Chapter 12

Song Xu was not a good teacher. If she were, she would surely mislead her students. Fortunately, she only had one student now, so she could only mislead this one.

When teaching Wu Mu, she combined the inherited memories of her original self with her own memories, integrating the customs and habits of both worlds and pouring everything into her only student.

“When greeting people, the first thing to say is ‘Hello, have you eaten?’ or ‘The weather is nice today, where are you going?’ Come on, repeat after me.”

Wu Mu recalled that during his time living in the tribe, there were no such habits or ways of speaking—no one greeted him. He looked at Song Xu suspiciously. To appear more like an old teacher, she even pretended to hold a charred stick and draw on the ground.

Song Xu: “Why aren’t you repeating? Is it too long? Okay, let’s start with the shortest one. First, say ‘Hello.’ The pronunciation of this word involves curling your tongue… Ah!”

At this point, Song Xu suddenly remembered that Wu Mu’s tongue was long and forked at the tip like a snake’s. She realized, “Do you often not speak because your tongue’s structure makes it inconvenient? Let me see!”

She threw away the stick in her hand and took two steps forward to check Wu Mu’s tongue.

Seeing her coming to pry open his mouth, Wu Mu immediately raised his body to block her.

A proper lesson ended in a game of tag. In the first lesson, Wu Mu learned nothing, and Song Xu was left with a big question in her mind. Once she thought about the tongue, she became extremely curious whether the snake could produce all the sounds correctly. Subsequent lessons were sporadic and could happen at any time and place.

“When you meet a stranger, say, ‘Hey, let’s get to know each other. What’s your name?’ Always address others politely and compliment them, like ‘beautiful’ or ‘handsome.'” Song Xu confidently taught.

Wu Mu stared at her without speaking. He had only forgotten how to say some words, not everything. He knew that complimenting someone meant wanting to be their partner, not something you could say to just anyone.

The student’s reluctance to learn made the unorthodox teacher more convinced that his reluctance to speak was due to his tongue.

“Let me see your tongue.”

Wu Mu kept his lips tightly shut.

Words couldn’t move him, so Song Xu had to rush at him when he wasn’t paying attention. However, every time she got close, she was blocked by his thick tail, crashing into it with a thud.

Wu Mu’s upper body remained unmoved on the rock while his tail blocked her approach from all directions. Song Xu, panting and exhausted, thought she could only outsmart him.

When the big snake went out to eat and buried his head in the water to drink, Song Xu saw his bulging cheeks and was overjoyed. This was the opportunity she had been waiting for!

She transformed into her small squirrel beast form and quietly slipped into the river, coming under the snake’s head, where she could see his tongue.

Song Xu: “Hehe.” Now she could get a good look.

The big snake was drinking water when he suddenly felt something touch his snout in the water. He instinctively opened his mouth and swallowed it. Only after swallowing did he realize whose scent it was.

Wu Mu: “…”

“Poof.”

A drenched squirrel was spat out, rolled in the river, and emerged with a squirrel head. She spat out water, wiped her ears, and calmly said, “Miscalculation.” She hadn’t expected to be sucked in by getting too close. But the snake drinking water was still super cute.

In the middle of the night, the stone cave was at its quietest. The furry squirrel, who should have been sound asleep, got up and clumsily walked to the sleeping big snake. She was so sleepy that she was disoriented, but she stubbornly forced herself to stay awake and reached out to touch the big snake’s mouth.
Facing that beautiful face, which was no different from a human’s, she hesitated a bit. If it had been a big snake’s head, it might have been easier to pry open its mouth.

Determined to do what she wanted, Song Xu pinched Wu Mu’s cheeks and inserted her fingers inside, trying to grab the tongue. She was meticulous and had even washed her hands before coming over. As soon as her fingers touched something soft and slippery, she suddenly felt pain.

She was bitten!

Song Xu quickly withdrew her hand, looking at the tiny wound on her hand that was oozing blood. Then she saw Wu Mu’s terrifying dark red eyes suddenly open wide. She staggered and fell to the ground, weakly saying, “I-I’m poisoned, I’m going to die… Before I die, let me see what your tongue looks like, that’s not too much to ask, right…”

Wu Mu: “…” But he hadn’t injected any venom at all.

With a bit of her blood on his lips, Wu Mu instinctively flicked his tongue, then retracted it under Song Xu’s watchful gaze.

During this time, Song Xu had been too troublesome. Her antics frequently disturbed Wu Mu, tying up his tail in knots. Unable to hold back his anger, he had bitten her just now. But after biting her, he felt a bit… He hesitated, unsure how to describe this feeling.

Song Xu lay there for a while, not feeling the effects of the poison, then sat up and wiped her wound. She didn’t mind being bitten. People who keep snakes occasionally get bit by small snakes, just like people who own cats frequently have scratches on their arms and hands. It’s all part of the routine.

She felt the snake’s anger just now and reflected on her behavior. Sneaking over in the middle of the night to pry open someone’s mouth and look at their tongue was indeed asking for trouble. It was because the big snake had been too easy to bully lately that she had become overconfident. No wonder Wu Mu called her bad.

“Fine, if you won’t let me see, then forget it,” Song Xu said dejectedly, licking her injured finger. Then, under Wu Mu’s expressionless gaze, she left the stone cave.

Outside, it was pitch black, and the night wind was a bit chilly. She didn’t go far, just to her newly made tree hole nest. An owl had taken over the old tree hole, so she had dug a new one, which was spacious and windproof. After digging it, she had been airing it out to dry, stuffing it with lots of moss, wood chips, and grass fluff. Sometimes, she would take a nap in the tree hole at noon, but she still preferred to rest in the stone cave at night.

Song Xu felt like she was having a midnight argument with her partner and had to sleep in the guest room. She transformed into her squirrel beast form, opened the snake shed skin covering the entrance, crawled into the tree hole, and lay down in the soft nest. The nest, which she hadn’t slept in much, was fluffy, soft, and quite comfortable.

Song Xu waved her hand to air out her injured hand and soon fell asleep again, even snoring a little.

Wu Mu, however, couldn’t sleep. He felt that Song Xu’s blood scent lingered around him, captured by his constantly flicking tongue. Compared to his huge body, Song Xu only occupied a small space, but her presence was enormous. Without her, the stone cave felt much emptier, even more so than before she appeared.

On summer nights, insects chirped incessantly, but the stone cave remained quiet. Wu Mu rested his head on the thick moss, remembering that Song Xu had placed it there for him, and then lifted his head again. He swam up to a small hiding hole above, tucking his upper body inside, but his snake tail dangled below, sweeping the ground and raising dust, showing his irritation and restlessness. The fire in the cave was burning low. A piece of wood was about to burn out, breaking into two and falling into the ashes, sending up a few sparks. Hearing the faint crackling sound, Wu Mu peeked out from the small hole, still unable to sleep.

It was dark outside. He listened carefully but didn’t hear Song Xu’s cries of danger. She often called out even when there was no danger, just to get him to come over.

Finally, Wu Mu took the initiative to swim out of the cave.

Song Xu woke up, groggily looking towards the entrance, finding it still dark outside. The cave was dim, and it wasn’t yet dawn. She changed her position, placing her paws on the edge of the tree hole, and fell back asleep. But when she woke up again, it was still dark outside.

Could the night be this long?

Feeling her stomach growl with hunger, Song Xu sensed something was wrong. She went to the entrance of the tree hole to take a closer look and found that it wasn’t dark outside, but something was blocking her entrance. Touching it, she found the thing blocking her door was cool, slippery, and very familiar—it was the snake’s tail.

After she touched it twice, the big snake’s tail moved and slid away, letting in the bright and strong sunlight, indicating it was already late.

Peeking out, Song Xu saw the snake coiled on her tree, slowly descending and heading towards the stone cave.

Having forgotten last night’s incident, Song Xu cheerfully told Wu Mu, “The weather is great, let’s go find something to eat by the water!”

Wu Mu turned to look at her, and Song Xu quickly caught up with him, saying, “Come on, come on, you need to eat too!”

She had noticed that the snake would only look for food if he were starving. He used to eat once every half month, but since she dragged him to play by the water, he ate more frequently.

Song Xu strongly suspected that his previous lethargy and lack of energy were due to hunger. Look at him now, full of energy after eating, even actively coiling around trees.

At the riverside, Song Xu squatted down to wash her face, feeling a sting as her wound touched the cool water.

“Hiss!” Song Xu remembered her hand was injured. Looking at the wound, she sighed, commemorating the snake’s first bite.

Examining the wound closely, it was just a small hole. What part of the snake bit her? Which tooth?

Oh no, now she wanted to see not only the snake’s tongue but also his teeth.

Wu Mu, hanging from the tree above her, heard her pained hiss and saw a bit of red on her wound. Suddenly, a long, large, cold, white hand reached in front of her, gently pulling her up.

Song Xu looked up in surprise, seeing Wu Mu lowering his head, expressionless, as he took her finger into his mouth.