Do You Want a Wife or Not?

There was no calendar in the mountains, and the year was unknown in the cold weather. It was late spring soon, and the weather was getting hotter.

Snakes were afraid of both cold and heat, so the number of things they did had decreased, but the scholar had become very proficient in this way and knew how to make Xuan Si comfortable while also giving himself a chance to breathe.

He had taught Xuan Si to kiss him, and the tip of his warm tongue brought a little chill when he kissed him, which made him tremble and sway.

“Xuan Si…” he said vaguely, “You are too inside.”

“Hiss.”

Xuan Si just listened to him and stepped back.

When the weather got hotter, the scholar almost slept with Xuan Si in his arms, because the snake’s tail could bring a lot of coolness when it wrapped around his body.

This also led to the fact that sometimes the scholar woke up and found that Xuan Si had already woken up, but the scholar was holding him too tightly, he was still cautious and didn’t dare to move.

The snake’s tail had been numbed by him and turned a little purple. The scholar was so frightened that he quickly let go.

.

The cave was warm in winter and cool in summer. The scholar had originally planned to live there forever, but he had not expected Xuan Si to give him even the hidden scales. Thinking about it this way, it seemed they were making do with living in the cave for hundreds of years.

So, he had planned to wait for the weather to get hotter and find a high ground in the mountains to build a house so that he and Xuan Si could live better.

“Xuan Si,” he walked to the pool and sat down. He saw Xuan Si cleaning the iron pot. He leaned over and asked, “Do you think it’s more comfortable to live in a cave? Are you not used to living in a house?”

“Hiss.” Xuan Si turned around and saw him half-kneeling on the ground. The snake’s tail stretched out to pad his knees. “I live with my wife.”

“Then, can I find someone to build a new house? Build it bigger according to your stature.”

“Can.”

Xuan Si picked up the wet pot and put it on the shelf beside him. He also took out an old ginseng plant from the shelf and gave it to him.

“Wife, sell.”

“Um?”

“Buy a new house for my wife.”

This kind of broken roots was everywhere for Xuan Si. Ever since he knew that scholars could sell them for money, he had dug them up every time he came back from “picking up” chickens.

He knew that if he dug this out and gave it to his wife, he could take it to the market and exchange it for all kinds of strange but useful things. He could even trade it for a house.

The scholar couldn’t help but smile, lowering his head and kissing Xuan Si’s snake tail.

“Okay, then trade this for a new house, and your wife will make soup for you with the remaining roots.”

The kissed snake tail suddenly bloomed again.

.

The scholar came up with the idea of building a new house in April, and it was probably not until the end of September that the new house began to take shape. The craftsmen were all invited from distant towns. They had not heard of the rumours of snake wives in this area, and they did not know that this new house was for snake demon. They just wondered why the roof was built so high.

The two-story round house, with stone tiles and wooden walls, was built on the mountainside facing south. It seemed inconvenient for people to live in, but it was very suitable for the snake demon and his wife to live in. Construction started from May to September, and the scholar watched the house being built bit by bit until it was completely completed.

In the meantime, the scholar was also taken by Xuan Si to visit some nearby hills and got to know a few mountain spirits. Only then did he realize that Xuan Si was not the only snake demon nearby. However, most of the other snake demons chose wives after playing with them once, and then chose a new wife. There was no idea of sticking with one after another lifetime.

Only the scholar had been appointed by Xuan Si himself, and he personally feed him his hidden scales in exchange for his longevity.

.

“Why do you treat me differently?” On the day the new house was completed, the scholar couldn’t help but ask Xuan Si out of curiosity.

Xuan Si refused to say anything, just patted him on the head and continued to move.

“If you tell me,” The scholar said from behind, “I will… allow your two things to be together tonight.”

Suddenly, Xuan Si’s wandering snake tail stopped. “Hiss.”

“Say or not?”

Xuan Si slowly turned his head, staring directly at the scholar with his golden vertical pupils, which made him uncontrollably stand on end.

After a while, Xuan Si lowered his head, held his face, and kissed him harshly.

“Because, I am happy with my wife.”

“Happy?”

“I feel happy when I first meet you. I have to be with my wife.”

The scholar was stunned. So, when he first met Xuan Si in the forest and boldly approached him to ask for a favour, had Xuan Si already fallen in love with him?

Stupid snake.

For just one look, he was willing to give up his lifespan of a hundred years. This was nothing but stupidity. He grabbed the dishes from Xuan Si’s arms and walked toward their new home.

“Then, besides me, you can no longer be happy when you first meet others.”

“Hiss.”

“Otherwise, I’ll twist your vertical pupils into horizontal pupils.” He turned his head and made a threatening gesture with his hands, “Do you know?”

“Hiss.” Xuan Si actually looked at him happily.

The scholar turned around, intending to continue walking, but the snake tail pulled him back into Xuan Si’s arms. Xuan Si lowered his head to kiss him again, touching his face.

“Then when,” Xuan Si asked, “two?”

“…”

“Wife, speak.” A cold palm was pressed firmly against the scholar’s unceremonious lips.

The scholar suddenly regretted it, but it was too late. The next moment, the snake’s tail rolled up the dishes and dropped them to the ground. The scholar let out a low cry as he was picked up by Xuan Si. The snake demon hissed and swam away into the nearby forest.

“Xuan Si! It’s not dark yet!” The scholar’s voice trailed off in the distance.

“Hiss.” From the forest, Xuan Si’s happy hiss rang out.

.

After a long time, the scholar leaned against the tree trunk, his clothes dishevelled. He raised his neck, regretting that he had said too much.

“Xuan Si, can you wait, next time…”

“No.”

“But you obviously, obviously were so good before…”

In the forest, the scholar’s intermittent begging sounds echoed, but Xuan Si ignored him, instead kissing his wife’s forehead happily.

He had said it from the first time he saw him: he would never change a wife for a hundred years or a thousand years. But his wife had actually suspected that he would be happy with others when he first met them.

Snake demons all knew that mating represented recognition and affection for their spouse. The more frequent it was, the fonder they were. Therefore, Xuan Si would make sure his wife fully understood his feelings.

.

After a long while, the scholar felt himself tightly held by Xuan Si, unable to break free. The midday sun shone quietly through the shadows of the leaves, as the two remained intimate under the tree.

“Wife,” Xuan Si’s low and hoarse voice came from the forest, “I am so happy with my wife.”

“…”

“Does my wife like me?”

The scholar didn’t answer immediately, and Xuan Si suddenly bumped him. His voice was muffled, and the scholar could only squeeze Xuan Si’s shoulders tightly, humming in shame.

Where the scholar couldn’t see, Xuan Si pulled out his tenth hidden scale without hesitation and kissed his forehead.

“Then from now on, my wife and I will live together for the rest of our lives.”

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[Legend has it that there is a snake immortal in Snake Mountain, and mating with him can grant the art of immortality. However, the snake immortal has a wife, and the snake immortal and his wife are hidden deep in the mountains and forests, beyond anyone’s reach.]

(The End)