Even though Yin Xiaoxiao traveled slowly, there were other matters to consider. Even if Mo Laoda wanted to arrive early, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao still wouldnât be able to arrive at the scene of the incident until six days after Mo Dayi had visited them.
Although Yin Xiaoxiao travelled slowly, there were many matters (äşĺżĺĺ¤), but if Mo Laoda wanted to arrive early, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao also couldnât arrive at the scene of the incident six days after Mo Dayi had called on them.
Mo Laoda decided that he wanted both sides to calm down beforehand. The cause of all this was nothing but a mole. Was it worth it?
As a Mo snake, Mo Laoda naturally was aware of the Mo snakesâ attitudes toward common vipers. If Mo Laoda hadnât met Yin Xiaoxiao, he probably also wouldnât have treated other vipers in a friendly manner. But there were no ifs in this world, and the fact was that Mo Laoda had met Yin Xiaoxiao, fallen in love with him, and become Yin Xiaoxiaoâs partner.
Actually, up until now, Mo Laodaâs attitude towards the common vipers wasnât much better, but Mo Laoda had to think about his own children. He didnât care about his childrenâs clan membership. Whether Mo snake or Hei snake (Mo Laoda didnât even think about having Yin snakes; after all, his genes were quite strong), he would only let Yin Xiaoxiao stand by his side. However, because he cared about Yin Xiaoxiao like this, Mo Laoda could only worry about Yin Xiaoxiao, who was worried about their children.
It could be assumed that, once the Mo snakes and the other snakes reconciled, vipers would be unlikely to reject Hei snakes, which would make Yin Xiaoxiao happy â it was because of this thought that Mo Laoda wanted to go and take care of this.
After the aforementioned six days, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao finally arrived at the scene of the incident. Mo Dayi followed behind Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao, an apathetic look on his face.
When Mo Laodaâs party of snakes arrived, both sides of the conflict still remained, defending their positions tenaciously. Both sides had formed into two distinct groups, the left consisted entirely of Mo snakes numbering, at a glance, more than two dozen; the other side were the common vipers, all Hong, Lan, Huang and Bai, around seventy or eighty and outnumbering the Mo snakes. Still, this wasnât enough for the common snakes to win.
There were more than a dozen vipers, both Mo snakes and snakes of other colors, between the two groups. From their placement, it was quite obvious that these were the snakes who, according to Mo Dayi, had initially tried to diffuse the situation.
Mo Laoda didnât first go to deal with the vipers who stood in opposition to each other. Rather, first he slithered to the group of vipers standing in the middle.
Yin Xiaoxiao slithered behind Mo Laoda. As he got closer, Yin Xiaoxiao thought that one of the Mo snakes looked familiar! Just as Yin Xiaoxiao thought this, that Mo snake said, âClan Head, itâs been seven days since you heard what happened.â
It was a statement, lacking resentment and anger. However, in this simple statement of fact, Yin Xiaoxiao still felt it was very harsh. But then, Yin Xiaoxiao also knew who this Mo snake was.
This was the former Clan Head, the father of Mo Damo.
It seemed like, Yin Xiaoxiao tilted his head, it seemed like heâd aged a lot?
What Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda didnât know was that even though the former Clan Head, who was bitten by Mo Laodaâs wet bite <sup>1</sup> , had promptly used the Jiude Grass <sup>2</sup> , he still suffered in agony for almost twenty days! Never before, in the history of the vipers, had this happened, and it was because of this that the former Clan Head had suddenly aged considerably.
Mo Laoda nodded his head, âYes, I know.â His tone was indifferent. Faced with the former Clan Headâs seemingly deliberately spiteful words, Mo Laoda was very calm.
The former Clan Head looked away, no longer speaking.
Yin Xiaoxiao curled his lip, turned his gaze to the Mo snakes on his left, and then saw another snake he knew.
Yin Xiaoxiao used his tail to, somewhat excitedly, poke Mo Laoda. âHeitan, Heitan! Quickly, look! Isnât that Mo snake your younger brother?!â
Mo Laoda silently glanced over. Sure enough, he saw Mo Laosan in the group of Mo snakes. Mo Laosan had been watching nervously and, seeing Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda looking in his direction, Mo Laosan, seemingly feeling a little guilty, hung his head.
Mo Laosan had been pulled in by his friends. Originally, he and Er-jie <sup>3</sup> hadnât wanted to participate in their Da-geâs <sup>4</sup> partnership ceremony but, in the end, Mother Mo and Father Mo had dragged them along to participate. After the ceremony ended, theyâd wanted to return home but had been pulled here by friends. At first they believed that those vipers, when they saw so many Mo snakes, would retreat. They didnât expect that they wouldnât give up! And his Da-ge had even gotten involved! Although he hadnât caused this matter, he couldnât say that he wasnât at least somewhat guilty. What was worse, since Da-ge had gotten involved with that snake called Yin Xiaoxiao, their relationship had become very bad.
Mo Laoda saw Mo Laosan, but his gaze only passed over him once, then he acted as though he hadnât seen Mo Laosan. At the same time, Mo Laosan let loose a sigh.
âI already heard from Mo Dayi what happened here.â Mo Laoda raised his upper body and loudly declared, âIâŚ.â
However, before Mo Laoda could finish speaking, a Mo snake, standing at the front of the group of Mo snakes, interrupted, âClan Head, these vipers really canât tell good from bad <sup>5</sup> ! They need to be firmly punished!â
Mo Laoda was silent, only staring fixedly at that Mo snake. The remark made by that Mo snake was heard by the side of the common vipers, inflaming a few of them who wanted to rush over, but were restrained by their fellow snakes.
Mo Laoda moved, slowly slithering until he was facing the Mo snake. He stared at the Mo snake until that Mo snake started to become nervous. Only then did Mo Laoda unhurriedly open his mouth to say, âYou provoked this matter?â
âThat viper over there stole my food first!â That Mo snake quibbled.
Mo Laoda sneered. âYou didnât catch the prey because your own strength wasnât enough. Does that have anything to do with other snakes?â
Hearing Mo Laoda speak like this, all snakes on the Mo snake side stared blankly. Even the side of the common vipers froze, stunned.
The Mo snake was stunned because what Mo Laoda said held not even the slightest hint of partiality towards the Mo snakes. There was even a hint of mockery towards this Mo snake. And the common vipers were stunned because, well, because Mo Laoda didnât speak in favor of the Mo snake!
Which previous Clan Head didnât stand on the side of the Mo snakes? If this kind of thing had happened, then surely the Mo snake would have been favored completely! These common vipers only dared to stand here now, not because they thought that Mo Laoda would help them, but because Mo Laodaâs partner was a Yin snake, and they assumed that a Yin snake would, to some extent, put in a few words for them. But reality was even more unexpected.
As for Yin Xiaoxiao â that guy was circling the former Clan Head, asking âWhy did you age so quickly?â to the embarrassed and indignant former Clan Head.
âClan Head, what do you mean by these words?â A Mo snake standing behind that Mo snake suddenly asked. âThose are only just lowly vipers! Just allowing them to hunt is a favor from us Mo snakes. How could they even go so far as to steal our food?â
These words were indeed very offensive. Not only did it agitate the vipers on the other side, even Mo Laodaâs face looked unhappy. Mo Laoda, with all his speed, let his tail fly at the Mo snake who had just spoken. From among the crowd of astonished Mo snakes, the struck Mo snake flew back and collided with a tree, fell to the ground and, for a long time, struggled to stand. It was clear that the injuries sustained werenât light.
For a moment, the surroundings became completely silent.
Mo Laoda, very satisfied with the current atmosphere, then continued to speak. âIn this matter, the Mo snake was wrong.â He stopped for a moment before continuing, âMore than a dozen vipers died. I feel great regret. As compensation, the Mo snake that caused these troubles will pay with their life.â
At this moment, it was no longer silent. Instead, it was an uproar.
When the snakes finally calmed down, Mo Laoda once more opened his mouth. âTaking advantage of this opportunity, I want to make an announcement. From today onwards, as long as I am Clan Head, Mo snakes and other snakes are equal. Mo snakes shall not place themselves above other vipers, and other vipers are not lower than Mo snakes!â
Once more, it was an uproar. These words of Mo Laodaâs were quite shocking to them! From the Mo snakesâ perspective, this was earth-shattering news. They flaunted themselves as viper nobility. How could they be willing to become equal to common vipers? However, since the Clan Head had spoken, and this Clan Head really was too powerful, the Mo snakes had to obey! And as for the common vipers, this really was great news, wasnât it?
However, what was most important at the moment wasnât how Mo snakes and common snakes were going to act from now on, but rather that Mo Laoda had sentenced that Mo snake to death!
Mo Laoda actually didnât want to do this, after all this was a Mo snake. But in order to settle the common vipersâ fury, this step was necessary. Mo Laoda couldnât shout for unity while also shielding a Mo snake. That would only intensify the common vipersâ rage.
Qhile this Mo snake was still recovering from the terrible news, Mo Laoda rushed at the Mo snakeâs side. A trace of regret flashed through his eyes, but he still swiftly bit down into that Mo snakeâs body, injecting him with venom.
The Mo snakesâ side was extremely quiet. On the other side, the voices of the common vipers gradually grew fainter and fainter until they faded away entirely. Gazing at the already dead Mo snake, each viper had their own opinions in their hearts. However, that wasnât important, and Mo Laoda wasnât bothered with that. Mo Laoda didnât care about what the vipers thought as long as they did what they were told.
Mo Laoda turned his head to face those opposite and asked indifferently, âStill satisfied by this outcome?â
The Hong snake in front froze before returning to senses and hurriedly nodding.
Mo Laoda withdrew his gaze.
Then, by means of that ability specific to the Clan Heads, Mo Laoda announced his order to all the vipers inside the boundary. âFrom today onwards, Mo snakes and other vipers are equal. If this order is disobeyed, those who do so will be killed without pardon!
At this moment, silence fell inside the boundary before it became cacophonous.
But this didnât matter to Mo Laoda.
Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao had already left for home.
Lying on his stomach on Mo Laodaâs back, Yin Xiaoxiao seemed somewhat unhappy. It seemed to Mo Laoda that Yin Xiaoxiao was unhappy because, even though theyâd been slithering for half a day, Yin Xiaoxiao hadnât spoken the entire time. Mo Laoda thought everything over from start to finish, but still didnât know why Yin Xiaoxiao had become unhappy.
After hesitating for a moment, Mo Laoda asked, âXiaoxiao, are you unhappy?â
In reply, Yin Xiaoxiao firmly bit Mo Laoda on the neck.
Even though this bite didnât injure Mo Laoda, it didnât keep Mo Laoda from sensing Yin Xiaoxiaoâs anger. So, Mo Laoda continued, asking, âWhat happened?â
Once again, Yin Xiaoxiao didnât speak.
Mo Laoda didnât dare press further. It seemed that it was because of something heâd done! OnlyâŚMo Laoda thought it over again from start to finish, but he still didnât know what heâd done that had made Yin Xiaoxiao angry!
As a result, for the rest of the journey, a depressed Mo Laoda thought about what heâd done wrong, while Yin Xiaoxiao gloomily thought about Mo Laoda âkissingâ that Mo snake!
T/N:
Footnotes
<ol>a wet bite is a bit with venom; a dry bite would be a bite without venom. Vipers, in real life and in the story, can control how much, if any, venom they put into their bites 解ćŻč: literally detoxifying grass second elder sister; conveniently, Mo Laosan and Mo Laodaâs sister is named Mo Laoer eldest brother ä¸čŻĺĽ˝ćšäş: often used to scold someone; means that someone canât recognize a favor being done for them</ol>