I was born on the day of spring thunder, when snakes and insects stir back to life. Two red spots marked my wrist from birth, like a pair of vivid cinnabar moles, or two fresh, blood-red bite marks.
From then on, every Dragon Boat Festival, countless snakes would gather at my home to pay homage. When I came of age, the snakes carried in a blood-red pearl. After that, strange events began happening one after another in the village, all of them connected to a secret the old folks spoke of.
Some said the red spots on my wrist had brought a curse; others said they were a calamity summoned by my ancestors. It wasn't until I was offered as a sacrifice to a black snake on the mountain that I learned the two red spots were the mark of a snake's kiss, steeped in old grievances.
As the saying goes, when a snake haunts your dreams three times, each dream foretells a lifetime. And in this life, I have come to repay someone else's debt...
