Chapter 8

White Powder

“Okay.” Song Yang had already calmed down. He didn’t have the initial impulse. At this moment, Ding Yao’s sharp eyes saw a bit of white powder on Song Yang’s clothes. Without leaving a trace, she dipped her finger under her nose and smelled it. She smelled a very special fragrance. She then looked at the cobra that had been beaten to death beside her and instantly became alert. Could this white powder be related to the cobra?

Ding Yao could smell the strong realgar smell on Song Yang’s body. According to common sense, the snake was afraid of realgar and would avoid it after smelling it. However, Song Yang was still bitten by the snake. Ding Yao hesitated for a moment. She still didn’t show the white powder on her hand to Song Xiuyan. She wasn’t completely sure about the matter, so she didn’t tell him first so that Song Xiuyan wouldn’t be worried. However, Ding Yao didn’t know that Song Xiuyan had been watching her, so she naturally saw her small movements. Therefore, he secretly used his hand to touch the white powder on Song Yang’s clothes and smelled the fragrance.

Song Xiuyan’s expression kept changing. He looked at the cobra that had been killed and pretended to ask Song Yang unintentionally, “Before you were bitten by the cobra, did you meet anyone? Or did anything strange happen?”

Song Yang scratched his head. “Nothing strange. I saw a stranger fall into a trap on the way. I went to pull him up, and he thanked me.”

Ding Yao heard Song Xiuyan’s words and realized that Song Xiuyan might have noticed the problem. She and Song Xiuyan looked at each other and thought of one possibility. When Song Yang was pulling the stranger out of the trap, the stranger took the opportunity to sprinkle some spices on Song Yang’s body in order to let the snake bite him.

Song Yang didn’t know about Ding Yao and Song Xiuyan’s suspicions. When he thought of the scene where he was being chased and bitten by the cobra, he was also very puzzled. “Speaking of which, I’m quite unlucky. I clearly have realgar powder on me to avoid the snake, but this cobra still chased me all the way. Although I killed it, it also bit me before it died. I’ve lived in the mountains for so many years, but I’ve never seen such a stubborn cobra!”

Under normal circumstances, snakes wouldn’t take the initiative to attack people, not to mention the realgar powder that snakes hated on Song Yang’s body. This way, the white powder on his body was even more suspicious.

Ding Yao saw Song Xiuyan clench his fists, but he didn’t show much emotion on his face. He continued to ask Song Yang in a very normal tone, “What accent did that stranger have?”

Song Yang shook his head. “I can’t tell, but he shouldn’t be from our place. He looks like a foreigner. Brother, do you think there’s something wrong with him?”

At this time, the three people who went to fetch water came back. Song Xiuyan could only shake his head. “No.”

Ding Yao’s expression wasn’t very good. She had just transmigrated when she realized that the situation wasn’t very good. Someone had pushed her off the cliff behind her back and wanted her dead. Now, there was also someone who had made a move on Song Xiuyan’s second brother, Song Yang; these two events happened coincidentally on the same day. She didn’t know if it was the same group of people who did it.

Ding Yao carefully recalled the original host’s memories and realized that the person who pushed her off the cliff in the original host’s memories was very strong. His palm was also very big, unlike Ding Hua. Ding Hua was a girl, so she didn’t have that much strength. Most importantly, with Ding Hua’s ability, it was too unlikely for her to sneak behind the original host and make a move.

Ding Yao didn’t know who wanted to harm her, nor did she know who Song Yang had offended. However, Song Xiuyan’s expression was very interesting, as if he knew something.

When Ah-jie, Fourth Uncle, and Third Uncle came back and saw that Song Yang had woken up, they let out a sigh of relief. They put the water into the pit that Song Xiuyan had dug beforehand, and then put the Snake Swallow Stone that was full of snake venom into it. The water turned black in an instant. Fourth Uncle asked in surprise, “Yaoyao, did your grandfather teach you this method?”

Ding Yao nodded.

Third Uncle followed up and asked, “Did your grandfather give you this stone too?”

Ding Yao quickly shook her head and gestured repeatedly. This stone was hers. It had nothing to do with anyone else! Ding Yao knew that if this stone was given to her by her grandfather, Wang Hongxia and the others would definitely come and snatch it. The Snake Swallow Stone was a good thing. She didn’t want to give it to anyone!

Song Xiuyan understood what Ding Yao meant. He translated Ding Yao’s words very seriously to Fourth Uncle and Third Uncle, emphasizing that Ding Yao had picked up the Snake Swallow Stone herself. After listening to him, Fourth Uncle and Third Uncle smiled and didn’t say anything else. Although they were honest people, they didn’t believe Ding Yao’s words. After all, Ding Yao had always been thin and weak. At most, she would go up the mountain to collect firewood. How could she find the cobra’s nest? The Snake Swallow Stone was most likely left behind by Ding Yao’s grandfather.