Ahem. Why did Liu Hao faint? Letâs go back and take a look.
It is said that the evening before Liu Hao was born, all seven family members surrounded Liu Haoâs egg, keeping watch until dawn. When the five young snakes awoke, so did Yin Dabai. Hua Xiaohua had continued to attentively watch the egg. However, the egg remained still. In Yin Dabaiâs heart he became more and more convinced that the egg was dead, but he dared not say so.
The newly born young snakes quickly became hungry. Yin Dabai informed Hua Xiaohua, then immediately went to find food for the small snakes. By the time the young snakes had eaten their fill, it was almost noon, and the egg, as before, was as motionless as a mountain. By this time, Hua Xiaohua was feeling the beginnings of sorrow.
So when they heard a crackling sound, all seven snakes focused their attention on the egg theyâd surrounded.
Little brother was really brave and fierce! This was the thought that all five of the young snakes had as Liu Hao rushed out.
What they saw was only a young silver snake barrel out from inside its egg, saw its neck turn to take in its surroundings, and thenâŠfaint.
It seemed as though heâd overexerted himself! In their hearts, all five young snakes sighed internally with sorrow.
Liu Hao didnât remain unconscious for long. Perhaps it was because he was so hungry that he couldnât remain passed out. When Liu Hao awoke, his mind was empty. It was as though heâd forgotten something. Hmm, what was it? He was hungry. So hungry. Faintly, Liu Hao could smell something very appetizing nearby. He followed this sweet smell to find food and immediately found a piece of glittering silver. Liu Hao descended upon it and took a bite. Yes, it really was very tasty. So deliciousâŠ
Liu Hao lowered his head and wildly bit into the eggshell in front of him. Of course, at that moment, Liu Hao wasnât aware that he was eating his own eggshell. After consuming the entire eggshell, Liu Hao let out a satisfied burp, then reached out a hand to pat his bellyâŠ
Where is his hand? His hand, why was itâŠgone?
Liu Haoâs eyes went blank as he finally recalled what heâd overlooked in hunger. When heâd rushed out of the darkness, heâd seenâŠa nest of snakes?
Liu Haoâs neck stiffened.
Liu cast a furtive look around, and then the rest of his body stiffened as he saw thatâŠthere really were snakes! Holy shit <sup>1</sup> ! What kind of terrible place was this?! Liu Haoâs heart roared, this old manâs greatest fear was snakes! Even worse was that, on either side, there were these two snake that were two or three times bigger than the others!
Liu Hao wanted to pass out again. Only, probably because he had eaten his fill, Liu Hao showed no signs of fainting.
The seven snakes at his side finally returned to their senses after Liu Haoâs series of actions.
Looking at his small stiff-looking son, Yin Dabai slithered closer to sniff Liu Hao. He didnât seem to smell anything. What was up with this little guy?
âHa, very good. Like I said, how could my child be a dead egg?â Hua Xiaohuaâs head lifted with pride, ignoring Liu Haoâs abnormal behavior. âOh, the sixth should be called Yin Xiaoxiao!â Hua Xiaohuaâs head lowered then rubbed against Liu Hao â no against Yin Xiaoxiao-in the snake-version of a kiss. That done, Hua Xiaohua turned and crawled away: âYin Dabai! Take care of your children!â
Yin Dabai quietly looked back at Hua Xiaohua, but Hua Xiaohua was off to brag to their next door neighbor. This really was enough to give him a headache.
Yin Xiaoxiao, who had been fiercely cuddled by Hua Xiaohua, had finally discovered what he absolutely could not accept, which was thatâŠthat he had crazily enough become a snake!
Yin Xiaoxiaoâs entire body lay stick-straight on the ground with a lifeless look in his eyes. The doctor said that it had only been a slight fracture. Why had he become a snake?
âYin Xiaoxiao is amazing! You can stretch yourself out so straight!â Hua Xiaowu excitedly crawled to his side.
Yin Xiaoyi silently stared at Yin Xiaoxiao.
Hua Xiaoer and Hua Xiaosan were trying to imitate the stick-straight Yin Xiaoxiao. However, it was very difficult, similar only to â18 Bends on the Mountain Roadâ <sup>2</sup> .
Yin Xiaosi watched Hua Xiaoer and Hua Xiaosan contemptuously, still perplexed as to why Hua Xiaowu was so excited.
Off to the side, Yin Dabai dozed. Since it was safe here, he didnât need to supervise these young snakes (Hey! Hey! These snakes are newborns, okay?!) <sup>3</sup> . It was okay to just let them play.
After watching Yin Xiaoxiao for a very long time, Yin Xiaoyi finally moved. Moving unhurriedly over to Yin Xiaoxiao, Yin Xiaoyi pushed past Hua Xiaoer and Hua Xiaosan, passed Yin Xiaosi, and saluted Hua Xiaowu. When he arrived at Yin Xiaoxiaoâs side, he halted for a couple of seconds, then swept his tail over Yin Xiaoxiaoâs body. Oh, was he teasing him?
Yin Xiaoxiao was teased by Yin Xiaoyi. Unexpectedly, his body trembled, and thenâŠ
Yin Xiaoxiao bumped into Yin Xiaoyi as he quickly crawled away, screaming. His phobia of snakes was so great that heâd been scared stiff.
Really now, this speed was pretty good. Awakening from his doze, Yin Dabai watched as Yin Xiaoxiao disappeared into the mouth of their familyâs cave, then sighed with sincere regret.
To the side, those five snakes rolling around on the ground thought, Xiaoxiaoâs voice is really loud! It scared me to death!
At their neighborâs house, Hua Xiaohua, who was boasting about those six healthy babies, simply ignored the mournful shout.
Still shouting wildly, Yin Xiaoxiao rushed headlong into a cave. He ran straight into the caveâs depths until he ran headlong into a wall. Only then did Yin Xiaoxiao stopped shouting.
Yin Xiaoxiao forced himself into a small hole in the lower right wall of the cave, pushing and pushing. Xiaoxiaoâs body allowed him to pretty easily force himself through. Finally, only a silver snake head remained exposed. It was only when he felt safe that Yin Xiaoxiaoâs heart-rate finally calmed.
Crazily enough, Iâve turned into a snake? Why a snake? If it had been a dog or a cat, that wouldâve been fine! There was nothing I fear more than snakes, you know <sup>4</sup> ! This was enough to make me hate myself, you know <sup>5</sup> ! Yin Xiaoxiao was very aggrieved. So then that hard thing before was my own eggshell?! I canât believe that I was born from an egg! At this thought, Yin Xiaoxiao was even more aggrieved.
What was the relationship between me and those snakes just now? Yin Xiaoxiao extended his tail and shook the tip. That large snake had been there with the same coloration, could that have been my mother or father? Calling a snake mother or father, wasnât that strange?! And couldnât snakes birth many eggs at a time? Then those snakes I saw a moment ago, were those my brothers and sisters? In my last life Iâd been an orphan. In this life, not only do I have parents, but I have five older brothers or sisters. Obviously this was a good thing, but could a man be happy with only snakes as family?
Iâve become a snake. No matter what, I have to accept it. I canât kill myself. God knows if Iâd live again if I died. Even more, what would I turn into? Who knew if next time I might turn into a housefly or a bedbug or something even worse?!
In only one afternoon, Yin Xiaoxiao had convinced himself of the fact that heâd turned into a snake, onlyâŠYin Xiaoxiao had only convinced himself to not to be afraid of himself. Could he convince himself to not be afraid of other snakes?
Footnotes
<ol>ć°Œç: originally a sacred word in Tibetan culture, netizens have appropriated it and made it vulgar and rude ć±±è·Żćć «ćŒŻ: a popular song that requires great ability to sing any comments in parentheses were there in the raw ææšæ: internet slang used to emphasize something; used in a manner similar to âright?? right!!â ææšæ: another baidu explanation page here</ol>