“小 Snake, be good, be good now, let me pet your head!” “Ah, don’t crawl under my skirt, you can’t be that naughty.”
“Ah, ah~^~ There are too many, I can’t pet them all.”
In the Saint Ruins, there are many locations, and the risks during the day are much higher than at night.
And the Purple Snake Forest of the Second Plane is one of the prime examples.
Although Purple Spirit Snakes tend to be gentle at night and rarely attack unless humans approach them, during the day the risk is much greater.
Because of this trait, Adventurers often use this area as a Trial Gathering Place for newcomers.
But when the sun rises and day arrives,
Due to the abundance of spirit beasts in the Saint Ruins, and the occasional incursion of foreign races into the Purple Snake Forest,
The Purple Spirit Snakes, who are fully alert in daylight, become exceptionally wary and irritable, often swarming to attack any creature they encounter—making it extremely dangerous.
Therefore, during the day, few Adventurers wander the Purple Snake Forest.
But today, an Adventurer team had unexpectedly entered this snake forest in broad daylight.
What was even more astonishing was that the usually territorial Purple Spirit Snakes did not attack.
And this Adventurer team was none other than the Cangyou Wildcat Team.
At this moment, Su Qi, who was at the front of the team, finally
Hiss~ hiss~
Gently stroking the large head of a mutated Purple Spirit Snake, he listened to the big fellow’s delighted hissing sounds.
Strangely enough, although Su Qi had dealt with Spirit Snakes during the first day’s interview,
To be honest, he had developed some psychological resistance to seeing the Spirit Snakes again.
But perhaps because the Spirit Snakes had received Bento before, their affection had increased.
This time, upon entering the Purple Snake Forest and seeing the group of Spirit Snakes, Su Qi not only felt no fear, but actually a sense of intimacy.
Su Qi only felt his Kind Wife and Good Mother ability was quite miraculous.
Amid this wonder, looking at the ‘big fellows’ constantly rubbing against him,
Su Qi couldn’t help but feel a headache.
Emmmmmmmm, he’d only fed them once, so how did he suddenly end up with six mutated Spirit Snakes?!
Feeling the expectant eyes of the Spirit Snakes, it seemed wrong not to feed them his Bento this time.
Maybe once they reached their destination, he’d give the snakes a Bento.
If it’s just one portion, they could fight over it and maybe no further mutations would occur… maybe!
While Su Qi interacted with the Purple Spirit Snakes,
Taking advantage of Su Qi’s presence, the rest of the Cangyou Wildcat Team following behind felt utterly amazed.
Lin Xue, who as captain had suggested Su Qi try “face brushing,” had only thought of the interview night, wanting to test whether Su Qi would get attacked by Spirit Snakes.
After all, whenever the Cangyou Wildcat Team entered this New Passage in the Saint Ruins, considering the tendency for Spirit Snakes to swarm, the five of them would always act separately and then regroup at the passage entrance.
If Su Qi wouldn’t get attacked, since only Purple Spirit Snakes inhabited the forest, he could just walk through.
But the current situation was completely beyond her expectations; not only was Su Qi on good terms with the Spirit Snakes, he had even brought the whole team in along with him.
Su Qi getting along so well with the Spirit Snakes was already a surprise.
But at this moment, what Lin Xue cared more about was something else.
“Giggle… Little guy, you’re so naughty!”
Watching Su Qi gently hug a Purple Spirit Snake’s head, his fair little face tickled by the snake, breaking into a joyful smile.
For some reason, although Su Qi was so young and lively today, at that very moment Lin Xue sensed, for the first time, a hint of Motherly Radiance from Su Qi.
She even began to imagine Su Qi as a Kind Wife and Good Mother, cradling a baby tenderly.
In the imagined scene, Su Qi’s braided hair draped over his chest, wearing a simple white nightgown, standing by the window against the light.
Holding a small baby gently in his arms, his peach blossom eyes soft as water, rosy lips gently singing a Song of Gentle Lullabies to coax the baby to sleep.
The scene was so warm and beautiful, it felt healing just to look at, making it hard to look away—and unexpectedly real.
Just as Lin Xue was immersed in this lovely fantasy,
She hoped she’d get to appear in the scene herself.
“Hey, Lin Xue, hey, snap out of it, look over there.”
A whisper came from beside Lin Xue. Snapped out of her fantasy by the reminder,
She followed An Xiaoling’s finger and saw, thirty meters away under a Serpent Spirit Tree, a gray rabbit with a pair of petite upright bunny ears and two red eyes, watching warily from a distance.
Almost instantly upon seeing it, Lin Xue recognized it as the legendary Saint Ash Rabbit.
There was no mistaking the Saint Ash Rabbit.
With its gray fur, a pair of adorable pink upright ears on its head, a body about the size of a three-year-old child, and a more anthropomorphic appearance than ordinary rabbits,
It somewhat resembled the two-dimensional Little Meng Lizeng.
In fact, the Cangyou Wildcat Team had first discovered that mysterious passage while trying to catch this Saint Ash Rabbit.
If Lin Xue had seen the Saint Ash Rabbit in the wild at any other time, she would absolutely have tried to capture it.
But now, seeing Su Qi leading the way ahead, surrounded by so many Purple Spirit Snakes,
After thinking for a moment, Lin Xue decisively waved her hand in refusal.
If they acted rashly and startled the snakes, it would be bad if Su Qi was hurt. Besides, the Saint Ash Rabbit was timid by nature, skilled at digging, and exceptionally agile; even if they tried, there was no guarantee of catching it.
After Lin Xue waved her hand, the Cangyou Wildcat Team didn’t object, and continued on towards the Saint Ruins’ New Passage.
After all, today’s main goal was not to catch a Saint Ash Rabbit, but to explore the New Passage and search for some Treasure within.
But just as the Cangyou Wildcat Team took a step forward, Lin Xue and the others were surprised to see—
The little Saint Ash Rabbit, who would usually run away at the sight of them, not only didn’t flee today, but instead cautiously avoided the snakes, burrowing along behind them.
Every now and then, it poked its head out, blinking its round red rabbit eyes, its dirt-streaked face with three long whiskers on either side,
Moving carefully and warily, looking surprisingly cute.
Seeing this little fellow, who had escaped them so many times, looking so disheveled,
Maybe because the journey was a bit dull, or maybe because they’d never managed to catch it,
Brother Hao raised his eyebrows and brought up a topic.
“For such a little rascal who only knows how to run away when chased, what makes it worth an A-Level Gathering Quest from the Guild?”
Faced with Brother Hao’s question, his usual rival An Xiaoling immediately jumped in.
“Haozi, can’t you spend less time working out and more time using your brain? Didn’t you see the Task Panel introduction? The Saint Ash Rabbit likes to linger near Mystic Storehouses in the Saint Ruins, which means it has the Potential to find Treasure. And besides, such a cute bunny would be fun to keep at home too!”
“Click your tongue… Who are you calling—”
Noticing the tension between An Xiaoling and Brother Hao, and to prevent them from fighting and startling the snakes,
Big Mountain, the peacemaker, stepped in at just the right moment.
“As for the Saint Ash Rabbit, I’ve actually heard a rumor.”
Hearing Big Mountain speak, everyone except Su Qi—who was looking at the map while interacting with the Spirit Snakes—turned their attention to him.
Feeling their eyes on him, Big Mountain chuckled awkwardly.
“I once heard an S-rank Adventurer mention in passing that Saint Ash Rabbits are naturally drawn to Mystic Storehouses in the Saint Ruins, and after spending long periods in them, they absorb some spiritual energy, which might give them strange New Abilities—like Precognition, Telekinesis, Spatial Traversal, and so on. Of course, these are just rumors, nothing certain.”
Listening to Big Mountain’s story, Lin Xue fell into silence.
Precognition?
That vivid image in her mind earlier—could it have been a subconscious influence from this Saint Ash Rabbit?
After all, if not, why was it so clear and so real?
But if it was, there was still something off.
Junior Su Qi—wasn’t he a little brother, not a little lady?
How could he have a child?
While Lin Xue was deep in thought,
An excited and slightly surprised young girl’s voice sounded in front of her.
“This must be the Hidden Treasure Passage in the Saint Ruins!”
MC so fucked(pregnant)