Chapter 106

The days returned to what they’d been before…a mix of eating and waiting for death ¹ .

Each day, Yin Xiaoxiao woke up and the first thing he did was eat a meal. But in his heart, Yin Xiaoxiao felt apprehension. How had he started eating so much? Before, he’d eat one full meal every two or three days and, in the meantime, would snack on honey or bird eggs. But now he ate at least one full meal every day, plus snacks!

Deeply distressed, Yin Xiaoxiao kept his head raised because he couldn’t bear to see his own figure. Yin Xiaoxiao wasn’t losing weight. Holy shit, exercise?! Now, he couldn’t even slither for two minutes without feeling exhausted! If exercise was out of the question, then he could diet, right? However, Yin Xiaoxiao still felt starved, even when he limited his movements so he’d consume fewer calories. It was no use, he had to eat!

Yin Xiaoxiao was worried. Mo Laoda was happy but also worried. Happy, because who would possibly want the Little Idiot after he’d become like this?! Absolutely no other snake would want the Little Idiot. Hmph, hmph. He’d seen the one called Lan Yiyi at his and the Little Idiot’s partnership ceremony. Worried, because if the Little Idiot continued being this fat, would he even be able to carry him anymore?

Cough, cough, well, it appeared that these two snakes really were too neurotic….

This day, Yin Xiaoxiao felt more animated and slithered to the old tomb to visit Ji Kang. He also firmly rejected Mo Laoda’s offer of carrying him.

As soon as Ji Kang saw Yin Xiaoxiao, he made this face: (⊙o⊙)？

“Say, Xiaoxiao, just how long haven’t we seen each other? How did you become so fat?” Ji Kang asked as he crouched down and poked Yin Xiaoxiao’s chubby body. “Huh? It’s actually still quite hard?”

Yin Xiaoxiao smacked Ji Kang’s hand with his tail. “Hmph! Don’t touch me!”

Ji Kang didn’t mind. With the amount of force Yin Xiaoxiao used, Ji Kang didn’t feel any pain. However, the more he looked at Yin Xiaoxiao, the stranger he felt.

Yin Xiaoxiao was actually a little angry. Ji Kang was a bad guy! He actually called him fat! Really, who could tolerate that? And so, with a flip of this tail, Yin Xiaoxiao, returned to Mo Laoda’s side.

Ji Kang’s incredulous gaze followed Yin Xiaoxiao until he was struck with a sudden epiphany. Weren’t…pregnant vipers like Yin Xiaoxiao? But then he recalled that Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao hadn’t been partners for very long. How could he become pregnant so quickly?

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Still, Ji Kang couldn’t help but open his mouth and ask, “Xiaoxiao, are you expecting?”

“Expecting? Expecting what?”

Having already slithered back to Mo Laoda’s side, the puzzled Yin Xiaoxiao completely failed to understand what Ji Kang meant. Not only Yin Xiaoxiao, even Mo Laoda didn’t understand what he meant.

Well, Yin Xiaoxiao, this guy, had never really thought about it, and Mo Laoda had, because their partnership had been formed so recently, overlooked this possibility.

Ji Kang: “….” Ji Kang complained to himself, ‘God, these two snakes, were they stupid or what?!’

Ji Kang rolled his eyes. “Xiaoxiao, it means pregnant!”

Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda froze.

Ji Kang and Ji Zhao silently watched the two snakes for a moment, but the two snakes didn’t stir. Impatient, Ji Zhao pulled Ji Kang back to the old tomb and, as they were walking back, turned to look back at Yin Xiaoxiao’s stomach with an unusual gaze filled with jealousy and hatred.

A gust of wind blew past, awakening Mo Laoda.

Exasperatingly slowly, Mo Laoda slithered to face Yin Xiaoxiao. He gazed at Yin Xiaoxiao….’s belly and silently called to mind what little he knew about pregnancies.

Hmm, recently the Little Idiot had gained a lot of weight, liked to sleep, ate a lot, could only slither for a bit before beginning to pant….

Mo Laoda slithered to Yin Xiaoxiao’s stomach and, using the tip of his tail,  poked Yin Xiaoxiao’s stomach. Oh, it really was very hard. And he’d originally thought that he’d been eating too much.

This being the case, were he and the Little Idiot going to have baby snakes? It took a long time until Mo Laoda’s brain finally understood what this meant, and his expression gradually became even more surprised. A year hadn’t even passed since he and the Little Idiot had become partners! It’d only been several months, not several years, and the Little Idiot was already pregnant with baby snakes?! Dear God, this was the first viper in the history of vipers to get pregnant so quickly!

While Mo Laoda’s thoughts were all over the place, Yin Xiaoxiao still hadn’t completely come to his senses. Obviously, Yin Xiaoxiao understood every individual word Ji Kang had spoken, but how could Yin Xiaoxiao understand the words’ meanings together? Expecting? Pregnant? Holy shit! He still wasn’t mentally prepared for this, alright?!

Yin Xiaoxiao knew that the vipers here laid eggs and also knew that the male vipers could also lay eggs. He also knew that he was going to lay Mo Laoda’s eggs, but this didn’t mean that he expected to have children so soon after becoming partners! Shouldn’t he have had more time to prepare?!

And also…Mo Laoda was a big liar! Yin Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered that Mo Laoda had told him that it was very difficult for vipers to reproduce, that it was very difficult for vipers to have baby snakes, that, with great effort, it would take a few decades to several decades until there’d be eggs! And what was the result? He and Mo Laoda hadn’t been together for a year, and baby snakes had already been conceived! Yin Xiaoxiao felt very angry. Mo Laoda was the biggest liar!

Thinking of this, Yin Xiaoxiao completely returned to his senses. The first thing he did was glare at Mo Laoda, then he rushed over, bit him and hit him while yelling around his mouthful, “Mo Laoda, you big liar! Big liar!”

Ordinarily, Mo Laoda spoiled Yin Xiaoxiao greatly. Now that there was a high likelihood that Yin Xiaoxiao was pregnant, Mo Laoda was even more unlikely to yell at Yin Xiaoxiao or do anything of the sort. And so, he could only endure Yin Xiaoxiao’s unreasonable tantrum. Mo Laoda felt exceptionally wronged. What had he even done? And why was he being called a big liar?

After biting and hitting him for a while, Yin Xiaoxiao tired. He was absolutely incapable of harming Mo Laoda! So, after glaring at Mo Laoda for a while, anger still unappeased, he climbed onto Mo Laoda’s back. “Return home!”

Hey, Yin Xiaoxiao, can’t you have some integrity?! You’re obviously angry with Mo Laoda but you still climb onto Mo Laoda’s back with all the boldness and conviction of the just.

Having returned to the cave, Yin Xiaoxiao slithered off Mo Laoda’s back. Mo Laoda, thrown into a panic, took note of each of Yin Xiaoxiao’s actions, fearful that something else would go wrong. Yin Xiaoxiao slithered to face Mo Laoda and fiercely said, “Mo Laoda, you will give me an honest explanation!”

Mo Laoda was stunned. “Explain what?”

Yin Xiaoxiao heard Mo Laoda say this and became so angry that he was almost breathless with rage. Anxious, Mo Laoda immediately said, “Xiaoxiao, don’t be angry. You’re pregnant. If you get angry often, it won’t be good for your body.”

Yin Xiaoxiao bellowed, “Don’t speak to me about those trivial matters! I’m asking you, why am I pregnant?!”

Mo Laoda let out an “ah”. He hesitated for a moment then said, “Perhaps it was because I was too bold and vigorous (勇猛: idiom for being virile) which resulted in….”

“That’s not what I’m asking you right now!” Yin Xiaoxiao glared. This Mo Laoda’s face was truly too thick if he was able to say something like that. “You plainly said that vipers have difficulty reproducing, so why am I already pregnant? Tell me, did you lie to me?!”

Mo Laoda really felt unjustly accused. Whether this pregnancy came early or later, that wasn’t something he could decide. What could he do if the Little Idiot was already pregnant?

Dizzy with anger, Yin Xiaoxiao entirely neglected the circumstances with Hei A’Ban and Lu Xiaohuang. Even though Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t have much contact with other vipers, Hei A’Ban and Lu Xiaohuang were still a couple who had spent more than a dozen years trying to have baby snakes. However, now that Yin Xiaoxiao thought that Mo Laoda had deceived him, he naturally and involuntarily forgot about Hei A’Ban’s family.

“But I didn’t lie to you.” This time, Mo Laoda was innocent. “It really is like this for other snakes, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t special cases.”

“Then you meant that I’m a special case?”

Mo Laoda’s face didn’t change color ² . He nodded. “That’s right. You’re a special case!” He sounded exceptionally sure.

Yes. Mo Laoda nodded in his heart, very satisfied with his own answer. You see, in the viper clans, if the Little Idiot was the first to get pregnant so quickly, didn’t that make him The Special Case?!

Hearing Mo Laoda say this, Yin Xiaoxiao came to believe him a little. Certainly, he wasn’t persuaded by Mo Laoda’s words. But don’t forget that Yin Xiaoxiao’s soul was a human’s, and he didn’t have the inherited memories. Perhaps it was because of these two reasons that he was so easily able to become pregnant?

The more Yin Xiaoxiao considered this, the more he thought this was right. Yin Xiaoxiao felt a little guilty. He couldn’t tell Mo Laoda about his previous life as a human. Mo Laoda only knew that he didn’t have the inherited memories…..

After a short moment of contemplation, Yin Xiaoxiao suddenly appeared to have an epiphany. “Heitan, I got it! You know, could it be because I don’t have the inherited memories?”

Immediately, Mo Laoda nodded. “Yes, I also think you’re right!” Anyway, no matter what Yin Xiaoxiao said now, Mo Laoda was only going to unconditionally agree with Yin Xiaoxiao.

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Yin Xiaoxiao was relieved. “Okay, I was wrong to blame you.” A smile once more hung on Yin Xiaoxiao’s face. Feeling embarrassed, he slithered over to Mo Laoda and kissed him.

Mo Laoda’s face remained expressionless, but internally he let out a sigh of relief. Very good, very good, the Little Idiot has stopped troubling him.

“Heitan, I’m hungry!” Yin Xiaoxiao suddenly said. His facial expression was natural and unrestrained, and he spoke with a tone of voice as though this was only right and proper.

“I’ll immediately go and look for prey!”

Finding out that Yin Xiaoxiao was pregnant, Mo Laoda was naturally inclined to unconditionally spoil his Little Idiot. Hungry? No problem, I’ll go and get you something to eat! Thirsty? No problem, I’ll carry you to the riverbank! Sleepy? No problem, the sun outside is at the perfect angle in the sky for sleeping while sunbathing!

After finding out that he was pregnant and then having a huge fight with Mo Laoda, Yin Xiaoxiao accepted the fact that he was going to give birth to snake eggs and enjoyed life with a clear conscience. From now on, Yin Xiaoxiao no longer needed to worry about his figure!

The fact that Yin Xiaoxiao was pregnant couldn’t be hidden for long. When Mo Dayi came to report to Mo Laoda, Mo Dayi knew that Yin Xiaoxiao was pregnant. Thinking back to Mo Dayi’s inarticulate expression, Yin Xiaoxiao still felt like laughing. Mo Dayi returned to the Mo snake lands where Yin Xiaoxiao’s pregnancy immediately spread among all the Mo snakes. Gradually, not only Mo snakes but the common vipers also knew that the Clan Husband was pregnant!

After the initial shock, each viper was extremely happy. It hadn’t been that long since Clan Husband and Clan Head had become partners, and the Clan Husband was already expecting, which was indeed an enormously happy occasion!

T/N:

Footnotes

<ol>混吃等死: means to be idle all day 面不改色: an idiom meaning to remain calm and collected</ol>