Chapter 69

Song Xu gradually realized that the snake’s behavior of driving away other snake beastmen was less about jealousy and more about his heightened sense of crisis and awareness, which was sharper than she had imagined.
When they stopped to rest during their journey, Wu Mu would habitually find a territory without the scent of other dangerous beastmen. He wouldn’t actively drive away small, non-threatening beastmen and wouldn’t stop Song Xu from playing with them. The only ones he would prevent Song Xu from approaching were other snake beastmen, having thoroughly understood her fondness for snakes. He probably knew that his partner wouldn’t easily choose another snake beastman, but to prevent the possibility of abandonment, he would eliminate all potential threats.

The big snake coiled around the squirrel was a vigilant guardian. Without provocation, Wu Mu would only actively attack his own kind. At other times, he remained as he was when Song Xu first met him: a cold, aloof Xiao Long Nv who was indifferent to worldly affairs, skilled in hunting and fighting, but clumsy in everything else.

T/N: Xiao Long Nv is the female lead in Return of The Condor Heroes.

During their travels, they couldn’t be picky about anything. They ate whatever they found, stayed in caves if they found them, slept in tree hollows if they found them, and if they found nothing, they slept on tree branches. Song Xu didn’t mind, and Wu Mu was easy to please.

Until this time, when they came to a pine forest, Song Xu decided to stay for a while.

“It’s already autumn, and winter will be here soon. Let’s stay here for the winter before moving on.” If the snake needed to hibernate and suddenly fell asleep halfway, would she have to bury him on the spot? Better to prepare in advance.

Perhaps because they had been traveling for a long time, Song Xu noticed that after she announced they would stay, the snake seemed a bit happy and inexplicably relaxed.

The squirrel scratched her chin. Could it be that the snake was already tired? If so, they could stay here for a few more months.

Wu Mu quickly found a stone cave nearby. If his partner wanted to stay, he needed to quickly find shelter from the wind and rain. Although it wasn’t obvious, Wu Mu had been silently anxious since they left the seaside. His partner had expressed the desire to reproduce more than once, but without a stable environment, the female wouldn’t enter a reproductive state, which troubled Wu Mu. She kept moving forward because she hadn’t found a place she liked, so he could only follow.

“Stay here?” Wu Mu asked.

“Not here. This cave is half underground, too damp, and too small. Let’s build a house ourselves!” The squirrel happily declared her intention to build a house.

The squirrel didn’t realize what message her repeated actions on the road conveyed to the snake, nor did she know how anxious the snake was because of her indecisiveness. She only cared about how big her house would be.

Pine forests are the favorite environment for squirrel beastmen; it’s in their nature. This pine forest looked particularly ancient, with tall, straight pine trees whose trunks were almost as large as the giant redwoods Song Xu had seen before. It was a magical local variety of pine trees.

“This tree hollow is so big! Let’s build our house around this tree.” Song Xu chose a tall pine tree with a gap at the base about two people high and a hollow inside.

Many trees here were like this, with their lower trunks hollowed out due to their age, forming natural spaces. If this space continued to expand, one day it wouldn’t be able to support the upper trunk and branches, and the tree would fall, becoming nourishment for the surrounding small trees.

The tree Song Xu chose wasn’t in danger of falling yet, and the space was suitable. She cleared out various bugs inside, brought in some stones and soil to raise the ground level to prevent rainwater from flooding in, and filled any gaps that might let in drafts. On top of this, she made a wooden platform to keep warm in winter. This forest was somewhat similar to Wu Mu’s previous forest, with the ground covered in moss. She collected thick layers of moss, dried them in the autumn sun, and layered them inside the tree hollow to make a nest for Wu Mu.

Near the entrance of the tree hollow, she made a hearth with stones and soil, a necessary heating facility for winter. She also left a special vent for smoke and built a small stove next to it for cooking.

With her experience as a cook by the seaside, the stove she built was particularly useful. Covered in dust, Song Xu patted her handiwork: “A real good cook can even build a stove. I’m awesome!”

She called out to Wu Mu, who was chopping wood outside: “Wu Mu, come see my stove! I even left a spot for you to stoke the fire!”

She placed a few wooden beams near the hearth and stove to hang a pot for boiling water, where the snake could coil up.

The night the hearth was finished, Song Xu gathered many pine needles to start a fire, burning a large rotten pine tree trunk that Wu Mu had dragged back. The whole tree hollow was filled with the scent of pine. Song Xu dreamed of eating pine nuts, only to wake up and find she was gnawing on the snake’s tail in her arms.

Awake, Song Xu was not embarrassed at all. Instead, she curiously took another couple of bites to see if it tasted like in her dream.

Wu Mu pulled his tail tip back.

Song Xu: “?”

He used to let her bite it, but now he doesn’t. Can I tolerate this? She reached out and grabbed it back.

With a complex expression, Wu Mu gave up struggling and lay back down, curling his tail up. He couldn’t understand why his partner wasn’t ready yet kept sending signals. A few days ago, she came over and snuggled up to him. He hesitated but went along with it. However, when he showed signs of continuing, wrapping around her and moving, Song Xu laughed and told him to let go, saying the house wasn’t finished yet, and then went back to work. He wanted to tell her she couldn’t do that and firmly pulled his tail back, but she didn’t care at all.

Wu Mu watched as Song Xu played with his tail, swinging it around. The tail tip slowly wrapped around her arm and tightened, pulling her towards him.

Song Xu shook her arm, interrupting his action: “Get up, Wu Mu. Get up and work! Stop playing!”

She thought the snake had become more clingy lately, probably a side effect of turning into a beastman, constantly climbing on her.

Wu Mu: “…” Again, it was clearly her who started it.

His partner was a naughty one, definitely teasing him again. His tail turned into legs, and Wu Mu stood up, passing by Song Xu with a blank expression: “You.”

Song Xu tilted her head: “Me?”

Wu Mu coldly said: “Very bad.”

Song Xu felt like laughing at his consistent way of accusing her. What did I do? Is biting your tail very bad?

The big snake went out hunting, and Song Xu pondered for a long time, not knowing what she did wrong this time. She could only laugh and continue working on building the house.

She still needed to add some furniture and household items to the little house and store some food. Autumn was indeed a busy time.

After arguing with his partner, the snake went out and angrily caught several thick-furred prey to make blankets for the squirrel for winter.

However, when he returned, his partner greeted him happily as usual, as if they hadn’t argued at all.

Song Xu: We didn’t argue, right?

At night, the big snake turned into his beast form, coiled up like a mosquito coil in the corner, not wrapping around the squirrel.

Song Xu curiously ran over, stepping on him and rolling around: “Wu Mu? Snakey? What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?”

The big snake raised his head and flicked his tongue: “Did we argue?”

Song Xu was surprised: “What, argue, when?”

She remembered something, her expression strange: “Are you talking about the ‘you’re very bad’ this morning?”

The big snake confirmed: “Hiss.”

Song Xu: “You call that arguing?”

The big snake: “Hiss.”

Song Xu: “Okay, even if that was an argument, why did you want to argue with me?”

As she spoke, the squirrel rolled to the big snake’s head, hugging it and rubbing against him. The warm, fluffy ball made the big snake lift his chin and rub back, his tongue flicking out like a hook.

Song Xu held back her laughter and asked cutely, “Wu Mu, why are we arguing?”

Wu Mu remembered he was angry and suddenly stopped: “You gave me signals for reproduction, I started, and you interrupted, many times.”

Song Xu: “…?”

The squirrel was truly stunned this time. What do you mean you can sense my thoughts? What signals did I send? When did you start? What do you mean I interrupted? What do you mean by many times?

Song Xu had a thousand words in her heart but didn’t say them. In the end, it turned into one sentence: “I don’t believe you. Show me now!”

Wu Mu tried to read her expression, trying to see if she was teasing him again, but her face was enthusiastic.

The snake’s tail tentatively touched her hand again.

The snake coiled around his partner like he was coiling around prey, his breath slow and dangerous. He wrapped around the squirrel like he was wrapping around a tender tree, slithering.

The snake was shedding its skin, and Song Xu encountered a thunderstorm. But the moonlight in the forest at night was bright, and the insects chirped loudly. It was a peaceful night, so the thunder only echoed in the tree hollow. In the deep forest at night, the snake came to the pond. The pond water was dark, and the water plants were also of a dark hue. The snake’s sinuous curves moved freely in the water, faintly visible—the dark red blended into the black, stirring the pond water and water plants. No one knew there was a snake swimming here. Shallow ripples spread, and the soft water plants rose and fell. The pond water was not cold; it must have been summer pond water, warmed by a whole day of sunlight. It had her warmth and her glow.
A cuckoo called.
In the distance, another bird responded.
Didn’t know what they were saying, couldn’t see their traces, and their voices were as distant as in a dream.
The snake rested in the pond. He coiled around his reassuring land.
A hand brushed over his shoulder, then gently kneaded up his face.
“My snake, such a silly snake, yet so cute.”
The cute snake tightened around her, almost breaking her waist.
In the morning, the squirrel took the snake out, and in the evening, the snake brought the squirrel back.

They repeated this peaceful and simple life: hunting, gathering, and building. Their house was finished, and they began to wait for winter.
Then, they waited for the following spring.