Chapter 65: Fighting the Big Snake

A group of children gathered, chirping away and creating a lively scene.

Most of them were staring at Yun Jiao.

It was simple, really. She just stood out too much.

People are visual creatures, and children are no exception.

With such a pretty little girl suddenly in their group, they even lowered their voices.

"Yuanyuan, is this the cousin you’re always talking about? How is she so fair-skinned?"

They were all so dark that standing next to her, they looked like little charcoal dolls fresh from a coal mine.

Shen Xiuyuan was incredibly smug, parading Yun Jiao around to show her off.

"This is my cousin. Pretty, isn’t she? I told you guys before, but you didn’t believe me. She was born this fair; she doesn’t tan."

Having such a good-looking little sister gave Shen Xiuyuan major bragging rights among his friends.

Yun Xiaowu and his brothers could relate. They had often bragged about their own sister to the other village kids in just the same way.

"What’s the big deal? I have a sister too."

Shen Xiuyuan said smugly, "Is your sister anything like my Jiaojiao? Look at these big eyes, this chubby little face, these plump little arms and short legs..."

Yun Jiao: ’Okay, that’s enough. Say one more word and I’m going to lose my temper.’

Fortunately, Shen Xiuyuan finished before Yun Jiao could get angry.

He finished with a grand summary: "None of your sisters can compare!"

Yun Jiao watched her cousin rack up so much resentment. Several of the kids looked like they wanted to punch him.

She quietly shuffled a little farther away from him.

Yun Jiao’s gaze was fixed on the little lambs kneeling under their mother to drink milk.

"Jiaojiao, do you like lambs? You can pet mine."

Yun Xiaowu stood to the side, wanting to speak but hesitating.

’My sister might like the little lambs, sure, but she probably wants to taste the sheep’s milk even more.’

"Jiaojiao, be a little more reserved."

’You can’t just go and fight a lamb for its milk.’

"Oh."

Yun Jiao gave a slow reply, and the first thing she did after getting to the mountain was to go catch grasshoppers.

Her second cousin had said they were edible.

Her brothers and the village kids ran all over, each finding their own games to play.

Yun Xiaowu and his brothers took out their glass marbles and were instantly surrounded by a group of boys, looking quite proud.

"Our sister bought these marbles for us."

The group of kids immediately became even more envious of Yun Xiaowu and his brothers. What kind of immortal sister was this?

She was so pretty, and she even bought her brothers glass marbles!

"Can we be Jiaojiao’s brothers too?"

Yun Xiaowu and his brothers instantly became wary. "Don’t even think about it! We’re the only ones who can be Jiaojiao’s brothers!"

The subject of their conversation, Yun Jiao, let out a sneeze. She paid it no mind and continued lying in the grass, her chubby little paw pinning down a plump grasshopper.

In just that short time, she had already caught five grasshoppers!

Shen Xiuyuan found some palm leaves and deftly wove them into a small cage.

"Here, Jiaojiao. Put the grasshoppers you caught in here so they won’t escape."

Yun Jiao confirmed again, "Are these really good to eat?"

Shen Xiuyuan nodded with certainty. "They’re delicious. They’re good roasted, and even better deep-fried."

’Alright, then I’ll trust my cousin!’

’Pheasants, wild rabbits?’

’Weren’t we supposed to be catching pheasants and wild rabbits in the mountains?’

Shen Xiuyuan said, "Let’s go. My older brother took me to dig some traps in the mountains before. There’s bound to be something in them."

He tied his family’s sheep to a tree with a long rope and took Yun Jiao to check the traps.

As for Yun Xiaowu and the others, they were hooked on playing marbles and didn’t follow.

Yun Jiao happily followed her second cousin into the woods.

But the unlucky Shen Xiuyuan checked three traps in a row and found them all empty.

Shen Xiuyuan scratched his head. "That can’t be right."

Shen Xiuyuan’s traps were empty, but Yun Jiao’s sharp eyes spotted a rabbit running through the grass not far away.

She immediately chased after it.

"Rabbit."

Shen Xiuyuan perked up. "Where?"

He also took off in pursuit.

They didn’t catch it. The rabbit dove into a hole.

Shen Xiuyuan rubbed his hands together. "A rabbit hole! There might be more than one rabbit inside!"

"Wait, I’ll look around for other rabbit holes first and block them up."

As nimble as a monkey, Shen Xiuyuan hopped around and actually found four other rabbit holes.

He blocked three of them, then put his hands on his hips and laughed wildly.

"Ha... This little rabbit is pretty cunning, digging so many holes. But none of them can escape the fiery, golden eyes of your Grandpa Shen!"

"Jiaojiao, I’ll light a fire to smoke them out. You watch the other hole and pin down any rabbits that run out!"

"Don’t use your hands! Just watch it for a bit. I’ll go get the back-basket."

"Don’t run off."

Yun Jiao nodded. "I won’t."

She sat on the ground staring at the hole. Before Shen Xiuyuan returned, she noticed something seemed to be coming out.

Shen Xiuyuan had blocked all the other exits, so the rabbits inside could only bolt out from this one in a panic.

Yun Jiao’s eyes were sharp and her hands were fast. She slammed one hand down on it.

Before the wild rabbit could react, she balled her other hand into a small fist and punched it.

The dusty gray rabbit’s four legs twitched as it was knocked out cold.

Immediately after, a second rabbit shot out.

Yun Jiao repeated the process, pinning it with one hand and punching it with the other.

Another one knocked out.

The third, the fourth...

A total of five rabbits ran out. Finally, a snake slithered out from the hole.

It was as thick as an arm.

Yun Jiao glanced at it, waited for its head to emerge, and then, completely unafraid, pinned its head down with her two small hands.

"HISS..."

The large snake struggled, its thick body trying to coil around Yun Jiao’s arm.

When Shen Xiuyuan ran back with a group of kids, the first thing they saw was Yun Jiao fighting the large snake.

They had heard from Shen Xiuyuan that he’d found a rabbit warren and came to join the fun, not expecting to see such a thrilling and dangerous scene.

The girl and the snake were grappling and rolling around on the ground.

Yun Jiao was gripping the snake’s head and slamming it against the ground with loud THUDS, while the snake’s body had coiled around her.

"Oh my god!"

Yun Xiaowu let out a yell.

"Jiaojiao, don’t be scared! I’m coming to help!"

"AAAH! A snake, a huge snake!"

The only other two girls there screamed in terror.

The others also shouted and charged forward to help.

In the end, the snake was ganged up on and beaten to death.

Yun Jiao’s hair was a mess, with some dry twigs and leaves stuck in it. Her pale, chubby little face was a bit dirty, but her eyes were exceptionally bright and full of life.

"Wow... Jiaojiao is so amazing! She fought such a big snake."

"There are so many wild rabbits here, too. Did Jiaojiao catch them all?"

Yun Jiao gave a reserved little nod.

"I caught them."

Her words, however, were not reserved at all.

Yun Xiao Liu slowly started to fix her hair.

"I wonder if there are any more in the rabbit hole. Should we dig it up and see?"

Shen Yunxiu nodded. "Dig!"

With so many of them, it wouldn’t take long to dig.

There were no more big rabbits in the hole, but there was a litter of baby rabbits.

"There are only three. The snake’s belly is big, so it must have eaten a few of the babies."

Yun Jiao stared at two of the baby rabbits, one snow-white and the other pure black.

"These two. I want them."

"I’ll trade the big rabbits for them."

The baby rabbits had been dug up by everyone, so in theory, everyone had a share, but they were difficult to divide.

The big rabbits and the snake were Yun Jiao’s spoils of war. The other kids, no matter how much they envied her or wanted them, didn’t dare try to snatch them.

Didn’t they see that Yun Jiao had several big brothers standing right there?

Even if they were shameless and had few morals at their age, they knew they’d get a beating if they tried to steal.