Chapter 55

“There are absolutely no good things at the bottom of the cliff. Ji Kang is deceiving you,” Mo Laoda calmly declared to Yin Xiaoxiao from where he was, ahead, blazing a trail.

“Why?! For what reason would Ji Kang deceive me? Anyway, there’d be no benefit,” objected Yin Xiaoxiao.

Mo Laoda looked askance at Yin Xiaoxiao. Was he really a little idiot? He was so easy to deceive! The “good things” of which Ji Kang had spoken, he certainly knew what they were! Not only did Mo Laoda know, Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua also knew. All the viper clans knew. It was only Yin Xiaoxiao, who didn’t have the inherited memories, who didn’t know.

Only there was also no need to know about that thing, alright! Mo Laoda silently thought, ‘All the viper clans very much disliked what ¹ was underneath that cliff. How could there be a snake who would intentionally go below that cliff to try to find what was there?!

When Yin Xiaoxiao had still been small, he had asked a few questions. While Yin Dabai and Hua Xiaohua had both unconsciously concealed a few things, they hadn’t spoken of them because they had felt that Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t need to know all of it, only some of it. They even said it was a taboo — although in later days, Yin Xiaoxiao would come to know that this taboo was only held by the viper clans.

“Heitan, you mustn’t look so sad!” Yin Xiaoxiao rubbed against Mo Laoda’s body and spoke in a very cheerful and lighthearted tone. “Even if Ji Kang is deceiving me, it’s nothing to worry about! We still haven’t gone below the cliff. Ah, just act as though we’re going for a stroll. It’s no fun staying at home all the time.”

Confronted with Yin Xiaoxiao’s cheerful and lighthearted face, Mo Laoda swallowed his words. Ah, forget it, forget it. There was actually nothing worrisome about going there, but as a snake who was a viper, and a viper who was a Mo snake, and as a Mo snake who was the strongest, Mo Laoda had the general sense that going to see the what was underneath the cliff would hurt his ego, okay! Or, well, perhaps this was one of the reasons for the taboo held on the vipers’ side.

Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda lived at a very high altitude on the mountain, and because Yin Xiaoxiao himself was so high up ² , there was actually no way to know how tall the mountain was. Indeed, where they were ³ here was only one of the main peaks of the mountain range, and from here the horizon was not visible. But as Yin Xiaoxiao made his way down the mountain to the bottom of the cliff, the distance was no less than three or four ⁴ kilometers. Judging from this, the place where Yin Xiaoxiao lived was still very high.

In light of what Yin Xiaoxiao knew, for each 100 meter ascent, the temperature decreased by 0.6℃ ⁵ . Conversely, for each 100 meter descent, the temperature rose 0.6℃. When Yin Xiaoxiao started his descent down the mountain, the temperature had already passed 40℃ ⁶ . If they descended three or four kilometers then, based on the pattern, wouldn’t the temperature rise more than 20℃ ⁸ !!

But logic didn’t govern here. From the mountain to below the cliff, Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t sense any change in temperature whatsoever. Yin Xiaoxiao was very baffled, and even asked Mo Laoda what was going on.

Mo Laoda, also thinking this was very strange, asked, “Eh? Isn’t it a very normal thing? Why would the temperature change from the mountain to below the cliff?”

Yin Xiaoxiao: “…”

Well really, as a snake, even as a snake who possessed the wisdom of a very long life, really he couldn’t count on a snake to understand why the flower was red ⁹ !

Yin Xiaoxiao no longer dwelled on this question.

Already they were at the bottom of the cliff. Mo Laoda’s pace slowed. Yin Xiaoxiao fell half a step behind Mo Laoda, looking around left and right.

The scenery at the bottom of the cliff wasn’t very different from that on the mountain. Flowers, grass, trees and wood appeared the same — that is, their appearance was the same.

Yin Xiaoxiao stopped in front of a flower. This flower appeared very beautiful and was also commonly seen in the mountain fields. Only this flower, ah this flower. ‘You look to be taller than I am long! Is this a joke?! What’s happening here?! Ten of me could fit in this blooming flower! Is this really not a joke?! What’s really happening here?!’

Yes, that was right. This plant appeared to be the same as usual, but its size! Its size was indeed frightening! Although it was just a plant, its length had already almost overtaken Yin Xiaoxiao’s length. As for the trees? God! Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t want to go into shock!

Yin Xiaoxiao stood in front of the wildflower for a while. He turned his head and saw Mo Laoda standing at his side not far away. “Heitan, why do the plants here look so big???” he asked while slithering over to Mo Laoda.

“It’s always like so below the cliff,” Mo Laoda’s deep voice said.

“Then it’s unlikely to be dangerous here?” Yin Xiaoxiao was somewhat afraid. This vegetation looked so large, he couldn’t rule out that they could have mutated into being like this ¹⁰ ! Becoming huge man-eating flowers or demonic willow trees waving branches in order to devour the life of a snake! Thinking of this, Yin Xiaoxiao leaned even closer to Mo Laoda.

“Dangerous?” Mo Laoda was perplexed. He didn’t understand what Yin Xiaoxiao meant. How could plants be dangerous?! But after thinking carefully, Mo Laoda suddenly understood. He very solemnly said to Yin Xiaoxiao, “Little Idiot, you must follow me very closely. Do you understand?!”

Yin Xiaoxiao shivered. Heitan surely meant then that those dangerous things were here! He was being made to follow closely so as to avoid being eaten up by man-eating flowers or bound and consumed by willow trees, right?! Yin Xiaoxiao almost cried. It was because of Ji Kang that he was in all this trouble, right?! Right! He absolutely did not want to see vicious plants! Yin Xiaoxiao vowed that, as long as he could leave the bottom of the cliff safe and sound and return to the mountain, afterwards he would treat plants well! When he slithered, he certainly wouldn’t crush grass so it wouldn’t grow and leave only bare ground! He certainly wouldn’t have fun picking the petals off of wildflowers! Even more, he certainly wouldn’t let Heitan break branches to make a fire!

“Eh? Why does this grass look so small?” Following Mo Laoda, Yin Xiaoxiao suddenly noticed that there was small grass growing underneath the large grasses. Of course, the small grass that Yin Xiaoxiao spoke of was actually the size of the ordinary grass growing on the mountain.

Mo Laoda obligingly glanced over and said, “That’s Concealing Snake Gras.”

“Ah?” Yin Xiaoxiao was at a loss. Concealing Snake Grass? What were you? Could it be that snakes who ate it would become invisible?

Mo Laoda thought and then explained to Yin Xiaoxiao, “In places that have this kind of grass, snakes can’t smell other snakes. So for me, as a Mo snake, the vipers below me are incapable of concealing their scent. But if I’m in this kind of grass, then I can’t even smell Lu snakes.”

“Is it magical?” Yin Xiaoxiao marveled, then pondered carefully, “Is it possible that vipers can carry this grass to hide from Mo snakes?”

Mo Laoda, because Yin Xiaoxiao actually said “hide from Mo snakes”, first “firmly” bit Yin Xiaoxiao, then shook his head and said, “This grass only grows locally and is only useful while still alive. If it’s pulled out of the earth, it will then lose its effect, so there won’t be any snake who would carry it around.”

Yin Xiaoxiao let out a disappointed “oh”. “Then this grass is useless? And I don’t think I’ve seen grass like this on the mountain!”

The reason why Yin Xiaoxiao was sure was because this grass was very peculiar. The color of Concealing Snake Grass was red. Not only that, it was a deep red! The leaves were irregularly serrated, almost as though something had gnawed at it. Indeed, if Yin Xiaoxiao had seen this kind of grass growing on the mountain, he would definitely have remembered it well.

“The grass is only found below this cliff, nowhere else. You wouldn’t have seen it on the mountain.”

Yin Xiaoxiao again was at a loss. Concealing Snake Grass didn’t grow where there were vipers?! WTF ¹¹ ! It looked short and thin (compared to the other plants growing under the cliff). It had some nerve growing at the bottom of the cliff! Furthermore, from Heitan’s attitude about traveling to the bottom of the cliff over these past few days, Yin Xiaoxiao already knew that not a lot of vipers liked going to the base of this cliff. In other words, it would be quite difficult to run into other vipers at the bottom of the cliff. Since it was like this, why would grass like this grow here?!

Yin Xiaoxiao thought about this, and then the question passed his lips. Mo Laoda was silent for a moment then said, “We vipers don’t need this kind of grass, but that doesn’t mean that the snakes at the bottom of the cliff don’t need it.”

“Snakes at the bottom of the cliff?” Yin Xiaoxiao was perplexed. “Not vipers, is it possible that you’re talking about ordinary snakes?”

“…No, not ordinary snakes,” Mo Laoda said in a low voice.

Yin Xiaoxiao still wanted to continue to ask, but, before he could ¹² Mo Laoda’s slithering suddenly increased in speed. Yin Xiaoxiao stared blankly for a moment, then was forced to speed up to follow Mo Laoda. He couldn’t forget about the man-eating flowers and willow goblins! Hey, he had to stick firmly and closely to Mo Laoda while at the bottom of the cliff!

Mo Laoda finally stopped in front of a very large lake right before Yin Xiaoxiao became angry ¹³ . Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t react in time and ran straight into Mo Laoda. Yin Xiaoxiao was dazed from the collision. Heitan’s skin really was hard!

“You wait for me here. I’ll look for some food.” Mo Laoda stopped and then, “Do not run off randomly, understand?”

Yin Xiaoxiao nodded his head. Just now he absolutely wasn’t going to run off! This world was too cruel!

“I’ll be nearby. I won’t go far. If there’s something the matter with you, then just shout for me.” Mo Laoda hesitated and said, “There’s that kind of grass everywhere here, so I absolutely won’t be able to smell your scent. If you get lost, it will be very hard for me to find you. So you absolutely must not run around all over the place!”

Yin Xiaoxiao again resolutely nodded his head a few times, so fiercely that his chin knocked against the ground. “Don’t worry! A snake that looks as obedient as I am certainly wouldn’t run around all over the place!”

Mo Laoda: “…”

Actually Mo Laoda also did not want to  leave Yin Xiaoxiao, but, after exiting Ji Kang’s tomb, Yin Xiaoxiao had been itching to drag Mo Laoda to go to the bottom of the cliff. He wouldn’t even eat, Mo Laoda had been unable to change Yin Xiaoxiao’s mind. Soon after, he directly brought Yin Xiaoxiao down the mountain, not even eating anything during the journey. Evenmore, they had slithered so far like this that Yin Xiaoxiao’s stomach had already growled several times, to say nothing of Mo Laoda ¹⁴ . Yin Xiaoxiao had rushed down the mountain and didn’t take his hunger ¹⁵ seriously, but Mo Laoda was very distressed. Mo Laoda, who had lived with Yin Xiaoxiao for almost a year, had long ago figured out ¹⁶ Yin Xiaoxiao’s small body. If he didn’t eat one or two meals, he would immediately lose weight!

Mo Laoda had been to this lake before. He knew that this lake was the safest place in the entire area under the cliff. Those guys were unlikely to impulsively leave their area, and the lake below the cliff was an unregulated zone. At the same time, the lake was also the communal area for those guys to drink. What? You ask if Mo Laoda was not worried about running into those guys coming now to drink water? There was no reason to be worried about this. Mo Laoda could guarantee those guys didn’t need to drink water even once in a hundred years so why would they happen to need to drink water now?!

But there is a saying, there’s no story without coincidences ¹⁷ !

Yin Xiaoxiao stood curiously in front of the lake, then heard a clap of thunder. After that, he heard a joking voice say, “Look, look, what have I found here?”

T/N:

Footnotes

<ol>original had ‘东西’ which can mean either thing or person. I’m choosing ‘what’ to keep the mystery added for clarity added for clarity 1.9  to 2.5 miles 33.08℉ 104℉ 68℉)?! Then wouldn’t it be more than 60℃ ⁷ 140℉ 花儿为什么这样红的: originally a popular song, is used on the internet to mean to teach someone by beating them added for clarity 闹哪样: literally means the trouble/noise, but is used to contemptuously ask ‘what are you doing?’ added for clarity sentence reversed for greater coherency sentence fragments rearranged for better flow added for clarity 摸清: to understand clearly 无巧不成书: the equivalent of what a coincidence in English.</ol>