Su Su attempted to place Xiao Hei, who weighed over ten catties, onto the ground. But the moment she lifted it away from her chest, those deep green vertical pupils suddenly snapped open.
It stared at her movements with suspicion.
Su Su had no choice but to explain, “I’m just going to the restroom. Wait here for me.”
It would only take a few minutes—there was no way she was going to carry such a heavy battle pet back and forth.
Besides, where would she put Xiao Hei once inside?
Leaving it on the bathroom floor? She found public restrooms disgusting. Keeping it in her arms? Was she really supposed to let Xiao Hei watch her use the toilet?
Su Su couldn’t shake the feeling that ever since swallowing those crystal cores, Xiao Hei had been becoming more… human-like. Even if it wasn’t truly human, she wasn’t about to do something that bizarre.
“I’ll be back soon. Be good, okay?”
She tried once again to place Xiao Hei down.
In a flash, the snake darted up onto her back, pressing down so hard that her spine bent fifteen degrees forward.
“Hiss!”
Xiao Hei understood her words perfectly well—but it insisted on following her.
Su Su had no other choice. She grabbed her backpack and emptied its contents.
“Fine, get in the bag. I’ll put you on the sink when we get there.”
“Hiss~”
The black snake reluctantly agreed and slithered inside, coiling itself into a tight spiral. Its head poked out through the shoulder strap, resting lazily against her neck as it half-closed its eyes in feigned sleep.
Su Su sighed.
The restroom was at the far end of a C-shaped corridor, requiring her to pass through more than a dozen lounge rooms.
As she walked, she remained alert, eyeing the doors cautiously.
Ever since zombies had crawled in through the windows, she and Pang Cancan had locked every single one—doors included.
If a zombie managed to break a window and bash open a door, the noise would be loud enough for them to hear.
For now, everything was silent. That meant it was safe.
Upon reaching the women’s restroom, Su Su carefully checked her surroundings before setting the backpack down on the sink counter.
“Stay here. Don’t move, understand?”
Xiao Hei watched as she entered one of the stalls. The door closed, blocking its persistent gaze.
Why was she hiding from it?
The black snake slithered out of the backpack, gliding down to the tiled floor before making its way to the stall door. Its vertical pupils focused on the narrow gap at the bottom, observing for a few seconds.
After confirming that it couldn’t fit through, it changed tactics.
It began climbing.
Shhh—shhh—
Bit by bit, it slithered up the partition wall, finally reaching the top.
From there, it dipped its head downward—just as Su Su was standing up, her waistband barely pulled up to her hips.
The rustling sound made her look up.
And there, staring down at her with that familiar menacing snake head, was Xiao Hei.
Su Su: “!!!”
“Ah!”
Su Su stumbled several steps backward, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest.
Even though she was no longer afraid of Xiao Hei’s snake body, its sudden appearance like this was enough to give her nightmares.
As she processed what had happened, a rare look of anger surfaced on her face.
“Xiao Hei!!!”
She pointed at the disobedient creature clinging to the stall door, her voice trembling with fury. “Get down this instant!”
“Hiss!!!”
The black snake bared its fangs at her, its vertical pupils glaring back in defiance.
Human and snake locked in a silent standoff for a long time.
In the end, Xiao Hei finally realized that its intimidation tactics—normally effective—were useless against her this time. With great reluctance, it slithered down from the door.
Su Su held back her frustration and pulled open the stall door, only to see Xiao Hei gliding freely across the filthy restroom floor!
Seeing her step out, the snake immediately tried to climb back up her leg.
“Stay away from me!”
Su Su’s tone was uncharacteristically cold, and she took several steps backward.
Xiao Hei froze in place.
It had rarely seen this kind of reaction from her. In the beginning, she had been afraid of it—resistant, hesitant—but never had she rejected it so openly, so unmistakably disgusted!
Enraged, Xiao Hei lifted its body upright, its vertical pupils gleaming with hostility.
“Hiss!”
How dare she yell at it! How dare she reject it!
Its petty, grudge-holding nature instantly resurfaced, and the cold-blooded creature stared at her with an eerie, simmering intensity.
But this time, Su Su refused to back down.
Her chest still heaved from her lingering anger—not just because it disobeyed her and nearly saw her in the restroom, but because it had no regard for hygiene, slithering all over the dirty floor without a care!
“You’re filthy right now,” she said, forcing herself to stay calm. “This is a public restroom. Do you know how many people walk through here? How many bacteria are on the floor? There could even be human waste.”
Xiao Hei didn’t understand the part about bacteria.
But the second half of her words—it understood perfectly. And so what?
It had crawled all over mountains and forests before. Every inch of land had traces of animal waste.
Su Su finally realized that no matter how much humanity Xiao Hei had gained, the concept of hygiene was completely beyond its understanding.
After a long standoff, she decided to put it in terms it could grasp.
“Crawling on the ground and picking up dust is one thing. But if you crawl in this kind of place and get dirty, then you’re not allowed near me!”
She firmly laid down the rule.
“If you don’t change this habit, I won’t hold you anymore. You won’t be allowed in my backpack. From now on, you’ll have to walk on your own. Do you hear me?”
Xiao Hei was furious.
Xiao Hei felt that this human was becoming increasingly arrogant, taking advantage of its favor.
It decided to turn away and leave.
Right in front of Su Su, the black snake proudly slithered toward the exit.
Su Su was left behind, watching its retreating figure, a mix of sadness and disappointment welling up inside her.
Had they spent so much time together, only for it to refuse to tolerate even the slightest bit of her temper?
“Xiao Hei…”
The cold-blooded creature had already reached the door. If it had ears, they might have twitched at her voice.
But it had none. Instead, it simply turned its head back, staring at her coldly.
Su Su blinked, her eyes slightly red, but she said nothing more.
Her silence made Xiao Hei even angrier!
It wanted to leave completely, to show her its resolve. But… behind it, the human’s eyes were quietly turning red.
Damn it!
Frustrated, the black snake bared its fangs. A bottle of mineral water suddenly appeared out of thin air.
It had seen humans use this kind of water to wash their hands before. Coiling its body reluctantly around the strange plastic bottle, it slowly slithered back a few meters.
Seeing this, Su Su finally broke into a smile.
She patted the sink counter. “Come up here.”
Xiao Hei climbed onto the counter, and within seconds, two or three more bottles of mineral water materialized and thudded onto the surface with dull thumps.
All the frustration and bitterness Su Su had felt melted away the moment it returned.
With a playful smile, she tilted her head. “We still need a face towel and body wash.”
Xiao Hei knew what those were—when the human had asked it to store them away, she had made sure to explain each one.
Thud! Thud!
Two more items appeared on the sink counter.
Su Su first poured an entire bottle of water over the snake’s body, making sure every inch was thoroughly rinsed. Then she squeezed out two pumps of body wash, carefully lathering and scrubbing each scale with precision.
For the first time ever, Xiao Hei experienced such treatment.
The human’s palms were incredibly soft, and the gentle scrubbing felt like a ticklish sensation, making each of its scales instinctively relax and spread out.
The once-wild creature suddenly realized—bathing could actually be quite enjoyable.
It no longer resisted. Instead, it cooperated, extending the tip of its tail for her to scrub until it gleamed.
Even its head was wiped down with the face towel until it shone.
Only after the entire snake was left smelling fresh and clean did Su Su scoop it back into her arms, completely satisfied.
She pressed a light kiss onto the top of its head.
“Xiao Hei was such a good boy! From now on, no more slithering around in dirty places, okay?”
For the second time, Xiao Hei received a kiss. Even though it was just a fleeting touch, the black snake found the sensation oddly intriguing.
It lifted its head and, taking advantage of the moment, flicked its tongue across the corner of the human’s lips.
Soft.
Tender.
That was the conclusion drawn by a black snake that had devoured countless prey before.
Xiao Hei was behaving exceptionally well for once, and Su Su’s mood was correspondingly light.
“We’ve been out too long. We should head back.”
If they stayed away any longer, Cancan might start worrying that something had happened to her.
Su Su slung her backpack over her shoulders and pulled the freshly scented Xiao Hei into her embrace. At this moment, she no longer minded its weight.
To reinforce the idea of cleanliness, she rubbed her cheek affectionately against its smooth scales as she walked.
“You smell so good!”
“You have to stay clean from now on, okay?”
It was no different from coaxing a child.
Smiling, Su Su lifted her head—only to suddenly catch sight of a tall, unfamiliar figure.
Across from her, just outside the men’s restroom, a man who appeared to be in his fifties had just stepped out.
No.
In the darkness, it only looked like a man.
As the beam of her flashlight swept upward, illuminating the figure—
A ghastly, pale-blue zombie face leapt into view.
“Roar!!!”
Is that old zombie that little boys grandfather? Does it remember him?