Chapter 317: Chapter 316: A Difficult Half-Step

The two Snake Cubs tilted their heads, listening intently to Si Shuo’s explanation.

“You’re the Snake Cubs I gave birth to, so of course I love you very much. It’s just that I haven’t been able to adjust my mindset yet.”

’Never mind that. She had been in the Beast World Continent for over half a year, and looking at her own cubs’ Beast Forms, she still didn’t feel like a human mother. Instead, she had the strange feeling that she was a zookeeper!’

’No, not a zookeeper, a Beast Tamer, just playing with the cubs.’

’Now she’d really made it, leveled up—she was raising little venomous snakes for fun. Oh my god, it was just so… so terrifying, wasn’t it?’

’She had mentally prepared herself for so long. But the moment she saw her own cubs emerge, she was filled with a fear born from over twenty years of ingrained cognition. The two little things on her arm were cool and soft to the touch, their eyes holding a natural, detached coldness.’

“If you… if you two spend more time being close to me, I… I’ll be able to adjust quickly,” Si Shuo suggested insincerely, forcing down her fear and stammering through a deep breath.

Ji Liang, however, wasn’t in such a good mood. He picked one up in each hand and tossed them back into the nest. “Eat your Snake Eggs. Don’t scare your Mother; she gets frightened easily.”

Si Shuo couldn’t help but glare at him. ’Those are his own children, how could he just toss them like that?’

Ji Liang smiled and wrapped an arm around Si Shuo’s waist, able to read her unspoken thoughts. “It’s precisely because they’re my own children that, as their Father, it’s my right and duty to discipline them!”

The two little snakes didn’t cry or fuss. They just earnestly coiled on their eggshells and nibbled away, looking so delicate and beautiful.

Si Shuo felt a mix of affection and fear. ’After some thought, she realized her fear was simply about being bitten. But these were her own cubs. They were born with inherited knowledge and understood the difference between family and outsiders; they wouldn’t just attack someone.’

She pursed her lips and slowly reached out her hand. Just as she was about to touch Little Black…

The little one tilted its head and looked at her.

Terrified, Si Shuo yelped and shot into Ji Liang’s arms.

The males watched in amusement. Their little female was truly more entertaining than the cubs. They had never seen a female who was afraid of her own offspring.

The little one drooped its head again and went back to nibbling its Snake Egg.

Si Shuo buried her face in Ji Liang’s chest. That last scare had really gotten to her. Now, she was annoyed and angry with herself, falling into a sullen silence.

Ji Liang held her tightly and glanced at the two cubs. “Father is going to talk with your Mother for a bit, so you two be good. Your Mother is simply afraid of snakes and needs time to adjust. It’s nothing personal against you.”

“She’s already trying very hard to accept you. Don’t take her genuine fear right now to heart. Instead, you should be understanding of her.”

“Not everyone has the courage to overcome their fears.”

The two Snake Cubs nodded lightly. They understood. In the human memories they had inherited from their Mother, their legacy leaned more toward the emotional side.

’Seven or eight out of ten women have a natural fear of cold-blooded creatures. Overcoming such a fear was indeed not an easy task.’

’It was just that when it happened to them, they still couldn’t help but feel a little hurt.’

Ji Liang carried Si Shuo to another room, set up a Protective Shield, and lowered his head to kiss her fiercely.

The two hadn’t been intimate for about ten days, and Si Shuo missed him terribly. She especially ached for him when he had been quietly incubating the eggs all by himself, which only made her love him more.

As she thought this, her mind drifted back to the Snake Cubs. ’They must also be trying so hard to win her affection, but she was just so hopeless!’

Noticing the little female was distracted, Ji Liang gave her a light bite. “Little Shushu, it seems your husband isn’t trying hard enough if you still have the energy to think about other things.”

Saying this, Ji Liang became even more passionate and intense. He transformed all his longing from the past days into the most direct melody, playing it for her to hear. The dense drumbeat was just like the raindrops that had been crashing down during the recent storms…

Si Shuo responded with equal passion, the two of them giving themselves to each other with wild abandon.

The rain gradually lessened, and finally, the clouds parted. Si Shuo’s forehead was damp with sweat, and she leaned languidly in Ji Liang’s arms, exhausted.

Ji Liang lovingly kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, and her cheeks, before giving her another passionate kiss. “Little Shushu, back when you first met me, were you even more scared than you were just now?”

He had hit her fear head-on, and Ji Liang’s heart ached and swelled. He had always thought he was the one striving to close the distance between them, while all she had to do was take half a step toward him.

He never imagined the little female was this terrified of snakes. He was gratified, yet at the same time, a wave of retroactive fear washed over him. If her affection for him had been even a tiny bit less, he would probably still be slogging away as a Traveling Merchant Captain in the Southern Continent, waiting for some other little female to take him home.

Si Shuo nodded emphatically. “I was terrified. Even though I hadn’t seen your true form back then, you just looked so aggressive. It was unnerving.”

“Your eyes had vertical pupils, and they would narrow into slits whenever you got angry or excited. And… and you’d flick your tongue.”

“When we got close, I… I felt like you were going to eat me!”

’On top of that, she had just been reborn then. She hadn’t built up any of her mental defenses yet. The fear of a strange environment, the anxiety of having no one to protect her, and then running into a cold-blooded Snake Beast—the multiple layers of insecurity almost made her have a breakdown.’

But she immediately smiled and said, “However much I was afraid of you back then, that’s how much I love my Big Snake Beast now.”

Feeling the deep reliance and affection from the little female in his arms, Ji Liang’s entire heart felt like it was about to burst with happiness!

“I know, I know. The way my Little Shushu loves me is no less than how I love you,” Ji Liang murmured, burying his face in the crook of her neck, his kisses small, dense, intimate, and lingering.

Si Shuo smiled, pursing her lips. “I’ll try my best to get used to the cubs, too. They’re our family’s Snake Cubs. I gave birth to them. If even I don’t love them, how sad would they be?”

Cubs always have a special reliance on and love for their mothers.

She chewed on a Dust Cleaning Talisman and activated the Spring Breeze Technique, sweeping away all the soreness, fatigue, and drowsiness from her body. She then chuckled and pulled Ji Liang up. “Ji Liang, come with me to see the Snake Cubs!”

They returned to the room where Ji Liang had incubated the eggs.

Si Shuo was no longer the person she used to be. ’If she could overcome her fear to accept Ji Liang, how could she still be afraid of her own cubs?’

This time, she took a deep breath, cautiously reached out, and placed her hand on Little Black’s head to pet him.

The little black snake went as stiff as a rod, terrified of startling his Mother.

’Mother’s hand was warm, soft, and fragrant, just like it felt inside Mother’s belly. His heart flooded with joy and contentment, but no matter how excited he got, he still tried his best to keep himself from flicking his tongue.’

Seeing the little snake obediently letting her pet him, Si Shuo felt her fear slowly dissipate. She had read some books on Psychology. People have all sorts of fears, and one crude but effective method to deal with them is to confront the fear head-on—systematic desensitization therapy. You put yourself in the frightening situation and use willpower to overcome and control the fear.

“Little Black, you can flick your tongue now,” Si Shuo said with a light laugh, her heart aching at how considerate her cub was. She watched as the little black snake slowly flicked his tongue out and then slowly retracted it, afraid of scaring his Mother away again.

’With a Father like Ji Liang, it’s no wonder the little cub is also especially thoughtful and sensitive. It really makes your heart ache for him.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep