Encountering a Snake - Chapter 19

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The night, which was supposed to return to peace, did so once more. Shen Jue sheathed his sword and left as silently as he had arrived, disappearing into the shadows. Though he didn’t know how Ji Jiu had managed to make these ill-intentioned individuals back off, nothing this man did would ever surprise him.

What Shen Jue didn’t realize was that Ji Jiu had used his father’s true form to scare the group away—in simpler terms, relying on the “snake” to intimidate others.

But Ji Jiu didn’t think there was anything wrong with his actions. In his mind, the snake occupied his guard by day and required him to personally serve it at night. Not to mention using it as he pleased—skinning it and making snake soup would have been more than justified. After all, there were unresolved grievances between them, ones that could never truly be reconciled.

In the end, Ji Jiu could understand him. But understanding didn’t mean forgiveness.

Ji Jiu wasn’t a petty man, but he didn’t consider himself a kind one either. Besides, that incident was truly humiliating for a man. It wasn’t something that could simply be erased. Even if he were willing to admit that not all of it was painful, the more he acknowledged this, the more intense the humiliation became.

To this day, those nightmares hadn’t faded in the slightest. Often in the middle of the night, he would find himself back in the darkness—being ridden, forced to spread his legs, forced to open his body, becoming his vessel. As if he were nothing more than a hole meant solely for release.

A hole marked with the name Shen Qingxuan.

Ji Jiu woke up in a cold sweat, gasping in the darkness. Something was wrapped around him again, as if the scene from his dream hadn’t disappeared with his waking. Ji Jiu reached out and touched the object, finding it cold and hard, like a living rope coiled tightly around him. He grabbed the snake’s body, expending effort to peel it off and push it aside. Only then did he wrap himself back in the quilt and lie down again.

A month of this was enough for him to grow accustomed to it. Waking from nightmares time and again had worn down his anger. The fury that used to accompany those dreams had been dulled, leaving only a habitual fatigue.

Ji Jiu rubbed his forehead and couldn’t help but sigh.

Closing his eyes, just as he was about to fall asleep again, the large snake he had pushed aside earlier crawled back. It slipped through the gap in the quilt, burrowing into his bed. Its cold body pressed closer and closer to the source of warmth, eventually nestling tightly against him. It slithered under his clothes, its icy scales pressing against his skin. Ji Jiu didn’t so much as twitch an eyelid. Keeping his eyes closed, he reached under the quilt, grabbed the snake’s head on his chest, and moved it aside.

But the snake’s tail coiled up nimbly, wrapping around his waist. Though its head was moved, its body clung stubbornly to the warmth and refused to let go.

Ji Jiu, still with his eyes closed, tried to untangle the snake’s tail. Once he pried it off, it wrapped around his arm instead. Even his wrist was entwined. Using his other hand to rescue himself, he let go of the snake’s head, which promptly slithered back, burrowing into his clothes and pressing against his chest. This time, it stayed obediently still.

Finally, Ji Jiu opened his eyes and stared into the pitch-black darkness above. He muttered, “Insatiable.”

And yet, he let it have its way. What else could he do? A drunken snake couldn’t truly be skinned and turned into soup. He didn’t want to lower himself to the level of a snake to argue—though he knew full well it was a demon, right now it was undeniably just a snake. Were it not for the fact that its drunken stupor wasn’t intentional, Ji Jiu would have thought its antics were nothing short of shameless.

Even now, it was a shameless snake. Ji Jiu thought this while gripping the drunken snake’s head to prevent it from pressing down on his chest. To avoid being crushed in his nightmares, he turned onto his side, extending an arm for the snake’s head to rest on. Letting it nestle against his chest, he draped its tail across his waist and back. Only then did he close his eyes again, adopting a posture that was almost indulgent, and drifted off to sleep.

Satisfied with this arrangement, the snake settled down as well. Its head rested on his chest, half its body curled under his arm, and its tail wrapped around his waist. Surrounded by familiar warmth and the comforting scent of its companion, it slept soundly, content even in its drunken state.

In this moment, man and snake abandoned their usual hostilities, setting aside their tangled grievances for a night of peaceful dreams.

The next morning, Ji Jiu stuffed the snake back into the box. Before closing the lid, he glanced at the coiled black serpent and thought about the remaining journey ahead, where there would be no inns or taverns. Relieved that he wouldn’t have to endure its nightly clinging, he couldn’t help but gleefully remark, “Sleep well!” With that, he cheerfully shut the lid.

Only at this moment did he reveal a trace of his mischievous nature.

After washing up, when Shen Jue came to call him for breakfast, Ji Jiu had already resumed his role as General Ji. Straightening his back, wearing a faint, ambiguous smile, he led the camel train. Striding steadily into the vast expanse of yellow before him, he showed no trace of the fatigue or helplessness from the night before. Even the subtle tenderness glimpsed in the dark had vanished entirely.

Behind Shen Jue, the large snake lay curled in the wooden box, its head drooping as it continued to sleep atop a tattered fox pelt. Deep in slumber, it was lost in blissful dreams.

It seemed intent on sleeping this way forever, until the end of time.