Serpent Sarcophagus

Chapter 4 The Black Mamba Bracelet

Stowy's voice was low and sad, as if he felt wounded.

“I remember you.” I was driving with the steering wheel going full. “You are the black serpent in my

dream.”

“Ah...” Stowy gave a self-mocking smile.

I heard something wrong with his voice, but I couldn’t spare the time to care about that. I glanced over

my shoulder in the rearview mirror.

David, who had just been swept away by the water, got up again, stood behind the car, and stretched

out his hands toward my car.

The snake coiled around David's hands. Its head was pointing at the car and its tongue was flicking

out. The hiss too, I didn’t notice when the voice that was calling my name had resumed.

And in the nearby woods, there seemed to be something moving. Even the sound of the wind hustling

through the tree appeared to be calling me, “Aurora, Aurora!”

“Never look back and never look into any snake’s eyes.” Stowy's heavy voice sounded so serious.

Being my first time driving, the car traveled on the mountain road in a zigzagging course. In this chaotic

situation, how could there be any time for me to look back?

When we suddenly passed the edge of a cliff, several snakes fell straight from the half-sloping tree

onto the windshield.

The snakes hovered, snarling at me through the glass.

As Stowy waved his hand, rushing out was a current of water, and all those snakes were washed away.

All along the road would occasionally spring out one or two snakes, but they were washed away by

Stowy’s magic finger so that I could drove while sweating.

The milestone tablet in front came into my sight just as the car was about to enter the village. I heaved

a long sigh of relief.

But due to a moment of carelessness, the car ran straight into the stone tablet and stopped.

“Go into the village and find your grandmother.” Stowy’s shape faded as he turned toward me, “Go get

the bracelet. Remember to place a drop of your blood on it. You must dig out the sarcophagus and

expose it under the sun! Quickly!”

He then disappeared, I hurried off, picking up the bag on the back.

At one corner, a ragged man walked toward me. His hair and beard stuck together. It was hard for

anyone to recognize his facial expression with his face so dirty. He stooped with two hands lingering in

the air and giggled at me.

This man was called Mr. Han who had some mental issues and often wandered around in the village,

begging for food whenever someone was hosting an event.

I quickly took out a box of cookies from my backpack and handed it to him before I entered.

But Mr. Han stopped me. As he pulled open the biscuit box, he grinned at me in an unfathomable

fashion, “You can't go in! A snake is following you. So big and has no body. Scary. You mustn’t go in

there!”

“No snake!” I thought he was talking about Stowy. I turned back, but there was no sign of him.

Then Mr. Han pointed at the shadow behind me while eating the biscuit and giggling. Then he moved

closer to me, seemed to be whispering something.

He said mysteriously, “I tell you, it’s the serpent that your father killed. It has no body, but it will take its

vengeance on you. It's coming for you...”

I followed his gaze. It was just about ten o 'clock in the morning, and the sunshine was just in good

tuning, which cast a long shadow of me. But it was not the shadow of a man at all, but more like the

shadow of a slithering serpent.

My clothes were already wet, but my sweat made it even wetter!

I found a bottle of drinks in my bag and threw it to Mr. Han. Then I took the opportunity to run into the

village when he was picking it up.

“Aurora, you can't go into the village. Ha Ha! The ghost serpent is hunting you and your family. Ha,

Ha...” Mr. Han still shouted at the back, but he did not attempt to go after me.

To my home I went in such a hurry that I was barely able to catch my breath. Grandma was feeding the

chicken when she saw me. The chicken gathered around her feet immediately ran off to the pen,

fluttering their wings.

Grandma looked at me while holding the food bowl. She noticed the serpent-shaped shadow on the

ground as well.

She blinked and said to me in a low voice as if nothing was unexpected. “Aurora, stand here still and

wait. I will be back in a while.”

I stood outside the door, looking at my grandma, a little fluttered. I had no idea what my grandma was

up to.

Before long, grandma walked out with a big white goose. She threw the goose fiercely at my shadow.

It was already exasperating enough for the goose to be caught. The short-tempered beast only became

more irritated after it was thrown into the air. It fluttered its wing a couple of times, then a loud honk

came out of its elongated neck.

This goose is not a people-friendly animal. Whenever I saw this big white goose, I couldn’t help but fear

it. My father said several times that it should be brought down and cooked, but that idea was often

discouraged by my grandma’s scolding back.

Instinctively, I tried to evade it, but my grandma instructed, “Don't move!”

I froze and looked at my grandmother in bewilderment.

The big white goose fell into my shadow, with its feet stomping on the ground a couple of times. After

finding the right direction, as expected, it extended the long neck and two big wings, and charged

towards me.

“Aurora, don't move.” Inside my head, Stowy’s voice warned me as well.

It’s really painful to be bitten by a goose. Like one bite was not enough, it had to bite more here and

there with that sharp beak.

After being bitten several times, I was confused but also afraid.

After a while, Grandma came out with a plate of food to distract the big white goose away.

Then she looked at my shadow and said to me, “It's all right now. Come in.”

Following my grandmother's stare, I saw the serpent-like shadow behind me was gone. Everything had

returned normal.

I sighed a heavy relief. Got rid of the trouble so easily, how unexpected!

Then I asked my grandma, “is the Black Mamba Bracelet still in our house?”

Grandma added some water to the plate to feed the goose and looked at me with a light sigh, “It has

started! I've had this goose for ten years. It’s best if we don’t need to use it. I didn’t expect to have used

it as soon as you turned eighteen.!”

“Grandma, what’s the meaning of all these? Was it true that there was a serpent guarding the

sarcophagus when I was born?” I held my grandmother's hand, confused.

My grandmother took me inside and opened a wooden crate adorned with copper nails. It was my

grandmother’s dowry. From the crate, she took out a carefully carved box which was the size of a palm

in which there was something wrapped by white fabric.

“Many years ago, Mrs. Quebec had told us, that this bracelet can protect your safety. but if we give it to

you, it may…… “Grandma looked dreadfully worried, but she still chose to hand me that Black Mamba

Bracelet. She said, “It’s the sin made by ancestors of our house.”

As she said this, her eyes were brimmed with tears. She grasped my hand and sighed, “Alas! Aurora,

they committed the sin themselves, but they didn't pay for it, and now it fell on you! Karma shall punish

them! Why should my sweet granddaughter suffer the consequences?”

I looked at grandma, puzzled, “What on Earth is going on?”

Grandma waved at me, “All the way back, haven't had breakfast, right? Eat breakfast first! After

breakfast, we will go to Mrs. Quebec’s place and see the late Quebec’s apprentice, who’s also a

renowned Channeler around the neighbor.

“But Stowy said that I have to go and locate the serpent sarcophagus.” I stood up with that white fabric.

Grandma shook her head and said, “It’s gone, hit by lightning!”

She went into the kitchen, apparently in no mood to unveil that memory.

“First, drop your blood on the bracelet!” Stowy reminded me in my head.

Slowly unfolding that piece of white fabric, I found a serpentine jade inside as dark as the ink. The

carving was so meticulous that even the scales were vividly visible. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Though made out of black jade, the snake's eyes, half-open, seemed so crystal that they can shine in

the night.

It looked just like the black snake in my dream.

As I gazed upon it, the half-closed eyes suddenly opened completely.

In astonishment, I almost dropped the bracelet. Stowy’s voice ceased, as if he was deep in thought

about the jade-made bracelet.

The white goose shouted. I found a sewing needle of grandma’s, using it to prick my finger, and then

squeezed some blood on the bracelet.

The red fell on the black bracelet. The blood seemed to have come to life and quickly spread out along

the carved scales. In a blink of an eye, the whole body was covered in red.

As I stared, the light suddenly got dimmer, and I felt something cold and soft on my lips.

I raised my head in surprise, only to see Stowy’s handsome face before my eyes, close to my lips. His

lips moved, like a sigh, or in soliloquize, “Finally! Aurora, I get to kiss you.”