Do You Want a Wife or Not?

A few days later, when the scholar came back from collecting firewood, he found that his house had been burned down.

The raging fire filled half of the sky with billowing black smoke. The thatch on the roof started to burn, and even the desk and bedding inside were not spared.

The scholar hurriedly threw away the firewood and only had time to grab a few old books. Before he could gather more, the roof collapsed. He fell to the ground, and sparks flew off the corner of the table, catching his ankles.

Ignoring the pain, he could only escape from the house in embarrassment. However, just after climbing out a few steps, the roof completely collapsed.

There was a loud “boom,” and fire shot into the sky. The scholar was so frightened that his shoulders shook. When he slowly turned his head to look at his home, he saw that it was shining brightly.

The scholar slowly retreated, slumping to the ground, staring blankly.

The unpleasant burning smell filled the surroundings, but strangely, no villager came to put out the fire. The scholar knew then that it was perhaps just a few people who had set the fire, but everyone in the village seemed to want it to burn.

He had no place to stay.

As night fell, the scholar stayed by the ruins of the fire, staring at the burnt-black corner. There was no shelter around him. The wind was chilly, and soot flew everywhere. He choked on the smoke and coughed several times, so he had no choice but to stand up and leave.

The secluded village was hidden in darkness, and the scholar walked step by step toward Snake Mountain, outside the village.

He knew that there was a cave on Snake Mountain, with a deep winding path and a small pool inside.

The scholar had originally discovered this when he was collecting firewood. There were no snakes, insects, rats, or ants in it. It could be used to keep out the rain and wind, but it wasn’t warm enough to stay overnight. But now, with no place to go, he could only hide there.

Carrying the firewood and several volumes of books he had collected; he went up the mountain path at night and hid in the cave.

The depths of the cave were cold and damp, and water dripped day and night, falling into the pool.

As the firewood burned to keep him warm, the scholar sat in front of the fire and stared at the flames. Thinking about it, he found it all absurd. There were not many scholars in the village. He had once been a teacher, respected by the villagers. Neighbours would bring him food during new year and festivals. Normally, the respected old folks would nod and greet him when they saw him, but he never thought he would end up in this situation because of the so-called Snake Immortal.

He leaned against the cave wall and fell asleep. In the darkness, he couldn’t help but feel a little resentful. It was obviously the snake demon who came to entangle him first, he was played by the snake demon day and night. However, in the end, the snake demon disappeared without a trace. He vanished, and the disaster was felt by him alone.

Not to mention the desire that surged up from nowhere and tormented him crazily. He couldn’t forget the feeling of holding the thick snake tail between his thighs, nor could he forget the weirdness and indifference in the demon’s eyes when the demon looked down at him.

He longed for the return of the snake demon, craving the taste of companionship at night. Although he despised and hated his own thoughts, he had to admit that he was like a child who tasted the sweetness, driven by instinct to completely degenerate.

That feeling started again.

The scholar bent over and knelt by the pool with his hands on his knees.

Under the light of the firewood pile, he only saw the shadow on the wall shaking. He seemed to imagine someone holding him from behind, breathing low, completely letting himself go.

After a long time, his clothes fell to his knees, and sweat broke out on the scholar’s forehead.

He was really embarrassed.

In the following time, the scholar’s life completely changed.

Since he had no place to go, he simply stayed in a cave. He didn’t have many clothes left, and in the end, he couldn’t even wear them. He only had a blue gown covering his body, and didn’t wear anything underneath.

He lived in confusion, drinking water from the pool when he was thirsty, and going to the Snake Immortal Temple outside the village to steal tributes when he was hungry. He often leaned next to the Snake Immortal statue and hid behind it when he saw people coming, waiting for them to leave. He then came out to eat again. Anyway, it was for the snake demon, and it was the same for him.

As time passed, everyone in the nearby villages knew that there was an extra scholar in the Snake Immortal Temple. When someone came to deliver tribute, they paid special attention to the figure hiding behind the statue.

“Is it him?”

“That’s him,” several people whispered. “I didn’t expect that he would lose all his virtue after the house was burned down.”

“He used to earn a few coins by teaching, and his family didn’t have chickens, ducks, or farmland. Now that the house burned down, it seems he can only live like this.”

“I heard that he seems to be stupid and his mind isn’t clear.”

Those people didn’t think that they pushed the scholar to that point. They just thought that the scholar was stupid and it had nothing to do with them.

“Hey,” someone came around behind the statue and called the scholar. After being frightened, the scholar hurriedly ran away but was caught again by stepping on the corner of his clothes. “Don’t run away in a hurry. Let me ask you, do you want to eat roast chicken? Yes or no?”

The scholar raised his head in confusion and nodded slowly.

The green shirt on his body was already a little dirty, but the scholar still tried his best to clean himself up. His messy hair hung down, and his delicate face was still white. The person who teased him looked down and saw his white calves. They knew he wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

The man looked him up and down and had some thoughts: “There was a haystack behind the temple. Go and accompany me once and make me feel comfortable. I will feed you roast chicken, okay?”

The scholar hadn’t communicated with anyone for a long time, and his brain was a little slow. He raised his eyes to look at the man but didn’t see the sinisterness hidden in the man’s eyes. He lowered his head again and nodded dully.

“Let’s go then.”

The scholar got up and followed the man, walking to the haystack behind the temple. There were stone statues blocking it all around, and no one usually came here.

He quietly climbed up the haystack. The man asked him to lift up his clothes, so he did so obediently. However, the moment his hand touched the man, he trembled, as if he had regained consciousness.

There was warmth in his palm, which seemed to be completely different from what he had thought. Suddenly, the scholar’s eyes, which had been confused for months, finally became clear. He struggled hoarsely, kicked the man away, and hurriedly tried to run out.

“No, no…”

The man held him down and tried to force him.

“Go away, go away!” The scholar shouted in panic, his long hair falling down as he was roughly pressed on the haystack. There was no one in the Snake Immortal Temple at that moment, and he struggled desperately, “Go away!”

With a “pop” sound, the man slapped him unceremoniously.

“Didn’t you promise me just now? Why are you so crazy now?”

“I don’t want it, I don’t want it anymore, I don’t want roasted chicken…” the scholar cried. “I don’t want roasted chicken, please let me go.”

The man ignored him, pressed up, and tore his clothes.

How could someone run away from the negotiated deal? No matter how hard the scholar cried, the man just wanted to feel comfortable. A low hissing sound gradually came from the Snake Immortal Temple.

With a “pop” sound, the man slapped the scholar viciously again. Half of his delicate and fair face almost immediately swelled up. The scholar was about to pass out. He had been hungry and tired for the past few days and had no strength to struggle. The man didn’t hear the hissing sound behind him, but a smile appeared on his face when he saw this.

“This is called being well-behaved. You just have to serve me well. When the time comes, I’ll see your worth and give you some benefits.”

“No…”

The scholar couldn’t help but clench his fingers, and in his semi-drowsiness, he thought of the snake demon. People in the village said that the snake immortal would never change his wife after he chose one, but he was an abandoned snake wife. Even if he was in the snake immortal temple, the snake immortal might not protect him.

He had nothing to fight for.

The next moment, the tail of the snake that appeared out of nowhere wrapped around the waist of the person on top of him and slapped him heavily against the wall nearby. The scholar’s pupils shrank, and then his eyes were covered by a pair of cold hands.

Only his ears could hear the screams of the man, as if the snake wanted to return the two slaps to the scholar. The snake’s tail wrapped around the man and slapped him against the wall seven or eight times. The sound was loud one after another until the screams stopped suddenly. The scholar was so frightened that he tensed up and wanted to break free from the shackles of his hands. However, the next moment, the familiar snake’s tail wrapped around his ankle again.

“No!” he exclaimed.

“Wife…” In his ears, it suddenly sounded like the whisper of the snake demon, with a low and hoarse voice. “Wife… back…”

Note:

Snake is trying to say, “Honey, I’m back.”