1 - A Farewell to Mr. Luo

In the darkness of the night, a small white snake, the size of a finger, emerged from a tiny mound of dirt. "Hiss hiss~" Flicking its red tongue, the little snake lifted its head to look at the sky. It had just been reborn—not as a human anymore, but as something else entirely. As for its former name, it no longer had any desire to remember it. The past was gone and dwelling on it held no meaning. The little snake gave itself a new name: Bai Fan. The life of a snake is different from that of a human. As a predator, eating raw meat and drinking blood is common. Even Bai Fan’s mind had changed, becoming more dulled in terms of emotions, or perhaps even incapable of understanding them. Once the snake had emerged from its egg, it had to fend for itself. The mother snake would not return, as she would not eat or drink for months while guarding her eggs. Now that the hatchlings had emerged, she feared she might eat them if she stayed. Bai Fan was the first to wriggle out from the mound. Its siblings were still below, in a daze. Not far from the mound was a small creek. Bai Fan glanced back at the mound, which was covered with decaying leaves and twigs. The decomposition had made the temperature ideal for the hatching of the eggs. Once hatched, the scent of broken eggshells would attract many predators. Even sneaky mice might come for a bite, so leaving early increased the chances of survival. Bai Fan slithered quickly on the ground, weaving through the grass and blending in seamlessly. It swiftly slipped into the water, lifting its small head and swimming. Its body moved in a serpentine motion, creating V-shaped ripples on the surface. Freshly hatched, Bai Fan hadn’t even tasted the egg contents. It had dashed out immediately, and now, after moving some distance, its belly began to protest with hunger. In the water, Bai Fan swallowed small shrimp to fill its stomach. Without teeth, it gulped them down whole, without knowing their taste, as it had no taste buds anymore. Eating was now merely a means to satiate its hunger. Lying by the bank, Bai Fan had no idea where to go next. The animal world was much more frightening than that of humans, and there was no joy in this rebirth. A few shrimp could not satiate its growing hunger. At this moment, Bai Fan was still a young snake. It felt the hunger returning soon after its meal, marveling at its own rapid digestion. It was clear that being a carnivore with a good digestive system meant it needed to eat more to grow. Bai Fan hunted day and night, with small fish and shrimp as its primary food source. When tired, it would rest in the grass by the bank, occasionally basking in the sun to prevent muscle stiffness. Within a week, Bai Fan grew from three inches to five inches in length. Perhaps due to a lack of predators nearby, Bai Fan’s vigilance had lessened. One day, it lay in the sun, stretching out its body as if it were a dead snake. Suddenly, a black eagle swooped down from the sky. Because Bai Fan was so small, the eagle missed it with its talons, sending grass and stones flying. Awakened with a start, Bai Fan rolled and quickly slipped into the water. The eagle circled above, screeching repeatedly, terrifying Bai Fan almost to the point of breaking its nerve. Hiding under a rock in the water, it stayed put for a long time, too frightened to come out. This narrow escape was a lesson for Bai Fan: never forget the danger, or it would become someone else’s meal. Days turned into months. Bai Fan had grown from one inch to nearly one meter. The small fish and shrimp no longer sufficed to meet its daily needs; it needed to find new hunting grounds. Slithering through the grass, its white scales gleamed beautifully in the sunlight. With its sense of smell, Bai Fan sought its prey. What were once threatening mice had now become part of its diet. Bai Fan found a burrow, the scent of mice filling its nostrils. Saliva began to drip from its mouth. Strangely, what once smelled disgusting was now a favorite scent. It was a nest of young mice, still pink and furless. The mother mouse had gone out to forage. Bai Fan swallowed the tiny mice without hesitation. The tender mouse meat was delightful to Bai Fan. The weak squeaks of the mice continued even as they were swallowed, their eyes not yet open. After consuming all the young mice and preparing to leave, Bai Fan encountered the returning mother mouse. The mother mouse was large and muscular, with sharp incisors. Upon seeing Bai Fan, the mother mouse went berserk. Typically, it would have fled, but discovering its offspring missing, it attacked Bai Fan with a desperate fury. Bai Fan braced for a fierce battle. The mother mouse was formidable and posed a challenge. The mother mouse lunged, biting into Bai Fan’s body and tearing away a chunk of flesh. Enraged, Bai Fan coiled tightly around the mother mouse and injected venom to paralyze her. Bai Fan would not release its prey until it stopped breathing. Strengthening its grip, it crushed the mother mouse’s spine before swallowing her slowly. Wounded, Bai Fan hid in the burrow. The sky had turned ominous, indicating rain. As a cold-blooded animal, Bai Fan needed to avoid losing body heat in the rain and thus coiled up to wait. With its head on its body, Bai Fan stared blankly, as snakes do not have eyelids and cannot blink. It was waiting for its body to digest the recently consumed mother mouse, a meal that would last days. Over time, Bai Fan's growth stagnated at around one meter. This seemed to be its natural limit. Seasons changed from summer to autumn, and the weather grew colder. Bai Fan felt its body becoming sluggish, signaling the need to prepare for hibernation. To survive the winter, it had to fatten up. After eating well, Bai Fan found a burrow, coiled up, and prepared for hibernation. Snow soon covered the ground outside. In this desolate place, the outside world seemed like an entirely different realm. The hidden white snake would never see it, as it had entered a deep hibernation, not to awaken until the spring thaw. Three months quietly passed. As the small creek began to thaw and grass sprouted once more, Bai Fan’s breathing steadied. After a while, it finally began to move—it was awake. Slithering out of the burrow, Bai Fan found the world changed. Flicking its tongue, it searched for nearby prey. After an entire winter without food, it was extremely hungry, its once fattened body now much leaner. To get a clearer view, Bai Fan lifted its upper body, swaying from side to side—a habit ingrained in its genes from a lifetime of serpentine movement. Bai Fan realized that its vision as a snake was very poor, everything appearing blurry. The position of its eyes made the view angles very awkward. However, raising its head, it spotted a snow-white rabbit. The rabbit’s body heat was extremely noticeable to its eyes. It was fortunate to find prey so soon after emerging. Bai Fan moved stealthily, careful not to startle the white rabbit. Once close enough, it lunged, aiming for the rabbit’s neck. The rabbit leapt in fright, trying to shake off the white snake. But Bai Fan wouldn't let go, wrapping its meter-long body tightly around the rabbit and sinking its fangs into the rabbit's neck. Within moments, the rabbit convulsed and died. Bai Fan constricted until its bones snapped, then slowly swallowed the large rabbit. Many snakes had choked to death by swallowing too hastily. After eating, Bai Fan found a rock to sunbathe on, aiding its blood circulation for digestion. It remained vigilant against aerial predators. By nightfall, Bai Fan had fully digested its meal. Feeling an itch and even more blurry vision, Bai Fan realized it was about to shed its skin. In over a year since its rebirth, this was the first time Bai Fan had shed its skin. As a young snake, it had grown quickly from abundant food, but growth had since ceased. Bai Fan had thought this was its natural size limit. The process of shedding was a lengthy one. Bai Fan rolled its body, rubbing its head against the rock to slowly peel the snake skin from head to tail. After a while, Bai Fan had shed a complete layer of skin. Its body quickly grew larger, and its scales became softer. Instinctive wariness told Bai Fan that it was not safe to linger here. It should find a place to hide quickly. Therefore, Bai Fan returned to the burrow where it had hibernated, even piling some soil at the entrance for concealment. After a week of rest, Bai Fan awoke to find that it had grown a few more inches. Indeed, shedding allowed for growth. The thought of being able to grow bigger in the future was comforting. After all, a snake just over a meter long still had many predators. Only by growing larger would the number of predators decrease. Size was fundamental to survival. Leaving the snake burrow, Bai Fan went out to hunt. However, the sky was overcast, as if it were about to rain. Despite the threatening sky and flashes of lightning, no rain fell, and the lightning struck down unexpectedly, startling Bai Fan. Driven by curiosity, Bai Fan climbed to the hilltop that had been struck by lightning. There, a black snake was seemingly confronting the lightning. However, the lightning was too powerful, and it burned the black snake to a crisp. The sight shocked Bai Fan. What terrible fate had befallen this black snake to be struck by lightning and end up like this? As soon as the black snake died, the dark clouds and lightning disappeared, as if nothing had happened. Only the scorched snake body on the ground proved it was real. Slithering close to the black snake's corpse, Bai Fan probed it with its tongue, confirming it was truly dead. Yet something inside the corpse seemed to attract it. Despite the initial disgust at the thought of eating its own kind, Bai Fan's human past allowed it to quickly overcome the aversion. It swallowed the entire charred body. Afterward, Bai Fan went into a rock crevice on the hilltop to digest its meal and soon fell into a deep sleep. It seemed that the black snake's flesh contained some energy, causing Bai Fan to grow rapidly. From just over a meter, it suddenly extended to more than two meters, becoming half as large again. Now, it resembled a python.