Chapter 13

Song Xu froze on the spot, suddenly realizing a glaring issue she had never considered: the snake was male, and they were both beastmen. Among beastmen, regardless of their original forms, there was no reproductive isolation as long as they had a beastman form. As for half-beastmen… her original form had too little knowledge, only vaguely remembering legends of beastmen taking half-beastmen as mates.

Song Xu gasped: Could it be that the snake considered her a female mate?!

She had previously changed the snake’s bedding, helped him shed his skin, fed him, and played with him, never feeling anything was wrong because those were things one could do for a pet snake. But now, no pet snake would suck on a human’s finger to heal a wound.

Feeling the moist, soft sensation wrapping around her finger wound, she realized the snake’s tongue she wanted to see was probably now wrapped around her finger. Song Xu was dumbfounded.

Wu Mu released her finger and rested on the tree branch, his long hair cascading down, his face serene and beautiful. For the first time, Song Xu focused on the first word of the ‘beautiful snake’ rather than the last word.

Looking at her finger, covered in saliva and glistening with moisture, Song Xu recalled the good deeds she had done for the snake. If she had seen the snake as a fellow male creature, she wouldn’t have done things like prying open his mouth in the middle of the night.

Stepping back from the perspective of keeping a pet snake, she realized she was a pure rogue. Stumbling, Song Xu walked to the riverside, holding up her finger. Seeing her distorted face in the water, she quickly transformed into a squirrel. Thankfully, a squirrel’s face was cute, no matter the expression.

“Ahhhhh!”

Song Xu’s sudden scream startled Wu Mu. He lifted his head, seeing the squirrel running and screaming through the grass, scaring the insects into a frenzy.

Seeing no danger around, Wu Mu observed Song Xu for a while but couldn’t figure out the reason for her scream, so he buried his head back down in his usual confusion.

With a thud, Song Xu fell stiffly into the grass, her belly rising and falling, staring straight at the blue sky.

A squirrel running and screaming would scare Wu Mu, but her lying still and silent was even more unusual. Wu Mu suspected she might have been bitten by a poisonous insect or eaten something strange and fainted. He swam down from the shade into the grass, his snake body parting a winding path through the wild grass. Circling the motionless squirrel, he nudged her.

Song Xu weakly said, “Ying.”

She felt so strange.

Wu Mu propped her up against his snake body, but Song Xu slowly slid down again, unable to stay upright.

Wu Mu thought she might be acting strange because of her injury, but her wound was minor. He lifted her paw to check, seeing no more bleeding, but she still remained motionless. She had previously lain on the ground, refusing to get up, but she would roll around and make noise, not like this.

Recalling Song Xu’s previous behavior, Wu Mu suddenly transformed into his beast form. A big snake head loomed over Song Xu, opening a mouth wide enough to swallow ten squirrels as if to devour her.

But Song Xu immediately understood the snake’s intention. He was fulfilling her previous request, letting her freely examine the structure of his mouth. Seeing this, she was no longer sleepy!

Song Xu rolled up from the grass, not even brushing off the grass clippings, and stood in front of the gaping mouth, peering inside.

Wow, those teeth, the sharp points curving inward, the tongue…

As she looked, her entire squirrel head ended up inside the snake’s mouth, with only a fluffy tail sticking out. Seeing the tail wagging in front of him, the big snake instinctively wanted to bite down but restrained himself.

Song Xu had seen enough and withdrew from the big mouth, feeling a bit regretful. She actually wanted to see the oral structure in the half-beastman form, but now that she had reflected on herself and learned to be polite and courteous, she couldn’t make such excessive requests to an ordinary roommate.
After withdrawing from the snake’s mouth, Song Xu politely thanked the big snake.

On the way back, Song Xu didn’t insist on riding on the snake’s body but walked obediently behind Wu Mu. He swam through the grass, leaving a winding snake trail. Watching the tip of his tail, Song Xu controlled her urge to touch it and trudged forward on the flattened grass. He swam through the moss-covered wetland, pressing the moss flat. The smooth snake body wiped off all the dust and mud, making the snake tail even more shiny and attractive. But she couldn’t touch it.

Reminding herself to keep her distance, she didn’t touch his tail all day and even canceled their usual evening KTV chat. Once she regarded the snake as an untouchable peer rather than a beloved pet snake, Song Xu found she couldn’t do anything according to modern moral standards and social etiquette.

How could this be? Would she never be able to touch him again?

The thought of going from luxury to frugality depressed Song Xu, and she kicked the stone wall in frustration.

Song Xu wasn’t used to it, and neither was Wu Mu. To him, Song Xu’s keeping her distance meant she was scared after being bitten and didn’t want to get close anymore.

She would soon leave. No beastman would dare stay with a dangerous half-beastman for long.

A half-beastman who lost their mind would kill and eat those around them, which was why he lived alone in this quiet forest, hiding in the stone cave for long periods.

Besides eating and shedding, Wu Mu didn’t like fully transforming into his beast form. He spent most of his time in his half-beastman form to delay complete beastification. But now, he felt as uncomfortable as if he were shedding and crawling into the hiding hole in his beast form.

Song Xu spent a day being moral, losing sleep for most of the night, and admitting defeat at dawn. She went to the big snake, calling him to go for a walk and have breakfast, but the big snake ignored her, hiding in the small hole and not even flicking his tail.

Whenever he hid in that small hole, it meant she had annoyed him too much. But she had been so quiet last night and hadn’t bothered him, so why was he hiding?

Getting no response, Song Xu climbed up along his tail, squeezing into the small hiding hole.

The small hole was too cramped for her to move around in. She bumped around inside, feeling surrounded by coiled snake tails.

Wu Mu was forced out by her antics, flowing out of the hiding hole like water. After getting him out, Song Xu returned to her beastman form, tidied her fur clothes, and sat solemnly before Wu Mu, looking serious.

“We’ve been together for so long, and I believe we somewhat understand each other. I want to ask you a question.”

Wu Mu sat on his tail, the remaining part coiled in a figure-eight, listening to her.

“So, what do you think about me being your mate?”

Song Xu had sorted out her logic. Touching a roommate without a relationship was immoral and impolite, but if they were mates, touching would be legal. No one could stop her from legally keeping a snake.

Wu Mu: “…”
Song Xu: “Come on, say ‘yes’ with me.”
Wu Mu: “…”

Song Xu: “Tch, I can’t fool you, can I?”

Hearing no response, Song Xu wasn’t discouraged. She moved closer and asked the old question again: “You still don’t want to tell me your name?”

“Wu Mu…” The voice was still stuttering, low, but he finally spoke.

Song Xu had asked countless times and finally got an answer, feeling satisfied. She pressed on: “Then, shall we be partners?”

Wu Mu hesitated. Song Xu saw his tail swaying, much more restless than his expression. Suddenly, she had an idea. She stood up and walked to the entrance of the stone cave, saying to him: “If you come out of this cave today, it means you agree!”

Wu Mu stared at the entrance, the bright sunlight shining there, the light stretching with time. There was no movement outside. He swam to the usual spot where they lit the bonfire, the sunlight’s tail just at the edge of his tail. Just as he was about to leave, Song Xu’s head appeared at the entrance, and Wu Mu shrank back.

Song Xu saw his actions clearly and announced: “I’m going to shout for help!”

Standing at the cave entrance, she cleared her throat, rubbed her face, and shouted: “Ahhh, help!”

Luring the snake out of the cave.
The hook may be straight, but it can catch.

The big snake came out of the cave, and Song Xu, who had anticipated this, was waiting there: “You agreed! I’m legal now!”

Wu Mu turned back to the cave, and Song Xu chased after him, laughing: “Too late, too late, you already agreed!”

Accidentally tripped by the snake’s tail, Song Xu fell onto Wu Mu, pressing his back, and said: “Since we’re partners, I can see your mouth now; let me see!”

Wu Mu twisted, his tail thrashing around the cave, hitting the surrounding stone walls. Song Xu didn’t care, knowing it wouldn’t hit her. The thrashing tail didn’t scare her. Wu Mu raised his arm to shield his head and face, but it didn’t help much. In the end, she still managed to touch his cheek. He looked like he wanted to stick out his tongue but was afraid she’d seize the opportunity, so he kept his mouth tightly shut, his messy hair making him look pitiful.

Song Xu was delighted: “I’ll just look, I won’t put my hand in!”

“You… lied to me.” Wu Mu broke a new record, saying five words today.

Taking advantage of his open mouth, Song Xu peeked inside and quickly touched his shrunken snake fangs in human form.

“See, I didn’t touch it.” She teased him with an innocent expression.

Wu Mu was indeed fooled. He felt her small action and retorted: “Touched…!” She touched it!

Song Xu pretended not to understand: “What, you want me to touch? Then I touched it, thank you, thank you.”

Wu Mu: “Hiss hiss!”
The snake hissed in anger, and Song Xu was filled with joy.