Chapter 43: The Mountain God Reveals His Divine Power!

On the other side, as Hu Xiaocao kept going deeper, whenever she felt a bit afraid, she glanced up at the bright moon overhead and seemed less scared.

The little person walked, and the moon followed her.

The silver light, like a mother's big hand, stroked her face and dispelled the darkness around her.

After an unknown amount of time, Hu Xiaocao felt the surroundings seemed a bit brighter, the light appearing to come from not far ahead, and she pushed aside a shrub taller than a person.

Ah!

The sight that met her eyes, however, gave her a great start.

All she saw was a bright moon hanging in the sky, and beneath it lay a long snake.

Moonlight shone on the snake's body, as if plating it with a layer of silver light.

Though the snake was clearly greenish-black, in the moonlight it looked translucent like jade, each scale seeming to emit a white glow, so holy that one couldn't help but want to bow in worship.

The moonlight flowed, as if it were inhaling and exhaling the moon's light.

Because of its appearance, and also because some snake species are highly venomous, people mostly feel fear or dread when they see it.

But the snake before Hu Xiaocao had nothing to do with ugliness; she inexplicably felt it was extraordinarily sacred.

Hu Xiaocao couldn't help covering her mouth, she looked up at the sky, the bright moon hanging at the horizon, enormous and unbelievable.

She rubbed her eyes, then as if thinking of something, her eyes suddenly sparkled intensely, as if stars had fallen.

"Could it be Mountain God Grandfather?"

"It must be Mountain God Grandfather; otherwise how could such a strange sight appear!"

"But how could Mountain God Grandfather possibly be a snake?"

"But… there's no rule saying the Mountain God can't be a snake."

After figuring this out, Hu Xiaocao felt a solemn reverence.

Based on this extraordinary sight, plus what the adults had said before, Hu Xiaocao could be certain.

The snake before her eyes is the Mountain God!

No wonder—the Mountain God's scales are so different!

She quickly knelt, took out the wild fruit she had picked earlier on the road, wiped it on her sleeve, and respectfully placed it before her.

"Mountain God Grandfather, please bless my mother's illness to heal quickly, let me find the plant that blooms at night; I, Xiaocao, will surely work hard to gather more fruit to offer you."

Hu Xiaocao murmured, continuously kowtowing, her appearance extremely devout.

As she was about to rise, she didn't watch her step, stumbled forward, and flailed her arms wildly, trying to grab something to steady herself.

However, there was nothing to support her nearby—only a few fragile plants, which she pulled out with a casual tug, and then she rolled all the way down.

The last image before losing consciousness was a vague, slender shadow crawling toward her, and the crescent moon in the sky seemed to have drawn nearer.

Silver light shone on Hu Xiaocao's face, as if it could dispel all her pain.

Is this an illusion?

Hu Xiaocao had never felt the moon so close before, as if within reach; she slowly smiled, then fainted.

Ye Qin looked at the little girl collapsed before him; fortunately the slope wasn't steep, aside from some minor scrapes, Hu Xiaocao was fine.

"Mountain God Grandfather?"

A few question marks slowly formed in his mind; his hearing was good, and even from a distance he could clearly hear Hu Xiaocao's murmurs.

How could this little girl tell he was that old?

Even adding his age from a previous life, he hasn't reached thirty yet; how did he suddenly become a grandfather‑generation figure?

Ye Qin's serpentine forked tongue twitched; he abruptly straightened his body, and his snake pupils faintly turned into a vertical slit.

"Hu Xiaocao."

A few words came on the cool night breeze, followed by footsteps, which Ye Qin quickly caught.

It shouldn't be long before this group comes looking for her.

Hearing the movement not far away, Ye Qin twitched the tip of his tail again and also hid himself in the undergrowth.

Soon the villagers came over, holding flashlights.

"Found her! Xiaocao is here."

Seeing Hu Xiaocao lying on the ground with her eyes tightly shut, unaware of life or death, everyone's hearts grew tense.

Wu Yuan took one look; although Hu Xiaocao's face was disheveled, she had no fatal wounds, only a bruise on her forehead, and he checked her breathing.

"Great, she just fainted; she's fine."

Hearing this, the people finally let go of the worry that had been stuck in their throats.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hu Xiaocao clutching a plant; his pupils flashed with shock—"This is Evening Primrose!"

He hadn't expected that Evening Primrose would actually be found by Hu Xiaocao.

However, even finding Evening Primrose would only treat the symptoms of Hu Xiaocao's mother's illness, not the root cause—it merely has a tonic effect.

Wu Yuan brought Hu Xiaocao back, saying, "She's fine; she'll wake up soon."

The woman almost knelt to Wu Yuan, but he quickly stopped her with sharp eyes and quick hands, saying, "Big sis, you mustn't do that."

"Thank you, Uncle Wu, and thank you all, neighbors."

The woman's eyes reddened, she bowed deeply to everyone; the simple‑minded villagers waved their hands, indicating it was no trouble.

Hu Xiaocao faintly heard someone calling her name, she jerked her eyes open to see her mother's worried face, with a few familiar uncles and aunts around.

"Mom, how did I end up here? Huh, I wasn't on the mountain."

The woman looked tense, "Xiaocao, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Hu Xiaocao shook her head, "Don't worry, Mom, I'm as tough as iron—strong as ever."

Seeing Hu Xiaocao's skinny frame, the woman, to keep from worrying herself, deliberately said those words, even patting her chest, her eyes involuntarily reddening.

The people around were also quite moved.

This mother-daughter pair is notoriously pitiful in the village.

Hemp rope always breaks at its thinnest spot, and misfortune always seeks the unfortunate.

And Hu Xiaocao recalled the last image before losing consciousness; she seemed to see the Mountain God crawling toward her!

I don't know if it was her hallucination, but one thing Hu Xiaocao can be sure of is that Mountain God Grandfather truly exists.

Hu Xiaocao was excited, "Mom, I just saw the Mountain God! Do you know, Mountain God Grandfather is actually a snake, and so huge, bigger than the moon compared to our stove, I almost touched the moon."

Hu Xiaocao gestured wildly with her arms and legs in front of everyone.

Everyone, however, didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just Hu Xiaocao's imagination, plus she had recently heard rumors about Wang Dazhu and Zhou Niu, which is why she said such things.

Alright, Xiaocao.

The woman gently touched Hu Xiaocao's head, her eye sockets slightly red, looking at the tiny wounds exposed on her skin, all of which were scratches from branches and leaves.

Although not fatal, appearing on a half-grown child, it still makes people feel heartache.

You must be tired after a day, from now on you must obey, not allowed to run up the mountain on your own, especially at night, it's too dangerous, you know? Mom really worries about you.

The woman held Hu Xiaocao, her voice gradually choking up.

Hu Xiaocao could feel a drop of hot tear fall on her shoulder, then she felt a bit regretful, being too impulsive, making Mom worry.

Sorry, Mom, I won't do it again.

This chapter was originally a noon update, today I posted it earlier.

(End of chapter)