Lysander Shen's Serpent Shadow Chapter 1

With a "bang---" sound, the small porcelain bowl painted with blue and white fell to the ground, rolled twice, and broke into several small pieces. At the same time, the shiny brass bell that had been polished by time also fell from the sky. You jingled twice in a panic, and finally fell beside the fragments.

"Master...Master, Master...here comes someone! Master was bitten by a snake!..."

The sharp voice cut through this rare sunny afternoon that had just begun spring. Then, the originally quiet and peaceful mountain courtyard was filled with the sound of hurried footsteps, kicking and kicking. You could even hear the sound of these footsteps knocking things over in their panic.

Lysander Shen stared forward with wide eyes, trying hard to see clearly the appearance of the beast that bit him, but his vision was blurry, as if his eyelids were covered with a thin layer of white gauze, but no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't see clearly, and in his heart He couldn't help but be horrified by the power of the snake's venom, but he also secretly thought that God is not as good as man. He had thought of countless ways to die, but how could he have expected that he would end up with the poisonous fangs of snakes.

Thinking of this, I was not alarmed at all, I just closed my eyes, vaguely aware that the servants who came over moved me from the chair, called the doctor in a panic, and shouted for some antidote pills.

What happened after that is completely unknown.

The eldest young master of the Shen family was bitten by a snake in the villa.

This news seemed to be carried out by the flapping wings of the birds in the mountain forest. In the time it took to drink tea, there were several sounds of horse hooves on the originally peaceful and quiet mountain road. .

Cars, horses and soft-gauze sedans came one after another with hurried steps, and finally stopped at the entrance of the villa. The rider on the horse and the nobleman in the sedan hurriedly got off the ground, entered the door, and broke into Lysander Shen's room without waiting for anyone to greet him.

The man lying in the green gauze tent had his eyes closed tightly, and the hall was glowing with an unknown black-purple color. The thick black-purple color even gradually spread to his entire face. The originally light-colored lips turned strangely red on the dark-purple face. The original Qingjun appearance was gone. At first glance, he looked like a third part human and a third part ghost.

"Xiao Xuan!" The Callahan, whose temples were slightly stained by wind and frost, whispered when he saw this, his voice was mournful and extremely sad, "My son!" He still had something to say, but he was only choked.

"Master." The Merrick who was standing aside quickly spoke out to interrupt his master's sadness and reminded him: "Master, please do not be sentimental at this time. It is business to find a way to save the young master's life first."

"Yes, yes." Under the impact of pity for his son, Mr. Ambrose, who only woke up after being reminded, quickly stood up, covered his eyes with one hand, and asked the servants around him with a choked voice: "Have you detoxified him?".

"There are often snakes, insects, rats, and ants on the mountain, so we have all the medicines we have on hand. I just gave the young master pills designed to detoxify snake venom, but... the effect is not very obvious."

"What kind of snake is that? Can you see it clearly?" the housekeeper asked anxiously.

"It was too chaotic at the time, so I couldn't see it clearly. It was coiled on the pergola in the courtyard and blocked by branches. I only glanced at it briefly and saw the thick mouth of the bowl..." the man said as he spoke. As soon as he finished speaking, he was slapped hard on the forehead. The housekeeper said angrily: "You are a naughty boy, talking nonsense!" He ignored his crying and just explained to Mr. Ambrose: "Master, Theron was also a child when he was young. Living in the mountains, I have never heard of a snake that can grow so big, except for pythons, but although pythons are big, they will not bite easily, and the poison cannot be so violent. What he described must be nonsense. It's scary, I just want to be punished less."

Mr. Ambrose was so upset that he didn't care about it at the moment. He just shouted angrily and told the servant to get out.

"Where is the bite?" the housekeeper asked the Elodie standing shivering at the door railing. She was Lysander Shen's personal Elodie.

"On the wrist," the Elodie said with a pale face, "the sun is good today, and the young master wants to bask in the sun, so I will push him to the courtyard. As usual, the young master wants to drink a pot of scented tea at this time, so I will make it for him." Cha was about to bring some refreshments. Just as he turned around and walked a few steps, he heard the sound of the tea bowl falling to the ground. When he turned around, the young master had already ordered a snake to bite him..." At this point, the Elodie had already His eyes were filled with tears.

"Did you see the snake?".

"I saw it. The man didn't lie. The snake was really as big as the mouth of a bowl. It was entangled on the railing. When I saw it, it just turned back. I saw that it was pitch black, except for its belly, which had some gold. I have been serving it in the mountains for many years. Young Master, I have seen some snakes that were killed, but I have never seen such a big snake...".

"Is it really that big?" The housekeeper was still dubious.

Her knees weakened, and the girl fell to her knees, crying and swearing: "How dare I lie about such a big matter? If there is even a trace of lies, I will die in misfortune!"

Here the housekeeper was looking at the testimony, and over there Mr. Ambrose, who suppressed his heartache to watch his son's injury, pulled out his eldest son's wrist and saw that the wound made by the snake's teeth had been cut into a cross shape by the blade. He felt a little relieved, knowing that it was A clever servant opened his mouth in time and sucked the poisonous blood. It's just that the snake venom is so powerful that it can make an adult lose his mind in just a short time. I'm afraid this poison has entered my heart and it's hard to get rid of it!

Mr. Ambrose clutched his thin and pale wrist, feeling sad in his heart. It is said that the eldest son is the mainstay of the family, but he only had a son in his thirties, but Lysander Shen fell into an ice cave when he was eight years old. He was rescued and had a high fever. He has been mute ever since, and his lower limbs were frozen. He could only collapse on the couch. I thought that I would take good care of him and not ask him to earn any fame or fortune. With the huge wealth of the Shen family, it would be enough to just provide for the eldest son to have a safe life. But unexpectedly, at the age of twenty-seven, he was bitten by a snake again.

"You evil beast!" He whispered, and Master Shen caught the snake and ate its flesh.

"Master, don't worry." The old housekeeper who has worked for the Shen family for his whole life once again comforted him: "The young master has always been weak and has been raised in the villa all year round. Therefore, all kinds of rare medicinal materials are quite complete. Maybe there is a way."

"What can I do?"

"Master, do you still remember the Mid-Autumn Festival the year before last, when someone from the southern barbarian land that was doing business with the Shen family brought two pills that claimed to be able to cure the world's strange poisons?"

"Remember, I took that medicine. ...Does it really work?"

"I don't know. I just heard that there are many poisonous insects and beasts in the Southern Barbarian wetlands. Maybe this pill has miraculous effects?"

"Why don't you get it?" Mr. Ambrose stood up quickly. .

"yes.".

The medicine was quickly brought, dissolved in warm water and fed. When feeding the medicine, Lysander Shen's jaw was clenched, his cheek muscles were stiff, and he could see that he was out of breath.

The whole room was filled with panic and the air was heavy.

As night fell, the servants lit the oil lamps. Light and shadow shook.

The door of Lysander Shen's room was sometimes opened and sometimes closed, and people were coming in and out.

But no one noticed that there was a person standing quietly in the shadow of the swaying oil lamp.

His black hair was hanging loosely around his waist. He was also dressed in a black robe, standing with his hands behind his back, with simple patterns embroidered with gold thread on the hem of his clothes. His expression was cold, and he stood there with his lips pursed for an unknown amount of time.

No one noticed, or even glanced at him as they passed by him. If anyone had seen him, they would definitely not turn a blind eye to this man who seemed to be an evil god.

But indeed, no one knew of his existence.

It was late at night, and Mr. Ambrose was exhausted both physically and mentally. He wanted to stay with his son, but age cruelly restricted his affection. It was the end of February, and although it was the beginning of spring, it was still cold in the evenings and nights. He coughed a few times, and Master Shen felt a dull pain in his head. With the Merrick's persuasion, even though he was reluctant to leave, he went to the warm private room heated by charcoal fire and lay down on the soft couch.

Only the housekeeper and three servants were left guarding Lysander Shen's room.

After another two hours, Shen Mingxuan, whose breath had been weak, gradually began to breathe steadily and powerfully. The man standing motionless in the shadow raised his eyes slightly, with a hint of surprise in his eyes. He did not believe that there was a magic medicine in this world that could cure his poison.

Sure enough, he looked at the thin and weak man on the bed for a while and realized that this was the so-called return of light.

Those antidote potions can only delay the process for a few seconds at most. Detoxification? Pure delusion.

Lysander Shen tried his best to move his eyelids, but his heavy eyes seemed to weigh a thousand pounds and he couldn't open them no matter what.

The Elodie who was standing by noticed it and shouted in surprise: "Master, Master!"

The voice was filled with reckless joy, waking up the small courtyard and forest that had just fallen asleep.

Soon, Mr. Ambrose, who was wearing a cloak and had no time to put on his shoes and socks, stumbled over and shouted: "Xuan'er, Xuan'er... Xuan'er, are you awake? Dad is very worried." ..."

Perhaps it was the call from his relatives that gave Lysander Shen strength, and his eyelids that had been trembling were opened with effort. His eyes were scattered, and after a while they gradually condensed, and there was some sparkle in his eyes.

Lysander Shen opened his mouth slightly, but no sound came out.

But everyone knows that what he said is: Dad

"Hey, daddy is here..." Tears burst into tears. Mr. Ambrose didn't care how much he had acted like an Callahan. He held his son's hand tremblingly and murmured: "Lysander Shen, are you feeling better?" Dad will be relieved if you feel better..."

Lysander Shen tried his best to force a smile out of his stiff face. But he knew in his heart that he couldn't escape this time. My whole body was trapped in a sense of paralysis, unable to move. When I breathed, my mouth and nose were filled with a fishy-sweet smell, and my eyes were filled with a burst of darkness and clear clarity.

This is probably how it feels when someone is about to die.

In fact, there is nothing to be afraid of. For a useless person like him, death is actually not as scary as life.

I can't leave my parents and younger brother behind. .

Relatives are the only pillar that has supported his efforts to find happiness in life over the years. Every time I think about the tragic situation in Gaotang after my death, I can't bear it.

He imagined his own death, not because of self-abasement. In fact, he had become accustomed to living in a wheelchair for so many years and could not take care of himself. It was not that difficult to bury his childhood ideal of riding a horse.

But my body is getting worse every year.

Originally, I could still bask in the sun from time to time, and be pushed by others to go for walks in the mountains and forests.

In the past two years, it has become worse and worse. If the wind blows even slightly, I will fall ill, and each time it will be more serious than the previous one. Later, it will progress to the point where I can't get out of bed even once in a month or two.

He had not gone out this winter and rarely even opened the windows.

It was rare to recover from an illness and he wanted to bask in the sun, but he disturbed a snake that had just finished hibernation and also came out to bask in the sun.

Lysander Shen couldn't help but smile when he thought of this, thinking that the sun was shining on him, and it seemed that neither he nor the snake felt comfortable.

He knew in his heart that the snake was originally sitting on the railing basking in the sun, and he was sitting on the chair, one person and one snake.

They could have been in peace and went back to their houses after basking in the sun.

But somehow a piece of broken leaf dipped in soil fell into the clear tea. He was a clean person by nature, so he poured the hot tea out of the bowl without thinking.

The snake was not seen at that time. By the time he realized something was wrong, the tea had already been spilled, and the steaming water had covered the shiny black scales.

Before he could retract his hand in time, the frightened snake turned around and bit him.

In fact, it was his own fault that was more serious. With such hot water, not to mention a snake, even a rabbit would be frightened and fight back.

That is a very powerful snake. I only had time to take a look, but the severe pain diverted my attention away. But Lysander Shen still remembered that the snake's body was black and shiny. When it was entangled and raised its head upright, its neck and abdomen were golden, which was particularly dazzling in the afternoon sun. Later I wanted to take a closer look, but couldn't see clearly. I don’t know if the snake was scalded or not.

It is said that this footless animal is covered with tiny scales and is unlikely to be injured by a cup of hot tea.

Another dazzling blackness came before his eyes, and even his father's voice in his ears gradually faded away. Lysander Shen still tried to listen to what his father was saying, but he could only feel the roaring in his cochlea. All the messy and broken sentences came from the roar, but they still could not reach the consciousness. Lysander Shen only knew that his father was talking again, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not hear what he was saying.

Lysander Shen knew that the end had come, and he couldn't tell whether he felt more sad or relieved. He had always known that he was about to die, but the arrival of this scene still caught him off guard.

The concern in his heart made him want to take one last look at the human world that had been with him for more than 20 years. Although he couldn't even breathe, Lysander Shen still tried hard to open his eyes wide, and he stubbornly gathered the lost energy in his eyes, looking at his relatives. Stare for a long time.

His father who was well cared for but now showing his age, the old housekeeper who has been busy working for the Shen family all his life, the Elodie who has long been reduced to tears, and everyone he is familiar with who has tried their best to take care of him over the years... .The eyes slowly and rigidly passed over everyone's face. Lysander Shen slowly raised the corners of his lips, revealing a shallow smile. It's like saying goodbye.

His smile was extremely shallow, even ferocious on his face that was half human and half ghost at the moment.

But it depicts the deep nostalgia and reluctance for life.

Such desperate nostalgia, but also with relief from death. .

Maybe this smile was too shocking. The condensed man who watched the scene from beginning to end in the shadow raised his eyelids, his eyes as dark as the water of the abyss with splashing ripples.