"Alright everyone, let's disperse."
Meilin waved at the crowd of onlookers, a fragrant scent wafting from her graceful figure.
"Boss Meilin, I'll offer one million for your snake. Would you be willing to part with it?"
A middle-aged man in a sharp suit stepped forward. Meilin immediately recognized him as the big boss of a pharmaceutical company.
"Heh heh, Boss Gao, I'm sorry, but this snake is not for sale."
Boss Gao wasn't surprised. He continued, "Don't be so quick to refuse. The price is negotiable!"
"I'll offer one and a half million."
Another man stepped out from the crowd. He was also a big boss in the snake business.
"I'll offer two million," Boss Gao declared. "Boss Meilin, do me this favor, and I'll give you all my snake-related business from now on."
The boss of the pharmaceutical company specialized in purchasing snake venom to produce serums and perhaps hemostatic medicine. The demand was huge. If all his future business went to Meilin's shop, it would be an incredibly profitable deal.
Upon hearing this, Meilin's expression remained firm, without the slightest waver. She shook her head again. "Boss Gao, I'm truly sorry. It's not that I don't want to do you a favor, but this snake is like my own life. Asking for this snake is like asking for my life."
"Haha! Lady Bai Meilin, your reputation for loving snakes as much as your own life is well-deserved!"
Boss Gao burst out laughing and didn't press the matter further.
Seeing Meilin turn down such a generous offer from Boss Gao, many other bosses who had coveted the Silver White Snake gave up on the idea.
Meilin gave a slight bow and walked toward her shop. The intelligent Silver White Snake slithered along at her feet, following her. The sight left the crowd in disbelief.
This was a poisonous snake, not a dog. It would be nothing strange for a dog to follow its owner like this, but this was a snake.
Since when could a snake be tamed to this degree?
In that moment, Lady Bai's skill in Snake Control left an indelible impression on everyone's minds, attracting many future customers to her shop.
'That damned bitch, ruining my big break!'
Most of the onlookers had dispersed, but Chen Gao and his friend remained standing there.
Chen Gao had hoped to turn his life around with this snake, but Meilin had snatched it right from under his nose. He didn't believe the snake belonged to her. If it was really hers, why hadn't she said anything earlier? Why did she have to try and catch it?
But why was this vicious, deadly snake so docile in front of Meilin? Chen Gao couldn't figure it out.
'Do poisonous snakes have a thing for beautiful women, too? For fuck's sake.'
Meilin returned to her shop, led the Silver White Snake directly into a small room, and closed the door.
Then, her expression suddenly became unbearably tense. Her beautiful eyes stared fixedly at the poisonous snake, which was holding its head high on the floor. She opened her mouth, but couldn't get a single word out.
Instead, a man's voice, clear and magnetic, broke the silence in the room.
"Sister Meilin, thank you for helping me out of that bind."
But what was shocking was that the voice had come from the mouth of the small snake on the floor.
In that instant, Meilin clapped a hand over her red lips, her body wracked with violent shudders. Tears streamed silently through her fingers.
Her whole body trembled. Suppressed, agonizing sobs seemed to be drawn out, thread by painful thread, from the depths of her soul, weaving a tapestry of deep blue sorrow throughout the room.
"This isn't real. This can't be real."
Teardrops clung to her long eyelashes as she murmured to herself. The image of a handsome young man surfaced in her mind. Then she remembered a Spiritual Stele. The boy who once called her Sister Meilin was no longer in this world.
But now, the snake standing tall on the ground, its crimson tongue flicking gently, was telling her that he was the handsome young man from her memories.
"How could this be? How could this be?"
Meilin couldn't accept it. She wasn't frightened into incoherence by the supernatural event; she just couldn't accept that the boy from her memories had become a poisonous snake.
Even if he had come back as a ghost, Meilin would have found it easier to accept.
Just moments ago, when the Silver White Snake was cornered by the seven Snake Catchers, it had suddenly shot toward her and wrapped itself around her neck. A surreal voice had spoken: "Sister Meilin, it's me. I'm Tu Xiao'an. Whether you believe me or not, please help me get out of this first. I'll explain everything to you later."
At that moment, Meilin had been so shocked it felt like a dream.
Another scene flashed through Meilin's mind. He was young and reckless, full of vigor, a confident smile on his handsome face as he told her, "Sister Meilin, I, Tu Xiao'an, will definitely catch a rare Snake Species for you one day!"
The past was like smoke, memories like dust. Meilin's lips and cheeks were pale and drawn. She took a deep breath. "Are you really Xiao'an?!"
"Sister Meilin, it's really me. After I died, I became a snake."
The poisonous snake on the floor opened its mouth, and a human voice, filled with an eerie quality, emerged.
Tears streamed down Meilin's face. How could the boy from her memories merge into one with a poisonous snake?
Tu Xiao'an knew it was a difficult thing for anyone to accept that he had become a snake. He couldn't exactly say he'd gotten a lucky break and turned into a snake because he possessed a Devouring System, so he tried a different explanation. "Sister Meilin, do you remember an old legend from our Bai Town?"
"What legend?" Meilin stared blankly at the poisonous snake on the floor, its Snake Skin shimmering.
Tu Xiao'an said, "The legend says that if one of us Snake Catchers is killed by a poisonous snake's bite and is unwilling to leave the mortal world, they can be reborn as a House Snake and remain."
"I couldn't bear to leave my mother, who is tormented by illness, so I became a House Snake."
Hearing this, Meilin's face first turned deathly pale, then flushed a deep crimson. She never imagined such a bizarre legend could actually be true. Her voice filled with heartache, she said, "Xiao'an, how could you be so foolish? So foolish!"
"Sister Meilin, believe me, this is the best possible outcome. It means I can still stay in this world and protect my family."
Tu Xiao'an gazed with his cold Snake Pupils at the beautiful young woman sobbing uncontrollably before him, trying to console her.
"Don't you know? If your mother found out about this, she would be even more heartbroken!" Meilin looked at the Silver White Snake on the floor. "Do you know the second part of that legend? If a House Snake dies again, its soul is scattered to the winds, and it loses the chance to reincarnate forever."
Tu Xiao'an's gaze was icy and resolute. "I don't care. I couldn't accept just leaving like that."
"Xiao'an, it's my fault. I'm the one who did this to you."
Overcome with emotion, Meilin snatched the Silver White Snake from the floor and held it in her arms, weeping.
After a long moment, Tu Xiao'an chuckled. "Sister Meilin, I'm fine now. What happened back then was because I was young and reckless. I underestimated that mutated vampire snake. It had nothing to do with you. You don't have to feel guilty anymore."