Pampered Little Snake, Give Me a Kiss - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Return

Actually, there was a sense of regret. Song Keling had originally wanted to take some photos of Qianqian with her camera, but back then, Qianqian had been startled by the desk lamp. She figured the flash would be even more terrifying for a small snake, so she gave up. Now, she didn’t even have a decent photo.

However, she could use her phone to record. During the recovery period, she had recorded several clips of Qianqian, and it had gone smoothly.

Although the little white snake was on the ground, it didn’t slither away immediately. Song Keling pulled out her phone and recorded a clip of herself in the frame with the little snake. It was only a short ten-odd seconds. On camera, the little white snake looked innocent and dazed, its snow-white scales shimmering with light. Its upper body was slightly raised, and beneath its exquisite horn scales, its beautiful red vertical pupils appeared simply adorable on screen.

Song Keling played it back once and smiled. But the smile gradually faded. Finally, she let out a soft sigh and tucked her phone away, looking longingly at the pure white, beautiful little snake. But no matter how reluctant she was, all good things must come to an end.

Song Keling used the snake hook to rustle the grass. Startled, the little snake indeed turned its head and slithered away slowly, disappearing into the lush greenery. After standing still for half a minute, Song Keling suddenly rushed forward to search, calling out: “Qianqian!”

“Qianqian!”

After walking a few steps, her path was blocked by dense wild grass and thick foliage. In this vast world, where could she possibly find the silhouette of the little white snake again?

Song Keling stood there for a long time before finally gathering her messy, forlorn feelings and turning to leave.

By the time she took the cable car down the mountain, it was already late. Song Keling didn’t stay in Xuetai; instead, she booked a red-eye flight back to Xincheng.

Since she wasn’t carrying the little snake, Song Keling raised both hands to cooperate with the staff’s inspection. Once cleared, she picked up her backpack from the security conveyor belt.

The plane arrived in Xincheng at 3:00 AM. Xincheng was a highly developed inland city, a famous “city that never sleeps”; even at three in the morning, the streetlights lining the wide roads remained lit.

The last time Song Keling returned, it was 4:00 or 5:00 AM. Back then, she was filled with anxiety, wishing she could sprout wings and fly back to school immediately. Today was different; she was like a silent doll, sitting quietly in the back of the taxi, staring out the window.

After a long silence, she took out her phone again. The battery was low. The interface was paused on a specific frame of the video. At 3:00 AM, the light inside the taxi was dim, but the image on the phone was a bright, sunny day. She was in the frame with the beautiful little snake, surrounded by lush, thriving greenery full of hope. She was holding up a peace sign, smiling the whole time. There wasn’t a hint of the atmosphere of parting.

Was there really none? Song Keling didn’t look closely at her slightly reddened eyes. She turned off the phone and looked back out the car window.

Song Keling thought to herself: Truly, one should not easily keep a pet. Parting is too painful.

Half an hour later, the taxi reached the North Gate of the campus. It was not yet 4:00 AM. If she called for the door at this hour, the dorm supervisor would kill her.

So, Song Keling didn’t go back to the dorm. She went straight to the lab with her backpack. After spending a few hours in the lab without washing up, she went to the teaching building for class, still wearing the outfit she had used for climbing and traveling. She hadn’t slept all night, but she was very alert—perfect for a back-to-back grind.

During lunch, Xu Xinlei finally found an opportunity to talk to her. She made a scene: “Keling! My god, why did you come back overnight? Look at your dark circles, look at your state! Why are you even in class? Hurry back to the dorm and catch up on sleep!”

“I’m not sleepy.”

“Not sleepy, my foot.” Xu Xinlei raised her hand and snatched at the air around Song Keling’s face.

Song Keling looked up at her roommate, her expression devoid of even a hint of confusion. Xu Xinlei showed her her empty palm and said, “See that? Those are all the soul fragments escaping from your body. Go back and sleep now, or your ‘genius soul’ is going to shatter completely!”

Song Keling: “…”

“You released the snake, right?”

Song Keling lowered her eyes and gave a low response of affirmation.

Xu Xinlei said, “Then that’s that! You saw the Buddha to the West, and you saved the snake to the end. Saving a snake’s life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. You’ve already attained enlightenment; why are you still worrying about course credits? Eat up and go back to sleep.”

Song Keling’s mind was momentarily muddled by her words, but after a while, she gave an “Oh” in response.

Song Keling returned to the dorm. Before sleeping, she needed a quick rinse. She took off her dirty clothes and pants and grabbed her pajamas. The bathroom door closed with a “thud.” It wasn’t a quiet sound.

Song Keling had tossed her jeans onto the foam mat. Within the folds of the layered, loose pant legs, something visibly wriggled for a moment, but after a short while, it became still again.

After showering, Song Keling got into bed. The sky was very bright. She pulled all the curtains shut, lay down, covered herself from head to toe with the quilt, and took a long, deep breath with her eyes closed.

Just then, the phone by her pillow vibrated. Song Keling opened her eyes, fearing her senior sister or supervisor was looking for her. The phone screen was a bit blinding at first, but it quickly auto-adjusted its brightness. It was Senior Su Yili.

Su Yili: “Keling, I heard you’re back from Xuetai?”

Song Keling didn’t really want to type, so she pressed the voice message button and gave a muffled “Mhm.”

Very quickly, the other party initiated a video call. Song Keling let out a soft sigh, got up to pull the curtains open to let the light in, and then leaned against the wall to answer the video call.

Su Yili was from the music department, and her voice was as clear and pleasant as an oriole’s. “Keling, did you send the little snake back?”

Song Keling: “Mhm.”

“Mhm? Then you are currently at…”

“The dorm.”

Su Yili immediately said, “Shall I go find you?”

Song Keling said, “But I came back overnight; I’m a bit tired and want to catch up on sleep.”

“I won’t disturb you.” After saying it, Su Yili felt it sounded a bit strange herself, so she laughed and changed her tune. “Just kidding! I’m out doing something right now anyway. Go to sleep then. Shall we meet tonight?”

Song Keling remembered the missed date from last night and felt apologetic. “Sorry, Senior, for ‘pigeoning’ you last night.”

“It’s fine! Didn’t I say I forgave you already?” Su Yili smiled beautifully, her voice softening. “Or… are you planning to compensate me in some other way?”

Su Yili was very pretty. She was the kind of girl who was naturally gifted and knew how to dress. Coming from a wealthy family, she was very adept at social interactions—her personality was great, considerate, and thorough.

Song Keling had known her sexual orientation for a long time, but she had never been in a relationship. When people asked if Senior Su Yili was her “ideal type,” she would look at her and hesitantly refrain from shaking her head. She felt that Senior Su would be the kind of girl all Ts—no, all lesbians—would like. She could be cool or sweet, a “big sister” or a “spoiled brat,” and she provided plenty of emotional value.

In the past, Song Keling might have continued the conversation by asking, “What kind of compensation does Senior want?” but now, she only said, “Let’s talk after I wake up, okay?”

“Mhm, okay!” Su Yili immediately blinked and said, “Go to sleep then. Do you need me to be your alarm clock?”

Song Keling couldn’t help but curl her lips. “No need. I’ll contact you when I wake up.”

“It’s a deal, then.”

“Mhm.”

Once the video ended, Song Keling’s smile vanished completely. She pulled the curtains and fell into a deep, heavy sleep.

But her sleep quality was abysmal. Her eyes kept twitching under her lids, and nightmares followed one after another. The plots were bizarre. She dreamed that as soon as she released Qianqian, the snake encountered all sorts of dangers. One moment, it hit a rock and its head was bleeding; the next, it was being chased by a giant toad and covered in wounds; and later, it was swallowed by an adult King Cobra, leaving only a tiny bit of its tail.

There was an even more ridiculous “serialized” nightmare: after they parted, Qianqian followed her all the way down the mountain, but because it was too beautiful, it was caught by a snake trafficker midway. It finally managed to escape the trafficker, only to have its tail crushed by traffic upon reaching the road. It endured untold hardships, crossing thousands of mountains and rivers…

The dorm door rang. Song Keling, feeling oppressed and heavy-hearted, got out of bed to open it. When she opened it, she saw a beautiful, delicate young girl standing outside. The girl’s pupils were blood-red with a vertical slit, looking extremely eerie.

In the next moment, the little girl picked up a leg that had been crushed and was dripping with blood, saying gloomily: “It’s all your fault. You saved me, then you abandoned me.”

Song Keling woke up from the nightmare with a sharp gasp! Her eyes were wide, her forehead was drenched in sweat, and she was panting heavily. She finally realized what she had just seen was only a bizarre nightmare.

Tapping her chest lightly, she tried to calm the palpitations caused by the dream. She wanted to get up and drink some water. But when she turned her head, she saw a white forehead with vertical horn scales and a pair of crimson vertical pupils. The distance was so close it was right in front of her eyes—in that instant, Song Keling nearly lost her breath!

She finally understood why Xu Xian was scared to death. This was just a small snake the thickness of an index finger; when Xu Xian opened his bed curtains, he saw a giant python the thickness of a water bucket thrashing around. It would be a miracle not to be scared to death.

So, am I still dreaming? A dream within a dream within a dream?

Looking at the little white snake in front of her, which was tilting its head as if in confusion, Song Keling took a deep breath, swallowed her dry throat, and suppressed her pounding heartbeat. “Qian… Qianqian?”

The little snake flicked its long, slender black tongue, as if answering happily.

This must still be a dream. Song Keling sat up with very small movements, staying as far from the snake as possible, and felt for her phone. The time was clear. 5:16:38 PM. The last class had already ended.

Song Keling lowered her head and propped it with her hand, only to find her hand covered in cold sweat. This was very wrong. She felt her heart begin to throb violently again. She reached out and yanked the curtains open!

In an instant, orange-yellow light flooded the room. At the same time, the little snake, which had been motionless by the pillow, was startled. It immediately flattened its body, its white scales taking on the golden hue of the sunset. It coiled into a ball, trying to burrow under the quilt.

Seeing this, Song Keling instinctively panicked and jumped off the bed! But she forgot she was on the top bunk. The next moment, there was a solid “thud.” The pain was so intense she immediately crouched down, clutching her head and rubbing it hard.

Dreams aren’t supposed to feel pain. Song Keling could no longer lie to herself that it was a dream. She quickly realized something; in her peripheral vision, something was moving. She slowly looked up and saw Qianqian, who had at some point abandoned its intention to hide under the quilt and was now inching toward her.

In that moment, Song Keling couldn’t explain the shock and confusion in her heart. But with the curtains open, she clearly saw the little white snake she had released at Xuetai. Its vertical pupils were turned golden-red by the sunset, and its armor-like white scales reflected the shifting light. There was also the tip of its tail, tucked away obediently.

As if sensing Song Keling’s gaze, the little snake lifted its tail slightly. It revealed the surgical scars underneath, which were now almost invisible.

Song Keling fell into a total silence. She didn’t look at Qianqian—who had appeared so inexplicably—any longer. Instead, she got out of bed and washed up. Cold water hit her face. Song Keling looked at her dripping reflection and wiped the water away with a towel. Then she walked back to look at her bed.

The little snake was still there, having slithered to the edge of the bed. Its body was very small, and the two horn scales on its crimson eyes were tilted up adorably. When it looked over, its round head tilted slightly, as if it were a bit confused or a bit angry.

No, this is too strange. How could she be projecting emotions onto a snake? It must be a hallucination.

Just as Song Keling thought this, she heard the sound of her roommate opening the door. Her eyes lit up, and she immediately turned and ran out, shouting: “Xu Xinlei!”

Xu Xinlei was taking off her shoes. Hearing Song Keling’s uncharacteristic, unsettled voice, she was so startled she didn’t even finish taking off her shoes and ran straight to Song Keling’s room. The door opened, and the two nearly collided.

Song Keling didn’t care; she grabbed Xu Xinlei and pulled her to the bedside, pointing at the little white snake on the bed. “Do you see anything?”

Xu Xinlei looked and was so scared she backed away repeatedly, wrenching her hand from Song Keling’s grip. “Keling! Didn’t you say you took the snake to Xuetai to release it?!”

It was confirmed: Xu Xinlei could see it too.

Song Keling was silent for a long moment. Then, looking into her roommate’s eyes, she asked calmly: “We ate lunch together today. Were there any mushrooms in the dishes?” Some undercooked poisonous mushrooms can cause hallucinations.

Xu Xinlei immediately said, “Of course not!” She gave Song Keling a strange look, then looked back at the little white snake coiled on the bed. Seeing the little snake flatten its body as if to come closer, even though the distance was plenty, she got goosebumps all over. She backed up two more steps, hiding behind Song Keling and grabbing her shirt hem, stammering: “Keling! Hurry up and put it in the box! It’s terrifying!!”

Song Keling pursed her lips and looked at the snake by the bed. Qianqian tilted its head and flicked its thin black tongue. It had collected the information but still couldn’t understand the human emotions before it, so it hooked the tip of its tail and coiled up obediently.

Song Keling looked at it and pondered, asking softly—though it wasn’t clear who she was asking: “So, how did you get back…?”

If the little snake being here was real, then was the memory of releasing it on the mountain fake? But the release video was still there. Or, after releasing Qianqian and recording the video, did a second personality emerge and bring the snake back?

Song Keling watched the little white snake coiling beautifully and properly, flicking its tongue every now and then, neither attacking nor angry—the picture of pure innocence. After a moment of silence, she let out a sigh.

Fine, I’ll think about it later. She pulled out the supplies she had bought from the reptile shop and hidden under the bed. Regardless of anything, she had to resettle the little snake first.

Qianqian was somewhat excited, slithering up and down in the breeding box, which was now several times larger. In the corner of the box was a beautiful hide; half of the bottom was padded with a heating mat, and the edges were decorated with withered wood and moss…

Song Keling didn’t look at it. Instead, she rummaged through the backpack she had brought back from Xuetai. The zipper was tightly closed; it was impossible to crawl out from there.

Wait. Song Keling suddenly had an epiphany. She had come back by plane. If a second personality had put the snake in the bag, how could it have possibly passed through airport security?

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