Chapter 15

This wasn’t the first time Wu Mu and Song Xu had slept next to each other, but it was the first time they had done so in beast form. Having someone pressed against him, fitting perfectly, feels completely different from the sensation of a fluffy squirrel against his abdomen—strange and unfamiliar.

“What a strange feeling,” Song Xu muttered.

Growing up, she had never slept next to anyone else, apart from sleeping with her mother before she turned five.

During the day, she had boasted about having a partner, all to keep snakes legally. Now, in this situation, she finally realized the weight and significance of the word “partner.” Since she was thinking about it, another question had to be raised.

Young adults who have just reached adulthood are naturally curious about some half-understood physiological knowledge. She unconsciously glanced at Wu Mu’s snake tail. She had touched almost every segment of it. If viewed from a human perspective, the location would be…

If viewed from a snake’s perspective, it should be further down…

As a virtual snake pet enthusiast, Song Xu watched more snake mating videos than humans. The internet effectively blocked human content, and there was nowhere to find it. When she watched videos of baby snakes reproducing, she never thought there would come a day when she might need to use that knowledge. Strange yet useful knowledge had increased.

Song Xu suddenly found herself choking on her own saliva and coughed herself half to death.

Wu Mu did not know what the little squirrel in front of him was thinking. He only heard her coughing and suddenly laughed.

What was she laughing about? Was she thinking about something delicious? She usually laughed like that when she found something tasty.

After being satisfied, the person who had just been giggling fell asleep instantly, but Wu Mu couldn’t sleep. He unconsciously wanted to curl up his tail, but the sleeping person kicked him as soon as he lifted it.

Song Xu woke up in the early morning to find that Wu Mu had thoroughly implemented the “hold tight” request from before sleep. She was completely wrapped up like a bundle, with Wu Mu almost using his tail to tie them both into a ball. Song Xu couldn’t move any other part of her body except for her fingers, toes, and head.

Considering Wu Mu’s strength, which could easily strangle a wild boar with his tail, the force he used to bind her was very light. However, it was still too much for Song Xu to bear. She felt as if she had practiced combat boxing all night, her whole body aching.

Supporting her waist, she crawled out from the coiled snake tail, groaning, “Your sleeping posture is terrible.”

She decided not to sleep with the snake anymore. Who could endure being tied up like this every night?

However, Wu Mu seemed to find it amusing and insisted on sleeping with her. He even abandoned his corner, which was padded with moss and wood chips, and chased Song Xu to the other side of the cave.

Song Xu lay in her grass nest, and he placed his upper body into the nest, casually draping his snake tail around.

Song Xu didn’t want to be entangled in her beastman form, so she turned into a squirrel at bedtime, forcing Wu Mu to urge her, “…Transform.”

Song Xu laughed, “Hahaha!”

Who hasn’t shouted “Transform” at their little pet? Now, the snake was also a kindred spirit.

“Hey, I won’t transform. I’ll just be a squirrel. Hey, I’m just playing!”

Wu Mu grabbed the little squirrel by the armpits, lifted her up, and shook her in the air. The squirrel spread its two paws, saying, “Shaking me won’t help, hehe, I won’t transform.”

Wu Mu: “…” The simple beastman couldn’t understand why he sometimes wanted to hold his partner close to his chest and other times felt the urge to put her in his mouth.

The sun was particularly intense after the heavy rain, shining twice as brightly and warmly. Song Xu was peeling grass stems by the riverside, feeling like she was about to faint from the heat. She staggered to the shade with a large bundle of grass, saying, “I can’t take it anymore. It’s so hot!”

Lying on a stone under the shade, with her feet soaking in the water, she slowly peeled the grass stems she had pulled out and said to the big snake coiled around the tree, “I’ll have a little snack first, and then look for something to fill my stomach after the sun sets.”

By evening, the sun’s intensity had decreased, and a breeze blew from the water into the grass, instantly cooling it. Song Xu found food to fill her stomach and started pulling grass again. She vowed, “I’m going to weave a grass mat to lay in the stone cave. Sleeping on a grass mat in this hot weather would be so comfortable.”

Combining her theoretical knowledge with her limited practical experience, Song Xu successfully twisted a grass rope.

How to weave the grass rope into a mat?

Song Xu rolled up the grass rope, and before figuring out how to weave a mat, she first developed a use for it. She took the grass rope straight to the sleeping big snake, rubbing her hands together. “It’s time for you to feel what it’s like to be tightly bound!”

Wu Mu slept peacefully, and when he woke up, he found it was dark. His muscles naturally stretched, and he heard the slight sound of breaking. The grass rope tied around him broke into pieces.

Song Xu, who had been proud of her work just a moment ago, fell to her knees with a thud, picking up the countless broken pieces of grass rope, lamenting, “My whole afternoon’s work… gone.”

Later, while figuring out how to weave the mat, she sighed, “I shouldn’t have used grass rope. Tree vines would be much better; they can’t be pulled apart.”

She indeed brought back a tree vine, openly measuring it against Wu Mu’s tail and trying to wrap it around his tail.

Wu Mu considered her actions play. Whether twisting grass ropes, weaving mats, or playing with tree vines, they were all play. Although usually, only young beastmen liked to play, Wu Mu had gotten used to Song Xu being a strange beastman.

Seeing that Song Xu had almost finished wrapping, Wu Mu cooperatively tightened his tail, snapping the tree vine into several pieces with a crack.

Song Xu: “I give up. I won’t play anymore.” She sulkily went back to working on her grass mat.

She didn’t continue “playing,” but the snake seemed a bit regretful. After a while, his tail unintentionally swept over the broken tree vines, but Song Xu, busy with her mat, didn’t notice his actions.

After several days of research, Song Xu finally figured out a way to weave a crooked grass mat. Even though it wasn’t very pretty, the result was enough to make her proud.

“This grass mat is for you to sleep on. It’s more comfortable than moss, right?” Song Xu swept away the old moss and replaced it with the grass mat she made.

Unexpectedly, the thing she had been making was a gift for herself. Wu Mu slowly moved his tail, following her intention, and coiled up on the grass mat.

Song Xu looked pleased, “Great, you just lie there and don’t move. Enjoy the comfort of the grass mat.”

Then she turned and fell into her own grass nest, sighing comfortably. Sleeping alone was still the best. She squinted her eyes, feeling drowsy, when she felt something tickling her foot. She opened one eye to see the tip of a snake’s tail resting on her foot.

Looking at Wu Mu, he was still lying on the grass mat on the other side of the stone cave. Thanks to his long body, he coiled up one part, and the remaining tail could still reach her.

Wu Mu looked calm, lying on the big stone, gazing at her with a faint look, but the tip of his tail, like a little snake’s head, occasionally lifted and then gently tapped Song Xu’s foot, patting it lightly and poking her foot.

Caught by the small movements, Song Xu lay on the grass nest, suddenly spreading her toes to clamp down on the round snake tail. Once restrained, the snake tail retracted but soon returned, continuing to rest on Song Xu’s foot.

Song Xu stepped on the tip of the tail, not letting go. The tail didn’t retreat but instead moved up along her foot, winding around her ankle like a bracelet.

Looking at the tail wrapped around her foot, Song Xu was silent momentarily before exclaiming, “You’re really good at this!”

The snake looked at her in confusion, its tail swaying puzzledly: Good at what? Hunting?

Seeing his genuine confusion, Song Xu asked, “Do you really not know?”

Wu Mu: Know what?

Song Xu cleared her throat tactically, lifting her bound foot: “It’s so hot in the cave. Let’s go for a walk.” She just wanted an excuse to go out and get some fresh air. She couldn’t fall asleep at night because she slept too much during the day.

In the cool, breezy night forest, Song Xu pondered walking around. But as they entered the forest, Wu Mu glanced at her and quickly swam ahead, seemingly with a destination in mind, moving in one direction. This confused Song Xu, who caught up and asked, “Where are we going?”

Wu Mu opened his mouth to speak: “…”

Song Xu interrupted: “To find food, right? You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

Wu Mu opened his mouth again: “…”

Song Xu interrupted again: “You, too, feel hot and want to bathe, right?”

Wu Mu moved his hand, covering Song Xu’s mouth. Then, with difficulty, he expressed his intention: “…glow.”

Song Xu: “Glow? Oh, I get it. You want to show me the stars!”

Wu Mu wrapped an arm around her waist, lifting her up and swiftly moving through the forest like a high-speed train.

Song Xu saw the dark tree trunks flashing by quickly. They reached the forest depths, where the ground was soft with layers of fallen leaves and more vines hung down. Some parasitic plants grew on the tree trunks and vines, with long aerial roots hanging down.

Song Xu seemed to smell a certain orchid fragrance, and there were tiny blue, glowing lights in the dark, fragrant depths. The snake’s arrival startled the creatures living there. Song Xu saw those blue lights fluttering up and landing on another vine. These were glowing butterflies.

“Glow.” Wu Mu repeated his words upon arrival.

Song Xu was amazed by the beautiful scene and the snake’s behavior: “You brought me to see glowing butterflies. You’re really good at this.”

Previously, Song Xu had caught glowing bugs to show him, and he seemed to like them. Remembering that there were more glowing bugs here, the pure-hearted snake just wanted to show her this, still not understanding what she meant by “good at this.”

Good at finding bugs?