Chapter 496: Quite a Beautiful Snake-Woman
Continuous spring rain falls through the days of Qingming, soft and lingering;
watching the fading traces of spring climb slowly up the magpie’s nest.
The moon, as if full of affection, still keeps its promise with me—
tonight we meet again upon the tips of the apricot blossoms.
Tonight, the moonlight was exceptionally beautiful.
The delicate silver moon hung high in the sky like a tenderhearted maiden, gently caressing the lonely island below. Silvery beams of light streamed softly through the forest, across the hills and the winding brook, pouring down over every corner of the island. The entire landscape seemed bathed in pale brilliance, as though dusted with frost.
Under the moonlight, the small stream shimmered faintly.
Its clear waters flowed slowly and peacefully, reflecting the moon’s glow like liquid silver. The surface rippled lightly, trembling in the breeze like a shy young girl—timid, delicate, and strangely charming.
Ding-dong… ding-dong…
Hua hua… hua la la…
Beneath the gentle, luminous moonlight, Zhu Ping’an sat behind a large rock beside the stream. A thin blade of vine grass dangled from the corner of his mouth as he leaned back lazily.
The sound of water splashing behind the rock drifted into his ears.
Strangely enough, the more he listened, the more restless and heated his body felt.
The island at night was far from quiet. From time to time, unknown beasts roared in the distance, and strange birds cried out in the forest. Yet despite all those sounds, the splashing water behind the rock reached his ears with crystal clarity.
It made no sense.
Yet it was undeniably true.
Why was Zhu Ping’an sitting here beside the stream so late at night instead of sleeping?
Had poetic inspiration suddenly struck him?
Or was he simply bored and unable to sleep?
Neither.
If there weren’t a special reason, Zhu Ping’an would never come out here in the middle of the night just to enjoy the breeze and admire the moon. He wasn’t that artistic.
“Hey!”
A voice suddenly rang out from behind the rock—a crisp, pleasant voice like a lark’s song.
Then Li Shu’s beautiful face, unable to hide her natural elegance, peeked out from behind the stone.
“What are you doing?”
Zhu Ping’an didn’t turn around. With the vine grass still in his mouth, he lazily replied,
“What?”
“I’m checking to see if you’re secretly peeking!”
Li Shu raised her voice with righteous indignation, puffing out her delicate cheeks as she stared at the back of Zhu Ping’an’s head. After observing for a moment, she nodded.
“Mm. Good. You’re not peeking.”
“Boring…”
Zhu Ping’an spat out the blade of grass and shook his head, still refusing to turn around.
“If you don’t trust me,” he added casually, “I might as well go back to the cave. That way you won’t have to worry.”
“No… no, you can’t!”
A blush instantly spread across Li Shu’s peach-colored cheeks as she hurriedly rejected the suggestion.
“Didn’t you hear the beasts roaring around here? If you leave… what if a wild animal comes and eats Hua’er and me?”
Right on cue, a distant beast’s roar echoed through the forest.
“See? That’s terrifying!”
Li Shu glanced toward the direction of the roar, her body shivering slightly as if genuinely frightened. Even her voice trembled.
“But Hua’er is with you, isn’t she?”
Zhu Ping’an stood where he was and spread his hands helplessly.
“At night all the wild animals come out! Hua’er is such a silly girl—if anything dangerous appears, she’ll probably roll her eyes and faint from fright. I’m just a weak woman with no strength. If a beast shows up, it’ll definitely eat both of us!”
Li Shu shook her head vigorously.
“Then you should’ve come to wash during the day,” Zhu Ping’an said with a sigh. “It’s much safer.”
“During the day?”
Li Shu looked at the back of his head with obvious disdain.
“You wish! If we bathed during the day when it’s so bright, what if you hid somewhere and peeked at us? Wouldn’t Hua’er and I be completely… exposed? No way. I’m not giving you that advantage!”
Zhu Ping’an fell silent for a moment.
“Then just don’t wash.”
“How could that be!”
Li Shu looked utterly disgusted, as if not bathing were the cruelest punishment imaginable.
Ever since arriving on the island, Li Shu hadn’t bathed even once.
For someone as fastidious as her, it was pure torture.
Tonight she simply couldn’t endure it anymore. She had dragged along Hua’er—the equally desperate chubby little maid—to sneak out for a bath under cover of night.
But the occasional beastly roars from the forest left the two girls trembling with fear, worried that a ferocious tiger might suddenly leap out and swallow them whole.
So they had no choice but to drag along the island’s only man—Zhu Ping’an—to act as their bodyguard.
Well…
In the end, this was all caused by loving cleanliness too much.
“Miss! Come down quickly!”
Hua’er’s cheerful voice called out from the stream.
“The water here feels so comfortable!”
“Coming, coming!”
Li Shu answered, then turned back and bared her little tiger teeth at Zhu Ping’an, raising her voice sternly.
“You’re not allowed to peek!”
A moment later, the sound of light footsteps moved farther away.
Then came the soft splash of someone entering the water.
Soon after, the splashing sounds grew louder.
Hua hua… hua hua…
Now there were clearly two people splashing water.
Earlier, the sound had come from only one girl, which was why Zhu Ping’an hadn’t been surprised when Li Shu suddenly appeared behind the rock to check on him.
If one person was already playing in the water, obviously the other hadn’t entered yet.
It was a strange feeling.
Listening to the sound of Li Shu bathing behind the rock, Zhu Ping’an couldn’t help but imagine the scene in his mind.
Perhaps it sounded abstract—but vivid images kept forming in his thoughts.
Smooth, rounded shoulders…
A graceful, delicate figure…
A slender waist, pale and flawless, without the slightest trace of excess…
Perhaps this was what people meant by letting one’s imagination run wild.
Leaning back against the rock, Zhu Ping’an sat in the grass and stared at the wildflowers growing at his feet.
Their stems intertwined together.
Under tonight’s unusually bright moonlight, even the tiny petals could be counted clearly.
So Zhu Ping’an began counting them.
While he was counting petals, the two girls behind the rock began splashing and playing in the water.
Their laughter rang out softly.
Playful teasing.
Occasional embarrassed squeals.
The sounds mixed with the flowing water and drifted into Zhu Ping’an’s ears.
Like invisible fingers, they plucked at the strings of his heart.
The melody they created made his blood boil and his body grow hot.
“Do not look at what is improper.
Do not listen to what is improper.
Do not speak what is improper.
Do not do what is improper.”
But—
Those teachings felt completely useless.
The night was simply too enchanting.
Besides, even Confucius had once said:
“Food and desire are part of human nature.”
Within a very short time, Zhu Ping’an had already found several excuses to turn his head.
As the laughter and splashing continued behind him, his mouth grew dry.
Inside his mind, a fierce battle erupted.
“Look.”
“Don’t look.”
The two sides clashed fiercely.
Just when the struggle was reaching its climax, reinforcements suddenly arrived for the “Look” faction—wave after wave.
The “Don’t look” side began collapsing rapidly.
In the end, it turned into a complete massacre.
Just as the mental battle concluded and Zhu Ping’an was about to turn his head—
A sudden scream rang out from behind the rock.
“Ahhh—there’s a snake!”
Li Shu’s terrified cry echoed across the stream.
A moment later, Hua’er’s delayed scream followed.
Splash! Splash!
Water churned wildly.
A snake!
Zhu Ping’an, who had only begun turning his head halfway, immediately whipped it around.
Without thinking, he dashed from behind the rock toward the stream.
In the water, Li Shu and Hua’er were screaming in panic as they stumbled out, splashing wildly toward him.
There really was a snake.
But—
What Zhu Ping’an noticed first wasn’t the snake.
It was Li Shu running toward him at the front.
He took only one glance.
Just one.
And instantly felt his eyes redden as if blood had rushed into them.
His eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets, as though they wanted to stick themselves directly onto her.
Before today, Zhu Ping’an had never fully understood the phrase “a natural-born enchantress.”
Now he did.
And not just an enchantress—
But the most breathtaking enchantress among them all.