Ning Bingque had a secret—since childhood, he’d had three eyes.
Because of this, he’d been despised by his parents and siblings since he was little. Before he even reached adulthood, they’d driven him out of the house, and from then on he lived alone.
He beat his wings and flew in the direction Xie Ji had gone.
A few days later, Yan Yu’an looked helplessly at the moose meat Shen Yuanzhou had dragged back, then glanced at his now-obviously-fattened belly, and sighed: “If I don’t move around, I’m going to get fat again…”
There was still a bit of blood on Shen Yuanzhou’s hands. He wiped them carelessly, pinched Yan Yu’an’s belly, and said in satisfaction: “This is what healthy looks like. You were too thin before.”
Yan Yu’an said nothing and handed the roasted moose meat to Shen Yuanzhou. “Do you know about silkworms?”
He’d thought about this question many times over the past few days.
“Silkworms?” Shen Yuanzhou tilted his head, a trace of confusion appearing on his face. “What do you want silkworms for?”
“You know!”
Yan Yu’an was a little excited. Though he didn’t know whether he’d ever see Xie Ji again, he still wanted to make silk.
Shen Yuanzhou nodded. “I know.” As he spoke, he waved his hand, and many silkworms appeared.
Yan Yu’an stared at Shen Yuanzhou, dumbfounded, unable to believe he’d conjured the silkworms out so easily.
His confused expression pleased Shen Yuanzhou greatly. He rubbed Yan Yu’an’s head and said: “I have tons of these things.”
Yan Yu’an understood now. The danger deep in the forest that the old granny had spoken of was probably Shen Yuanzhou. He rubbed his forehead somewhat helplessly, then gave a bitter laugh. “I want your help.”
Shen Yuanzhou smiled.
“Just say it.”
Then Yan Yu’an explained in detail what the silkworms could be used for. After listening, Shen Yuanzhou said: “This can be used to keep warm?”
“You didn’t know?” Yan Yu’an was a little surprised. He’d assumed Shen Yuanzhou raised so many silkworms because he knew silk could keep you warm.
Shen Yuanzhou shook his head slightly, his eyes full of laughter.
“Then why do you raise so many silkworms?”
Shen Yuanzhou looked at him and raised his hand to wipe away the blood that had accidentally gotten on Yan Yu’an’s face. “You need them.”
Seeing that Shen Yuanzhou didn’t seem inclined to say more, Yan Yu’an placed all the silkworms on a large round tray woven from bamboo, then covered it with mulberry leaves.
“Once they spin their cocoons, we can make clothes.”
Yan Yu’an actually wanted to give the finished clothes to Xie Ji, but now… forget it, he’d leave them for Shen Yuanzhou. His skin was too cold, without a trace of warmth.
In that one instant, countless thoughts flashed through Yan Yu’an’s mind.
But in the end, they all settled into calm.
Shen Yuanzhou wrapped affectionately around Yan Yu’an. He was a snake, and he liked clinging to the person he liked.
Yan Yu’an had wanted to correct this bad habit of his before, but even now he still hadn’t managed to, so he simply let him be.
“An’an…” Shen Yuanzhou didn’t know what had gotten into him today. He coiled tighter and tighter around Yan Yu’an, and Yan Yu’an couldn’t help reaching out to pull at his arm—only then did he hear him say in a muffled voice, “It’s spring now.”
Now it was Yan Yu’an’s turn to freeze. Spring—what did he mean by that…
At once, a bad thought shot up from his heart. He took a deep breath and asked hoarsely, stammering: “You—what do you mean?”
“Hmph.” Shen Yuanzhou shifted back into snake form, and those two things of his were pressed right against Yan Yu’an’s waist.
“You’re crazy!” Yan Yu’an said in disbelief. “I’m a man.”
Shen Yuanzhou said nothing. It was spring now—what snake could have their partner sleeping beside them without any reaction at all?
Yan Yu’an’s waist was ticklish from the pressure, and he couldn’t help shrinking back. “Did you look wrong? I’m a man!” He repeated it again.
“No!” Shen Yuanzhou was a little displeased. Why was he allowed to do this with Xie Ji, but Shen Yuanzhou wasn’t?
You’re clearly my Snake Queen!
Shen Yuanzhou’s wet, slimy body slowly crawled up onto Yan Yu’an’s shoulder, and he said in a muffled voice: “You were my Snake Queen to begin with.”
“Shen Yuanzhou, get down. I’ll pretend this never happened.”
Yan Yu’an’s voice clearly carried anger now. Shen Yuanzhou, who had still wanted to crawl higher, paused, and after a long while slowly shrank back and shifted into human form.
What kind of mess is this…
Yan Yu’an irritably ruffled his hair. He’d never expected things to turn out like this. He pushed Shen Yuanzhou a little away—but seeing Shen Yuanzhou biting his lip, he couldn’t quite bear it.
“I’ve always treated you as a brother.”
The two were silent for a long time before Yan Yu’an finally spoke.
Shen Yuanzhou frowned. He was both angry and confused—he didn’t understand why Yan Yu’an wanted to treat him as a brother. “Brother? My older and younger brothers were bitten to death by me long ago!”
Yan Yu’an: “…”
He didn’t know what to say for a moment. Then he saw Shen Yuanzhou angrily pace in a circle—powerless fury.
A little funny.
Yan Yu’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but then he thought of Shen Yuanzhou staring at his backside, and he couldn’t laugh anymore.
“You don’t understand.” Yan Yu’an rubbed his forehead. “Have you ever considered that you’re treating me as a friend, not as…” The last two words were a little hard for Yan Yu’an to say.
Though he liked men, he didn’t like animals. And besides, thinking about those two things of Shen Yuanzhou’s gave Yan Yu’an a bit of a headache.
“You’re a cub!” Shen Yuanzhou retorted.
“I’m already an adult.” He paused, his tone full of helplessness. “So are you.”
Shen Yuanzhou lowered his eyes. He didn’t understand why his Snake Queen wouldn’t allow him to do that kind of thing. He felt a little aggrieved, but his voice slowly turned cold: “You said before that it was okay.”
Yan Yu’an: “…” I did not, don’t make things up.
Of course he didn’t dare say that to Shen Yuanzhou, afraid of hurting his tender little heart.
He sighed earnestly and patted Shen Yuanzhou’s shoulder. “I don’t have that memory. Are you sure you haven’t got the wrong person?” Yan Yu’an really suspected Shen Yuanzhou had mistaken him for someone else.
“No!” Shen Yuanzhou immediately retorted. “You just forgot. I’ll make you remember.”
“I’m taking you back to the snake clan.”
Shen Yuanzhou was an adult giant snake now. Many years ago, he had left the clan to live on his own—but the snake clan had a several-hundred-year-old snake doctor, and he would definitely be able to cure Yan Yu’an.
“It’s no use…” Yan Yu’an frowned. He could guarantee he absolutely wouldn’t remember.
He had transmigrated here from the apocalypse and was picked up by Xie Ji the moment he woke up—how could he possibly know Shen Yuanzhou?
But seeing how resolute Shen Yuanzhou was, Yan Yu’an still swallowed the words he’d wanted to say.
“Suit yourself.” Yan Yu’an sighed and let Shen Yuanzhou pull him along.
…
Rushing and hurrying for a whole day, Yan Yu’an finally saw a huge house.
He suppressed his confusion and followed Shen Yuanzhou to open the door.
“Holy shit!” The moment the door opened, Yan Yu’an let out a shocked yell, his scalp tingling as he took a step back.
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