Chapter 15: Purpose (I)

The rooftop was about two meters away from the pair. In the past, maybe they could have jumped over, but now, stranded on a slippery, broken tree trunk, they had to be extremely careful. However...

There was a bent corner on the rooftop that could be hooked onto—if only they had a rope...

“Lingzi, do you have any rope on you?”

“Would shoelaces work?” Lingzi had clearly been thinking along the same lines as Moyu.

“No, even four shoelaces wouldn’t be long enough!” Why hadn’t she thought to bring something useful? Moyu silently berated herself.

“Wait, maybe there’s something useful in my storage.” Suddenly, a spark of hope lit up in Moyu’s mind, and she was delighted to have thought of a way out.

As she pondered this, she tried to use her mental strength to retrieve a usable rope.

She actually managed to pull something out!

Moyu’s eye twitched as she looked at the “rope” in her hand. Lingzi, noticing Moyu’s distressed expression, glanced over as well—and nearly fainted from shock.

A pair of round, glossy black eyes stared up at Moyu with joy and excitement.

Finally, she remembered it! Finally, it could be close to her!

The tiny tail affectionately stroked Moyu’s finger, its mouth gently pecking as if in a kiss, and its little forked tongue flickered in and out.

“Moyu...” Lingzi looked at them in astonishment, doing her best to keep her voice down.

“Well, now that it’s out, I can’t just throw you away,” Moyu murmured helplessly, gazing at the little snake in her hand.

The snake’s body stiffened for a moment. Was she going to abandon it? Then it coiled itself tighter, clinging desperately.

Moyu met its teary, imploring gaze and found herself at a loss for words.

“This is my pet, Momo... It probably doesn’t bite... I think.”

“Probably?” Lingzi reached out, trying to grab Momo.

She wouldn’t allow anything even remotely threatening near herself or Moyu.

But just as Lingzi’s hand was about to close around the little green snake, it darted with lightning speed up Moyu’s arm and shoulder, then curled gently around her neck.

Its tiny head nuzzled her happily, drawing even closer to its master!

Although it was a little grateful to the woman who tried to grab it—since it now had a reason to cling closer to its master—it still didn’t like her! It would never let anyone touch its body except its master! Hmph.

Even if its master didn’t care much for it now, and might someday have other pets...

No, that was absolutely unacceptable!

It flicked its little tongue, caressing its master’s slender, fair neck. No one else was allowed to taste its master!

No one but itself!

Moyu glanced at the crowd of zombies gathering beneath the tree, then at Lingzi, who was still busy glaring furiously at Momo.

Sigh... Clearly, she and Lingzi had already been exposed. They needed to get moving!

She yanked Momo down, restraining its eager, wriggling body.

“Can you help us get onto the roof?” Moyu stared into Momo’s black eyes. After all, Momo was a mutant snake—surely it had some special abilities, even if it was small.

Momo stared right back at her, its eyes shining brightly.

“Alright, if we make it out of here, I’ll let you stay around my neck.”