Chapter 4

When Fang Ye put a soft little rabbit in my hands, I gave it to our junior disciple before she could even start pleading.

He stared.

“What are you sulking about now? It took me ages to find…”

“You’ll give it to her in the end anyway.”

I got up and left.

Back at the pond, I looked for a turtle.

Luckily, a hundred-year-old one was resting there.

I picked it up.

It didn’t resist.

I was about to try sealing the contract with a drop of blood when Fang Ye and our junior disciple came running.

“Senior Sister! This one suits you better!”

A dark shape flew toward me and knocked the turtle from my arms.

The drops of contracting blood fell and mingled.

The bond took.

I stared at the fat black snake in my arms. He stared back.

Whatever Master had been eating, he’d grown another size.

He was so sluggish he hadn’t been able to dodge.

Recognition crossed his face. Surprise. Shock.

And unbearable embarrassment.

I said nothing.

Our junior disciple covered her mouth and cried out.

“How did I throw the wrong one? This fat snake stole my snacks, so I caught him with a magical weapon!”

“What do we do, Senior Brother? He’s fat and lazy. Will she be angry?”

“Could it be… they were meant for each other?”

Fang Ye ran over carrying an excellent spirit pet.

His face slowly darkened at the sight of the barrel-sized black snake in my arms.

He demanded to know what she’d done.

“An injured spirit beast harms its master, too!”

“If its life span is too short, it may even borrow years from hers. Why did you give her this fat thing?”

I glanced at the snake.

After forming a contract, I could see my pet’s life span.

Words floated above his head.

“Thousand-year rank. Life as enduring as heaven and earth.”

I looked at Master in disbelief.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Crumbs from his stolen snack still clung to his mouth. Apparently, he could no longer face me.

Fang Ye reached for him.

“Let me check his rank.”

Having been scolded, our junior disciple choked up and ran away.

“I didn’t mean to!”

His hand stopped.

I stepped back, afraid he would discover Master’s identity.

“Go check on her. She’s crying so hard.”

Another sob sounded in the distance. In the end, he turned to follow her.

“Wait for me, Chunyue.”

I breathed out in relief.

Looking down at the snake, I asked helplessly, “Master, how long will you pretend to sleep?”

“Why steal someone else’s food? If you’re hungry, couldn’t you ask me?”

“I can cook human food, too. Not just pig swill.”

A flicker of appetite appeared in his eyes.

Returning from luxury to simplicity was hard. Returning from fat to thin was harder.

Back in human form, Chu She held the bowl of rice I’d cooked and ate slowly.

He explained coolly.

After I’d left, he had turned into a snake and gone for a walk to lose weight.

Unfortunately, he had eaten the bait in our junior disciple’s snake trap.

It contained something to lure snakes, along with a lethal quantity of realgar.

Because of his obesity, both his movements and his thoughts slowed whenever he became a snake.

He acted on instinct, endlessly stealing food.

The more he ate, the sillier he became.

I chose my words carefully.

“Master, shall I supervise your weight loss? Next time someone sees you in snake form, they might mistake you for a wild boar and carry you off on a hunting fork.”

He glanced at me.

He ate a little faster but said nothing.

Now that he was my spirit pet, I could feel his emotions.

At the moment:

Angry.

Hungry.

Aggrieved.

I looked at him.

In human form, his extra flesh went to all the right places.

A grain of rice fell onto his ample chest.

He quickly, furtively picked it up and ate it.

Oh, well.

He did look rather pitiful.

I filled another bowl.

“Take your time.”

He said blandly, “I suppose I can accept it.”

Inside, he was ecstatic.

The next day, Master woke me.

He was looking at his tail.

I felt his emotions.

Surprise.

Delight.

Confusion.

After eating his fill, his tail wound was healing rapidly.

Even scars from years ago showed signs of recovery.

He stroked the tail.

It slipped free and wriggled frantically toward me.

His upper half remained calm and controlled.

His tail, like a small animal, squeezed into my arms.

I stroked the damaged scales, unable to imagine who could have hurt him so badly.

“Master, where did you get this wound?”

“I don’t really remember. It was there before I took human form.”