"Hiss!" I anxiously spat out the letter, unsure of what to do next.

  "Who are you? What are you doing here?" A voice suddenly sounded behind me, and it was speaking in Snake Language.

  I was startled, and then suddenly turned my head around. It was a black snake that had just crawled out of the water, staring at me blankly, its head smaller than mine by about one circle.

  I couldn't recognize what kind of guy he was, so I asked: "What's wrong with me taking a mirror here?"

  "Silly bird, with a face like that, what's there to look at? You're disturbing my sleep! Hey, look, you've been stung by a bee on your head, and yet you think you're a dragon, with two meatballs on your head, it's disgusting!" Who knew that snake would scold me.

  I'm so furious, yesterday I was bullied by a dog, now another snake is scolding me, how can I still tolerate it? Immediately retorted: "Grass, do you think you look good? The whole body is as black as if it crawled out of a coal cellar, what, do you think running into the water to wash can make you white?"

  "You... what did you say? You dare to call me black, I'll fight you!" He seemed to have been hit in the sore spot by my words, and that guy suddenly became furious, about to come over and fight with me.

  "What's wrong with being black? You're a black ghost anyway!" As it rushed over, I cursed another sentence.

  I didn't take it seriously at all, because just by looking at it, I knew it was no match. The speed of it is like a turtle's pace compared to mine, and if it comes at me, I'll definitely beat it in an instant.

  "Whoosh!" It no longer hesitated, but aimed straight for my head and bit down.

  I just lightly dodged and slipped away, while it pounced on empty air. Then it turned its head to come at me again, but I gave it a slap with my tail instead.

  He was dragged away by me for over a meter, and I said: "Alright, stop being shameless, or else I'll take drastic measures!"

  "Damn it!" It seemed that my previous slap had ignited its fury, and it charged at me again without any regard.

  I was also a flame, just now I let it go, but it came again. When it rushed over, I dodged again and launched an attack like lightning, biting its neck in one bite.

  However, I didn't press the issue, after all, we are of the same kind and there's no deep grudge between us. But this guy yelled out: "Let go!"

  I ignored it, but it wrapped itself around me with its body, and the two of us became entangled. However, after just a moment, it begged for mercy: "Let go, I surrender, I surrender!"

  I saw it beg for mercy, so I let it go and said: "How's that, had enough?"

  "It said: 'When did you silver ring snakes become so fierce? Your strength is so great, and your speed has also increased!'"

  "I said: 'I don't know about other silver ring snakes, but I'm different!'"

  "Why?" she asked, tilting her head.

  I shook my head: "Not telling you!"

  “……”

  After a while, he said: "How about you being my boss? I'll follow you from now on!"

  I was stunned, I didn't expect snakes would also find a leader, isn't this something only humans do? I asked: "Do snakes also have factions?"

  It tilted its head and looked at me again, seemingly re-evaluating me. After a while, it said, "You don't know?"

  I shook my head and said, "I don't know, because I've been locked up in a cage by others since I was young, and I just escaped not long ago, so I'm still not very familiar with the real life of snakes."

  After hearing what I said, it exclaimed in surprise: "Wow, so you were raised by humans! No wonder you're so formidable. Your previous master must have trained you before, right?"

  “……”

  This time I was speechless again, but I still nodded and said, "Yeah, you're right, that's how it is!" I couldn't tell it that I had become like this because I absorbed the light of that magical mushroom, could I? If that were true, it would probably fight to the death with me for it, so it's better if I keep a low profile.

  Seeing me acknowledge it, it said with a tone of worship: "Then I'll follow you from now on. You're so powerful, no other snake will dare to bully me."

  "Weren't you often bullied before?" I asked.

  "Well, I guess it's just that I'm easy to bully, so those guys always love bullying me!" He said awkwardly.

  I just thought of it and asked: "By the way, what kind of snake are you?"

  "Hey, big brother, don't you know me? I'm just an ordinary snake. Oh right, you were raised in captivity, and I'm a black-backed snake. I look kind of scary, but I'm not venomous, and my attacks aren't that great either. So those guys always bully me." The black-backed snake said pitifully.

  I was speechless for a moment, it turned out to be a black-backed snake. I knew this kind of snake is non-venomous, but it just came at me with a loud hiss earlier, and I thought it was some kind of venomous snake.

  "What's up? Let me follow you!" This guy actually ran to my side in an instant, rubbing his head against me.

  I had no choice but to say: "Alright, but I'm being hunted down right now. If you're not afraid of death, follow me!"

  The black-backed snake was taken aback and then asked: "Isn't it that your former master is trying to kill you?"

  "I said: 'No, because I killed someone, so they want to kill me, that's why I was chased here!'"

  "Boss, I really admire you, you're actually killing people for fun! From now on, I'll follow you no matter what. Don't worry, if they come after you again, I'll go take care of them!" This guy is like he's been injected with chicken blood after hearing that I killed someone.

  Since it's really following me, I can only bring it along. But for now, I still have to deal with this thing on my head first: "By the way, do you even know what this is on my head?"

  Listen to me finish, it circled around me and sniffed me again before saying: "I really didn't know this, but I feel like you're not sick either, which is weird!"

  "Alright!" I saw that it didn't know either, and I really had no way out, so let it be. After all, this guy said I wasn't sick, which should be its instinct as a snake, so it should understand some of the physical conditions of snakes or something.

  Suddenly, I felt a numbness all over my body, and I knew it was time to shed my skin again. Wait, no! Didn't I just shed my skin a few days ago? According to my knowledge of snakes, shouldn't they only shed their skin every few months? What's wrong with me?!

  But I couldn't care about anything else, since I had to shed my skin, I could only say to the black-striped snake: "I'm going to shed my skin now, you wait for me first!"

  "Huh, really? Alright then, go ahead and shed your skin, I'll keep watch and won't let any other snakes disturb you!" Seeing that I was about to molt, the black-backed snake voluntarily lay down beside me, protecting me from harm by other snakes.

  Because snakes are most vulnerable when they shed their skin, if other animals come, it will be very dangerous. However, I am not afraid that the snake will harm me because, as I said before, although snakes are cold-blooded, they have a strong sense of loyalty and once a relationship is established, they won't easily betray each other.

  Two hours later, I finally shed my skin and found myself refreshed and rejuvenated. My senses were heightened and my body was much stronger than before.

  After I shed my skin, the black-spined snake suddenly turned its head and looked at me, saying: "Hey, what happened to those two flesh balls on your head?"

  "What has it become?" I asked with some concern.

  He leaned in close, took a look and said: "It's indescribable, it looks like two pieces of stone are embedded on top, it's really strange! Are you or aren't you the original Matou Head Viper?"

  I don't know what's going on either, how did it turn into a stone again? I shook my head and said: "How am I not? But this change, even I myself don't know what's going on, forget it, doesn't matter."

  At this time, I wanted to go back and see how my parents were doing. After all, I had been out for so long, and I was afraid that they would worry about me. Moreover, I was also afraid that when the police couldn't catch me, they would go and bother my parents.

  Thinking of this, I said to the black-backed snake: "After I came out, there was a kind-hearted person who took me in, so I want to go back and see them, do you want to go?"

  "Great, great! I haven't even made contact with anyone yet!" exclaimed the black-backed snake.

  I took it and rushed home, but this guy's speed was indeed a bit slow. If I had gone at my own pace, I would have arrived home in time for lunch, but we didn't arrive until 2 pm when we finally reached the bottom of our apartment building.

  Suddenly saw a familiar figure, it was that police officer Xiao Huang, and next to him were two policemen I didn't know, we quietly crept up behind them.

  One of the police officers said, "We've been squatting for an entire morning, that snake shouldn't come back again, right?"

  Xiao Huang said: "That's not necessarily the case. That snake is very spiritual, since it was raised by them as a couple, I think it will come back again, let's wait a bit longer."

  As soon as I heard that these guys actually came to squat at my doorstep, then I won't be polite.