But all in all, the snakes that had appeared—both venomous and non-venomous—were all very common species.

Why had all these snakes appeared on campus at the same time, as if by some agreement?

'Do they want to attend school too?'

Tu Xiao'an glanced at the thoroughly excited Li Qingzhao. "Have snakes ever appeared at your school before?"

Li Qingzhao acted as if she'd walked into a zoo, looking here and peering there. The snakes covering the ground didn't frighten her in the least; in fact, she found it all fascinating.

"No. If snakes had shown up here before, do you think I'd be this excited?"

Children from Bai Town saw snakes as friends and weren't afraid of them at all. 'But does this girl have to be so gleeful about it?'

'Has she even considered how the other students feel?'

'Most people are afraid of snakes, but she's the only one grinning from ear to ear at the sight of them everywhere.'

'Just like a crazy girl.'

"Hee hee, I've found another great gimmick for a livestream!" A crafty glint flashed in Li Qingzhao's eyes as she pulled out her phone, ready to go live. She muttered to herself, "What should the title be? How about, 'A Hundred Snakes Invade Campus'?"

Tu Xiao'an couldn't stop rolling his eyes. He asked curiously, "Hey, aren't you the least bit curious why so many snakes have suddenly appeared at this school?"

"Of course I'm curious, but no one has an answer right now. Besides, that's not for me to worry about," Li Qingzhao said nonchalantly, blinking her eyes.

Just as she was about to start her livestream, Li Qingzhao was drawn to a stunning figure up ahead.

"Teacher Su! Wow, you're amazing!"

A tall, beautiful woman was walking toward them, holding several snakes, which prompted Li Qingzhao's cry of admiration.

The woman wore her hair in a neat, practical ponytail. Her features were exquisitely beautiful, and she had a sharp, confident air about her. Her entire demeanor was poised and graceful, giving her the aura of a modern-day heroine.

This heroic impression was mainly due to the four or five snakes she was holding, which created a rather unconventional image.

"Qingzhao, what are you doing here? I don't know what's going on with the school, but a huge number of snakes have appeared. Quite a few new students have already been bitten," Sophie said with a frown, then glanced at Tu Xiao'an.

Li Qingzhao quickly made the introductions. "This is our school's biology teacher, Sophie. And this is my friend, Tu Xiao'an."

"Hello."

"Hello."

The two of them nodded slightly. Tu Xiao'an was surprised. 'A woman who teaches biology? No wonder she's not afraid of snakes.'

"Qingzhao, aren't you from Bai Town? Quick, help me catch these snakes," Sophie continued. "Is your friend afraid of them? If not, he can help too."

"Luckily, the semester hasn't officially started yet; otherwise, this would be a real problem. We have to catch as many of these snakes as possible so they don't disrupt classes."

Hearing this, Li Qingzhao said happily, "It's an honor to catch snakes with you, Teacher Su! And my friend here is even less afraid of them—he's a Snake Catcher!"

"A Snake Catcher?" Sophie gave Tu Xiao'an a second look. He had refined, handsome features. To put it bluntly, he looked a bit like a pretty boy.

He really didn't look like a Snake Catcher. 'Then again, you can't judge a book by its cover,' she thought.

She smiled and said, "That's great. Could you help us catch them, please? The school administration has already called the police."

Tu Xiao'an nodded. He naturally wouldn't refuse. Besides, Teacher Su had clearly mistaken him for one of the university's students.

Soon, Sophie returned with a large bucket for the snakes. Although there were many students on campus, not many of them actually dared to catch snakes with their bare hands.

Female students who would were even rarer.

Who would have thought that Wencheng University's new student enrollment would attract not just students, but a veritable plague of snakes?

Tu Xiao'an didn't use his special abilities, instead catching the snakes one by one like an ordinary person.

He couldn't help but think, 'If this happened in Bai Town, the people there would be overjoyed.'

'They wouldn't even have to go up into the mountains; there'd be snakes to catch right in town.'

Although Bai Town was famous for its snakes, the creatures obediently stayed up in the mountains. They almost never appeared in the residential areas.

A snake appearing in Bai Town was practically asking to be caught.

Tu Xiao'an had already blanketed the entire school with his Consciousness Power. He discovered a truly significant number of snakes—at least a thousand of them. However, they were all common types; he couldn't spot a single rare Snake Species.

Although there were many snakes, ordinary people could handle them, which was the main reason Tu Xiao'an hadn't used his true power.

He had just come to see the university today. Sophie had already mentioned that the police were on their way, so the situation would be resolved eventually.

At that moment, snake-catching operations were breaking out all over campus. It was the perfect opportunity for the male students to show off their manliness; in the eyes of the girls, a guy catching snakes looked pretty cool.

Tu Xiao'an, Li Qingzhao, and Sophie formed a snake-catching team, and their efficiency was surprisingly high. The moment they saw a snake, they would reach out, grab it, and toss it into the bucket—all in one smooth, decisive motion.

The only exception was Li Qingzhao. Whenever she caught a snake, she'd play with the "naughty little snake" for a moment before tossing it into the bucket.

She would even pout and say, "My little snakey is still the cutest, though."

The Taiyin Snake, for its part, stayed quietly perched on Li Qingzhao's shoulder. No matter how wildly she moved, it wouldn't fall off, as if it were glued in place.

"Teacher Su, why do you think so many snakes have suddenly appeared at our school?" Li Qingzhao asked.

Sophie's eyes were like tranquil pools. With her slender fingers, she moved like a dancer, effortlessly tossing snake after snake into the bucket. "I can't say for sure," she replied as she worked. "The whole situation is bizarre."

"There hasn't been any rain in the city recently, and while the weather has been hot, that shouldn't be enough to draw the snakes out. Besides, Wencheng University is in the middle of the city, not backed by any mountains—it's surrounded by urban buildings. Even if some snakes were hiding nearby, there shouldn't be this many."

"For so many to appear all at once is simply baffling."

Even as a biology teacher, Sophie couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Her reasoning was that of any ordinary person. Modern people, especially a biology teacher, relied on scientific evidence. There hadn't been heavy rain, nor was the campus backed by mountains or forests. For these snakes to appear out of nowhere and frighten people... she simply couldn't find a reason. It was as if they had materialized out of thin air.

The only thing to do for now was to catch them all.

It wasn't just Sophie who couldn't figure it out; even Tu Xiao'an, the Snake King, found it baffling.

'A mass mobilization of snakes usually points to one of two things. The first is reproduction, when they gather in one place. That's the most normal, scientific explanation.'

'The second possibility is serpentine revenge. Someone might have incurred the hatred of a snake, which then attracts a large number of other snakes to attack.'

'That explanation was a bit more fantastical, but for the people of Bai Town, it was a very real possibility.'

But Tu Xiao'an noticed that neither the venomous nor the non-venomous snakes were particularly aggressive. They only seemed to attack viciously if someone accidentally stepped on them.

When you tried to catch one, however, it wouldn't even try to flee. It just let itself be caught.

This was perhaps a blessing in disguise. These snakes weren't particularly dangerous. If they had been the venomous snakes from She Mountain, any new student who got bitten would have likely dropped dead on the spot.