Green Python Falls Ill (Continued)

When Tao Qiu is alone, she can transform into a small bird to get away, and then return to her normal size and fly back to the valley when she is far away from the base. But the kids don't have this ability. When they transform into bird form, they are particularly large, and if they appear in the base, they will definitely be discovered.

He could only drive in human form, hiding the children in the back seat, and then coordinate with the guards at the gate who knew the situation to secretly lead the children out.

To ordinary people, the outside world is full of mutated monsters and extremely dangerous. It's understandable that Tao Qiu, an adult, would go out, but to have three children accompany him is to play with their lives!

So the kids can only sneak out of the base like this every time.

When some people first discovered that Tao Qiu had gone out alone, they thought he wasn't a superhuman, but rather a great contributor to the base. They reasoned that even if he needed to go outside to find something, he should at least have a few guards accompany him.

Tao Qiu personally explained that he had a way to save his life, and that he always returned safely from his trips, so gradually no one paid any attention to it anymore.

Not long after leaving the safe zone, the three kids climbed out from the cover in the back seat after Tao Qiu gave them permission.

The cubs understood the importance of their Snow Bird identity and felt that hiding behind the snowbirds and avoiding everyone's eyes was like playing a game, which was very exciting, so they didn't feel resentful.

Tao Qiu first drove the car to Black Rabbit's territory and let the kittens play with him for a while. When he left, Black Rabbit brought him food and flowers he had picked, being incredibly hospitable.

The previous crop was distributed to the Green Python, Black Rabbit, and Red Fox after it matured, and the new season's crop is still growing.

Pear trees don't grow in just one or two years. To avoid suspicion, even strawberries are sold at the base, but Tao Qiu and his group can only come back to the valley to eat the black pears and then take some back to distribute to insiders who know the situation.

The summer sun was scorching. Tao Qiu and her children had just finished bathing in the pool and were lying on the lawn under the shade of a tree, chatting and eating pears, when they suddenly sensed the presence of Green Python wafting in from outside.

The three kids noticed the strong aura, and their eyes lit up instantly.

"Is the Little Snake here?"

Tao Qiu stood up. "It's them, mother and son."

After saying that, he let out a loud bird call, signaling to the Green Python and the Little Snake that they could come in.

The Little Snake swam at the very front. At this moment, the three offspring also transformed back into bird form. Otherwise, given the Little Snake's current size, their human bodies wouldn't be able to withstand it if it crashed into them.

"Chirp chirp!"

"Hiss!"

The Little Snake and their offspring tumbled together on the grass, giggling and playing, quickly creating a lively scene.

Tao Qiu was infected by their joy, and his smile deepened. But when he met the eyes of the Green Python Little Snake was slowly approaching, his smile immediately froze.

The Green Python's eyes... something's off.

The two parents exchanged a glance, then walked to a spot some distance away from their children, making sure they couldn't hear them, before starting to chat.

Tao Qiu: "Chirp chirp?"

--Are you in some kind of trouble?

The Green Python's gaze darkened. "Hiss..."

--I think I'm sick, the kind of weird illness that drove my mother insane and caused her to die?

Tao Qiu's pupils trembled.

The Green Python then explained the specifics.

Having witnessed firsthand the entire process of his mother's illness, from its onset to her death, the Green Python must have some understanding of this strange disease.

The initial symptom is that even without injury, the body will involuntarily feel pain.

After that, the pain intensifies and gradually replaces reason. During an attack, the patient will disregard friend and foe and engage in frenzied aggressive behavior.

The longer it drags on, the more frequent and longer the episodes will become, until finally the person will never regain consciousness, will fall into complete madness, and die in despair.

The Green Python mother's last bout of illness caused great casualties. The Fox Clan's old patriarch, at the request of the foxes, struggled for many years, but eventually became so weak that he could not even commit suicide. In order not to harm the foxes of the clan, before facing the same fate as the Green Python mother, he had no choice but to force the Red Fox and White Fox to kill him in advance.

There is no cure for this strange disease; for the mutated monsters afflicted with it, death is only a matter of time.

About a month ago, while hunting, the Green Python suddenly experienced excruciating pain inside her body, almost instantly rendering her unable to move and causing her to collapse to the ground.

However, the duration was short, only about a minute, and she remained conscious throughout the episode.

After regaining his senses, the Green Python realized that he might have contracted that strange disease.

At first, she held onto a sliver of hope, but after two more relapses, she was forced to accept reality.

Green Python: "Hiss..."

--My illness is currently in its early stages, and I should be able to live for at least a few more years. I haven't told you yet, Little Snake, that I came to see you today to ask you for a favor.

Tao Qiu said, "Chirp, chirp."

--You said I could definitely do it?

Green Python: "Hiss..."

--If I find myself unable to continue, I will end my own life first, so as not to cause trouble for everyone. After I die, I would like to ask you to take good care of Little Snake. If she encounters difficulties that she cannot solve, I hope you can lend a hand.

Such words, akin to entrusting an orphan, made the atmosphere as heavy as if trapped in a swamp. Tao Qiu gazed at the solemn Green Python, not offering polite words like, "I consider the Little Snake half my own child; even if you hadn't said so, I would have taken care of her," but instead nodded earnestly and solemnly, saying in a deep voice, "Chirp chirp."

--I promise you.

Having received the answer he wanted, the Green Python's eyes revealed a look of relief.

More than a month was enough for the Green Python to convince herself to accept the fact that she was sick. The only thing she couldn't let go of was her Little Snake child.

Just like when her mother had her last episode, she stubbornly maintained her precarious sanity, telling her to find a place to hide and not to come out no matter what she heard.

A mother's love is passed down from generation to generation.

After the Little Snake ate the crops given to it by Tao Qiu and its health improved, the Green Python tried to find a male snake of its own kind to lay several more clutches of eggs, but the results were not very good.

Most snake eggs fail to hatch. Even if they do, the young snakes are born safely, but their mutation level is very low, not much different from ordinary snakes.

These young snakes were not very intelligent and were not particularly affectionate towards the Green Python. Once they were old enough to fend for themselves, the Green Python released them.

The only thing that stayed by her side from beginning to end was the Little Snake.

The Green Python doted on her the most, so naturally he had to consider her future.

Looking into the Green Python's relieved eyes, Tao Qiu couldn't even imagine how heartbroken the Little Snake would be if it knew its beloved mother was sick.

After the Green Python and the Little Snake left, Tao Qiu sat alone by the pond, lost in thought for a long time.

He hadn't expected to hear such bad news on this trip. He considered the Green Python a friend and certainly hoped she could live a long life.

Actually, when Tao Qiu discovered that the Green Python and the old Fox Clan chief were in similar situations—both couldn't sense the supernatural energy in the crops the Green Python grew, and the crops seemed to have no effect on them—she already had some concerns.

However, since the Green Python was slightly better than the old patriarch, at least it could smell the fragrance of the crops, Tao Qiu convinced himself that perhaps the crops were having an effect on the Green Python, but it just couldn't sense it due to special reasons, and it definitely wasn't suffering from that strange disease.

Furthermore, since the Green Python was indeed healthy at the time, Tao Qiu believed her own story. However, she never expected that the Green Python would ultimately come to this.

It's unclear what factors determine this, but even with the same strange disease, different mutated monsters can survive for varying lengths of time.

As far as Tao Qiu knows, the high-level mutated monsters who are currently infected include himself, the Green Python's mother, and the old patriarch of the Fox Clan.

The old patriarch persisted the longest, followed by the Green Python's mother, and then his shortest.

The first two were measured in years, but when he received the death warning, he sensed that he had at most two months to live.

If he hadn't snatched that glowing fruit, he would have been meeting the King of Hell long ago.

He was cured when he received the glowing fruit as soon as he fell ill. The crops he planted contained the same energy as the glowing fruit, but the Fox Clan chief's strange illness had entered its late stage, and he could not sense any special properties of the crops, so the crops could not save his life.

This basically confirms that crops cannot save patients in the later stages of the strange disease.

What about the early and mid-game? Is there still any chance of recovery?

There was only one glowing fruit, and nothing like it had appeared since then. So even though Tao Qiu knew the glowing fruit could save the Green Python who had just contracted the same strange disease as him, he was helpless, like a skilled cook without rice.

Without the glowing fruit, there's no cure for the Green Python. Could consuming crops containing the same type of supernatural power as the glowing fruit slow down the onset of the strange disease?

Just like some terminal illnesses in humans, which cannot be cured, but whose lives can be prolonged with effective drugs.

Tao Qiu carefully recalled that when the Green Python first made the exchange with him a few years ago, it already showed symptoms similar to the old fox, but it never had a seizure.

Her illness only manifested this year.

Tao Qiu tentatively speculated that perhaps the Green Python had already contracted a strange illness, but before it flared up, it ate the crops Tao Qiu had planted, which suppressed the illness.

However, crops can only alleviate the symptoms, not eradicate the disease. After several years, the disease finally broke out again.

Tao Qiu didn't know how the Green Python and its offspring distributed the crops he had exchanged with him. If the Green Python ate a large amount, it would prove Tao Qiu's guess to be somewhat accurate. If the Little Snake ate most of it, then the crops' supposed inhibitory effect on the strange disease was just empty talk.

Tao Qiu composed herself, pretending nothing was wrong. She first channeled her supernatural abilities into the crops at the bottom of the valley, then led the children on a patrol of the territory several times. In the evening, she even cooked them a delicious meal.