Chapter 1 — Little Fish and the White Serpent

I was born with a conspicuous birthmark across my face, an inherent flaw that robbed me of any traditional beauty, leaving not a single beastman willing to mate with me for the propagation of our species. To retain the critical government subsidies reserved for surviving humans, I purchased an abandoned albino serpent and nursed him back to health, harboring a quiet hope that he might eventually become my companion. Once his wounds healed, the white snake shed his beastly form to reveal a human visage of breathtaking, ethereal handsomeness. Yet, instead of gratitude, he despised my physical blemish and fiercely refused any form of intimacy.

Who on earth would ever want to bear children with someone as hideous as you? Get out of my sight!

Fanhai once again hurled me off the bed, his thick, muscular tail lashing out and slicing open my cheek. Clutching my bleeding face, I stumbled out of the house. Right outside the threshold, a heavy, obsidian tail suddenly coiled tightly around my body. A pair of forked, vibrant red tongues flicked out, delicately licking away the fresh blood on my cheek, yet the scent radiating from this dark serpent was overwhelmingly saturated with a far more potent, metallic reek of fresh blood.

Kind-hearted human maiden... save me, and I shall grant you whatever your heart desires.

Enduring the slimy, cold sensation of the serpent constricting my body, I forced myself to steady my breathing and asked aloud:

Would you be willing to bear children with me, then?

01

As the blood from my cheek trickled down to my chin, a few neighborhood beastmen down the street were casually discussing the day's market price for fresh meat.

Little Jiang, were you kicked out by your family again?

Holding my face, I offered a strained, awkward smile. Not at all, I was just cleaning the house and accidentally bumped into something. They clearly did not believe a word of it, yet they tactfully refrained from exposing the lie. After all, to maintain cordial relations with my neighbors, I frequently gifted them fresh meat pastries. Out of mutual courtesy, they chose not to make things difficult for me. As I turned back toward the courtyard, I faintly caught their muffled whispers drifting from behind: That white snake is living the dream, stumbling into such a foolish human girl. Indeed, I was utterly foolish. Fanhai had been acquired entirely through my state-issued rescue voucher. In the year 3587 of the stellar era, human beings had devolved into a resource far more precious and scarce than purified water. Every adult female was strictly mandated to fulfill a reproductive quota within a span of five years, failure of which would result in a severe downgrading of our high-tier subsidies. That grim reality meant I would lose this very home, alongside the daily provisions of fresh meat, fruit, and crisp green vegetables. Yet, the birthmark stretching mercilessly from the outer corner of my eye all the way down to my chin had condemned me during the annual coming-of-age ceremony; dozens of beastmen had walked past me without a single one bothering to pause and choose me as a lifelong mate. Eventually, the civil administration official, unable to bear the sight of my utter rejection, handed me a relief voucher:

Go to the rescue shelter and adopt a discarded outcast. At least having a beastman registered in your household will prevent your subsidies from being docked too heavily.

At the rescue station, my eyes had instantly locked onto the albino serpent curled up in a secluded corner. His entire body was milk-white, scales shimmering with the mesmerizing, pearlescent luster of fine jade. The shelter manager informed me that he was a rare white morph, possessing an exceptionally stunning human form upon transformation, though his temperament was notoriously arrogant, which was precisely why his previous owner had returned him.

Yet he is the only one in this entire litter with reproductive viability, the manager had lowered his voice to a whisper. Would you like to take a gamble?

And so, I gambled. Every single day, I meticulously dressed his wounds, fed him nutritious elixirs, and unhesitatingly handed over the entirety of the fresh meat and poultry eggs from my own ration package for him to consume first. Two months later, he successfully shed his serpent skin and assumed a human shape. With cascading platinum-blonde hair, pale azure eyes, and facial features so exquisitely chiseled that even a completely expressionless stare caused my cheeks to burn with heat. He looked down upon me from his towering height, his gaze lingering on my facial birthmark for a few agonizing seconds before his brow furrowed in deep disgust:

From now on, I sleep on the bed, and you sleep on the sofa.

I remained silent. I had foolishly convinced myself that as long as I treated him with absolute kindness, there would eventually come a day when he recognized the sincerity of my heart. But I was dead wrong.

02

That very evening, I donned a brand-new dress recently distributed through my welfare package and timidly knocked on his bedroom door.

Fanhai, I would like to... discuss something with you.

Leaning against the headboard, he silently fixed his cold gaze upon me.

My reproductive quota is expiring soon, perhaps you could...

Not a chance. He did not even bother to let me finish the sentence. Jiang Du, just take a good look at yourself in the mirror.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, stepping down and advancing toward me with suffocating pressure.

With a massive birthmark plastered across your face, do you honestly believe you are worthy of mating with me?

You want to bear my children? Do you want my offspring to inherit your hideous ugliness?

Every single word he uttered felt like a sharp dagger twisting relentlessly into my heart.

I... I only...

Only what? He sneered coldly. Do you genuinely think that because you showed me a bit of kindness, I would ever grow to love you? Stop daydreaming. Even if I, Fanhai, were to remain single and celibate for the rest of my life, I would never lower myself to keep company with a repulsive creature like you.

That night, I stubbornly tried to climb back onto the bed that was rightfully mine. Enraged, he lashed out with his serpentine tail, the powerful strike sweeping me violently off the mattress and slamming me onto the hard floor. My tailbone crashed against the boards, sending sharp waves of agony through my lower back. The tip of his tail grazed my cheek on its way back, and when I reached up to touch my face, my fingers came away slick with warm blood.

Who on earth would ever want to bear children with someone as hideous as you? Get out of my sight!

Clutching my bleeding cheek, I scrambled blindly out of the house. I squatted in the dark courtyard, my mind drifting back to the fragmented memories of our days together. Even after Fanhai transformed into a human, his lower half frequently retained a tightly coiled mass of serpentine muscle, allowing him to tower effortlessly over me. Whenever he looked down, his eyes invariably drifted to my birthmark for a fleeting moment before his brows knotted in irritation.

I am Jiang Du, I had introduced myself to him back then. Are you hungry? Shall I warm up some milk for you?

Unnecessary. Fanhai had brushed past me without a second glance, marching straight into my bedroom and claiming the mattress as his own. I shall sleep in here from now on.

That is my room...

You are merely a human; sleeping on the sofa will suffice. I am not accustomed to sharing my sleeping quarters with others.

With that, he had shut his eyes and flicked his tail, slamming the bedroom door shut in my face. I had stood outside in a daze for a long while. At the time, I simply reasoned that a beastman possessing both stunning beauty and reproductive capability was entitled to a difficult temperament. I had naively believed I could adapt to it all. Looking back, although I had saved Fanhai, my underlying motivation was undeniably tied to preserving my state subsidies. I readily confessed to myself that upon laying eyes on his striking face, ulterior motives had indeed bloomed within my chest. I had initially intended to gently court Fanhai, hoping that if fate permitted, we might eventually conceive a child together, yet it was painfully evident that he held no such inclination. I once harbored the illusion that perhaps through prolonged companionship, Fanhai would eventually look past the disfigurement on my face. Perhaps, with enough time, falling in love, building a family, and living out our days together was not an entirely impossible dream. Yet, as it turned out, it was nothing more than my own one-sided delusion.