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Aside from their stunning appearance, this Snake Species secretes several times more mucus from its tail than ordinary snakes. When exposed, the tail stays wet.

Given the nature of snakes, that unusual trait was quite enticing to others of their kind.

Xing Yue knew a little about it, but she had not seen her own tail in decades. The details were unfamiliar to her, and Tan Xiang'e's teasing made her silently pull the blanket up over the lower half of her face.

The anesthetic was taking effect, leaving her drowsy, but the dose was not enough to put her to sleep. She could only watch as the scalpel cut into her leg.

"If you and Miss Bu are planning to have children..." Tan Xiang'e suddenly struck up a conversation and offered a fairly sensible suggestion. "It would be better for the little snakes to inherit Miss Bu's genes. Your genes have a high chance of mutating, and the children could be born with defects."

Genetic mutations could produce breathtaking colors, but that happened rarely. The risks were still considerable.

Even if Tan Xiang'e had not brought it up, given Bu Yao's family background, they probably would not be allowed to have Green Tree Pythons. The Bu Family was too powerful. This world did not favor sons over daughters, but it did distinguish between Snake Species.

For once, Xing Yue grew bashful. She had never thought that far ahead. "We haven't considered anything so far off. If she likes little snakes, I'm... I'm fine with either."

She did not particularly care about passing on her bloodline. If Bu Yao wanted little snakes, Fire Snakes or Green Tree Pythons would both be fine. It was just that whichever of them laid the eggs would contribute more to the babies' genes.

If the Bu Family wanted Little Fire Snakes, Bu Yao would have to carry the eggs.

Pregnancy was hard. That was what worried Xing Yue more. Bu Yao had been raised in comfort; who knew how much she would suffer?

Xing Yue felt a little guilty. She had not even won the approval of Bu Yao's parents, yet she was already imagining having little snakes with her...

Someone suddenly knocked on the room door. Tan Xiang'e instinctively pulled a sterile drape over Xing Yue, then spread an ordinary blanket on top.

"Teacher Xing, I heard you..." Jiang Yue entered carrying a basket of medicinal herbs. A wave of Rose Scent met her as she opened the door. Several pots of fresh flowers stood everywhere from the large balcony to the room itself. Her voice trailed off. She immediately sensed that something was wrong.

She looked around the room, hid the doubt in her eyes, and smiled warmly. "I heard you caught a cold. Zhizhi asked me to bring you some herbs. She said a bath with them might help."

She turned to look for Xing Yue, only for an unfamiliar woman to lean right into her face. Startled by how close the woman was, Jiang Yue felt their cheeks touch.

Jiang Yue stepped back. When she looked again, the woman followed and sniffed at her.

"Assistant Tan!" Xing Yue called.

Her cool voice barely broke through Tan Xiang'e's obsessive fascination. Tan Xiang'e grabbed Jiang Yue by the shoulders. "How fascinating. You have a scent I've never smelled before. Are you a new Snake Species? Or an endangered—"

"What are you doing?" Jiang Yue shoved her away before she could finish. Usually so gentle with others, she was visibly angry now. "Who taught you to lunge at people? You almost kissed me. Maybe it doesn't bother you, but it disgusts me."

She scrubbed hard at the cheek Tan Xiang'e had touched. It had only been a brush of the nose, yet she looked as though she had been defiled, her stomach churning.

Xing Yue had seen the whole thing. She frowned slightly and, though the anesthetic had not worn off, managed to prop herself up. "Sorry, Xiao Jiang. My assistant is new and hasn't been trained. I'll take the herbs. Thank you."

Jiang Yue set down the basket and left. She could not even keep up a polite front; Tan Xiang'e's behavior seemed to have thoroughly repulsed her.

Strange. Xing Yue's thoughts churned. Jiang Yue had not looked merely offended, nor like someone angrily lashing out after being suspected of something. If anything, she had looked afraid of women... A touch on the face from another woman had made her sick.

Once Tan Xiang'e's excitement passed, she calmed down. "Did I cause you trouble? You don't understand—she seems to have the scent of a new Snake Species. Reporting this would be a major discovery!"

She was still caught up in the thrill of it. If it really was confirmed to be a new Snake Species, the news would cause quite a stir.

Xing Yue parted her lips, then said nothing. It was not a new species, but an endangered one. Tan Xiang'e would not get the chance to report it, and the authorities would not allow it to be made public.

Even after leaving the room, Jiang Yue felt a chill of revulsion. She splashed water on her face and scrubbed furiously, wishing she could peel off her entire right cheek.

Lately, she had been getting nauseated more and more often. She had to shower even after being intimate with He Zhiwen. Now it had gotten so bad that a woman touching her face made her want to vomit.

Jiang Yue cursed inwardly, then abruptly caught onto something. How could an ordinary assistant know how to identify a snake by scent?

She thought of the roses placed all around the room in an obvious attempt to hide something, the strange instruments she could not make sense of, and Xing Yue lying in bed beneath the blanket...

She realized Tan Xiang'e might be more than an assistant. Only someone highly skilled in medicine could identify snake species by scent. Everyone else needed instruments or had to examine the snake's appearance.

"Yueyue."

A soft voice came from behind her.

He Zhiwen wrapped her arms around Jiang Yue and looked at her in the mirror. "What's wrong? You've been in the bathroom since you got back..."

Jiang Yue quietly pried the hands from her waist and smiled. "Nothing. I had a nice chat with Teacher Xing. Send me the photos you took of the Snake Eggs. Teacher Xing said she wanted to see them."

That assistant seemed unusually capable. Maybe she could tell something from the photos. Jiang Yue did not want to wait any longer. She felt sick every day, and even showering twice a day was not enough.

Hearing that Xing Yue wanted to see the babies, He Zhiwen grew a little shy. She scrolled through her photos and complained lightly, "You're their mother. You haven't saved a single photo of the babies?"

Thinking back, every time they visited the babies, she had taken photo after photo. Jiang Yue did not seem to have taken any.

Jiang Yue froze, then made up an excuse. "I have. I uploaded them to cloud storage. Logging in needs some verification code, and it's such a hassle. Just send yours to me on WeChat. I can show Teacher Xing when I go over. That's easier."

"Did Xing Yue really say that..." He Zhiwen muttered as she sent the photos. She was shy about it, but something still felt odd.

In the past, Jiang Yue would have soothed her thoroughly and charmed her out of asking any more questions. Now she had no patience at all. She took her phone and left.

In the corridor, she happened to run into Tan Xiang'e, who was heading back to rest after finishing the surgery.

Tan Xiang'e did feel sorry about what had happened and was about to apologize, but Jiang Yue approached with a new face. Her warm smile appeared faster than a performer could switch masks.

"Assistant Tan, I didn't mean to snap at you. There's something going on at home, and I was too anxious." Jiang Yue's youthful face looked pure and innocent beneath her beaming smile.

Tan Xiang'e was baffled. Why was Jiang Yue apologizing to her?

"Uh... I..."

Jiang Yue drew her into a small lounge and sat down as though they were old friends. "My brother-in-law just called. My sister laid four Snake Eggs. I've been so tense all day thinking about it."

As she spoke, she pulled up photos from the first day He Zhiwen had laid the eggs. "Look at these four little things. They gave her such a hard time. My sister suffered a lot during her pregnancy."

Tan Xiang'e glanced at the photo, intending only to be polite. But one look revealed a serious problem.

"Wait, this..." She zoomed in and studied it again and again. "These weren't conceived by a female and a male. Is your brother-in-law a woman?"

She asked hesitantly.

Same-sex couples were common in this world, but people generally did not call their sister's female partner a brother-in-law.

These eggs had clearly been conceived by two female snakes. If one parent had been male, the eggs would have had pale yellow surfaces and harder shells. Eggs laid by two females were milky white, with soft, watery shells.

Of course, infidelity was extremely common in their world. It was entirely possible that Jiang Yue's sister had married a male snake but had an affair with a female one.

To Tan Xiang'e's surprise, Jiang Yue became excited. "Really? They were laid by two females? Take another look. Can you tell what Snake Species they are? My brother-in-law is a Coral Snake. Could there be some mistake?"

That rubbed Tan Xiang'e the wrong way. She had practiced medicine for years; she was hardly going to confuse something like this.

Ordinary families waited until their eggs had developed enough to shine a light through them and see for themselves. Wealthy families who wanted to know the Snake Species sooner could pay a high price to send egg mucus overseas for genetic analysis. It was not perfectly accurate, but it could give a rough estimate.

Tan Xiang'e had plenty of experience. She rarely needed instruments; if the Snake Species was one she knew, she could identify it from the eggs' shape and color.

"These aren't Coral Snake eggs either..." She was nearly certain Jiang Yue's sister had had an affair. She explained, "Coral Snake eggs are tiny, and the hatchlings are only about two fingers wide. The mother can lay them easily. These four eggs clearly had to be removed surgically. They're python eggs. Unless something unusual happened, all four babies inherited your sister's genes."

All she had meant to tell Jiang Yue was that she could not identify the Snake Species of the woman her sister had had an affair with. The eggs were still too young.

Jiang Yue was a Ball Python, so her sister must be one too. Tan Xiang'e's conclusion rested on that assumption.

She could have been wrong. If both mothers were pythons, the eggs could also have inherited the other mother's genes. It was a matter of probability.

Jiang Yue's face darkened like a thunderstorm deep in the mountains, her gaze cold enough to turn water to shards of ice.

Others did not know what a Spirit Snake looked like, but she knew perfectly well. He Zhiwen's snake form was not a python...

Tan Xiang'e shivered at Jiang Yue's expression. Anyone who did not know better might think her brother-in-law had cheated and she was furious on her sister's behalf.

Jiang Yue did not return to her dorm. She took He Zhiwen and drove through the night to her hometown in another city.

It was not too far, but the drive would take two hours, and a round trip would bring them back very late. He Zhiwen tried to persuade her to wait, but Jiang Yue insisted she missed the babies and had to see them right away—tonight. He Zhiwen had no choice but to go along with her.

"Yueyue, I'm going to sleep for a bit. Wake me when we get there." He Zhiwen leaned against the car window to rest.

Jiang Yue drove beyond the reach of the cameras and turned onto a narrow road. "Honey, there's roadwork ahead. You won't be able to sleep well. Change back into your snake form and coil up."

The bumpy road really did make it hard to rest.

He Zhiwen was still nursing, and even this short journey was uncomfortable for her. Before long, a snow-white snake lay coiled several times over on the passenger seat, her head drooping.

Within two seconds, she crawled onto Jiang Yue's lap instead. She found a comfortable spot, curled her tail, tucked her head against Jiang Yue's chest, and fell asleep pressed against her.

Jiang Yue waited another ten minutes or so. Once she was sure He Zhiwen was sound asleep, she quietly fetched a bag from the back seat and pressed a handkerchief soaked in chemicals over the snake's face, knocking her out.

She took an iron cage from the trunk. It was about the size of a birdcage, with several coils of electrical wire wrapped around the outside. She put He Zhiwen inside.

The cage was so small it barely held He Zhiwen's snake form. There was not even room to move her tail. Wedged in like that, she would have to remain a snake; she could not turn back into a human.

To stop He Zhiwen from escaping when she woke, Jiang Yue had electrified the coils of wire. Flicking a switch would send current through them.

She called a man. "Have you finished the listing? Hurry up and put this woman up for sale on the Black Market. Don't let her interfere with my debut."

"And I'm going home to lure my mom out. Break up those Snake Eggs for me. They haven't developed yet, so they don't count as children..."