Chapter 44

Ai Xiaohai let out a cry of despair in his heart: "It's over."

Everyone was overjoyed to see the little girl wake up, but Ai Xiaohai knew that things were not good. No one was more familiar with the Ai family's snake medicine than he was.

If the snake medicine could neutralize the snake venom, a strong fishy smell would emanate from the wound, indicating that the venom was being expelled. However, now there was no such fishy smell; instead, a strange fragrance was emitted.

This was the smell produced when the snake medicine was neutralized by the venom, meaning that the medicine had only temporarily halted the spread of the venom but was not enough to save the little girl's life. In at most three hours, the snake medicine would be completely neutralized by the venom, and the venom would continue to spread rapidly.

There were only two solutions: one was to find the appropriate antivenom within three hours; the other was to continue applying the snake medicine. A second application could buy the little girl another two hours, but after that, the Ai family's special snake medicine would no longer be effective. The venom, having been neutralized twice, would spread rapidly to the little girl's kidneys and other organs, taking her life.

By then, even if the appropriate antivenom was found, it would be too late.

What kind of bizarre snake could have such potent venom?

The Ai family had been catching snakes for hundreds of years; what strange snake had they not seen? They did the most dangerous work, and the snake medicine they formulated had been improved over generations, capable of neutralizing almost all snake venom.

But only almost...

Ai Xiaohai pulled the doctor aside and whispered a few words. The doctor's face changed dramatically. For snakebite patients, he was only skilled in using antivenom. How many people in a big city get bitten by venomous snakes in a year? Not to mention being bitten, even seeing a venomous snake was rare.

"Is the snake still there?"

"It is." The doctor nodded and called the little girl's father and a nurse: "The snake is in my office. Go get it quickly."

The little girl's father, who hated the snake that had bitten his daughter, left with the nurse in a hurry.

"They are a circus troupe performing in Xinan, and the little girl's father is the troupe leader," the doctor told Ai Xiaohai at this moment. "When they were performing in another city, someone sold them a venomous snake. It was very beautiful, so they kept it in the troupe. But when they arrived in Xinan, they were busy preparing for the circus performance the next day and neglected their daughter. The child saw the cage with the venomous snake, probably found it beautiful, and touched it, resulting in a tragedy..."

Ai Xiaohai sighed. Tragedies often occur in moments of carelessness.

The little girl's father and the nurse returned, but what they brought back was a dead snake. It turned out that after the daughter was bitten, the short-tempered troupe leader, heartbroken, had the snake in the cage killed along with the other members!

The snake was truly bizarre. Its body was emerald green, with some black spots, and its tail was snow white. Its head was not the usual flat shape of a snake but vaguely resembled an owl's head.

Just by its color, the emerald body, scattered black spots, and pure white tail were incredibly beautiful.

Ai Xiaohai drew a sharp breath; he knew what kind of snake it was!

The "Kunlun White-Tailed Snake," also known as the "Owl Snake," or "the panda of snakes"!

This snake had an extremely potent venom, and once bitten, there was almost no hope of survival. However, fortunately, this snake was a rare species, almost never seen, and its numbers were extremely limited, earning it the nickname "the panda of snakes." Ai Xiaohai's ancestors had only seen it twice in their long search for the king of snakes.

They had seen the king of snakes, but the Kunlun White-Tailed Snake only twice. How precious was this snake?

And Ai Xiaohai had seen the Kunlun White-Tailed Snake with his own eyes, but it was a dead one.

Unfortunately, if the white-tailed snake were still alive, Ai Xiaohai might have thought of a way to save the little girl, but now, with a dead snake, he was at a loss.

No one knew what Ai Xiaohai was thinking. The doctor and the nurses were busy examining the little girl, and her parents were anxiously waiting. The reporter, Yuyan, handed the microphone over again: "Hello, can I interview you?"

"Get out of the way!" Ai Xiaohai took the dead snake and walked out with a grim face.

The little girl's life was in grave danger; he had no time for an interview.

This was the second time Yuyan had been rudely rejected by the same person today. She stared at Ai Xiaohai's back, completely at a loss as to what she had said wrong...

Who sold the snake to the circus? How could someone capture such a precious white-tailed snake? The white-tailed snake had a strong adaptability, able to survive in any harsh environment, which was different from other snakes. Moreover, although it belonged to the viper family, it was very different from ordinary vipers, and ordinary viper antivenom was ineffective against its venom.

What puzzled Ai Xiaohai even more was that a few years ago, someone had accidentally captured this snake, and it was sold on the black market for one million yuan!

A snake worth one million yuan! But the circus leader had only spent one thousand yuan to buy it! Did the seller not know the true value of the white-tailed snake?

Looking at the dead snake in his hand, one million yuan?

While thinking, he came to the hospital's backyard. It was a small garden where patients usually took walks and rested. It was already evening, and only Ai Xiaohai was there. He looked around, and his consciousness spread out. Soon, all the sparrows in the vicinity were summoned to him, including a pigeon.

"Have you seen such a snake before?" Ai Xiaohai held up the white-tailed snake.

Actually, he didn't have much hope. The white-tailed snake was so precious that having one in Xinan was already rare. Where could he find another?

Sure enough, the sparrows had never seen such a strange snake.

Even the vast sparrow army had never seen it, so there was no hope.

"I have seen it," the pigeon suddenly said.

Ai Xiaohai's spirits were lifted: "Where did you see it?"

"In the bamboo forest of Yuechang," the pigeon immediately answered. "I was participating in a long-distance flight competition, got lost, and flew to the bamboo forest of Yuechang, where I saw a snake exactly like the one in the king's hand."

Damn, a pigeon getting lost? How stupid could this pigeon be? Ai Xiaohai muttered to himself and quickly asked, "Are you sure?"

"Definitely, exactly the same."

Strange things happen every year, but this year there are particularly many. Such a precious white-tailed snake, and two have appeared in succession!

Ai Xiaohai didn't have time to think about why; he rushed back to the emergency room and pulled the doctor aside: "Doctor, give me a syringe. Listen, I'm going to the bamboo forest of Yuechang to find the special snake medicine. My medicine, if applied to the little girl's wound again in three hours, can buy her another two hours..."

"What about after two hours?"

Ai Xiaohai's face darkened. If he couldn't find the antidote by then, the little girl would be beyond saving.

"You're going to the bamboo forest?" The traffic police officer who had escorted Ai Xiaohai to the hospital in a taxi said, "Get in our car, we'll take you."

Deal! Police cars had an advantage!

He checked the time; it was 8:30 PM. From the time he had applied the medicine to the little girl until now, another 20 minutes had passed, leaving the little girl with only four and a half hours!

"Uncle..." the little girl on the bed said weakly, "Uncle, save me..."

In an instant, everyone's tears welled up. Her parents were sobbing uncontrollably. The little girl didn't want to die; she was only seven!

Ai Xiaohai's eyes also reddened. He held back his emotions and said to the little girl with determination, "Don't worry, Uncle will definitely bring the medicine back!"

He rushed out of the hospital at 8:35.

The police car sped away, and Yuyan wiped away her tears, adjusting the camera to focus on herself:

"Dear viewers, dear listeners, Yuyan is now reporting on the latest developments of the little girl bitten by a venomous snake..."

...

"... Let's pray that the special snake medicine can be found soon, and let's pray for the little girl, Jiajia..."

The radio in the car played Yuyan's voice, and only then did Ai Xiaohai learn that the little girl's name was Jiajia.

The two traffic police officers, one surnamed Li and the other surnamed Song, were very curious about Ai Xiaohai, asking him all sorts of questions. After all, they had never dealt with venomous snakes, let alone a young man who could neutralize snake venom.

The car suddenly screeched to a stop.

"Damn!" Old Li tried to start the car several times but failed: "It's dead!"

The three of them quickly got out of the car and opened the hood. It seemed that the problem couldn't be fixed in a short time.

They had already entered the city of Yuechang. Even with the police car, it had taken them one hour and fifteen minutes to drive from the congested Xinan to here.

9:45.

There were no passing cars around, and the two police officers were almost in despair. They couldn't wait for a car in the short term, and repairs would take time. What was time now? Time was life!

Every minute of delay brought the little girl in the hospital one step closer to death!

"How far is it from here to the bamboo forest?" Ai Xiaohai made a decision.

"About thirty kilometers," Old Li didn't know what the young man was planning to do.

"You stay here and fix the car, I'll run there."

"Run there?" Old Li and Little Song exclaimed in unison, "Thirty kilometers, you're going to run there?"

Ai Xiaohai nodded: "Run there, and if I encounter a car on the way, I'll hitch a ride."

"I'll go with you," Little Song said hastily.

Ai Xiaohai quickly found an excuse to stop him. If he really went with him, it would ruin his plan.