Invincible Snake Emperor-Chapter 129 - 127: Snake King Temple

The Snake King Temple's popularity stemmed from two things. First was the faith and worship of its believers. Second, it had a reputation for working miracles.

For instance, it was said that afflictions like snake-related curses or hauntings could be resolved at the Snake King Temple.

Snakes are vengeful creatures. Those who had been tormented by them naturally believed, while those who hadn't might just scoff at the idea.

Tu Xiao'an shrank himself to the size of an insect and flew brazenly into the Snake King Temple. The temple was bustling with tourists burning incense and praying for blessings, both inside and out, but not a single one of them could spot the tiny, flying Snake.

The main hall of the temple enshrined the Snake King. The statue was enormous and majestic, but it didn't depict a snake. Instead, it was the likeness of a seated, middle-aged man with a kind and benevolent face, holding a Snake Staff.

Legend had it that this was the form the Snake King took when he transformed into a human to roam the mortal world and perform good deeds. This image was later immortalized in the statue by those who remembered him.

Tu Xiao'an landed silently on the Snake King statue. Looking out, he saw several out-of-town tourists kowtowing and making wishes before it. Their expressions were incredibly devout, just as if they were worshiping a Buddha or a Bodhisattva.

He checked his system notifications. As expected, these people worshiping the Snake King statue had absolutely nothing to do with him; he didn't gain a single Faith Point from them.

He would have to replace it.

Just then, a young woman who looked to be in her late twenties kowtowed three times before the Snake King statue. Then she clasped her hands together and murmured as if talking in her sleep, "Lord Snake King, please bless me so that I can get pregnant this month. My mother-in-law said that if I can get pregnant this month, she'll give me a million yuan as a reward."

After making her wish, she kowtowed three more times with great piety.

Tu Xiao'an's hearing and sight were sharp. He could hear any faint sound within a few kilometers if he focused, let alone the young woman who was not more than thirty feet away.

But after hearing the woman's prayer, Tu Xiao'an was so stunned he felt like he'd been struck by lightning. 'People actually come to the Snake King Temple to pray for a child these days?'

'Asking a Snake to bless you with a child... isn't that taking a rather unconventional route?'

At that moment, Tu Xiao'an felt an immense pressure. 'If I want to replace him and get more followers, I'm going to have to take on a lot of new "business lines."'

Just then, a middle-aged mother walked in with her thirteen- or fourteen-year-old son to kowtow and make a wish. As soon as the boy saw the Snake King statue, he dropped to his knees on the prayer cushion with a thud. He looked quite devout as he immediately opened his mouth and said, "Lord Snake King, I'm your die-hard fan! I want to ask you to bless me so I can get a penta kill in LoL. I've played thousands of matches and have never gotten one!"

Hearing this, his mother rapped him on the head. "What nonsense are you spouting?" she scolded. "Just kowtow properly!"

"Lord Snake King, please forgive him. My son doesn't have a filter, so please ignore him. I pray that you'll keep my husband from going out to see his mistress. If he does go out to see her again, just send a venomous snake to bite him to death. Then I can even inherit his estate."

With her back to her son, the middle-aged mother secretly uttered words so shocking they could startle the heavens and move Ghost Gods.

The hidden Tu Xiao'an was utterly exasperated. 'Damn it, why isn't there a single decent wish?'

'It's like they're just playing a child's game. What do they take the Snake King for?'

'Praying for a child, a penta kill in a game, murdering one's own husband...'

'It really takes all kinds. Someone is actually wishing for the Snake King to send a snake to kill her own husband.'

Of course, under normal circumstances, the Snake King Temple shouldn't be like this.

Suddenly, three or four people rushed in from outside the temple, carrying a pale, unconscious man. One of them shouted, "Quick, get the Snake King Water! My friend's been bitten by a snake!"

At that moment, a middle-aged man in strange Daoist robes hurried over. He checked the poisoned man's injury and saw that his lower leg had already turned a dark, purplish-black.

It was clearly a snakebite, obvious at a single glance.

"Lay him flat! Don't touch him!" The man in Daoist robes turned and left, quickly returning with a bowl of slightly murky water.

Upon seeing the Snake King Water, the men were overjoyed. They immediately kowtowed to the Snake King statue. "Thank you, Lord Snake King, for granting us this water!"

By now, a number of tourists had seen the commotion and gathered around. They had all heard that the Snake King Temple was very efficacious. The most talked-about miracle was that if you were bitten by a venomous snake in Bai Town, you could come directly to the Snake King Temple.

Drink the Snake King Water bestowed by the Snake King, and you would recover instantly. It was truly miraculous.

Perched on the statue, Tu Xiao'an watched them with a strange expression as he saw the bowl of murky water. Outsiders might not know the secret behind the Snake King Water, but he was a native of Bai Town and, on top of that, a Snake Catcher.

It was said to be Snake King Water bestowed by the Snake King, capable of neutralizing snake venom. In reality, it was just ordinary water mixed with some secret antidote made by Snake Catchers.

This was done for two reasons: one, to enhance the Snake King's prestige, and two, to do a good deed.

Behind every seemingly magical event, there was always a bit of smoke and mirrors.

However, this "Snake King Water" was only effective against the venom of common snakes. If someone were bitten by a rare Snake Species, the only option was to rush them to a hospital for an anti-snake serum.

Even with the advancements in modern medicine, there was still no miracle drug that could be taken orally for venomous snakebites; the only treatment was anti-snake serum.

Furthermore, anti-snake serum couldn't be used indiscriminately. The serum had to be developed from the venom of the specific snake that bit you.

For example, if you were bitten by a Five-step Snake, using a serum for a cobra bite would be completely mismatched.

With the Snake King Water before them, the men relaxed a little. They clearly had immense faith in the Snake King and believed their friend would be fine.

Only the man in Daoist robes holding the Snake King Water hesitated to pour it into the poisoned man's mouth. His expression had turned grim, because he could tell that the venom in the unconscious man was no simple matter. He was afraid a single bowl of Snake King Water wouldn't be enough to solve the problem.

He had to be taken to a hospital immediately to determine which snake had bitten him so they could administer the correct treatment.

As luck would have it, the most troublesome part was that there were many out-of-town tourists today. A large crowd had gathered around, waiting to witness the miraculous effects of the Snake King Water.

He was now in a bind. If the man drank this bowl of Snake King Water and still didn't improve, it would cause severe damage to the Snake King Temple's reputation.

Usually, when the man in Daoist robes encountered such a situation, he would first inspect the victim's wound. If he saw that the wound was unusual and the venom was potent, he would immediately find an excuse, like claiming they were out of Snake King Water for the day.

If it was a common snake venom, there would naturally be no problem, and he would offer a bowl of Snake King Water for free.

But today, there were too many tourists, and the man in Daoist robes was so busy he'd lost his usual composure. As soon as he heard someone urgently calling for Snake King Water, he had glanced at the wound, confirmed it was a snakebite, and immediately went to get it.

Only after he brought it over and saw the wound had become an even darker purplish-black did he snap back to his senses and realize this was bad. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Master, let me feed it to him."

One of the men saw the man in Daoist robes standing there stunned and quickly moved to take the Snake King Water from him.

"I'll do it."

The man in Daoist robes felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He prayed silently, 'Please let it work, please let it work. The Snake King's reputation can't be ruined.'

The Snake King Temple was a cultural landmark of Bai Town, its golden reputation.