Beauty Snake - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A Spirit Wall?

“Hiss… ah… my head hurts.”

Ji Yunfei clutched her head, waiting a long while for the world to stop spinning before she finally opened her eyes.

“Wait… where is this? It looks like the deep part of the back mountain, but something feels off.”

Looking at the surroundings—which felt both familiar and strangely alien—she was bewildered. The air was thick with the heavy, metallic scent of earth after rain, and droplets occasionally fell from the leaves overhead. The mud beneath her feet clung stubbornly to her shoes, impossible to shake off.

She wobbled to her feet. Noticing she was covered in mud stains, she found a nearby puddle to wash up. Looking at her reflection in the water, she froze.

The person in the reflection, rather than her twenty-six-year-old self, looked more like she was fifteen or sixteen. Even through the mud, her face was unmistakably youthful. Even her clothes had changed from an oversized T-shirt to a set of coarse, rustic linen garments.

“I’ve really seen a ghost this time.”

Despite her shock, Ji Yunfei quickly accepted the current situation. After a quick wash, she scanned her surroundings and found a basket half-filled with firewood and an axe. Assuming this was her gear, she decided to grab it and head down the mountain. As for what would happen next, she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

She thought that with her familiarity with the back mountain, she’d be out in no time. But to her surprise, no matter how many times she tried, she inevitably ended up right back where she started.

Ji Yunfei suspected she was trapped by a “spirit wall”, but she had no proof. She walked from noon until dusk, feeling as if she were walking in circles.

“Whew, I’m exhausted.”

Carrying half a basket of wood and an axe for an entire afternoon had drained her. She sighed, shook her head, and set her gear down. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she decided to try one last time. At worst, she’d just end up back here again.

Instead of burying her head in the search, she took a more leisurely approach this time, enjoying the flowers and plants as she went. Surprisingly, this relaxed pace led to a discovery.

While leaning down to pick a medicinal herb, she caught a faint, metallic scent of blood in the air. It lingered around her nose, refusing to dissipate. Her heart skipped a beat. She quickly kicked aside the leaves and cleared the gravel to investigate.

Soon, she found traces of blood that hadn’t yet been washed away by the rain. Following the trail, the spots became more frequent until they merged into a line. At the end of the trail, she found a tiny, dying black snake.

The snake was barely two feet long. Its mouth was slightly open, and its belly rose and fell weakly. If she hadn’t looked closely, she would have thought it was already dead. Looking further down, she saw two terrifying puncture wounds on its belly. The blood around the wounds had dried and turned black, looking gruesome.

As a snake lover, she immediately checked its vital signs. Finding a faint spark of life, she let out a long sigh of relief. She scooped the little black snake into her arms, cradling it gently as she ran back to her basket.

“Applying the herbs will hurt a bit, you have to bear with it.”

She placed the snake on a flat stone. Using the tools at hand, she performed a simple cleaning of the wounds. Then, she ground up medicinal herbs, tore a strip from her clothing, and bandaged the snake.

By the time she finished, night had fallen. Wiping her brow, she watched the snake’s breathing stabilize and couldn’t help but grin. It would survive; healing was now just a matter of time. She felt a surge of happiness at having done a good deed.

After ensuring the area was safe, she decided to spend the night there and continue searching for the way down at daybreak. She leaned against the stone where the snake lay, tapping its head with her finger—that familiar, cool sensation. Drowsiness hit her hard, and leaning against the rock, she drifted into sleep.

“Kill them all today! Leave no one alive!”

In her vision, a group of burly men in coarse clothes with thick beards and massive machetes appeared. She was hiding under a bed, watching the horror through a tiny gap. This was the first time in her twenty-six years that she had experienced the terrifying reality of a bandit raid.

The air was filled with panicked footsteps, the sound of things being smashed, the cries of infants, and desperate pleas for mercy. Despair smothered the nameless village.

“Please, no! Spare us, I beg of you!”

Thud, thud, thud.

A village woman knelt before a tall, thin bandit with one ear, banging her head on the floor until it bled, begging for a chance for her and her children. But bandits don’t allow witnesses. The “one-eared” bandit kicked her aside, decapitated her two children with two swift strokes, and plunged his blade into her belly. The woman collapsed, her eyes wide with desperation and resentment.

“Bad luck, tui.” One-ear rolled his eyes, spat, kicked the bodies aside, and continued his slaughter.

Ji Yunfei covered her mouth, trying to remain silent. But under the massive search, she was eventually dragged out by a man with a scarred face.

“Oho, there’s another one here!”

Before she could react, the man raised his machete high and swung it toward her neck. The blade fell in a flash.

Blood sprayed like a fountain, but Ji Yunfei only felt a cold sensation against her neck. Then, the world spun as she heard something heavy hit the ground. Before her consciousness faded, she only remembered the towering flames. The village turned to ash in the blink of an eye.

Am I dead? It hurts so much…

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