“By the way, Lord Xie…” Lin Qingyue remembered something important, “What is my official position in the Xuanjing Office?”
Someone of her status naturally couldn’t serve as an ordinary warden.
Xie Shouzheng said: “In our Xuanjing Office, rank is determined by strength and merit. Given Your Highness’s abilities… how about serving as Deputy Commissioner of Evil Inspection, the second-in-command of the office!”
Lin Qingyue asked: “Since rank is determined by strength, why can’t I be the Chief Commissioner?”
Xie Shouzheng was startled: “Your Highness, that’s hardly fair. Who immediately tries to seize someone’s chief position? Moreover, besides strength, we must also consider merit! If one day Your Highness’s achievements surpass those of me, Xie Shouzheng, I would gladly yield this position to you.”
Lin Qingyue hadn’t actually intended to take his position, but through their verbal exchange, she could tell Xie Shouzheng was a decent man – upright and not covetous of high status.
Xie Shouzheng was truly diligent in his duties. While chatting with Lin Qingyue, he still found time to write case reports, thoroughly documenting everything that had happened at the Lin residence tonight for future reference.
This included Shen Mo’s grievances and the Snake Demon’s origin.
The Snake Demon had previously appeared in his case records decades earlier.
According to the records, decades ago, there was a snake charmer skilled in taming snakes. He traveled throughout the land with over a dozen snakes of various sizes, performing snake-charming tricks everywhere.
Among his many snakes, his favorite was a patterned python. The patterned snake was remarkably intelligent, capable of understanding complex commands and earning the snake charmer substantial money.
The snake charmer adored this snake, often stroking its body while chattering away in conversation.
The snake would nestle obediently in its master’s arms, its gleaming vertical pupils fixed on him, occasionally hissing as if responding to its master’s words.
One day, while traveling near wilderness, the snake charmer encountered bandits who robbed and murdered.
During this crisis, the patterned python burst from its cage, terrifying the bandits so thoroughly they fled in panic.
The slowest among them was caught by the patterned snake, constricted, devoured – all in one smooth motion.
The snake charmer was so shocked by this scene that he remained stunned for a long time.
After feeding, the patterned snake tried to return to its cage to sleep as usual. But its body had grown significantly larger and couldn’t fit inside, so it could only gaze pitifully at its master.
From that first taste of human flesh, every late night, the patterned snake would secretly slip out.
Each time it returned, its body would swell larger.
And wherever the snake charmer went, people would disappear the following day.
The snake charmer no longer dared to keep the patterned snake, even though it remained as docile as ever in his presence.
He tried abandoning the snake, but no matter where he left it, the snake would always find its way back.
The snake charmer lived in constant fear, terrified the snake might eventually go mad and devour him too. He also worried someone would discover his snake was eating people, in which case he would share the same fate.
Finally, one day, he met a demon catcher. After much internal struggle, he truthfully explained the situation.
The demon catcher said: “That snake has become a demon and has devoured dozens of people. Its cultivation is profound and it won’t be easily dealt with. Fortunately, it still sees you as its master and trusts you completely. To eliminate this demon, I’ll need your assistance. Tomorrow at dusk, I’ll set up a demon-slaying formation in the back mountains. Once night falls, lure it to the formation’s center. Then I’ll have a way to destroy it completely.”
The snake charmer couldn’t bear it: “Must it be killed? Is there no other way?”
The demon catcher said: “Evil must be eradicated completely, otherwise there will be endless trouble!”
“Then… allow me to consider it.” The snake charmer didn’t agree immediately.
But when he returned, he saw a child’s shoe spat out from the patterned snake’s mouth.
The snake’s massive body crushed the tiny shoe as it affectionately slithered toward its master.
In that moment, he trembled all over and resolved to eliminate the demon.
That night, the snake charmer, who hadn’t been in contact with snakes for a long time, stroked the patterned snake’s body as he used to, complex emotions hidden in his eyes.
“Da Long, Da Long…”
He repeatedly called the snake’s name, as if time had returned to their former intimacy.
Finally, the snake charmer said: “Da Long, it’s been a long time since we last caught snakes in the mountains. Accompany me tonight…”
All the snakes used in performances before were caught with Da Long’s help. Under Da Long’s pressure, those snakes would become obedient.
Since discovering Da Long was a demon, they had been hiding and hadn’t gone out to catch new snakes for training and performances.
The patterned snake naively believed everything could return to how it was before.
It nodded, its massive body quickly wriggling as it happily went out.
It moved swiftly, but would stop to wait for its master after not going far. Though its vertical pupils were eerie and terrifying, when looking at its master, they were full of dependence and trust.
Yet that very dependence and trust cost it its life.
Led deliberately by its master, it entered the demon-slaying array.
When sudden flames scorched its body, its first instinct wasn’t to escape but to urgently search for its master, fearing he might be hurt.
However, through the layers of flames, it saw its master standing behind the demon catcher, crying: “Da Long, go in peace, don’t harm people in your next life…”
So its master didn’t want it anymore, and even wanted to kill it!
The enormous snake body writhed and wailed in the great fire, eventually turning to charcoal.
The snake charmer thought his life would return to normal after Da Long’s death.
Little did he know that after the Snake Demon’s death, its overwhelming resentment would bring its soul back to its master.
That night, a huge snake shadow loomed high, its gaping maw descending and instantly swallowing its master.
—Master, this time we will never be separated.
The Snake Demon’s remnant soul wreaked havoc everywhere, later claiming many more lives.
The original demon catcher, upon hearing the news, regretted his previous careless actions. But his cultivation was ultimately too shallow—he exhausted his life but couldn’t completely destroy it, only managing to suppress the Snake Demon’s remnant soul on Ghost Crying Ridge.
Later, when Shen Mo was coaxed by Lin Rufeng to Ghost Crying Ridge, he accidentally broke the seal, was devoured by the Snake Demon, which then used his resentment to return to the human world.
Xie Shouzheng set down his brush and sighed: “Demons possess power beyond ordinary people. Once they start indulging their desires, they bring disaster to the world.”
“By the way, Princess, what did you finally say to Shen Mo that made him so easily let go of his resentment? And why did the Snake Demon say you were deceiving Shen Mo?”
Lin Qingyue smiled faintly: “Just some words persuading him to be magnanimous and let go of hatred, similar to what Lord Xie said earlier.”
Xie Shouzheng was puzzled: “That simple? Then why didn’t he listen at all when I tried to persuade him before?”
Lin Qingyue only smiled without answering.
The next day, at the Liu residence.
Early in the morning, Madam Liu came and said, “Your father has prepared the carriage. After breakfast, you should return home!”
Liu Wanqing was astonished. “Is Father still determined to send me away? Even though you know Lin Rufeng beats me nearly to death every day, and that he prefers men—making it impossible for us to have children! Will you still not permit me to seek a divorce?”
Madam Liu wept. “My daughter, I know you suffer. But this is a woman’s fate! A married daughter is like spilled water—once gone, she cannot be taken back. Even a divorce would tarnish your reputation. Especially now, with your father actively seeking to advance his official position. If the family has a divorced daughter, outsiders will surely gossip and damage your father’s reputation.”
“Now that you hold leverage over your husband, he likely won’t dare treat you as before. As for the issue of heirs, there’s no need to worry—we can adopt one from the clan later. Endure it for now; life will surely get better.”
In the end, the father’s indifference and the mother’s weakness left the married daughter without a safe harbor.