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He saw two hunting dogs sniffing around on the surface, with the sound of human footsteps coming from behind.

“These are trained hunting dogs; they can detect the scent of snakes!” Xu Hei was shocked.

Xu Hei knew well that these dogs could detect any place where snakes had passed and easily find their wintering spots!

However, he was hiding twenty meters underground and had deliberately covered his scent with bear dung, so they definitely couldn’t smell him.

Sure enough, the two dogs only sniffed for a while before showing signs of panic and retreating to the side.

The team behind also quickly moved away, changing direction to continue their search.

Xu Hei sighed in relief. Even if they did discover him, such a deep distance would be impossible to reach.

However, the large number of people above was causing him considerable trouble.

“This is really troublesome. I can’t even hibernate peacefully.”

Xu Hei complained inwardly.

Before long, the hunting dogs started barking, and the hunters gathered around, digging under a large rock to find a wintering snake.

The snake, two meters long, was a forest rattlesnake. Its meat was edible, and its venom could be used for medicine.

The wintering snake, cold and stiff like iron, had no ability to move. It was beheaded, its gallbladder extracted, and its skin removed before being packed into a bag.

Xu Hei observed the entire process with no change in his expression, hoping they would leave quickly.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as he wished.

“It’s getting late. Let’s make a fire and have a meal. After eating, we’ll descend the mountain,” the leader called out.

“Alright!”

Instead of leaving, the large group gathered around and started a fire in the open space.

Xu Hei was almost furious, wondering why they had to eat right here.

At this moment, he noticed the two leaders: one a handsome young man, the other a plump middle-aged man.

Both were wearing dark blue-black python robes with a distinct aura, and there were faint fluctuations of spiritual energy within them.

These python robes were worn by snake catchers.

“Snake catchers!”

Xu Hei’s eyes flashed. Without a doubt, this was a snake-catching team led by a snake catcher, which annually carried out large-scale snake captures in winter.

However, the number of people this time was excessive—over thirty, including hunters, young men, farmers, and even Wang Da Niu, which was peculiar.

The crowd built a bonfire and set up an iron pot.

Inside the pot were many sections of freshly captured snake meat. The meat was vibrant and was placed into mountain spring water before being boiled over a high flame.

Soon, the aroma filled the air, and the people enjoyed the snake soup and meat with great delight.

“Humans raise so many livestock, yet they’re not satisfied. Why do they still eat snakes?”

Xu Hei felt indignation watching his kind being consumed, but he couldn’t help but swallow.

Suddenly, he felt a pang of hunger.

“Wang Da Niu, how do you feel?”

The old hunter, Li San, asked Wang Da Niu, who was sitting beside him.

Wang Da Niu, having drunk some snake soup, said bitterly, “I still don’t fit in the mountains. After this trip, I’ll return home. It’s almost New Year’s anyway.”

“Haha, returning home is good. Your Xiao Niu will certainly achieve something great in the future,” Li San said with a hearty laugh.

Wang Da Niu hesitated for a moment and said, “Actually, I always feel that the immortals have been frequently entering the mountains and gathering so many people, not just to catch snakes. It seems like they are looking for…”

“Shh!”

Before he could finish, Li San interrupted him.

Li San had a serious expression and said in a low voice, “We all know about this matter. Don’t ask too much or speculate. Just do your job and collect your pay.”

Wang Da Niu nodded.

At this moment, two snake catchers stood at the edge of the crowd, discussing something with serious expressions.

“Shixiong, since the location has been found, this group of people is useless and might leak information. Why not…”

The handsome young man’s eyes flashed as he took out a cyan-purple pill.

The plump middle-aged man immediately stopped him and said coldly, “Fool, do you think the Celestial Monitoring Bureau is useless? They can detect poison easily.”

As snake catchers were cultivators, the Celestial Monitoring Bureau would not sit idly by if they acted recklessly against ordinary people.

“So what does Shixiong suggest?” The young man asked, putting the pill away.

The middle-aged man snorted coldly and said proudly, “There is a bear demon nearby that is currently hibernating.”

The young man’s eyes lit up, and he cupped his hands in salute, “Shixiong is brilliant. No wonder you chose this place; you must have planned it all along.”

The middle-aged man struck a profound pose and remained silent.

Xu Hei overheard their entire conversation with his divine sense.

Xu Hei’s scalp tingled with apprehension.

“You want to kill people, can’t you choose another place?”

He didn’t care about the lives of the humans, but whether he could continue his peaceful hibernation was at stake.

If thirty or so people died, wouldn’t the Celestial Monitoring Bureau dig three feet into the ground to eradicate the demons?

Xu Hei knew that the root cause of all this was the presence of a bear demon nearby.

Before hibernating, Xu Hei had checked for traces of demon beasts in the vicinity. However, he hadn’t anticipated this inconvenience after he began hibernating; it was purely bad luck.

Unlike snakes, bears are warm-blooded animals. Even if awakened from hibernation, they could become violent and kill people.

“This cursed place, why am I so unlucky? Should I go burn some incense and pray to Buddha?”

Xu Hei pondered inwardly.

At this moment, the young snake catcher took out a jar of fine wine and served it to everyone.

“Fellow villagers, you’ve worked hard these days. This is our last time in the mountains. After this meal, you can all go home!”

“I toast you all!”

Upon hearing this, the crowd cheered immediately, eagerly accepting the wine jar and filling their cups.

This was wine for immortals, something they rarely even got to smell!

…

“Thank you for the wine, Immortal!”

“Let’s drink up together!”

As the young man drank the wine, everyone followed suit.

The wine was harmless, just an ordinary spiritual wine with a stronger kick, which made cultivators a bit dizzy, and even more so for mortals.

“Good wine, good wine indeed!”

“I’ve never drunk anything this good in my life!”

“Haha, drink to your heart’s content, I still have more!” The young snake catcher laughed.

Before long, everyone was getting woozy, and many had passed out on the ground.

Just when most people were getting drunk, a sudden rumbling came from the distance. The ground trembled, as if the mountain was shaking.

Two drunk men suddenly ran towards them from afar, their faces filled with terror, their drunkenness gone in an instant.

“Not good, a beast is coming, run!”

Before the two drunk men could finish speaking, a shadow fell from behind and smashed them into a pulp, with blood and flesh splattering everywhere.

Then came the earth-shaking roar of the bear demon, resonating through the mountains and forests.

“Help! It’s a bear demon!”

“Run away!”

The entire hunting team was thrown into chaos. People woke up in panic, fleeing for their lives.

However, the effects of the alcohol were too strong. Some people crashed into trees, some fell to the ground, rolling and crawling. Some even spoke in their sleep, unable to run at all.

The outcome was predictable.

“Alas, more deaths again.” Xu Hei sighed.

Xu Hei had no affection for humans. He only hoped they would die far away, not near his cave, so it wouldn’t be so filthy.

He moved further outside, so his divine sense could see farther.

At this moment, the bear demon was in a killing spree.

The bear demon moved with incredible speed, charging into the crowd and slapping people to death with a single swipe. The wind from its paws swept through, smashing people into pieces, blood and flesh flying everywhere, creating a scene of great carnage.

“Immortal, save me, save me!”

“Help! Don’t leave us behind!”

Screams rose as the villagers had never seen such a demon before, all terrified out of their wits.

However, two snake catchers who were well-prepared ran the fastest. Even though the handsome young man was drunk, he still sprinted like a leopard.

Only Li San was the most sober among the hunters.

“Immortal, you can’t just watch us die!”

Li San lunged forward and grabbed the handsome young man’s leg, but was kicked away with disgust by the latter.

“You lowly people, causing such a big mess, and still have the face to ask for help. It’s your own fault. Don’t bother me!” Zhao Wenzhuo shouted angrily, his face red.

“Zhao Shidi, hurry up.”

The fat middle-aged man ahead urged.

Zhao Wenzhuo spat in disgust and leapt ten zhang forward, just landing near Xu Hei’s cave entrance.

Li San gritted his teeth, took out his crossbow from his back, and shot an arrow forward.

Zhao Wenzhuo sidestepped, and though the arrow missed him, it hit his waist storage bag, scattering its contents all over the ground.

Pills, jade bottles, talismans, and two jars of spiritual wine all fell out.

One jar of spiritual wine shattered with a loud crash, its liquid flowing into the cave.

“Seeking death!”

Zhao Wenzhuo was furious. How dare a mortal attack an immortal, it was simply outrageous! But he didn’t have time to deal with the mortal and had to bend down to pick up his things.

He had not yet reached the middle stage of Qi Refinement and could not retrieve items from afar.

“Shixiong, come help me!” Zhao Wenzhuo called out.

The fat middle-aged man was extremely impatient but still stopped to help him pick up things, grabbing a handful of pills and stuffing them into his own storage bag.

They picked up the items, but whether they would be returned later was another matter.

Xu Hei, hidden in the cave, saw the wine and spiritual pills flowing into the cave, some of which dissolved in the water.

Xu Hei quickly moved aside, pressing against the rock wall to let the liquid flow past him.

“Who did I offend?”

Xu Hei cursed, and for a moment, the cave was filled with the smell of alcohol.

At that moment, Zhao Wenzhuo, while picking up items, grabbed a talisman from the ground and suddenly infused it with spiritual energy.

“What are you doing?!”

The fat middle-aged man’s face changed, and he hurriedly reached for his waist storage bag, but was too late.

Zhao Wenzhuo, holding the talisman, formed a hand seal, and the talisman exploded with green light. A fierce gale erupted, blasting towards the fat middle-aged man.

“Ah!!”

With a scream, the fat middle-aged man was blown away, flying towards the bear demon that was still slaughtering.

This sudden change left Xu Hei dumbfounded.