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Twelve years ago, in the year of the Snake. I had been gravely ill for no apparent reason, and had a fever throughout the year. No matter what we tried it could not be cured. One midnight toward the end of the year, I watched in a daze as a big white snake slithered into my bed and climbed up my leg. The snake's coarse scales rubbed against my skin—it was painful and itchy at the same time.

I was terrified but did not dare to shout. I watched as the big white snake moved under my blanket throughout the night until the next day when Grandmother threw aside the blanket to carry me up. The moment she lifted the blanket, the smell of urine hit us right in the nose, but the snake was nowhere to be seen.

Grandmother slapped me on the bum and asked me why I had wet the bed.

I told her that a snake had crawled into my bed last night, but she did not believe me and asked what was going through my mind. We were not staying in some village in the mountains; where would a snake even come from?

However, as she was helping me change into a fresh pair of pants, she saw a hint of blood and was momentarily stunned. She did not ask me a single question and just quickly helped me put on my pants. She told me not to tell anyone about this or I would never be able to get married when I grew up.

Back then I did not understand why I would not be able to get married if I told people about it. Nevertheless, seeing how serious Grandmother was, I decided not to. Strangely enough, my illness started subsiding and I got better after that night. In the days to come—aside from Bai Suzhen on the television—I never saw that white snake again.

12 years passed by in a flash, and I enrolled in university. I had long since chalked up what happened back then as my own childish imagination. Unexpectedly, I had recently started dreaming of that white snake again.

The only difference this time was that the snake had a man’s head and was much thicker than before. In my dream, it was wrapped around my body and exploring it as if it were a person.

I was initially quite embarrassed, thinking I had a wet dream and thus did not take it to heart. However, my body started feeling uncomfortable a while after that happened. I felt dizzy and nauseous every day, and vomited regularly. I had no appetite, and most importantly, I had missed my period for three months.

A girl not having her period for a few months was definitely abnormal, so I decided to go to the hospital for a check-up. As I was going through an ultrasound, the doctor’s face performing the check-up stiffened. His gaze was fixated on the screen, eyes wide open as if he had seen a ghost. He said I was pregnant!

Was this an April Fools joke? I did not even have a boyfriend, how could I be pregnant?! Besides, being pregnant was not that out of the ordinary. Surely he did not need to look so horrified!

I followed the doctor’s gaze and looked at the ultrasound display. What I saw was my ovary filled with a slithering nest of black, snake-like objects. It was as if I was pregnant with a uterus full of snakes.

I was momentarily scared stiff!

Looking at those suspicious objects in my stomach, I involuntarily thought of that strange dream from back then. I definitely had some intimate interactions with the snake within the dream—do not tell me that impregnated me!

I had seen a story on UC News of a 13-year-old girl who got pregnant with snakes and dismissed it as fake news. Who knew it would happen to me. I could not cry even if I wanted to.

I was scared to the point of tears and pulled out my phone to call Grandmother. I told her about the matter and asked her what I should do.

When she heard that I was pregnant with snakes, she was shocked too. However, she calmed down immediately and thought back to what happened when I was younger. She claimed I could have been wrapped by the snake from 12 years ago and that this was not something the hospital could solve. She asked that I first returned home, and then she would accompany me to see an animal spirit.

She was referring to the sages who practiced shamanism in the northeast area. They were initially animals that cultivated within the mountains. After a long period of cultivation, they would develop spiritual powers and chose fated commoners to be their shamans. They worked hand-in-hand to help others with regards to spiritual and supernatural matters—not that much different from psychics.

Even though it was already the 21st century and no one believed in these superstitions anymore, I still chose to listen to Grandmother after what happened. I immediately requested for a leave to return home.

After getting home, Grandmother managed to contact a shaman from outside the city through someone’s recommendation. She was a woman, aged slightly above 50 named Yinggu, and was supposedly very good.

Grandmother accompanied me to Yinggu’s house. I entered alone and saw the shaman sitting in front of a great altar draped with red and green cotton cloths. She had a mop of freshly permed hair and a pair of small eyes. She looked no different from any normal aunty. However, never would I have thought that before I even sat down, she would lift her head, give me a measured look, glance mysteriously at the empty seat behind me, and ask me with a hint of interest, “Pregnant with snakes?”

I was taken aback—having been questioned so directly—and did not know how to answer. After a moment of awkwardness, I said, “Yes I think so.”

Yinggu walked toward me and said, “Indeed, this is retribution. Your family started a feud with that thing, and he is currently seeking revenge on you. Let me ask you, are your parents divorced? If they are it was definitely caused by that thing.”

“That can’t be, my parents divorced when I was very young. They said they just weren’t compatible. To say it was caused by that snake would be a little outrageous,” I answered Yinggu in disbelief.

Seeing my disbelief, Yinggu snorted and took out a few yellow joss sticks. She commented as she offered the joss sticks to the plaque on the altar. “Their power is great, and many families have been left destitute and homeless by them. You just got pregnant. Once the pregnancy period ends, the snakes in your belly will eat up your insides to leave your stomach.”

Hearing Yinggu’s words, I could not help but get goosebumps. I hurriedly asked if I could still be saved.

Yinggu did not look at me, but glanced behind me instead. “You can’t ask me this. You’ll need to ask him.”

“Ask who?” I looked behind in confusion. There was no one behind me.

“You can’t see him right now, but he came in with you earlier and is behind you right now. I’ll get him to possess me, and you can have a conversation with him. Whatever grievances you have with each other must be aired clean,” Yinggu said. She then sat on a futon made of grass and started chanting.

I could not tell what Yinggu was chanting. After a while, her entire body suddenly straightened and her eyes opened wide. Her head corked forward and even the aura around her changed. Her whole body suddenly slithered toward me in a zigzag with her hands and feet stuck to her body as if she was a snake. She stopped in front of me, and from her mouth came a man’s voice with a mystical aura.

“Bai Jing, do you know that twenty years ago your mom had you and was on a verge of a miscarriage. She took my partner and made her into a soup as a remedy. My partner died and you lived. How should we resolve this grudge?”

Even though it was Yinggu’s face in front of me, her eyes were squinted narrowly, and her pupils looked fierce and poisonous. That snake was definitely possessing Yinggu’s body!

This was the first time I’ve ever seen someone possessed, and it was a snake. I was so scared I immediately kneeled on the ground, wiping my tears as I cried. “Great sage, forgive me. Back then it was my family’s fault, but you’ve already forced my parents to split up. Please show me some mercy.”

“What does a little divorce count for? I still haven’t shown how ruthless I can be. A life for a life. I want to make your soul scatter to the winds.”

The deep tone of a man saying that caused me to bow my head down. The pale and wrinkled face was so close it almost touched mine, but I still dared not lift my head to look at him. I exclaimed while crying and cowering, “Then if you have any requests please let me know. As long as I’m not harmed and I can do it, I’ll definitely satisfy you.”

“Satisfy me?” The man scrutinized me and paused. Then, he leaned back and spoke with a calm tone, “It’s not that hard if you want me to let you off. There are two options for you. First option is to agree to be my shaman. Station me at your house and perform many good deeds to aid my cultivation. The second option... My partner died because of you. A life for a life. You become my wife, help me give birth to children, and continue my family line.”