I had to squeeze my body to pass through the hole, and once inside, the feeling of dread took over me. It was unpleasant to be there. I felt suffocated, trapped, and like something would attack me any second.
That was quite daunting, but I had to keep moving. Mo Huan took care of the spiritual herbs, and I had to be the one looking for the snake. If I did not do that, then no one else would.
So I kept moving forward with my attention at its highest, ready to run from that hole the moment a strange noise came to me. They did.
I started hearing a snake hissing. My first reaction was to panic, yet with my keen senses; I could tell the hiss was not there. It was like a distant sound that entered my head for some reason.
'An illusion?'
An illusion was the first thing that came to mind and would explain how the dead skin suddenly vanished without leaving traces. It could be that, or it could also be the snake hissing that was preluding my death.