The caged white rabbit twitched its three-petaled mouth. Probably underfed, it wasn’t very plump—for a fluffy creature, it looked unhealthily skinny. But its eyes brimmed with wariness as it scanned around. Spotting people, it promptly flipped belly-up and fainted spectacularly.
Mu Qian Tan opened the trap, grabbed the white rabbit by the scruff, and shook her vigorously to wake her.
As the rabbit’s eyes fluttered open, Mu Qian Tan was about to speak when it let out a whimper and fainted again.
This back-and-forth repeated several times, with her fainting each go. The last time, a large wet patch soaked her rear, her fur pitifully matted.
Shang Shan craned her neck for a look. “She peed herself in fear and fainted again.”
What a ridiculously timid thing—utterly useless. Mu Qian Tan’s face darkened as she tossed the white rabbit back into the trap to fend for herself. Shang Shan followed, picked up the white rabbit, cradled her, and used a leaf to wipe her butt.
They headed to the next trap site. Before reaching the bushes, they heard flapping wings and loud clucking shrieks. Mu Qian Tan parted the branches and saw an old mother hen trapped inside, pecking frantically in agitation, feathers flying and dirt spraying as she tried to escape.
Spotting someone approach, the old mother hen screeched, “My children! I want my children!”
Mu Qian Tan said, “Calm down. Answer my questions right, and I’ll let you go.”
The old mother hen’s eyes nearly bulged out, her thoughts scrambled by anxiety. “My children! I have to go back! They’re going to eat my children!”
Shang Shan said, “How about letting her see her kids first, then ask? She’s been locked up half the night—she must be desperate.”
The old mother hen thrashed her head wildly, battering the cage. “My children! Aaaah!”
“Enough, shut up.” The shrieks pierced her ears. Mu Qian Tan’s tone sharpened as she waved the trap open.
The old mother hen burst out and took flight like a rocket, legs blurring as she raced toward her nest. Mu Qian Tan followed close behind and soon arrived beneath a massive tree.
A cavity in the trunk, wide enough for three people to embrace, held a nest of leaves, twigs, and mud below. It brimmed with yellow chicks, all mouths agape and cheeping hungrily.
The old mother hen dove into the nest, kissing each chick in a frenzy, then hugged them with her wings before gradually regaining her senses.
Seeing someone standing outside, she realized she’d led enemies home. Despair filled her eyes as she pressed her wings together and wailed skyward, “Great King! Spare me, Great King! I have eighteen children at home—they can’t go without their main hen!”
“….” Mu Qian Tan said, “Answer my questions correctly, and I’ll let you go.”
The old mother hen puffed out her chest. “Ask away, Great King! I’ll tell you everything I know!”
As Mu Qian Tan opened her mouth to speak, a shadow darted from beside her straight into the nest depths, pinning something. The old mother hen shielded her chicks and cried out before realizing the pounced target wasn’t one of hers. She turned to look.
Shang Shan emerged from the tree hollow, hair and face smeared with mud and leaf bits. Something wriggled wildly in her arms. She blew upward to clear her bangs and extended her hand—clutching a light brown weasel.
“She was hiding deep in the tree hollow—I found her!” Shang Shan held the rabbit in one hand and the weasel in the other, beaming proudly. “I bet she wanted to eat the chicks and hid when we showed up. But my eyes are sharp—I spotted her right away.”
The Old Mother Hen was utterly shocked. She counted her chicks and found not a single one missing before she finally relaxed. Mu Qian Tan was speechless at the situation for a moment and had no desire to deal with her. She said to the Old Mother Hen, “Let me ask you—have you seen a little snake called Red Satin?”
The Old Mother Hen shook her head rapidly. “No, but I’ve seen earthworms.”
After all that bustling around, this was the answer they got. Mu Qian Tan suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. She was just about to check the other traps when she suddenly heard the Weasel call out, “Great King, Great King, please wait.”
Mu Qian Tan turned back. The Weasel rubbed her two black little paws together and smiled obsequiously. “Is the Great King looking for a snake?”
Mu Qian Tan asked, “Do you know it?”
The Weasel said, “I don’t know it, but I’ve dug through countless snake dens. I might be able to find the one you’re looking for based on your description.”
Mu Qian Tan stepped closer. “Is that so?”
The Weasel said, “Yes, yes! As long as the Great King grants me one request…”
“What makes you qualified to make demands?” Mu Qian Tan gazed at her calmly, her dark eyes devoid of light. “If you have no value to me, I could crush your neck with a single hand. Do you understand your situation?”
Animals that had cultivated human-like intelligence generally had flexible and adaptable minds. The Weasel slapped herself across the face and immediately smiled apologetically. “Aiya, look at this little one’s mouth. It’s not a demand—it’s a request. The Great King is an immortal from the heavens, while I’m just dust from the earth. I only occasionally look up, hoping to bask in the immortal’s radiance.”
Mu Qian Tan was pleased. She lowered her gaze and straightened her sleeve cuff. “Speak.”
“Right away!” The Weasel grinned until her face wrinkled. Even with her scruff held in Mu Qian Tan’s grip, she gestured animatedly. “It’s like this: our Sweet Spring Mountain got its name because there’s a spring at the peak that flows with nectar-like immortal water.”
“In the past, this was a paradise. Then an immortal passed by, saw the fine scenery and the sweet spring to drink from, with abundant spiritual power, and chose to cultivate here. That wouldn’t have been a problem, but this immortal was extremely selfish… Not that all immortals are selfish—you’re not, I just… Ah, okay, I’ll continue…”
“We could have coexisted peacefully—we’d encountered passing travelers like that before. But this immortal, to avoid disturbance from fish, insects, beasts, and birds, waved his sleeve and covered Sweet Spring Mountain with a magic array.”
“That caused us endless suffering. Once the magic array was set, no outside creatures except humans could enter, and nothing inside could leave. We were all trapped.”
“And that wasn’t the end of it. He waved his sleeve again and wiped out more than half the living creatures on the mountain—flying in the sky, swimming in the water, running on the ground, burrowing in holes. None escaped the catastrophe. Wails echoed everywhere, but the immortal neither saw nor heard. He sat by the spring cultivating every day and never came down the mountain, yet those below suffered because of him, with countless lives lost.”
“But it still didn’t end there—and here’s the key part. After staying for a while, the immortal decided the place wasn’t that great after all. The nectar water tasted ordinary after too much. So he waved his sleeve once more and rode a cloud away. His departure should have been good news, but he didn’t remove the magic array. We’re still trapped!”
“There aren’t many creatures left here now. And at some point, the trees stopped sprouting new buds or bearing fruit. They look full of life on the surface, but inside they’re rotten. We’re all just starving to death one by one…”
Mu Qian Tan understood why the place was so eerily quiet, without even a bird’s cry.
“But heaven never seals all paths. One time, while foraging up the mountain, I discovered the array’s core was right in the spring. I immediately wanted to lead my friends to destroy it, but I was stopped by a One-Armed Gorilla.”
The White Rabbit had just fluttered her eyelashes and opened her eyes. Upon hearing “One-Armed Gorilla,” she rolled her eyes back and fainted again.
The Weasel continued, “I heard that one of the gorilla’s arms was torn off by a Tiger Demon. He fled all the way to Sweet Spring Mountain, right when the magic array was set. The tiger couldn’t get in, so he escaped. After that, he survived the immortal’s sweeping sleeve by luck. Once the immortal left, he became the strongest on the mountain. He grew savage and tyrannical. Even united, we couldn’t beat him, so we gave up destroying the magic array and could only hide and cower helplessly.”
Shang Shan asked, “Is he afraid the tiger will come after him again, so he won’t let anyone break the array? But maybe the tiger left long ago—why doesn’t he go out and check?”
The Weasel clenched her fists furiously. “Of course he won’t! He knows full well that outside this mountain, he won’t be the strongest anymore. He can’t strut around like he does now. So even though food is scarce inside, he absolutely refuses to let anyone destroy the barrier. He wants to play king until he devours the last creature on this mountain!”
Mu Qian Tan thought to herself: This was a perfect example of that old saying. No tigers in the mountain, so the monkey proclaims himself king.
“What a wicked beast!” Shang Shan spat angrily, then immediately said, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely help you drive away that gorilla and break the magic array! You’ll all be free!”
The Weasel’s face bloomed with a smile. She clasped her paws together. “Thank you so much, Great King. This one will never forget your great kindness and virtue.”
Mu Qian Tan reached out and flicked the girl on the forehead. “Did I give the order? You agree so quickly—do you know what that gorilla is capable of? Can you even kill him?”
Shang Shan shrank back. “We can at least give it a try.”
Seeing this, the Weasel eagerly added, “That gorilla is just a bit stronger than us little demons. He can’t compare to an immortal like you. Surely the gorilla is no match for the immortal!”
Mu Qian Tan said, “Find Red Satin first, then I’ll consider whether to act.”
Shang Shan was delighted too and set the Weasel down. “My master is very capable at hunting demons. You’ll see soon enough.”
“Meeting you two is Sweet Spring Mountain’s fortune,” the Weasel said gratefully. She bowed to them both. “This one will go look right away. May I ask what that snake looks like?”
Mu Qian Tan picked out the key features. “It’s entirely red, with a three-petal plum blossom scar on its head. It’s quite thin—easy to miss if you don’t look closely.”
The Weasel said, “Got it, Great King. Don’t worry—I’ve dug every snake den on Sweet Spring Mountain. I’ll definitely find it for you.” With that, she twisted around and burrowed into the bushes, rustling away until she vanished.
The Old Mother Hen emerged from the tree hollow at that moment and spoke up. “I’ll help you search too. The sooner we find it, the sooner I can take my children away from this troublesome place!”
Mu Qian Tan said nothing. Shang Shan said, “Good, go ahead. I’ll watch your eighteen chicks for you.”
After the Old Mother Hen left, Shang Shan sat cross-legged in front of the tree hollow. She reached out to tease the cheeping chicks and laughed. “So cute.”
A weasel and a mountain hen—this bizarre team. Who knew how long it would take to find what they sought. Mu Qian Tan was about to check the other traps when she suddenly spotted a thread-like red strand swaying up from between Shang Shan’s hair.
“…No way.” Mu Qian Tan murmured in disbelief. She stepped forward, parted Shang Shan’s black hair, and pinched out a red thread from it. The unbound hair cascaded down instantly, flowing like black spring water.
“Why are you messing up my hair?” Shang Shan clutched the back of her head and turned to ask.
Mu Qian Tan held the snake by its seven-inch vital spot, with the rest of its body coiled around her wrist. The tiny tail tip brushed her skin, bringing a faint itch.
But now, she felt no itch at all. She stared at the snake’s thin flickering tongue and the three-petal plum blossom on its head. Gritting her teeth, she said, “You… used a snake to tie up your hair and felt nothing?”
“Huh?” Shang Shan was stunned. “I just grabbed it while climbing the tree. It felt soft, so I used it. I didn’t know it was…”
She set down the rabbit and stood up from the ground. “Is this the snake you’re looking for?”
![Why You Get to Be the Protagonist? [Transmigration]](https://i3.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/masterr.png?resize=151,215 "Why You Get to Be the Protagonist? [Transmigration]")
