This piebald snake is as thick as a girl's wrist and more than one meter long. The snake's body twists back and forth to form a figure "8". The snake's head is oval, raised high, and hisses out. It is estimated that there are at least two snakes.
It weighs more than ten kilograms.
"Changchong, have you finished your homework and memorized the words?"
"Sister, I have finished writing, and I have memorized English words. Come and go. Nod, yes, no."
"Don't be so talkative. Go and help me take the snake back to Uncle Nagata. Just say it's not a big problem and remind him that when you take a snake out, remember to wipe it with a wet towel."
After saying this, the girl skillfully picked off the big spotted snake and put it around the black boy's neck, just like handing it over to a child, and ordered him to send the snake back.
The snake's tail almost got wrapped around my arm, and it touched me accidentally. It was cold.
The black boy had a snake coiled around his neck. He pinched the snake's head and said with a smile, "I'm going to go then, sister. You can tell grandpa when he comes back."
"I know, let's go."
After the black guy left, the girl sat down and asked me: "I don't think I've seen you before. You're not from our town, are you? What's your name?"
I said my name is Xiang Feng, and I came to see your grandfather to ask him something.
This snake-playing girl is called Xiao Changying. She dropped out of school long ago and now mainly helps at home and manages the snake house business.
She seemed to have little contact with her peers from other places, so after chatting for a while, I coaxed her away.
She smiled and said: "There are more than thirty venomous snakes and more than ten pythons in my room, and my grandfather has even more in his room. Some of them were caught by us ourselves, and some were sent by people from the town. If you are from out of town, you must have never seen them."
, do you want to go and have a look?”
"Farewell, it's fine if we just sit here."
I wiped my sweat and thought you are too perverted, and there are poisonous snakes, what if they bite me.
After waiting for more than half an hour, an old man with white hair came back with a sickle in his hand and a bamboo basket on his back.
The snake girl hurried up to meet him and whispered something in the old man's ear.
The old man took off his basket and put it in the corner, walked over and said, "Young man, where did you come from and why are you looking for me?"
"Are you Xiao Gong Snake King, Xiao Zhengxing?"
"I am." The white-haired old man nodded.
I glanced at the girl and hesitated to speak.
"It's okay. If you have anything to say, just say it. She is my granddaughter."
"Okay, then I'll ask."
"About two months ago, did two men come to see you? They are about 40 years old, speak with a northern accent, and are about 1.8 meters tall."
The old man frowned, thought for a while and said: "There are two people who have come to see me, one is normal, the other..."
He frowned and recalled: "The other one was sitting in a wheelchair, wearing a hat, and his whole body was covered to be airtight. He was suffering from a strange disease."
"grandfather!"
"I remember! You are talking about that person!"
The girl hurriedly interjected: "The man's eyes were yellow, and his hair and teeth were all gone. I was shocked when I saw him. I had never seen such a person before."
I suppressed my inner emotions.
I don’t need to say who these two people are. I searched for more than a month and asked countless people, and finally got the accurate information here.
The old man took a sip of water, frowned and continued: "The man standing said that the person in the wheelchair was his brother, who was bitten by a four-legged snake and became like this. He asked me if there was any way to help treat him."
"What happened next?" I asked nervously.
The old man shook his head: "Although our Xiangting Snake House has a good reputation and is good at treating various snake wounds, this is different. Aren't the four-legged snakes just the kind of skinks that crawl around? How can they change people if they are not poisonous?
Be like that.”
"Later I said it couldn't be cured. I had never seen anything like this before. The man looked a little disappointed and walked away in a wheelchair."
"Then do you know where they went?"
"I don't know." The old man shook his head.
After chatting for a while, I left here with a heavy heart.
I have praised my brother more than once before, saying that my eldest brother is calm and clever. If he avoids us on purpose, it will be difficult to find him. Moreover, not only do I want to see them, I also want to see Sister Hong and ask them about their experiences in recent years.
July 7th is Valentine's Day, and the people here in Zhanghu have been preparing for the Snake Festival since mid-May.
The culture of this region is unique. I have been to so many places, but I dare say that the Snake Festival in Zhanghu Town is unique in the country, unique, and even unique in the world.
If you want to experience it, you can take a trip here. I guarantee you will never forget it.
No one is afraid of snakes here.
One month before Valentine's Day, basically every household will go to the bamboo forests in the mountains in the southeast to catch snakes. People ranging from 80-year-old men to five- or six-year-old children will participate, holding snakes in their hands and around their necks.
Big snakes and little snakes walked back and forth on the street.
Whoever catches the biggest, heaviest, or weirdest snake will be qualified to be sent to the Snake King Temple for competition.
The professional team composed of villagers in the temple selected this year's Snake King after intense quarrels and discussions.
I heard people say that the most powerful snake king in 1999 was a two-headed python caught by a family in a bamboo forest. The two heads could be eaten separately. It was later sold for 80,000 yuan.
Men, women, old and young here love snakes, play with them and respect them, but they don't eat snakes. People in Shunde eat a lot of snakes. If anyone dares to blatantly eat snakes and is caught, the whole town will be notified and fined.
Whoever travels here, the people on the roadside are "warm and hospitable" and will suddenly grab colorful snakes and slap them in your face. Xiaoxuan was frightened several times, and later she did not dare to go out on the street.
Brother Yu and I were walking on the street that day. Brother Yu came out to buy wine. At this time, a middle-aged man with long hair suddenly ran over, stopped us and said, "Brothers and brothers, where are you going?"
"
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
He came over and whispered: "Do you want to see the Snake Girl?"
"Snake girl?"
"Really or not, it's at your house."
I didn't believe it at first.
I have lived in the town for such a long time, and I know that snake women do exist. A few local people have seen them. They told me that snake women do not live long and have a very short lifespan. They are considered old if they live to be more than thirty years old. Very few people have seen snake women.
There are people who can live past 40. I don’t know why.
The man said: "Why are you at my house? Of course it is in the Liangong Temple. I see that you are dressed like someone from other places. You outsiders can't go in there. How about this? Give me 30 yuan each and I will take you there."
Take it in." He opened his mouth and asked me for thirty yuan.
Brother Yu whispered: "I guess he's a scammer, just ignore him."
"I'm not a liar!"
The middle-aged man became anxious and said, "If you don't look, you will get it! There are many people who want to see it!"
Thirty yuan was not expensive, so I thought I would smoke less than a pack of cigarettes. I stopped Brother Yu and gave him thirty yuan, saying that I would go to the temple and have a look.
"30 for one person, 60 for two people."
"Then let's make an agreement. I will take you in. You can watch through the window, but you are not allowed to take pictures. Otherwise, your phone will be confiscated."
"Okay, go now?"
The man looked at the time and said: "We have to wait, there is still one person left, let's form a group and start the train."
He took us to a house on the roadside and left in a hurry. He said we would just wait for about ten minutes and a car would come to take us to the temple.
"Brothers, they are also traveling here."
There was also a man and a woman in the room, who looked like a couple. The man was wearing brand-name clothes and chewing bubble gum.
I ignored this person.
He smiled and said: "Aren't you also going to see the snake girl? I heard people say that the snake girl lives in a jar and has a long, forked tongue. She can lick her own eyes with her tongue. I'm so curious.
I do not know it is true or not."
I thought to myself what the hell happened.
If your tongue touches your eyes? If it's forked, then it's a lizard, right?