Yin Xiaoyi and Yin Xiaosi were locked in a stalemate. Yin Xiaoxiao, who had already given up chasing Hua Xiaowu, had settled down to wait.
Yin Xiaoyi had been unprepared for the attack <sup>1</sup> , and was caught unprepared <sup>2</sup> . As soon as Yin Xiaosi lowered his guard, Yin Xiaoyi immediately threw himself forward bodily to bite him.
âYin Xiaoyi, you actually dare to bite me?! Stay still!â Bitten, Yin Xiaosiâs hair stood on end <sup>3</sup> (Please ignore that snakes donât have hairâŠ). Ceaselessly, he chased the fleeing Yin Xiaoyi, swearing that he was going to catch Yin Xiaoyi and thenâŠbite him.
After recovering from his shock, Yin Xiaoxiao very much wanted to cry as he watched Yin Xiaosi chase Yin Xiaoyi until both disappeared from sight.
What <sup>4</sup> the what <sup>5</sup> ?! The whole game was trying to bite the other snake?! How biting! Yin Xiaoxiao was aggrieved and indignant. âListen to me, Hua Xiaowu. If you want to bite someone, then look for Yin XiaoyiâŠand Yin Xiaosi! If you dare to bite me again, then IâllâŠIâŠâ I will definitely not bite you backâŠ
ââŠIâŠI will have Pop bite you!â Yes, thatâs right! An excellent solution!
Hua Xiaowu felt very wronged. Vipers always played this game and there had never been anyone who had been opposed like this. Why was Xiaoxiao overreacting like this? Even going so far as to tattling to Pop. Even going so far as to have Pop bit him! This game was to develop hunting skills!
But, looking at Yin Xiaoxiaoâs darkened face, Hua Xiaowu, for the first time, wisely chose to check himself âfore he wrecked himself <sup>6</sup> , and he obediently slithered off to look for Yin XiaoyiâŠand Yin Xiaosi.
For a while, Yin Xiaoxiao stood still, his face dark. Although his familyâs Si-ge looked smart, he was actually a fool, too! If someone was provoked enough, wouldnât they explode with implacable ire?! Chasing after Yin Xiaoyi and biting him like this only served to highlight even more how much of a fool you were! And that was to say nothing ofâŠ
Yin Xiaoxiao watched as Yin Xiaosi didâŠnot catch up with Yin Xiaoyi. Truly the epitome of foolishness, amiright or am I right?!
Yin Xiaoxiao also ignored the other pair of bite-happy snakes, Hua Xiaoer and Hua Xiaosan, wandering around instead.
âŠThis was really dull.
Yin Xiaoxiao frowned. Very dull, indeed <sup>7</sup> . Aside from grass, there was nothing else around. Nothing. The boring-est of boring.
âFoodâs ready! Foodâs ready!â As Hua Xiaohuaâs figure approached, his voice also gradually became louder.
Hua Xiaoer and Hua Xiaosan immediately stilled, cheered, then hurried over to Hua Xiaohua. Having already slithered a great distance away, Yin Xiaoyi, Yin Xiaosi and Hua Xiaowu immediately slithered back. After all, who would turn down food?
Hua Xiaohua tossed the food caught over to them. Yin Dabai also returned with food.
Yin Xiaoxiao bypassed Yin Xiaoyi and the others. As he went to look, he immediately came face-to-face with a familiar hated visage and retreated several paces. Snakes sure did prefer rats, huh? Hua Xiaohua had returned with several dead rats. Although the rats had died after being envenomed, it was impossible to tell that the rats had died such a miserable death just by looking at them. But even just the image of a rat was difficult enough for some to accept, okay!
After thinking it over, Yin Xiaoxiao began to rejoice. Holy shit! It sure was a good thing that he had become a snake! If he had become a rat, he would have died straight away!
âŠYin Xiaoxiao, youâve completely forgotten your phobia of snakes, huh.
âAh! This is?â Yin Xiaoxiaoâs attention was caught by the food Yin Dabai had tossed to him. Okay, this wasnât a rat. It looked more like aâŠmole or something?
âItâs a mole,â said Hua Xiaohua, after seeing that Yin Xiaoxiao was looking at the food doubtfully.
âXiaoxiao, youâre going to eat the mole, right?â Yin Dabai asked Yin Xiaoxiao, hopefully. If Yin Xiaoxiao liked eating moles, that would be great. Then he wouldnât have to go out everyday to look for Xiaoxiaoâs bird eggs.
Yin Xiaoxiao stared at it from all angles, head turning from side to side. No matter how he looked, to Yin Xiaoxiaoâs eyes, even though moles were not rats, they still looked the same! That fur. That coloration. Yin Xiaoxiao imagined swallowing a mole and immediately felt like hurling. âYeah, no.â
âŠYin Dabai slithered away.
Regardless of whether or not his Dad had suffered mental damage or disappointment, Yin Xiaoxiao turned and retreated a few paces, avoiding the several young snakes where about to eat their meal.
And eat they did, devouring rat and mole. The corners of Yin Xiaoxiaoâs mouth twitched downwards, and he left this nest of snakes far, far behind.
Hua Xiaohua left without eating anything, and Yin Dabai also did not eat. Yin Xiaoxiao knew that these two snakes wanted the young snakes to eat before they left to catch their own food. And besides, most of the rats and such that were caught were young and wouldnât have made a filling meal for Hua Xiaohua and Yin Dabai.
By the time the young snakes had finished eating, the sun had reached its zenith, and the temperature had risen in tandem. The young snakes who had eaten their fill went immediately to lie in the sun and ended up feeling somewhat drowsy.
âNone of you are allowed to run amok here, got it. Your father and I are going hunting,â warned Hua Xiaohua, who faced the five dead-looking snakes. âHuh? Whereâs Xiaoxiao?â
Yin Xiaosiâs tail lifted and pointed in the direction of the river bank. Languidly, he said, âXiaoxiao is over there.â
Hua Xiaohuaâs gaze followed along the length of Yin Xiaosiâs pointing tail. He only caught a glimpse, but a glimpse was all it took for him to almost stop breathing.
With an alarmed cry of âXiaoxiao!â, Hua Xiaohua rushed to the river, moving faster than he had ever before moved in his life.
Hua Xiaohuaâs shriek made the hearts of all snakes present beat faster. At once, they turned and flew over towards Hua Xiaohua.
Yin Dabai, who had also seen Hua Xiaohua rush towards the riverbank, followed blindly after Hua Xiaohua.
Hua Xiaohua arrived at the riverbank in a rush. He fiercely scooped up Yin Xiaoxiaoâs body in his jaws, dragged him from the river, then threw him to the ground.
ââŠâ went Yin Dabai and Yin Xiaosi.
"
"
ââŠ?â went Yin Xiaoyi.
ââŠEh?â went Hua Xiaowu.
ââŠâ went Hua Xiaoer and Hua Xiaosan.
âXiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao, are you okay?â Hua Xiaohua nervously coiled around Yin Xiaoxiao, questioning him, incessantly.
ââŠhurts,â Yin Xiaoxiao moaned. Then be began to cry <sup>8</sup> .
âWhat hurts? What hurts?â asked Hua Xiaohua, urgently, at the sight of Yin Xiaoxiaoâs tears.
Yin Xiaoxiao looked at Hua Xiaohua and said, while sobbing, âThe place where you just bit me.â
Hua Xiaohua promptly turned to look at the place heâd just bitten. No broken skin and no bleedingâŠ
âItâs okay. Itâs okay, yeah. Itâs Popâs fault.â No matter what, if one of their sons was in pain, Pop was also in pain. But Hua Xiaohuaâs face was ugly as he thought of the reason why he had bitten Yin Xiaoxiao.âYin Xiaoxiao, what were you doing in the water? Arenât you worried about drowning?â
ââŠI was lying in a place thatâs very safe.â Yin Xiaoxiao began to cry <sup>9</sup> again. âBesides, didnât I say that I was going to the place near the water?â
âŠSo it was like that, then? Hua Xiaohua raised his head to look at the sky. He had thought that his heat-adverse Xiaoxiao had only gone to the riverbank to drink water and what not. Who would have thought that this little brat <sup>10</sup> actually like to soak in the water!