The Little Peacock Raises a Snake (GL) Chapter 3

This house had a table and a bed. Its furnishings were elegant. It clearly was not something a mountain pheasant with low spiritual power and no human form could have built.
The true owner of this place had to be someone else.
The green-necked pheasant had said before that aside from her brother, she was the greatest demon in Wuyou Valley.
In that case, the owner of this room should be the green-necked pheasant’s pheasant brother.
Who knew what kind of pheasant he was? Would he be just as ignorant as this little fool, mistake her for a snake, and even call her ugly?
“Little Black! Little Black, time to eat!”
Fu Xiaoba carefully carried over a large bowl. Her little wings, which usually could not hold anything steady, trembled the whole way. Only after she safely placed the bowl beside the little black snake did she let out a long breath.
She was only a peacock who had not taken human form yet. Usually, Fu Zhuochen took care of her. Now that it was her turn to care for another demon, she finally realized that simple-looking tasks were completely different with hands and with wings. The first was easy. The second was terribly hard.
The little black snake, lying in the peacock nest, saw the whole clumsy scene. Fu Xiaoba was not embarrassed. She puffed out her chest, raised her head, and used her little claws to push the big bowl closer to Little Black. “Eat up. You were unconscious for so many days. Other than water, I could not feed you anything. You must be starving!”
When Little Black heard this, much of the dislike and dissatisfaction in her heart scattered.
Right now, her body hurt and her belly was hungry. This little demon might be ignorant, but she had shown kindness. First she had helped bandage her wounds, then kindly offered food and shelter. When Little Black’s injuries healed a little more, she should repay her in some small way.
Thinking this, Little Black stretched her neck and glanced into the dish. In an instant, she lost all appetite. Her head drooped, and she shrank back into the nest, closing both eyes as if she loved no one in the world.
Fu Xiaoba blinked in confusion. She lowered her head and looked at the fresh insects of every kind in the bowl, then tilted her head and asked, “Not to your taste? Do you snakes not eat these?”
“Hiss…”
Little Black turned her head the other way. Her eyes opened the thinnest crack, and that crack was filled with the words life has no meaning.
She, a great demon whose name made people tremble, had fallen to this state. Hungry, tired, hurting everywhere, and being fed insects by a green-necked pheasant who thought she was ugly… It truly exhausted the body and soul.
The fine meal Fu Xiaoba had worked so hard to prepare had been rejected, so her mood was not wonderful either. But Little Black was a patient, and Fu Xiaoba could not lose her temper. She had to circle around the small nest Little Black had taken over, thinking as she went.
She circled and circled until even Little Black grew dizzy from watching. Only then did she stop, turn, and rush out of the bedroom like the wind.
Little Black froze. For no reason, disappointment rose in her heart.
Was that pheasant just abandoning her?
Was she being disliked for being picky?
Little Black would never have imagined that at her age, there would still come a day when she was disliked for being picky about food.
She lifted her head and glanced at the still-lively insects in the bowl. A wave of hurt rose in her heart, and she quickly curled her bandage-swollen little body even tighter.
Do not look. Do not eat. She would not starve to death…
Little Black was still feeling wronged when strange sounds began coming from outside the room, one after another.
The sounds did not seem good. Sure enough, before long, the air outside was full of gray smoke, and a choking burnt smell drifted in.
After some time, the green-necked pheasant, already yellow to begin with, returned to the room looking black all over.
This time, she brought a bowl of cooked food: lean meat porridge with a few leaves floating in it.
It looked terrible, but at least it was much better than those moving insects.
Fu Xiaoba set the porridge bowl on the floor, lifted her head and chest, and placed her wings behind her back. Though she was filthy from head to toe, her whole body gave off a strange confidence.
“Eat. Eat, eat. Little Black, eat this!”
When Fu Xiaoba had been young, if there were insects, she ate insects. If there were no insects, she ate fruit. Back then, she had never eaten anything good, so naturally she had not thought raw food was bad. But after following Fu Zhuochen, her meals improved, and her taste became much pickier.
She did not know what snakes usually liked to eat. But since Little Black was a demon, she should be able to eat cooked food.
It was just that Fu Zhuochen usually handled all the food and drink. Fu Xiaoba had only watched from the side a few times and truly had no experience. For this bowl of porridge, she had nearly blown up the kitchen and roasted herself.
No matter what, she had made something. Although the kitchen was now a mess, she was still happy.
Little Black hesitated for a while. Then she slowly crawled out of the nest, moved close to the somewhat burnt porridge, and sniffed for a long time. In the end, she could not withstand hunger and slurped it all down.
It tasted especially awful. Yet it filled her belly and warmed her stomach.
Fine. She would not be picky. This pheasant had not even taken human form. Being able to make cooked food was already very difficult.
She would accept this kindness.
*
Ever since she picked up Little Black, Fu Xiaoba became much more diligent.
On normal days, if she could lie down, she would never stand. If she could stand still, she would never take a step. Yet all of a sudden, she started running around inside and outside for Little Black.
First, the daily disaster cooking was essential.
Second, the medicine and bandages on Little Black’s wounds had to be changed often.
It was the fault of snakes. They always curled and crawled on the ground, so their bodies got dirty too easily.
Fu Xiaoba said, “Can you snakes not care about cleanliness a little more?”
Little Black did not want to speak and could not speak, so she threw Fu Xiaoba a hard eye roll.
It had to be said that Fu Xiaoba was a very strange pheasant. Sometimes she loved to move. Sometimes she loved to be still.
Little Black only wanted to recover quietly, but Fu Xiaoba refused to let her off. Every day, she found all kinds of new ways to fuss over her.
During the day, when Fu Xiaoba went out to relax, leaving Little Black alone in the bamboo courtyard would clearly have been nice and easy. But Fu Xiaoba had to say, “There are many birds of prey in the mountains. Your injuries have not healed. It is too dangerous for you to stay home! Come outside with me for some air. I will protect you and show you around our Wuyou Valley. You have not seen much of it, right? It is very beautiful!”
Then, using this as her reason, she carried Little Black in her beak and ran all over the mountains every day.
After running for a while, when she seemed tired, she would find a quiet place and set Little Black down. Then she would ask, “Little Black, isn’t this place pretty?”
After that, she would lie on the ground alone and stare into space. After staring for a while, if she saw Little Black was bored at her side, she would pull her closer with one wing and tell her dull stories. Once she started, she would talk for half the day and would not return home until dark.
Most of those stories came from old human storybooks. Yet Fu Xiaoba loved telling them again and again, back and forth, as if aside from those old stories, there was nothing else in her mind.
Especially the story about the white snake repaying a kindness. Little Black heard it so many times that her ears nearly grew calluses.
She seriously suspected that Fu Xiaoba was hinting at something.
Ridiculous. How could she possibly offer herself in marriage to a green-necked pheasant?
How could there be such a strange little demon? She did not cultivate on normal days. She only knew how to find beautiful places and daydream in broad daylight.
Simply lazy!
*
The years in the mountains were quiet. Plain life repeated day after day. In the blink of an eye, autumn became winter, and Little Black’s injuries began to improve.
That day, she had been gravely wounded and close to death. This foolish green-necked pheasant had saved her, never asking where she came from or why she was hurt. For half the late autumn, Fu Xiaoba had cared for her with such care and such unwary sincerity. This made Little Black sigh inwardly. In Wuyou Valley, there truly lived a little one free of worry.
Little Black knew Fu Xiaoba treated her well because she had taken her as family and friend, someone who would never leave.
But now Little Black’s spiritual power was recovering day by day. She could more or less leave the valley on her own. A farewell was unavoidable sooner or later.
In earlier days, Little Black had disliked this and that about Fu Xiaoba. But now that she truly had to go, she actually felt the tiniest bit reluctant.
How strange. What was there about that little pheasant worth missing?
Little Black could not understand it even after thinking and thinking. Though she clearly already had enough spiritual power to change into human form, she hid it by instinct and kept staying in Wuyou Valley, accompanying Fu Xiaoba through their quiet, lazy days.
She knew there were many things waiting for her to do, and she could not stay here forever. But in the end, her injuries had not fully healed. Surely she was allowed to rest a while longer, right?
Thinking this, she stayed with peace of mind.
One night, heavy snow fell outside.
Fu Xiaoba hopped over and barred the door. But Fu Zhuochen had still not returned, and the paper on the bedroom window had already torn. She did not know how to mend it. The cold wind poured into the room, making her curl in the corner and tremble.
Little Black was still occupying the nest that had originally belonged to Fu Xiaoba. Now she was no longer as weak as when she first arrived. She had spiritual power protecting her body. Though it was still faint, and she still did not sleep very soundly, she was not so cold.
It was just that the cold wind outside was too loud, so her sleep came in broken pieces.
All of a sudden, Fu Xiaoba crept over to the edge of her nest.
“Little Black, Little Black, are you cold?”
Little Black opened her eyes a crack and was just about to shake her head when she saw Fu Xiaoba lift one claw and step into the already cramped peacock nest.
Before she could react, Fu Xiaoba sat down with a thump. Then she leaned forward and lay down, instantly pressing most of Little Black’s body beneath her.
The warmth that swept over her whole body in that instant startled Little Black so badly she lost focus. Her heart pounded wildly, and her whole “snake” body went numb.
Little Black’s body is so icy. She must be frozen.
Thinking this, Fu Xiaoba shifted lightly and adjusted her position. Then she spread her wings and covered the whole peacock nest.
She lay very lightly. Her two little claws worked hard to support her whole body because she was afraid she would press Little Black so hard that she could not breathe.
“Little Black, is this much warmer?”
In this dark room, with a pitch-black snake beneath her, even if Little Black’s face turned completely red, no one could see.
Little Black was stunned for a long while before she came back to herself. When she saw the little pheasant pressing on her still moving back and forth, she was instantly filled with shame and anger. She opened her mouth and spoke her first words in two months.
“Impudent!”
Fu Xiaoba was so frightened by the sudden angry shout that her legs went weak, and she pressed the little snake under her even more firmly.
“Get off me!”
What was happening? Little Black could talk!
Fu Xiaoba was roared at by Little Black’s fierce voice and felt terribly wronged. With trembling feet, she climbed out of the nest. When she turned around, her eyes were full of shock as she looked at Little Black.
“Little… Little Black! You can talk?!”
Little Black: “…”
It seemed she could no longer hide her identity. Fine. Then she would tell this little pheasant, grant her one wish, and say goodbye.
Thinking this, Little Black cleared her throat and was just about to introduce herself when she saw Fu Xiaoba lift one small wing in a big thumbs-up.
“Looks like you have been cultivating very hard lately! Keep working, keep working!”
“…” Little Black felt she had been struck stupid by this pheasant’s foolishness. She could not help taking a deep breath. “Little pheasant, you…”
The moment Fu Xiaoba heard the word “pheasant,” she became unhappy. She quickly covered Little Black’s mouth and complained, “You little demon, how can you be so ignorant?”
Little Black was shocked.
Ignorant? This ignorant little demon dared call her ignorant!
Fu Xiaoba did not notice the shock and anger in Little Black’s eyes. She only puffed out her chest and corrected her. “Fu Little Black, listen clearly. Big Sister is a peacock, not a pheasant!” After speaking, she stretched out a wing and patted Little Black’s forehead. “Do you understand?”
Her tone was exactly like a teacher instructing a student.