Adrian stared at me, his gaze as sharp as a laser.
It felt like if I chose John, he would dramatically throw himself on a sword in the next second.
But my life was also very important.
After some painful deliberation, I still chose the direction of John.
John awkwardly tried to pull his hand back.
Adrian’s voice was stiff. “John, don’t move. Let her choose for herself.”
After a brief hesitation, I still coiled around John’s wrist.
The pop–up comments went wild:
[I think the hero is about to break. This is the little snake he raised with his own two hands.]
[Poor Adrian. The little princess is such an ungrateful snake.]
[Lyra, you little drama queen, look at Adrian! I think he’s dying inside.]
?
This isn’t right.
You’re the ones who said he was going to throw me into a fighting pit.
glanced at Adrian again. His lips were pressed into a thin, tight line, and his breathing was heavy. He clearl
had no intention of letting me go.
hardened my heart, flicked my tongue out to lick the back of John’s hand, and snuggled up to him.
That was the last straw for Adrian. He snatched me up, squeezing me in his palm.
‘d never been treated so roughly. So I threw a tantrum. I rammed my head against his palm, thrashed my tai wildly, and opened my mouth to hiss at him several times.
‘Lyra, are you hissing at me?”
Adrian looked at me in utter disbelief.
He was silent for a long time before putting me back in the terrarium. “I’m not letting you go. You heartless little thing.”
8
I knew he wouldn’t let me go that easily.
3/14
00:28
I bared my fangs at him from inside my glass prison, but he completely ignored me.
With no other choice, I went on a hunger strike again.
This time, Adrian just gave me a cool glance and said, “A dead mouse isn’t as tasty, you know.”
The comments:
[Omo omo, has Lyra fallen out of favor?]
【Well, what do you expect? She broke the hero’s heart the other day. He’s been questioning his entire exist ence since.]
[I think it’s mainly because the hero has fallen for the heroine now. He doesn’t have time to spoil the little
princess anymore.)
Of course! Men’s hearts are so fickle!
Adrian had definitely fallen for Sophia. When had I, Lyra Sterling, ever been treated like this?
The hunger strike was a must!
But after just one day of starving, I was already dizzy. The baby mouse had been dead for a while. I circle
the stiff little corpse a few times but couldn’t bring myself to eat it.
Forget it. I’ll just sleep. In dreams, you can have anything.
When I woke up, I was even hungrier.
I looked around and saw a plate of freshly cut peaches not far away. The little worms inside were wrigglin
enticingly.
Most importantly, Adrian had forgotten to close the lid of my terrarium.
He was fast asleep.
Surely, he wouldn’t find out if I just stole a few worms. Heaven never seals all exits for a snake.
I stealthily crawled out of the terrarium and dove towards the feast.
Full and content, I lay sprawled on the table.
A brilliant idea struck me. A way to escape.
Dual cultivation.
Becoming human.
9
2/14
00:28
Chapter 2
It was all because I’d been caught trying to escape last time.
Door cracks, window gaps, pipe joints–Adrian had sealed up basically every opening in the house. So even if I could get out of the terrarium now, I couldn’t get out of the house.
Unless I became human and opened the door myself.
The problem was, the whole reason I’d latched onto Adrian in the first place was because I couldn’t manage to cultivate a human form on my own.
Fortunately, a rogue cultivator like me has her own methods.
As long as I “dual cultivated” with a human of the opposite sex, or absorbed some of his… bodily fluids, I could speed up the process.
I crept onto the bed.
Then I slithered up Adrian’s abs.
He was sleeping peacefully, the warm lamplight tracing the sharp lines of his face. His eyelashes fluttered
with each breath, and his lips were so red, they looked like they were tempting me.
!!!
I was actually being seduced by Adrian!
Get a grip, Lyra!
I shook my head and nudged my nose against his lips.
Nothing happened.
Was I doing it wrong?
flicked my tongue out and licked his lips again and again.
Still nothing.
Adrian suddenly whimpered, and I froze, not daring to move. But he didn’t wake up. He just smacked his lips
a couple of times and went still again, his mouth slightly open.
I tried again, this time licking the inside of his lips with my tongue. This time, I got some of his saliva.
But still, nothing happened.
It seemed saliva alone wasn’t enough. I decided to go all in.
The comments:
【Whoa, what did I just tune into? Dominant little Lyra forcing herself on him? This part needs a mosaic.]
This human/non–human ship is kinda… spicy. I’m almost converted. Any recs for similar novels?)
[Is this right? I think I’m actually shipping the hero and his snake.]
10
Adrian was sleeping so soundly, he had no idea what I was up to.
I smugly slithered back into my terrarium.
While he was at the office, I tried to manifest my human form at home.
First try: human torso, snake tail.
Second try: snake head, human body.
Third try: human head, snake…
This rogue cultivation was fast, but it seemed a bit unstable. Or maybe I just hadn’t done enough of it.
To avoid being captured by a research institute, I decided I needed more practice.
Oh, right, there was another downside: I got hungry way too fast. It must be a human eating habit. I used to be fine with one meal every six days, but now I was starving every six hours.
And of course, Adrian didn’t like to stock food at home.
I rummaged through the fridge but couldn’t find anything good. In the end, I just gnawed on a few peaches.
11
The sound of the lock turning. Adrian was back.
There was no time to get back to the bedroom, so I had to revert to my snake form right where I was.
He had come back for a file.
He paused when he saw me on the floor. “You’ve been running around again, Lyra.”
He scooped me up, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at the peach pits on the table.
I flicked my tongue out guiltily.
But he didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. He just sat down and started browsing a food delivery app.
Noodles, scrolled past.
Barbecue, scrolled past.
Burgers, scrolled past.
I was getting so agitated I was practically drooling, crawling all over the table.
An almost Imperceptible smirk touched Adrian’s lips.
After the food arrived, he took a call and left, saying it was an emergency meeting.
“Ah, well. Looks like I won’t get to eat this,” he said with a strange smile. “I’m off to the office, Lyra. Don’t run around, okay?”
Once I was sure he was gone, I quickly turned human.
I tore open the package. It was fragrant, golden fried chicken. A lot of it.
Surely, he wouldn’t notice if I just ate a few pieces.
I grabbed a piece of chicken and brought it to my mouth, only to realize my mistake.
I was currently in my snake–head–human–body form. I couldn’t eat.
I was devastated. I started frantically trying to switch forms. After struggling for what felt like an eternity, couldn’t even manage the human–torso–snake–tail form. All I could do was stare at the fried chicken with
longing.
12
The profound pain of not getting to eat the fried chicken finally motivated me.
But cultivating on my own was out of the question. I just became more diligent in… pestering Adrian.
13
Adrian had been acting very strange lately.
During the day, he was always walking around the house shirtless, his abs and V–line on full display.
At night, he went to bed very early, wearing very little. Sometimes he’d just sleep in a bathrobe, with nothing
underneath.
Whatever. It was very convenient for me.
A week later, I could finally maintain a complete human form. I even secretly ate a lot of the new snacks Adrian had bought.
Adrian, however, seemed exhausted. The dark circles under his eyes were much more pronounced.
Even John asked him, “Adrian, are you feeling a bit… weak lately?”
Adrian said nothing, just kept adding goji berries to his tea.
Not only that, but he also rarely locked me up anymore.
My opportunities were plentiful.
On another dark and windy night, I snuck out of the bedroom. Just as I reached the top of the stairs, I ran
Chapter 2
right into Adrian, who was wrapped in a towel.
What the hell? Wasn’t he just taking a shower?
“Lyra, where are you going?” he called out.
I panicked and went thump–thump–thump, tumbling all the way down the stairs.
Everything hurt.
But there was no time for pain.
I quickly turned human and ran to the front door.
It was locked.
Adrian was rushing down the stairs. “Lyra, please don’t go. Please.”
His voice was practically begging.
I glanced back at him. He looked like he was truly about to shatter. A drop of water fell from the tip of hi hair, like a teardrop.
I was unmoved. I grabbed a cup, smashed the window, and without looking back, turned into a snake and slipped away.
14
I had nowhere to go.
After much thought, I returned to my old mountain home.
When my mom saw me, she quickly ushered me into our cave. “Did you get on someone’s bad side?” she
asked.
was completely bewildered.
She told me that Adrian had posted a public reward for me online. The prize was two hundred thousand
dollars.
Seriously? Did this Adrian want me dead that badly?
My mom curled her tail around a bank card and gave it to me. “It’s not safe at home anymore. You should gc nide for a while. Your aunts and uncles are all dying to turn you in for the money. There’s some cash on this card, enough for you to live on for a bit. Remember not to turn back into a snake. The picture he posted is of
your snake form.”
She paused. “You haven’t managed to cultivate a human form yet, have you?”
For once, I had some confidence. I pouted. “I have, I have.”
Before my mom could say much more, we heard my second aunt’s voice. She slithered out of the cave to
Chapter 2
provide cover for me.
“Has your daughter come back?” my aunt asked. “I heard the news. How about this, you let her go back to him, we split the money, and then she can just run away again. It’s not like she hasn’t done it successfully
before.”
My mom gave a strained laugh. “She’s not back. For all we know, he’s already found her.”
The two of them chatted for a while longer before my aunt finally left.
I was just about to make a run for it when my third uncle showed up. It was the same topic, and he even wanted to come into the cave to see if she was lying. My mom yelled at him until he left.
15
The stream of visiting snakes was endless.
It wasn’t until morning that I finally had a chance to slip out of the cave.
My mom’s eyes were glistening with tears. “Be safe, okay? I’m so proud that you were able to cultivate a
human form. When things blow over, come back home. Don’t let yourself be bullied anymore.”
I nodded and left.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her I was a rogue cultivator. My mom forbade me from dating anyone outside o
our own species. She said that was called “marrying far away.”
The mountain paths were complicated.
My plan was to crawl out of the deep forest before turning human, but a bird was being incredibly annoying
It had inky black feathers, and I couldn’t tell what species it was. Its cultivation level was even lower than
mine; all it could do was say a few human words.
t kept asking, “Lyra, you’re Lyra, right?”
told it I wasn’t, but it wouldn’t stop.
was so mad I shifted back to my human form, picked up a rock, and threw it.
gritted my teeth. “I told you, I’m not!”
The bird dodged it with a swift turn and started calling out again, “Lyra, Lyra.”
pointed at it. “One more time and I’ll turn you into braised chicken.”
That finally shut it up.
16
Being human was so much fun.
Dook at
Chapter 7
portions to avoid being discovered,
Now, I could eat whatever I wanted.
In just one month, I had eaten my way through the entire nearby food street. My next plan was to move to a new place and eat there.
I finally believed my mom when she said, “You will never regret cultivating a human form.”
I was sipping soy milk and strolling through the morning market.
“Lyra, Lyra.”
That bird was back, circling over my head.
The people around me heard the name and started talking.
“It’s been a month and she’s still not found. I bet she’s dead.”
“What a shame. That’s two hundred thousand dollars. I caught one that looked just like her a while back, bu
it wasn’t her.”
“Rich people are really something else. It’s just a snake.”
felt a little guilty.
I tried to shoo the bird away with my hand, but it wouldn’t leave, just kept circling me.
Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation in my body, like I was about to revert to my original form.
I quickly left the crowd and hurried back to my hotel.
Sure enough, the moment I closed the room door, I transformed back.
The bird was perched on the windowsill, tilting its head at me.
I hissed at it through the glass, baring my fangs in an attack posture.
It flew away.
17
