Jiang Shan and Zhou Yingqing had been childhood sweethearts, but when they turned eighteen and reached marriageable age, they ran into trouble. The Zhou family, an official clan, looked down on the Jiang family, merchants for generations. Every time Jiang Shan went to propose, they humiliated him. One day, while the two were meeting secretly in the hills behind the village, Jiang Shan spotted a giant snake egg in the grass. He heard a voice telling him that if he took the egg home, he would be able to marry Zhou Ying. Ignoring Zhou Ying’s objections, Jiang Shan was strangely compelled to take it home. From then on, the family kept seeing spiritual snakes, strange things happened one after another, beautiful strangers appeared at their house from time to time, and one or two chickens went missing from the back yard every day. Jiang Shan was lucky, at least: one day, Zhou Ying arrived at the Jiang residence in a grand bridal sedan, and he welcomed his beloved wife home. Yet the strange events did not stop. Every night around midnight, Zhou Ying would leave their room, then return smelling of blood. Neighbors whispered that they had seen her climbing over the wall to steal chickens. Later, children began disappearing, and when their bodies were found, all their blood had been drained. Everyone said Zhou Ying was a snake demon who had taken human form to wreak havoc. Just as the villagers were about to storm the Jiang residence and capture Zhou Ying, she appeared. The truth was that the woman who had married Jiang Shan was not Zhou Ying, but the snake demon that had hatched from the egg...100
