Luo Li returned to his own room and then peeked at the door to Soi’s place. No one was there.
Down in the tavern beneath the Containment Shelter, people had gathered in small clusters, drinking and feasting. Laughter erupted intermittently from the men, along with hoarse, drunken singing.
In this perilous underbelly of the Apocalyptic Sinkhole, many spent their entire lives without a chance to return Inside the Wall. They could only numb themselves briefly with alcohol.
Luo Li stood at the stairwell and cautiously glanced toward the group.
He didn’t recognize a single one of them. And none of them looked like good people.
Just then, a burly man shouted loudly, “Hey, Soi! Long time no see, and now you’re dragging your feet? Don’t tell me it’s because we joined the Patrol Team that you’re getting distant with us!”
Soi emerged from a corner, holding a bottle of strong liquor. He wore only a tank top, his pierced brow arching as he filled a glass to the brim. “How could that be? I still need you guys to look out for me.”
Among that group of slick-looking toughs, the tall, dark-skinned youth stood out—both fitting in and utterly alien, an odd sight.
He was adept at their drinking games, but most of the time he lounged lazily on the sidelines, watching. Every now and then he’d grin, flashing a row of terrifying shark-like teeth.
The more Luo Li watched, the more he seemed like a madman.
A chill crept over Luo Li.
Better to hole up in his own room…
“By the way, I heard you brought back a pretty little kid this time. Where is he? Won’t you introduce us?”
Luo Li paused mid-step. He saw Soi glance carelessly in his direction. “Right there.”
The others followed his gaze to the boy on the stairs. They all froze in unison.
Soi chuckled lowly. “Such a good little boy, isn’t he?”
He beckoned Luo Li over. “Come drink with us?”
Luo Li’s eyelashes fluttered. Staring at the group with their leering eyes, he recoiled instantly.
He deliberately kicked a table leg. “No way!”
Then he bolted upstairs with quick footsteps.
The group exchanged bewildered looks, but Soi remained utterly nonchalant.
What was strange about that? One was a timid, delicate good boy; the other, a desperado from the depths. It would be weirder if he actually came over to drink with them.
“Yo, he really looks down on you, Soi.”
Soi just shrugged, saying nothing.
Back in his room, Luo Li took a shower, changed clothes, and flopped onto the bed.
After the long, dusty journey, he was exhausted. He buried his face in the pillow, and sleepiness washed over him in moments. His eyes wouldn’t stay open.
The room was well soundproofed. With the door shut, he could barely hear the noise outside.
Some time later, a draft of cold air slipped down his collar. Half-asleep, he wondered vaguely if he’d forgotten to close the window.
Too lazy to get up, he simply pulled the blanket tighter and ignored it.
The sleeping boy didn’t notice that the entire window had swung fully open without a sound. A black-and-red snake tail coiled around the frame, inching closer to him.
Not just one.
Five or six of them.
Five or six adult male King Snakes had swum upstream from that stream, scaled the walls of the Containment Shelter, and now peered into the room.
Among them, the leader was exceptionally massive and robust. Water from the damp, blood-red mane dripped down, staining the scales on his chest and arms a demonic red-black.
Though the King Snakes were already quite close, they showed no sign of attacking. Instead, they seemed wary of something and halted at a safe distance from Luo Li.
The younger King Snakes eyed him carefully.
A human youth—frail and timid, lacking a magnificent, powerful snake tail or an iron-hard exoskeleton.
Such a body wasn’t suited for breeding or laying eggs. They couldn’t understand why the King had chosen him.
He was pretty enough, that much even they—as snakes—had to admit.
But he surely couldn’t withstand the King’s long, ferocious mating season, nor shoulder the duty of expanding the brood. They even doubted if he could incubate eggs.
His face looked just like a hatchling from their clan—still at the age needing tender care from fathers and elder brothers.
Was it too hasty to burden such a delicate, fragile boy with the role of King Consort…?
But the King seemed utterly unconcerned. His hard scales quivered and parted in excitement. He even lowered his noble head, sniffing cautiously at the sliver of pale, tender neck peeking from under the boy’s blanket.
In his sleep, the boy frowned faintly and rubbed his neck with a hand.
Suddenly, he touched something wet and slimy.
Luo Li’s drowsiness vanished in an instant. He sat bolt upright like a startled rabbit and flicked on the bedside lamp with a snap.
Nothing there.
Had it been… a dream?
The boy looked around suspiciously. Nothing. He touched the back of his neck—no trace left behind.
Must have been half-asleep nonsense.
But as he reached to pull the covers back over himself, something cold and rough brushed the back of his hand.
A segment of snake tail covered in black-red scales snaked out from under the bed and coiled at the foot, slapping forcefully.
Luo Li screamed.
In blind panic, he stumbled off the bed and fled the room.
It was deep into the night. The tavern party below had dispersed entirely. The hallway was pitch-black and eerie, but thankfully Soi’s room was right next door. Without thinking, Luo Li pounded on the door—thud thud thud.
No answer for the longest time.
Luo Li shouted anxiously, “Soi! Soi! Open the door—you have to!”
Finally, Soi’s hoarse, lazy voice drifted out. “What is it, baby?”
He still had time for pet names!
Luo Li was on the verge of tears. “I need to talk to you. Th-there’s a snake… in my room…”
“A snake?”
Soi clicked his tongue and opened the door.
Luo Li rushed straight in without a second thought. Only then did he look down and realize Soi wore nothing but a towel around his waist.
“Ah!”
The boy flushed crimson and slapped a hand over his eyes. “Wh-why aren’t you wearing clothes!”
“Was about to shower. Why bother?”
Soi still carried a faint whiff of alcohol—not strong, probably picked up from drinking with those guys downstairs. “What was that about a snake?”
“The kind we saw in the lake before.” Luo Li was still shaken. “It was under my bed.”
“You must still be dreaming, darling. This is the Containment Shelter—guards everywhere, and especially with your boyfriend around, they’ve got Patrol Teams swarming the place. A King Snake shows its face here? One shot, done.”
He made to head into the shower, but Luo Li blocked him. “But I saw it! Anyway… I can’t stay alone anymore…”
Soi paused. “Then shower with me?”
Under the soft bathroom light, pink bloomed at the corners of the boy’s eyes and the tips of his ears. His lashes drooped low, curling shyly upward just a bit.
“No way!”
But he really was scared. Compromising awkwardly, he said, “I’ll wait out here. If a snake comes in, you have to protect me.”
Soi didn’t know whether to laugh or not. “Suit yourself.”
The shower turned on, water rushing with Soi humming softly under it.
Luo Li couldn’t fathom how someone could have such a ironclad heart. King Snakes! And he wasn’t scared at all?
No, looking at him, this guy probably didn’t even believe a word he’d said.
The more he thought, the more annoyed he got with Soi.
Just a slippery drunkard who loved his booze and bullshit, never serious.
But remembering how Soi had hacked off that King Snake’s tail and saved him once, Luo Li couldn’t bring himself to curse the man.
Another sound came from the shower.
“Baby, grab me some underwear? Hanging on the rack. Pick any.”
Luo Li nearly ground his teeth to dust.
“You—how do you even forget that!”
“Aw, too much booze, memory’s shot. Don’t be mad, darling. Next time you shower, I’ll bring you some too.”
“I don’t need you to!”
Luo Li held back, again and again, until he couldn’t.
Fuming, he stomped to the rack, pinched a pair disdainfully between two fingers.
For someone so laid-back and sloppy, his clothes were surprisingly clean—no risk of soiling his hands.
Nose wrinkled, Luo Li cracked the shower door open and shoved them in. “Here. Take them.”
He kept his eyes squeezed shut the whole time, terrified of glimpsing something he shouldn’t.
He waved his little hand through the steamy mist. Before Soi could grab them, a strong grip seized his wrist and yanked him inside.
Whoosh—
The shower door slammed shut. Soi held Luo Li’s wrist, pinning him against his chest.
Thick steam swirled. The man was stark naked, water droplets tracing his straight nose bridge and sharp eye corners before pooling deep in his collarbone.
The scorpion tattoo, freshly rinsed, looked even more vicious—the barbed tail glinting coldly.
Luo Li went rigid, shoving desperately, but the other man didn’t budge an inch.
“What the hell are you doing! Let go! Release me—”
Bang!
His words had barely trailed off when a thunderous crash echoed from outside the shower.
It sounded as if something had slammed heavily against the glass door.
Luo Li whipped his head around in shock.
Black-red tail scales pressed flat against the glass before slowly sliding downward.
This was his first time staring at them from such close range.
The King Snake Commander had a human upper body and serpentine tail, but its physique was utterly unlike that of an ordinary human. Dark skin etched with serpentine patterns covered its form, while hardened exoskeletons coiled around its arms.
The commander’s build was powerfully robust, its coiled tail especially thick—easily over ten meters long. It dominated the cramped confines of the bathroom with its overwhelming bulk.
A jagged wound marked the tip of the snake tail, the remnant of a severance.
Luo Li immediately recalled that monster—the one whose tail Soi had chopped off that day.
Soi’s hand pressed hard against the glass door, sheltering Luo Li safely in the crook of his arm.
“Darling, you know that bit of common knowledge? No matter where you are, the bathroom is always the sturdiest part of a house’s structure.”
Which meant this glass door was the most secure spot of all.
Only then did Soi lower his gaze. The boy cradled in his arms pushed both hands against his chest, slender shoulders quaking without cease. Luo Li’s calves braced against the glass door, pressing soft indents into the flesh there, while his toes visibly trembled.
Steam from the bathroom misted his delicate face, bathing it in a soft, hazy glow. After one quick glance at the King Snake, he dared not look again, burying his head fiercely against Soi’s chest.
Luo Li couldn’t see it, but Soi had a clear view.
The King Snake Leader stared fixedly at the youth behind the glass door, its Adam’s apple shifting faintly.
And there, concealed beneath the scales of its tail—directly behind Luo Li—it began to swell ever so slowly.
