Chapter 61

Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao discussed it and decided to return home and rest for a few days before once again leaving for Mo Laoda’s family’s home. Originally, Yin Xiaoxiao had wanted to leave the next day, but Mo Laoda had simply stared piercingly at him for a while before finally proposing that they leave in a few days. Yin Xiaoxiao agreed.

After the second and third days had passed, Yin Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but urge Mo Laoda. Nima ¹ ! If we’re going to go, then let’s hurry up and go! Procrastination only causes more anxiety and fear, you know! This is just to meet the parents, you know! This guy, Yin Xiaoxiao, completely failed to notice that Mo Laoda had been giving him some more time to think things over so as to spare Yin Xiaoxiao from regret.

As a result, on the arrival of the seventh day, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda set foot on the road heading to Mo Laoda’s family’s home. This time, Mo Laoda brought Yin Xiaoxiao by way of a different path from the ones before.

“Heitan, where does your family live?” Yin Xiaoxiao looked around at the unfamiliar scenery.

Mo Laoda mulled over his words and then said, “They live with the Mo viper clans.”

“…Of course I know that they live with the Mo clan vipers!” Where else would they be?!

“What I meant to say was that Mo snakes, unlike the common viper clans who live scattered all over the place, congregate together, and common vipers are unlikely to be found in that place. For common vipers, that place is also a forbidden area.” In some small matters, Mo Laoda didn’t mind following Yin Xiaoxiao.

Yin Xiaoxiao absently let out an “ah”. Said like this, wasn’t he heading towards a bunch of Mo snakes? For some reason, he got this feeling like he was a lamb about to enter a tiger’s den.

“Don’t be afraid. I will protect you.” Mo Laoda suddenly opened his mouth to comfort Yin Xiaoxiao, “Even though Mo snakes, generally, don’t have the best temperament, they are still unlikely to attack other vipers.”

Unlikely to attack other vipers? Yin Xiaoxiao slanted a glance at Mo Laoda. ‘If I’ve already snatched the strongest, most tyrannical Mo snake among them, does that count as me being a member of the “other vipers unlikely to be attacked” group?

“Oh, that’s right!” Yin Xiaoxiao suddenly recalled a question. “Heitan, you said that all of you Mo snakes live together. So in the future we are unlikely to live there.”

Mo Laoda inclined his head in thought for a moment, then said, “If you don’t like that, we can always continue to live where we are living now.”

“Ah, yes. In that case, that’s very good.” Yin Xiaoxiao secretly let out a sigh of relief. Although it was better to have a few neighbors, if those neighbors were all Mo snakes, then they were sure to be a very large headache. That’s right, although until now Yin Xiaoxiao had only had contect with Mo Laoda, Mo Laoer and Mo Laosan, if you recall, Mo Laoda was a self-styled tyrant, Mo Laoer was morally dissolute and wanted to bite him, and Mo Laosan had stared at him with an expression saying that he hated that he had been unable to destroy him! No matter from what angle it was viewed, the Mo snakes’ disposition was not good! Or perhaps there were some exotic flowers ² who he had yet to meet among the Mo snakes? – Yin Xiaoxiao absolutely wasn’t convinced that he was so lucky.

Mo Laoda pretended that he hadn’t heard Yin Xiaoxiao’s furtive sigh. Nevertheless, his heart tightened. As expected he still didn’t have enough power? In the event that-in the event that he was strong enough, wouldn’t the Little Idiot have no worries about following him? Wouldn’t he not be worried about this and worried about that? In less than two years, it was still only less than two years until Mo Laoda became an adult.

‘I will surely be the most powerful Mo snake’  Mo Laoda resolutely vowed from the bottom of his heart that. In the event that he wasn’t the strongest, he had to think of a way to kill the strongest Mo snake. So long as he became the king of the Mo snakes, there wouldn’t be a snake who dared to oppose him.

Without being noticed, Mo Laoda quickly glanced at Yin Xiaoxiao, who was following closely by his side. ‘Just you wait, Little Idiot, one day, I will have you openly ³ stand beside me, and there will be no snake who would look down on you or despise you because – you are mine.

Throughout the journey, Yin Xiaoxiao also saw many vipers. Only, when they saw the Mo snake beside him, all the vipers looked astonished and at the same time didn’t forget to keep their distance from Yin Xiaoxiao. Yin Xiaoxiao paid this no mind. In any case, he didn’t know these vipers. If they kept their distance from him, so what?

As they got nearer and nearer to the Mo clan lands, traces of common vipers became more and more seldom and, in counterpart, traces of Mo snakes became more and more common. Yin Xiaoxiao knew that they had finally arrived at what Mo Laoda had called the Mo snake gathering area.

“My family’s home is close to the center of the gathering area. We will still need to walk for a while.” Mo Laoda stopped when it was near noon. “Let’s rest here at noon.”

Yin Xiaoxiao nodded.

“Laoda, you’ve returned.” A Mo snake suddenly appeared from out of the underbrush off to the side. Yin Xiaoxiao jumped, startled.

Mo Laoda didn’t respond to the Mo snake. Instead, he whispered into Yin Xiaoxiao’s ear, “This is Mo Dayi, my neighbor.”

Yin Xiaoxiao: “…”

‘Hey! What was with the names of these snakes?! It’s all ‘Yi’ ⁴ or ‘Er’ ⁵ or ‘Da’ ⁶ or ‘Xiao’ ⁷ ! I’ve really had enough of it!’

“Eh? This is?” Mo Dayi’s gaze finally fell on Yin Xiaoxiao. He was puzzled before he brightened and said, “Haha, Laoda, is this your backup food?! That’s a good idea! But this body is a little small.”

…Yin Xiaoxiao finally understood what it felt like to have veins rise on his forehead. Yin Xiaoxiao decided that he disliked Mo Dayi!

“Mo Dayi, this is Yin Xiaoxiao, my future partner.” Mo Laoda’s face was blank.

“Huh??” Mo Dayi’s mouth opened and he stopped, stunned.

Yin Xiaoxiao shot a disdainful glance at Mo Dayi. Hmph, seen little and easily astonished ⁸ .

“Really, really?” Mo Dayi stammered. “Laoda! You-you aren’t-you’re kidding me, right?!”

“I never kid.” As before, Mo Laoda was expressionless.

Yin Xiaoxiao lifted his head high. His tail swung. ‘Hmph, hmph! You’re really disappointed, huh!’

Mo Laoda’s eyes were full of laughter and he couldn’t help but lean over and kiss Yin Xiaoxiao’s cheek. This was just like his Little Idiot. Nothing else in the world could compare with the Little Idiot.

Mo Dayi watched Mo Laoda’s actions, body stiff. The corners of his mouth twitched.

“Heitan, we better not rest here! Here the air is polluted by a certain snake,” Yin Xiaoxiao said. Mo Laoda led the way, slithering forward enough to show that he approved of Yin Xiaoxiao’s suggestion.

Mo Dayi: “….”

Of course, Yin Xiaoxiao’s so-called “better not rest here” absolutely held the direct meaning – let’s look for another place to rest. He hadn’t meant ‘we shouldn’t rest and go directly to your family’s home’. And so, after they were far enough away from Mo Dayi, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda came to a stop.

“Little Idiot, do you want me to look for something to eat?” Actually, Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda had already eaten yesterday , but that didn’t guarantee that Yin Xiaoxiao didn’t want to eat something now…like a snack. Yes, Yin Xiaoxiao had said the word snack to Mo Laoda. Yin Xiaoxiao had explained to Mo Laoda that snacks were, for instance, bird eggs and honey, and didn’t include anything that could be eaten as a full meal.

Well, for the time being, whether or not Mo Laoda understood Yin Xiaoxiao’s meaning, there was one point that Mo Laoda understood – snacks didn’t include food eaten during regular meals. For Mo Laoda, whose goal was to bring Yin Xiaoxiao up to a healthy weight, this point was very salient. So, Mo Laoda was very fond of Yin Xiaoxiao eating snacks.

Yin Xiaoxiao thought and shook his head in refusal. “I’m not hungry.” Okay, actually Yin Xiaoxiao was afraid of Mo Laoda leaving to look food because that would leave Yin Xiaoxiao ¹⁰ .

Mo Laoda’s eyes darkened and he said, “It doesn’t matter. Well, how about you come with me and we’ll look for something to eat together, okay?”

“…I can’t stand the heat!” Yi Xiaoxiao stared with two wide, innocent eyes at Mo Laoda.

“…Then, okay.” Mo Laoda had no choice but to abandon the idea of hunting together with Yin Xiaoxiao. “Then, let’s wait until it’s not so hot. I’ll take you to go and look for some food, alright?”

“…Okay,” Yin Xiaoxiao answered. Yin Xiaoxiao’s answer was of course because he was very fond of having snacks and such, even though he could go several days without eating and not feel hungry. Although in his previous life he used to have three meals a day, this had now turned into one meal every three days, which felt like an oppressive wait.

Yin Xiaoxiao thought that Mo Dayi would do his best to catch up to them, but the entire time that Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda spent together looking for food, he never appeared. This greatly puzzled Yin Xiaoxiao. Yin Xiaoxiao still believed that Mo Dayi would surely chase after them, shouting that he wouldn’t let Mo Laoda become Yin Xiaoxiao’s ¹¹ partner. On second thought, Yin Xiaoxiao thought that perhaps Mo Dayi went to look for Mo Laoda’s father and mother.

Mo Laoda seemed to know Yin Xiaoxiao’s thoughts. While he looked for what Yin Xiaoxiao called honey, he absent-mindedly said, “It’s alright. Mo Dayi will not look for my dad and mom.” Mo Laoda thought and then continued, saying, “Mo Dayi is on my side.”

Yin Xiaoxiao suddenly understood and firmly nodded. So it was actually like that! Obviously Mo Dayi ¹² was like the mob boss’s ¹³ loyal and devoted subordinate! No matter what his boss did or what he said, he would be the unconditionally trusting and supportive little brother ¹⁴ ! The type that, when necessary, would charge in and break through enemy lines on behalf of the boss! Yin Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but feel deeply moved. Ah, so it turned out that Heitan really was the dark boss! He never thought that one day he would become the lover of a mob boss!

…Hey, hey! Yin Xiaoxiao, could it be that you aren’t feeling ashamed? What is there to be proud of? What are you doing with your head raised so high?!

Yin Xiaoxiao and Mo Laoda rested again before looking for a hive so he could eat honey. By the time they really set off, the sky was already somewhat dark. After a while, the sky became entirely dark. Mo Laoda looked all over, tail waving: now they don’t travel but find a place to sleep! Yin Xiaoxiao, naturally, raised his tail and his head in agreement. It would be useless to hurry back during the night. The sky was black, there was no fire, there weren’t any lights. Even if snakes had night vision, wouldn’t it really be too difficult for a snake?!

And so, another night passed. The next day, Mo Laoda and Yin Xiaoxiao got up early in the morning and hurried to Mo Laoda’s family’s home.

Up until now, the whole journey had been uneventful. Distantly, Mo Laoda could already see the cave where his family made their home.

T/N: Happy Holidays, everyone! Stay safe and healthy out there!

Footnotes

<ol>尼玛: internet slang which has profaned a sacred word. Equivalent would be Holy shit or the like 奇葩: used to refer to outstanding art or literary works or outstanding people 光明正大: meaning candidly one two large or elder small or young 少见多怪！: meaning that it’s easy to be astonished when one has few experiences alone. And, while that Mo Dayi just now was foolish and very easy to handle, if he ran into another Mo snake while he was alone, if he ran into Mo Laoer or Mo Laosan or perhaps another with a personality similar to those two, it would be very dangerous for him ⁹ sentence restructured for ease of understanding added for clarity added for clarity a bit of a pun since Laoda (老大) is both the Laoda in Mo Laoda’s name and also means the leader of a gang while  黑道 or hēi dào, literally translated as ‘black deeds’ refers to criminal activities and the Mo (墨) of Mo Laoda’s name also means black; and, of course, YXX refers to MLD as hēi tàn 小弟: can be little brother, but can also be the subordinate in a criminal organization</ol>