Chapter 21

Fan Yajun was invited by Lu Qi to Qinglong Mountain. This time, they were going to the release site to recount the details of the release event on that day.

In addition to him, Xu Chunliang was also invited. Fan Yajun originally thought that Xu Chunliang was a police officer, but after Lu Qi introduced him, he learned that this young man was an expert they had invited, known as a snake whisperer who could communicate with snakes.

Fan Yajun is 38 years old, of medium build, and has a trustworthy appearance. He is a famous snake catcher in Dongzhou and a formal employee of the Forestry Bureau, having been named an advanced worker multiple times.

Fan Yajun was aware that the police had listed him as one of the suspects. He did not show any resistance in this matter and was very cooperative with the police.

Zhou Meng, who was responsible for receiving them that day, was also listed as a suspect and had been investigated. Therefore, he had many complaints about the police's methods. In his view, the police were too inefficient; every phone had a network license, so why not just check it?

Li Zhong told him that the case was not as simple as he imagined. Since the incident, they had not had a single day off.

Zhou Meng clearly carried a grudge: "What do you want to investigate today? You've already checked my schedule and bank accounts. Do you still not trust me?"

Fan Yajun said, "Xiao Zhou, how can you talk like that? The police are just doing their job. We should cooperate." The old comrade had a different perspective.

He had also been called in for questioning by the police and provided his schedule and bank accounts for those days. He thought the investigation was over, but unexpectedly, they called him to the release site again today.

Lu Qi explained the situation to everyone. The reason for gathering them here was not to suspect them but to reconstruct the release site on that day to see if there were any oversights. Another purpose was to find the surviving male snake.

Zhou Meng led them along the route they took on that day to the release site. Fan Yajun, as required by the police, described the specific details of the release on that day.

After a few days, the vegetation at the release site had grown even more lush.

Fan Yajun said, "You mean one of the snakes we released was hunted?"

Lu Qi nodded.

Fan Yajun sighed, "I rarely heard of poaching in Qinglong Mountain."

Zhou Meng added, "Exactly. Even if there is poaching, it's usually for birds, never snakes." Dongzhou is not like Guangdong or Guangxi; locals do not have the habit of eating snakes.

Xu Chunliang asked, "Isn't Qinglong Mountain unsuitable for the survival of the king cobra? What was the consideration for choosing this place for the release?"

Fan Yajun looked at him and explained, "You might not know, but the king cobra has strong cold resistance and adaptability. There are many varieties. The two king cobras we released can fully adapt to the environment in Dongzhou. They can live in water or trees and hibernate when the temperature drops below eight degrees. Qinglong Mountain is the largest nature reserve in Dongzhou, with many small animals. Releasing the two king cobras here also considered their food source."

Li Zhong asked, "Have you ever released king cobras here before?"

Fan Yajun replied, "We usually release wild animals here, except for those under national first-class protection."

As they talked, they arrived at the place where the king cobra's body was found. The soil mound had been dug up, and the snake's body was gone. Lu Qi said, "Strange, we clearly buried the snake here. How did the body disappear?"

Everyone looked at Zhou Meng, who scratched the back of his head and said, "I shouldn't have forgotten. I even marked it."

Lu Qi was frustrated, "The clue was on that snake's body. This is troublesome. If we can't find the snake, we might never solve the case."

According to what they said, Xu Chunliang was invited to communicate with the king cobra and find clues.

Li Zhong didn't believe a dead snake could escape and suggested they split up to search. He and Zhou Meng would go together, and the other three would go together, meeting back at the original spot in twenty minutes.

Lu Qi agreed. Fan Yajun reminded them that it was summer, and there were many snakes and insects in the area. For safety, he would lead the way, and the two would follow behind.

Behind them, the two were talking.

Lu Qi said, "Strange, how could it just disappear? You mean a dead snake can escape on its own?"

Xu Chunliang said, "You said there were two snakes. Maybe the other male snake dug up the female snake's body."

"Impossible. Snakes don't have hands. How could it dig? What do you think, Master Fan?"

Fan Yajun, hearing Lu Qi's question, turned around and smiled, "Snakes don't dig holes. I've never heard of such a thing in my years of work." He already knew that Xu Chunliang was an expert invited by the police, but in Dongzhou, he knew all the snake-catching experts and had never heard of this young man. He must be a trained zoologist. Snake whisperer? Never heard of it. Snakes can't talk.

Xu Chunliang said, "Snakes don't dig holes, but they can take over other small animals' burrows. Maybe a rat or something helped it dig, and then it dragged the female snake's body away."

Fan Yajun said, "Animals don't have that high an IQ."

"Everything has a spirit. If not, how do you explain the disappearance of the female snake's body? Did it come back to life?"

Fan Yajun was stunned, "How could it? It was already... dead."

"How could it not? Snakes have very strong vitality."

Lu Qi nodded, "A hundred-legged worm doesn't stiffen when it dies. Maybe it wasn't completely dead?"

"You're talking about a centipede."

"Close enough. Aren't they both venomous? Teacher Xu, if we find the snake, can you find clues from it?"

Xu Chunliang confidently said, "If I find it, I can make it talk."

Fan Yajun stopped walking and noticed two tracks on the muddy ground. With his years of experience, he knew these were snake tracks, and the snake must have been quite large.

Before he could speak, Xu Chunliang said, "There's a snake."

Fan Yajun nodded and pointed to the ground. The two tracks extended in different directions. They could either split up or follow one track.

After a brief discussion, they decided to split up again. Fan Yajun went left, and Lu Qi and Xu Chunliang went right.

Pushing through the grass, Fan Yajun followed the snake tracks. After a few steps, he turned back to confirm that the other two were not following. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued into the forest. After about fifty meters, he could no longer see the snake tracks. He stopped, looked back, and then began searching the area.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on something in the grass. He walked over, pushed aside the grass, and picked up an object. It was a phone box, deformed by the rain. Fan Yajun looked around and quickly tore the box open, flattened it, and put it in his pocket.

A rustling sound came from above. Fan Yajun slowly looked up and saw a king cobra coiled on a tree branch, looking at him and flicking its tongue.

Fan Yajun instinctively took a step back, remembering Xu Chunliang's theory about the snake coming back to life. Impossible, absolutely impossible! This isn't a fairy tale; how could it come back to life?

Fan Yajun quickly took out a tranquilizer blowpipe from his tool bag and aimed at the snake.

The king cobra had no intention of attacking him and continued to climb along the branch.

Fan Yajun tightly pursed his lips, his expression stern. After a fierce internal struggle, he decided to shoot.

Puff! A gentle blow, and the tranquilizer dart hit the snake's body accurately. The snake struggled forward a few steps and then fell helplessly from above.

Fan Yajun rushed forward, grabbed the snake by the neck, and decided to kill it before the others arrived. Lu Qi had repeatedly emphasized that the snake held clues to solving the case. Although Fan Yajun didn't know what clues, he believed the snake must not fall into the hands of the police. And that snake whisperer, what if he could really communicate with snakes?

At that moment, a voice called out from behind, "Master Fan, are you there?"

Fan Yajun cursed his bad luck. It was too late to act now. He hesitated, then slowly released the snake's neck.

Xu Chunliang and Lu Qi had found him. Fan Yajun called out, "Come help, I found it."

Lu Qi looked at the motionless king cobra on the ground and was surprised, "Is it dead?"

Fan Yajun shook his head, "No, I tranquilized it. It suddenly attacked me from its hiding place."

Xu Chunliang's gaze fell on the blowpipe on the ground. Fan Yajun used this blowpipe to release the tranquilizer dart. This man had some skills.

Fan Yajun picked up the blowpipe and smiled, "We often receive tasks to capture wild animals. I don't have a gun license, so I made this tranquilizer blowpipe to handle large animals."

Lu Qi nodded and contacted Li Zhong to come over quickly.

Xu Chunliang squatted down next to the snake, touched it, and placed his fingers on the snake's neck.

Fan Yajun was nervous. Could he see through the ruse? Impossible, with his years of experience, there was nothing obvious from the outside.

Xu Chunliang removed the tranquilizer dart and took out a needle from his waist. He slowly inserted it into the back of the king cobra's neck.

Lu Qi and Fan Yajun were amazed. They had seen acupuncture on humans, but never on a snake.

Xu Chunliang chose to insert the needle into the atlas vertebra. Although the snake's structure is different from a human's, it still has meridians and acupoints. Humans, being the most intelligent, have the most complex meridians and acupoints. Other animals are much simpler. For example, dogs have only about a hundred acupoints, and snakes have fewer than fifty.

What seemed incredible to Lu Qi and Fan Yajun was commonplace for Xu Chunliang. Traditional Chinese medicine includes veterinary acupuncture, but it is limited to pets and livestock.

The needle was inserted about half an inch into the king cobra's body. Xu Chunliang bent his middle finger to press against his index finger and quickly flicked the needle. This is a common technique in acupuncture, causing the needle to vibrate rapidly, and the sensation spreads through the snake's meridians.