handed him a cigarette. His tone of voice was somewhat impatient.

“Little boy, what has you so worried?” The middle-aged man took the cigarette and shot a glance at Wang Yanzhen. “Where did your usually smooth and steady temper disappear off to? From what I see, this mountain is very large. God knows where, exactly, this tomb is. Still, if you find an elevated, spacious and empty area, then I’ll go and take a look.”

Wang Yanzhen nodded his head. “I’m not worried. It’s only that the more we travel inwards, the more worried I feel for some reason.”

Once again, the middle-aged man glanced at Wang Yanzhen. When he spoke, his tone was somewhat cold, “If you’re afraid then you better leave before it’s too late. In our business of tomb robbing, being fearful of trouble doesn’t bring success.”

“Ah, look at you Uncle Xu, I wasn’t saying that.” Seeing the middle-aged man was somewhat angry, Wang Yanzhen hurriedly smiled. “Not going back, not going back. I just think that we have to be a little more careful.”

This time, the middle-aged man didn’t look at Wang Yanzhen. His tone was somewhat solemn. “Yes, we still need to be careful. I always think….” The middle-aged man got up and gazed all around at the lush virgin forest. “There’s something not quite right about this.”

Listening to the middle-aged man speak, Wang Yanzhen’s brows wrinkled and he also stood up. “Uncle Xu, you’re speaking of this environment?”

“Yes. You also know the origin of the name snake tomb, but ever since we entered the snake tomb, have you seen a snake?”

Wang Yanzhen thought it over seriously. His brows couldn’t crease more tightly. As the middle aged man said, from when they’d entered until now, almost seven days, indeed not one snake was seen. If there really were so many snakes in this tomb, why hadn’t they come across any snakes?

–You think running into a viper’s marriage ceremony was so easy? Under ordinary circumstances, why would there be so many vipers staying together?!

Well, speaking of this, there was still one more thing: in this mountain range, the ordinary snakes had already been driven to extinction because of their top spot in the vipers’ diet – the vipers were indeed a stingy and domineering species.

The middle-aged man looked at the other people who were resting. “Little boy, tell them to put on their headgear. Now they’ll have to tolerate the heat.”

Wang Yanzhen agreed and hurried around shouting that the others put on their head gear.

Anyway, after resting for a short while, Wang Yanzhen’s group resumed their journey.  And at this moment, Mo Laoda had already caught scent of Wang Yanzhen and his group.

Mo Laoda suddenly halted and the other four snakes accompanying him stopped as well. From where he was lying on Mo Laoda’s back, Yin Xiaoxiao turned his head to the others then turned to look at Mo Laoda. “Heitan, what’s happened?”

“I smell something.” There was a complicated look on Mo Laoda’s face. “Smells strange.”

“Eh? Could it be from that strange creature?” Yin Xiaoxiao asked, puzzled. “What does it smell like?”

“Very…stinky.” After thinking for a while, Mo Laoda couldn’t think of any other adjective and could only offer this description.

“Stinky?” Yin Xiaoxiao looked repulsed. “Please, I just ate lunch, you know!” In Yin Xiaoxiao’s opinion, any smell that smelled stinky to Mo Laoda must be really stinky!

Mo Laoda said seriously, “Mo Dayi and I will go ahead to take a look. “Xiaoxiao, Uncle Yin and Uncle Hua, stay here.” Even though he had just recently assumed the position of Clan Head, Mo Laoda was inherently imposing and just a few words were enough to project his majesty.

Mo Dayi naturally didn’t have an objection. Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua also didn’t have an objection. Mo Laoda was Clan Head and was also their son’s future partner. As a clan member ⁴ , the orders of the Clan Head must be obeyed. But for Yin Xiaoxiao…

“I also want to see what the strange creature looks like.” Yin Xiaoxiao, not in a spoiled manner, not in an unreasonable manner, but only in an aggrieved manner, stated his desire.

“That…” Mo Laoda hesitated. Facing an unknown danger, Mo Laoda didn’t want Yin Xiaoxiao to take risks. “This, I will bring one back, okay?”

“Then I want it alive!”

Mo Laoda agreed. And so, Mo Laoda and Mo Dayi headed towards the place from which the smell came. Yin Xiaoxiao, Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua stayed.

As they got closer to where the scent originated, Mo Laoda and Mo Dayi slowed down. From the underbrush, Mo Laoda and Mo Dayi finally saw the “strange creatures”.

Mo Dayi fortunately only thought in his mind “so ugly”. Mo Laoda’s pupils contracted. This group of “unknown creatures” in front of him clearly looked to be the same type of organism that Ji Kang was, which were known as humans. Mo Laoda hesitated a little. Did this group of creatures have any relationship with Ji Kang? Mo Laoda didn’t attack first but instead followed behind this group of humans.

These humans advanced very slowly, so Mo Laoda and Mo Dayi were forced to follow behind them very slowly, very gently and very cautiously so that they wouldn’t discover them. Sometimes the sounds of voices would come from the group. Mo Laoda, with his abilities, naturally could hear very clearly. Mo Laoda found that the words “tomb robbing” appeared very frequently.

“Tomb”, Mo Laoda naturally knew what this meant, and within the boundary there was only one tomb, i.e. Ji Kang’s resting place which was also what the viper clans had guarded for many generations. “Robbing” , Mo Laoda also knew was another way to say “stealing”. In other words, these humans were going to steal the objects inside the tomb.

Mo Laoda’s pupils constricted again. Gradually, his eyes became suffused with a fierce bloodlust.

“To enter the boundary, arrive at the old tomb, plunder the treasures, steal the ghost shark egg and destroy the corpse: kill with no pardon!”

– This was the first sentence spoken in the inherited memories of every viper.

T/N: Sorry for the late update. I was in the ER until about 1AM. Thank you for your patience!

Footnotes

<ol>墨迹: literally Mo (like the Mo in Mo snake) and jì as in remnant. It’s dialect to describe someone who procrastinates, talks too much nonsense and does things slowly the raw had Mo Laoda 叔: if used to refer to a man who is unrelated, it’s used to address a man who is slightly younger than one’s own father 身为族人: clan member can also mean relative</ol>