An hour after the campus was overrun with snakes, more than a dozen uniformed police officers arrived at Wencheng University.

They helped catch the snakes while simultaneously investigating why a swarm of them had descended upon the scholarly halls of the campus.

"Captain Bai, we've conducted a campus-wide sweep. So far, we've captured 987 snakes—687 non-venomous and 300 venomous, spanning seven different species. While we've caught the vast majority, there are likely still many more hiding in hard-to-reach places."

A middle-aged, uniformed man reported to the woman in charge, who was just as coldly beautiful in her own uniform.

The woman, addressed as Captain Bai, had a uniform that perfectly accentuated her full, graceful figure. Her skin was as fair as snow, and her expression was as cold as it was exquisitely beautiful. Her slender eyebrows furrowed slightly as she glanced at the familiar campus. "Have you figured out why all these snakes appeared on campus at once?" she asked.

"We don't have any leads on that yet. We've been too busy catching the snakes. Besides, we're police officers. For a case like this, we'd probably need to bring in a snake expert to know for sure."

The cold beauty replied flatly, "There's no need to go to all that trouble. We just need to make sure no more snakes show up on this campus again."

"Have everyone take all the captured snakes to the athletic field."

"Captain Bai, what do you plan to do?"

The sharp line of the cold woman's high-bridged nose and her thinly pressed lips seemed to signal a lack of sentiment. She said coolly, "They're just beasts disrupting a place of learning. Naturally, they must all be killed. Kill every last one. I refuse to believe any more snakes will dare show their faces on this campus after that."

Her words were cold and laced with Killing Intent. The dozen or so police officers immediately began gathering all the captured snakes—those caught by themselves and those caught by students—and bringing them to the athletic field.

A short while later, a large crowd had gathered at the athletic field.

On the grassy lawn, Tu Xiao'an and his two companions had filled a large bucket to the brim with snakes. Just then, a uniformed officer approached them. "Thanks for your hard work," he said. "I'll take these snakes off your hands now. We're taking them to be processed all at once."

"Processed? How will they be processed?"

Sophie quickly asked the officer.

He replied, "Our captain said these snakes don't know their place, causing a disturbance on campus. They're all going to be incinerated together in a bit."

"What? You're going to burn all these snakes alive?" Sophie exclaimed in shock.

Li Qingzhao was stunned speechless, while Tu Xiao'an's brow furrowed slightly.

'There are at least a thousand snakes on this campus. Burning them all alive... that's too much of a slaughter. Normally, they should be taken somewhere and released back into the wild.'

"Come on, let's go see what's happening."

The three of them immediately ran toward the athletic field.

On the athletic field, a large circle had been drawn with realgar powder. All the captured snakes were dumped inside it, piling up in a hissing, writhing mass. The sight was enough to make your skin crawl.

Trapped by the realgar powder, the snakes could only slither about in a panic within the confines of the circle.

"Oh my god, that's terrifying! I've never seen so many snakes in one place before!"

The edge of the field was already crowded with student onlookers. Horror was etched on their faces as they broke into scattered discussions.

"I heard the police are going to burn all of them alive."

"No way! Burning that many snakes at once is a little too cruel, isn't it?"

"I heard it's to make an example of them, so no more snakes will ever show up on campus."

"Those snakes bit a lot of our classmates. It'd be better if they all died. Otherwise, how are we supposed to go to class if one could just pop out at any time? We'd have to worry about getting bitten every single day."

By now, at least a thousand snakes were trapped inside the circle of realgar. The cold, beautiful officer in her uniform stared at the ugly creatures, her expression filled with disgust.

Within a few short moments, nearly every snake that had been captured on campus was gathered on the field. The cold beauty gave the order, "Pour the gasoline. Burn them all."

"You can't burn them! You can't!"

Sophie rushed out at once, blocking the officer who was about to pour the gasoline.

The cold officer glanced at Sophie, a flash of surprise in her eyes, before a smile spread across her face. "Well, well. Sophie. My old classmate. Long time no see."

"Bai Chuyan, have you lost your mind? How can you burn so many snakes alive? Each and every one of them is a living creature!"

As a biology teacher, Sophie had immense respect for animals.

She and Bai Chuyan had both been students at Wencheng University, even classmates in the same year. But after graduation, one became a police officer, while the other stayed behind at their alma mater to become a teacher.

"These beasts don't know enough to just hide and survive. They came out as a swarm to hurt people. If we don't kill them, then what do you suggest?" Bai Chuyan's long, thick eyelashes curled upward in a perfect arc as she questioned Sophie.

Sophie's eyes were gentle as water. "The natural thing to do is take them somewhere else and release them."

"And what if we release them and they come back?" Bai Chuyan asked flatly.

Sophie said, "They won't. If we take them fifteen kilometers away to West City Mountain and release them, they won't be able to return."

Bai Chuyan shook her head. "Have you considered why these beasts appeared on campus all at once?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly. You don't know, and I don't know either. But for a thousand of them to appear simultaneously is no coincidence. I don't have time to investigate why they're here. The only way is to make an example of them to prevent any future problems."

Sophie immediately raised her voice. "No! What you're doing is illegal! Our country has a wildlife protection act. You can't just slaughter them indiscriminately!"

A contemptuous, arrogant look crossed Bai Chuyan's face. "My dear old classmate, has being a teacher made you stupid? Which of these snakes are actually covered by the wildlife protection act?"

"That act protects precious and endangered terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, as well as terrestrial wildlife with significant ecological, scientific, or social value. The snakes here are all common, worthless species. Who cares how many of them die?"

"Bai Chuyan, if we can release them, why resort to a senseless slaughter?" Sophie was so angry she was trembling.

Bai Chuyan said coolly, "I'm eliminating a future threat. Or would you rather this campus become a snake pit?"

"How can you be so cruel? To think someone so beautiful could have the heart of a viper!"

Seeing that Teacher Su was losing the argument, Li Qingzhao stepped in to support her.

"Little girl, what do you know? Do you have any idea how many snakes are killed in a single day at those wild game restaurants? Do you know how many they kill in a month, or a year? Once these thousand-odd snakes are dead, the problem will be solved, plain and simple."

To Bai Chuyan, this was a minor case. All that mattered was dealing with the snakes and preventing a similar incident from happening again.

Why insist on killing the snakes here on the campus field instead of taking them elsewhere?

It was because if the snakes died on campus, the entire place would be saturated with the scent of their death. Naturally, no other snakes would dare to venture here in the future.

Snakes are extremely sensitive to scents. Bai Chuyan's method was brutally efficient—a swift stroke to cut through the tangled mess. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Li Qingzhao was left speechless, unable to utter a word for a long moment. Her face flushed red with anger.