Chapter 2 — Little Snake Finds His Family

I am a snake. A swamp snake. I am good at swimming in mud, good at hiding in reeds, and can hold my breath for half a stick of incense in a mud pond. But how deep is this sea? How salty is this water? I'm about to suffocate! Swallow two rabbits that were chased eight hundred miles by the Poaching Demon Ty without dying. Jumping off the cliff doesn't kill you. Being hit by a wave on a rock crevice will not kill you. Finally died on the way home. It's a shame for a snake to say that... Just when I was about to accept my fate and turn my belly up,... The sea water around my body suddenly receded. The seawater automatically disappeared around people, leaving a clean, dry space three meters wide. I fell onto the scales on my mother's head, coughing and choking up salt water. Then I heard a voice.

“Mom, my sister is about to drown.”

A silver-gray dragon swam forward. A little smaller than her mother, two small horns sprouted from the top of her head. Looking at his body, he is countless times older than me. But looking at those horns, they are definitely not yet mature. Wait… What did he just call me? Younger sister? I am a snake, why did I suddenly become the sister of a dragon? Although snakes and dragons both have elongated shapes, they are absolutely not the same race! But he just helped me breathe! Be a good dragon who cares about the snake's feelings! ## 4 Big brother swam in front of me. His silver-gray scales radiate cold light in the sea water, but his whole body already has the appearance of a "young old dragon". He bowed his head and came closer to me. All the scales on my body stood up. The dragon's mouth is longer than a human's. That row of teeth sparkled, each one could skewer me into a stick of grilled meat.

“Open your mouth.”

He said.

“Huh?”

“Open your mouth. Otherwise, do you want to drown?”

I quickly opened my mouth. In his mouth he held a round pearl. He gently released it. The pearl slid into my throat, bringing with it a cool feeling. I can breathe now! Sea water no longer flooded into the nasal cavity, on the contrary, it was as if something invisible was blocking it from the outside. I can even talk, my voice is transmitted clearly in sea water. With this, don't we just need to find an opportunity to escape the ocean and continue living a free life? Big brother seemed to know what I was thinking, coldly said:

“Come and ask me for an extension in three days.”

After speaking, he looked at me again. His eyes slid from the top of his head down to the tip of his tail, then slightly frowned... If dragons had eyebrows.

“Mom.”

He turned his head to look at the giant silver-white dragon excitedly waving its head and tail beside him.

"You're picking up children again."

“Again?”

Mom widened her pale yellow pupils.

"What does 'again' mean?! This is my biological sister! Look at the pattern on her scales..."

“The seventh plate below the left eye has a spiral pattern.”

Big brother continued speaking with an expressionless face.

“Last time mom picked up a sea turtle, she said the pattern on its shell was exactly like the shell of our family's ancestral turtle.”

“…That's not the same!”

“Last time, mom picked up a sea eel, she said its swimming posture was exactly like dad when he was young.”

“When your father was young, he was truly…”

“The other time, my mother picked up an octopus and said the arrangement of the suction cups on its tentacles was exactly like the pattern on the pearl necklace left by my grandmother.”

Mom was silent. The sea water is calm perhaps flows between us. I curled up on top of my mother's head, not daring to breathe loudly. The boss sighed. The breath forms a series of small bubbles in the sea, gurgling upward.

“Okay.”

He said.

“Just take it home first. Let your sister adjust for a while.”

When he said the word "sister", his voice did not have any intimacy, but he also did not refuse. Like the eldest son in the family being given a new toy. His mouth said "I'll buy it again", but his hands had already begun to make room for that toy. Mom immediately became happy again, swinging her tail vigorously, causing the water to rush behind her.

"Let's go! Mom! I'll take you home to see our house!"

I clung tightly to the scales on top of her head, afraid of being thrown down. The sea water separated on both sides of people, like two blue curtains. Mom swims extremely fast. The scenery on both sides suddenly receded. Sometimes it's coral clusters. Sometimes it's a school of fish. Sometimes it's the edge of a pitch-black ocean trench. I have never swum that fast. I never even thought that one day I could swim that fast in the ocean. After about an incense stick of time, mother suddenly slowed down, then slowly sank down. I bowed my head and looked down. Then stunned. At the bottom of the sea there is a giant nest. Using the word "nest" to describe this place feels like an insult to it. It resembles an upside-down mountain, its entire body is made of transparent white stone, on top inlaid with pearls, coral branches and multi-colored seashells. From a distance, it looks like an entire starry sky is pressed to the bottom of the sea. In the middle there is a giant door. On the door are carved two dragons entwined together. Their entire bodies are silvery white, and the patterns on their scales are so delicate that it seems like you can clearly count each one. Mom used the tip of her claw to gently push. The door opens. Light flooded from inside, making it almost impossible to open our eyes. Night pearls spread all over the ground. Large pellets as big as a millstone. Small pellets are as big as a fist. They densely covered the bottom of the cave, as if someone had poured all the stars in the galaxy onto this place. The cave walls are also filled with all kinds of gems. Red like fire. Blue like the sea. Green like spring water that has just melted. There are also corals. Red, pink, purple, white. Each bush, each cluster stretching from one end of the cave to the other, swayed beautifully in the light of the night pearl. My mouth opened so wide that I could swallow a rabbit whole.

“How?”

Mom bowed her head, her pale yellow pupils filled with anticipation.

“Do you like it?”

I swallowed my saliva.

“Like… like…”

“It's all for you!”

Mom happily swung her claws.

"From the day you were born, I started to accumulate! Each pearl was personally found by me in the sea! This pearl was snatched from the mouth of a thousand-year-old son by my mother! This pearl was conveniently taken by my mother from the nest of a fire-breathing dragon!"

Every time she said a word, she brushed aside the pile of treasures on the ground. Those treasures rolled back and forth under her claws like crushed stones. I suddenly felt that the glowing stones and beautiful seashells that I had accumulated for three years in the swamp were completely impossible to show off. There was a "clack" sound from behind. Big brother swam in, holding a piece of seaweed as long as his arm in his mouth, chewing slowly, leaning against the door and looking at us.

“Mom.”

He said.

“First let your sister rest. She just arrived, still Not yet adapted to the underwater atmosphere.”

“Yes, yes, yes!”