Chapter 117

Ling Yue lifted her gaze; although clouds and mist obscured the view, she could still see three verdant mountains opposite, and the place where they were staying was not bad either.

This really is a feng shui treasure spot, the air is fresh; the only drawback is probably that it's a bit remote.

Ren Yaqi: "How is it?"

"It really does look not bad, but the location is a bit off." Ling Yue spoke frankly.

Ren Yaqi laughed: "This place is Jing Shi, the capital; despite its remote location, my foolish cousin still had to spend all his money to snag it."

"Just the cost—already eight figures, nearing nine, not counting the later construction of buildings—and although this place is remote, it's also quiet; urban air pollution is severe, everywhere is steel and concrete, but for retirement it's not bad."

Ling Yue nodded, staying fairly composed; perhaps because she had so much money, this thing had become just a number to her.

She and Ren Yaqi got out of the car one after another, and before they had taken a few steps, several workers wearing hard hats came over; upon seeing Wu Peizhi, they immediately broke into a jog: "Boss Wu, Boss Wu, something's happened again at the site!"

Wu Peizhi feigned calm: "What's wrong? Speak quickly!"

Ling Yue glanced at the timid little cousin standing beside Ren Yaqi, who now showed a bit of backbone; as for the incident the workers mentioned, she furrowed her brows, still unable to figure out what it was.

Ren Yaqi's face turned pale, the hand gripping her arm trembling; Ling Yue couldn't help but glance again—obviously, she had thought of something terrifying.

For example, the snake den at the construction site.

Ling Yue said softly: "If you're uncomfortable, you can wait for us in the car."

Ren Yaqi: "!!!"

"How can this be? Who am I? I fear neither heaven nor earth!"—just scared of snakes.

Moreover, there's another important point—she also wanted to see how Ling Yue would negotiate; this is a super front‑row VIP seat!

They whispered, while Wu Peizhi ahead trembled with fear, instantly recalling the last time, his whole scalp going numb.

But he's the boss, and besides, this time he's not alone—he has his older sister and Ling Yue; they'll definitely manage!

He cheered himself up inwardly, the lead worker walked forward, the worker sweating with anxiety as he walked and said: "It's still about the snake den, Boss Wu—you didn't know, but after you left, these snakes started crawling out, and they keep coming out more and more, as if endlessly!"

"Moreover, last night a worker was bitten by a snake while sleeping; fortunately it wasn't a venomous snake, otherwise we'd have found a corpse the next day!"

Wu Peizhi listened, his heart startled; Ling Yue began to ponder—could it be a non‑venomous cabbage snake?

She couldn't help but ask: "The construction site has only seen injured workers—has there ever been a fatality?"

Wu Peizhi's head was shaking like a rattle drum, he repeatedly said: "No, no! Absolutely not!"

Since discovering the snake den, Wu Peizhi has been especially attentive here—after all, if these snakes aren't cleared out for a day, his construction site can't work for a day, and the waste is nothing but pure loss of money!

Later, several attempts to remove the snakes proved utterly futile, instead causing many workers to be bitten; fortunately, nothing serious resulted.

Those few workers are still receiving treatment in the hospital.

Ling Yue, hearing his detailed explanation, felt even more confident—after all, given these repeated snake outbreaks and the multitude of mountain snakes, how could they not find a single venomous one? If that's the case, it proves they are under direction, and there is very likely at least one leader snake.

That makes things much easier—Ling Yue isn't afraid of fierce beasts; she fears madmen, who she would strike at first sight.

Thus she voiced her speculation: "Maybe the snake colony doesn't want to clash with you either, but saying this now is still premature."

Ling Yue spoke as she looked ahead; the construction site that had already broken ground lay before her, and she moved her lips: "I need to go to the snake den to have a look and talk to them, to see what's really going on."

The workers listened in shock to Ling Yue's words, glancing around, talking, as if they thought the snakes were your family pets—so easy to talk to?

After a moment, they finally arrived at the center of the construction site; they could see that beside them, soil dug out over several days had been piled into small mounds, and on the halted site only a few people remained—these were the workers Wu Peizhi had deliberately left behind to guard the site.

Now, before these workers, there is a large pit.

Ling Yue suddenly furrowed her brows, hearing many "little cute" sounds that gathered together, like countless bombs exploding beside her ears.

Hiss~~

"What sound? Sounds like someone's coming?"

"What's going on? This bunch of humans isn't afraid of death—everyone, stay alert!"

Hiss~ I'm a bit hungry—can I crawl out?

"What's there to eat? Hurry, hurry, brothers and sisters, charge up! Quickly scare the humans back!"

"You still want to eat? Last time you went out foraging, you scared a person and even bit a human— they were almost scared to death!"

That non‑venomous black‑eyed king snake, over two meters long, froze upon hearing that, then flicked its tail in grievance: "I don't want to either, but look at my size—if I don't eat something I'll starve to death!"

I'm hungry too—let's scare the humans first.

Just then, Ling Yue had already stepped up to the snake den; looking down, she saw countless large snakes with multicolored scales intertwined in the excavated burrow, too many to count.

Their thick, long bodies were tangled together, the fine, dense scales covering their skins rubbing slowly as they twisted, producing a grating sound that made one's teeth ache.

In places where sunlight couldn't reach, the entire snake den was a pitch‑black mass, like the shadow of an abyss, sending chills down one's spine.

Upon seeing them, these large snakes suddenly became alert, raising their bodies and staring straight at Ling Yue; their earth‑yellow vertical pupils fixed on her, involuntarily giving rise to a chill.

The timid workers immediately shuddered, their feet feeling as if rooted, unable to move a step.

Too terrifying!

By Ling Yue's side, Ren Yaqi clung desperately to her arm, her face pale; as for the younger cousin Wu Peizhi beside her, he couldn't even move his legs.

A pleading gaze involuntarily fell on Ling Yue.

Ling Yue observed the snake herd, her brows tightly knotted, watching the collectively agitated snakes; she even stepped forward, standing at the very front.

The snakes looked at her, curiously observing this bold human.

"Wow, she's got guts—what's she going to do?"

"I don't know—let's rush up and scare her!"

The snakes prepared to climb up, not expecting this human to be unafraid; instead, she lowered her head and stared at them steadily, her clear gaze seeming to see through their thoughts.

Ling Yue: "Where is your leader?"

The snake herd froze, utterly bewildered as to why this human would say such a thing, and flicked out their tongues with a hiss.

"This human is really strange!"

Seeing that they weren't giving up and still wanted to scare her, Ling Yue said directly: "Strange? What's there to be strange about? I merely can understand your animal language."

Upon hearing her words, the snake herd stalled for a moment, then suddenly burst into agitation: "Ahhh, she can actually understand our speech?"

Ling Yue pressed her lips, watching the snakes' surprised looks, and a few that ran too fast actually tied themselves into bows; she almost couldn't help laughing.

Ling Yue twisted open the lid; the pet food she had ready gave off a fragrant aroma, and the restless snakes instantly fell silent, staring eagerly at her hand, about to say that it was the pet food she held.

"I want to see your leader and talk with him."

The snakes: "Hmph, what makes you think you can see our leader just because you want to? Unless—— unless——"

Ling Yue went along with it: "Oh, I understand."

Before these snakes could react, pies started falling from the sky; the first little snake to eat the pet food had its eyes light up, and then they practically ate one after another.

"Mmm, delicious, delicious!"

"It's even more fragrant than the big rat I caught! Just a little lacking, QWQ"

After Ling Yue scattered the "bribe" and it was all eaten, they finally reacted, staring fixedly at Ling Yue.

"Slurp, still want to eat~"

As if anticipating their thoughts, Ling Yue said: "Don't worry, I just want to chat with the leader; if anyone can bring him out, I'll give them a separate reward."

A slightly larger patterned snake coiled tightly; the snakes didn't want to listen to her, but what she gave was really too much!

"Cough cough cough, I'll go find the leader right away!"

"I'm going right away, rest assured, I'm definitely not just after your food!"

The slower-reacting snakes eventually caught on, and several of them ran off.

Watching the originally arrogant snake flock retreat quickly at her words, in the blink of an eye they slipped deep into the snake den; Ling Yue blinked, wow, these snakes are really enthusiastic.

At that moment, Ren Yaqi cautiously approached her side—not because she was bold and skilled, but because of Ling Yue, who gave her an endless sense of safety.

Seeing the snakes scatter, she covered her mouth in astonishment: "Wow, that's amazing!"

Wu Peizhi stiffly took two steps, after seeing the situation inside, his eyes burst with intense light, then looking at Ling Yue, both eyes turned starry.

"Hiss~~"

A large snake with a body patterned in red and black emerged from the cave; its size was enormous, as thick as a bowl's mouth, its long body so huge that even if called a python, Ling Yue would believe it.

Wherever the leader snake passed, the snakes parted like the Red Sea, retreating and bowing their heads: "Leader."

The leader snake raised its body, looked at Ling Yue and said: "It's you who wanted to see me, foolish——" It paused, as if catching a scent in the air, then changed to: "Human, what do you want to do?"

Compared to the other small snakes, the leader is far superior, at least in intelligence, crushing the sum of the others.

Ling Yue: "I'm someone hired by the construction site; they want me to talk with you, please take the snake clan away from the site, and they'll give you compensation."

Ling Yue: "If you want any compensation, feel free to bring it up."

Ling Yue said, feeling a bit embarrassed: "They want to borrow this mountain to build houses."

"Foolish!" the leader snake flicked its tongue, decisively concluded, then looked at Ling Yue: "This is absolutely impossible!"

"Did you see my snake den when I arrived? My especially fierce subordinates!"

Ling Yue recalled the snakes fleeing in panic, pressed her lips tight: "I saw them." They were quite cute too.

The leader snake coiled its body: "Long ago, our snake clan were the masters of this mountain; why should I leave? From ancient times to now, this place has always been my territory!"

"These humans auctioned off the mountain without our permission; they're thieves! Robbers!"

"I sent my subordinates to warn them; not using venomous snakes is already the utmost benevolence; if they continue, don't blame me for being impolite!"

The snakes under it chimed in: "Exactly, exactly, the leader is right; we won't be polite! We won't finish with humans!"

Ling Yue personally saw a cobra raise its body, open its mouth revealing two sharp fangs, and volunteer to its chief: "Chief, let me handle the biting! I haven't tasted human blood yet!"

Immediately, the leader slapped it on the head with its tail, and it cried out "Ay ya!"

"No one may attack humans without my order!"

The snakes that previously dared not speak also stepped forward: "The leader is right; we should still not attack humans casually."

"Who eats people's food softens their hands."

Having just eaten Ling Yue's food, as long as it doesn't defy the leader snake, they can lend a hand.

Ling Yue furrowed her brows, seeing that it actually didn't want a big fight, but regarding sovereignty over the mountain, the leader snake would not yield an inch.

The atmosphere fell into a stalemate.

Ren Yaqi looked at Ling Yue, somewhat understanding: "What are they saying? Do they disagree?"

Ling Yue nodded and explained: "These snakes are the true natives of this mountain; they don't accept my terms, they just want to stay on this mountain."

Upon hearing this, Wu Peizhi's face grew grim, while the subordinate who heard it snorted: "Chief Wu, if I may say, better to poison them; these snakes are nothing but a bunch of beasts."

Wu Peizhi stared in shock at the subordinate who made the suggestion: "What are you saying?"

No matter how worried he was, he had never thought of killing these snakes; previous incidents were due to worker mishandling or other problems during the snakes' transport.

"I——"

Before he could finish saying "agree," the hot-tempered leader snake stared fixedly at him, its amber vertical pupils flashing a chilling killing intent.

"Do these humans think it's dead?"

It actually lunged forward, its five-to-six-meter-long, bowl-thick body surging straight at Wu Peizhi: "Tell you, I won't yield an inch of land!"

As it spoke, its lofty snake head whooshed toward him, its speed so fast humans could hardly catch it, and Ren Yaqi beside him instantly turned pale with shock.

She wanted to warn her younger cousin, but the snake's speed was incredible; the leader snake had already lunged at Wu Peizhi, its gorgeous patterns indicating it carried potent venom.

Compared to such a massive snake, the little cousin raised in the Jiangnan water towns is pathetically weak!

Ren Yaqi's legs went weak, she almost knelt: "Be careful!"

Wu Peizhi hadn't even reacted when he turned his head and saw the huge snake open its blood‑filled maw, aiming at his snowy white neck.

Wu Peizhi: "!!!"

He couldn't even utter a cry for help; it's over!

He despondently closed his eyes, yet the expected pain didn't come, because Ling Yue was even faster—her fingertip traced a flash of golden light in the air: "Go!"

A few seconds later, the snake that had just been clamoring went completely rigid, like a stiff piece of wood, and thudded to the ground.

Ling Yue bent down, the leader snake glared with wide eyes—she never imagined she was no match for it; its temperament was fierce, and it snapped: "What do you want? Kill or chop, it's up to you!"

Ling Yue shook her head: "You've grown this big; you should already be a state-protected animal, and even if not, you're still wildlife—I won't kill you."

"I just want to talk with you—does this mountain really have no room for negotiation?"

Leader snake laughed at her words: "What negotiation? I'm the master of this mountain, I've lived here generation after generation—I won't leave! I won't leave! I'd rather die here than leave!"

"Moreover—"

Leader snake stared at Ling Yue, its vertical pupils flashing: "Don't you realize this place is utterly unsuitable for human habitation?"

Ling Yue froze, instinctively looking at Wu Peizhi, she translated her earlier conversation with the snake king; he was still shaken, blinking, clearly terrified.

Even if Ren Yaqi had previously scolded her younger male cousin however much, it was only because she cared deeply and wanted the best for him; moreover, she was in business and knew that the top-tier merchants are the most superstitious about feng shui.

This giant snake was obviously on the verge of becoming a mountain spirit, yet it said this place was unfit for human habitation; instantly, Ren Yaqi's heart turned cold halfway.

Hearing this, Wu Peizhi trembled, his lips quivering, fingers icy; he dared not look at the giant snake and said: "I—I was told by my friend that he'd been here, that the mountains are clear and waters beautiful, so I bought it."

"Human friend? Could it be that sneaky bunch of humans from earlier?" the leader snake muttered suspiciously.

Ling Yue heard that and thought: "Good grief, could there be some hidden agenda here?"

The leader snake now had its life in her hands, so it dared not lie, explaining: "Probably a while ago, that foolish human hadn't arrived yet; I was leading my snake offspring outside to bask in the sun when suddenly I saw a group of people climbing up."

"Hehehe." The leader snake seemed to think of something and chuckled, only able to twitch the tip of its tail on the ground: "Those people must have seen us; back then the whole area was swarming with snakes—didn't they tell you?"

After days of interaction, the leader snake had long known who the true master of the construction site was; its pale yellow vertical pupils turned to the ashen-faced Wu Peizhi.

Wu Peizhi instinctively sensed something was wrong, pleadingly looking at Ling Yue.

After Ling Yue translated, Wu Peizhi could no longer fail to understand, gritting his teeth: "He deceived me!"

"I bought this mountain solely because that friend recommended it; he never mentioned snakes to me, so I had no idea!"

The more he spoke, the more his spirits sank.

Not only because he was duped by his friend, but also because he clearly knew this sum of money was completely wasted!

How could he not feel discouraged and frantic?

At that moment, Ling Yue pursed her lips, carefully observing the mountain; a mountain breeze blew, revealing the full view of the three level peaks ahead.

Ling Yue's eyes instantly blazed with bright light; a bold idea flashed in her mind, and almost immediately she also sensed something off about the earlier leader snake.

Ling Yue gazed at the ridges, slightly curling her lips: "If people can't live here, what about ghosts? A yin tomb."

As soon as she spoke, not only the disheartened younger male cousin Wu Peizhi stared at her in shock, but even Ren Yaqi was utterly astonished.

"Yin tomb?"

Wu Peizhi doubted his own sanity, otherwise how could he hear such words; he couldn't help but ask again: "Yin tomb? A cemetery?"

Ling Yue nodded and pointed out: "In folklore snakes are called little dragons; in feng shui there's a saying, 'ancestral graves coiled like a dragon, blessings run deep.' It can protect descendants. Earlier I was fixated on appearances—this really is an excellent feng shui site, but for a yin tomb."

Ling Yue pointed to the three great mountains ahead: "In feng shui, these too have their considerations."

The leader snake hadn't expected her to grasp this so quickly; after a moment's thought it realized: if a yin tomb were built, its clan wouldn't need to relocate.

It wasn't a naive snake that knew nothing; it understood humans would do anything for their own gain.

Take, for example, the pangolin on the neighboring hill a few years back—its scales were believed to strengthen yang and nourish the kidneys, and it nearly got hunted to extinction by people.

Thus it said: "You're right; those three mountains ahead are what feng shui calls the 'three terrace case mountain'—peaks level, lotus‑shaped, with the three flowers gathering at the top; those buried here tend to have descendants who become wealthy merchants and high officials."

That was also what Ling Yue wanted to say.

She translated it, and both were again deeply shocked—snakes also read feng shui?

The leader snake twitched its tail: "What's the matter? Having lived long, knowing a bit of feng shui—is that really a problem?"

Wu Peizhi stared wide‑eyed in shock, then reacted, laughing: "Great! Those petty people wanted to see me dead—little did they expect that I'll make them watch me get rich!"

He jumped up with joy, accidentally bumped into something cold, looked closer, and the leader snake eyed him: "Kid, you touched my tail!"

Wu Peizhi: QWQ

He sniffled, hiding behind his older female cousin; obviously the earlier lethal strike hadn't landed, but it left him with a severe psychological scar.

His older female cousin Ren Yaqi met the snake's gaze and also shuddered: "I, I'm afraid of snakes too!"

After everything, they were most grateful to Ling Yue—after all, without her they would truly have given up, and in the end they'd surely lose everything.

As for the yin tomb, Ren Yaqi's view of what ordinary people think could not be clearer: any discerning family will surely select an excellent feng shui site for its members—this is a major matter concerning the fortunes of descendants.

Moreover, the construction cost of a yin tomb is extremely low; the only high expense might be the fee for hiring a feng shui master.

She already has one right at hand, doesn't she? Ren Yaqi looked at Ling Yue and gave a hehe smile.

Ling Yue knew exactly what she meant, pursed her lips, and said: "We can set things up, make this mountain's feng shui a bit better."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than two pairs of wolf‑like eyes glowed green, fixed on her.

Just wanting to give it a try, Ling Yue: "……"

"Don't look at me like that—I thought you were going to eat me."

In the end, Ling Yue still voiced her thought; mainly, she was doing it for the snake clan.

Ling Yue looked at the leader snake: "Bottom line, you are the true masters of this place; turning it into a yin tomb won't disturb you anymore, but it will cost you some of your territory."

"I will set up a formation so you can live better."

"The humans who buy this yin tomb should also welcome you."

The leader snake nodded: "Of course I know!"

Having lived long, the leader snake sees things more clearly than anyone; it knows that even if they hadn't bought this mountain, another would come, and whether it would be as easily resolved, it itself doesn't know.

Perhaps because snakes belong to yin, the leader snake can sense the good and bad of the mountain ridges, which is why it leads its offspring, clinging to the spot and refusing to move.

However, compared to Ling Yue, who has properly received the transmission, the leader snake is completely self‑taught.

Getting back to the point, Ling Yue's proposed feng shui formation dispelled the leader snake's last lingering resentment over human encroachment.

Ren Yaqi was astonished, yet she saw her younger male cousin already taking notes, listing the materials needed for the formation—jade, cinnabar… all sorts of odd bits and bobs.

Wu Peizhi was overjoyed, having exchanged contact with Ling Yue; his heart brimming with uncontainable excitement: "Elder Sister Yueyue, don't worry—I'll definitely gather the materials, and I'll surely get in touch with you when I do!"

Ling Yue nodded, her eyes flickering; this matter only needed one feng shui array to be settled, but since the materials weren't ready yet, they left first.

As for the construction workers, the snake leader led its subordinates in retreating bit by bit; soon after, the snake den occupied by the snakes vanished completely, and the excavated earth was also filled back in.

The foreman stared in shock at Wu Peizhi, who was giving the orders below: "Chief Wu, what are we supposed to do?"

Wu Peizhi waved his hand, beaming, and said: "No more villas—change the blueprints, build a yin residence!"

Hearing this, the foreman was dumbfounded—going from a yang residence to a yin residence, one for the living, one for the dead; this leap is really too big!

"Chief Wu, are you alright?"

Wu Peizhi: "I'm doing great!"

He even had the leisure to post on his social media, pairing it with pictures of the messy construction site, accompanied by a string of hahas.

The friend he had screwed over was still celebrating when he suddenly saw the social media update, and the whole person jumped in fright: "Wu Peizhi, could he have… gone mad?"

At that moment, Ling Yue was on her way to the zoo; she had originally planned to go home and rest, but halfway there, Yuanyuan suddenly called.

After the call connected, Ling Yue heard a girl's anxious voice from the other end: "Director, something's wrong—our zoo has had an incident!"

On the other end of the phone, the noisy protests of visitors could be heard.

"You're abusing the animals! Where's your director? I'm going to expose her!"

"This black-hearted zoo is truly unconscionable!"

The phone call couldn't be made clear, and from the sound Ling Yue could tell it was a huge commotion; not knowing what was going on, the line suddenly went dead.

She furrowed her brows, still thinking, the car came to a stop—Capital Zoo, they had arrived. ：，，.