Currently, Tu Xiao’an had evolved 35 Killer Bees in his system. Since they evolved in units of ten, he could now evolve three Electric Bees with the Electric Attribute.
"System, I want to perform a combined evolution for an Electric Bee!"
Tu Xiao’an was completely in love with this combined evolution feature. Before long, a brand-new Electric Bee made its dazzling debut. It was still covered in beautiful purple stripes.
It was Level 5 and ten centiters in size.
It was still a far cry from the Electric Bee King, and it only contained three bolts of Thunder within its body.
But Tu Xiao’an was already very satisfied. A mont later, he had evolved all the Killer Bees he could. The sight of the one large and three small Electric Bees floating before him was quite amusing.
Because of Tu Xiao’an’s indulgence in these evolutions, he had used up 2,500 Energy Value in one go.
KZZT... KZZT... KZZT...!
Four slender bolts of lightning instantly struck down in front of Tu Xiao’an, leaving four small pits in the concrete floor, with wisps of white smoke rising from them.
’I’m invincible! I’m really invincible now! With this power, I can finally get my revenge on that rumored Mutated Bloodsucker Snake.’
A mont later, he checked his Energy Value and saw he only had 700 points left. He also only had five Killer Bees left in the system—not enough to evolve another Electric Bee. He could only use his remaining 700 Energy Value to evolve five more Killer Bees first.
Now that he had Electric Bees, Tu Xiao’an suddenly felt that Killer Bees were totally la. People always love the new and loathe the old. How could a bee that just shoots stingers compare to one with the Electric Attribute?
Next, Tu Xiao’an continued evolving Killer Bees. Just as he finished the fifth one, a set of footsteps sounded from outside.
’They’re back.’
A glint flashed in Tu Xiao’an’s Snake Pupils as he watched his mom and sister return ho, their faces etched with exhaustion. He didn’t bother hiding, as there was no need to anymore.
But strangely, his mom and sister seed heavy-hearted, completely ignoring the Silver White Snake coiled by the door.
Instantly, the shadow looming over Tu Xiao’an’s heart grew heavier. His mom had always placed great importance on him, this House Snake, even treating him with reverence. She was usually nothing but respectful whenever she saw him.
"Yue’Er, you must be hungry. Mom will go make you dinner now."
Wen Qiu was ready to start cooking the mont she got ho, but Tu Xiaoyue quickly said, "Mom, let do it. You’ve had a long day. Go to your room and rest for a while."
Wen Qiu shook her head, wanting to insist, but a sudden coughing fit erupted, growing more and more intense until her whole body trembled.
"Mom, hurry and go rest. Leave dinner to ."
Tu Xiaoyue’s heart ached as she watched her mother cough, her face looking sickly and terribly pale.
"I’ll leave it to you, then," Wen Qiu said weakly. Her body slightly hunched, she walked toward the inner room, coughing all the way.
After their mom went to her room, glistening teardrops, like pearls from a broken string, rolled silently down Tu Xiaoyue’s cheeks. Her delicate fra trembled slightly.
"Sis, what’s wrong with Mom? Is her illness really serious?!"
Tu Xiao’an, the Silver White Snake, suddenly appeared before his silently crying sister. When Tu Xiaoyue saw the Silver White Snake, her tears flowed even more fiercely, like a broken dam.
"Little Brother, please don’t ask."
Her words only made Tu Xiao’an more anxious. "Sis, just tell ! What were the test results?"
Tu Xiaoyue didn’t answer his question. Her eyes were filled with endless sorrow, and her voice trembled with dread. "Little Brother, I’m afraid... Mom is going to leave us."
’Leave?’
In that instant, his pair of Snake Pupils stared fixedly at Tu Xiaoyue’s face in disbelief.
"Mom’s cough... it’s late-stage lung cancer. The doctor said she probably doesn’t have much ti left."
As Tu Xiaoyue spoke these words, her heart twisted as if stabbed by a knife, and tears stread uncontrollably down her face.
It was as if Tu Xiao’an had been struck by lightning. He muttered to himself, "Lung cancer... late-stage?"
No matter the illness, if it had reached its final stage, it ant it was extrely serious—terminal. And this was lung cancer, no less.
"How could it be so serious? I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it!"
Tu Xiao’an suddenly felt like he was going insane. Why had he lost his place in the Six Paths of Reincarnation and beco a House Snake? Wasn’t it all to protect his family?
And now, his mom had late-stage lung cancer and didn’t have long to live.
The Silver White Snake thrashed wildly on the floor. He had no arms or legs; this was the only way he could vent his emotions.
"Little Brother, calm down! It’s already a fact."
Tu Xiao’an roared in fury, "I can’t calm down!"
WHOOSH...!
He shot into the inner room like a streak of light. He saw his mom sitting numbly on the edge of the bed, her expression mournful. She looked like an old woman in her twilight years, the crow’s feet around her eyes vivid and deep.
"Cough, cough..."
She sat on the edge of the bed, coughing ceaselessly, holding a photo album in her hands. Her eyes were fixed on one particular photograph, unable to look away for even a second.
In the photo was a handso young man with a bright, sunny smile.
Seeing this, Tu Xiao’an’s heart clenched violently. The person in the photo—who else could it be but him?
Half the responsibility for his mom’s illness becoming so severe lay with him. He had made her endure the greatest pain in the world: that of an elder outliving their child.
The Silver White Snake slithered silently to Wen Qiu’s feet. Tu Xiao’an looked at the strands of white hair standing out on his mom’s head and the wrinkles that grew deeper by the day. She looked utterly forlorn. Her eyes, clouded with age, just stared at the photo, as if afraid she would never have the chance to look at it again.
A stream of hot tears slid down her wrinkled face and fell upon Tu Xiao’an’s heart, leaving a scar on his soul that would never heal.
Tu Xiao’an was filled with guilt for his mother. He had made her suffer the pain of outliving her child—an act of great unfilial piety.
Seeing his mom in this state, her aged eyes saw none of the world around her, only the sorrow of missing her son.
’Mom... your son is right here.’
Tu Xiao’an gently rubbed his Snake Head against Wen Qiu’s foot. But at this mont, Wen Qiu was completely lost in her grief, so much so that she paid no mind even to her House Snake.
He truly wanted to call out to her, but he was just a Snake. How could the word "Mom" ever co from a snake’s mouth?
And how could his mother, with her late-stage lung cancer, possibly withstand such a shock?
"Cough, cough...!"
At that mont, Tu Xiao’an’s ears were filled with nothing but the sound of his mother’s coughing.
Suddenly, his entire serpentine body shuddered, his soft form turning as stiff as stone. He saw his mother erupt in a violent coughing fit, and a mouthful of blood ca out.
Blood spilled from her mouth. A splash of red fell silently through the air, landing on the photograph in her hands—a shocking sight.
’This... Mom coughed up blood!’
Tu Xiao’an felt a heart-wrenching pain, and his breath caught in his throat.
Now, he had no choice but to believe his mother’s illness was late-stage lung cancer. If she could cough up blood so easily, how could it not be serious?
Yet she—Wen Qiu—showed no reaction on her sorrowful face upon seeing herself cough up blood. She only saw that the photo had been stained and nervously grabbed a tissue to wipe the bloodstain away, cleaning it with ticulous care.
After wiping it clean, she went back to staring blankly at the person in the photo.
It was as if nothing had happened, as if nothing in the world could stop her from missing her son.
Reality struck Tu Xiao’an like a bolt of lightning, shattering him to pieces. The mont he saw his mom cough up blood, he felt as if he had plunged into an abyss, into a space of utter darkness where everything around him seed imaginary.
A blow—a devastating blow. Even when he had first turned into a House Snake, it hadn’t been this hard to accept.
’What do I do? What do I do?!’
Tu Xiao’an kept asking himself. The image of the blood was vivid and inescapable. His mom couldn’t die. If she died, what aning would his own life have?
A guardian House Snake... if his mom was gone, what was there left to guard?
A roar erupted in Tu Xiao’an’s heart, like that of a crazed lion.
’That’s right! I have a way! The bees! The honey from the Killer Bees is so effective. Maybe if Mom drinks it, she can be cured!’
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