Tu Xiao'an listened in silence, carefully observing the decisive female police officer. He was somewhat surprised. It was easy to see from her cold, flawless face that she was an unparalleled beauty—so stunning you couldn't help but stare.

And yet, this great beauty was adamant about killing all these snakes.

'In truth, her reasoning isn't wrong. If over a thousand snakes are killed on campus, it's logical to assume no more would dare to show up.'

'However, such excessive slaughter would incite so much hatred from the snakes that it would backfire.'

'They're planning to burn over a thousand snakes alive. The resentment from the snakes would surely be immense, and it would only attract even more venomous snakes seeking revenge.'

'Back in Bai Town, an act like this would be condemned by every household. No one would ever let you do it. In Bai Town, snakes are the most revered creatures. The elders constantly remind the youth never to harm a snake.'

But here in Wencheng, a major city where science supposedly explained everything, no one would believe in something like snakes taking revenge.

"I don't care! Snakes have spirits, and each one is a life! Killing so many at once is such bad luck. What if we provoke them into retaliating?"

Li Qingzhao spread her arms wide, blocking the police from pouring the gasoline.

The very mention of snake revenge caused many students to whisper among themselves. Even if they had never seen it happen, they had all heard stories about it.

Besides, the sudden appearance of so many snakes on campus was already unbelievable enough.

As the crowd began to murmur, Bai Chuyan frowned and stared at Li Qingzhao. "Little girl, do you realize you're obstructing official police business? I can arrest you for this."

Sophie stepped in front of Li Qingzhao. "Chu Yan, must you do this? This is a school, after all. If you kill over a thousand snakes in front of all these students, it will leave them with psychological scars."

"Students! Do you all think these snakes should be killed?"

Sophie then turned to ask the students in the crowd.

"Let's just release them. Killing so many snakes on the athletic field is too terrifying. I don't think I'd ever dare come back here again."

"Yeah, yeah, releasing them is better! What if they really do come back for revenge?"

Many students recommended releasing them. They couldn't bear to see it happen. Although the snakes were ugly and frightening, killing them so cruelly just didn't seem right.

"Kill them! They all deserve to die! What are they doing slithering onto campus in the first place?"

A tall young man stepped out from the crowd. His eyes, full of murderous intent, glared at the swarm of snakes inside the realgar circle. He had a wound on his lip; it was Bai Chen, who had been bitten by the red-banded snake.

Bai Chen ran up to the beautiful, cold-faced police officer and shouted, "Cousin, we have to kill these snakes! Kill every last one of them!"

'He hadn't expected his own cousin to be the one leading the team today.'

"Chen, what happened to your mouth?" Bai Chuyan asked, frowning.

Bai Chen gritted his teeth. "I got bitten by one of those disgusting snakes. So damn unlucky. Good thing it wasn't venomous."

"Bai Chen, you bastard! You better believe I'll never speak to you again!"

Li Qingzhao was furious to see Bai Chen step forward to egg them on, especially after hearing him call the police officer "Cousin."

Bai Chen sneered. "Li Qingzhao, do you really think I give a damn about you? Get over yourself."

'I'm done wasting my time playing games with a pretentious bitch like you.'

"You...!" Li Qingzhao stomped her foot in anger.

"Kid, I'll remember you. You're dead." Bai Chen then shot a vicious glare at the silent Tu Xiao'an before turning to Bai Chuyan. "Cousin, this guy threw a snake on me on purpose! That's why I got bitten! That's attempted murder!"

Bai Chen tattled to his cousin.

Upon hearing this, Bai Chuyan turned her indifferent gaze to Tu Xiao'an. Her entire being radiated a cold, noble aura as she asked, "Is what my cousin said true? Did you use a snake to harm him?"

"What if I did? What if I didn't?" Tu Xiao'an answered, his voice devoid of emotion.

Bai Chuyan scoffed. "If you did, that's attempted murder, and I will arrest you."

Bai Chen grinned smugly, as if to say, 'You're a dead man, kid.'

"Oh..." Tu Xiao'an said upon hearing her threat. He then added flatly, "No. I didn't use a snake to harm him."

Uhh...

The abrupt change in his tone left everyone speechless. It was so jarring. Bai Chen roared, "Kid, are you trying to deny it?"

"Do you have any proof? If you do, show it. If not, shut your mouth. Can't you see they're trying to deal with all these snakes right now?"

"You..."

'Proof? What proof? He'd already torn that snake to pieces. And even if he hadn't, it's not like the snake could talk and testify for him.'

"This cut on my mouth is the proof!"

Tu Xiao'an shot him a sideways glance. "Your name is Bai Chen?"

"That's right," he declared.

"I think you should just call yourself an idiot. So you have a wound on your mouth. What does that prove? It's not like I'm the one who bit you."

Bai Chen flew into a rage and lunged forward to teach Tu Xiao'an a lesson, but Bai Chuyan stopped him. "Cousin, drop it for now. We can talk after I've dealt with these snakes."

"Fine. I'll listen to you, Cousin."

Bai Chen could only swallow his anger for the time being.

"Someone, pour the gasoline. Let's not waste any more time."

With a wave of Bai Chuyan's hand, the officers at her side began to move.

"Wait."

Tu Xiao'an stepped forward. "You can't kill these snakes."

"And why not?" Bai Chuyan stared at him.

"Because they don't want to die. They simply got lost. That's not a crime punishable by death."

Hearing this, Bai Chuyan laughed. She just stood there, poised and elegant, her natural-born charisma radiating a 'do not approach' aura.

"And how would you know that? Did the snakes tell you themselves? For all we know, maybe they're looking to die." Bai Chuyan deliberately narrowed her eyes, a cold, murderous glint appearing within them.

Tu Xiao'an laughed as well, meeting her challenge head-on. He turned and pointed toward the swarm of snakes inside the realgar circle. "Look."

'Look? At what?'

Bai Chuyan followed his gesture, and what she saw made her doubt her own eyes. It was like being struck by lightning on a clear day.

The onlookers in the crowd also looked over. One by one, they froze, then let out short, convulsive gasps, as if they were witnessing something impossible.

The swarm of over a thousand snakes had arranged themselves into a line of text, an unbelievable sight.

"We don't want to die."

Five large words, formed by over a thousand snakes. The sight was so surreal it made people question reality itself.

Suddenly, the five words vanished. The swarm of snakes writhed, slowly coalescing into new words.

"We are lost."

"Don't kill us. We will leave on our own."

'How is this possible?'

In an instant, the entire area fell silent. It felt as if the sky itself was about to collapse. Everyone gasped, staring with horrified eyes at the constantly changing words formed by the snakes' bodies, their astonishment beyond words.

'Everyone says snakes have spirit, but to this degree?'

'If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, who would ever believe a swarm of snakes could form written words?'

'This defied all scientific explanation.' Everyone was frozen in a state of shock, unable to process what was happening.

A playful smirk touched Tu Xiao'an's lips as he watched the beautiful, cold-faced police officer not far away. Her face first went deathly pale, then flushed a deep, embarrassed crimson.

She opened and closed her mouth several times, but for the life of her, couldn't utter a single word.