Chapter 100

Having received Lu Xiaohuang’s promises of attending his partnership ceremony, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda set off again.

Because of Mo Laoda, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda first went to the Mo snake lands to inform the Mo snakes there that he and Yin Xiaoxiao were finally becoming partners.

There were ugly expressions on Father Mo and Mother Mo’s faces. Mo Laoer and Mo San had even uglier expressions on their faces. Standing beside Mo Laoer, Mo Damo’s face remained expressionless such that no snake would be able to tell what Mo Damo was thinking. However, regardless of whether his family agreed or not, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao’s determination to become partners wouldn’t be shaken.

Father Mo and Mother Mo, contrary to what Yin Xiaoxiao had imagined….didn’t cause trouble? And also didn’t fly into a rage? Aside from their very ugly expressions, Father Mo and Mother Mo didn’t actually say anything. Mo Laoda didn’t seem to care in the least, as though he’d known that Mother Mo and Father Mo would react like this.

As for coming and participating in Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao’s partnership ceremony, Father Mo and Mother Mo said that they would think it over. Mo Laoer and Mo Laosan said that they definitely wouldn’t attend. Mo Damo very quickly and earnestly promised to attend, causing Mo Laoer’s expression to turn even uglier.

When the Mo snakes of the Mo snake clan learned that the Clan Head was finally going to form a partnership with his partner, they expressed their congratulations, solemnly vowing to attend as they patted their chests with their tails. In fact, the partnership ceremonies of each Clan Head were always witnessed by the entire Mo snake clan. However, this was usually only by Mo snakes and not by any other vipers. This time for Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao’s partnership ceremony, although not held on their lands, there would be quite a lot more vipers in attendance ¹ , and the majority of vipers thought participating in the Clan Head’s partnership ceremony with other vipers would be quite interesting – what would be interesting varied from viper to viper.

Once more, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t stay for long on Mo snake land, only long enough to tell everyone the news before hurriedly leaving, rushing to their next destination – the old tomb.

Oh, that’s right, forgot to mention. Upon returning this time, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao were informed that Mo Laosan and Mo Daer were together – well, Mo Daer hadn’t become Mo Laoda’s partner, but eventually still married into Mo Laoda’s house.

Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t know whether Ji Kang and Ji Zhao would see guests; even if the two “men” saw guests, it would be impossible for them to participate in Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda’s ceremony. Don’t forget, Ji Kang and Ji Zhao couldn’t leave the boundaries of the old tomb. However, Yin Xiaoxiao, from the beginning, had wanted to inform Ji Kang and Ji Zhao because if it weren’t for Ji Kang and Ji Zhao, perhaps he wouldn’t have been reborn as a snake in this lifetime and it would have been impossible for him and Mo Laoda to be together.

Also, Yin Xiaoxiao wanted to give Ji Kang their blessings.

All told, it had already been almost a year since Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda had returned to the old tomb. This wasn’t out of the ordinary; the long lifespan of the vipers made it impossible to stay in one place forever. They would always have a home on this mountain even if they didn’t return home for ten, twenty, or thirty years.

The old tomb’s surroundings had remained unchanged from the first time Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda had arrived like this. But the mood from that time and the mood now were entirely different.

“Ji Kang? Are you there?”

Yin Xiaoxiao’s sharp and clear voice echoed inside the confines of the old tomb. Still, after a very long time had passed, there was no response.

Yin Xiaoxiao was a little disappointed. Mo Laoda moved forward and rubbed against Yin Xiaoxiao’s head to comfort him. “They haven’t been together for a very long time, so surely there are a lot of words to say and a lot of things to do. Inevitably, one day, they will emerge.”

Yin Xiaoxiao silently looked at Mo Laoda. There were so many words to say and so many things to do that even ten years wasn’t enough? To Yin Xiaoxiao it appeared as though Ji Zhao was deliberately preventing Ji Kang from appearing!

–Yes, in a sense this was true. But from Ji Kang and Ji Zhao’s point of view, after several thousand years, ten years was nothing.

Yin Xiaoxiao’s lip curled, and he shouted, “Ji Kang, Mo Laoda and I are going to become partners! When you come out, you have to give me a congratulatory gift!”

Finished yelling, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda were going to leave but, before Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda could leave, a small hole in the stone door of the old tomb abruptly appeared. From inside, several pieces of delicately carved jade objects rolled out.

Stunned, Yin XIaoxiao hurriedly slithered to the stone door. Right before he could enter, the small hole disappeared.

Yin Xiaoxiao: “…..”

Mo Laoda moved forward to where all the jade had rolled into a pile, gathered them with his tail, and glanced meaningfully at Yin Xiaoxiao. Yin Xiaoxiao, feeling unwilling, collected the remaining two pieces of jade and followed behind Mo Laoda.

Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda put the jade in their home.

“Little Idiot, whom do you still need to inform?”

Yin Xiaoxiao thought for a bit and then said, “Zhou Feng and Wang Yanzhen. And Xionghui, Mingshe and the others…..other than that, no that should be it.” As he finished speaking, Yin XIaoxiao was a little gloomy. Looking at it like this, he really didn’t have a lot of friends! And it seemed like Lu Xiaohuang’s family were the only friends who could be considered ordinary!

“Zhou Feng and Wang Yanzhen?” Mo Laoda repeated. “These two are humans. Do they have to be notified?”

“Of course we have to notify them!” Yin Xiaoxiao said, unwilling to be swayed. If he backed down, then he’d have even fewer friends. “Even if the two of them are humans, they’re also my friends! I’m going to get married….going to hold a partnership ceremony that’s so large I can’t possibly not invite them!”

Mo Laoda no longer objected. Anyway, adding two humans was nothing. “You’re also going to notify the strange snakes? But there’s no way they can come.”

“Huh? Why? If you’re worried about size, then they can shrink and come!” said Yin Xiaoxiao.

“It’s not an issue of size.” Mo Laoda shook his head. “The strange snakes are all unable to come up from the bottom of the cliff. It’s only when foreign life forms set foot in this mountain range that the strange snakes are allowed to come up from the bottom of the cliff to the mountains.”

Although Mo Laoda’s explanation was unclear and ambiguous, Yin Xiaoxiao still understood. There was a very strong spell on the strange snakes causing the strange snakes to be unable to easily leave the bottom of the cliff. Unless there was an invader.

“Ah, then….we’ll only notify them,” Yin Xiaoxiao finally said, regret in his tone.

“Then let’s go to the bottom of the cliff first. Here we’re closer to the bottom of the cliff,”

Mo Laoda said. Yin Xiaoxiao nodded his head in agreement.

“Huh? Becoming partners?” All of Xionghui’s nine heads stretched to look at Yin Xiaoxiao.

Yin Xiaoxiao, startled, recoiled a few steps. Although beautiful and pleasing to the eye, he still couldn’t bear having nine human heads stare at him from so close to his face!

“Then that means that Xiaoxiao is going to be thirty years old!” Mingshe sighed faintly.

The strange snakes’ lives were endless. They didn’t age, didn’t die, and they didn’t mind the passing of time. Thus, naturally, they wouldn’t notice how many years had passed. Now that Yin Xiaoxiao had grown to adulthood, he was going to become partners with Mo Laoda. The strange snakes all, more or less, sighed ² .

“We’re very sorry that we won’t be able to see you and Mo Laoda become partners,” Heili’s body coiled around itself a few times.

Yin Xiaoxiao shook his head. “Being able to receive your blessings is enough to make me happy.” Yin Xiaoxiao tilted his head and thought for a bit. “Heitan and I can stay for a while. Anyway, there’s no other snakes that I need to inform. Heitan and I will stay. We only have to visit Zhou Feng and Wang Yanzhen.”

Mo Laoda didn’t object. What Yin Xiaoxiao said was true. As long as they returned to hunt a few days before the ceremony, the rest of the time would have been spent doing nothing other than wandering around. There was nothing wrong with staying here so long as Yin Xiaoxiao was happy.

The strange snakes were also very happy. While they couldn’t leave to personally participate in Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda’s partnership ceremony, having Yin Xiaoxiao staying here for a while was pretty good.

–Well, actually the strange snakes simply felt that having Yin Xiaoxiao around would be fun and exciting. Yin Xiaoxiao always had some quite novel and eccentric ideas.

Five months later.

Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda left the bottom of the cliff.

“Let’s go and visit Zhou Feng and Wang Yanzhen.” Yin Xiaoxiao lay on Mo Laoda’s back. “Oh, if we go now to inform them, they’ll have to leave now. After all, humans move very slowly. It’ll take a lot of days for them to reach our home. Humans really can be quite troublesome creatures.”

–Yes, Yin Xiaoxiao had now come to completely favor snakes. To Yin Xiaoxiao’s eyes, humans had already become completely incomparable to snakes.

Yin Xiaoxiao chattered on while on Mo Laoda’s back. Mo Laoda quietly listened. Once in a while, he responded with a few words.

It was already noon by the time they reached Zhou Feng and Wang Yanzhen’s home, and both men were there.

Yin Xiaoxiao stood on the table, looking pleased with himself ³ . “After about a month, Heitan and I are going to have our partnership ceremony! The two of you have to be there on time, you know!”

“Ah?” Zhou Feng and Wang Yanzhen were confused. The two of them knew that Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao were in a relationship like this, but they didn’t expect that vipers held something like a partnership ceremony!

“…..We won’t be able to find the way.”

Only then did Yin Xiaoxiao remember that it was impossible for Zhou Feng and Wang Yanzhen to use their sense of smell to find their home. Yin Xiaoxiao used his tail to scratch his head in puzzlement. What could be done now?

“We can bring them along.” Mo Laoda’s voice was serious. “Anyway, there’s still time.” Mo Laoda looked Zhou Feng and Wang Yanzhen in the eyes. “But they’ll have to move a little more quickly.”

Wang Yanzhen trembled. Traveling together with Mo Laoda? God! This really was too awful! Wang Yanzhen remembered the first time he’d saw Mo Laoda’s fighting strength. Even though Mo Laoda usually escorted Yin Xiaoxiao here, now he would have to actually travel with Mo Laoda? Even if Mo Laoda had no reason to attack Wang Yanzhen, Wang Yanzhen still had a severe psychological shadow from Mo Laoda!

In contrast, Zhou Feng didn’t have these misgivings. After all, the first time he met Mo Laoda was in the old tomb, and it was Ji Zhao who did everything while Mo Laoda had stood to the side, enjoying the show. Zhou Feng very earnestly agreed.

Now it was already afternoon. Zhuo Feng, Wang Yanzhen, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao were together, already prepared to leave tomorrow.

It took the two snakes and two men more than half a month to arrive. By the time they reached their destination, it was fast approaching the day of the ceremony.

Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao nevertheless relaxed, especially Yin Xiaoxiao who had spent the entire time lying on Mo Laoda’s back. Zhou Feng and Wang Yanzhen were certainly in a much more sorry state.

Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda were the first to return. Yin Dabai and the others hadn’t yet returned. It seemed that he really had too few friends. Yin Xiaoxiao was a little depressed. The other snakes were busy for half a year, contacting friends and family ⁴ , and he, instead, spent five months playing!

T/N:

Footnotes

<ol>added for clarity 唏嘘: basically means to sigh with emotion; it can also be used to describe the sort of hitched and stuttered breathing one gets after sobbing https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%94%8F%E5%98%98/33925 摇头晃脑: literally nodding and shaking one’s head; an idiom used to describe being pleased with oneself https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%91%87%E5%A4%B4%E6%99%83%E8%84%91/4132115 added for clarity</ol>