Chapter 6 — The One Who Keeps The Venom Saves People

The snake curled up in the gap between two rotten wooden bars under the altar, its head slightly raised, its tongue continuously protruding in and out - a sign that it had felt strange vibrations around it. The scales on the top of the head are covered with an opaque white color under the light, exactly like what Du saw in the photo Thu sent an hour ago.

"Don't move." She whispered, barely moving her lips, enough for Khiem to read rather than hear.

She lowered the flashlight lower, switching it to the red light she had set—a light that was less stimulating to the reptile's vision than white light. The snake remained in the same position, but its tongue retracted more slowly, a small sign that the level of vigilance was lowering.

Du slowly pulled the snake hook out of the waistband, the movement was so slow that it was almost impossible to notice that it was moving. The hook was ninety centimeters long and had a U-shaped curved tip specifically designed to slide under the snake's body without directly touching it with your hands.

"Khiem, give me the cloth bag, it's easy." She said, never taking her eyes off the animal.

Khiem took off the double-layer cloth bag hanging on his side and passed it to Du in the slowest motion he could, his hands shaking slightly but controlled enough not to make a sound.

Du slid the tip of the hook under the middle of the snake's body, right behind the biggest bulge — not right at the head, because that would easily cause the snake to reflexively bite the hook, but also not too close to the tail, because that would give it enough leverage to escape. She lifted slightly, with a decisive but not jerky movement, pulling the snake's body out of the wood slot.

The animal was startled, thrashing violently in the air, its body wrapped around the handle of the hook. Du held firmly, lowered the hook near the mouth of the fabric bag Khiem was holding, and with a gentle shaking motion, she let the snake fall straight into the bag.

"Tie the bag closed, two loops of string, double knot." She spoke immediately, her voice still calm even though her heart was pounding in her chest.

Khiem complied, his hands still shaking but his movements precise — he had practiced tying the bag dozens of times during training sessions at camp, and that reflex now worked even when his mind was still reeling from adrenaline.

"Alright." Du stood up straight and let out a long breath that she didn't realize she had been holding for the past minute. "One. Need at least one more."

"Why don't we extract the venom right here quickly?" Khiem asked as they both stood up straight, looking at the cloth bag moving slightly in Du's hand.

"Venom extraction requires a fixed operating table, a standard collection membrane, and records at the time of extraction to avoid mixing up individuals." Du shook his head, tying the bag string to make it more secure. "Plus, extracting it right when the animal is still panicking because it has just been caught, the amount of venom collected is much less than letting it stabilize for a few hours in a familiar environment at the farm. I bring the whole animal back, process it properly, and can also utilize it for future extractions - no need to catch it once and use it once."

"So what will happen to this child in the future?"

"Raised in a specialized area, periodically extracting venom three to four weeks apart to allow the venom gland to recover, never exhausting it continuously. After a sufficient period of time, when the number of individuals is stable and there is no longer an urgent need, the farm will release it to the correct habitat, not keeping it forever." Du stood up, looked around one last time before deciding. "Now I need to find at least one more. One doesn't have enough venom to supplement Kieu's horse and reserve for direct extraction."

They spent another ten minutes searching the area, expanding their search radius to the back of the temple, along a row of palm trees still rising above the water. No other traces were found.

Khiem looked at his watch, then looked at Du, seemingly hesitant, not knowing whether to mention it or not. "Sister, how much time do we have left?"

"Not much." Du replied straightly, folding up the wet map in his raincoat pocket. "But it's not wise to go any further now. I already have one, so I have to get back out while there's still time."

"The walkie-talkie is ringing." Khiem said, pointing to the walkie-talkie attached to Du's shoulder, which was emitting intermittent buzzing sounds.

Du pressed the answer button. "Listen here, Mr. Nguyen."

"The water rose faster than forecast." Nguyen's voice rang out through the noise, more urgent than before. "The marking line just increased two more lines in fifteen minutes, twice as fast as the previous speed. They probably released a second wave upstream. Can you two go back out now?"

Du glanced at his watch. There were less than twenty minutes left according to the original estimate, but the speed of the rising water had completely changed that calculation.

"Understood, we'll be right out." She replied, then turned to Khiem. "Collect your things, let's go. Be quick but careful, don't be so hasty that you slip."

They followed the old path back to the water's edge, but after only a few steps, Du realized that the water level had risen significantly higher than when they first waded in - from knee level now it was almost touching their thighs, and the current was no longer as smooth as before but began to have small eddies washing over their feet.

"Walk close together, hold on to my shoulder if you see a strong current." Du ordered, his voice low to keep them both calm. She clutched the cloth bag containing the snake with one hand, and with the other hand reached behind and grabbed the wrist of Khiem's raincoat.

The swirling water is stronger near the bank, where the main flow of the old creek meets the overflow from the fields. Chan Du slipped on something soft in the mud - maybe a stubble, maybe a rotten piece of tree - and she staggered for a moment, enough for the water to spill over her waist, the cold rushing straight into her body, making her breath catch for a second.

"Miss Du!" Khiem shouted, his hand squeezing her hand tightly.

"I'm fine." Du growled, regaining balance by clinging tighter to the snake hook temporarily planted in the mud as fulcrum. "Go ahead, don't stop."

Nguyen's boat's headlights appeared ahead, cutting through the rain, and the crisp sound of the engine's engine grew closer every second. He brought the boat as close to the shore as possible, one hand holding on to the side of the boat, the other reaching out to catch it.

"Pass the bag of snakes first!" He shouted.

Khiem passed the cloth bag over, Nguyen picked it up, put it neatly in the middle of the boat, then reached out to pull Khiem up. It was Du's turn, when she put one foot on the edge of the boat, a sudden wave from the swirling water hit the side of the boat, causing her whole body to tilt.

In that brief moment, when her feet missed the fulcrum and the cold water covered her chest, an image flashed through Du's head so quickly that she couldn't stop it - the figure of her father wading into the riverbank, turning his head to look at her just once before stepping completely into the dark rain.

"Hold my hand!" Nguyen's scream pulled her back to reality.

Du reached out, grabbed Nguyen's sturdy arm, and let him pull her out of the water, falling face down into the boat, water flowing from her body into a puddle on the wooden floor.

"Are you okay?" Nguyen asked, his voice still breathless, he quickly turned back to control the throttle to take the boat out of the most dangerous eddy.

Du sat up, breathing heavily, her hands still shaking but not because of the cold. "Fine." She replied, and this time, she wondered if she was answering Nguyen's question, or trying to convince herself.

Khiem sat next to her, looking at her with worried eyes that he couldn't hide, but he didn't ask anything more, just quietly took off his coat and put it on Du's shoulders even though he himself was equally soaked. Du did not refuse, just nodded slightly in thanks, still clutching the cloth bag containing the snake in his lap as a guarantee that this trip was not completely in vain.

Nguyen kept the throttle steady, looked back once, then focused completely on steering the canoe through the most dangerous part of the whirlpool. "Miss Du, when you lost your footing just now, I saw your face turn white. You're not the type of person who's normally afraid of water." He said, not looking at her, his eyes still glued to the water ahead. "If you don't mind me asking."

"It's the same old story." Du replied, his voice calming down somewhat. "Not related to this trip."

Nguyen nodded, did not ask any more questions, just focused on controlling the boat through the last bend before reaching the wider, less swirling water. But Du knew that no matter what she said, the real answer was still lying in her chest, never leaving for twenty-four years, just waiting for nights of rising flood waters like tonight to surface.

Behind them, the mound of earth god temple gradually disappeared behind the curtain of rain, and the water level there, according to what Du had just witnessed, would continue to rise for many more hours - along with it, perhaps other Mist-Scaled Vipers were hiding somewhere they had not yet found.