Yin Xiaoxiao lazily lay down in the open space in front of the cave to sunbathe. Oh, these days if you asked him if he felt more fat heâd say that he suspected that he was fat. Nevertheless, Yin Xiaoxiao didnât feel like turning his head to check and see whether or not he was fat. The way Yin Xiaoxiao thought about it, now that there was a snake freely willing to take care of them, then he would submit to it. Now that he was fat and at ease, if Mo Laoda left him, he would once again become skin and bones.
But returning to the main topic, being with Heitan was actually pretty good. He didnât have to worry about food or drink. Although sometimes Heitanâs temperament wasnât good, Yin Xiaoxiao had noticed that Heitan was actually a paper tiger <sup>1</sup> . As long as he seemed to concede with a softly lowered head, Heitan was easily sent off to do things.
Of course, aside from Yin Xiaoxiao there was no other snake that thought this. Even if the vipers had evolved intelligence and long-life, and made steadfast, loyal, and dependable partners, what couldnât be ignored was that the vipers had retained their ruthless nature. And this ruthless nature was even more clearly and profoundly embodied in the snakes of the Mo clan.
For the Mo snakes, the feeling of blood kinship was weak, even among brothers and sisters. Once they parted ways, they would go to great lengths to avoid each other. Even more, there was the innate tyrannical nature of the Mo snakes. Just one word in disagreement was enough to instigate a murder, which was yet another reason among many why most vipers didnât want to be friends with Mo snakes.
And for Mo Laoda, the epitome of a Mo snake, nothing good could be said about his temperament. Until now, in front of Yin Xiaoxiao, heâd only shown his mildest side. But if any other snake offended Mo Laoda, there would be nothing stopping him from killing them. As for Ji KangâŠhey, hey! That was the person that the vipers were to protect! How could Mo Laoda attack Ji Kang? This was completely a result of the inherited memories working behind the scenes. As a viper within the boundaries of the formation <sup>2</sup> , he was unable to refuse and unable to not protect him.
Mo Laoda returned, dragging food. He glanced over and saw Yin Xiaoxiao lying on the ground in the sun. Mo Laoda (? Different spelling. It was: è«æć°) couldnât help but step forward and kiss Yin Xiaoxiaoâs face; really the more he saw of him, the more fond he became. And the more he saw, the more he wanted to eat up this Little Idiot.
When Yin Xiaoxiao sensed Mo Laodaâs unvirtuous behavior, Yin Xiaoxiao acted in accordance with his snake instincts. His eyes, which had been closed, opened wide. HIs body rolled twice as he twisted out from underneath Mo Laoda. His upper body drew up as he looked at Mo Laoda.
The corners of Mo Laodaâs mouth pulled up into a smile. The Little Idiot was still very cautious. Mo Laoda tossed the food between them. âTwo frogs, three birds, one hare. Oh, just recently I found a few bird eggs. If you want to eat something else, I can go and get it.â
Yin Xiaoxiao looked at Mo Laoda suspiciously before looking at the food on the ground. Was he hallucinating <sup>3</sup> ?
âI want the hare. You can eat the rest. As for the bird eggs, Iâm going to take a bath after I finish eating and, after that, then I will go and fish out the bird eggs. How about eating the cooked bird eggs in the evening?â
Mo Laoda nodded his assent to Yin Xiaoxiaoâs proposal. While he went to light the fire he said to Yin Xiaoxiao, who was following behind him, âI canât force you to eat the entire hare, but at least eat more than half. You still eat too little. Itâs extremely unlikely that a fat man can be eaten in only one mouthful <sup>4</sup> , but, at each meal, you should eat a little more than at the last one. Overtime, like this, you can eat more.°
âI know, I know.â Yin Xiaoxiaoâs saliva flowed at the cooked hare, as he impatiently prevaricate brushed off Mo Laoda.
Mo Laoda did not mind. He examined the hare that was already being cooked, removed the hare from the fire, and, without much effort, extinguished the fire. Encircling Mo Laoda, Yin Xiaoxiao wasnât in any hurry to speak and only looked impatiently at Mo Laoda. After he finished extinguishing the fire, Mo Laoda placed the cooked mud-wrapped hare in front of him and whipped it with his tail until the mud split open and the hare inside was almost revealed. Only then did Mo Laoda stop whipping it, and then he cleaned the hare of mud.
What? You said that, next, Yin Xiaoxiao should eat? No, no, no, he still canât. Everyone mustnât forget that, even though the hare had been wrapped in mud and even though the hare had been cooked well, it still had its fur. Now, since Yin Xiaoxiao hadnât been able to skin the rabbit before cooking it, Mo Laoda first gnawed off the fur. Then he left it for Yin Xiaoxiao to eat the meat â Mo Laoda would not eat the hareâs fur.
âWell, todayâs hare was cooked a little too long. Next time, you need to mind the temperature. If it was a little more tender then itâd be delicious.â Merely eating wasnât enough to stop Yin Xiaoxiaoâs mouth. While he was eating, he also complained.
Mo Laoda smiled, his face filled with doting affection. âOkay, next time Iâll cook it a little less.â
Yin Xiaoxiao, youâve bought cheap and sold shrewdly <sup>5</sup> . Even when Yin Dabai, Hua Xiaohua and the other five young snakes were there, someone would still have undoubtedly done this for you!
Oh, thatâs right. Actually, when a viper procures a meal, on its prey it first either bit and injected venom or else just bit it to death. Then, it swallowed it without tearing at it with its teeth. But who was Yin Xiaoxiao?! Could he be compared to ordinary snakes? Look at him eating hares. Doesnât he very happily tear at it with his teeth?! At first, Mo Laoda was also very surprised, but then Mo Laoda also learned this skill and, compared to Yin Xiaoxiao, he gnawed even more ferociously. Even if Mo Laoda didnât take it seriously, the Mo Laoda who had learned the art of gnawing silently hit upon the idea that he could finally fight large animals. Vipers didnât touch those large animals mainly, not because they would be no match for them but, because, after fighting them, they wouldnât be able to swallow them whole, and vipers had no idea how to move those large animals. But having learned how to gnaw and chew, Mo Laoda was different: he could eat half and then keep half as leftovers.
Naturally, Mo Laoda was only thinking about the method at the moment, as for actually putting it into practiceâthat was still to be discussed later.
Having succeeded in devouring three quarters of the hare, Yin Xiaoxiao was very satisfied. Mo Laoda was also very satisfied. Mo Laoda swallowed the remainder of Yin Xiaoxiaoâs hare, and then the two snakes, staggering, set out towards the brook.
As before, Yin Xiaoxiao maintained the good habit of taking a small bath every two days and a big bath every three days. However Mo Laoda, as before, still wasnât fond of entering the water. He also didnât like the cold and moist feeling near the brook, but, since Yin Xiaoxiao liked it, Mo Laoda had no choice but to accompany him. Only, please donât worry! By the end, Mo Laoda will surely enter the water and keep Yin Xiaoxiao company!
Mo Laoda was lying on his stomach on a rock near the brook. Yin Xiaoxiao was already soaking in the water not far from the rock. Mo Laoda swung his tail. Suddenly, he said to Yin Xiaoxiao, âLittle Idiot, you have brothers, right?â
âI do.â Yin Xiaoxiao turned his body over in the water and then turned back.
âDonât you have to meet them or something?â There was no such practice among Mo snakes, but Mo Laoda remembered that among the average vipers, great importance was still placed on familial love. Especially when the vipers still had yet to grow to adulthood, brothers and parents would still frequently get together to chat and whatnot. Although Mo Laoda really couldnât understand this kind of behavior at all, now that Yin Xiaoxiao was with him, and doubly so since he was a snake that hadnât yet grown to adulthood, if Yin Xiaoxiao wanted to go back to participate in this kind of get together, Mo Laoda was definitely going to tag along.
As for the reason why Mo Laoda wanted to tag along, one was to follow Yin Xiaoxiao; this was a must. The second was because he wanted to tell Yin Xiaoxiaoâs Dad and Pops that Yin Xiaoxiao was going to be together with him.
Yes, that was right. After Mo Laoda knew that he liked Yin Xiaoxiao and realized his feelings, it was only reasonable that he immediately thought of Yin Xiaoxiao as his. Mo Laoda thought that, since he was the most outstanding Mo snake, and since he wasnât avoiding and was even fond of the Little Idiot, how could this Little Idiot not like him, this extremely outstanding Mo snake? How could he not like him?! Yes, it was impossible. The Little Idiot surely liked him. So, the next time Yin Xiaoxiao [added for clarity] returned for the get together and whatnot, just to clarify matters, he would clearly state that the Little Idiot was his partner. But as soon as he recalled Yin Xiaoxiaoâs age, Mo Laodaâs teeth immediately ached. While Mo Laoda <sup>6</sup> still had two years until he was an adult, what was very upsetting was that Yin Xiaoxiao was only ten years old, and, even worse, it took twenty years to reach adulthood!
The math struck Mo Laodaâs heart with a shattering noise. Nevertheless, Yin Xiaoxiao was completely oblivious.
âOh, there is.â In the water, Yin Xiaoxiao cocked his head and thought for a while. âIt should be in a year. Now a year from now thereâs still, oh, let me think, there should still be two or three months. At that time not only will my five older brothers return, my Dad and Pops will also return.â
The corners of Mo Laodaâs mouth twitched. Five older brothers? Add in Yin Xiaoxiao and wouldnât that make six of them? That was really a lot of babies!
At this point, there was no choice but to speak of the Mo clanâs most sorrowful matter â their fertility was very low. Ultimately, heaven was fair. For those with excellent and powerful genes, the birth of the next generation was always a problem. Even the vipers living within the formation werenât excluded. And as for the most powerful of the viper clans, reproduction was even more of an issue.
Mo Laoda was born into a family of male and female Mo snakes. Mo Laoda was the oldest, next was his younger sister, Mo Laoer, and his younger brother, Mo Laosan. In the Mo snake clan, any family that had three snake babies born envied and hated by other snakes! For Mo snakes, there was a portion of their lives when they were unable to get pregnant and give birth. The vast majority could only give birth to one or maybe two. An extremely small portion could give birth to three or more than three. In the history of the Mo snakes, the most snakes born to any Mo snake family was five, and even then it had only happened once! Therefore one can well imagine how crazy Mo Laoda became when he became aware that Yin Xiaoxiao had five older brothers.
âI will accompany you back.â
Yin Xiaoxiao said, âAh?â He knew that his Dad and Pop had a great aversion to Mo snakes. If he brought back Mo Laoda, Yin Xiaoxiao could practically picture how very ugly the looks on his Dad and Pops face would be!
ââŠ.had better not. I can go back by myself.â Yin Xiaoxiao hesitated and said.
Mo Laoda slanted a glance, light as a feather, over at Yin Xiaoxiao. Immediately, Yin Xiaoxiao dared not speak. âHmph, if this Heitan wasnât worried about being driven away by Dad and Pop then he could go! Who was afraid of whom here?!â
Mo Laoda, seeing that Yin Xiaoxiao was silent, viewed this as Yin Xiaoxiao having agreed that he could go and visit his family at their home. He smiled a satisfied smile. âWeâll stay here for another month. After that month, we will return to your home <sup>7</sup> .ââ
T/N:
Footnotes
<ol>someone who seems to be powerful and imposing but actually is more prone to giving in ç»ç: refers to a kind of magical barrier that creates a space within itself, usually to prevent attacks éè§: can also mean âhaving the wrong ideaâ or being under a mistaken impressionâ äžćŁćäžȘèć: idiom meaning that something canât be achieved in one go just because one is impatien t äŸżćźèżćäč: idiom referring to people who complain about something that most people wouldnât complain about. Came about from the observed behavior of merchants who have obtained goods at low prices but, when selling at a great profit, make a fuss about losing money. added for clarity 柶: can also mean family</ol>