Saving the Prince Regent - Chapter 41

Chapter 41 – The Hunt for the Brittle Snake (2)

Translator: Lunarise

Editor: Livyuna

Proofreader: Livyun

This time, Zhao Xi planned on heading to a more dangerous location. She had hunted at many other sites but was unable to find the brittle snake. So, she decided to take a risk and investigate the swamps for snake caves.

Snakes love humid environments. In the depths of the valley, there was a cave that didn’t receive sunlight throughout the year, and is favored by snakes. Because the cave is large, all the snakes like to gather there to reproduce. Once, when Zhao Xi stumbled into the cave, she saw thousands of snakes all around, and the stench was pungent. Thankfully, she was carrying some realgar with her, and was able to retreat safely. Otherwise, she would have likely died from the situation.

Inside such snake caves, there would be various different types of these reptiles. However, the brittle snake is afraid of unfamiliarity, and under usual conditions, it would prefer not to live with other snakes.

Zhao Xi’s goal for this time was the swamps. The idea came to her after recalling the coffins that hung around the cliffs, surrounded by extremely humid environment favored by brittle snakes. Perhaps they would even hide inside the coffins.

Compared to the swamps, Zhao Xi would prefer the cliffs. The swamps had miasma, venomous animals, and one had to exercise caution while walking. The only advantage was that she could climb the trees for a better view to check. While the cliffs would definitely be a cleaner environment than the swamps, she was afraid that her rope would be torn apart by the friction in the middle of her climb at night, and if so, she would definitely fall off the cliffs and die in a very painful and mangled mess.

Considering the disrespect to the ancestors and other problems, Zhao Xi’s final decision was to head to the swamps. Even though it was in the middle of the night, and the swamps was dark, spooky and wet, Zhao Xi was not frightened in the least bit.

When she first arrived at this valley, she had not met Ping An yet. At that time, in the middle of the night, she would head up the mountains to pick poisonous herbs. The winds would howl and the rain sometimes fall, but she had not once encountered any major problem.

It was like an unexpected discovery. As she walked through the forest, not only was she unharmed, it appeared as if most of the animals, in particular those with sensitive smell, were afraid of her. They behaved just like Ping An did when they first met; being able to smell the scent of the different poisonous herbs on her, Ping An was afraid of her and tried to keep a distance. If she was nearby, it would even grind its teeth while staying guarded against her. It took a while before Ping An became more comfortable with her.

That’s not to say that Ping An was no longer afraid of Zhao Xi. Even though they have been together for three years, Ping An had not once dared to show its temper or behave wildly to her. It always stayed obedient and followed her instructions.

The swamp is really too dangerous for Zhao Xi to bring Ping An along. Ping An was not as agile in swinging from tree to tree. If any incident happens, it would be possible for Ping An to fall into the swamps. At that point, Zhao Xi would be helpless in trying to save Ping An, and would only be able to watch him die.

Ping An won’t be of much help here. Usually, Ping An would be a source of encouragement and courage to others, but Zhao Xi naturally had lots of guts, and didn’t need Ping An to try to give her courage.

When she was younger, she was once left on the mountains by her Madam. At the start, she was really afraid and felt helpless. Only after realizing that the smaller animals would avoid scorpions and her, and larger animals would rather circle around her rather than cross-paths, it seemed as it she was then the biggest predator of all, waiting to feast on all of them.

Much later, her teacher told her that as both her hands had skinned the skin of the fiercest animal, pulled the fangs of the most venomous snake, the scent had continued to stay on in her body, and that was why all the animals feared her.

So long as her body continues to have the scent of death, it would not be dangerous for her to enter the forest. Her teacher did not lie to her; Zhao Xi did not meet with any danger all these years. The only thing that she encountered was loneliness.

Being by herself had been a lonely experience; waiting for someone had been a painful and difficult process to endure. Not knowing when her teacher would come to pick her, she would anticipate, and then be disappointed, again and again. Over time, her heart slowly turned cold, and her will hardened. She rarely ever felt her heart wavering again.

However, a miracle had happened. She met Shen Fei who was nothing but nice to her. If anything, he deserved for his legs to be treated.

Zhao Xi finally reached the swamps. As she came here to catch the brittle snake, she did not apply any of the herbs on her body, afraid that it would startle away the brittle snake.