Name: Lin Xue
Species: Snake
Experience: None
Lin Xue stared at the semi-transparent panel before him, glanced at the word “Snake,” then looked down at his coiled body, his head buzzing.
Did I just transmigrate?
Ten minutes ago, he was still a miserable food delivery guy, racing against time on his electric scooter.
Suddenly, a piercing honk blared behind him.
He turned his head and saw a runaway dump truck veering across several lanes, speeding straight toward him.
Before Lin Xue could even utter a “What the hell,” both he and the scooter were slammed into the air.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself transformed into a snake, lying in a picturesque valley.
The sun shone brightly overhead, and a wide river flowed slowly in front of him.
Sunlight scattered over the sparkling river surface, with fish occasionally leaping out with a splash before diving back in.
In the distance, rolling mountains stretched endlessly, while beneath him lay a soft riverbank.
Not far behind was a lush forest, sunlight filtering through dense branches to paint mottled patterns on the ground.
Little birds chirped cheerfully on the treetops, and the occasional cry of unknown animals echoed from afar.
A serene and peaceful natural landscape.
“What the hell!” Lin Xue couldn’t help but exclaim, but all that came out was a hiss.
So it’s true what the novels say—getting hit by a dump truck really can transmigrate you!
The author of “Pineapple Bun” did not deceive me.
Lin Xue wasn’t exactly opposed to transmigrating.
After all, there was no one left in his original life worth clinging to.
His parents had died in a car accident when he was in kindergarten, and his grandmother had painstakingly raised him.
But she had passed away from illness last year.
With no relatives left, his home was just an empty house.
Living alone and lonely was the same no matter which world he was in, so transmigration was fine by him—whatever.
Though Lin Xue really wanted to complain about one thing: why did he transmigrate into an animal, and not a human?
And not just any animal—a damn snake!
Didn’t I grow up scared to death of snakes?
And this panel in front of him—how was he supposed to use it?
There were only three lines of text: Name, Species, and Experience.
What use was it? How did experience increase?
There wasn’t even a manual. This transmigration perk was seriously unthoughtful.
After puzzling over the panel for a while, Lin Xue still couldn’t figure out its purpose, only how to open and close it with his mind.
Forget it, he’d figure it out later.
He folded the panel away and wanted to see what he looked like now.
Controlling his snake body awkwardly, he slithered to the riverbank and leaned over to look at the water’s reflection.
In the water was his current form:
Pure white all over, slender and elongated.
His oval head was delicate and small, with a pair of large, bright golden eyes that radiated youthful vitality.
His slender crimson tongue flicked in and out like a flickering flame.
Smooth scales covered his body, shimmering with a pearly gloss under the sunlight—extremely beautiful.
He was a white snake, and quite cute at that, not the sinister and vicious image he usually associated with snakes.
Even Lin Xue himself, who had always been afraid of snakes, thought his current form was surprisingly appealing.
He looked over his body again and estimated he was about three feet long—he had no idea if that counted as an adult snake.
From now on, he would start his new life with this body.
The white snake’s adventure in the new world was about to begin!
……
Two days later, midday.
Lin Xue was winding his way along a large tree.
After two days of getting used to his body, he was now completely familiar with it.
He climbed to a branch with a bird’s nest.
There were no birds inside, only six bird eggs.
Lin Xue looked around carefully and confirmed the mother bird wasn’t nearby.
Then he stretched his neck and swallowed the six eggs one by one.
Feeling his stomach full and satisfied, he flicked his tongue out contentedly and turned to leave.
He had been eyeing this nest for a long time.
Food wasn’t scarce in the forest—mice, frogs, toads, even earthworms were all on a snake’s menu.
But Lin Xue, having lived over twenty years as a human, found it hard to accept eating these creatures alive.
Just imagining swallowing a mouse whole made him gag.
Only bird eggs were somewhat bearable.
He had spotted this nest that morning.
He had climbed up to steal some eggs then, but the brooding mother bird caught him and pecked him hard, causing pain so sharp it nearly lifted his soul from his body, forcing him to flee.
Since then, he had hidden in nearby bushes, patiently waiting.
Just moments ago, the mother bird flew away, and only then did he climb back up and successfully devour all the eggs.
Next, he would look for the next nest.
Stretching out his long body, Lin Xue happily began to slither down the tree.
Halfway down, he heard footsteps approaching from below.
He stopped moving, shrinking into the branches, and looked down cautiously.
There were animals in the forest that ate snakes; he had to be careful.
After a moment, the source of the footsteps came into view.
Lin Xue was stunned.
It was people!
He hadn’t expected to see humans in this dense primeval forest.
There were five of them, all wearing patched coarse cloth clothes, looking like ancient farmers.
Each carried a bamboo basket on their back and held a pole with a forked top—he wasn’t sure what it was for.
They came to the base of the tree Lin Xue was on and stopped, seemingly ready to rest.
A sturdy young man in his twenties plopped down against the tree and cursed angrily: “Damn old witch!”
The others also sat down, faces full of worry.
Among the five was an older man with graying hair.
He sighed, pulled out a pipe and flint, struck a spark, and began puffing smoke while leaning against the tree.
After a few puffs, he said, “Zhuzi and the others met an itinerant trader on the mountain a couple of days ago and asked him to report to the town officials. Once the Immortal Masters from the Demon-Slaying Bureau arrive and take those two Evil Daoists away, it’ll all be over.”
Evil Daoists? Demon-Slaying Bureau? Immortal Masters?
Lin Xue was surprised.
So this seemed to be a cultivation world with practitioners.
He wondered if monsters really existed here.
The sturdy villager, full of grievance, continued, “Who knows if that trader is trustworthy? It’s been two days, and there’s still no sign of the Immortal Masters!”
“That father and daughter duo of dog Daoists have been forcing us to catch snakes every day since they came to our village. Our wheat’s rotting in the fields because we have no time to harvest. If we can’t harvest, how will we pay this year’s rent? Chun Shu, if you ask me, we might as well fight them!”
Someone else agreed, “Exactly, fight them! Our village has over a hundred people—how could we lose to just two?”
The old villager called Chun Shu tapped the sturdy young man with his pipe and scolded, “Fight, fight—what can we fight them with? They’re cultivators who can use magic. One move and your head’s off. You think you can beat them?”
The younger villagers lowered their heads, silent.
Chun Shu took a puff and comforted them, “The Immortal Masters from the Demon-Slaying Bureau might arrive any day now. Just hold on a little longer, be patient.”
Listening from the tree, Lin Xue was shocked.
Catching snakes?
Why was he involved in all this?
He looked at the two men’s forked poles in their hands—that was a Snake-Catching Pole.
He shrank back, afraid they’d spot him.
Just as he was about to slip into denser leaves, he heard the fluttering of wings approaching.
He looked up, cursing inwardly.
The mother bird he had just stolen eggs from was flying back.
This was bad.
The mother bird would surely peck him to death for stealing her eggs.
And with five snake catchers right below, he couldn’t run.
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
What should he do now?