Jin Zixuan doesn't walk so fast that Wen Ning can't keep up, but he doesn't stop and wait for him, either. He continues through the hallway, following the trail of bloody footprints. At some point the footprints become longer, smeared, like someone was dragging a bleeding mass through the hall instead of walking. He turns, exiting the back door of the house into the small alleyway behind it, only to stop short as he comes face to face with a massive snake, over thirty feet long, its head reared up and ready to strike.

Jin Zixuan holds an arm out to stop Wen Ning from blundering any closer. "Stop! Don't move..." He can tell from the way the snake is eyeing him that it is tracking his movement.