Chapter 57
Shu Jintian had never seen such heavy snow, and really wanted to make a snowman once for fun. Now that he didn’t need to incubate, he bundled himself up until he was like a bear and put on two animal hide gloves, piling a snowman outside the cave. Shu Hanyu was acting as his assistant at the side, helping to transport snow. The crowd of snakes beside them were also wandering around Shu Jintian and the snowman.
Because the snow was very clean and there was a lot of it, even though Shu Jintian didn’t have much experience, he still managed to make a very beautiful and clean snowman.
Looking at the snowman he personally made, Shu Jintian felt very accomplished and satisfied. Cough! Aside from the little green snake drilling out the top of the snowman’s head after Shu Jintian was done making it and opening a hole on its head. The adorable and fat snowman instantly looked weird and comical.
Shu Jintian looked at the snowman he took great pains to make being ruined by that little snake, and suddenly wanted to dump a handful of snow and bury the little snake on the snowman’s head. This naughty little snake was like a little child, and wasn’t like a snake at all! Shu Jintian thought with his lips twitching.
Young snakes grew very quickly, and as the snow melted, the little snakes were no longer the feeble, pinkie-long strand of emerald green. They had all grown to be big snakes about a wrist-thick, and their colours also darkened a little, turning to a deep green.
But the little snakes’ temperament was still just as mischievous as when they had just hatched, often turning the inside of the cave into a hideous mess. Shu Hanyu did not care about the state of the cave and thought it was fine as long as he could sleep, so he didn’t bother with the snakelets playing like this. Shu Jintian, however, didn’t dare approach them, so the snakelets would thus create unreasonable scenes without restraint. Each time, Shu Jintian would wait until they fell asleep before he went out to tidy up.
Their little nest could no longer contain the eleven snakes’ bodies. The eleven long wrist-thick snakes piled and squeezed into the nest, heaping up into a hill and looking like a steamed bun. Uh… to be more precise, it was a green steamed bun. -_-!
The little snakes unconsciously grew, and it went unnoticed by Shu Jintian since he watched them every day. When Shu Jintian realised, they were practically crammed into the nest when sleeping.
So Shu Jintian threw out the shell with a padded bottom, then took out some dried grass from the bottom of their bed to cushion the ground before spreading out a large piece of animal hide, treating it as their new bed.
Looking at the little snakes’ growth and combined with Shu Hanyu’s build, Shu Jintian estimated that they’d have to move soon. Otherwise, this nest would explode from overcrowding after they grew up.
But Shu Jintian didn’t expect that Shu Hanyu already wanted to release the snakelets.
The snow layer thawed and several tender green little buds sprouted from the ground, and still creatures also began waking up. There were already many beasts actively hunting for food everywhere.
Shu Hanyu watched Shu Jintian and the snakelets become increasingly intimate and was unbearably vexed. Seeing the snow melting, he considered teaching the snakes to hunt themselves, and was planning to bring them out to try today.
After a few seconds of deliberation, Shu Jintian replied, “That’s good too. The sooner we teach them, the better their hunting skills, and you don’t have to hunt so exhaustingly anymore.”
Shu Jintian was dressed heavily, still a little cold. Looking at the little snakes tumbling around until they became damp and even muddy, he felt his heart ache. But he didn’t understand reptiles, so it was better to teach according to Shu Hanyu’s method.
“Mn. They aren’t small either. If it wasn’t because the weather wasn’t, they long should have learnt to hunt.” When Shu Hanyu thought about how he could soon toss away these inconveniences, his mood was very good.
“Mn, I’ll listen to you. But I want to go too. I want to watch them learn and be witness to their maturing process,” Shu Jintian said with a smile, grabbing a thicker overcoat to put on.
Shu Hanyu gladly agreed. In any case, the little snakes wouldn’t stay with Tiantian for much longer, so let them interact a little more ba!
Saying that the thawing snow wasn’t as cold as snowfall wasn’t wrong. Although the temperature was returning to a level that could melt the snow, it conversely felt even colder.
The ground was damp, and some corners still had a lot of accumulated snow. As the snow melted into water and mixed into mud, the snakelets also became a little muddied as they slithered on the ground, but they didn’t care at all, even playing joyfully in the watery mud.
The wind still had a heavy humidity and was extremely painful when scraping his face. Shu Jintian tightened his hood, hugging Shu Hanyu’s arm as they followed the snakelets.
Shu Hanyu said he would teach the little snakes how to hunt, but in reality, he didn’t do anything at all. When they reached the depths of the forest, Shu Hanyu led Shu Jintian to hide nearby, quietly watching the little snakes freely moving about.
And the snakelets treated it as sightseeing, slithering around and crawling back and forth on trees and the ground, searching for things they liked. But they would occasionally look at their fathers and not stray too far from them.
A carnivorous beast’s innate nature to hunt wouldn’t remain silent. When the few weeks old snakes saw something they could eat, they didn’t let it go. They first messed with it for a while, then looked at their fathers. Seeing that they did not stop them, they swallowed it up in a gulp.
Shu Jintian watched the snakelets leisurely travelling around the forest in contentment, feeling a little gratified. But when he saw them finding edible things and not being afraid of the dirt, directly swallowing it up instead, he internally felt a little nauseous and couldn’t help gulping, moving away his gaze.
Why were his and big snake’s children all snakes ne? And they were even snakes that ate raw meat. Why couldn’t they be human?
Huh? Shu Jintian thought of something and his eyes brightened.
“Hanyu, when will they be able to turn into a human like you ah? When that time comes and we teach them how to speak, I think it’ll be really fun,” Shu Jintian lifted his head to look at Shu Hanyu, speaking with a newfound exuberance.
Hearing this, Shu Hanyu unconsciously raised his head and stroked Shu Jintian’s head, proudly saying, “Not all of us can become human. Spiritual Snakes that can become human are one in a thousand. For a nest to have one that can become human is already very lucky.”
So, Tiantian, now you know how amazing your partner is ba!
“What? They won’t necessarily be able to become human?” As if struck by a lightning bolt, Shu Jintian was frozen on the spot like a wooden chicken.
Shu Hanyu’s words were like a bolt from the blue for Shu Jintian. Shu Jintian looked at Shu Hanyu in disbelief, his eyes wide as he waited for Shu Hanyu to explain.
He must have misunderstood. The snakelets won’t be snakes forever! Shu Jintian looked at Shu Hanyu hopefully, yet heard Shu Hanyu’s even crueller reply.
“Yes ah!” Shu Hanyu lightly responded, his voice even carrying certain pride.
Shu Jintian’s face instantly turned deathly white as he tightly clutched Shu Hanyu’s arm and unreconciled, asked, “Is this true? Then them ne, our children ne? They might be able to turn human, right? Can’t you? So why can’t your children? Your children must be able to turn human ba!”
Shu Jintian grabbed Shu Hanyu agitatedly, his tone hurried and his eyes staring straight at him.
Shu Hanyu hugged Shu Jintian who was layered like a ball, gently saying, “That’s possible ba! But even if they can become human, it has nothing to do with us. That’s their own lives, and we can’t interfere. Now, we just have to teach them how to survive.”
Shu Hanyu’s voice was gentle, but the words he spat out were heartless. His blunt words shattered Shu Jintian’s final bit of hope.
Shu Jintian instantly lost his strength and turned limp in Shu Hanyu’s embrace. His eyes dulled and he didn’t come back to himself for a long time.
“Why? Aren’t you able to become human?” Shu Jintian’s voice was hoarse and when he lifted his head, his eyes were filled with grief and despair.
If they couldn’t become human, would they have to live like a normal snake? Perhaps they were regular snakes ba; perhaps if he didn’t personally birth them, then personally hatched them, the snakelets might even bite him when he touched them ba!
When Shu Hanyu saw Shu Jintian’s appearance, he couldn’t bear saying anything that could hurt him. In his distress, he hugged him tight, placatingly patting his back.
“Don’t be scared, Tiantian still has me.” You also can only have me. Even if they’re our own children, you can’t be shared.
Shu Jintian looked at the little snakes playing happily; they might not even know the difference between them and their father. Shu Jintian’s heart was incredibly bitter and he was also a little unresigned.
Why were his children a bunch of snakes? Clearly Hanyu could also be human, so why can’t their children?
No! Shu Jintian, you can’t give up all hope like this! Didn’t the big snake say there was a chance they can become human? You’re also a complete human too, and with Shu Hanyu’s exceptional gene, the chances of their children becoming human was much higher ba! Mn, definitely!
Shu Jintian uplifted himself again, suppressing the broiling negative emotions in his heart and continued to encourage himself.
The still small snakelets weren’t mentally mature enough. If they did not become humans, they couldn’t awaken their inherited memories either. Therefore, they were completely unaware of female father’s grief and male father’s plans to deal with them. They continued excitedly showing off their skills in front of their fathers.
The snakes played around for a long time and filled their stomachs. Shu Hanyu thus led the snakelets to find some food for Shu Jintian. The full snakelets were too lazy to crawl, so Shu Hanyu kindly caught them and brought them along on his arm.
It was the season for all living things to come back to life, and the ground had several edible wild vegetables. They all just began producing a small and tender sprout and looked extremely tender and fresh, so Shu Jintian plucked a large handful. Since it had been a long time since he had eaten fresh vegetables, Shu Jintian thought that they looked very appetising.
On their return, Shu Jintian already adjusted himself and his mood was a lot more pacified. He even personally cooked a meal.
Because he knew the little snakes won’t necessarily become human, Shu Jintian cared even more about them only eating raw food, so this time he cooked a big pot and blew it to cool down before feeding the snakelets.
The little snakes really hated eating cooked food, and they had eaten a lot outside. Now, even though Shu Jintian was personally feeding them, the little snakes only took a couple of bites before they weren’t willing to open their mouths.
Seeing the snakelets’ completely beastly response, Shu Jintian suddenly felt an ineffable sense of vexation and irritably bellowed, “You’re not eating ba, then just don’t eat!”
Shu Jintian suddenly lifted the little snakes’ new nest, so angry he was panting and his chest violently heaving.
None of the snakes were prepared for it and tumbled out along with the lifted hide. When they steadied their bodies, they innocently looked at their female father who was throwing a fit of anger.