Chapter 8 Going Home "From now on, you'll be my little monster..."

Shu Qing carefully put away the certificate. Xie Heng had already asked his assistant to pack a whole backpack full of everyday monster control equipment for her.

The bag was stuffed full of equipment, so the little snake demon refused to go in. Instead, it crawled into her sleeve and coiled itself around her wrist, turning itself into a pretty little silver bracelet.

Shu Qing waved her hand gently—not bad, quite cool, one of a kind, absolutely no other like it.

Jin Wanli squatted by the wall, engrossed in writing his self-criticism. His wild, cursive handwriting was barely legible compared to the patterns Shu Qing had memorized for seven days. Seeing that Shu Qing was about to leave with the little snake demon, he finally couldn't give up and threatened, "You wait. One day, he'll regret it. He won't stay with you forever!"

“Oh,” Shu Qing turned around and said with a smile, “that’s something that’s so far in the past, so we won’t trouble Minister Jin with it.”

Jin Wanli was so angry with her that he scratched several marks on the half-written self-criticism.

It's already difficult for people to understand each other's joys and sorrows, let alone a frail human and a level 9.2 superhuman. Shu Qing couldn't be bothered to care what he thought.

She touched the drowsy little snake demon on her wrist and announced lightly—

"Little Red is home!"

The last page of the countdown on the wall was ripped off, revealing a cute little snake sticker hidden at the bottom. Shu Qing played "Wee Home" on her computer speakers and also bought a few colorful balloons, which floated on the ceiling, creating a simple yet warm welcoming atmosphere.

The little snake demon had no answer and could only silently hide its head under its body, choosing to avoid seeing it altogether.

Shu Qing completely misunderstood his body language. She lifted him up in her hands, kissed him, and asked with concern, "Did they mistreat you?"

The little snake demon shuddered, shrinking back as if she were a chaste snake being teased, hissing and baring her teeth at her.

"Do you monsters believe in the law of the jungle and natural selection?" Shu Qing's imagination ran wild. "That Minister Jin, who tried so hard to take you back, could it be that he wanted to eat you to level up? Hmm... There are quite a few monsters that could eat such a small snake like you."

She clenched her fist, "I really need to learn how to use those things to deal with monsters, just in case some blind monster tries to take advantage of you."

Little snake demon: "..."

I really appreciate her kindness.

"Oh, right, there's that test question," Shu Qing said to it worriedly, "Don't actually do that! If anyone dares to bully you, don't hold back, just bite them! I can't always catch them in time."

She asked with pity, "Are you scared? Have some candy to calm your nerves? You can't eat ordinary snakes, but the Supernatural Management Bureau's information says that monsters can eat most things that humans can eat. You can eat it, right?"

The little snake demon turned its head away. But the next moment, a piece of milk candy was fed to it. When Shu Qing saw that it didn't move, she put it closer to its mouth.

A moment later, the little snake demon opened its mouth and bit into the candy.

He thought, "So this is what candy tastes like in this era."

The poison she fed him in his past life still lingered on his tongue with a faint, bitter taste. But at this moment, a sweet flavor flowed down his throat, finally washing away the bitterness that had lingered for over a thousand years.

In the end, it turns out he still wanted that little bit of sweetness...

"It's okay," Shu Qing comforted it, "No one will take you away anymore. Look, I even prepared a gift for you!"

She took out a small red rope necklace from her pocket, about the size of a pinky ring, bright and beautiful, with a delicate white crystal pendant shaped like a teardrop.

She took the collar and put it around the little snake's neck. "Isn't it pretty? I had it custom-made. From now on, you're my little monster. This little pendant has my surname engraved on it..."

"hiss!"

The little snake demon's red eyes flashed with anger. With a forceful shake of its head, it flung off the red collar.

It swam away from Shu Qing's hand in a huff. As soon as the little collar slipped from her grasp, the pendant and red string rolled twice and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Shu Qing caught it with quick reflexes.

She scratched her head. Why is she angry again? Doesn't she like it?

She even specifically chose the same red and white color scheme as it, thinking it would look good on her...

The little snake demon had already swum to the pillow and glared at her hatefully.

"Really don't want it?" Shu Qing picked up the collar and waved it in front of the little snake demon. Seeing it bar its teeth, she had no choice but to put the collar aside and put the idea aside.

She lay down on the pillow, yawned, and the fatigue that had accumulated over the past seven days weighed heavily on her eyelids, making it hard for her to keep her eyes open.

However, before catching up on her sleep, she had to sincerely thank someone.

"I really owe this all to Jiu Su," she mumbled to the little snake demon as she fought off sleep and pulled out her phone. "You don't know him... well, actually I don't really know him either. But I guess he's some kind of expert on supernatural beings. He helped me a lot this time, tutoring me for seven days. I really have to thank him properly."

"If it weren't for him, I definitely wouldn't have been able to understand all those messy hand gestures and symbols from the Supermarket Management Bureau. Let alone knowing how to use them, I probably wouldn't even be able to memorize them..."

She typed as she spoke: "Thank you, senior, I passed the exam!"

"Thanks to your help, senior. I see our IP addresses are both in H City. Do you have some time? Would you like to have dinner with me?"

"If it's inconvenient, I'll prepare a small thank-you gift and send it to you. Is there anything you like?"

The little snake demon watched silently, covering its head with its snake body and pretending to be asleep.

"...Huh," Shu Qing waited for a long time, but there was still no response. She scratched her head. When she was preparing for the exam, the other person always replied instantly when she had questions. "Are you busy?"

That makes sense; he's a research expert, so it's reasonable for him to be busy.

Being able to answer all her questions and tutor her for a week is already a great favor.

Shu Qing decided to keep this favor in mind for the time being and not bother Jiu Su, waiting for his reply.

Both the man and the snake fell asleep, each taking two hours of nap time. At four o'clock in the afternoon, Shu Qing, fully recharged, got up and set up her filming equipment again—she had even drawn up the storyboard for the demon-themed video she wanted to edit, but it was interrupted the next day by the intervention of the Super Management Bureau.

She nudged the little snake demon, "If you won't wear the collar I gave you, you can at least cooperate with me to film an official announcement video, right?"

The little snake demon stared at her dark camera lens with great interest, and nodded when she heard this.

The little monster kept her word. This time, she cooperated with her exactly as she was told, and did exactly what she was told without going against her. The filming process went so smoothly that Shu Qing was somewhat surprised.

She thought to herself: Could it be that the snake cub has become docile after being locked up for seven days?

Well, the day it was taken away by the traffic management bureau, it was quite unresponsive to her. But after it was brought back, it became much more agreeable than before.

Thinking about it, she felt a little sorry for it and stopped arguing with it about not wearing the collar. She patted the little snake demon's head, fed it two pieces of jerky, and then devoted herself wholeheartedly to her editing project.

She worked enthusiastically until evening, then finished her work with satisfaction, naming the video "24 Hours with Xiao Hong" and posting it.

This "official announcement video" gained considerable attention shortly after its release—the attention previously drawn by the little snake demon had not yet completely subsided, and when she was preparing for the exam, she consciously mentioned that "she needs to obtain a license from the Supermarket Management Bureau to continue raising snakes," which piqued the interest of many people beforehand.

Congratulations, uploader!

Let's give a round of applause to welcome the new Pokémon Trainer!

"Oh my god, so cute, so cute, so cute!"

"Which direction should I wish for to receive such an adorable ferocious beast..."

The first 15 seconds show the little snake demon as cute and harmless, lying obediently on its owner's hand eating candy. After tasting a little sweetness, it happily rubs against its owner's fingers, almost no different from millions of ordinary pets.

Shu Qing used lighting to simulate the changing light of day, with the light gradually dimming, creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere. The background music was also a slow-paced folk song, softly sung, which was very soothing.

As the sunlight gradually dimmed, the main character in the picture yawned, wagged its tail, and burrowed under a handkerchief.

The entire screen went black, and a massive barrage of "High Energy Ahead!" messages flooded the video feed.

In the pitch-black scene, a blood-red vertical pupil suddenly opened.

In an instant, a flash of red light appeared before everyone's eyes. The little monster's special ability could actually achieve naked-eye 3D effects, hitting the soul directly.

Shu Qing inserted a clip from the live stream replay: three burly men crawling on the ground, while a small, snow-white snake leisurely slithered out of the darkness. The daytime pet had become a killer in the night, its path strewn with frost and snow, cracking a string of set pieces in the process.

Although the set was rather simple, she managed to create the effect of a killing machine charging into battle thanks to her professional editing skills. A series of cuts, coupled with occasional flashing special effects, made the sharp danger almost pierce the screen.

"The snake is killing me!"

"Holy crap, this is the first time I've seen an up using illusions as 3D effects."

"What a display of power from a great demon!"

"Ahhhh, they're swimming over here!"

The little monster leisurely swam to the front of the camera, raising half its body towards the people peeking from outside the frame. Its pupils flashed with a malicious red light, and it hissed at the people watching from outside the screen, revealing the ferocity of a venomous snake.

Just then, a slender hand suddenly reached out from off-camera, deftly blocking the snake's menacing tongue, and said, "Shh—don't mess around."

The little snake immediately became docile, tilting its head innocently.

As the sun rose on a new day, the video ended in a relaxed and adorable atmosphere, generating a ton of comments.

"Snakes are dangerous, but they're super well-behaved."

"Holy crap, this certification wasn't a waste of time, UP!"

"A ferocious monster is my adorable pet."

"I am the shackles and sheath of the great demon!"

"Even sweeter than the first paragraph, waaaaah!"

There were also some imaginative literary youths making up jokes in the comments section, such as "A killer from the dark night x a gentle and sweet girl." Shu Qing read them and burst out laughing, admitting defeat.

She happily put down her phone, put on heat-resistant gloves, took a pot of fragrant chicken soup off the induction cooker, and announced, "Xiao Hong, dinner's ready!"

The little snake demon was carried away by her, nestled in her palm, staring at the soaring popularity on the phone screen, her feelings complex and indescribable.

Why... is it like this?

A note from the author:

----------------------

"Wee Home" an English song