[Reader Advisory]
If you’re afraid of snakes, you may want to stay away. There are no biggest snakes, only bigger ones.
Lin Nian never expected that a wilderness trip would take her to the legendary forbidden zone of death.
Snake Mountain.
Locals lower their voices whenever they mention it:
“Those who go in never come out.”
“The mountain is crawling with snakes. Some are big enough to swallow people whole.”
She refused to believe it and took a step into the mountain.
Then she believed.
A snake as thick as a barrel lay across the path like a fallen tree.
And another one
slid slowly over the cliff above her head. The sound of its scales scraping the rocks was like the gates of hell opening.
She collapsed to the ground, shaking too hard to stand.
Then she heard a voice, cool and clear, coming from the group:
“Don’t make a sound.”
A woman stepped out from the crowd.
An absurd thought popped into Lin Nian’s head:
The mountain was full of snakes, except for her.
“Are you... human?”
The woman didn’t answer. She only crouched down and looked into her eyes.
After a long pause, she held out a hand:
“Come with me. Otherwise, you won’t get out.”
Lin Nian took her hand.
It was cold, but not quite dead.
It was a human hand.
Only later did she learn
that she was the god of this mountain.
And she had been here alone for many, many years.
Later still, Lin Nian realized she was becoming less and less like herself.
She began to look forward to that icy hand taking hers.
She grew used to the woman’s cool voice saying, “Go to sleep. I’ll keep watch,” at night.
She even began to feel
that the snakes covering the mountain weren’t quite so frightening after all.
Until that day...
