The baby snakes had a tremendous appetite, only feeling full after each of them ate food that amounted to half of their own size.

  The weather was still cold, and after they had their fill, they crawled back into their nest and slept. Bai Qingqing lifted the heavy basket and placed them in Parker’s nest, then covered them up with a small piece of animal skin.

  A gust of warm breeze had arrived at the City of Beastmen these few days, and the accumulating snow was melting rapidly, revealing the dark brown earth.

  The severe frost that had just passed by wiped away all the colors from the earth, except that of the soil. However, the willow trees by the river spurted out hints of green, and the wind brought along the scent of the soil and spring with it.

  The young snakes grew especially quickly, changing appearances by the day. Less than 10 days had passed, but the bamboo basket was no longer sufficient to contain them. Every time they entered the basket to sleep, they would look like a tall pile of mala noodles[1].

  Bai Qingqing took off her heavy restraints and was now able to go out wearing only a layer of animal skin now.

  “Come, come, let’s go outside to play.” Bai Qingqing backed off and moved out of the door, telling the young snakes to follow her.

  This was the first time the young snakes went out. They looked at the big world outside and their eyes were filled with curiosity.

  The young snakes slithered out in turns, flicking their tongues. Then, the 19 small snakes spread out on reflex.

  “Oh god!”


  Seeing the young snakes crawling further and further away, Bai Qingqing felt that things weren’t good and quickly called out toward them, “Don’t run around! Quickly come back!”


  The young snakes paused for a moment. Then, seeing that the world outside seemed to be calm, they continued exploring. This time around, it was useless no matter how Bai Qingqing called out at them.

  Bai Qingqing felt extremely regretful and anxiously ran back into the bedroom. “Curtis, look at our sons! They’ve all ran off!”


  The reason Curtis took the risk to have this nest of children was to create the opportunity for his mate to look to him for help. He laid in his nest sluggishly, looked at Bai Qingqing, and said calmly, “They’ll come back.”


  Bai Qingqing rubbed both feet against each other to take off her shoes, then walked into the nest to push Curtis’s tail. She said anxiously, “Quickly go out and take a look. They’ve run very far away. They are so small that we won’t even know if they were to fall into the river.”


  “Snake beastmen are born knowing how to swim.” Curtis smiled.

  Bai Qingqing turned and took a look, feeling anxious as she shook Curtis non-stop. “Come out and take a look. I beg of you.”


  Parker wasn’t home today. He said that he was going out to take a breather. Otherwise, Bai Qingqing wouldn’t have to keep pleading Curtis for help.

  Curtis continued to wear a light smile, then spoke in a helpless tone, “Alright, look how anxious you are.”


  Bai Qingqing was overjoyed. She pulled Curtis’s hand and got up. “Quickly. Otherwise, we wouldn’t know where they have run off to.”


  By the time they got out, there were only a few young snakes to be seen. Bai Qingqing and Curtis started to look around for the rest.

  …


  “Swoosh—” Parker poured a basin of water into the soil.

  This was a hole he had dug last year to plant rice. It was only thirty to forty square meters in size, even smaller than the stone house’s bedroom.

  The water in the hole had already reached up to the height of his lower thigh. Parker hadn’t grown rice before, but he recalled that rice paddies that grew with sufficient water grew the best. Therefore, he wanted to pour even more water into the hole.

  This piece of land was known to be fertile, but it was on higher terrain. Thus, the land wouldn’t be able to store the water. It was necessary to often pour water back in. There was a lake several hundred meters away, and Parker had made a few hundred trips to and fro from there. He was so tired that he was panting vigorously.

  Although it was tiring, the beastmen had never thought of changing to another location. If the terrain was high, they could make up for it with a bit of strength. If they were to grow the rice paddies in a lower terrain, the rice paddies would be drowned easily when the light rainy season came.

  A beastman passed by and couldn’t help but speak up when he saw a beginner’s foolishness. “You must be farming for the first time, right? The rice hasn’t been planted yet. If you were to pour so much water in, they won’t germinate.”


  [1] A spicy and numbing flavor in Chinese cuisine, regarded as a regional dish for Chongqing cuisine and Sichuan cuisine.