Chapter 3: Yu She Dreaming of a Snake
Yu She didn’t pay attention to the curious baby Ying whose face was full of question marks. He first smoothed out his hair which had been blown into a messy state. It was a bit too long, reaching all the way to his waist. It looked good, but it was a bit hard to manage. After rubbing his white long hair a few times, he still couldn’t bear to cut it off. He’d make a comb after they found a new home in a few days.
Ying just quietly watched him tidy his hair. He recalled that when males courted, they would show off their strong bodies to the females. So by smoothing his hair like this, was the female showing off his beautiful side to the male? This female was really not reserved at all, taking the initiative to pursue him again. Although he was very good-looking, he was still young among beastmen and hadn’t reached his estrus period yet. He could only ask him to endure it for now.
Yu She finished tidying his hair and pulled Ying back to sit by the roasted meat. Searching through the knowledge he learned in his mind, he spoke in a simple and easy-to-understand way: “This is called fire.”
He pointed to the campfire. Seeing Ying nod to show he understood, he continued: “It can be put out with water. Wind works too, but if it’s not strong enough, it won’t put it out.”
Females know so much, Ying thought. He couldn’t resist pulling the female by the waist and placing him on his lap.
“What are you doing? Why are you always getting handsy.”
Yu She’s mouth was dry from explaining. Turning his head, he saw this big silly guy hadn’t been listening at all, moved him into his arms, and was now rubbing the tip of his tail back and forth with his scalding hot hand. So annoying.
He couldn’t resist whipping his tail against his chest once.
Ying wasn’t annoyed either. Smiling playfully, he peeled the white strip off his body and gripped it in his hand again.
Looking at his silly appearance, Yu She sighed in his heart. It was a good thing he met a kind-hearted person like himself. If he met a bad person, he’d be sold and still help count the money.
The two beasts played around, and suddenly a burnt smell wafted over.
“Fuck! My roast meat!”
Yu She hurriedly jumped out of Ying’s arms to rescue his charred roast meat.
Fortunately, only the outer layer facing the fire was burnt; the inside was still good. He used an ice blade to scrape off the burnt parts, tore off a piece, blew on it, and handed it to Ying’s mouth.
Ying looked at the weird food, hesitated for a moment, but swallowed it down anyway.
“How is it? Is it good?” Yu She asked with some excitement. He had almost forgotten what roast meat tasted like.
Ying felt it was a bit weird. It wasn’t as fresh and tender as the raw meat before, and felt like chewing on a piece of wood. But seeing the female’s sparkling blue eyes, he didn’t voice the truth.
“Mhm, it’s pretty good.”
Yu She tore off a piece for himself, put it in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed with a grimace. It was really awful! The meat was extremely tough and dry, and there were no seasonings. It was true torture; eating felt like enduring a punishment.
In the end, he ate two bites and tossed it. Afraid he’d go hungry, Ying turned into an eagle and flew away before Yu She could react.
Yu She poked at the extinguished fire pit, muttering, “Where did that big silly guy go?”
The sky was getting a bit dark, and the forest was so quiet it made him a little scared.
Fortunately, Ying didn’t make him wait too long before returning, dropping various kinds of fruits in front of Yu She.
Yu She picked up a purple one and took a bite. It wasn’t delicious, nor was it awful.
“It’s terrible. You’re not allowed to go out and pick things yourself from now on. You have to take me with you.”
Actually, he was very happy inside. This silly eagle saw he didn’t eat much and went to find fruits for him, but he couldn’t praise him! Otherwise, he’d definitely do it again next time. His wing had several large gashes; what if he encountered a wild beast again?
“Is it terrible? I’ll go pick a few other ones then.”
Yu She quickly grabbed him: “You’re injured like this, why are you running around? You’re so slow to react. What if you get attacked by a wild beast again?”
“I noticed him very early on. You called me, so I ignored him.”
Yu She thought with remorse that it was all his fault for distracting the eagle, but his mouth remained unforgiving.
“If you die, who’s going to be my servant for me to boss around.” He was just afraid that if the big silly guy died, his meal ticket would be gone.
Being looked down upon by the female made him slightly displeased. He solemnly explained: “I’m very powerful.”
“Fine, fine, fine, you’re the most powerful. These are enough for me to eat. I’m sleepy, let’s go back to sleep.”
Hearing that he was sleepy, Ying didn’t insist. Once he grabbed the fruits, Ying took him back to the tree hollow.
The tree hollow was dark and damp. Although Yu She didn’t feel much discomfort staying there, his psychological mindset from when he was human still made him somewhat resistant. He thought that once Ying’s wing was healed, they would find a larger tree to build a treehouse on.
He’d also have to ask Ying if there was an ocean nearby so they could extract salt, and ideally find peppercorns, star anise, cumin, and other spices… Thinking about these random things, he unknowingly fell asleep.
After he fell asleep, Ying secretly hugged him in his arms, touched his face, and his deep eyes swept over his pale, flat lower abdomen once again.
Just like this, the two lived in the tree hollow recovering from injuries for a few days. Yu She also figured out which creatures’ meat tasted good. The meat of a bird resembling a pheasant was the best, followed by a pig-like one. The rest were barely edible, and there were a few exceptionally terrible ones that Yu She put on his blacklist.
Ying’s injuries were almost fully healed, so they should be able to leave this place.
Yu She couldn’t stand it anymore. Since arriving here, he hadn’t had a comfortable bath. The bit of water he condensed every day was only enough to wash his face, and his tail had turned black from dragging on the ground every day.
“Ying, is there water nearby? I’m dirty to death.”
He tugged at his knotted hair, feeling like a homeless person.
“Places with water are very far. We’ll have to fly for a while.”
Ying thought, how could he be dirty? He groomed him with his mouth every night. The female probably just loved being clean.
“Then let’s go.”
He excitedly climbed onto Ying’s back and pulled his hair, gesturing for him to hurry up.
Ying smiled indulgently, walked outside, transformed into an eagle, and flew towards the place with water with him.
Before leaving, Yu She grabbed a few fruits and a piece of wood. The fruits were for snacks if he got bored on the way, and the wood was because he wanted to carve a cup to store water.
When he was bored in college, he had learned simple sculpture. Making a simple item like a cup was too easy for him. He grabbed handfuls of clouds that floated by from time to time, feeling a bit bored. In fact, they hadn’t flown for very long, only about half an hour.
Yu She played with the cup he had polished smooth in his hand. After thinking about it, he condensed an ice blade and started carving on the cup, occasionally poking his head out to glance at the flying Ying.
Ying was confused by the glances Yu She shot him from time to time and silently sped up his flying.
Yu She estimated the time himself; it took about an hour. Based on Ying’s speed, it was indeed very far.
The moment he got off Ying’s back, he fell in love with this place. In front of him was a river with clear water, inside which fish and shrimp swam joyously, making Yu She drool.
Behind him was a large forest of trees blooming with pink flowers, lush and verdant. When the wind blew, the flowers would fall endlessly, like a fairy tale world.
Yu She decided he was going to build a home right here.
He placed the carved cup on the bank and dragged Ying into the water. It had been nearly half a month since he last washed. He lifted his tail and bit by bit rubbed the dirt between the scales. There were too many scales, and the crevices were hard to wash. He dejectedly dropped his hard-to-wash tail. Turning his head, he saw his big silly guy happily playing with water. His blue eyes rolled around a couple of times, and with a mischievous smile, he dove into the water.
He secretly swam over underwater. Jumping out in front of Ying, he forcefully smacked the water surface with his tail, splashing water all over Ying. After finishing his prank, he chuckled and dove back into the water to run away.
Ying had actually seen him long ago and wanted to see what he was up to. The moment Yu She jumped out of the water, Ying froze. The spray thrown up by his tail shone with the seven colors of the rainbow under the sunlight. His wet hair swaying behind him, paired with his beautiful face, was simply… extremely beautiful. Ying didn’t know what words to use to describe it; in short, at that moment, he felt his heart was about to jump out.
This momentary daze allowed him to swim quite far away. Recovering his senses, he turned back into his beast form, shook the water off his body, and searched for the mischievous snake’s trail from high in the sky. No creature could hide from the eyes of an eagle.
Spotting him, he dove down and grabbed that mischievous tail with one claw, pulling out a beauty from beneath the water as well.
The beauty was completely leaning against his claw, even hugging him with his arms, and his entire claw could feel the female’s smooth skin.
That person, sporting a beautiful face, said in exasperation: “You’re cheating, Ying.”
Ying landed in the water, turned back into a human, grabbed his tail, and pulled him over. Cupping his face, he examined it closely for a long time, then, when Yu She wasn’t paying attention, tossed his whole body into the water.
Yu She was completely dumbfounded. Ying, who was completely obedient to him, would actually do something like this? He angrily wiped the water off his face, swam toward Ying, wrapped around his body, and forcefully tugged at his hair.
Ying laughed, letting him mess around on his body, but his hand restlessly stroked his smooth back.
Yu She didn’t notice either. The two played around for a long while. Yu She got a bit tired from playing. He lay on a large rock in the middle of the river, feeling somewhat drowsy, while his slave Ying bore the burden of washing his scales. Ying rubbed him so comfortably, and a cool breeze occasionally brushed over his body, dispelling the summer heat. Without realizing it, he fell asleep.
After he fell asleep, Ying gave his entire body a thorough “washing”. Even those two places covered by scales were opened and carefully washed by Ying.
Yu She slept incredibly comfortably. He stretched and sat up. The place he rested his hands on was very soft. Strange, didn’t he fall asleep lying on a rock? What was this soft texture? Drowsily, he opened his eyes and looked over.
This… this was his quilt! He abruptly looked up at his surroundings; this was his home!
Lifting the quilt in one swift motion and looking at the two legs he had almost forgotten about, he was shocked. He was back?
Translator’s Note:
- “Slave Ying”: Used affectionately here to describe how completely devoted Ying is to fulfilling Yu She’s demands.
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