Do You Want a Wife or Not?

After a long time, the scholar stood awkwardly by the firewood pile, watching the snake demon’s thick tail coiled in a circle as it stared at him faintly.

“Hiss, hiss.”

The snake demon stared for a long time, a strange light shining in its vertical pupils, with two fangs exposed. Its tail nudged the bloody pheasant forward, placing it in front of the scholar as if signalling him to eat it and replenish his strength.

“Hiss.”

“But this is raw… I can’t eat it directly,” the scholar mumbled, unsure how to explain to the snake demon that he couldn’t eat raw food. It was clear the snake demon couldn’t understand such complicated language. After a long silence, the scholar hesitantly pushed the chicken back toward it. “You first?”

The snake demon’s tail slapped the ground heavily.

“I’ll eat, I’ll eat,” the scholar stammered in alarm, hurriedly agreeing. Squatting down in embarrassment, he pulled the pheasant closer but had no idea what to do with it. The feathers on the chicken’s neck had been bitten to pieces, and its blood had pooled on the ground. The scholar wasn’t a beast that could eat flesh and blood raw, and he couldn’t bring himself to devour it alive just to please the snake demon.

Tentatively, he picked up the pheasant and found the snake demon’s piercing gaze fixed on him.

“I’ll wash it before eating, okay?” the scholar said, bringing the pheasant over to a pond. He gestured to pour water over it and nervously glanced at the snake demon. “You can only eat it after washing.”

The snake demon seemed to understand, slapping the pheasant into the water with its tail.

A splash of water drenched the scholar. He lowered his head in frustration, picked up the pheasant, and began washing and plucking its feathers with resignation.

The pond water flowed from an underground spring, so any residue and blood would drain away with the current, leaving no concern about polluting the water. As the scholar cleaned the pheasant, he felt the intense heat of the snake demon’s gaze on him. The sensation prickled his nerves, making him feel exposed.

Though he doubted the snake demon fully understood such matters, the scholar couldn’t help but feel uneasy as his wet clothes clung to his body. The thin fabric revealed faint outlines beneath, the dampness emphasizing certain features.

Once the pheasant was cleaned, the scholar stood up, looking for a branch to skewer it. Before he could move, the snake demon’s tail wrapped around him and pulled him into its arms.

He let out a startled cry, placing his hands on the snake demon’s chest to push himself away. He could feel the snake demon’s cold, eerie eyes scrutinizing him. Slowly, it raised its hand.

The hand didn’t resemble a human hand. It had one more finger than usual, with a rough, hard texture. The fingertips were thin and sharp, more like claws. As the snake demon reached toward him, the scholar froze, too terrified to move. He turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the snake demon’s fingers slowly trail up his chest and stop at a sensitive spot.

Suddenly, the scholar’s face turned red.

As if curious, the snake demon’s fingertips gently fiddled with that sensitive spot. The scholar bit his lower lip uncontrollably and tilted his neck back in half-suffering.

Then he felt both of the snake demon’s hands reaching out to explore the changes in his body. The palms were as warm as its tail, making his expression shift slightly. Trapped in the snake demon’s arms, he trembled slightly, feeling that as the hands tested back and forth, something within him was gradually changing in a way he couldn’t control.

Inside the cave, faint, intermittent sounds echoed.

It wasn’t until an unknown amount of time had passed that the snake demon finally let him go. By then, he was already limp. His entire body slid downward but was caught by the snake’s tail, which lifted him slightly to keep him from collapsing completely. The snake demon then took the pheasant and urged the scholar to eat quickly.

“You have to use fire to cook it… you can eat it only when it’s cooked,” the scholar muttered, turning his head away. The tips of his ears were still red, but he noticed that this snake demon was clearly inexperienced, not understanding anything at all. Yet, its actions were driven by instinct, making the situation almost torturous for him.

Slowly, he crawled over to conceal the strangeness in his lower body, lit the firewood pile with a flame, and glanced back at the snake demon.

“Fire,” he said, pointing to the burning flames. He placed the pheasant on a branch and demonstrated to the snake demon, “Use fire to roast it. You can eat it only after it’s cooked.”

The snake demon stared at him silently.

The scholar waited by the fire, turning the pheasant slowly as it roasted.

When the chicken was nearly cooked, the scholar tore off one of the legs and tentatively handed it to the snake demon. Then he tore off the other leg, gesturing for them to eat together.

The snake demon’s golden eyes shifted from his body to his face, studying him strangely for a moment. Then its mouth suddenly opened, and before the scholar could react, it elegantly swallowed the entire chicken leg.

For a moment, the scholar’s hand felt wet, and he was certain the forked tongue had licked his fingertips.

The snake’s tail slapped the ground again, and its golden pupils moved in an unresponsive way, but the scholar sensed a strange pleasure radiating from it.

“…”

Even though the snake demon was half-transformed into a human form, its rows of human-like teeth seemed to serve no purpose.

By the time the last third of the pheasant had disappeared into the snake demon’s belly, the scholar was already half full. He washed his hands by the pool. Just as he finished washing, the snake’s tail coiled around him once more, wrapping tightly around his waist and dragging him back into its arms.

The scholar stumbled into the snake demon’s chest, raising his head in surprise to meet its cold, golden eyes.

When he looked into those golden vertical pupils, he was no longer as frightened as before, though the snake scales still felt scratchy. He gently pressed his hand against the scales, signalling the snake demon to let go of him.

The snake’s tail lifted his gown and patted his buttocks several times.

“Feed my wife, eat.”

The scholar suddenly understood what the snake demon meant. It was clear that it wasn’t just chickens the demon wanted to feed him, but other things as well. He quickly struggled to escape from the restraints and tried his best to explain to the snake demon.

“No, this is not allowed.”

“Why?” The snake demon asked slowly, eyeing him. “Fine to my wife.”

“… it will be uncomfortable.” The scholar could only offer this excuse. He tentatively looked at the snake demon and raised his eyes. “I feel uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable.”

“Yeah.” The scholar wasn’t sure if the snake demon understood what it meant to feel uncomfortable. He grabbed the snake demon’s arm, lowered his head, and took a bite. “It feels uncomfortable.”

In reality, it wasn’t too uncomfortable, but it was a snake’s tail after all, and it wasn’t something the scholar could easily accept. The snake demon, however, seemed intent on feeding him snake juice using its tail.

“I’ll just eat the pheasant,” the scholar lowered his head. “Thank you.”

The snake demon stared at him hesitantly, unsure of what to make of it. Maybe it was trying to figure out how to make him feel more comfortable. After a while, the snake demon raised its hand again and patted his back, as it had done the night before.

The scholar didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The snake demon must have learned this gesture from the women at the foot of the mountain. In the village, the women would pat their children on the back after feeding them or when they cried endlessly, saying something like, “The children are good and don’t feel uncomfortable anymore.” The snake demon had probably seen this and, only half-understood, tried to replicate the gesture.

In truth, this snake demon was likely not as violent or evil as he had once thought. It was an unintentional mistake that had made him homeless now.

He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment.

“You don’t have a name yet, do you?”

The snake demon stared at him.

“How about I give you a name?” the scholar asked. “From now on, when I call you that name, you have to come…”

“Hiss.”

“How about I call you Xuan Si?” The scholar tilted his head slightly. “Because your snake scales are black, and you like to hiss.”

“Xuan——Si——” The scholar and the snake demon exchanged looks as the scholar said the name, word by word, as though it were the first time they had truly connected.

The snake’s tail suddenly lifted his buttocks, raising him very high. The scholar let out a low cry, instinctively grabbing the snake’s tail and clamping it between his legs. Xuan Si came closer, staring directly at him with golden pupils.

For the first time, the scholar felt bold. He gently asked, “Do you like this name?”

“Hiss.”