Chapter 8

Occasionally, he went swimming to lose weight, frightening the disciples until they came to complain to me.

Chu She was my spirit pet, after all.

His mountain, palace, treasures, and magical artifacts all belonged to me, too.

He remained unbothered.

As I counted the treasures, my cultivation soared day by day.

I couldn’t resist squeezing his tail and marveling.

“How many lifetimes must I have cultivated to deserve this?”

“What good deed did I do in my previous life?”

He watched me count my money.

In an excellent mood, he offered to look at my fate.

He took my hand and studied its lines, examining my past and present lives.

Whatever he saw made him pause.

I asked what it was.

He held my hand and drew my face against his chest, as though he wanted me to listen very carefully.

“That story… begins several thousand years ago.”

Looking at the chest right before my eyes, I blushed to the tips of my ears.

I couldn’t make out what he said.

Outside the window, the spring breeze blew all night.

The bed curtains rolled like waves.

It was the wind.

### Epilogue: A Snake Prayed to the Buddha for Five Hundred Years

When that snake was still only a snake, he was small and weak.

One night, out searching for food, his legs went soft. He fell into a basin of pig swill and nearly got eaten by a pig.

A pair of hands fished him out.

“Are you a silly snake? How did you get so hungry you’re skin and bones?”

The girl spoon-fed him an entire basin of swill.

He had some natural talent. His intelligence had awakened, and he understood human speech. He hissed angrily a few times.

But she only smiled, took him in, and fed him every day.

He listened to her chatter.

In summer, he crawled along her arm, his tail curled around her to enjoy the cool air.

In winter, he hid away until spring.

One spring, he emerged from his nest and returned to her house.

Only ruins remained.

The times were troubled. Demons roamed unchecked.

A great demon had stolen and eaten the family’s pig.

The pig was gone.

Naturally, the person was gone, too.

The little snake coiled on a roof beam.

He waited.

And waited.

Later, he heard that one could pray at a temple for a destined bond. He coiled on a prayer cushion.

The old abbot interpreted the divination for him.

“This bond is strong. By every means possible, it will find its way to you. You only need to live a little longer and perform good deeds.”

The snake cultivated at dawn.

At night, he cultivated, too.

The little snake became a great snake. The great snake became a man.

He even had a name.

Chu She.

Whenever he encountered injustice on the road, he helped those in need.

Sometimes, he accidentally revealed his true form and was struck on the head.

After being hit again and again, he seemed to forget certain things.

He even forgot to eat.

He gradually grew cold and distant.

This hibernation was merely another ordinary sleep amid the endless years.

When he woke, his body felt rather heavy.

He looked down.

Wait. Who was this fat pig?

Beside him stood a large basin full of pig swill.

Why did it smell so familiar?

But he had no time to consider that.

Rage was already blazing in his heart.

The End.

**Enjoyed this story?**
Discover more completed short romance stories at **NovelPotato.asia**.