As an experimental subject, the black python was very displeased.
It cast a gloomy glance at the human, then wrapped her up and placed her back on its back, continuing to slither forward.
No strange occurrences happened in the following tomb chambers. Only some old backpacks were piled up in the corners, and occasionally, a few corpses dressed in orange expedition suits could be seen.
Finally, the black serpent came to a stop in front of a stone wall.
A large hole had been blasted open in the center of the wall, now completely filled with soil. It wasn’t difficult to imagine that someone had once detonated explosives here, dug a tunnel through the breach, and taken away the items inside the tomb.
Those corpses… perhaps they were later explorers who became trapped inside the tomb chamber. As for how one of them turned into a zombie, that remained unknown.
Su Su stared at the looter’s tunnel. “Xiao Hei, can you crawl out through here?”
“Hiss!”
The black serpent responded affirmatively. It first placed the human down, then used its hardened head to ram into the surrounding bricks and stones.
The already damaged stone wall was easily broken apart.
“Hiss.”
Stay here and don’t run around.
The black serpent warned Su Su with its gaze. After confirming that she understood, it followed the looter’s tunnel and began wriggling its way upward.
More and more dirt cascaded down, forming a small mound inside the tomb chamber. However, most of the soil was pushed upward by the black python.
Su Su stepped back a dozen paces and looked up as Xiao Hei’s serpentine body gradually disappeared into the tunnel’s opening.
The soil continued to sink.
It was unclear how much time had passed when light finally shone into the tomb chamber!
But soon, the re-entering Xiao Hei blocked the entrance once more.
“Hiss!”
A section of its tail dangled down from the tunnel, swaying slightly as if urging her.
Their long-established mutual understanding allowed Su Su to immediately grasp Xiao Hei’s intention.
She stepped onto the small mound and clung tightly to the dangling tail. As soon as she secured her grip, the slender tip of the tail instinctively coiled around her waist.
Whoosh!
Su Su was hoisted out of the tunnel!
Fresh air surged into her lungs, and the sudden brightness stung her eyes, which had not seen daylight for so long. Su Su hurriedly shut her eyes, and the tears that welled up from the stimulation moistened the corners of her eyes and lashes.
In the next second, a cold serpentine tongue licked them away.
After a long while, Su Su finally adjusted to the light of the outside world once more.
The sky remained a hazy gray, and the surrounding mountains were blanketed in snow, making the “sunlight” that had appeared in the illusionary realm feel all the more unreal.
“Xiao Hei! We finally made it out!”
Su Su excitedly hugged the thick serpent body, basking in joy for a long while before finally realizing that the surrounding environment was completely unfamiliar.
“But where is this?”
She turned around blankly, taking in the scenery—aside from snow, all she could see were mountains and tree trunks. It looked like a small depression within the mountain range.
Recalling the past seven days of tunneling without regard for direction, Su Su strongly suspected that they had deviated far from G City and were now in some unknown location.
As the excitement of escaping the underground faded, she began worrying again—how was she supposed to find Pang Cancan and the others?
“Hiss~”
Perhaps dissatisfied with her prolonged distraction, the black python once again picked her up, placed her on its back, and sped off in the direction of the south.
“Forget it, I’ll think about that later!”
Su Su climbed onto Xiao Hei’s head, intending to get a better view of the landscape ahead. However, the python was moving too fast, and the biting cold wind lashed against her face, stinging painfully.
She silently slid back down onto its back and grabbed its tail to shield herself from the wind.
After traveling several kilometers, Su Su suddenly called out, “Xiao Hei, wait a second!”
She had spotted a new hot spring!
“I want to take a bath.”
The underground cave had been far too crude. Even though she had a snake-shaped electric blanket, she never dared to remove her clothes and properly wash herself.
Not to mention, that Tier 4 zombie from earlier had splattered its putrid fluids all over her before dying. Just the smell alone made her want to vomit.
Without a word, the black serpent turned around and delivered the human to the edge of the hot spring.
There weren’t many pools here, but the temperature was high, and the area was shrouded in dense mist.
Su Su tested the water temperature and decided that this pool would be perfect—for boiling eggs.
A bit farther away, a few other pools had lower temperatures, making them more suitable for human bathing. As for Xiao Hei… it was covered in mud from tunneling, and its underbelly was mixed with snow.
She couldn’t exactly let a python soak in a hot spring, could she?
Su Su hesitated for a moment. “Xiao Hei, why don’t you go find a lake to soak in?”
The black serpent let out an unhappy “hiss.”
Its dark green vertical pupils locked onto the human in front of it. Seeing that she still didn’t understand, it took the initiative to dip the tip of its tail into the hot spring, indicating that it wasn’t afraid of the water temperature.
That made sense. Xiao Hei could breathe fire—what was a hot spring compared to that?
Even so, its tail had been soaking in the water for quite a while now, yet the human still didn’t get the point.
“Hiss!!”
Frustrated, the black serpent bared its fangs at Su Su.
Su Su: “…Don’t tell me you want me to wash you?”
The black serpent finally deigned to nod.
Every time it bathed before, she was the one who helped. There was no reason for things to be any different this time.
Su Su took a deep breath and made a large circle with her hands in front of her chest.
“Xiao Hei, you’ve grown this big now. If you still want me to help you bathe, we’ll be at it until nightfall.”
The logic was sound, but the black serpent refused to accept it.
It hissed at the human several times, then rested its large head on the edge of the hot spring, its vertical pupils staring at her unwaveringly.
Su Su almost caved in.
But when she looked at Xiao Hei’s massive form, her rationality returned instantly. Without any room for negotiation, she firmly refused.
“No way. Just soak in the water yourself, and you’ll get clean too.”
Seeing that Su Su was adamant, the black serpent reluctantly crawled into the largest hot spring pool. It dipped a section of its hundred-meter-long body into the water, only to realize—
Even the largest pool could only hold a tenth of its body.
After a long moment of hesitation, it finally chose to compromise. Finding the nearest lake, it broke through the ice and plunged into the depths, stirring the water wildly.
The lake’s surface churned violently, sending waves rippling outward in countless layers.
Seeing that Xiao Hei had obediently gone to bathe, Su Su finally let out a sigh of relief.
Figuring that Xiao Hei wouldn’t be back for a while, she selected a hot spring, scooped up some water to rinse off the grime from her body, and then sank into the pool comfortably.
The slightly scalding water enveloped her completely, making every pore open in relaxation.
Su Su loosened her shoulder-length black hair, tilting her head slightly as she let it drape over the edge of the pool, carefully rubbing and rinsing it.
—
The black serpent, having muddied an entire lake, quietly slithered back under the cover of the water’s sound. It concealed its head within the mist.
A pair of icy vertical pupils locked onto the human in the pool with precise focus.
That body structure was completely different from its own.
Her slender figure was faintly visible in the steaming water, her dark hair contrasting against her fair skin. By all logic, a cold-blooded creature shouldn’t be paying such close attention to a human.
But the black serpent was different.
It had developed intelligence, gained human-like emotions, and even received a confession of love from her.
The dead giant python had left behind more than just its inheritance—it had passed down certain instincts as well. The term “servant” no longer occupied its thoughts as often. Its gaze toward Su Su was slowly changing.
Perhaps… it was looking at its mate.
The massive python lay silently by the poolside, and for the first time, an unfamiliar heat stirred in a place where it had never existed before.
A single thought flickered through its mind.
Its hundred-meter-long body instantly shrank down to a mere dozen meters.
The familiar form of Xiao Hei reappeared.
Ever since it had fully absorbed the giant python’s crystal core and flesh, it had gained complete control over its size. It hadn’t shown this ability before simply because, in the underground cave, a larger form was more convenient for ensuring their survival.
“Hiss…”
The soft hissing sound dissipated into the air.
Su Su vaguely sensed something and turned her head. “Xiao Hei?”
No snake responded.
Perhaps… it was just her imagination.
However, from an angle the human couldn’t see, a small python was silently slipping into the hot spring pool where she was bathing.
Su Su quickened her pace, rinsing the foam from her hair. Suddenly, she felt a faint, almost teasing sensation against her ankle.
Puzzled, she looked down.
In the clear water, she saw a large, wriggling mass—some kind of aquatic creature swimming around!
“Ah!”
Su Su let out a terrified scream and immediately turned to climb out of the hot spring.
But the creature was faster than her.
In the blink of an eye, it broke through the water’s surface, revealing a familiar yet menacing head.
And those unmistakable dark green vertical pupils.
“Xiao Hei!!!!”
First came rage, then realization.
“You can shrink your size now?”
“Hiss~”
Wait—no, that wasn’t the point! The real issue was the sheer awkwardness of the situation. This was absolutely not the right time to question Xiao Hei!
Overcome with embarrassment and fury, Su Su kicked at it. “Go to another pool!”
“Hiss!”
A black snake tail cut through the water beneath the surface with precise speed and accuracy, swiftly coiling around both of the human’s ankles.
Su Su found herself “tied up” in the water.
Before she lost her balance, she frantically reached for a nearby rock, panic-stricken.
“Xiao Hei! What are you doing!”
Just as she shouted, something cool and smooth pressed against her bare back.
“Xiao Hei!!!”
Anger, panic, and shock mixed in her voice, but none of it stopped the black serpent’s mischief.
Its head disappeared beneath the water once again.
A few seconds later, Su Su trembled all over in sheer disbelief.
With one hand bracing against the rock, she blindly reached out with the other, trying to grab the slippery snake body. “Stop fooling around! Get out of there!”
She managed to clutch onto a portion of its long, sinuous form, but its head remained hidden underwater, slick and elusive, refusing to be caught.
No matter how many times she tried to seize it, it easily evaded her grasp.
Then, from the depths of the pool, it suddenly began to stir the water violently.
Waves splashed up in succession, crashing over Su Su, while the snake tail tightened its hold around her legs with unnerving accuracy.
Su Su dug her nails into its smooth scales. If not for her bound legs, she would have used all her strength to kick it.
“Xiao Hei!!!”
With all her might, she slapped away the serpent’s tail.
Before it could coil around her again, she broke free in a desperate scramble and clambered onto the shore in a disheveled mess.
Warm water droplets rolled down her smooth, fair legs. A large towel wrapped around her body, finally granting her freedom once more.
The initial shame and embarrassment faded, leaving only one overwhelming emotion—fury.
Splash!
The black python burst out of the water, its head sliding onto the shore. Its vertical pupils still fixated on her relentlessly, as if it hadn’t had enough fun yet…
Su Su caught sight of its gaze and finally snapped. She lifted her foot and kicked it—hard.
“Hiss!”
The black serpent flicked its tongue out in response.
The next moment, a wet, slick sensation brushed against the sole of her foot.
That was the last straw! This was beyond absurd! It was way out of her acceptable boundaries!
Su Su gritted her teeth, securing the towel around herself before bending down and scooping up the heavy Xiao Hei.
Then, with all her strength—
She threw it back into the hot spring!
The sheer weight of the massive serpent created a loud splash, sending waves surging across the pool.
“You better clear your head properly!”
The dark figure sank beneath the water, while Su Su’s chest rose and fell violently.
Everything that had just happened—its reckless teasing, its absurd behavior—left her fuming. Even now, recalling it made her so furious that her legs felt weak.
If not for the identical body shape and those unmistakable dark green vertical pupils, she would have seriously suspected that another mischievous python had somehow appeared in the hot spring.
What the hell is it thinking?!