Moonlight sneaked through the gaps in the window, spreading a silvery glow over the boy.
That night, everything was immersed in silence, except for the sound of a heart beating continuously like a war drum and Long's flushed, burning face. Although the clock had struck midnight, his mind wouldn't let him sleep peacefully. Long buried his face deep into the pillow, his hands clutching it tight as if looking for an anchor to suppress the erratic rhythm. His breathing was rapid, his chest heaving.
That soft touch of lips seemed to still linger on his skin, turning into a small flame burning away his last sober thoughts. It was hard to accept that his world had truly changed since that moment.
Completely contrary to Long's silent arrhythmia, in the room next door was a jubilantly "chaotic" scene. Lia was kicking her legs non-stop on the mattress, her whole body thrashing about in embarrassment at her impulsive action just now. At this moment, the poor pillow was suffering terrible "physical abuse" from an entity that didn't belong to this world, but now, she was simply a young girl immersed in the aftertaste of her first kiss.
Lia flopped back, gently touching her plump, soft pink lips with her finger. Her eyes glittered, shining with a strangely gentle look.
...
The sound of roosters crowing in the garden echoed through the house, making Long wake up without needing an alarm clock. His eyes had dark circles, heavy after a long restless night. With a weary gait, Long dragged himself out of the room, only to immediately freeze when he met the equally "dark-circled" eyes of the bold girl from last night.
Two "pandas" stood looking at each other in the hallway, the space falling into an awkward silence.
Lia was just about to turn on her heel and leave to escape the embarrassment, but then she stopped. Looking toward Long, a determination was clear in her gaze. She turned around, taking decisive steps toward him.
Before Long could understand what was happening, Lia had wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. Long's hands paused in mid-air, he stood frozen, looking down at the small girl in his arms with a mind completely blank and utterly confused. Lia's warmth transmitted through the layer of clothes, making every nerve of Long's freeze.
"I'm hungry..." A weak voice spoke up, breaking the silent atmosphere, "Cook something for me to eat."
Long's gaze softened, the confusion from earlier vanishing, replaced by a warm look as he wrapped his arms around Lia to return the hug. He gently patted her head as if to reassure her, then replied with a pampering voice:
"Wait a bit for me, let me run to the supermarket to buy some more ingredients to cook something delicious for you."
The mountain bike still lay quietly in front of the house as usual, Long jumped on the bike and started pedaling. He glided quickly past the familiar vast farm scenery, wind whistling in his ears. It took a long while for him to pedal out to the main gate, carefully locking it before starting to dash off.
The asphalt road seemed to buckle under the rotations of the tires. Long was astonished to realize the pedals became incredibly light, with no resistance like usual. His legs cycled rhythmically, each press creating an astonishing thrust. The bike shot forward with unimaginable speed.
Thanks to that terrifying speed, less than 20 minutes later, Long was back home. On the mountain bike were cluttered large and small bags, from fresh food to a few brand new sets of women's clothes. He even had to summon all his courage, trading even his dignity to venture into the women's underwear section, clumsily choosing amidst embarrassment that made his face red as a ripe tomato.
"Miss, cooking now would take too long, you must be hungry so I bought Bánh Mì, let's..."
Mid-sentence, Long suddenly stopped. He looked around the house which was unusually quiet, his voice trailing off and then disappearing completely. A fierce sense of unease surged in his chest. Without thinking, Long dropped the bags of food on the floor, dashing into the house like an arrow. He panicked searching, his heart beating wildly as if he had just lost something precious.
"Lia! Where are you? Are you okay—?"
"I'm here."
The familiar clear, calm voice rang out from down in the basement where the gate was. Long stood frozen right at the basement entrance, breathing heavily, his eyes still full of shock.
Long stepped down each heavy stair of the dark basement. After walking a bit, his eyes focused on the cold violet light emitting from the gate and the head of the Giant Python still lying motionless there. Seeing the giant snake head, Long's shoulders shrank back, he unconsciously took a step back, swallowing hard.
Next to the snake head was a familiar small figure. Lia stood there, staring at the lifeless milky white eyes of the dead monster. Hearing the noise, she shifted her eyes toward Long. Without saying a word, Lia gently approached and hugged him once again. But this time, her posture was very strange. She pressed her body close to Long, her gaze becoming sharp and cold, glued to the back of his neck as if searching for something hidden deep under the skin.
A cold electric current ran from his tailbone up to his nape, making every fine hair on Long's body stand on end. His hands were stiff, trembling in the air for a long while before gathering enough courage to hug Lia. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice from breaking too much, then asked softly:
"What's wrong, miss...? Is something the matter?"
Lia still kept her eyes glued to his nape, her breath blowing onto his skin making Long shudder once more. She replied softly, her voice whispering like a breath of wind:
"Hey... After eating later, I need you to help me with something."
Long's eyes widened in surprise, his throat choked with bitterness unable to utter a word. He could only remain silent, nodding in agreement in extreme vagueness.
...
Long led Lia out of the dark basement, returning to the warmth of the kitchen. He carefully took out a still-warm loaf of bread from the paper bag.
Long placed the still piping hot Bánh Mì, carefully wrapped in a layer of old newspaper, onto the table. Gently placing it in her hand.
Lia curiously picked up that "strange object". Her violet eyes widened when feeling the roughness and the dry cracking sound coming from the crust. She took a decisive bite.
Crunch!
The crispy sound rang out right at the tip of her tongue. Lia paused, her pupils contracting in surprise. First was the crunchiness of the bread crust, immediately followed by the softness and chewiness of the crumb soaked in rich sauce. The fatty taste of liver pate and butter spread out, blending with the savoriness of the pork roll (Chả lụa). But what stunned Lia most was the appearance of pickled vegetables and cilantro—a combination of fresh, sour, and spicy chili flavors that made every sense explode.
Lia chewed vigorously, her cheeks puffing out like a small squirrel. She swallowed a large piece of Bánh Mì with difficulty but full satisfaction, then exclaimed loudly:
"Oh my god~ What is this that tastes so good! Unlike Leo, who always kept nagging: 'Eating black bread dipped in soup is good enough'. Hmph, what a stingy jerk!"
Long curiously tilted his head asking: "Who is Leo, miss?"
"He is the Hero of humanity. Together with heroes of other races, they joined forces to fight against the Demon King."
Seeing Long intending to open his mouth to ask more, Lia immediately cut him off, her eyes becoming more serious as she changed the subject:
"I need you to do this for me. Later we'll go down to clean up the snake carcass in the basement. We have to skin it, fillet the meat, and keep all its bones. You'll be the main force, I'll lend a hand. Okay?"
Although Long didn't understand what her purpose was, and he clearly felt Lia was hiding something, honestly speaking, he didn't want to leave a giant monster carcass rotting in his basement either. As soon as the last piece of Bánh Mì was finished, the two immediately started the "dissection" work.
...
This job was much harder than Long imagined. The python's scales were incredibly hard, ordinary knife blades couldn't penetrate them no matter what. Every time he tried to chop down, the steel surface collided with the scales creating sparks flying everywhere accompanied by ear-piercing clang clang sounds. Long looked at the chipped knife blade, his face pale, only able to give a helpless wry smile.
But necessity is the mother of invention. Not surrendering, Long ran upstairs to drag a long electric cord down to the basement. He plugged it in, pressed the switch, the sound of the cutter's motor rang out dryly and powerfully:
Vrrrrrrrrrr!
The diamond cutting blade spinning at extremely high speed began to slip into the gap between two layers of scales. Smoke rose up smelling burnt accompanied by red-hot sparks, but finally, the monster's solid armor had to yield. Long started the first cut, chunks of rare snake skin gradually being separated under the power of... industrialization.
Long propped an old wooden crate under the giant snake's head, skillfully levering it up to reveal the pale white underside of its neck. He used the cutter to make a circular cut around its neck, then took a deep breath to step through the gate toward the body lying on the other side of the battle line.
Still as always, the feeling of nausea and extreme itching besieged every cell, but this time Long was prepared. He silently pulled out the plastic bag he brought along to deal with it, then quickly regained his alertness. After entering and exiting the gate four times, his body seemed to have started to become calloused and gradually adapt to the rejection of the space.
Together with Lia's help, both used all their strength to flip the snake's belly up. Contrary to the back scales hard as cold steel, its belly skin was much softer and thinner. Long held the knife firmly, making a decisive cut extending to the tail, then began using his bare hands to separate the rare skin from the raw red meat.
Toiling all day, finally, the meat was meat, bones were bones. Two humans lay motionless on the floor, breathing interruptedly from exhaustion. Lia scrambled to sit up, heading toward the pile of snake meat, she cut out a small pink block of meat then turned back to hand it to Long, her voice gentle but full of mystery:
"Eat it."
Long froze, intending to open his mouth to ask when Lia quickly stuffed the block of meat into his mouth. He intended to resist instinctively, but immediately stopped before a gentle kiss placed lightly on his forehead. The snake meat didn't smell fishy at all, on the contrary, it was sweet, juicy, and melted right on the tip of his tongue.
Before he could fully feel the taste, a terrifying electric current suddenly ran through Long's entire body. He convulsed violently, every muscle fiber seeming to be torn apart and then regenerated. Behind Long's nape, a brilliant green light flared up, piercing through his shirt, illuminating the entire dark basement.