Chapter 827: The Flying Ghost

Chapter 827: Chapter 827: The Flying Ghost

Deep inside the pitch-black cave, time seemed to stand still.

Trapped in the suffocating darkness, Yue Yue remained coiled in a tight, protective ball, burying her small head beneath her own white scales.

Around her, the terrifying wails of the other snake cubs echoed off the cold stone walls. But as the long hours dragged on, the crying slowly began to die down. The frightened cubs grew exhausted, their frantic hisses fading into soft, shaky whimpers.

Suddenly, a tiny flicker of light appeared deep within the cavern.

It wasn’t bright, but in the complete blackness, that small, glowing speck was like a beacon of hope.

None of the cubs wanted to stay in the terrifying dark any longer. One by one, the young snakes uncoiled themselves and began slithering toward the light.

Yue Yue quickly lifted her small head from beneath her scales. Seeing that gentle glow, her little heart leaped. She didn’t want to be left behind in the dark!

She immediately pushed forward, her smooth body gliding across the dusty floor as fast as she could, chasing right behind the group of cubs ahead of her.

"Wait for me!" she hissed softly, her tiny tongue flicking out as she tried her best to keep up with their scrambling tail tips.

The cubs glided frantically toward the light, their scales scraping against the rough stone floor. But just as the lead cubs reached the glowing opening...

RUMBLE!

A terrifying shift shook the very foundation of the mountain!

Before anyone could react, the solid stone floor beneath them suddenly began to shift and slide! It was as if a giant, hidden mechanism inside the mountain had been triggered.

High-pitched shrieks of absolute terror filled the cavern as the ground broke apart into moving stone ramps. The chaotic movement threw all the young snakes in completely different directions!

Yue Yue slid out of control, tumbling tail-over-head down a steep, dark slope. Loose rocks rattled past her, and the frightened cries of the other cubs grew distant as they were swept into separate underground tunnels.

"Mother! Help!" Yue Yue cried out, her world spinning violently until...

THUD!

Her small body bumped hard against a flat rock wall, and she slid to a stop on the dusty ground.

Everything went silent.

The shaking stopped. The roaring stone mechanisms ceased. The heavy dust slowly settled in the air, leaving behind an eerie, heavy quiet.

Yue Yue let out a faint whimper, shaking her tiny white head to clear the dizziness. She slowly lifted herself up, her gemstone blue eyes wide as she looked around.

The other cubs were nowhere to be seen, and their screams had vanished into thin air. But right ahead of her, deep inside the abandoned cavern, that same mysterious glow was softly shining.

"Huh?" Yue Yue whispered into the quiet, her tongue flicking nervously. "Is anyone there?"

Only the faint drip of water answered her.

Drip. Drip.

Yue Yue slithered forward a few inches, her tiny body trembling. The tunnel was vast, ancient, and completely abandoned. There were no other cubs, no bad old men, and no way to tell which path led back to the surface.

She was completely alone in the heart of the mountain, with only the faint, mysterious light to guide her.

Yue Yue swallowed her fear, her tiny gemstone blue eyes fixed firmly on the soft, mysterious glow ahead.

She had no choice. It was either to sit in the pitch-black cavern forever or to follow that light. Gliding quietly across the cold stone floor, her smooth white scales scraped gently against the dust.

Slither... slither...

She crept closer and closer to the light. But just as she reached the wide opening of the ancient, ruined chamber...

FLASH!

A bright, glowing wisp of light suddenly zapped right in front of her snout!

"Eek!" Yue Yue squeezed her eyes shut and frantically shook her small white head back and forth, trying to wipe the scary vision from her mind. It’s not real! It’s not real!

FLASH!

The bright light zapped again, hovering right above her head this time. And then, a floating, echoing voice rang out through the silent chamber:

"Little snake... who are you?"

Yue Yue froze completely, her body turning as rigid as a stick. Her little heart hammered so wildly against her ribs that she felt like she might burst.

Hot tears instantly welled up in her gemstone blue eyes, threatening to spill over.

W-What is this thing?!

Is it a ghost?!

Her mind frantically raced back to the spooky bedtime stories her eldest tiger brother, Xiao Yi, used to tell in the dark when their mothers weren’t looking.

He had whispered that abandoned, shadowy places always had ghosts lurking in the corners!

Xiao Yi had even sworn on his life that once, when he was wandering near a dark cave, a scary ghost hand had shot out from under the dirt and grabbed his tiger paw!

Yue Yue trembled violently, looking up at the glowing, floating wisp buzzing around her head.

Her little snake brain quickly processed her situation. Wait... this ghost didn’t grab my tail from the ground.

In her case, the ghostly light was zip-zapping through the air, floating effortlessly around her snout!

This ghost must have wings! she thought, her tiny head ducking down as the flickering spirit zoomed around her. It’s a flying ghost!

"Mother..." Yue Yue whimpered softly in her mind, her little tail tightly coiling around herself as the glowing ’flying ghost’ hovered closer to her terrified face.

The floating wisp of light continued to zip around her head in bright circles.

Zap! Zap!

Yue Yue ducked her head as low as it could go, pressing her tummy flat against the cold stone floor. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the scary "flying ghost" to bite her tail or drag her into the dark.

Suddenly, the blinding flashes stopped. A gentle, emerald-green glow settled right in front of her nose.

Yue Yue peeked through one tiny, tear-filled eye.

Hovering just a few inches away was not a monster, but a small snake! It was an emerald-green color, very much like her brother scales, but it was slightly bigger than her brother.

As Yue Yue looked closer, her jaw almost dropped to the dusty floor.

This snake had two delicate, glowing wings attached to its back! Not only that, but two little horns stuck straight out from the top of its forehead, glittering like a tiny star.

What kind of thing is this?! Yue Yue thought, completely bewildered.

Was it a snake? Was it a bird? Was it a dragon?

The strangest part was its body. Even though she could see its bright emerald scales, its delicate wings, and its tiny horn clearly, it wasn’t solid at all!

The creature was completely translucent like glowing green glass or a spirit made of pure light. Yue Yue could actually see right through its body to the stone wall behind it!

Her little eyes widened as big as saucers. Her tiger brother’s spooky stories instantly flooded her mind again.

It really is a ghost! Her little brain screamed in terror. A flying, see-through snake ghost with horns!

The translucent emerald snake tilted its head, its glowing, winged form hovering effortlessly in the air. Its tail flicked gently as it floated closer to her trembling snout.

"Why are you crying, little one?" the winged snake spirit asked softly, its echoing voice sounding like smooth glass chiming in the wind.

"How did a tiny cub like you end up in this forgotten cavern?"

Yue Yue shuddered, her tail coiling into a frantic ball. "P-Please don’t eat me, Mister Flying Ghost!" she squeaked out, her voice trembling so hard her tongue almost tripped over her fangs.

"I’m just a little snake! I don’t taste good at all!"