Serpent Sarcophagus

Chapter 10 People Are More Poisonous Than Snakes

I never dared to sleep that night, and Stowy did not come out again. No one else showed up except the

nurse who came to check on Mrs. Quebec and to ask about the payment of the first-aid on Fletcher's

wife.

At dawn, before the two people from my family who had gone to look for my parents returned, Uncle

Peter came in first.

Mrs. Quebec wasn't awake yet. I held the phone and still didn't get a call from my parents.

“The villagers are already looking for your parents. There should be news. I've asked the villagers to

take care of Mrs. Quebec. Come on, I'll take you to find the Serpent Sarcophagus,” Uncle Peter also

seemed to be tired all night and looked very exhausted.

“You found it so quickly?” I glanced at the Black Mamba Bracelet on my wrist and thought about our

conversation in the car last night, “I'll go get changed first.”

Last night, I sat with my body soaking wet through the night. Now the clothes were dry, but I still felt

uncomfortable.

But when I was about to leave, the nurse called me, “You're Luna Quebec's family, right? Do you know

that she has tuberculosis? Should I prescribe her medication?”

Mrs. Quebec was coughing badly and said she was dying. It turned out that she was suffering from

tuberculosis.

“Prescribe the medicine.” I turned to look at Uncle Peter.

Uncle Peter reluctantly went to pay the bill, and then sent me home.

My house was actually quite close to the town hospital, but Uncle Peter didn't plan to go in. He only

said that I should get my clothes and leave, because he was afraid that it was not safe.

Before I got in the house, Aunt Luth caught a glimpse of me. She rushed over here. “Did you find your

parents? Fletcher's wife and her family are gone? Did something happen again?”

I shook my head at Aunt Luth, “If you see my parents come back, let them go back to the village.”

Aunt Luth glanced at Uncle Peter's car, and there was a flash of doubt in her eyes, but she still nodded

at me.

The shelves in the house were empty. It looked a little deserted without all the snake liquor.

I went to the first floor, found the rice bag in the kitchen first, and also took a knife before heading

upstairs.

I packed a few clothes in haste. By the time I reached for the cash hidden in the vase under the

windowsill, I saw Uncle Peter saying something to Aunt Luth, who was grinning.

I slipped the cash into my pocket and flipped through my phone.

My cousin seemed to have been born in the same year as me, and she posted pictures of her birthday

not long ago. That birthday party was especially beautifully decorated, and I was envious, so I

remembered it.

My aunt had a job in the town, so my cousin was studying in the town, except for New Year's Eve when

she would return.

I went to the post my cousin sent. She was only a month or so older than me...

If the Dragon family must have one woman per generation to be buried in the Serpent Sarcophagus,

my cousin obviously was born before me, so why, in my generation, was it not my cousin who should

be buried, but me who was born after her?

I looked down from the window. Aunt Luth seemed to have taken some money and left with a smile on

her face.

When I went downstairs, Uncle Peter smiled at me when he saw me carrying a rice bag, “You're really

going to be Mrs. Quebec's apprentice, aren't you?”

I carried the rice bag and shook my head at Uncle Peter, “For self-defense. I have a classmate whose

father is in the hospital. I want to see him first before I go back to the village.”

“Master Chang?” Uncle Peter seemed to know about it.

“Yes.” I nodded and looked at Uncle Peter nervously, “Can you lend me some money? After all, Master

Chang was bitten by a snake because of me.”

“That's true.” Uncle Peter took out his cell phone and transferred five hundred directly to me, “You buy

some fruits and tonics to send him first, saying that you only have this much money. When your parents

come back, you can thank him properly.”

I received the money and got off the car at the hospital entrance. I asked Uncle Peter to wait for me

below, then I bought some fruits and went up.

Master Chang was well known in town. I found his ward after asking.

He had already woken up and was alone in the ward. When he saw me, he seemed to be surprised for

a moment.

But he still smiled and said, “Pearl went to school.”

I placed the fruits I bought at his bedside and spoke directly, “You know a lot about my family, didn't

you? Uncle Peter is out there and he's taking me to look for the Serpent Sarcophagus.”

“I just want to know if a woman of the Dragon family was destined to be buried in Serpent

Sarcophagus, why, eighteen years ago, wasn't my cousin the one that got buried, who was more than a

month older than me? And you had to wait until the date of my birth to move the grave?” I said all the

words in one breath.

What I had experienced in the last few days made me have to think more.

When I went to Master Chang's house the night before, I found that he obviously knew something.

“Aurora, don’t go to seek the Serpent Sarcophagus,” Master Chang didn't seem surprised to hear so

many questions from me.

He just looked at me and said, “Since you know about Serpent Sarcophagus and the Dragon family's

women, run away as far as you can, just like the geomancy master Mr. Hugo who came to check the

land when your family planned to move the graves back then.”

“As long as you escape, your parents will be safe too.” Master Chang obviously knew something.

I wanted to ask more, but Master Chang showed a look of horror when he saw the Black Mamba

Bracelet on my wrist. He looked at me seriously and was about to say something.

Instead, Uncle Peter's voice suddenly sounded from the doorway, “Aurora, let's go.”

I turned my head to look at Uncle Peter, but he was holding his cell phone and handed it to me, “Your

parents are waiting for you.”

I saw a picture on his phone. My parents were tied up and blindfolded with towels in their mouths. It

looked like they were in a cave, because there was only the faint light of a flashlight in the photo.

“I found your mom and dad last night. Come with me. If we didn't go, and you know it, that ghost snake

might go berserk.” Uncle Peter was afraid I wouldn't believe him so he showed me another video.

It was a dirt cave somewhere, not big, lit up by only a faint flashlight light. My parents were tied up very

tightly, and no matter how much they struggled, they could not free themselves.

And the person who took the video deliberately pulled the camera away. I saw that it was damp outside

the cave, and countless snakes were crawling, hissing, and spitting tongues. Many of them were

poisonous snakes.

Uncle Peter sneered at me and said, “You can also call the police. But by the time the police find your

parents, they'll probably have been bitten to death by snakes. Mrs. Quebec was bitten and you treated

her, but I am afraid your parents are not so lucky.”

“What about my grandma?” It occurred to me that grandma hadn't called me this morning.

“She's fine. But if you refuse out request, I don’t know if she'll be lucky to avoid the snakes when they

enter your house this time.” Uncle Peter glanced at Master Chang.

He sneered, “Mr. Hugo went to see you before he ran away. Looks like he said a lot of things.”

Master Chang ignored him and just looked at me and said, “Aurora, don't go.”

Uncle Peter waved at me, “Aurora, you go out first. I'll have a word with Master Chang.”

I hurriedly took two steps back and stood between Uncle Peter and Master Chang, “I'll go with you.”

Uncle Peter laughed and looked at Master Chang, “I'll see you when I have time.”

Uncle Peter and I headed out the door, but Master Chang suddenly called out to me, “Aurora, you've

been poisoned by Snake's Lust Poison, right?”

“The snake on your wrist doesn't have a body, but he has a way to cure you.” Master Chang's voice

was deep.

He uttered his words one by one, “That ghost snake is very vindictive.”

I turned my head to look at Master Chang, and he smiled at me, “Pearl is still waiting to go to college

with you.”

Uncle Peter took me out of the hospital, “Don’t be afraid. Only you can find that Serpent Sarcophagus,

and I want to destroy it too. Now you give me the phone!”

I looked around at the people around and at Uncle Peter.

“You can try to call for help...” Uncle Peter leaned against the car door and stared at me, “I deleted that

video and photos. Your parents went out on their own yesterday to find David, and someone died at

your house. It's possible that your parents went out to avoid trouble.”

“And if your parents were bitten to death by the snakes...” Uncle Peter looked at me and chuckled, “You

didn’t see the body of Mrs. Quebec, have you? When she was found, her whole body was blackened,

covered with snakebite wounds, and beyond recognition. Probably nothing can be examined!”

“Was it you who killed Mrs. Quebec?” I handed him the phone and got into the car.

Uncle Peter shook his head, “I'm not that brutal.”

Uncle Peter drove fast. But instead of going into the village, he drove straight down the road into the

mountains and kept going.

At the end of the road, he let me out and took me forward.

Not too far into the trail, we met the two people from my family who were handling the dead snakes last

night, and they were carrying a bag.

When they saw me, Uncle Peter pulled out a piece of clothing from the snakeskin bag and put it on me,

“This is my aunt's clothes. She was the woman of the Dragon family who was buried in the Serpent

Sarcophagus before you.”

“I took this coat from the coffin where the grave was moved, and it is stained with the scent of Serpent

Sarcophagus.” Uncle Peter tied the sleeve of the coat in a knot around my neck.

“Do we rely on this coat to find the sarcophagus?” I looked at the clothes without refusing.

Uncle Peter, however, took out a blindfold and handed it to me, “Have you been able to hear something

calling your name? Blindfold yourself and follow the sound and you will find the sarcophagus.”

“Then how can I be sure you'll let my parents go?” I took the blindfold and looked at Uncle Peter, “Didn't

you want to destroy the sarcophagus?”

“If you hadn't been buried in it, it would have been your cousin. Once you find the Serpent

Sarcophagus, I have a way to destroy it.” Uncle Peter gestured to me to put on the blindfold and said in

a deep voice, “It’s not that I would kill your parents.”

With that, he grabbed the blindfold directly and put it on me.

Then he pulled my hands, tied my wrists with twine, and pushed me forward.

I couldn't see with my eyes. He suddenly pushed me forward, which made me stumble and almost fall.

But there was no sound behind me. I tried to escape, but my eyes were blindfolded, my hands were

tied, and I wasn't sure if Uncle Peter was following me.

I took a moment to catch my breath and tried to think of a way to save myself, hoping Master Chang

would come to my rescue.

When I slowly calmed down, the soft and ethereal call started to ring in my ears, “Aurora ... Aurora ...”

I didn't know the reason, but this time, my feet seemed to be out of control and I slowly walked ahead.