The little green snake flew onto Mu Shiyue's body and burrowed straight into her clothes.
If she hadn't reacted quickly and pressed it down immediately, it might've continued drilling downward.
"Baby…"
Chu Jingzhuo was also startled by the little green snake's actions. Only after Mu Shiyue moved did he come back to his senses.
No one else laughed at the way he addressed it. If it were them, they would also call their own spirit beast "baby".
"Roar~"
"Ying~"
"Moo~"
Several young ones bounced around nearby, their eyes fixed on the little green snake that Mu Shiyue had pulled out.
Little Tiger Baby even stared fiercely, starting to lick its claws.
To Hu Niu, this little green snake counted as something it had helped hatch, and it was far too small, so small that it wasn't even enough to get stuck between its teeth.
But to Little Tiger Baby, a small snake like this was just right.
It would probably be nice and crunchy.
Sensing Little Tiger Baby's gaze, the little green snake was so frightened that it tightly coiled around Mu Shiyue's wrist, absolutely refusing to let go.
Mu Shiyue: "..."
Sensing the little green snake's fear, she reached out, pressed down on Little Tiger Baby's head, shook the little green snake in her hand, and said seriously, "This one can't be eaten, understand?"
"Aowoo~"
"If you dare eat it…" Mu Shiyue said very solemnly, "then there will be no more milk, and no more steamed buns either."
As soon as this threat came out, Little Tiger Baby froze. The paw it had been licking dropped back down.
"Aow aow~"
"That's right. If you dare mess around, then there will be nothing at all," Mu Shiyue said with a smile, yet spoke words that were extremely lethal to young ones.
Little Tiger Baby's eyes widened, "Aow aow aow!"
"Mm-hm. You can just try and see whether I'll really do it," Mu Shiyue maintained her smile.
But in Little Tiger Baby's eyes, that smile was terrifying.
She's actually threatening it for the sake of a little snake!
"Aow aow aow aow aow!" Am I still your most beloved baby?!
"No," Mu Shiyue said with a straight face. "I have many babies. You're just one of them."
"Roar~"
Little Tiger Baby was furious. It slapped the ground repeatedly with its front paws, squealing loudly.
The others didn't understand what Little Tiger Baby was saying, but they could roughly guess from Mu Shiyue's words.
Seeing Little Tiger Baby so furious and defeated, everyone's gaze toward it involuntarily carried sympathy and affection.
It's being bullied by Master.
Mu Shiyue, however, remained merciless, "Remember, this is your companion. You are not allowed to bully it."
The little green snake coiled even tighter around Mu Shiyue's hand.
So scary!
"Ying~" Little Sesame let out a milky-soft cry.
"Mhm, Little Sesame is well-behaved," Mu Shiyue said with a smile, patting Little Sesame's head in praise. "Later I'll let you drink more milk."
"Ying! Ying!"
Little Sesame immediately became happy.
"Roar~"
Little Tiger Baby glared unhappily at Little Sesame, its eyes full of condemnation.
Traitor!
But Little Sesame didn't pay it any attention at all, instead hugging Mu Shiyue's leg and acting cute.
"Moo~"
"Mhm, Ah Lang is also a good child," Mu Shiyue said, patting Ah Lang's big head. "Later I'll let you drink tea."
"Moo~"
Ah Lang became happy as well.
Although the tea was very bitter, it and its mother both liked the taste a lot.
Because of this, they had stopped eating the leaves.
Instead, every day they diligently went under the spirit tea tree to urinate and fertilize it, and occasionally even gave it some spiritual power.
All so that it would grow more leaves faster, to be stir-fried into tea leaves.
The tea was very tasty, and it also contained plenty of spiritual qi.
And moreover, milk tea was super delicious!
Who would've thought that milk one was used to drinking, mixed together with tasty tea, would be so good!
"Moo~" Can I drink milk tea?
"Of course," Mu Shiyue said with a smile, patting its head. "Later I'll make milk tea for you to drink."
"Moo~"
Ah Lang became even happier.
"Roar~"
Seeing that both little companions had defected, Little Tiger Baby became even more unhappy, nearly rolling around on the ground.
Mu Shiyue stopped it with a single sentence, "If you keep making trouble, not only will there be no good food or fun things, you'll also be punished!"
Little Tiger Baby: "..."
It stiffened for a moment, then, acting as if nothing had happened, went forward to rub against Mu Shiyue's leg, letting out coquettish cries.
What just happened?
It didn't know!
No one told it!
Mu Shiyue was both amused and exasperated by its instant face change. She lightly kicked it away with her foot and scolded with a laugh, "Oh you, cut from the same mold as your mother!"
"Aowoo~"
After being kicked away, Little Tiger Baby showed not the slightest hint of embarrassment, and immediately moved back again, acting cute and calling out.
"Alright, alright. Later I'll give you something tasty!" Mu Shiyue had no choice but to relent.
"Aowoo~" Little Tiger Baby is happy now.
"Remember, from now on you can't bully the little… little sister, okay!"
Yes, this snake is female.
"Aowoo~" What do you mean bully? Am I that kind of beast?
"Ying! Ying!" It wouldn't bully little babies either.
"Moo~" It was well-behaved too.
Several little ones rushed to declare how obedient and well-behaved they were, making Mu Shiyue both amused and helpless.
Don't be fooled by how nicely they promised now, after a couple of days, they would revert to their old habits.
No matter what kind of cub it was, human or spirit beast, it's always the same.
"Alright, alright," Mu Shiyue said, tapping their heads. "This is your little sister. Remember to get along peacefully!"
She then looked at Chu Jingzhuo, "What name are you going to give it?"
Chu Jingzhuo hadn't yet come back to his senses. Hearing this, he shook his head, "Please bestow a name, Master!"
"This is your contracted beast."
Although it hadn't been contracted yet, that was only a matter of time.
"I know. Please bestow a name, Master!"
"The names I come up with… are very ordinary."
Calling them ordinary was already flattering, she's terrible at naming.
"That's fine."
Since he said it's fine, Mu Shiyue didn't refuse further.
"Then…" Looking at the little green snake's beautiful green color, she blurted out, "Then let's call it Xiao Qing!"
"Xiao Qing?"
"Shouldn't it be called Xiao Lu (1)?"
The others couldn't help speaking up.
"The name Xiao Qing… does it have any special meaning?"
"No," Mu Shiyue smiled. "I just thought of this name."
She couldn't very well say that this name was known to everyone in her first life (2).
"Besides, this name is simple and easy to remember," she said, lowering her head to look at the little green snake. "Right, Xiao Qing?"
The little green snake answered by hooking its tail around her little pinky.
"Alright, then it's called Xiao Qing!" Chu Jingzhuo didn't think too much about it and happily agreed. "You'll be called Xiao Qing from now on!"
He looked at the little green snake with bright eyes and reached out, wanting to take it.
But before his hand even reached it, Xiao Qing darted straight into Mu Shiyue's sleeve.
Chu Jingzhuo: "..."
With Xiao Qing being so affectionate to Master, would it still be willing to contract with him?
Thinking of this, his mood became complicated.
Master was simply too popular with spirit beasts. He couldn't compare.
However, before he could feel sad, Mu Shiyue had already grabbed Xiao Qing out of her sleeve and directly tossed it into his hands.
"This is your owner, don't get it wrong!"
After reaching Chu Jingzhuo's hands, Xiao Qing still wanted to run, and then came Mu Shiyue's voice, "Use your spiritual power to soothe it."
Chu Jingzhuo instinctively released his spiritual power.
Sure enough, after he released his spiritual power, the restless Xiao Qing visibly calmed down and no longer tried to escape.
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(1): Xiao = Little, Qing = Light-green or blue. Lu = Green. Here, the disciples are asking why the snake wasn't named Lu after its colour and instead named Qing, a different colour.
(2): Xiao Qing is a character from the Legend of the White Snake, one of the four great folktales in China. In the story, Xiao Qing is a light-green snake spirit that is one of the protagonists.