The egg was so small that Ye Yang almost missed it—if not for the black shell standing out starkly against the white bedsheet.
Shen Ming held the egg in his palm. Ye Yang stared at it. The two of them remained silent for a long time until the others arrived.
“He’s awake! He’s awake!”
“He really is awake!”
Everyone crowded around Shen Ming. Several diagnostic spells were cast, and the results were encouraging. After all those months lying in bed, the injuries he had suffered in the battle against the god-slayer had all healed.
“The only pity is that his old injuries are still there,” Elder Li clicked her tongue.
Shen Ming smiled slightly. “This is already very good.”
Then he turned to Ye Yang. “Thank you. I know you’ve been here this whole time. I owe it all to you.”
Ye Yang grinned sheepishly and scratched his head.
Elder Li protested, “What about us? Sure, not as much as this little bunny, but we helped quite a bit too.”
Shen Ming simply pretended not to hear her, which made Elder Li so angry she furiously tugged at her hair. Autumn had arrived, and her leaves were already falling more than usual—this made even more of them drop.
“Hey, what’s that?” It was Li Chanyi. He had noticed the strange black spot on the white sheet.
Ye Yang thought to himself, Finally, someone noticed that egg. If these people hadn’t arrived at such an inopportune moment, he would have asked about it ages ago.
After drinking some water, Shen Ming quickly adjusted from his long sleep and told everyone that the egg contained the Spirit Snake.
“I found it as soon as I woke up, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I only just figured it out. It should be the Spirit Snake—though that’s not entirely accurate. It did transform from the Spirit Snake, but once it hatches, it will just be a normal little snake, slightly more intelligent than average, but ordinary.”
The Spirit Snake had died once. It no longer had any memories of its past life, nor was it Shen Ming’s inner demon anymore.
Ye Yang couldn’t help but sigh. “So that’s how it is. The Spirit Snake gets to be reborn too. That’s good.”
While the others were still marveling at the wonders of creation, Li Chanyi suddenly asked the most crucial question: “Um, Lord Xuanwu, are you going to incubate this egg?”
Shen Ming paused, then looked at him with an expression that clearly said: What else?
Li Chanyi rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Can I do it instead?”
At this, not just Shen Ming—everyone looked at Li Chanyi with some suspicion. The hospital director directly asked him, “What are you up to, kid?”
Li Chanyi explained, “I’ve always wanted to raise an exotic pet since I was little. Of course I know this isn’t a pet, but could I incubate it? Just to satisfy that old wish? I promise I’ll take care of it with all my heart!”
The director eyed him skeptically. “You’ll take care of it with all your heart. What about your job? You’re not going to work anymore?”
Unexpectedly, Li Chanyi actually knew a thing or two. He said, “I know how to hatch snake eggs. You just need to maintain the right temperature and humidity, put the egg in a breathable ceramic container, and turn it about once every seven days. Check daily for mold and deal with it promptly if it appears. I can easily do that after work.”
Yu Bei, impressed that Li Chanyi actually had some knowledge, asked curiously, “What if you have to work overtime?”
“I believe our director couldn’t possibly be so inhumane. How could he bear to let this adorable little egg fail to hatch because of overtime? Right, Director?”
The director had already lost interest in talking to him. Shen Ming, however, began seriously considering the possibility. Truth be told, he thought Li Chanyi seemed quite reliable. If it were him…
Ye Yang finally found an opening and quickly interrupted. “Stop thinking about it. Absolutely not!”
“Have any of you ever wondered why Chanyi loved exotic pets as a child but never actually kept any?”
“Of course he kept them—he just never managed to keep a single one alive!”
“He couldn’t even keep goldfish alive. Don’t believe him!”
Shen Ming jolted and immediately withdrew the thought, quickly tucking the egg safely inside his clothes.
Li Chanyi protested, still arguing his case. “I’m serious this time! Nothing will go wrong!”
Unfortunately, no one believed him.
·
Shen Ming had fully recovered, but he stayed at the Eastern Continent Field Hospital for a few more days, providing them with a wealth of valuable new data.
Ye Yang was no longer keeping watch around the clock. He had returned to work—having been away for so long, Chi Lian had handled much of his workload, and now it was Ye Yang’s turn to pay back the debt.
While Ye Yang was away, Elder Li had a long talk with Shen Ming.
They discussed the current state of the human and demon realms, Shen Ming’s own future plans, and Ye Yang.
The demon realm had remained chaotic over the past few months, but the chaos was orderly. No major violent incidents had occurred, and most cities had ceased fighting, though a consensus had yet to be reached.
Regarding the upper realm—which Shen Ming had long wanted to understand—there was still no lead whatsoever. So their conversation focused mainly on Ye Yang.
“You really ought to thank that little bunny properly.”
Shen Ming thought to himself, You don’t need to tell me that.
Elder Li continued, “You probably don’t know this yet, but the reason the Spirit Snake abandoned its body and came to save you—that was all thanks to little Ye Ye.”
Shen Ming froze. He truly hadn’t known.
“Did you think the Spirit Snake came only because it couldn’t survive without you? Only for that reason?”
Of course—what other reason could there be? Shen Ming couldn’t think of one.
“Hmph!” Elder Li snorted through her nose, her tone full of frustration at his denseness. “For someone who is Xuanwu himself, you don’t even know that your inner demon, the Spirit Snake, was nearly obliterated the moment it broke through the barrier. The instant it left the seal, there was absolutely no way it could continue to exist.”
“Aren’t you the clearest about the egg now? It’s not the original Spirit Snake at all—it’s literally a copy of you! You might fool a child with that talk, but don’t try to fool me.”
Shen Ming had nothing to say. Elder Li pressed on: “You suppressed the Spirit Snake and told little Ye Ye nothing about it. How was he supposed to know you two were at odds? He thought you had simply lost touch. He considered the Spirit Snake a friend and went through all kinds of trouble to get a message through to it.”
“To be fair, the Spirit Snake treated him decently. It admitted right away that it was your inner demon. But even then, little Ye Ye went out of his way to send it all sorts of things.”
“Do you want to guess why? He said the Spirit Snake had never hurt him, had helped him many times, and besides—the Spirit Snake was your snake, Xuanwu’s snake. When I heard that, I thought it was naive. Laughable. But now? That naivety of his saved your life.”
Shen Ming was completely stunned. He had always known Ye Yang was important to him, but he hadn’t realized that in places he never saw, this little sea hare’s pure and sincere heart had been shining on him—even on his inner demon.
And Elder Li wasn’t finished. “That’s not all. Look—if it weren’t for the little bunny, you’d still be living entirely in your own world like before. How would you ever have met Teng Hua, or the Resurrected Soul Herb, or Chi Lian, that little snake of yours?”
“In the past, even if you had met them, you wouldn’t have formed any real connection with them. And then how would they have ever repaid you or helped you?”
“Think about it. Think about how you’re going to repay Ye Yang. I can’t even figure out why he’s so good to you. When you were his mentor, you barely taught him anything—it was all on him to figure things out.” As she left, she muttered a few more words: “If I’d known, I would have taken him under my wing myself…”
After Elder Li left, Shen Ming sat alone for a long time, thinking.
He had been certain he would die. No one understood better than he did the damage inflicted upon him by Zhuque—and Fu Ye, who had seized Zhuque’s power.
But he had survived. And not only that—he was even more vigorous than before the great battle, his divine power flowing more freely than ever. All of this was thanks to the efforts of many people.
But the one who had helped him the most was Ye Yang. And of the others who had helped him, at least half had done so because of Ye Yang.
Elder Li was right. Without Ye Yang, how would he ever have met the Resurrected Soul Herb or Teng Hua, let alone saved them? And as for the Spirit Snake, which had brought back that last critical sliver of his soul—none of it would have been possible.
This was the first time Shen Ming had so thoroughly agreed with Elder Li, the first time he had so seriously reflected on her words.
·
After being discharged, Shen Ming quickly returned to a normal life.
He did not go back to the research institute. Instead, he stayed home incubating the egg. Of course, he also kept a close eye on Ye Yang’s activities, constantly watching over his safety.
In just a few days, he noticed that Ye Yang had made tremendous progress while he had been unconscious. Not only had his strength increased, but he also handled all kinds of tasks with great ease. He was fully capable of standing on his own. Completely. He didn’t need Shen Ming at all anymore.
Shen Ming, for once, began to feel anxious.
When Elder Li received an invitation from Shen Ming, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.
“This guy actually wants to see me? There’s not some big trouble, is there?” After everything that had happened recently, Elder Li had long since lost the deference and politeness she once had toward Shen Ming.
She arrived prepared for the worst—only to find Shen Ming at home, wearing an apron, one hand holding down an incubator and the other slowly stirring syrup in a pot, utterly busy.
But the matter he wanted to discuss was indeed serious.
“What did you just say? You want to pursue little Ye Ye?” Elder Li was flabbergasted. This old, old, old, old, old ox was trying to eat such young, young, young, young, young grass. Shameless.
Shen Ming didn’t even have time to look at her. He carefully poured the syrup into pudding cups and tucked them all into the refrigerator.
Only after finishing did he turn to Elder Li. “Yes. I’ve followed online tutorials and made a lot of things. I’ve bought many books too. But the little bunny doesn’t seem to realize I’m pursuing him.”
He had bought things his beloved liked. He had made his beloved’s favorite foods with his own hands and given them to him. He had said good morning and good night, sent caring messages every day. He had done all of that.
Elder Li was speechless. “Of course he doesn’t realize it. You two were already like this before.” Back then, they had seemed like a family of three. Now, with the Spirit Snake gone but replaced by an egg, Ye Yang still came by every day after work to see and touch that egg. It was exactly like a husband coming home from work to play with the child.
“Why don’t you just tell him directly—”
“No,” Shen Ming immediately rejected the idea. “Everyone says you should only confess when feelings are mutual and things develop naturally. Otherwise, you’ll just put pressure on the other person.”
“Well…” Elder Li was at a loss. She had never been in love either!
Shen Ming said disdainfully, “How useless you are.”
Elder Li was about to retort when a thought struck her. “Wait a minute. First, tell me—why did you suddenly start pursuing him?”
Shen Ming: “…To repay my debt of gratitude.”
Elder Li: “…”
So this was how a deity showed gratitude? Wasn’t this more like repaying kindness with… something else? Not that she was biased, but she truly felt that Shen Ming wasn’t good enough for the little bunny! Just look at little Ye Ye—so young and already so impressive, rich in experience, vastly stronger after the deicide incident, and still brimming with unlimited potential. He had an incredibly powerful innate ability, was so adorable, had a one-in-a-million personality—steady, resilient, responsible, well-behaved… she could go on all day.
Then look at Shen Ming. That old coot was practically immortal, still half-crippled by old wounds that had never healed. She had taken care of him for so long, and the rare times he actually did something… let’s just say it was far from perfect, barely passable at best—and Ye Yang still had to clean up after him, like with the Fu Ye business.
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