"Who are you?" The aunt watching TV in the living room suddenly saw someone coming in from the balcony and screamed in fright.

"I'm sorry, I'm a neighbor next door. My girlfriend went out and accidentally locked me out, so I had to borrow your balcony," Xiao Lin said, wanting to cover his ears. Since the layout was the same, he easily found the exit, leaving the aunt shouting behind him.

The corridor was crawling with insects, gathered outside his door. Fortunately, he had prepared measures; otherwise, his room would really have become a pest disaster. With both hands gathering True Qi, the door behind him burst open. The aunt, who wanted to chase him out and scold him further, shut the door upon seeing the floor full of insects in fright.

Xiao Lin looked towards the end of the corridor—it was the elevator. Their apartment was on the left half with four households, while the right half had three households, with the elevator and stairs in the central dividing area. Behind him was another household, and the only exit was ahead.

The crawling insects halted their movements like a well-organized army, suddenly turning their heads and rapidly climbing toward him.

"Using flute sounds, huh?" Raising his palms, Xiao Lin gathered Inner Strength to shatter the approaching insects on the ground. Spiders fell from the ceiling, bounced off upon nearing him, struggled for a few moments, and then died.

Xiao Lin opened a path, following it up to the rooftop. On top, a couple dressed in ethnic clothing held long flutes. They glanced at each other upon seeing him emerge from the rooftop, and the woman began to play her flute again.

A red snake slithered out from behind her, approximately two meters away. The contrast between its white belly and red scales created a stark visual; Xiao Lin stood, the air thick with a stench.

"Are you the Military Doctor, Xiao Lin?" The man asked.

"What do you want?"

"We are ordered to deliver you a welcome gift; I hope you accept it with a smile." After saying that, the flute sounded, and the snake, its tongue swaying, darted straight towards him. Knowing snakes don't move straight typically made Xiao Lin take a few steps back in surprise.

The snake, without attacking, coiled up on the spot. It opened its mouth, its head stretching and contracting as if searching for its prey.

It was a venomous snake; Xiao Lin stared at its every move cautiously, its red appearance extremely rare. He focused his gaze on the distant couple, finding no information about them in his mind.

Suddenly, the snake's head moved, darting quickly towards Xiao Lin. In a hurry, he bent down and slid under the snake, delivering a blow with his right hand to its body.

The hard skin, scales flipping up, and fingers got cut with several abrasions. "Who is your master?" Without waiting for Xiao Lin to get up, the snake turned towards his heat and darted again.

Jumping from the spot, Xiao Lin soared; the snake's head followed him, leaping up. In mid-air, he lunged and landed atop the water tower on the rooftop. The snake followed, wrapping its tail around the horizontal bar and coiling itself up.

The snake appeared professionally trained, difficult to deal with. A flute sound echoed, the venomous snake extended its head, opened its jaws wide, and spewed out a cloud of smoke.

"Not good!" Xiao Lin covered his mouth with one hand, closing his breathing point, and flipped over, landing but still inhaled a little of the snake's venom mist, causing dizziness.

"Hehehe!" The woman set down the flute and elegantly walked over, "Holding your breath is useless; my darling can't be compared with ordinary venomous snakes."

Xiao Lin gathered a breath of True Qi to protect his heart and used Inner Strength to expel the toxins from his body.

"I heard you're skilled in internal martial arts; indeed, impressive."

The snake on the water tower slithered down like a ghostly shadow, circling about the woman's side and being docile like a lamb. "Others say you're formidable, but today it seems that's not the case."

The flute sounded, the snake coiling up and beginning its attack from Xiao Lin's right side. This time it didn't probe with its upper body but used its entire body as a weapon, its tail thumping against the ground with a clatter, the hiss in the breeze threatening to cut through the air fiercely.

Carrying a foul wind, Xiao Lin didn't dodge but instead countered the snake head-on with a strike. The snake's head hit, disoriented before coiling around Xiao Lin's arm, dragging him to the ground.

The snake head reared up, opened its mouth aimed at Xiao Lin, as they say, to strike a snake, hit seven inches. No matter how deadly, seven inches is a snake's weakness. Xiao Lin pressed several pressure points on his right arm, rendering it useless, then exerted force with his left hand. With a nauseating smell approaching, he tilted his head; his left fingers bent and pinched the snake at seven inches.

This snake was quite formidable; beneath its thick skin, grasping it at seven inches, it still had strength, its body struggling, hissing from it.

Man and snake entangled together; such a scene was Consort Ling's first time witnessing, the blood-red snake revealing a black shadow. She quietly hid behind the man.

"Make that woman stop."

Her neck was pressed against something cold; Duan Li frowned, sensing something. Duan Wen looked back at Duan Li, seeing him being held at gunpoint by a man. She set down the flute; losing the sound control, the snake's actions slowed. Xiao Lin seized the opportunity, applying force to his fingers to make the snake's tail loosen its grip on him. His right arm freed himself, and when relaxed, the snake's head reared up, its fangs sinking into the flesh of his left hand.

"Courting death!"

Xiao Lin shouted in anger, releasing the snake head, withdrawing the dagger from his waist, and stabbed it at seven inches, causing the snake not fully recover from the softness and curling painfully on the ground.

Duan Wen blew the flute; the snake heard and wanted to retreat to her side, but Xiao Lin was quicker, stepping on its tail. He lifted the end with force and whipped it on the ground; its body twisted like a whip suspended in the air, unable to turn or attack.

The flute's melody grew higher; the venomous snake's aggression almost polluted the air, making it hard to breathe. Duan Li covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve; Consort Ling held her breath. The caught snake tail kept shaking, Xiao Lin intensified the force on his arm, swinging the snake's body.

"Using sound to control a snake is foolish; sound vibrations have no effect on a snake." Xiao Lin whipped it one last time, and the snake lay motionless, like a real whip limp on the ground, its bones separated, but this did not mean death.

A snake inherently has self-recovery capabilities; generally, hunters would crush the snake's bones and then cut off its head. If left like this, it won't take long for the snake to reconnect its bones, coming back to life. (To be continued. If you liked this work, you're welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) and vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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