Is this really the delivery room? It feels more like a slaughterhouse to me.
The floor of the room is covered in fresh blood. The white gauze curtain along the bed is stained with blood, and the blood drips down the edge of the bed with a ticking sound.
Poor Kua Ye is only wearing a thin linen dress. She lies on the bed, barely alive. The midwife beside her holds a sickle in her blood - covered hands, ready to kill the black snake at any moment.
Kua Ye is trembling all over due to the pain. Her long hair, already soaked in sweat, is stuck messily on her forehead. On her small face, black scales are faintly visible, and there are even snake scales growing on her body. The scales burst through the flesh, oozing large patches of blood that soak through the hem of her linen dress. Drop by drop, the blood falls to the ground.
She just lies there weakly, not even having the strength to cry out.
If it weren't for the weak rise and fall of her chest, I would have thought she was already dead.
Looking at her, my heart aches. However, at the moment when she turns her head to look at me, I suddenly feel as if I've swapped identities with Kua Ye.
It feels like I'm the one lying on the wooden bed.
I watch as the steaming fresh blood flows all over the bed beneath me. There's a cold sensation between my trembling legs, and a black snake slowly crawls out from under me. It winds its way down my thigh, slithering out bit by bit. The snake scales scrape against my skin as it gradually crawls towards my chest. It raises its triangular snake - head and hisses at me.
I'm so scared that I let out a scream and collapse to the ground.
Just as I scream out, the door is suddenly kicked open. Bai Qi sees me sitting on the ground, my face as pale as a sheet.
He quickly pulls me up from the ground and drags me outside.
At this moment, it's pouring rain outside. The rain pours down on my face, and I instantly come to my senses. When I see Bai Qi, I bury my head in his shoulder and cry loudly.
Seeing me crying out of fear, Wu Qingyun's face shows concern. He turns around and darts into the delivery room. He throws the midwife out directly and then slams the door shut with a "bang".
I'm terribly frightened. I stare blankly at the door of the delivery room. I'm completely soaked, but I don't even notice.
Bai Qi goes to the eaves to get an umbrella and holds it over my head. He raises his hand and gently pats my back, saying in a concerned voice,
"It's all my fault. I didn't ask clearly. I didn't know that the snake would create illusions after it's born. I'm sorry. It's okay now. Wu Qingyun has gone to deal with it."
It takes me a long time to calm down and get out of the panic.
Now I seem to understand what Kua Ye did. If I were in her shoes, I would have been scared to death too.
Actually, neither of them is wrong. They just have different positions.
"Bai Qi, do you think that if someone is with a snake, the child they give birth to can only be a snake?" I ask weakly with a sob in my voice.
Bai Qi is stumped by my question. After a long while, he manages to say, "Lan Lan, I'm still a child."
Hearing his words, I can't help but burst out laughing. Yes, he's still just a little boy. It might be a bit too early for me to ask him this question.
But now I feel much better. I force a smile at him.
The two of us stand under the eaves of the delivery room for a while. Although the rain is heavy, it comes and goes quickly.
It stops and starts again. The rainwater flows downstream along the river channel and doesn't flood the village at all.
Until the dark clouds above the roof gradually fade away, and the first ray of sunlight after the rain shines on this small thatched shed, I actually see a rainbow on the roof.
Wu Qingyun pushes open the door of the delivery room and walks out slowly.
He's dragging a black snake as thick as a wrist in his hand. The scales on its body shine white in the sunlight as it wriggles on Wu Qingyun's body.
I can't help but shrink back behind Bai Qi. I'm too scared to look at it.
Bai Qi pats my shoulder and tells me not to be afraid, but I can't help but get goosebumps when I see that thing. How can I not be scared?
Seeing that I'm scared, Wu Qingyun takes a few steps back and says, "Don't worry. It used the illusion technique just now to protect itself. Now it won't hurt anyone. I'll release it right away. My feud with Kua Ye ends today. Thank you, Xiao Lan."
Although he thanks me, I still don't dare to get too close to him.
Wu Qingyun shakes his head and says, "I'm curious. How did you get along with the God Gu Yuan like this?"
Bai Qi answers for me, "Gu Yuan would never turn into a snake to scare Lan Lan."
Wu Qingyun shrugs his shoulders and turns away.
"He's gone," Bai Qi says softly.
I walk out from behind Bai Qi and look up into his blue eyes. He smiles sweetly at me, and my fear fades away with his smile.
At this time, the peasant woman also walks out of the delivery room. When she sees me, her face is full of shame.
"Kua Ye is awake. Do you want to go in and see her?" the peasant woman asks.
I stand outside the door and look up at Bai Qi. He knows I'm still in shock and asks, "Can I go in with you?"
The peasant woman smiles and nods, "Sure."
"Lan Lan, I'll take you in to see Kua Ye."
Bai Qi pulls my arm and walks into the room.
At the moment, Kua Ye is still a bit weak, but at least there's some color on her face, and all the black scales on her body have disappeared.
I have to say that she's really beautiful. She has the beauty of a minority girl, but her skin is very fair. Her long eyelashes flutter like butterfly wings.
"Are you Lan Lan?" Kua Ye speaks first. Her voice is very gentle, which matches her appearance.
I nod and say yes.
"Thank you for saving me. I can tell that you're a kind - hearted girl. Unlike me, a moment of wrong decision made me what I am today. Not only have I suffered for five years, but I've also caused Qingyun to miss the chance of becoming a god."
"You don't have to say that. Actually, any girl would have reacted like this in this situation."
Kua Ye has a faint smile on her lips, "But you're different. You're really brave."
"Me..." Am I really brave?
I don't answer her. Instead, I give her a smile and then go out with Bai Qi.
The main purpose of our coming here is the ancient paintings. Now the paintings have been brought by Wu Qingyun.
The three paintings can finally be put together. As I expected, it's a triptych.
Three flying snakes are shuttling through the chaotic dark clouds. The three of us sit on the chairs and look at it for a long time, but we don't find anything special.
"Is there any mechanism in this painting?"
Since neither of them dares to touch the flying snakes on the painting, only I can look at it from all directions.
But I search for a long time and don't find anything special. It just looks like three ancient paintings.
"Could it be that we need to take the paintings apart?" Bai Qi asks, stroking his chin.
As soon as he mentions taking the paintings apart, Wu Qingyun is definitely against it. Protecting these paintings is his mission. If the paintings are taken apart, it's like taking his life.
Just when we're at a loss, another word from Bai Qi reminds me.
"I really want to peel off this chaotic dark cloud and see what's inside."
"Right! Bai Qi, you're so smart."
Bai Qi is startled by my reaction.
I don't explain much to him. The three of us each take an ancient painting and walk to the sunniest place outside.
The three of us stand in a row facing the sun, letting the three paintings be bathed in the noon sunlight.
When the sunlight shines on the three paintings, a miracle really happens. After the paintings absorb the strong sunlight, the chaotic dark clouds actually disperse.
The true appearance of the paintings inside is revealed.