Chapter 37

Before the two little demons could decide on their names, a phone call that very night forced the entire family out of their home.

The call came from the family they had met earlier that day—the ones who had dealt with a snake bite. The snakes had returned at dinnertime, and not just one or two, but a dense, writhing mass that seemed to cover the entire villa.

Everyone inside the villa was so terrified by the gruesome sight that they nearly suffered heart failure, and they quickly called the police. The police station was nearby, and they arrived in under five minutes. Yet, a bizarre thing happened: the officers searched the villa from top to bottom, checking every corner, but they did not see a single snake. The house was perfectly clean.

However, as the officers walked through the rooms, the family could still see the snakes slithering and coiling around the officers' feet. Some even crawled onto the officers' shoulders, their tongues flickering inches from the police officers' faces, yet the officers remained completely oblivious.

The youngest granddaughter, already trembling with fear, fainted at the sight. The grandmother clutched her chest, looking as though she might collapse at any moment.

"How can you say there aren't any? One is right on your shoulder!"

An officer tilted his head toward his shoulder. Having arrived in a hurry, he had picked up some dust, so he brushed it off, looking at the horrified group with a frown. "What did you have for dinner? Did you eat mushrooms?"

"No," everyone shook their heads in unison. Dinner had been nothing but standard chicken, duck, and fish.

With no mushrooms consumed yet hallucinations present, the police could not help but suspect that the group had ingested other hallucinogenic drugs. "Tell you what, come to the station with us for a blood test."

As soon as these words were spoken, the adults understood the implication: they were being suspected of drug use. The group, still shivering in fear of the snakes, instantly lifted their heads, their voices rising in volume: "We are not on drugs!"

"We'll know for sure after the test."

And so, the group followed the police out of the villa, taking the unconscious child with them. Once they were outside, they noticed the snakes remained inside the house, not following them out. This only confirmed that the snakes were real.

The test results, of course, showed no drug use. After several hours of chaos, it was nearing midnight when they were finally released. It was the middle of the Lunar New Year, and the group stood in the cold wind on the street, terrified to go back inside. They had checked earlier: as soon as they stepped into the villa, the snakes would coil around them, yet outsiders could see nothing. The property management had nearly dismissed them as mentally ill, telling them after a quick look around that they should stop playing pranks and go to sleep in the middle of the night.

After the management left, the group was left feeling both heartbroken and helpless. The child who had fainted had woken up and was wailing in her father's arms, refusing to return to the villa under any circumstances. But their luggage was still inside, and the grandmother had to continue living there; this matter had to be resolved.

The curly-haired woman who had held the grandmother back from seeking help earlier now remembered the business card that looked like a flyer.

"Maybe we should just hire someone to handle this. It’s too strange. Mom, where did you put that card? The one for Qingyao’s adoptive parents—didn't it say they could catch snakes and demons?"

The grandmother patted her pockets, couldn't find it, and then remembered she had left it in a drawer. "It's in the drawer next to the fireplace in the main hall."

"Who’s going to get it?"

Aside from the grandmother, the only others present were her brother’s son and daughter. The curly-haired woman was the grandmother’s youngest daughter; she, her husband, and their two daughters had returned to visit. The couple whose child was bitten was the grandmother’s second son’s family, and they were still at the hospital with the child. As for the nanny, she had been so terrified that she had run home immediately and refused to return.

The group looked at one another. The curly-haired woman pulled her husband and children behind her; her youngest daughter was still huddled in her father’s arms, sobbing, clearly unable to go back inside.

The remaining man seemed to have no choice but to step up.

The curly-haired woman said, "Mingyu, your third brother-in-law can't get away right now. You’re the youngest and strongest, and you’re fast. Could you do us a favor and run in there?"

Mingyu, who seemed like an honest sort, felt embarrassed to refuse. Before he could agree, his sister, Mingjing, spoke up: "Third sister, Mingyu just had a bad illness. He was in and out of the hospital right before the New Year and is still weak. It’s easy for him to run into something at a time like this. I think you have the most vitality in the family—those snakes didn't even touch you earlier. Why don't you go? You're fast. It's so cold, and Auntie is shivering. We should be considerate of the elderly, right? Let's get this over with so we can go to sleep."

The curly-haired woman glared at her. "But I have to watch the children; they’re scared."

"We’ll wait outside and watch the kids for you. Just run in and out; it’ll be fine. You can wear my hat to protect your head. It’s cold, so we’re all wearing layers; they won't be able to bite through your clothes that quickly."

Seeing everyone hesitating, the grandmother spoke up tentatively: "Yilan, please, just do this one favor. When you got married, the fortune teller said your 'eight characters' were very strong, that you were destined for a life of comfort. There’s really no one else who can do this."

The curly-haired woman hadn't expected the task to be pushed onto her. She bit her lip, trembling as she put on the hat and pulled her sleeves down. After steeling herself for a long moment, she walked toward the house.

As soon as she stepped onto the property, the snakes that had vanished reappeared. There seemed to be even more than before. As she appeared, every writhing snake instantly stopped, raising their heads in unison to fix their cold, icy glares upon her.

Zhong Yilan was trembling so hard she barely knew how to move. She wanted to run, but when she glanced back and saw her family standing in the distance, she didn't want to be looked down upon. She gritted her teeth, told herself it was all a hallucination, closed her eyes, and charged inside.

To her surprise, the snakes did not attack. As her feet landed, they even recoiled slightly. Zhong Yilan quickly reached the drawer, opened it, and saw the box of business cards.

There were nearly a hundred cards in the box; it was impossible to pick the right one. She had to endure her fear and flip through them rapidly.

Several snakes crawled up into the open drawer, and one coiled itself around the card box, hissing at her hand. Zhong Yilan nearly lost her mind. She gave up on searching, swatted the snake away, grabbed the entire box, and ran outside.

She sprinted out the door and collapsed onto the ground, her legs turning to jelly.

The group took the box and quickly found the card they needed. The grandmother grabbed her daughter's hand guiltily. "Thank you, Yilan, you’ve worked hard."

Zhong Yilan pulled her hand away without a word.

And so, in the middle of the night, Hu Yuanfei received the call for help.

"As long as you can resolve this, the payment will be 100,000! If it goes smoothly, there will certainly be a bonus."

The number "100,000" made Hu Yuanfei jump up instantly, his eyes shining like stars in the dark night. "Great, no problem! We're on our way."

He was so excited that he lunged at Lang Xiao, rubbing his head against her neck and even trying to nip at her nape. Lang Xiao endured it for a few seconds before she couldn't take it anymore; she flipped him over and pinned his neck firmly with her claws.

"Want to die?"

Hu Yuanfei sobered up instantly. He didn't resist, lying flat on his back with his four paws curled up toward the sky, not at all afraid that Lang Xiao would actually kill him. He grinned, holding up his paws. "100,000! There's 100,000 in this job!"

The sparkle in his eyes left Lang Xiao speechless. She retracted her claws. "Then what are you waiting for? Let's go."

She rose and went into the bedroom. Qingyao was already fast asleep, so Lang Xiao bundled her in a thick coat and pants and picked her up. After the previous incident, the two demons dared not leave Qingyao alone again. Even if they could have sent one while the other kept watch, they wouldn't; if they were going to act, they would act together. Having her by their side was the safest option.

She strapped Qingyao onto her back for convenience. When they stepped out of the bedroom, the cat and the dog—who hadn't yet fallen asleep because they were still pondering their names—were sitting neatly by the door.

Li Bai asked expectantly, "Can we go too?"

They were a family now; whatever happened, they should face it together.

Lang Xiao nodded. "Fine, let's go together."

The taxi ride took some time, but there was no traffic at midnight, and they arrived in less than half an hour. The security guard had been notified, so he let them in immediately. When they saw the group arrive, the people who had been waiting for so long were nearly moved to tears, as if they had seen their own kin.

"You're finally here! Come, take a look."

But why, they wondered, did these masters bring children with them? No, wait—why were there pets, too?! They were here to catch snakes, not visit relatives! Were they really reliable?

Regardless of their inner complaints, they dared not say a word. As long as the snakes were gone, nothing else mattered.

The four demons felt a strong demonic aura as soon as they approached the villa—it was ten times more intense than it had been during the day. In their vision, the villa wasn't swarming with snakes; there were only about seven or eight of them, crawling listlessly around the hall. The largest one was coiled on the coffee table, its eyes locked onto the powerful demons outside.

It was a common pit viper, with uniform leaf-shaped patterns on its body and a faint scar on its tail, looking to be about twenty centimeters long. The viper stared at Lang Xiao with vigilance and tension, flickering its tongue as if threatening her.

Lang Xiao ignored the threat and walked straight into the house.

The viper moved, suddenly turning to slither away into the house. The other snakes, previously scattered about, quickly followed its lead. In an instant, they were all gone.

Lang Xiao stood by the coffee table and raised an eyebrow at the direction in which the snakes had vanished, not in a hurry to pursue them. She simply dispelled the hallucinogenic aura the snake had left behind and called out to the people outside who were afraid to enter: "It's fine now. You can come in."

The group approached with skepticism, only to find that the snakes were truly gone; the hall was clean.

"They're really gone. How did you do that?!"

"Is it completely resolved? That was so fast!"

The group cautiously stepped inside. Having seen the snakes coiled on the sofas earlier, they didn't even dare to sit down, huddling together on the side of the room.

Zhong Yilan asked, "Were the snakes driven away? Will they come back? Master, we need this solved permanently. Chasing them away won't be enough."