The Stone King's Lover (石王的愛)

Chapter 64

Wen Reian

2005 years after The Long Night

Wúmeng

<Town Hall>

"So... snake monsters. Are they a common occurrence these days?"

Wen Reian wanted to roll his eyes at Yi-jun but he refrained. The man was clearly in a playful mood this morning, something Cai Yimu hadn't been shy about commenting on.

The woman, her grey eyes shining, grinned across the table at the two young men.

"About as common as that smile on your face, I think..." she spoke to Yi-jun, as if his happiness was a great joke, perhaps one played on the universe.

Reian was pleased of course that the King was happy. He himself was happy to be away from Jingshén, however he still couldn't help from feeling grateful that Cai Yimu hadn't taken to addressing Reian's shifted soul...

Placing her hands on the table as if trying to be serious all of a sudden, the town head frowned and nodded.

"Since long before I was born, it has been only a legend, that creature in the cave."

As she spoke, Reian could feel himself being drawn into her words, like she was weaving a spoken net to entrap him. He and Yi-jun were both falling in...

"Serpent serpent, how do you plea? "No one's guilty quite like me!" Serpent serpent, what did you do? "Everything he told me to!" Serpent serpent, why are you shy? "Because a bird pecked out my eye!" Serpent serpent-"

"What on god's green earth is that?!" Yi-jun exclaimed.

Cai Yimu chuckled, "Children sing it when they play games, it's changed over the years since I was young... back then it was a porcupine that gouged out the serpent's eyes-"

"If it's only a legend, why are we here?"

Reian interrupted the woman's rambling, only for her to barely hear him. She continued on for a few minutes, Yi-jun signaling to Reian to just be patient.

Finally, Cai Yimu nodded...

"Several months ago was when it started,"

"What started?"

She frowned again, "The serpent came out of its den."

Reian exchanged a look with Yi-jun, the King leaning forward slightly on the table.

"Did anyone actually see it?"

The old woman nodded, eyes widening-

"I wouldn't be so bothered by the old thing, but it's been stealing chickens..."

Reian blinked, "Ch...chickens?"

After several more half-sensical riddles and stories from Cai Yimu, Yi-jun at last promised her that they would look into it, taking Reian's hand when they left and whispering to him with a big grin-

"What say we go disturb this fowl thieving serpent? I myself have never heard of something so romantic..."

Reian's smile was a mirror image of the King's but the boy was still waiting for the feeling to spread to his heart. Weighed down by regret, grief, and his ever worsening insomnia, he felt as if he'd been dragging around his own body for the last few days, the weight of it slowly growing hard to bear.

Noticing the way Wen Reian was blinking, yawning behind his sleeve, Yi-jun stopped him, leading him over to the docks instead of the back road leading North.