Chapter 40

Ever since Mo Laoda had made a fire, Yin Xiaoxiao’s food finally returned to the same standards it’d held in the past. Not only that, but Mo Laoda no longer forced Yin Xiaoxiao to eat as much, so, on the whole, Yin Xiaoxiao was in a cheerful mood. Each day that passed was one of a simple life that could be called leisurely and carefree.

But as time passed, Mo Laoda thought that things couldn’t continue as they had been. Mo Laoda would have had no complaints if the Little Idiot’s eating and sleeping meant that ensured that he’d grow, but it’d been half a month and the Little Idiot still wasn’t very long! And each time he ¹ couldn’t eat very much at all. Mo Laoda had to restrain himself from saying, ‘Rats eat more than you!’ Finally, Mo Laoda felt that this couldn’t continue. He considered whether more exercise would make the Little Idiot eat more, which would mean he’d grow faster and look more robust! And so, Mo Laoda ordered that, from tomorrow onwards, they would begin to go and wander around the mountain. Yin Xiaoxiao’s difficult days began.

At Yin Xiaoxiao’s violently strong demand, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao were following the brook. Before, Yin Xiaoxiao had asked what they would do if the brook lead out of the mountain. Unperturbed, Mo Laoda said that they would then switch brooks. And sure, at the base of this mountain, brooks and streams and whatnot ² were clearly everywhere.

Although these days were called “hard” it was actually like this: they would set off in the early morning, make haste until noon when Yin Xiaoxiao would enter the brook to nap, Mo Laoda would search for a stone beside the brook on which to nap, then they would finally wake at three or four in the afternoon and continue to slither some more for a while. Mo Laoda would search for a cave, they would wait until dark and then go in to sleep. The days weren’t as difficult as Yin Xiaoxiao had imagined they’d be. Someone or something made Mo Laoda resentful that Yin Xiaoxiao had hardships to endure, so Yin Xiaoxiao controlled their walking speed the entire time. But back to the topic, Yin Xiaoxiao’s appetite really did seem to grow.

On the road they also saw other snakes, Yin Xiaoxiao wasn’t sure how many, he only remembered the colors, Hong ³ , Lu ⁴ , Huang ⁵ , Bai ⁶ that he saw. Oh, but they didn’t see any Mo snakes. When the snakes they encountered saw Heitan, then immediately fled far away while casting Yin Xiaoxiao sympathetic gazes. Of course, Yin Xiaoxiao was unaware of this since they were too far away. In other words, as a result, Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t speak with any other snakes other than Mo Laoda on their travels. Yin Xiaoxiao was a little gloomy. This couldn’t go on. It was bsolutely out of the question. He couldn’t hang around this mountain for the first twenty years without knowing other snakes.

“Little Idiot, you stay here. I’ll catch food to eat.”

“Yes, yes.” Yin Xiaoxiao’s tail cheerfully and lightheartedly swayed. Moving so much so quickly made him hungry and it was only now that Yin Xiaoxiao knew just how hungry very hungry was. By the time Mo Laoda had slithered off into the distance, Yin Xiaoxiao had already entered the brook to bathe. Oh, speaking of bathing,  he was only turning and twisting in the water. If was dirty, he would use his tail to scrub himself ⁷ . Just as Yin Xiaoxiao was bathing, he heard the sounds of slithering coming from the underbrush off to the side. Heitan had returned very quickly. Yin Xiaoxiao turned his head to speak and saw that the head of the newly arrived snake was already entered the water.

“Huh? Xiaoxiao? Why are you here?”

Yin Xiaoxiao wanted to cry but lacked tears ⁸ . How had he run into Yin Xiaosi? The seat of this mountain wasn’t small. “I-I also came out for a walk, as a matter of fact.”

“Came out? Not just by yourself, right?” Yin Xiaosi’s tone of voice was very severe. “Two days ago I ran into Da-ge. Da-ge told me that you were the only one left in the cave. We were all reassured by you staying in the cave, after all there was still Uncle Lu and the others who could look after you. But that’s not possible if you come out on your own.”

“How-how could that be? And why would I have come out on my own?!” Panic filled Yin Xiaoxiao’s heart. In any case, he couldn’t say that he was travelling with a Mo snake. If Si-ge knew then it’d be impossible for him to leave with Heitan. At this thought, Yin Xiaoxiao suffered a lot of distress. “I-I was with Lan Yiyi! That’s right, I was definitely with Lan Yiyi!”

“Lan Yiyi?” Yin Xiaosi repeated. “Then where did Lan Yiyi go?”

“That’s-Lan Yiyi went to catch food,” said Yin Xiaoxiao, hurriedly.

“So it’s like that. Then I will wait here for Lan Yiyi to return and talk to him a bit,” said Yin Xiaosi.  After he finished speaking, he coiled up in place and remained motionless, stance clearly saying, ‘I am waiting for Lan Yiyi to return’.

Anticipating that Heitan could return at almost any minute, Yin Xiaoxiao was anxious. If Heian and Si-ge ran into each other, there would definitely be trouble. “Si-ge, what is there that has to be said? You had better go and quickly leave.”

Yin Xiaosi glanced at Yin Xiaoxiao without speaking. It seemed that he wasn’t going to stop until he accomplished what he wanted to do. Yin Xiaoxiao was so worried that he almost cried. Yin Xiaoxiao was so worried [added for clarity] he wanted to go and find Lan Yiyi for Si-ge. And he had originally fled to get away from Lan YiyI!

“Si-ge! Si-ge!”

Just as Yin Xiaoxiao was becoming really quite worried, he heard a snake calling for Yin Xiaosi. He listened, carefully. Wasn’t this voice Lan Sansan’s? Yin Xiaoxiao was exultant and hurriedly said, “Si-ge, Lan Sansan is calling you. You should quickly go.”

Yin Xiaosi clearly didn’t look as resolute as he had a moment ago and began to waver. Nevertheless, he opened his mouth to say, “Sansan, I’m by the riverbank!” undoubtedly so that Lan Sansan could come over and wait together with him.

Yin Xiaoxiao heard a snake slither over to the riverbank. By the time the snake managed to make its way over Lan Sansan could clearly be seen. Lan Sansan also saw Yin Xiaoxiao, and the two of them exchanged warm-hearted greetings. Then, Lan Sansan whispered something into Yin Xiaosi’s ear. Yin Xiaoxiao clearly made out that Yin Xiaosi was preoccupied with something that he wanted to go and take care of. Yin Xiaoxiao ⁹ struck while the iron was hot and immediately said, “Si-ge, if something’s the matter then go and take care of it. Anyway, I’m already here in the mountain. If you run into me later, you don’t need to worry. I can take care of myself.”

Yin Xiaosi said, “I’ll let you go this time. I have something to go and deal with.”

In fact, Yin Xiaosi could see that Yin Xiaoxiao had a guilty conscience. Although he didn’t want to be suspicious of Yin Xiaoxiao, he also couldn’t not be. But even if he wanted to stay and see how Yin Xiaoxiao justified this lie, another matter had suddenly appeared. Yin Xiaoxiao could only drop this matter and leave, following Lan Sansan.

Seeing Yin Xiaosi leave, Yin Xiaoxiao relaxed and sighed. Not bad not bad. Si-ge didn’t run into Heitan, otherwise he really would have been done for.

“Is it so bad for me to be seen by other snakes?” Mo Laoda’s faint voice reached Yin Xiaoxiao’s ears, scaring Yin Xiaoxiao into jumping.

Seeing Mo Laoda’s darker than usual face, Yin Xiaoxiao swallowed and donned a smile. “How, how could that be? You misunderstood.”

Mo Laoda was silent for a moment then suddenly asked, “Who is Lan Yiyi?”

“Just one of my neighbors. Like, as a child we played together a lot.”

Mo Laoda didn’t continue asking other questions.

“Then, I think,” Yin Xiaoxiao deliberated, then gave it a go and said, “The two of us should look for a place where we can settle and live a smooth and steady life, one with fewer snakes. Uh, or a place to live where we run into fewer snakes.”

Yin Xiaoxiao had been under the impression that he’d have to explain his reasoning quite a lot in order to persuade Mo Laoda. But contrary to Yin Xiaoxiao’s expectations, Mo Laoda agreed.

As a result, the next day the two snakes began to look for a more long-term residence and headed in the direction of the protected area of the mountain.

T/N:

Footnotes

<ol>added for clarity 神马: internet slang for what red green yellow white added for clarity 欲哭无泪: an idiom meaning that he experienced great distress added for clarity</ol>