005 Bad Snake
Silence spread.
The shelter she had spent all afternoon building had collapsed… just like that.
Yu Chujin’s small fists clenched so tightly her knuckles cracked.
The large snake blinked, its gaze darting away, not daring to look at her. It seemed to realize it had caused trouble and hastily tried to right the collapsed shelter with its tail.
It successfully propped up the fallen shelter. The large snake’s eyes lit up, and it immediately turned to Yu Chujin, seeking praise.
The praise-seeking lasted for a second. The next second, the shelter collapsed again, kicking up another cloud of dust.
The large snake frantically tried to right it once more, and in the process, completely dismantled what had merely been a collapsed shelter.
A complete mess lay on the ground.
Yu Chujin’s eye twitched.
The large snake retracted its tail, its eyes avoiding hers, looking left and right, pretending to be busy. It might as well have had “guilty” written all over its face.
Sometimes, she really wanted to hit someone—no, hit a snake.
But faced with its enormous size, Yu Chujin chose to swallow her anger meekly.
She swallowed her anger for two seconds, then looked at the completely dismantled shelter and instantly couldn’t swallow it anymore.
She picked up the rock from the ground and held it high above her head.
The large snake reacted instantly. The moment Yu Chujin picked up the rock, it shot off with a whoosh.
It ran quite fast. Watching the large snake run off and hide behind a tree, Yu Chujin pouted and casually tossed the rock aside. She hadn’t really intended to hit it with the rock; she was just annoyed and wanted to scare it a little.
Seeing that she had scared the snake, Yu Chujin felt a little better.
She sighed and, as if resigned to her fate, began to rebuild the collapsed shelter.
The large snake had carelessly slapped the shelter with its tail, causing the ropes to snap, which led to the collapse. All she had to do was re-tie the ropes, so it wasn’t too much trouble.
Yu Chujin carefully re-tied the ropes and re-laid the leaves. In a short while, the shelter was built once again.
This time, she didn’t rush to crawl inside to rest. Instead, she prepared to give the large snake a proper warning to prevent it from demolishing her shelter again.
She picked up the snake-threatening rock and walked toward the tree in the distance. Halfway there, she stopped.
Where’s the snake? Why is it gone?
Yu Chujin looked around but still couldn’t see any trace of the large snake.
Her brow furrowed. She had gotten used to it following her and sticking to her all the time. Its sudden disappearance was unsettling.
The sun sank below the horizon, and the sky gradually darkened.
Waves lapped against the shore from time to time, and the wind whistling through the trees behind her made creaking noises.
Yu Chujin swallowed and looked into the depths of the forest. It was a pitch-black mass, so terrifying it felt like it could suck a person in.
Her hands, hanging at her sides, unconsciously clenched into fists. She mustered her courage and called out.
“Snake? Snake, where did you go? Are you still there?”
The snake, which had previously responded immediately whenever she called, now gave no reply even after she called several times.
Yu Chujin bit her lip and took a deep breath, trying to calm her rising panic.
It’s okay, it’s okay. No tigers or lions will come out of the forest. There are no ghosts in this world. I have to believe in science, don’t be afraid, don’t scare myself.
She tried to comfort herself for a long time, but to no effect. In fact, she became even more frightened. The slightest rustle from the forest made Yu Chujin jump like a startled bird.
She had previously disliked the giant python for its scary appearance. Now that it was gone, Yu Chujin realized that its absence was what was truly terrifying.
Did I go too far by scaring it with the rock just now? Did it get angry and leave?
If I had known, I wouldn’t have scared it.
So what if the shelter collapsed? It wasn’t a big deal. Besides, it didn’t do it on purpose. It was just curious and wanted to pat the shelter. How could I blame it?
It’s just a snake. What does it know? What bad intentions could it have?
Yu Chujin was filled with infinite regret.
But then again, the snake was so big. All she did was scare it with a rock. How could it be so petty? How could it just leave without even saying goodbye? So disloyal.
It’s so disloyal! It’s not a good snake!
One moment, Yu Chujin felt she had gone too far. The next, she thought the large snake was petty. One moment, she thought she was in the wrong. The next, she thought the snake was in the wrong.
She sat on the ground dejectedly. It was too late for regrets now; the large snake was already gone.
As her spirits sank, a sound came from the distance. Yu Chujin immediately sat up straight, her eyes warily fixed on the source of the sound.
Something in the forest seemed to be approaching her.
Yu Chujin picked up the rock, her body tense and her expression guarded. When she saw clearly what was approaching, her expression froze, and then she relaxed completely.
It was the large snake.
“You’re still here! I thought you had left!”
Yu Chujin excitedly jogged over. She had never felt so fond of the large snake before.
She gave it a warm welcome, but the large snake shrank back.
Yu Chujin: “?”
She looked down at the rock in her hand, realized the problem, and quickly tossed it aside.
“I won’t scare you with the rock anymore. Don’t be afraid. It was my fault just now. I shouldn’t have scared you with the rock.” Yu Chujin was afraid it would leave again, so she took the initiative to apologize, demonstrating her flexibility.
Before, she had wished it would leave and stop loitering around her. Now, she was terrified of it leaving.
Although the giant python was scary-looking, she had to admit that over the past two days, this large snake had given her a great sense of security and had helped her a lot.
Seeing that the rock had been thrown away, the large snake immediately beamed with joy. Although its large snake head didn’t seem to have eyebrows, Yu Chujin just felt that the snake was beaming.
“You’re smiling. If you’re smiling, it means you’re not angry anymore. And if you’re not angry, you can’t leave. You can’t leave me, you know? We’re friends, and friends have to be loyal. You have to be a loyal snake.”
Yu Chujin began to PUA it, trying to coax it, even though it couldn’t understand.
The large snake flicked its tail, and a rabbit was flung to Yu Chujin’s feet.
It was a white rabbit, motionless, with blood on its neck. It was clearly dead.
Yu Chujin was slightly taken aback. So the snake had gone hunting for a rabbit. Could it be that it had brought the rabbit as an apology for destroying her shelter?
The large snake used its tail to push the rabbit toward her.
Yu Chujin pointed to herself. “For me?”
The large snake blinked, as if eagerly anticipating her eating it, urging her with its eyes.
Yu Chujin rubbed her nose. She wanted to eat it too, but she had no fire to cook it. She couldn’t possibly eat it raw.
After two days of eating coconuts, her mouth was practically tasteless. She craved meat, but not to the extent that she could stomach raw meat.
Seeing Yu Chujin’s inaction, the large snake tilted its head to the left, a puzzled expression on its face, as if asking, Aren’t you hungry? Aren’t you going to eat?
“I don’t eat raw food. I’ll eat it tomorrow after I figure out how to make a fire,” Yu Chujin said, squatting down and poking the dead rabbit with her finger. “I just don’t know if the rabbit will spoil by tomorrow in this heat.”
The large snake looked at the biped squatting on the ground, staring blankly at the rabbit. It tilted its head to the left, then to the right, in confusion.
The next moment, the large snake coiled its tail around the rabbit, opened its large mouth, and swallowed it in one gulp.
Yu Chujin was stunned for a moment. “Wasn’t that for me? Wasn’t it an apology? Why did you eat it yourself?”
You could have at least left me half!
Oh well, what’s eaten is eaten. I don’t have a fire right now anyway. It’s better than letting it spoil and go to waste.
“You’ve eaten this one, so that’s that. But after I make a fire, you have to get me another one. Hunting should be easy for you, right?” Yu Chujin negotiated with it.
To survive here, the primary concern was food. Yu Chujin naturally wouldn’t pass up the shortcut of having the large snake bring her food. It was much simpler than her trying to fish.
As Yu Chujin was negotiating with it in a pleasant tone, she saw the large snake suddenly spit something out.
The large snake had spat the rabbit back out.
Yu Chujin was bewildered…
The large snake tilted its head. Seeing that Yu Chujin still wasn’t moving, it once again coiled its tail around the rabbit, swallowed it, and then spat it out a few seconds later.
It repeated this action over and over: swallow, spit out, spit out, swallow.
Yu Chujin remained bewildered, and she silently took a few steps back. What is this snake doing, eating and spitting, spitting and eating?
Has the snake gone mad or something?
The large snake pushed the saliva-covered rabbit to Yu Chujin’s feet again.
It took Yu Chujin a moment to realize. She couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. “You don’t think I don’t know how to eat a rabbit and are trying to teach me, do you?”
The large snake lifted its chin, gesturing for her to eat quickly, and made a chewing motion, as if to say, Just chew like this, and then swallow.
Yu Chujin laughed. It really was trying to teach her how to eat.
Yu Chujin stubbornly refused to eat the rabbit, and the large snake became so anxious that it circled around her.
After a long stalemate, the large snake confirmed that Yu Chujin wasn’t going to eat. It began to paw at the rabbit with its tail, examining it from all angles.
It hung its head, looking troubled, as if it couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t eat the rabbit.
This reminded Yu Chujin of her Da Huang. Once, when she was sick, Da Huang had brought its favorite snack to her bedside. Naturally, Yu Chujin couldn’t eat it. Da Huang didn’t understand and kept pawing at it, trying to get her to eat. After she refused several times, Da Huang took the snack away, looking troubled.
Da Huang’s troubled expression at that time was remarkably similar to the large snake’s troubled expression now.
It really was a dog-like snake.
Yu Chujin felt a sudden urge to pat its snake head, just like she would pat her Da Huang. But faced with its enormous size, she hesitated.
She could pat Da Huang, but she didn’t dare to pat a large snake.
The temperature difference between day and night on the beach was significant. As soon as it got dark, the temperature dropped by several degrees.
Yu Chujin wrapped her windbreaker tighter around herself and prepared to crawl into her shelter to rest.
Before she went in, she remembered something. She turned to look at the large snake, which was still moping over the rabbit. “Snake, you can’t pat my shelter anymore, you know?”
Hearing her voice, the large snake turned its head to look at her, tilting its head as it tried to decipher the meaning of her words. But after a long analysis, it clearly didn’t understand. It turned back and continued to mope over the rabbit.
Yu Chujin found it amusing. Just because she didn’t eat the rabbit it brought, did it have to look so dejected? Looking at its aggrieved expression, anyone who didn’t know better would think she had done something terrible to it.
She decided to ignore it. After telling it not to pat her shelter, Yu Chujin crawled inside, lay down flat, let out a long sigh, and closed her eyes to welcome sleep.
A rustling sound came from outside.
Yu Chujin propped herself up on her arms and poked her head out to look. The sight startled her.
Two glowing green eyes were staring straight at her.
Yu Chujin’s heart skipped a beat.
The owner of the green eyes was none other than the large snake. The large snake was curiously peeking in, and its large head was even trying to squeeze inside.
Yu Chujin quickly shouted to stop it, “Stop, stop, stop! If you break my shelter again, I’ll get angry with you, believe it or not.”
As she spoke, she raised her small fist in a warning gesture.
Such a threat had no deterrent effect, but the large snake stopped. It hissed twice, pouted, and retreated aggrievedly.
Seeing the large snake leave, Yu Chujin breathed a sigh of relief.
After lying down for a short while, she felt uneasy again. She crawled out and saw the large snake coiled on a large tree nearby, not too far away. Only then did she completely relax.
The large snake couldn’t be too close, but it couldn’t be too far either. After all, its presence gave her a great sense of security.
Seeing Yu Chujin come out, the large snake’s eyes glowed in the dark, and it excitedly came down from the tree.
Yu Chujin waved her hand. “Stay on the tree.”
The large snake hissed unhappily twice, then reluctantly turned back to the tree, looking back every three steps.
Yu Chujin nodded. Not bad, very obedient.
The next morning when she opened her eyes, Yu Chujin retracted her pre-sleep assessment of its obedience, because…
