Xuan Mang washed itself thoroughly.
The water in the bucket had turned cold by the time he finally emerged, slithering all the way to the doorway of the room.
Only one room had its light on.
“Hiss~”
He sniffed the familiar scent and slipped into the half-open door.
The female was lying in a soft and comfortable nest.
Xuan Mang could feel—it was as if her breathing had suddenly become heavier, and within the scent that filled the air, there seemed to be a trace of nervousness and unease.
His snake tail lifted the blanket.
“Ah!”
A short exclamation rang out.
Su Su fumbled around, her hands touching nothing but the smooth surface of the snake’s body—not entirely smooth, though, as there were still plenty of rough, uneven spots.
At first, she was flustered and at a loss, but when her fingers lingered on the places where his scales had shed, an overwhelming sense of heartache welled up inside her.
Su Su momentarily forgot her apprehension.
She lifted the blanket and sat in front of Xuan Mang, running her fingers over those “not-so-pretty” areas one by one. “When will they grow back?”
Xuan Mang didn’t want his “ugliness” to be seen so clearly.
He deliberately tucked his tail into the blanket, hiding it away.
Su Su reached out to grab it, but before she could, she was suddenly pounced on, her entire body trapped within the embrace of a strong, muscular chest.
Now, she had no way to continue pitying those shedding areas.
She was forced to directly face Xuan Mang’s bare upper body.
“Hiss~~~”
He stared at her for a long time before suddenly lowering his head and brushing lightly against the corner of her lips.
Su Su’s wildly beating heart finally calmed down a little.
Moved and bewildered by his “tenderness,” she took the initiative to wrap her arms around his neck. “You can’t go too far.”
“Hiss~~~”
The fierce and devilishly charming half-serpent was as obedient as could be.
He had waited for so long, his patience had long since been tempered…
Yeah, right!
In less than half a quarter-hour, Su Su realized something was wrong.
The current black python was no longer the little black snake from before, the one who could only move his tongue—he now had powerful arms and a strong, agile tail!
At this moment, making him behave was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
“Ah Xuan!”
“Hiss~~~”
So fragrant.
Xuan Mang was deeply captivated.
He surrendered himself completely to the female—her entire being, her every breath, all her sounds, whether annoyed or sweet.
No wonder, in the memories of his race, all pythons were instinctively drawn to and driven by this taste.
Su Su hid under the blanket.
But soon, a strong arm reached in and pulled her out. Her face was flushed, her hair in disarray, as if she had been bullied to the point of losing all rationality.
She finally cried out.
“You’re bullying me!”
“Hiss~~~”
The snake’s hissing sounded incredibly sweet.
He wasn’t bullying her—he was making her happy.
It was unclear how much time had passed.
The sweetest fruit released a lingering fragrance.
Catching this scent, Xuan Mang could no longer restrain himself. He gazed at the dazed female, quietly revealing his most primal, true form.
“Hiss!”
He deliberately drew all of her attention.
Su Su lowered her eyes… The moment she saw clearly, she desperately wanted to escape.
But she had already tried to flee too many times. The moment she retreated just a few inches, Xuan Mang stopped all movement, his vertical pupils—darkened from excitement and anticipation—silently watching her.
Was he disappointed?
If he could speak… what would he say right now?
It couldn’t be ignored forever.
Impossible.
Su Su’s trembling hand slowly reached out.
…
The next morning.
Su Su, pale-faced, hurried to the villa where Pang Cancan lived. They were both near the seaside beach, just a few steps apart.
Pang Cancan was having breakfast—fragrant seafood porridge with a side of stir-fried vegetables.
Seeing Su Su, Pang Cancan excitedly waved. “Sister Su Su, come here!”
But as Su Su got closer, she finally noticed something was off.
The little snake that always followed behind Sister Su Su was nowhere to be seen.
And despite the sweltering heat, she was actually wearing a high-collared shirt jacket.
The nineteen-year-old girl’s eyes darted around, and in an instant, she understood everything.
She placed a bowl of porridge in front of Sister Su Su and deliberately looked around. “Where’s Xuan Mang? Where did he go?”
Su Su lowered her head without answering.
Images from last night involuntarily surfaced in her mind, scene after scene—
At first, it was just as expected, a kiss. But after nearly making her gag from it, he seemed to gradually catch on. With just his nimble snake tongue, he pried open her lips…
Last time, her shirt buttons had been bitten off. This time, there were no buttons, and there was no one else around. As long as he burrowed his head in…
Up until this point, everything was still within expectations.
Su Su bit her lip. She had initially wanted to retreat, but fearing that even the slightest movement might hurt Ah Xuan again, she forced herself to stay still and respond to him.
But… but he had no restraint.
Su Su calmly took a few sips of porridge. She looked up, wanting to say something, but Pang Cancan’s knowing gaze made her suddenly lose her composure.
“…He’s still sleeping.”
“Huh?” Pang Cancan was surprised. “Why is he the one still sleeping?”
Was this guy even capable?
Su Su instantly caught the implied meaning in her words, and her ears turned so red they looked like they were about to drip blood.
She opened her mouth, wanting to explain something.
Forget it.
Giving up on herself, Su Su said, “Actually, I came to see you about something.”
Thinking it was something serious, Pang Cancan immediately straightened up. “Sister Su Su, go ahead!”
“…Did you lose your backpack in the desert?”
“Huh?”
Pang Cancan was stunned for two seconds before she suddenly realized something.
Su Su tried her best to maintain a calm expression. “I want to take a look at your books.”
What books?
Books that were not exactly suitable for polite company.
Pang Cancan instantly understood, blinking at her. “Wait here, I’ll go get them.”
Even when the familiar books were placed into her hands, Su Su’s cheeks still burned.
Pang Cancan waved her hand generously. “It’s fine! Sister Su Su, take them all home to read!”
Su Su shook her head. “I’ll just read them here.”
Right now, she didn’t quite dare to bring these books back.
Actually, Pang Cancan really wanted to discuss some thoughts with Sister Su Su.
Just like discussing a snake’s abilities… After all, in the girls’ dormitory, these topics always came up at night!
But to prevent Sister Su Su from dying of shame and fury, Pang Cancan considerately “retreated,” running outside to find Sister Zhia and practice baby-sitting the little ones.
With no one around, Su Su finally let out a small sigh of relief.
She had accidentally knocked over Cancan’s backpack before, and when she picked up the books, she had noticed that the first few pages resembled the “special editions” that bookstall owners had once introduced to her.
In both of her lives, Su Su had never read anything like this.
Even before the apocalypse, her life had been completely filled with academics and various training courses for her interests… Of course, she understood human biology, but when it came to knowledge related to Ah Xuan…
Su Su recalled everything she had seen and touched last night.
She needed to educate herself more.
At the very least, she had to understand what was normal and what wasn’t. Since there wasn’t any official knowledge available, then this imaginative product of human creativity should be close enough, right?
Su Su sat there, engrossed in her research for the entire morning.
Only when she could delay no longer did she put the books back in place, and then, with tiny, hesitant steps, she shuffled back to her own villa.
The moment her right foot stepped inside, a sudden force pulled her forward.
Bang!
The door slammed shut with a heavy thud.
Su Su lost her balance, stumbling forward. Her knees hit the sofa first, but her upper body fell straight into a familiar, broad chest.
In the dimly lit hall, a pitch-black snake tail coiled on the clean, soft carpet. The powerful half-human figure lay on the sofa, and the moment he had her in his grasp, he cupped the female’s face and kissed her.
“Hiss!”
His hissing carried both impatience and frustration.
Xuan Mang had already waited an entire morning.
He had listened to Su Su, giving her space to handle her “important matters.” He didn’t know what those important matters were, but he had obeyed.
Obedience deserved a reward.
Su Su, overwhelmed and unable to resist, clung to his head.
Tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes. “Ah Xuan, Ah Xuan… It’s already noon, you haven’t eaten yet. Let’s eat first, okay?”
Xuan Mang ignored her completely.
He was far too excited. His snake tail lashed back and forth on the carpet, slamming against the coffee table with a loud thud, yet he didn’t even register the pain.
But Su Su felt it.
Because of his roughness and lack of restraint, she felt a faint, stinging pain.
Summoning all her strength, she pushed him away.
“Enough!”
Had it been enough?
Xuan Mang lifted his head, his fierce vertical pupils locking onto Su Su as if she were an exceptionally delicious prey.
Now that the prey had stumbled into his territory, he was brimming with patience.
But Su Su felt the terror of being watched by a beast.
She curled up in the corner of the sofa. The shirt jacket that had been covering her was now a crumpled mess, currently trapped beneath the heavy snake tail, squashed into a wrinkled pile like pickled vegetables.
She panted heavily, gasping for breath.
Tears, purely physiological, nearly spilled from her eyes.
“I—I still have to go clean Lan Jing this afternoon…”
At a time like this, whether in the human world or the animal kingdom, no male wanted to hear another male’s name.
That excessive, almost pathological possessiveness flared up once more.
Xuan Mang lunged.
He had already pressed his prey down until she could no longer resist, drawing out that most delectable, awaiting scent.
“Hiss~”
He gazed at her expectantly.
The final scene from last night replayed itself once again.
Su Su held her breath.
Before she could react, Xuan Mang took her hand on his own.
“Hiss~~~”
Somehow, he had learned how to act spoiled. Perhaps it was from last night—he had realized that as long as he showed a pitiful and distressed appearance, the female would have no way to resist.
A clever creature always knew how to apply what it had learned.
Xuan Mang buried his face into the crook of Su Su’s neck, his breath warm against her skin, his snake tongue constantly flicking against her cheek.
He could never leave her again.
He truly, truly liked this… As long as she stayed by his side, it felt as if his heart was overflowing, almost spilling out.
When emotions reached their peak—
Not just Xuan Mang, even Su Su herself felt like she was about to drown.
This was something bound to happen sooner or later.
It was a sign that she had fully accepted Ah Xuan’s feelings, that she had thrown out her own feelings as well. The only barrier left was… whether her body could handle it.
…
Lunch was skipped as well.
In the end, it was Xuan Mang who pulled a strange packet of instant noodles from his storage space, slithered to the kitchen, and—imitating the female’s usual way of living—lit the stove and started cooking noodles.
The scent in the hall was still thick and heavy.
It was only because human noses were too dull—had it been any other battle pet, the moment they caught a whiff of this scent, they would have screamed and fled on the spot.
This was a beast marking his territory.
By the time the aroma of instant noodles drifted over, Su Su was still lying on the sofa, the corners of her eyes tinged red, carrying the traces of tears drawn out by the intensity of it all.
She trembled as she sat up.
In the end, nothing had happened.
Her black tank top was still properly in place.
Su Su stared blankly at Xuan Mang’s back, and suddenly, she shivered.
She had wanted to make him happy. Borrowing Cancan’s books was supposed to help ease her into it, to make it easier for herself.
But it hadn’t made things any easier at all.
Because Xuan Mang had learned how to repay in kind—whatever affection she gave him, he returned it a hundred, a thousand times over, even disregarding whether she could bear it.
Su Su blinked. The lingering tears in her eyes refused to fade, not even when Xuan Mang carefully carried over the bowl of noodles. This was, at present, the only human skill he had learned.
“Hiss~~~~”
His hissing was particularly drawn-out and affectionate.
The moment Su Su heard it, her body instinctively shrank back into the corner of the sofa.
Xuan Mang didn’t mind at all.
He looked magnanimous, completely different from the “abandoned dog” image he had in the laboratory.
As if he had already secured victory in his courtship.
He scooped up Su Su, guiding her hand-in-hand as he fed her the food.
Just like how she had once fed him in the very beginning.
In the blink of an eye, after over half a year of knowing each other, their relationship had completely transformed.
She had gained… a companion.
Could she call it that?
Su Su blinked, staring at the steaming bowl of noodles. “What about you? What are you going to eat?”
The meat in his storage space had long been depleted. On their journey to find Pang Cancan and the others, they hadn’t had time to replenish supplies.
Even after being tormented like this, she was still worried about Ah Xuan going hungry.
“Hiss.”
Xuan Mang wasn’t hungry.
He was already fully satiated.
Besides, in the wild, wasn’t it normal for even the fiercest beasts to go through cycles of starvation and indulgence?
He stared at the female eating her noodles without blinking.
That gaze—
It clung to her like silk threads.
Su Su actually found an emotion in those cold, fierce, vertical pupils that felt as humid and sticky as the lingering dampness of the southern monsoon season.
He couldn’t speak.
Yet, her heart pounded loudly, and as she met his gaze, she found herself momentarily dazed.
“Hiss!”
Perhaps she had looked at him for too long—
Xuan Mang suddenly leaned over again, licking her cheek and brow. That familiar, restless feeling…
Su Su quickly dropped her gaze, hurriedly finishing the entire bowl of noodles before frantically standing up.
“I’m going to find food for you!”
The Sun siblings had already made preparations—they raised over a dozen large eagle birds and even had a dedicated livestock farm.
Su Su no longer dared to be alone with Xuan Mang in the villa.
She borrowed someone else’s kitchen and cooked a whole pot of meat.
Compared to when he was still in full snake form, Xuan Mang’s eating habits were now much more refined.
But his underlying ferocity remained.
Su Su watched as his forked, crimson snake tongue occasionally flickered out, especially at the split tip—her heart instantly pounded in alarm.
She forcefully shook off the inappropriate images that had surfaced in her mind.
“I need to go clean Lan Jing’s filth.”
The moment she turned to leave, Xuan Mang stopped eating altogether, slithering behind her at a leisurely pace, following her without hurry.
Zeng Zhuyue and the stranded whale were already waiting on the beach.
Seeing that Su Su had arrived on time, Zeng Zhuyue took the initiative to greet her. “Lan Jing is doing better than yesterday.”
A soft white glow seeped into the massive whale’s body.
It was awake today, able to clearly feel the changes the power had brought within. Perhaps out of gratitude, its smooth, rounded head gently nudged Su Su’s palm.
Xuan Mang: Staring—
Zeng Zhuyue chuckled. “Every battle pet has such a different temperament.”
She stroked the whale’s back, as if lost in some memory, an almost imperceptible smile lingering at the corner of her lips.
Su Su didn’t disturb her, quietly crouching beside the whale and continuing the healing process.
About ten minutes passed. The whale, having gone too long without proper rest, had already fallen into a deep sleep beneath her hands.
Xuan Mang remained several dozen meters away, keeping watch—not too near, not too far. As long as he wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping, he wouldn’t be able to hear their hushed conversation.
The atmosphere was just right, the timing perfect.
Su Su’s gaze shifted toward Zeng Zhuyue. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
After several failed attempts, the latter finally noticed her unusual hesitation.
“What do you want to ask me?”
“……”
How should she even phrase it?
After you and the blue whale became partners… were there any obstacles?
That was too awkward, too embarrassing. What if the other party found it offensive?
“…Forget it, it’s nothing.”
In the end, Su Su swallowed the words.
She thought—battle pets and battle pets were different. The thing she was most worried about… maybe she could ask SisternYun instead.
Didn’t she say before that she had seen and experienced a lot?
Sigh.
A trace of distress unconsciously appeared between Su Su’s brows.
She subtly shook her wrists, as if trying to dispel a lingering soreness that refused to fade.
Finally, the cleaning process was complete.
Su Su stood up. “One more session tomorrow, and he’ll be fully healed.”
“That’s great! Thank you so mu—”
Before Zeng Zhuyue could finish her sentence, an excited shout came from the high slope behind them.
“Sister Su Su! Brother Zhichun sent me to tell you—there’s news about the Tier 7 zombie!”