Chapter no.7 The Snake and The Poison

Isolation in the dark wore out my emotions,
and my capacity for feeling fear seemed to
have died out in the abyss.
My wrist suddenly tingled.
Surprised by the pain as if being stabbed by a
needle, I looked down and saw a faint outline of a small snake biting my wrist.
The snake soon wrapped its entire body
around my wrist with a tight bite.
"Hiss..."
I tried to get rid of the snake immediately. But at that moment, an intense heat filled my chest
'Poison?'
That was the last thought I had before I lost control over my body.
The snake biting my wrist fell as it crawled away from me and went back to the other insects.
The food that snakes could eat deep underground was extremely limited. For the little snake, insects were its only food source.
It was a coincidence that I was bitten by a snake that had come to this place for the swarm of insects. The snake enjoyed its supper without paying any attention to me whose body fell to the floor, unable to move.
My whole body felt like it was on fire.
The venom of a small, unknown snake was truly terrifying.
Poison flowed through my blood vessels and seemed to attack my whole body. As if the fire had been poured over nerves and pieces of glass had been lodged into my internal organs. Despite the intense pain, I did not scream once. My whole body was so numb that I couldn't even move.
My eyes opened wide in extreme pain. I didn't know but some kind of liquid seemed to pour out of my eyes as if blood had burst
all over and my eyes were the gateway for it to pour out blood.
As the poison attacked my body, the heat
continued to intensify.
I could not even let out a scream but I had to endure the pain.
it would have been less painful if I had lost
consciousness, but perhaps it was the effect of poison, my mind was rather clear. So I had to feel the excruciating pain vividly with his bare mind.
A day had passed in excruciating pain.
The last few hours felt more painful and
longer than the time he had been confined in
the underground space.
Different parts of the seemed body to be damaged internally and externally as I endured the pain by clenching my teeth.
The numbness that bound my body as if it were a lie was released, and the heat in my chest had disappeared.
In the end, I won the battle against the poison for some reason; but I was grateful to myself for holding on to my life.
I had managed to survive the poison, but most of my internal organs, muscles, and nerves were damaged if the pain was anything to go by.
I had no energy to move right now but I forced myself to. As I crawled towards the only door leading to the outside.
A plate of food was placed in front of the iron gate.
My mouth was dry and I couldn't feel any taste, but I had to eat something to survive.
Crawled like the snake that poisoned me.
After a while, I barely reached the iron gate, and hurriedly put my face into the plate. As I licked the food, I murmured to myself.
"I won't die. No matter what!"
••●••••●••••●••••●••••●••
[ 4 Years Ago ]
[ Gaoling Village ]
On the outskirts of the small rural village; lay a small unassuming house with only one notable feature, a cherry blossom tree.
Inside the house, a pale young man with long black hair and a noticeably weak constitution sat in front of a few children while exclaiming with a kind smile.
" People at birth...."
His voice trailed off as the children repeated after him.
" People at birth."
" .... are naturally good." The pale white teacher recited the trimetric classical text of the dynasty song.
" are naturally good." The Children repeated after with boredom etched onto their faces but the teacher was deterred as he exclaimed," Their natures alike."
Before the children could repeat anything, the sound of the front gate opening caused everyone's attention to turn.
" Teacher Bai Li."
The teacher's grey eyes narrowed at Chen Ating.
Nuo'er meanwhile greeted Bai Li with a bow with Chen Ating clicked her tongue.
" Sorry, I am late."
" And, who is this ?" Teacher Bai Li asked with a warm smile.
" This is Grandpa Chen's granddaughter, Chen Ating," Nuo'er said as he handed over a small bag of medicine to Bai Li.
" Ah.... the Old Hero's granddaughter ?"
" Yes sir, my mother will send the tuition fees tomorrow."
Teacher Bai Li raised his hand as he said," Don't worry about it, the cost of everyday medicine is already ..."
" Sister Ting, this is Teacher Bai Li, you should greet him," Nuo'er exclaimed as he pushed Chen Ating forward.
" Is Teacher Bai Li Ji .... super strong ?" Chen Ating asked with curiosity plastered on her face.
Teacher Bai Li's eyes narrowed at Chen Ating while he thought,' Interesting!'
Seeing his teacher's silence, Nuo'er answered," Of course, the teacher is the greatest person I've met."
( ~ Poww ~ )
( ~ Thud ~ )
Nuo'er and the other children's jaws dropped to the floor as they saw Chen A-Ting's fist crash into Teacher Bai Li's face.
" Ow " Teacher Bai Li exclaimed as he covered his bleeding nose with his sleeves while all the children came to his side with worry and tears.
" Teacher! Are you ok ?!"
Meanwhile, Nuo'er stopped Chen Ating while exclaiming," Stop! Not that kind of strong !"
....
( ~ Thud ~ )
Chen Ating held her forehead in pain as she pouted at her grandpa who glared at her.
Nuo'er spoke up," Grandpa Chen, don't blame her. It's my fault for not stopping her in time."
Chen Yansheng didn't bother replying to Nou-er as he glared at his teary-eyed granddaughter.
" Ating, why did gramps teach ya martial arts? Are ye going to beat up everyone out there just ter the best? If yer going to blindly swing yer fist at everything ya see, ye'll become a menace sooner or later. Ye better settle down n' study, ye hear me ?"
Chen Ating sniffed as a few tears escaped her eyes as she looked down.
" Uncle Chen, A-Ting's still young and she'll naturally become sensible when she grows older."
Zhou Liu Shi's words caused Old man Yansheng to sigh.
" I just hope I'll still be around ter see it."
Chen Yansheng's words Chen Ating ran and hug her grandpa as she shouted out.
" No! Grandpa, you promised Ating you'd be with her forever."
Chen Yansheng sighed as he patted Chen A-Ting's head.
" Don't worry, ya gramps is still alive and kicking. I still have to scare the first guy you bring in."