Chapter 15 - The Chaos of War

Chapter 15 - The Chaos of War.

After deciding to spend the winter here, Su Qing cleaned up the ruined temple the next day...

Well, 'cleaned' is a strong word. In reality, she just swept some rotten wood and debris outside with her tail.

In Su Qing's current state... it would be quite difficult for a snake to actually hold a broom with her tail to sweep.

After sweeping the trash out, Su Qing went back to lazing around.

Waiting for winter to gradually arrive.

The days passed one by one.

Su Qing watched as the weeds outside gradually withered... Golden leaves laid a layer of gold upon the earth.

Su Qing knew that General Winter had mounted his chariot.

She stopped being lazy and began to hunt for food for her hibernation.

Then she dug a pit in the ruined temple... just big enough to bury herself in.

The temple was dilapidated, so to avoid losing its shelter from the wind and rain during winter, Su Qing decided to have two plans in place.

Once everything was ready, Su Qing hid in the pit, buried herself... and closed her eyes.

A few more days passed.

General Winter arrived...

A light snow fell slowly, and before long, it had wrapped the earth in a silver coat.

As for Su Qing, she was sleeping soundly.

Winter passed quickly...

In her hibernation, Su Qing could hardly feel its long duration.

Unconsciously, winter was almost over.

However, for mortals, this winter was much harder to endure than previous ones.

In the past, they only had to endure the freezing cold. But this winter, a war had begun.

In the chaos of war, the ones who suffered the most were not the soldiers, nor the feudal lords. It was the most ordinary mortals!

Many common people lost their homes because of the war... They were forced to wander, leaving their original homes to seek a living elsewhere.

"Mother! There's a ruined temple over there. Let's go rest for a while!"

Outside the ruined temple where Su Qing was hibernating, a little girl of about seven or eight years old, holding her mother's hand, pointed at the temple and spoke.

The little girl was sallow and thin, her hair withered and messy. It was clear that her life before hadn't been very good; she was from an ordinary farming family.

Perhaps due to several days of travel... the little girl and her mother also looked quite travel-worn.

"Mmm..."

The woman seemed to be ill. Her complexion was very poor, and her reply was listless.

She looked as if she didn't have long to live. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

The little girl led the woman into the ruined temple.

They didn't notice Su Qing, who had dug a pit and buried herself for hibernation... They only felt that the place was very clean—not that there was no dust on the ground, but that there were no objects left behind from the past.

The two of them didn't think much of it, just assuming the previous owners had moved everything out.

There was just nowhere to sit inside.

The two of them found a corner and sat down.

The little girl was very filial...

From the bundle on her back, she took out a dry, hard flatbread.

There were two teeth marks on it. It was hard to tell if they were left because the bread was too hard to bite, or because the little girl wanted to eat it but couldn't bring herself to.

However, seeing her mother in such discomfort... the little girl didn't eat the bread herself. Instead, she broke off a piece and fed it to her mother.

The woman didn't refuse. After chewing it a couple of times, she swallowed it.

This thing didn't taste good at all; it was like eating dirt.

It was only good for staving off hunger.

"Mother... I'll go get some water for you!"

The little girl knew her mother was not well, so she took on the responsibility of caring for her.

She planned to get some water for her mother, as she knew just how hard and tasteless the bread was.

But before she had taken two steps, her mother pulled her back.

"You're still young, don't run around by yourself. It would be dangerous if you ran into deserters. If we need water, I'll go..."

"But..."

"I'm fine... It's just a common cold. I'll be better after a few days of rest..."

The mother very gently patted her head, and said:

"You should get some rest too! You've had a hard few days. Rest now, Mother is fine."

"But, Mother... I'm so scared. I'm so scared you'll leave, just like Father did..." the little girl said in a tearful voice, hugging her mother.

She only seemed strong on the outside, but deep down, she was still just an ordinary little girl.

The mother didn't say anything more, just silently patted her on the back.

"When will this war ever end..." she thought to herself.

She didn't care what happened to her... she just hoped her daughter could live a good life.

The little girl mumbled through her tears.

The woman answered her calmly...

Patting her back, trying to get her to fall asleep quickly.

She knew her daughter hadn't had a proper rest in a long time. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

She didn't want her daughter to suffer so much.

Su Qing had been hibernating.

But as the weather gradually warmed, she had already begun to slowly wake up.

She was now in a half-asleep, half-awake state...

She knew she was sleeping, but she was also somewhat aware of what was happening outside.

The reason she didn't get up was purely out of laziness; she wanted to sleep a little longer.

Who could blame her? Snakes are just that indolent.

Naturally, Su Qing knew that living people had entered the ruined temple where she was hibernating.

She just couldn't be bothered to care—not because she was afraid of scaring them, but simply because she was too lazy to move.

In her hazy state, she seemed to overhear a drama of a loving mother and a filial daughter.

She didn't want to pay them any mind and wasn't too concerned about them disturbing her hibernation. She just hoped they would finish talking and leave quickly.

But things didn't go as she wished; the mother and daughter kept talking nonstop.

Su Qing started to get annoyed...

After all, anyone would be unhappy if their sleep was disturbed. Besides, she had already put up with it for quite a while.

She slowly raised her head, shaking off the dirt that covered her, and revealed herself.

Su Qing planned to scare the two of them away directly...

to prevent them from continuing to disturb her sleep here.

Not even being able to wake up naturally from hibernation, what a miserable life.

Sure enough, when Su Qing appeared, the mother and daughter were both stunned...

They stared blankly at Su Qing, clearly terrified.

The woman held her daughter tightly, her mind racing.

Perhaps because she felt it was a life-or-death moment, her mind worked very quickly.

She didn't try to flee immediately. Instead, she knelt down with her daughter to beg for mercy.

"Willow Immortal, spare our lives! Willow Immortal, spare our lives..."

"We didn't know the Willow Immortal was cultivating in seclusion here! We did not mean to disturb you, great Immortal!"

"If we have disturbed you, great Immortal, we will leave at once."

Although the woman was ill and her breath was weak, she forced herself to remain calm and spoke in a respectful tone.

At the same time, she didn't forget to hold on tightly to her terrified daughter...

In truth, the woman was taking a gamble.

Even if she was uneducated, she knew the green snake before her was no ordinary green snake. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

One that could grow to such a size must have cultivated into a demon.

If she just ran, she might be swallowed in one bite.

It was better to take the initiative and admit fault...

If the other party had a good temper, she might be able to save her life.

Su Qing could more or less guess the woman's thoughts.

She just felt a bit helpless...

The woman didn't really need to do this; she could have just left... and that would have been fine.

It would have saved her the trouble...

But perhaps this was her way of survival!

Su Qing flicked her tongue, looking at the mother and daughter, and couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

She couldn't help but change her mind a little...

She had originally intended to drive them away. But after seeing their condition, she felt a bit of pity.

Especially since one was sick and the other was young.

Finally, Su Qing sighed in her heart, thinking of doing what little she could while also cursing herself for being a meddlesome idiot.

Then, she put on an act and said, "Hmph. On account of your daughter's filial piety, I will not blame you. You are permitted to rest here... but do not be noisy."