Chapter 27

By the time Yin Xiaoxiao awoke in the small hole, the sky had already lightened. He had spent the night crying and didn’t know when he’d fallen asleep. Now his eyes were swollen. Dizzy and with two swollen eyes, Yin Xiaoxiao finally slithered to the entrance of the cave.

Unexpectedly, Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua hadn’t left and were still in the cave. All five of the young snakes, from Yin Xiaoyi to Hua Xiaohua, had also obediently remained home.

Yin Xiaoxiao, however, was still angry and he didn’t speak a word to them, not even to Hua Xiaohua, who had moved to stand next to Yin Xiaoxiao and was deliberately ignored. Yin Xiaoxiao slithered to the mouth of the cave and lay down on his stomach, staring blankly outside.

Yin Xiaoxiao was not feeling better. Hua Xiaohua was not feeling better. Yin Dabai was not feeling better. The other young snakes were not feeling better. Hua Xiaohua did not understand. Although Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t have any inherited memories, he had always been a very lovable child. Why was he now so unwilling to listen to them? He and Yin Dabai were doing this for Xiaoxiao’s sake. Why couldn’t Xiaoxiao be obedient?

However, when all was said and done, this was his first time as a parent (…). In the afternoon, Hua Xiaohua was still upset. Look, our family’s Xiaoxiao’s eyes were swollen. Only a snake with some kind of eye disease would look like that. Look at our family’s Xiaoxiao, staring blankly and radiating resentment. If you weren’t in the know, you’d believe that our family’s Xiaoxiao had been greatly wronged when, actually, he had only been scolded, nothing more.

“Cough…Xiaoxiao, come here.” Hua Xiaohua sent Yin Xiaoxiao a look that shouted, ‘I am your father and I love you a lot’.

Yin Xiaoxiao had been staring blankly for so long that his brain was beginning to rust. It took him a while to realize that Hua Xiaohua was calling him. In fact, Yin Xiaoxiao had cried for most of the night, thinking about what had happened. And also during the day he had been thinking about what had happened, his anger growing. With care, he thought about his Pop and Dad’s worry about him being bullied by a Mo snake or a Hei snake, and their fear that he would be shunned by other snakes. He had made a mistake. He should have agreed with them from the start and gone to meet Hei Aban’s family in secret. There had been no need to quarrel with his Dad and Pop. He had been a fool. The biggest fool. Even if he had turned into a snake, there was no need for him to abandon his human intelligence (this…). So, hearing Hua Xiaohua calling for him, Yin Xiaoxiao immediately slithered away.

Yin Xiaoxiao slithered over to face Hua Xiaohua.

Hua Xiaohua maintained a smile. Very gently and softly, he said, “Xiaoxiao! It’s stuffy in the cave today. How about you go with your older brothers and play.”

“…I want to go by myself.”

Hua Xiaohua was just about to say ‘You can’t go by yourself’, but Yin Dabai immediately took the opportunity to say, “You can, but you can’t go too far from home and you have to come back before dark.”

“Okay.”

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And then, Yin Xiaoxiao happily slithered off. In the cave, the five remaining young snakes complained, “Xiaoxiao is abandoning us! He really, really is abandoning us!”

“How can you allow Xiaoxiao to go out on his own? What if…” Hua Xiaohua could not understand Yin Dabai’s intent.

“I know what you’re worried about.” Yin Dabai sent Hua XIaohua a reassuring look.

“But if you allow the children to always follow Xiaoxiao around, I worry that Xiaoxiao will become even more rebellious. What’s more, it’s very unlikely that XIaoxiao would let them come along today.”

Hua Xiaohua carefully thought about what Yin Dabai said, and he came to the same conclusion. If there was always a snake at Xiaoxiao’s side, Xiaoxiao would surely become more and more dissatisfied. If Xiaoxiao interfered with something, then the gains wouldn’t make up for the losses.

Hey hey, Yin Dabai, how unexpected for you to actually know to follow the hair ¹ when dealing with a child’s rebelliousness! I definitely underestimated you before!

Yin Xiaoxiao slithered off while staring blankly…this was a very bad habit…

“Hey…” After slithering and slithering, Yin Xiaoxiao stopped, head drooping, and sighed.

“…Huh?” Yin Xiaoxiao sorrowfully moved his head. Had he heard something?

With rapt attention, Yin Xiaoxiao listened to the sounds p. It wasn’t his imagination. Those really were sounds, like that of a snake slithering. Yin Xiaoxiao sucked in a mighty breath of air and smelt blood. Yin Xiaoxiao hesitated a bit. This snake must have been injured. He didn’t know if there was something bad had happened. Should he go over?

Still obviously hesitant, Yin xiaoxiao nevertheless slithered over to where the sound originated. Hey, when will this foible of meddling in other people’s business be fixed? As for the injured snake and Yin Xiaoxiao, the distance between the two absolutely couldn’t be considered to be far. Even if Yin Xiaoxiao slithered slowly, he still should have already arrived. But no, up until now Yin Xiaoxiao still hadn’t seen the injured snake. In that case there was only one reason, and that was that, while Yin Xiaoxiao was slithering, that other snake was also continuously moving. After all, Yin Xiaoxiao was moving quite quickly.

Yin Xiaoxiao was angry. This snake really was unable to tell good from bad ² ! He was trying to save it, but it was slithering away so quickly! The stubborn Yin Xiaoxiao resolutely vowed that he was definitely going to overtake this snake! (Hurry! Go quickly!  Otherwise your dear gong ³ is going to run off and disappear!)

Yin Xiaoxiao was in a death-defying chase. Ahead was the injured snake, running as if his life depended on it…ah, I personally felt that ‘death-defying’ was more severe than ‘life depended’, and so the moment before Yin Xiaoxiao became dehydrated, he finally overtook that snake…

Yin Xiaoxiao, panting for breath, stopped the snake–give him a moment to gasp for air–Yin Xiaoxiao slithered over, entirely spent, until he was finally no longer heaving. He earnestly looked at this snake in front of him, just a glance, and then he finally saw two fierce blood-red eyes which were brimming with hostility.

…

“…Mom!” Yin Xiaoxiao shouted. With a “whoosh”, he squeezed himself into the underbrush

…Did you think hiding in the underbrush was useful??

At this point in time, Mo Laoda was still very young and ignorant, but he was very fierce, rude and unreasonable. To know that the snake that had been chasing him had flinched away at the flash of Mo Laoda’s eyes’, you might as well stop there. He waited for that snake to come out and face him. As long as he could bite him, (at this point, he hadn’t been overcome with feelings towards Yin Xiaoxiao…), then it couldn’t be said that this snake would yet live!

At heart, Mo Laoda was very easily YY ⁴ But when that snake behind him overtook him and stood panting, Mo Laoda began to become frantic as feeling snuck up on him in a manner similar to that of this small child! Then what happened?! When it clearly saw him, it actually yelled ‘Mom!’ and hid…Mo Laoda felt insulted. He was a male! Male! Not female! Do not call him ‘Mom’!

Hey, you know, now wasn’t really the time to dwell on this…

“…Come out.”

Hiding in the underbrush, Yin Xiaoxiao trembled. After going through this “Did he mean me? He wasn’t really addressing me, right?” series of mental calculations, Yin Xiaoxiao had no qualms continuing to hide in the underbrush.

Outside, veins pulsed on Mo Laoda’s head. “…Hey, idiot! I’m telling you to come out!”

“…You’re the idiot! Your entire family is idiots!” Yin Xiaoxiao’s head steamed. Immediately, he jumped out, cursing in rage…after which he went to hide in the underbrush again, but was unfortunately intercepted by Mo Laoda.

Mo Laoda dragged Yin Xiaoxiao out of the underbrush and plunked him down so he faced him, with emphasis on ‘drag’. It was too savage to be called ‘drag’!

“Tell me, why are you following me!” Although this was nevertheless said in a very cruel tone, Mo Laoda’s facial expression wasn’t that frightening. Afterall, to Mo Laoda’s eyes, Yin Xiaoxiao was a very young snake and not at all a threat to him. Yes, and he was also an idiot.

Yin Xiaoxiao was the type of person who bullied the weak and feared the strong. When he saw that Mo Laoda’s expression wasn’t cruel, Yin Xiaoxiao immediately climbed all over him ⁵ . “What were you yelling? Why were you yelling?! Do you think that I wanted to chase you?! If you hadn’t smelled like blood then I wouldn’t have chased you!”

Yin Xiaoxiao unconsciously searched Mo Laoda’s body for a wound. Oh, so not even seven inches away was the place where he’d been bitten by something. And then Yin Xiaoxiao discovered…

“Eh? You’re a Mo ⁶ snake?”

That was right. This snake in front of Yin Xiaoxiao was a Mo snake, only 18 years old but so over-developed that he looked like an adult…

“…What? You have a problem?” Mo Laoda’s eyes narrowed.

“No. No problem.” Yin Xiaoxiao swallowed. Mentally, wailed in anguish. Aaah! Dad, Pop, quickly come save me! Not only did I meet a Mo snake, but the one I met was scary!

Mo Laoda suspiciously looked around at Yin Xiaoxiao. From the stupid expression on his face it didn’t seem as though he didn’t have a problem. “Hey, little idiot, you were only born five or six days ago. Why were you blindly running around? Still, your running speed is pretty good for someone only □□ days old.”

…Yin Xiaoxiao was full of grief and indignation. Did he have to insult a snake like this? Really?!

“You’re the idiot! You’re the one who was born two or three days ago! I, Laozi ⁷ , was born a month ago!”

“Huh?” This time, Mo Laoda’s gaze became bewildered and disdainful. “Born a month ago and still so small? Your speed of growth is so slow! Oh my god, you’re a disgrace to all your fellow Bai ⁸ snakes!”

“…Your sister ⁹ ! You’re the Bai snake!  Your whole family is Bai snakes!” Yin Xiaoxiao was going crazy with anger. “I am a Yin ¹⁰ snake! A Yin snake! Not a Bai snake!”

“Yin snake?” Mo Laoda glanced over Yin Xiaoxiao’s body again. Oh. So, he really was a Yin snake?

“A Yin snake is only a Yin snake. It’s nothing to be excited about.” Mo Laoda was not impressed. “Whether a Yin snake or a Bai snake, they’re nothing compared to us Mo snakes. I really don’t know what has you so excited.”

Yin Xiaoxiao wanted to cry. He had been wrong. He had really been wrong. He shouldn’t have not listened to Pop and Dad. Hei Aban was not at all a good representative of other Mo and Hei snakes. This Mo snake in front of me was exactly like those very frightening Mo snakes Dad talked about. Todayhe must have been met with retribution.

“…I’m going to go.” Yin Xiaoxiao silently dropped this sentence.

‘Slithering and slithering, I’m slithering and slithering, eh? I’ve been slithering for a while, why don’t I feel like I’ve moved?’ Suspicious, Yin Xiaoxiao turned around…So it turned out the Mo snake had restrained him by his tail.

“‘Tch, and you still don’t believe me when I say that you’re an idiot.” Ridicule and teasing lay even more heavily in Mo Laoda’s eyes. This small idiot of a snake was really amusing.

Yin Xiaoxiao turned his head and didn’t speak. ‘Hmph, this Mo snake was very hateful,’ he decided. ‘From now on, I hate Mo snakes!’

Laughing, Mo Laoda bent his head to face Yin Xiaoxiao. “Little idiot, are you angry?”

Yin Xiaoxiao still didn’t speak. Without much effort, he twisted his head to the other side.

Mo Laoda moved with him so that they continued to face each other. Next to Yin Xiaoxiao, he was much bigger and could easily wind himself around him twice. As a result, this scene looked somewhat ambiguous. Just imagine Yin Xiaoxiao standing, Mo Laoda standing behind Yin Xiaoxiao with his head hovering over Yin Xiaoxiao’s, facing him. No matter how it was viewed, Mo Laoda was entwined with Yin Xiaoxiao. In a human equivalent, it was as though Mo Laoda had embraced Yin Xiaoxiao to his bosom.

Turning his head, Mo Laoda didn’t speak. Yin Xiaoxiao also didn’t speak. But what kind of idea would someone draw from two snakes looking at each other, huh? Yin Xiaoxiao felt entirely embarrassed and had no choice but to bluntly say, “Hey, don’t you need to treat your injury?”

Mo Laoda took a second to look at his injury. “It’s nothing. In two days it’ll be fine. Don’t tell me you don’t know that we Mo snakes’ healing abilities are very formidable?”

Yin Xiaoxiao’s teeth itched. Just how arrogant was this Mo snake before him?! Every other sentence started with the words ‘We ink snakes’. ‘Tch, we ink snakes. And I’m a Yin snake. What of it?!’

“Little idiot, what’s your name? Or do you want me to keep calling you Little Idiot.”

“…Yin Xiaoxiao,” he answered, voice feeling nothing but reluctance.

“My name is Mo Laoda. Remember it.” Mo Laoda lifted his head, as though he’d granted Yin Xiaoxiao an enormous favor by telling him his name.

“Hahahaha…” Yin Xiaoxiao couldn’t hold it back. Lao da, it was like □□ Da ge ¹¹ .

“Why are you laughing?” Mo Laoda could hear the ridicule in Yin XIaoxiao’s laughter.

“…No reason.” Of course he couldn’t tell him what he was thinking. It wasn’t as though he was tired of living and if he said that, he worried that he wouldn’t know what □□ was. Thinking of this, Yin Xiaoxiao was proud of himself. Hmph so what if he was a Mo snake?! It didn’t preclude him from being uncultured!

Mo Laoda remained silent, staring at Yin Xiaoxiao who suddenly looked very proud. Even Yin Xiaoxiao’s tail was raised. Really he didn’t know what this little idiot was thinking.

T/N:

Footnotes

<ol>要顺着毛摸: idiom meaning to go along with someone else to maintain a good interaction; kind of like when stroking a cat, the cat prefers to be stroked head to tail and not tail to head 不识好歹: refers to people who are confused and can’t tell right from wrong ; in this instance, YXX is saying that this snake doesn’t know what’s good for him 小攻: the “giver” in a gay relationship or ‘seme’ for those familiar with yaoi YY: perverted 蹬鼻子上脸: idiom meaning to take advantage of someone’s weakness 墨: Ink 老子: in this context it means ‘your father’ and is usually said either anger, contempt, arrogantly or in jest. In this case, it’s anger 白: white 你妹: used on the internet as a placeholder for other curse words. Mostly used non-maliciously 银: Silver 老 大 : has many meanings, such as boss, but can also be a way to refer to a gang leader. 大哥 is big brother, which is also a way to refer to a leader in a gang. YXX is basically calling Mo Laoda ‘Big Boss Mo’</ol>