On her way home in the evening, Yun Manman stroked the slippery head of the little white snake, wondering if she should buy some mice for it.
She hoped the snake would eat frozen mice. Not just live ones. Otherwise, she'd have to raise mice at home, damn it!
Although she was a cat, she was still human inside!
Yun Manman used to wail at the sight of cockroaches and mice.
Dead mice she could tolerate, but live ones were absolutely out of the question!
Thinking about this, Yun Manman once again wished she could quickly find the snake's owner. She really couldn't handle keeping a mouse-eating snake, even though she had grown quite fond of this clever and helpful little creature.
As she passed through the park from yesterday, Yun Manman instinctively glanced at the spot where the strange man had been lying. Finding the area under the tree empty, she relaxed a bit.
She wondered if that sorrowful-looking gentleman was feeling any better.
Lost in thought, she failed to notice the little snake raising its head, pupils vertical, staring intently at the spot under the tree. Its tail moved rapidly, clearly in a state of alertness and tension.
Back home, Yun Manman first pan-fried a steak for herself and prepared a salad, aiming for a balanced meal.
Just as she set the food on the table, the doorbell rang.
It was the frozen mice she had ordered online that morning.
Kashida's delivery service was impressively swift. Combined with Yun Manman's careful selection of a nearby supplier, the package arrived on the same day.
Yun Manman gently placed the little snake in a plastic box, then, with trembling hands, used tongs to place a room-temperature mouse in front of it.
Although she had bought the hairless, pink-skinned variety, it was still terrifying! Waaah!
Come on, little snakey, eat up! I've really gone above and beyond for you!
Under Yun Manman's anticipatory yet fearful gaze, the little snake merely approached, flicked its tongue at the mouse, then turned its head away. It even used its tail to flick the mouse aside.
The snake-eating scene Yun Manman had imagined didn't materialize.
Was it not hungry? She remembered that feeding a snake once a week was enough, but she had no idea when it had last eaten.
Or maybe it didn't like it? Did it prefer mice with fur?
While Yun Manman was full of questions, the little white snake had already crawled out of the box and slithered directly to her dinner plate on the table.
Before she could react, the snake had opened its mouth wide and swallowed a strip of beef from her plate.
It seemed to swallow without chewing, its belly only slightly undulating as it quickly consumed three strips of beef.
Witnessing this, Yun Manman rushed forward in horror, grabbing the snake by its tail and lifting it up.
"Can you even eat beef? Huh?" she exclaimed.
"Doctor Yang said your species eats mice! Eating other things could upset your digestion!"
The little snake, interrupted mid-meal, looked a bit disgruntled but showed no signs of aggression.
It simply used its body strength to coil around Yun Manman's hand that was holding it, successfully righting itself from the upside-down position.
The small snake licked Yun Manman's hand with its forked tongue, then used the tip of its tail to point at the beef on the plate, as if to say: I can eat it, I can eat it.
Yun Manman was terrified, fearing she might accidentally kill the snake. She quickly took out her communicator to message Doctor Yang, asking what to do.
Meanwhile, she held onto the snake tightly, worried it might slip away and eat more beef when she wasn't looking.
Fortunately, Doctor Yang replied quickly: "What do you mean? The snake ate beef on its own? It won't eat the mice?"
Doctor Yang's profile picture was a dignified llama wearing glasses. Even through the screen, Yun Manman could sense the doctor's surprise.
Yun Manman replied: "Yes. I don't know if it's suitable for him. What if he gets gastroenteritis?"
She had heard that snakes were quite prone to gastroenteritis.
Doctor Yang took a while to respond. Yun Manman guessed he was looking up information.
Doctor Yang: "First, observe his overall condition. See if he regurgitates anything. If he seems fine, he might actually have beef as his main diet."
"Regurgitation means throwing up food that can't be digested," he added thoughtfully, in case Yun Manman didn't understand.
Yun Manman, clutching her communicator, met the snake's hopeful gaze.
"...You can't eat it. If you're okay tomorrow, I'll make you another portion of beef."
The little white snake, held in her palm, looked at her resignedly as she put away the beef. It relaxed its body, seemingly turning into a limp, tattered rope.
Little white snake: Lost all worldly desires.
Before going to take a bath, Yun Manman filled a basin with water for the little snake to soak in.
The snake seemed to really enjoy the water, staying in the basin contentedly.
When Yun Manman finished her bath and came out to find the little snake still peacefully soaking in the water, she was quite pleased.
At this point, she was in her beast form – a fluffy, long-haired orange and white cat with bright green eyes and an adorable feline face.
At home, it didn't matter; the beast form was actually more comfortable for Beastmen.
The little snake, sensing Yun Manman's presence, brightened up and tried to rush towards her.
Halfway there, it was promptly squashed to the ground by a pink paw pad with a "splat."
Yun Manman: Haven't you heard? A cat's reaction time is seven times faster than a snake's!
She disdainfully grabbed a few tissues to dry off the water on the little snake's body.
"You're all wet and you want to climb on me? I just dried my fur."
The snake seemed very interested in her beast form. As soon as it was dry, it eagerly climbed onto the cat.
The orange cat allowed the snake to move about on her body. Its climbing and coiling felt like a massage, and she contentedly half-closed her eyes and started purring.
At this moment, Yun Manman was unaware that in the world of Beastmen, one's beast form was not to be casually touched by the opposite sex.
If you engaged in intimate contact with someone of the opposite sex while in beast form, it implied that your relationship was quite ambiguous.
The little snake had somehow made its way to the top of the cat's head and was now using its forked tongue to lick the inside of her twitching cat ears.
An unexpected tingling sensation spread from her ears throughout her body. Yun Manman's pupils instantly contracted into thin lines.
She had never known her ears were so sensitive!
It was as if a white light flashed before her eyes, and the "hiss hiss" sound of the snake's tongue flicking was clearly audible.
"Meow..." Yun Manman's voice trembled.
Stop licking, my whole body's gone numb.
Yun Manman extended her soft front paws to pull the snake away.
Looking at the innocent face of the little snake, Yun Manman, having regained her composure, didn't know where to begin scolding it.
In the end, she could only muster: "Don't touch my ears."
Then she turned and walked towards the bedroom.
The little snake hurriedly followed the cat upstairs.
As night fell, the air conditioning system inside the house quietly maintained a comfortable temperature. On the bed, a cat curled up into a ball, its belly rising and falling slowly, clearly in deep sleep.
Next to the cat lay a small white snake, coiled into another ball, also asleep.
However, the snake's sleep was restless. Its body trembled from time to time, as if enduring pain.
In a place invisible to the naked eye, the cat's overflowing spiritual energy, like drifting gossamer, lightly covered the small snake.
After a long while, the snake's body stopped trembling, and its breathing steadied.
In another part of Lili Town.
Lu Xi and his group of Beastmen arrived near dusk.
The soldiers were a bit confused when they heard they were looking for a small white snake that smelled like a general.
A soldier scratched his head and asked, "Deputy, aren't we here to purchase supplies?"
At the same time, he didn't understand why they didn't go to the closer and larger Yuanlin Town, but instead came to this remote small town full of furry Beastmen.
And now they were looking for a small snake.
Could it be the general's pet?
They had never heard that the general kept a pet.
Lu Xi glanced at his communicator, then looked up and said, "It's already evening. We need to find a hotel first and buy supplies tomorrow."
"The small snake is the general's favorite pet. It's been lost recently, and the general can't sleep at night. As his subordinates, shouldn't we help solve his worries?"
As he spoke, he silently apologized to the general in his heart.
The soldiers' spirits lifted. "Yes, sir!" they responded.
They didn't ask any more questions. After learning what the snake looked like, they split up to search.
The general was their idol! If they could find the general's beloved pet this time, they might even get a chance to meet their idol up close!
The soldiers were full of motivation, determined to find the general's lost pet.
Lu Xi put down his communicator and looked at the canine Beastmen coming and going around him. Feeling the dog hair floating in the air, he uncomfortably rubbed his exposed skin.
After spending so much time with the general, he found it hard to adapt to these furry Beastmen.
Far away in the imperial capital, His Majesty had already learned about the general's disappearance and was very anxious. However, knowing that this matter should not be made public, he only ordered them to secretly increase manpower in the search.
At the same time, he dispatched Major General Yan Ye, who was on leave, to lead troops to the border region to support Colonel Lan.
This made Lu Xi breathe a sigh of relief. With this arrangement, if anything happened on Lan Yuxiang's side, Yan Ye would be there to help resolve it.
But at the same time, he was worried for the general.
Major General Yan Ye was one of the most promising young members of the Yunzheng Clan, the same clan that had once been engaged to Lu Qi.
Lu Qi hated feline Beastmen the most.
The two had been at odds for a long time, bickering since they were young.
Lu Xi thought silently, hoping that the general would recover before Major General Yan Ye returned to the imperial capital.
Only His Majesty, a few doctors, and Lu Xi, who took care of him closely, had seen the general's appearance when his spiritual power was sealed.
When Lu Qi's spiritual power was sealed, he would revert to his appearance from when he was a cub, losing his memory and acting only on instinct.
He would look just like an ordinary small snake.
It wouldn't be easy to find him.
Ordinary small snakes were agile and alert enough to appear anywhere.
Lili Town wasn't exactly big, but it wasn't small either. It would be all too easy for a small snake to hide.
The last location detected by the spiritual power monitoring was only in Lili Town, without a detailed address. They could only search slowly.
Lu Xi had always firmly believed that his most respected general had only sealed his spiritual power and hidden himself, and could not possibly have turned into a Kashida.
They just needed to find him.
May the Beast God bless them to find the general quickly.
May the Beast God bless the general not to encounter the feline Beastmen he hated most.
Lu Xi prayed silently in his heart.
Happy New Year's Eve to everyone! Happy New Year! May you be as beautiful as flowers in the new year! May your hair be lush! May you have more money than you can spend!!!
I will try to update daily before reaching 80,000 words. If you like it, you can click to urge updates and add it to your bookshelf. If many people read it, I will add extra updates~ Thank you everyone~