India

Xihe Village is located by the river, its area is not big, and its population is not as large as other towns in Ye Country. The houses of every household look like houses, and the roads are quite spacious.

Most of the houses where people live here are of the same structure, which leads to a phenomenon that while the roads extend in all directions, it is easy to get lost.

Mo Nan felt terrible. He didn't know the way very well, and he always relied on his feeling for the corners of the seven turns. He dared to say that apart from Yangyuan Town, there was no place in this Yeguo where he knew the way.

Of course, this is not something to be proud of, and sometimes it will cause a lot of trouble, such as now.

He turned the corner again, and his goal was the scenery he had seen before, even the yellow dog barking at him at the door of the house was exactly the same.

"..." Mo Nan became irritable in his heart, and with the yellow creature next to him screaming vigorously, his annoyance became even worse.The more he looked at it, the more he felt that the dog looked very much like Ji Guiran, especially the ferocious face, which was carved out of the same mold.

So he said disdainfully to the dog, "Ah? What's it called? Ji, do you want to fight? Don't think that you won't dare to fight because I can't beat you!"

However, the yellow dog was indifferent to his warning, and continued to growl persistently, even barking louder and louder.

"It's so noisy," Mo Nan wanted to plug his ears, he wanted to rush up and slap it a few times, "It's all your fault, I can't even find my way! Still barking!"

The yellow dog paused for a while, then stopped barking, grinned ferociously, and turned to whining with its head raised.

"Huh? Are you trying to say it's none of your business?" Seeing that it stopped barking, Mo Nan became more courageous. He approached it and moved away from it a few steps away.

"I don't care," he crossed his hips, and continued to look down provocatively, "It's your fault, you lose your temper with me whenever you have something to do, every time you get more and more unreasonable, you say you, what do you look like?? I feel ashamed if you go out."

Mo Nan vomited bitterly at the dog, completely unaware that when he was telling all kinds of stories about Ji Guiran, the chain that tied the dog began to loosen, and the dog also struggled belatedly.

"You are really annoying, do you know? If you have any dissatisfaction, just tell me, anyway, I won't listen. If you hold back like this, you feel uncomfortable, forget it, and you have to vent to me. I am even more uncomfortable, uncomfortable Died... no, another word, died of pain..." Mo Nan complained wholeheartedly, "Why did you come out of Ji's family...!"

The words came to an abrupt end, and before he finished speaking, he realized that the distance between himself and the yellow dog had shortened by a few steps, and not far away from the stake where it was tied, the dog's chain fell off from it.

He froze in an instant, and forgot to close his chattering mouth. The yellow dog took advantage of the gap in his daze, and pounced on his hind legs with force.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh———" Mo Nan, who was in a trance, ran away subconsciously. Only happy.

Mo Nan was so frightened that he couldn't keep his wits about him, he only knew how to run forward, but in fact he was just circling around the same room, and the dog didn't even know what was going on, it just chased him desperately.

So one person and one dog kept going around in circles in this area.

In fact, Mo Nan's skills are not considered agile, but his running speed is top-notch, so even though the yellow dog ran away and chased him, he still failed to pounce.

After running like this for a few times, Mo Nan gradually realized what was wrong. After a little attention, he discovered this endless loop. When he ran past the next turning, he saw that the gate in the courtyard was open, so he turned sideways and walked in. He thought In this way, he could get rid of the vicious dog that was chasing after him. Unexpectedly, the yellow dog was also clever and followed him in without a pause.

"Young girl! You are so persistent!!" Mo Nan wanted to cry. He quickly looked around and saw a tree that was about a few people tall. climb up.

Seeing this, the dog raised its paws and scratched a few times on the tree trunk, stood up and tried to rub it up, but couldn't get up, so it had to bark at him anxiously under the tree.

"..." Mo Nan hugged the rough tree trunk, and when he was sure that the yellow dog couldn't get up, he laughed and yelled at the bottom, "Hahahahaha, you can't get up! Climb if you have the ability Come up! Come and have a showdown, hahaha silly dog!"

If it weren't for being restricted by this, Mo Nan would have stuck out his tongue at it with a straight face.

The yellow dog was successfully provoked, and it barked harder, so loud that Mo Nan felt his ears hurt.He looked at the mad dog below, and felt that as long as he let go of his hand, he would die without a whole body. If he didn't let go, hanging on the tree would not be a solution. He thought about how to get out.

After a while, his hands and feet felt a little sore. He wanted to climb to sit on the branch, but he was afraid that the branch would not be able to bear his weight, so he had to move it and use another trunk to hold him, but it was useless.

He looked at the dog that followed him after changing his face, and thought about whether he should let go and fall and crush it to death, so that we could die together.

Just when he was really planning to do this, there was movement in the courtyard, as if someone had come.

"What's the matter? It's barking so hard," a figure appeared in Mo Nan's field of vision. It was a boy about thirteen or fourteen years old. He looked up in the direction of the yellow dog, and soon found that his hands and hands were in the same direction. Mo Nan, who hugged his feet on the tree, couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"Ah..." Mo Nan explained embarrassingly, "...this... your yard is really windy and the scenery is unique... I can't help but... climb up to have a look..."

"Then...Young Master, do you continue to admire?"

"Don't! Don't go! Take your dog away before you go!" He hurriedly stopped.

The young man didn't make things difficult for him, so he waved the dog away. The yellow dog didn't dare to disobey the master's instructions. Before leaving, he barked a few times unwillingly at Mo Nan, and then left with his tail drooping.

Only then did Mo Nan slide down from the tree in peace of mind. After straightening his clothes, he said to the young man seriously: "This little boy... you can never repay your life-saving grace, so I will keep it in my heart... if in the future..."

"Okay, let's go if you have something to do."

"Okay!" Seeing that he was so rude, Mo Nan didn't bother to say those polite words, he raised his foot and was about to walk out the door, but suddenly he remembered something, and backed away.

Seeing this, the young man was puzzled: "What else?"

"I reckon, I want to ask you something." Mo Nan thought that he couldn't find it anyway, so he might as well look for some clues in front of him, "Are you...are there... snakes?"

"Snake??" He looked surprised, "Why is someone asking this again?"

"again?"

"When that brother Tianze from the village passed by my house yesterday, he specifically asked me if there were any snakes in the village," the young man murmured as he recalled, "Speaking of... did brother Tianze get sick recently? Not too good, looks bad..."

Mo Nan didn't know why at first, he remembered that Ji Tianze was with him most of the time yesterday, when exactly did he come out.Then he heard the second half of the boy's words before he realized that what he saw was probably Ji Guiran.

"Is there any trace or not?" Mo Nan continued to ask.

"Really... no." The young man thought for a while, then shook his head.

"The whole village? None?"

"No, I haven't heard anyone mention it before."

The hope that had just been ignited was extinguished, Mo Nan was disappointed for a while, and was about to say goodbye to him, when the young man added: "However, if you really want to find snakes, you can go to the riverside and try it. The environment is more humid than our village, probably snakes would like to haunt there more, I also told Brother Tianze that way yesterday."

"That's it," Mo Nan got a clue again, a little happy, "I see, thank you, young man! I'll go and have a look!"

"Farewell."

Excitedly, he wanted to run out the door, but he backed away in a panic as if he saw something terrible.

"……what happened again?"

"My lord..." Mo Nan swallowed, "Can you get your dog in... I dare not go past it at the door..."

"..."

Reluctantly, the young boy led the yellow dog outside the door in, slandering in his heart why did this man mess with his own dog.Mo Nan glanced at him gratefully, as if he was afraid that he would let go in a second, he hurriedly walked out.

The boy was about to let go of the rope, but before he let go, Mo Nan folded back again.

"...I've already brought the dog in, but I haven't let it go yet." The boy signaled.

"No... no, that," Mo Nan said embarrassedly, "I want to ask... how to get to the riverside..."

"..."

Finally, after the young man patiently showed him the way, and after searching for a while, Mo Nan finally managed to reach the bank of the Xie River.

The surface of the river stretched as far as the eye could see, and the surface of the water rippled with the breeze. The wind blew on his slightly sweaty face, and a trace of refreshing coolness surged up, making Mo Nan feel very comfortable.

There are many lush wild plants growing along the river, the weeds are overgrown in uneven heights, and there are many stones of different sizes piled on the bank.If it is really as the boy described, the soil here can feel moist when stepped on, it is indeed a living environment that snakes would like.

However, whether the demon snake will like it is another matter.

Mo Nan thought that the area of ​​the river was not small, and it would be too impractical to search everywhere. Naturally, the best way was to ask someone nearby.Just as he was thinking about it, he saw the figures of two children not far away.

In broad daylight, the only ones who can stay and play by the river leisurely are probably only this age.

He was not distressed because he only found two children, but felt that there was a lot of fun. Children are usually quick-witted and active, and they might know more than the elders.

Mo Nan walked towards the two children full of hope, and when he got closer, he found that they were two boys, and their ages were different. The older one was about ten years old, and the younger one was probably seven or eight years old.

"Hey you guys!" He jumped in front of the two of them, grinning, "Can you answer my brother's question?"

The older boy stared at Mo Nan's strange face for a while, then frowned and asked, "Who are you? Why haven't I seen you in the village?"

"It's not important," Mo Nan waved his hand, "Let me ask, have you ever seen a snake nearby? The white one, probably..."

Before he finished explaining, the big boy interrupted Mo Nan's words with an ah, and then shouted to him a little excitedly: "You, you wait!"

Then he grabbed the smaller boy beside him, and sneaked aside, leaving Mo Nan who was bewildered in place.

The two children were talking in low voices.

"Did he just ask about the white snake?" the big boy asked.

"Repay big brother, yes that's right!"

"That brother in the village also asked this question yesterday?"

"That's right, brother, have you forgotten? If you didn't tell him, you still wanted to do something bad, but you were taught a lesson."

"How do I know he's so fierce... He thinks he usually looks pretty good, oh...my hand still hurts..."

"I've heard the grown-ups say, what's going on... I know what I know, I don't know what I don't know... Is it Zhimi?"

"Obviously it's Zhitang, how can I eat noodles without soup. It's not important, look at this brother who is smiling like a thief, he is not a good person at first glance, he must be a bad person like that brother!"

"That's right! They're a gang!"

"Hmph, yes, what are we going to do!"

"Bully back!"

"well said!"

……

The two chatted for a while, and Mo Nan's long patience was exhausted. He was about to interrupt the mysterious conversation between the two children, but they turned around together as if they had made an agreement.

"Brother, do you want to find a white snake?" The big boy asked with a bright smile.

"Yes." Mo Nan felt that there was a flattery in his smile that he was all too familiar with. If he wanted to ask why, he could only say that he was used to this flattery trick since he was a child.

"I know where the snake is now."

"Yes, yes, yes~" the little boy echoed beside him.

"Really?" Mo Nan became excited, "Take me to find it!"

"Big brother, follow us, we will take you there." As he spoke, he took Mo Nan's hand and led him in one direction.

"Yeah."

Mo Nan should have been puzzled by their strange behavior, but when he saw these two children, one big and one small, he recalled that when he was a child, he took his younger brother and made troubles everywhere. Doubts were naturally ignored.

He then thought of Mo Dong and Mo Xi, and he hadn't seen each other for a month or so. For a long time, did my parents worry about it? What about the business at home...

He was a little lost in thought about the young and old in his family, and he didn't come back to his senses until his sleeve was tugged.

"Brother, this is it." They signaled that they had arrived at their destination.

What appeared in front of Mo Nan was a deep cave, the entrance of which could accommodate two or three people. He looked in, and could vaguely see a layer of silt at the bottom of the cave, and the area of ​​the bottom was much larger than the entrance, about five miles away from the entrance. about meters away.The entrance of this cave is covered by weeds, and it is located in a remote corner of the river, so it is difficult for people to find it.

"What's in here?" Mo Nan couldn't help but wonder what the hole was used for. There is such a large space underneath, could it be used to store things?

"I don't know when this hole appeared," the big boy said earnestly, "but when I passed by last time, I saw a snake in the hole, it was white, and it kept going up from the bottom."

"Is that white snake a short one?"

"Yes, yes, yes, short, probably only..." He scratched his head and thought.

"...half a meter?"

"Well, half a meter, it's only half a meter long."

"Is that true?" Mo Nan glanced at the bottom of the cave dubiously, the light in the depths was not enough, and he couldn't see clearly.

"Yes, that day I saw something white moving underneath, so I leaned in to have a look, but I didn't expect it to be a snake, I almost wanted to call my lord!" He seemed to be repeating the truth very sincerely.

Mo Nan didn't know if he should believe it. From the mud at the bottom of the cave, it could be seen that the cave was very humid, and there was no foothold on the surrounding stone walls, so he couldn't go down rashly, but if it was true as they said , the seal snake haunts the bottom of the cave, so it is indeed necessary to go down and investigate.

"Brother, there is actually a ladder underneath."

"Ladder? Where is it?"

The older boy secretly pointed to the other one with his eyes, and the little boy understood it, and hurriedly pointed to a direction and said, "Look, there it is!"

"Where?" Mo Nan stretched his neck, but he didn't see the ladder he was talking about, so he simply supported the edge with his hands and leaned forward.

Suddenly, the next second after performing this action, Mo Nan felt a force pushing forward from behind.Although the strength was not strong, Mo Nan was unprepared for a moment, and the hands on the edge barely stabilized his body. Suddenly, he was pushed like this, and his hands couldn't bear the pressure. Then his upper body deviated from the center of gravity of his whole body, and he fell straight down. to the bottom of the cave.

The height of five meters is not high or low. Fortunately, Mo Nan landed on his feet first. Even though there was a layer of mud at the bottom of the cave, he still felt that his whole body was falling apart. There was a sharp pain from his feet, probably sprained.

His mind was in a mess, and after he regained consciousness, he suppressed the discomfort in his feet and glared at the person at the entrance of the cave.

When the two culprits were stared at by him, they felt palpitations at first, and then the older boy spoke uprightly, and he yelled at Mo Nan: "Hmph! You deserve it!!"

"What did I do?!" Mo Nan's face was incredulous, and his heart burst into anger, "Did I kill your family or burn your house?!"

"You..." He couldn't answer for a while, "You, you bullied me!"

"Huh?! Why did I bully you? Why don't I remember?!" Mo Nan wanted to yell a few more words, but he felt another sharp pain in his feet, and couldn't hold back his moan, "Hiss... …it hurts……"

"When your partner grabbed me, it hurt me too!"

"That's it!"

"You are all bad guys! You deserve it! Just stay below! Hmph!"

After speaking, the two of them made an angry face at Mo Nan, and ran away with a stride.

"Hey you guys..." Mo Nan didn't have time to think about what the accomplices they said meant, the pain in his feet prevented him from thinking much, and he wanted to call the two children, but it was too late, they had already slipped away are gone.

……

Mo Nan hated it.

He wanted to poke his own eyes blind when he thought that the child he thought was so bad was similar to him, and he even thought of his own brother.

Forget it, don't poke, it's already blind anyway.He looked around in the dim surroundings, thinking.