A Rabbit's Wish - Chapter 3

A cornered rabbit will bite. I sank my teeth into the fake human, but human teeth were nothing like my magnificent rabbit incisors. Frustrated, I gnawed at his muscular chest.

He groaned, voice low, and pressed me closer. “You started this.”

He tore open his clothes and guided my head down. “Don’t bite only the top.”

I stared. He was definitely a snake. I had seen humans urinating and sometimes mating in the mountains. Humans had one. Snakes had two.

Still, I could not bite him to death. Why was I even trying? I shoved him away, but he caught my ankle and dragged me back.

“You ate all my spirit grass and think you can simply leave?”

If only I had known! My eyes reddened with anger, and heat spread through my body.

He stroked my face and smiled far too happily. “Oh, the silly rabbit is in heat. Perfect time to eat you.”

First he ate my mouth. His broad tongue grew thin and long, tickling deep into my throat until I could barely breathe. I thought I was dying. Then he released me and began nibbling my rabbit ears.

“My name is Ling Qi. What is yours?”

Did people ask a rabbit’s name before eating it?

“I’m just Mountain Rabbit! Lord Snake, please don’t eat me. Rabbits taste bad.”

Old Uncle Goat had said king cobras preferred other snakes and rarely ate rabbits. We should not fear them, only avoid provoking them. This was all Mom’s fault for throwing me out. I had not survived even two months.

I pressed my lips together and cried silently. Ling Qi stopped nibbling, looked down, and brushed my puffed cheek.

“Mountain Rabbit is not a name. From now on, you are Ling Yuan. Why do you only cry? Make a sound for me.”

The instant he named me, a mysterious feeling entered my mind—sharp, warm, and clarifying. But I still could not whimper. Rabbits were quiet. Pain and grievance were things we endured without complaint.

“I don’t know how.”

His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. He was surely about to eat me. I kicked, but he caught my ankles and pushed them apart.

“You don’t? Then I’ll teach you. If you stay silent, I won’t stop. First one, then two.”

I had no idea what he was babbling about. Mist clouded my thoughts until only two desires remained: find a doe, and make baby rabbits.

…

What a cruel punishment! He had not even reached two before I sobbed aloud and changed back into a rabbit.

Ling Qi was a wicked snake. He meant to torture me before eating me. I would devour every blade in his garden and leave him nothing.

I grazed furiously for a week, then began carrying grass around and building a nest for no reason. My chest ached slightly. Mom had told me that Little Mei next door did exactly that when she became pregnant.

I had to be pregnant.

Ling Qi was terrifying enough to impregnate a male rabbit. Would I lay snake eggs or deliver baby rabbits?

I lay in my nest licking the fur over my belly. When Ling Qi returned, he came straight to the garden, scooped me into his palm, and asked, “When will you turn human? I want rabbit again.”

The cold-blooded monster! I carried his babies, and he still wanted to eat me.

I had to flee. A rabbit’s pregnancy lasted only one month. I needed to earn money for milk powder quickly, because I was male and had no milk. I certainly could not rely on the father when he wanted to eat me.

The next day, after Ling Qi left, I transformed, stole a set of his clothes, and slipped away. I kept expecting him behind me. My nerves made my ears remain visible, while my hidden tail chafed inside the trousers.

The human world was full of two-legged people, and they all stared at me. Two girls approached.

“Are the white hair and red eyes a wig and contacts? They look so real! And where did you get those rabbit ears? Can we have the link?”

I understood none of that. I held my fists to my chest, anxious.

Their eyes shone with affection. “That rabbit cosplay is insanely convincing! So cute! I want to touch him. Come to our studio. We can dress you as lots of characters. Once you gain followers, you can earn a ton of money.”

Money?

My ears shot upright. I nodded eagerly and rubbed my head against their waiting hands. They stroked my ears with expressions of bliss.

“So soft! I’m dying of cuteness.”

They were about to take me to their studio when I caught a dangerous scent. Half a street away, tall Ling Qi watched me through the crowd. His eyes were human, but they had narrowed.

I leaped and ran the other way. No one could stop me. Whenever I looked back, Ling Qi followed at an unhurried pace. King cobras could remember prey by scent for ages.

I wanted to cry. Would I live long enough to give birth?