Raising My Sweet, Well-Behaved Puppy-Snake to Be My Wife - Chapter 16.1

“I, I have been guarding at the door, and absolutely no one has entered! The main gate is locked, and the back door is locked as well. It is impossible for the little young master to have gone out!”

A ringing sound erupted in Shen Zhiheng’s ears. A wave of dizziness nearly caused him to collapse, but fortunately, Uncle Wang and Uncle Huang caught him just in time.

Impossible for him to have gone out?!

Then where was his snake? Had he vanished into thin air?

His sharp gaze swept across the villa hall, finally resting on the open kitchen window. On the grass outside, there were extremely clear drag marks and flattened grass, extending all the way to a dense private forest not far from the estate.

The tight string in his mind snapped completely.

“Search immediately! Everyone, pull the surveillance footage, lock all exits! And, and that bastard association president, go and bring him back to me! Quickly!”

Shen Zhiheng roared almost hysterically, stumbling toward the door, only to be held back from behind by the butler.

“Old Huang, go tell everyone to search. Call a psychiatrist; I will handle the Young Master.”

Butler Wang understood Shen Zhiheng’s condition better. This kind of blow and collapse, which almost destroyed his mental defenses, could very likely exacerbate the young master’s illness.

How could the little snake go missing?

Did he run away on his own, or was he secretly snatched away by President Bai using a diversionary tactic?

Regardless of the reason, it was not something the current Shen Zhiheng could bear.

“Young Master, please calm down! The surveillance at the main gate shows that, except for President Bai, no one has entered or exited during this period. Zhiqi must have crawled out on his own.”

Uncle Wang did not carry a sedative on him, so he urgently comforted Shen Zhiheng, attempting to call him back from his increasingly unfocused, collapsing state.

“Crawled out on his own? Why would he crawl out on his own? Where is he going, where can he go!”

Shen Zhiheng could not listen to any advice. He struggled to break free from Uncle Wang’s control and stumbled toward the depths of the small forest.

“Does he not want me anymore.”

“Little snake does he not want Brother anymore.”

Shen Zhiheng muttered to himself, repeating a reason that was even more unacceptable to him than if the little snake had been kidnapped.

Little snake, little good snake stay by Brother’s side. Brother will be very, very good to you.

Baby, please, I beg you.

Shen Zhiheng’s mind was a blank slate. Reacting to the stress, he could not even control his pheromones, and a thick, bloody scent began to emanate from the back of his neck. At this moment, the bloody scent did not feel like a pheromone; it felt more like blood being drawn directly from his body.

Impossible! Xiao Qi, the little snake would not abandon Brother.

He said he wanted to be Brother’s big tail, he said it!

Shen Zhiheng did not know how long he had been walking aimlessly, kicking the expensive artificial grass and wandering through the small garden. His steps were unsteady until he tripped over something and fell hard.

The pain from the fall cleared his head slightly, and his previously spinning vision began to sharpen. He lifted his head and looked at what had tripped him.

A long, thick snake tail, nearly blending into the lawn.

“Xiao Qi!”

Shen Zhiheng lunged forward, stumbling, attempting to pull the small body curled up on the lawn into his arms.

His movements stopped abruptly when he saw the little snake’s face.

Those golden pupils, which were usually clear and bright, were now covered in a layer of turbid, grayish-white film. Even after hearing his brother’s voice, Shen Zhiqi did not respond; he only lifted his head with difficulty, his mouth still firmly biting down on his brother’s jacket.

The sudden sound of rapid footsteps frightened the snake, causing him to tremble violently and emit a faint, hissing sound.

Shen Zhiheng had read many materials about snakes online, and his recovering reason finally pieced together the situation.

The blindfold molting period.

During this extremely vulnerable time, the snake’s eyes would be covered by a thin film, leaving him nearly blind. At this time, the snake was extremely sensitive and could not be disturbed or touched forcefully, or it would trigger a severe stress reaction.

Shen Zhiheng carefully moved to the side of the shivering little snake. He extended a hand to gently touch his head, but had to pull it back.

“Young Master, Young Master!”

Uncle Wang had tracked the strong Alpha pheromones to find them, finally seeing the curled-up little snake and Shen Zhiheng crouching nearby. He held a sedative and Alpha suppressant in his hand.

As soon as the needle tip approached Shen Zhiheng, it was knocked away with lightning speed.

“Go away, be quiet!”

“Young Master, Xiao Qi is an Omega. Although he is still young and has not yet differentiated, being disrupted by Alpha pheromones like this will cause problems.”

Hearing words related to the little snake’s health and safety, Shen Zhiheng lowered his defensive hand.

The suppressant was quickly injected into the back of his neck. As the medicine took effect, Uncle Wang immediately administered a sedative and a painkiller.

Having received three injections in one go, Shen Zhiheng’s vision blurred.

He stood up, enduring the pain, and stumbled a few steps.

“I, I will go further away to keep watch over Xiao Qi. He is here alone, I am worried. But I, I cannot let him be affected by Alpha pheromones; he is still so small.”

Before Shen Zhiheng finished his weak words, he saw Shen Zhiqi lunge forward, his hands clutching his brother’s ankle.

“Hiss…”

Shen Zhiqi had sensed the abnormalities in his body earlier; his tight snake scales began to itch uncomfortably, and his biological instincts made him restless.

He began to smell Brother’s pleasant scent more clearly. At the same time, his vision and hearing were becoming increasingly blurred.

Snakes always had this reaction periodically, gradually losing their sight as if their eyes were covered in a thick membrane, eventually plunging into gray darkness.

Shen Zhiqi wanted to tell his brother, but his brother seemed to be encountering something, appearing completely overwhelmed.

A good snake cannot bother Brother at this time.

Shen Zhiqi clutched his brother’s shirt, moving step by step out of the living room, his other hand held by a strange uncle. He curled up on the cool floor of the annex. The smooth, uncarpeted floor made the snake feel very uncomfortable.

“Be good, Zhiqi. Uncle will guard the door against bad guys. Your brother is handling an urgent matter and will come to pick you up in a little while.”

Shen Zhiqi heard the strange human uncle’s voice, blinked his hazy eyes, and then nodded obediently.

The door closed gently, and the room became excessively quiet.

During a snake’s molting period, the eyes are covered first; a thick film covers the eyes and detaches from the body along with the skin on the tail. To successfully molt, they instinctively need to find a warm, humid place filled with rough branches and weeds, so they can use friction to shed their old skin.

The smooth floor and empty room could not satisfy the snake’s needs for molting.

Shen Zhiqi was becoming increasingly unable to see things and could only fearfully knock on the door, wanting to find his brother.

His snake tail felt tight and uncomfortable, and his human body longed to be held, suffering from skin hunger.

I miss Brother so much.

His vision was growing grayer, and his physical discomfort was becoming more severe. Driven by instinct, the silly little snake dragged his heavy tail, his mouth biting down on his brother’s shirt, trying to fill his mouth and nose with the familiar scent.

He crawled out of the half-open window and struggled all the way into the small garden filled with grass and leaves.

“Hiss… hiss-woo.”

The little guy gradually lost his ability to use human language, coiling his tail into a ball, his upper body hugging itself as he lay on his side on the grass.

His eyes were thoroughly covered with a grayish-white turbid film. The state of regression meant he could not close his eyes like a human.

His near-zero vision and hearing left the snake in a dark, silent space, and past memories poured into his tiny head like a tidal wave.

The blindfold period was once a nightmare for the snake.

The loss of vision would last for two or three days, and he had to find a safe enough place to survive it. But there was no absolute safety in a place called a hospital; no place that could be seen by staff and medical personnel was safe. He could only find damp, dirty sewer entrances, where even the baby mice he usually treated as food dared to approach and bite his fragile, chapped tail at this time.

If Puppy Mother hadn’t secretly tucked him into a cabinet filled with children’s supplies and milk powder, he would never have survived one blindfold molting period after another.

Snakes are truly so troublesome.

No fluffy tail to make people like me, and humans are terrified the moment they see a soft-bodied animal.

The snake wants so much to be liked.

During the blindfold molting period, Shen Zhiqi was dragged back to reality by the facts, away from his fantasies about being a puppy.

He did not know when he had started crying, his cheeks covered in tear streaks.

He had experienced a love like a dream, this long-awaited treasure coming from the brother who had given him a name.

In his dreams, there were beautiful houses and a gentle brother. Those things he did not even dare to fantasize about—as he lay in the pitch-black darkness, he once again doubted whether everything he had gained was really a dream.

Have I never escaped the hospital? Maybe the snake just wanted to be liked so much that he had a beautiful dream.

In the darkness, only the thing in his mouth filled his panic.

His remaining sense of smell allowed him to keenly pick up a familiar scent, a very, very faint bloody smell. Because it had been diluted countless times, it had lost its aggression, acting more as a soothing balm. Only by biting this piece of clothing hard and smelling Brother’s scent could the little snake derive a shred of pathetic security in this endless darkness and panic.

“%&!”

Shen Zhiqi heard a sound, but his regressed hearing made him unable to tell what it was.

Is, is someone coming? Is someone going to hurt the snake? What, what should the snake do?

The current Shen Zhiqi had no strength to resist. His tail showed clear signs of peeling, a thin layer of light yellow pattern floating on the snake tail.

He did not know in which direction he had moved, his mouth tightly biting Brother’s clothes, even his teeth chattering.

Do not see the snake. Cannot see the snake, cannot see the snake.

He whispered a prayer in his heart.

A very strong bloody scent hit his nose; for a snake, the sweet-smelling scent made him instinctively secrete saliva. Familiar, delicious, but full of aggression, intending to surround and occupy him, or treat him like prey and tear him to shreds.

He should have felt fear—an instinctual fear belonging to a living creature. Such a thick, bloody scent should have come from his food, but he now lacked the strength to fight against his own food.

Yet, he could not feel any instinctual fear of this scent. Even though he had regressed to a snake’s brain and could not analyze the owner of this scent, the cognition of this scent seemed to have been carved into his genes.

The human belonging to this scent could be trusted and relied upon. That was the only human in the world who had accepted the snake.

Shen Zhiqi’s instinctual tension dissipated. He took a deep, heavy breath, trying to let this scent, which biologically would hurt him, integrate into his body.

Even if it pathologically occupied him entirely and hurt him until he was covered in cuts and bruises, it did not matter.

This scent was much thicker than the one on the pitiful shirt in his arms—familiar but pathological, making the snake especially fond of it.

The little snake nervously flicked his pink little tongue and moved one step toward that direction.

The little tongue flicked in and out vigilantly; his remaining sense of smell was functioning, carefully sniffing and sniffing along the familiar scent.

A strange scent abruptly intruded into this familiar one.

Shen Zhiqi was stunned for a moment, stopping his approach.

The reassuring scent suddenly faded, and the rustling sound on the grass was moving further away.

No, do not! Do not go, stay by the snake’s side, hold the snake. Let the snake coil around you, do not go.

Shen Zhiqi finally gathered his courage, using the last bit of strength in his body, and lunged toward that direction. He grabbed the person’s ankle, but he could not see; he did not know who it was he had grabbed.

The greatest courage of his life had been spent on this human, the first time was at their first meeting, the second time was now.

“Hiss…”

The pitiful little snake crawled a segment forward; the snake skin hung on the rough grass, and the snake tail successfully moved forward a little. He still felt his snake tail itching uncomfortably, especially the new snake tail under the molted skin, which was too sensitive to the slightest external stimulation, even the grass below.

Shen Zhiqi disregarded everything and moved toward the scent he was familiar with, even though his regressed snake brain could not analyze that this familiar scent was Brother.

That scent could, like breaking genetic code, carve the reliance and trust for this person into his bone marrow.

The snake moved out a bit and then had no strength left, so he had to lie limply on the grass, turning his head to rest his cheek on the person’s instep. He held onto the person’s lower leg and would not let go, peacefully acting like a child sticking to an adult.

“%#.”

Shen Zhiqi heard a voice, a very gentle voice. But he could not hear clearly and could not understand what the person was saying.

A snake’s head is tiny and cannot contain complex things, nor can it analyze like a human.

The snake feels so strange.

I long so much to be liked, and I am so afraid of humans. Why do I have such great courage to approach humans, risking my life?

The snake is silly; the snake cannot figure it out.

Shen Zhiqi did not think about it anymore, turning instead to hold onto the person’s lower leg as if holding a bolster, and rubbed against it affectionately like a puppy. He abandoned the question of such profound complexity and let the snake’s instinct further invade his underlying code as a human Omega.

His head was gently pressed by someone, and then there was an extremely cautious and gentle force, gently rubbing the little Omega’s head. A large, warm palm rubbed the little guy’s head and touched his cold little face.

His tight nerves finally received a trace of relief, and the little snake hummed comfortably, a sticky, soft sound escaping from his throat.

Shen Zhiqi needed such touch too much; the body temperature of a cold-blooded animal was lower than that of a human. During the blindfold molting period, the snake’s underlying code was attacking his human Omega underlying code. His human Omega upper body was even more uncomfortable than his itchy snake tail.

Extreme panic and darkness magnified the deep-seated desire to be held and comforted, gradually evolving into tiny, dense discomforts. He always longed to be held—a tight, airless hug that would seal his body perfectly.

Snakes like to be squeezed in crowded spaces; humans like tight hugs. These overlaid on the little snake Omega during his blindfold period, and he now urgently wanted to be held in the arms of someone familiar to obtain a sense of security.

Shen Zhiqi held onto the person’s lower leg, helplessly crossing his arms as if trying to hold himself.

The intense, bloody scent, which was both aggressive and made him feel incredibly reassured, was now being suppressed by another pungent, strange scent. The snake did not like that strange scent.

Although that person was standing right in front of him, they stood as still as if they had frozen.

The human won’t move. Did the human turn into a hot tree trunk? Why won’t the human hold the snake… Does the human not like the snake?

The little guy shrank in the darkness, his nose instantly stinging painfully. He started crying again, drop after drop of tears spilling out from under the membrane covering his eyes, flowing toward his chin.

The person started saying things the snake could not understand again.

Shen Zhiqi flicked his tongue in a daze, enduring the skin hunger that was almost driving the snake crazy, rubbing his arms with his hands, trying to relieve this discomfort on his own. Just like countless times before.

“Hiss-woo…”

The snake will hold itself.

The little guy let out a tiny whine with a thick, tearful tone. He comforted himself with self-deception, until a warm palm gently lifted his cheeks, gently rubbing away the tear streaks on his face with his thumb.

The snake still could not hear the human clearly and could not understand what the human was saying. He lifted his face toward the sound, and the tears that had been crying non-stop were gently wiped away by someone.

At that moment, the little snake had a bold idea.

Even if he told the human that the snake wanted to be held, and wanted the human’s company and comfort, perhaps it would be agreed to.

The human carefully held Shen Zhiqi’s cheeks, patiently and gently wiping his tears, saying things in an extremely gentle tone that the snake could not hear clearly.

Water was sprayed on his tail, and the itchy, uncomfortable feeling was relieved a lot, making it easier to molt.

The human is truly good.

The tiny snake whispered in his heart, comforted himself, and his grievances dissipated a lot. He affectionately rubbed his cheek against the person’s palm.

“Hiss…”

Shen Zhiqi lifted his face, his eyes gray and hazy, and let out a soft hum with an upward intonation. He was like a kitten that had been smoothed out, innocently sniffing his nose, rubbing his slightly red cheeks against the person’s broad palm.

Those eyes covered with a grayish-white thin membrane had no focus, but because of the comfortable soothing, they bent into a beautiful arc.

Shen Zhiheng sat on the muddy grass, looking at the little snake in his arms who happily lifted his face because of his gentle touch on his face and head, his gaze softening even more.

During the blindfold molting period, a time that was incomparably sensitive and fragile for the little snake, Shen Zhiqi did not move away from his brother’s palm. The more this was the case, the greater satisfaction Shen Zhiheng could derive from this precious trust.

He had already gained a little bit of the little snake’s trust, had he not?

Shen Zhiheng knew the rules of the blindfold period for snakes, maintaining a restrained, even somewhat estranged posture as he knelt beside the little snake. The fragile little snake curled up limply in front of him, making his protective instincts explode; he wanted to hold the little guy tightly.

But numerous online snake-keeping tutorials said that one should not disturb the snake at this time, nor should one burn the snake with one’s own body temperature.

Shen Zhiheng always maintained a restrained distance, only holding the little snake’s small cheeks, gently wiping away the tears that the little guy was always shedding. He accompanied him peacefully by the little snake’s side, timely spraying a bit of water on the tight, fat snake tail with a spray bottle.

With the nourishment of moisture, the pain of the snake’s cracking skin was greatly relieved.

Shen Zhiqi’s body relaxed somewhat; he carefully moved forward, gradually separating the snake skin from his body.

He moved forward, gradually distancing himself from Shen Zhiheng. In the dark field of vision, the snake used its unique infrared sensing system to perceive the distance from the human and then quietly moved closer toward Brother’s direction.

Shen Zhiqi placed his chin on his brother’s knees, rhythmically flicking his tongue a few times.

“Hiss… hiss…”

Being this close to Brother is enough.

The snake is not greedy.

Shen Zhiheng also abided by the online snake-keeping guide, not getting too close, extremely cherished as he stroked the little snake’s slightly messy hair one by one.

In the days that followed, Shen Zhiheng almost never left this patch of grass, even sleeping messily on the grass together with the little snake.

Snake-type Omegas were different from ordinary snakes; their large size made them feel hungry more easily. Before, he would stuff a piece of food into his mouth, slowly digesting it to spend the long blindfold molting period. Even though this was not good for his fragile stomach, it could allow him to barely survive this difficult period.

But now, he had Brother by his side.

Whenever he hummed with hunger, Shen Zhiheng would feed a little bit of food into his mouth.

Whenever he squirmed anxiously because of the dry, itchy molting, Shen Zhiheng would timely spray a bit of water evenly on his snake tail.

Shen Zhiqi could always hear gentle tones and timely care. As long as he felt any discomfort, he could immediately feel meticulous care in the darkness.

In the little snake’s limited life, this was his first blindfold molting period without feeling fear.

And for Shen Zhiheng, this was also his first time not feeling unbearable pain because of the powerful suppressants for a sudden rut period.

Perhaps his attention was too focused on the little snake’s changes, or perhaps it was because the warm popcorn scent in the air carried a trace of light sweet and fishy scent.

It turns out that the medical advice during the rut period saying that keeping a happy mind and body is an important way to relieve it was not lying to me.

Shen Zhiheng thought so.