Chapter 19

Song Xu squatted there, her hands parting the grass, motionless for quite a while. She was observing a snake—not Wu Mu, but an ordinary wild-patterned snake about two meters long, with a pointed head and black and white spots.

It wasn’t the first time Song Xu had seen a snake in this area. Each time, she would observe from a distance until the snake was startled and slithered away, then she would leave reluctantly. As a reptile and snake enthusiast, she naturally found snakes cute.

However, wild venomous snakes are different from domesticated non-venomous or mildly venomous pet snakes and also different from intelligent snake beastmen. She could be attacked if she got too close and was perceived as a threat. To ensure safety for both sides, maintaining this distance was good for them.

After watching the wild snake, Song Xu returned and cuddled with her beautiful big snake at home. Although she regretted not being able to touch the cute one outside, she could touch the one at home. The big snake at home was the one that made her lose her mind and forget the danger at first sight, making her want to touch it immediately. She dared to touch it repeatedly because she felt it was a beastman and not aggressive towards her.

“Hehe, Wu Mu.”
“Hiss.”

As long as the snake tail wasn’t sunbathing, it was cool, smooth, and soft in the summer. Song Xu’s hand didn’t want to leave it once she touched it. She would end up lying on it, transforming into a squirrel to increase the area she could roll around on.

Squirrel fur was really hot in the summer, and Song Xu loved to move around, often running outside and sweating. At this time, the snake’s tail was like a bamboo mat that could cool her down. She would spread her limbs on the tail, and when one spot got warm, she would roll to another, always at a comfortable temperature. The only downside was that the snake would move while sleeping, and she would often roll off the tail in the middle of the night, groggily climbing back onto her “bed.”

Most snakes hibernate in low temperatures, but they also dislike high temperatures. Wu Mu didn’t want to go out much when it got too hot outside. He preferred staying in the cool stone cave, only going out during the slightly cooler early mornings and evenings.

Song Xu introduced him to the habit of swimming or climbing to the treetops at night to enjoy the moonlight. As the weather finally cooled down a bit, the snake’s activity increased, but before that, he shed his skin again.

This time was different from the last. When they first met, Song Xu approached cautiously, and the snake treated her like a human-shaped branch. Now, they were “partners,” Song Xu naturally stayed close, observing the entire shedding process.

Remembering the difficulty of the last shedding, Song Xu prepared everything this time, including warm water and wet moss. She even rolled a rough stone back for the snake to rub against. The stone walls in the cave had become smooth from the snake’s rubbing and weren’t very effective. This shedding was smoother and shorter than the last, but Wu Mu still seemed to be in pain and irritable, his tail constantly slapping the ground aggressively. Once he started shedding, he was no longer in his half-beastman form. His fierce snake head raised, his tongue flickering, emitting a hair-raising hissing sound.

The snake’s tail slowly tightened the large stone that Song Xu pushed back. He was so strong that the stone, possibly a bit brittle, was directly crushed. The cracking sound of the stone was teeth-gritting. Song Xu tried to push the now obstructive split stone out of the cave but tripped over the snake’s tail.

“This stone is cracked and useless now. Do you still want to keep it in the cave?” Song Xu asked, unable to lift one foot.

The big snake raised his head and nodded humanely.

“Alright, if you like it, we’ll keep it.” Song Xu sat down and patted her thigh. “Look, a lap pillow. Come lie down.”

The big snake rested his head on the moss, rubbed his tail on the nearly disintegrated grass mat, and watched her without moving over.

After waiting a while, Song Xu took the initiative to press his big head onto her lap and stroke him.

“Alright, alright, it’ll be over soon. Don’t worry; it’s like giving birth; it can’t be rushed.”

The snake’s snout rubbed slightly against her knee.

“Is your mouth itchy? Ready to start?” Song Xu asked, lightly scratching the big snake’s chin with one hand.

Wu Mu’s eyes were tightly fixed on her. Although he couldn’t see clearly, he still stared at the blurry figure. Unlike her usual playful and teasing self, she patiently bent over and talked to him, not jumping around noisily. His head climbed up her arm to her shoulder, the heavy snake body making Song Xu a bit strained.

Wu Mu slowly wrapped around her, from her back to the other arm, and then slid down.

Bent over under the weight, Song Xu couldn’t help but sigh, “Snake, you’re chubby.”

The new snakeskin split from the snout, but Wu Mu didn’t find a place to hang the skin, still clinging to Song Xu. Bearing the heavy love, Song Xu couldn’t help but press his snake skin, “Come, I’ll hold it for you. You can shed it slowly.”

Although she couldn’t help the snake shed his skin, she could act as a big stone to hold the skin.

Last time, he shed his skin by crawling and twisting all over the cave. This time, he stayed wrapped around her, moving around her, and Song Xu couldn’t leave for a moment.

During a break, Song Xu joked, “I’m your favorite branch now, right? You just cling to me.”

Her legs felt numb from the snake’s weight. Later, she didn’t need to help hold the skin anymore. Seeing some loose skin still sticking to Wu Mu, she wanted to get warm water to wipe him. As soon as she stood up, she stumbled and fell on the grass mat, unable to get up because the snake’s large head pressed against her lower back. After futilely moving her limbs for a while, she fell asleep in that position. Staying up late to accompany the snake as he shed his skin was exhausting.

When she woke up, she found the snake’s head, which had been on her back before she fell asleep, now under her belly. Having shed his skin, the snake hid his head under her, completely motionless.

“Alright, you’re a new snake again,” Song Xu observed the snake’s body. “There’s still a bit of loose skin. Let’s go soak in the water.”

The river was much calmer than before, with a much smoother surface. Song Xu, who had evolved into a skilled swimmer, got into the water with the snake and swam beside the big snake. He soaked in the water, his cheeks slightly puffed up, still drinking. Song Xu was submerged, sticking close to his belly. She watched his cheeks move and his swallowing motion as he drank. She placed her hand on his throat to feel the movement and touched the small gaps in his snout.

Wu Mu, disturbed by her, couldn’t focus on drinking and used his head to push her to the surface.

“Alright, alright, I won’t bother you anymore. You drink,” Song Xu laughed, grabbing a handful of soft water plants and carefully wiping him down.

The old snake skin had long dried and become brittle. Song Xu, who hadn’t had a raincoat for a while, now had a new one. Seeing that Song Xu had collected and worn his shed skin again, Wu Mu, unlike before, accepted it calmly. If she wanted his shed skin, then all his future shed skins would be hers.

Once again, finding the snake squeezing into her grass nest to sleep, causing her to expand and add to the nest constantly, Song Xu sighed, “You’ve been so clingy lately.”

A few days ago, she suddenly wanted to sleep in her empty tree hole, and the snake followed her out. Her tree hole was too small to accommodate such a large snake, so he wrapped his body around the tree and squeezed his head into the hole. Despite his clingy actions, his expression in his half-beastman form remained as cold as his body temperature. Occasionally, he would stare at her with a cold expression, making one wonder if he was angry and wanted her to go away, if not for the tip of his tail still firmly hooked onto her.

As summer progressed, the fruit trees Song Xu had marked began to bear ripe fruit, and she entered a busy harvest season, unable to pay attention to Wu Mu’s clinginess.

This season was probably the favorite for all the animals in the forest. Food was abundant, and no one went hungry easily. However, competition was also fierce. If the nearly ripe fruit weren’t picked immediately, it would be pecked half-empty by the first batch of birds the next day.

The same fruit-bearing tree would welcome multiple batches of visitors, including birds, squirrels, and monkeys, like a supermarket during a big sale, crowded with people.

Song Xu had already made several wood storage cabinets to prepare for this harvest season. The cave she had temporarily used to hide had been cleaned and returned to him, but he rarely used it now, preferring her luxurious grass nest. Batch after batch, sweet and sour fruits were stored in the cabinets, but the fruits could only be stored for a short time and had to be eaten early. As the fruits on the branches began to ripen in large quantities, those who could fly or climb couldn’t finish eating them all. Many fully ripe fruits fell to the ground, providing a treat for the small animals living there.

Song Xu, whose taste had changed due to her body, preferred fruit seeds over the flesh. Every day, she happily went out with a genuine snakeskin bag she made, collecting fruit seeds under various trees. She no longer wandered by the river, as this season’s grass stems were no longer tasty. The various fruit seeds were more appealing. Many fruits fell at the door of her house every day, and the faint sour and fruity smell of rotting fruits could often be smelled in the stone cave.

The squirrel’s hoarding habit was fully displayed in this season, making the snake’s cave more crowded day by day.

Song Xu, who ate a lot every day, didn’t look much different in her beastman form, but as a squirrel, she had noticeably gained weight, with plump cheeks and belly and thicker fur. Even the cohabiting snake seemed to have gotten fatter.