Chapter 115

On this day, the baby snakes were looking for food on their own, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda had been coiled around each other, sunbathing in the open area, until Yin Xiaoxiao’s stomach had growled.

Mo Laoda helplessly smiled and said, “I’ll go get you food.”

Yin Xiaoxiao laughed twice then suddenly recalled something, and he stood up with a grunt. “Heitan, hasn’t it been a long time since we went to bring Mingshe food?”

Mo Laoda stopped and thought carefully. “It seems so.”

Not it seems so, it was so….

Yin Xiaoxiao swung his tail. “Then you go and look for my food, I will go to Ji Kang’s place and get some gold and silver ¹ .”

Mo Laoda agreed. There probably wasn’t anything dangerous around here.

Mo Laoda left, and Yin Xiaoxiao also set out quickly towards the old tomb.

Approaching the old tomb, Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t feel like continuing to slither. He opened his mouth and yelled, “Ji Kang, I came to get food for Mingshe! Quickly bring some!”

Right as he said these words, Ji Kang’s figure appeared in front of Yin Xiaoxiao.

Yin Xiaoxiao looked behind Ji Kang. “Huh? Where’s Ji Zhao? He always appears wherever you go!”

“Zhao’er went below to visit Feng Hongming. As you know, we can’t leave this old tomb. When Zhao’er is bored, he likes to annoy Feng Hongming.” Ji Kang smiled faintly as he said this.

Yin Xiaoxiao curled his lip. Ji Zhao was like a child with Ji Kang, not deserving in the slightest the title Zhou Kang Wang!

“Don’t tell me that you ² are going to continue staying in this old tomb?” Yin Xiaoxiao asked. Eternal life was good but eternal life while staying in one place, that was a little too stifling and uncomfortable.

Ji Kang nodded his head. “Yes, if we leave here, then our souls really will fly away and scatter ³ ! Besides us, this applies to all life within this boundary. Ever since this boundary was sealed, one will always reincarnate here,” as he said this, Ji Kang suddenly remembered something. “Ah, that’s right, that also includes you.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“If you had died before the boundary was sealed, you would’ve naturally reincarnated into the outside world. However, now that the boundary has already been sealed, your soul will remain here. But there’s one detail that is quite special: your memories are unable to be erased. This is related to the fact that you are an organism from outside.”

“Huh? Then what will I become?” Yin Xiaoxiao was stunned. Surely this was a joke! Becoming a snake wasn’t enough, he was even going to become a hare, a lion, a tree or a blade of grass?!

“A snake of course.” Ji Kang shot a puzzled look at Yin Xiaoxiao before he suddenly realized, “Oh, of course, you still don’t know. When you reincarnated here, you devoured the soul of that snake, taking that viper’s place and becoming a viper. It’s reasonable to say that the vipers are the overlords of this sealed space, living very easy and comfortable lives, and they should have had many offspring. However, that isn’t the case within this boundary, and the viper population is remains constant.”

A pause. Ji Kang didn’t at all notice that Yin Xiaoxiao already looked dazed. He continued to explain, “However many vipers were tossed into this boundary at the beginning, the vipers’ population will remain at that number. This is the reason why the vipers have neither overpopulated nor reduced in number.”

“Then in other words, in the future I will reincarnate as a snake again with all my memories?” Yin Xiaoxiao asked.

Ji Kang nodded his head in affirmation.

At this moment, Yin Xiaoxiao’s first thought was of Mo Laoda.

When he reincarnated again, Mo Laoda might not be his….No! How could he let that happen! Yin Xiaoxiao secretly vowed to himself that, when he was born in his next life, he would go find Mo Laoda and make Mo Laoda fall in love with him again! And he would be together with Mo Laoda again! However….

Ji Kang wasn’t aware of Yin Xiaoxiao’s thoughts. He said, “It’s good like this. You and Mo Laoda can be together forever, not like me and Zhao’er who can only stay here.”

Yin Xiaoxiao’s lip curled. “How can you know that Heitan and I will always be together? What if, what if, in the next life, he likes another snake?! What if he doesn’t like me?!” Saying this, Yin Xiaoxiao’s voice grew louder and louder, and his tone became increasingly angry and aggrieved. If it was really like this, then it would be better if he didn’t remember.

“…Mo Laoda probably won’t lose his memory either.” Ji Kang glanced at Yin Xiaoxiao and, unperturbed, said, “Didn’t Mo Laoda take seven Mo Grass? He had been a viper that had taken five Mo Grass, but at that time he had been cautious, and stopped himself from taking no more than five. This time, perhaps to protect you to the utmost, he took seven. Actually, after a snake takes seven Mo Grass, the Mo Grass will then wither; after all, inside this boundary, there only needs to be one powerful Mo snake who remembers their previous incarnations.”

Yin Xiaoxiao was bewildered.

Ji Kang wondered, “Xiaoxiao, what don’t you understand of what I’ve just told you?”

“Mo Grass? What Mo Grass?”

“Huh? You don’t know?” Ji Kang was even more astonished. “Didn’t you and Mo Laoda go to the bottom of the cliff and stay there for a long time? It was at that time that Mo Laoda must have taken the Mo Grass and it is the reason why he became so powerful after.”

And so, Ji Kang told Yin Xiaoxiao all about the Mo Grass. Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t speak a word during this, but his complexion became more and more ugly.

By the time Ji Kang patiently finished explaining, he discovered that Yin Xiaoxiao’s expression was very ugly and asked Yin Xiaoxiao what was wrong.

Yin Xiaoxiao, with difficulty, smiled. “It’s nothing. That, I want to go back. Surely Heitan must have gotten my food. I’ll leave first.”

Finished speaking, without waiting for Ji Kang to reply, Yin Xiaoxiao quickly slithered home, not even going to Mingshe with the gold and silver.

“Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao! You haven’t taken Mingshe’s food!” Ji Kang yelled several times before realizing that Yin Xiaoxiao simply wasn’t capable of hearing him and dropping the subject.

When Yin Xiaoxiao arrived home, Mo Laoda had already returned with food.

“Didn’t you say that you were going to Ji Kang’s to get food for Mingshe? Why don’t you have anything?” asked Mo Laoda, puzzled. He looked over Yin Xiaoxiao’s body to check that Yin Xiaoxiao really hadn’t returned with gold and silver.

Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t say anything and only stared at Mo Laoda.

Mo Laoda was bewildered. What was wrong with this Little Idiot?

Mo Laoda was about to ask, but was scared into silence by the sound of Yin Xiaoxiao crying.

Yin Xiaoxiao had stared at Mo Laoda for a while and then, surprisingly, begunto cry.

Mo Laoda hurriedly slithered over to Yin Xiaoxiao. “What’s wrong, Xiaoxiao? Why are you suddenly crying? Is Ji Kang bullying you?”

Yin Xiaoxiao cried until he was gasping for breath, shaking shaking his head that, no, Ji Kang wasn’t bullying him.

“Then what’s wrong?” Mo Laoda patiently continued to question, curling around Yin Xiaoxiao in a hug.

Yin Xiaoxiao only cried, not answering Mo Laoda.

Mo Laoda knew that Yin Xiaoxiao unexpectedly didn’t want to talk to him, and he had no choice but to stop asking. He only wound tighter around Yin Xiaoxiao, speaking words to comfort Yin Xiaoxiao, hoping that Yin Xiaoxiao would be able to stop crying sooner.

Naturally, Yin Xiaoxiao cried because Mo Laoda, at that time, had suffered greatly for his sake. Yin Xiaoxiao already knew that it had happened when he and Mo Laoda had gone to the bottom of the cliff, when Mo Laoda had allowed the strange snakes to take care of him! Mo Laoda endured pain that he didn’t need to suffer alone while each day he, he had played and had a great time with the strange snakes!

However, Yin Xiaoxiao understood Mo Laoda’s intentions. Mo Laoda did this in order to protect him, and didn’t tell him because he didn’t want to worry him. Now that this was so far in the past, what could he necessarily say? Was it necessary to expose Mo Laoda’s goodwill? But Yin Xiaoxiao still felt it difficult to bear; it made him want to cry, so he had to give vent to his feelings.

He had a good cry, but he didn’t tell Mo Laoda the reason for his crying. When he finished crying, the days of their lives continued.

‘We will be together, not a hundred years, not two hundred years, but from life to life, age to age, forever.’

When Yin Xiaoxiao stopped crying, Mo Laoda let out a heartfelt sigh of relief. How long had it been since the Little Idiot had cried like this?

“Heitan, we will always be together, won’t we?”

Mo Laoda stared blankly.

“Ji Kang told me everything.” Yin Xiaoxiao tilted his head and looked at Mo Laoda. “He said that you would be reincarnated with all your memories.”

Mo Laoda’s face paled, and he placed a kiss on Yin Xiaoxiao’s mouth. “Sorry, Xiaoxiao, But in every life, I’ll always go looking for you, find you, and we will be together again. If I can’t, then I won’t take another snake as my partner in that life.”

“We will be together.” Yin Xiaoxiao returned Mo Laoda’s kiss. “Ji Kang also said that, because I don’t have the inherited memories, I will have my memories when I reincarnate.” ‘Sorry,’ Yin Xiaoxiao thought to himself, ‘forgive me that I can’t tell you that I was a human.’

An expression of pleasant surprise immediately appeared on Mo Laoda’s face, and he spoke with a stammer, “Re-really?”

Yin Xiaoxiao nodded vigorously. “Of course it’s true!”

Mo Laoda happily tightened his coils around Yin Xiaoxiao. “That’s so very good.”

Yin Xiaoxiao: “Let, let go of me. I-I can’t br-breath.”

Happy, Mo Laoda cooked an extra hare for Yin Xiaoxiao – originally this was Mo Laoda’ portion, but the equally very happy Yin Xiaoxiao ate another hare – so all together, he ⁴ ate two.

Having just returned, Bai Jiahei stood in front of Yin Xiaoxiao and, with an inscrutable expression, said, “Pop, didn’t you eat a little too much?”

Yin Xiaoxiao stared blankly. Oh, right. Today he’d eaten two hares! This was almost the same amount of food he’d eaten while he was pregnant! But, Yin Xiaoxiao touched his stomach with his tail, he didn’t feel bloated!

Mo Laoda also stared blankly. He also remembered Yin Xiaoxiao’s appetite during that time. Oh, although Yin Xiaoxiao still ate every two days, when he didn’t eat a full meal, he’d eat several bird eggs.

Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t care. “It doesn’t matter. It’s fine eating a little more food. Your dad never liked it when he thought that I ate too little!”

Mo Laoda nodded his head in approval. It was good to eat more.

Bai Jiahei looked at Yin Xiaoxiao, then looked at Mo Laoda, but didn’t speak.

However, as time continued, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda discovered something strange.

“Heitan, would you say that I’ve gained a lot of weight recently?” Yin Xiaoxiao hesitantly asked Mo Laoda as he stared at himself.

Mo Laoda nodded his head. “Yes, and it very much resembles…”

“Very much resembles the last time I was pregnant!” Yin Xiaoxiao finished, directing a puzzled look at Mo Laoda.

Mo Laoda pursed his lips, silent for a moment. “…We’ll go visit Ji Kang!”

“Xiaoxiao.” Ji Kang looked meaningfully at Yin Xiaoxiao. “Pregnant again, huh. That’s really rought.”

Mo Laoda: “…”

“What about only getting pregnant once?” Yin Xiaoxiao asked.

Ji Kang winked at Yin Xiaoxiao. “What about you not having the inherited memories?”

“Hey! This can’t be just because I don’t have the inherited memories! Yin Xiaoxiao was full of grief and indignation! ‘I absolutely don’t want to be reincarnated again!’

Mo Laoda’s face was very ugly. It was going to be hard to get rid of those nine young snakes! And the Little Idiot was once again with child?!

Expression ugly, Mo Laoda returned home with a miserably scowling Yin Xiaoxiao and informed the nine young snakes about the “unfortunate” news. From then on, the nine young snakes were looking forward to meeting their younger brothers.

Once again, Mo Dayi came to their house then disseminated the news that Yin Xiaoxiao was once again expecting.

“Hey, have you heard? After our Clan Husband gave birth to nine young snakes, he’s actually pregnant again!”

-End-

T/N: There’s still some extras to go.

Footnotes

<ol>added for clarity plural 魂飞魄散: usually used as an idiom to refer to feeling so scared that one’s soul leaves one’s body, but it’s being used in the literal sense YXX</ol>