The Witching Snakes pt 17

Green and Bai Suzhen fix up the house in anticipation of Xu Xian. Greenie steals food and wine for the couple and plays matchmaker.

Read Part 16

Greenie hammered nails into new wood. She placed paper money on the wall, affixed with glue and eyes. Greenie sang and ate rats. Bai reminded her that she should stop with the rat eating in public. Better to eat noodles. Consume Locusts, but not with the snake tongue. Morning rays struck the courtyard, the house glowed finished and lovely with no tile out of place.

"What am I doing?" said Bai Suzhen.

"Love is pain," said Greenie, with a hiss and a purr. Snakes do not put an extra blanket on a cold lover in the middle of sleep. Yet Bai Suzhen wanted to braid his hair, keep him warm - feed him soup. She did not call it love. A part of her soul - a soul eager to strangle and devour - wanted to feel the sharp quiet moments when a lover sits near her.

He came at noon with a red silk scarf. He hoped that he was appropriate. His eyes did not detect small places. Magic seeped into the ground. He only saw Bai Suzhen as she touched his face.

Bai Suzhen greeted him with a smile and a small cake imported from Japan in the night when all the goblins and emissaries dreamed of golden urns. She took the cake from a small family with great dreams. The absence did not disturb their wedding party. Xu talked. He had spent the night telling his sister and brother-in-law about her. For an hour, Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen stared at each other and spoke words beautiful, incinerating and gentle.