43 The White Snake is a Partner in Crime

"Unless… Never mind."

She LiangLin perked up at the words. Despite him feeling suspicious of the sorcerer, he couldn't help but feel a sense of hope blooming within.

"What is it? You know the way to help Zhang YaYun and Qing - um -me?" LiangLin nearly blurted out QingYu's name, and he had just started lying a moment ago about himself marrying YaYun. He needed to get less tongue-tied in front of this bastard!

"Of course, I do."

LiangLin couldn't help but pout a little. This sorcerer was way too confident about himself, despite being hung up and at LiangLin's mercy. But that shouldn't matter, LiangLin shook himself out of it. If there was a way to get rid of that fox and get YaYun to be back to himself, it was all good.

"Tell me."

"Why should I?"

Gah! LiangLin raised his hand, threatening the sorcerer with another slap, and XueYa flinched, but still refused to talk.

"This is unfair," XueYa said, and LiangLin's fingers curled into a fist.

Fair? XueYa stole LiangLin's snake, hypnotized his entire family, and the guy was here talking about being fair? If slapping didn't work, LiangLin could always punch this bastard into oblivion!

"You beat me up for stealing your snake is justified, but if you want my help, I want a payment."

"You-!" LiangLin hissed under his breath. Damn, this guy wanted to be smacked. He was practically begging for it!

"It's just fair," XueYa said, smiling as he nodded at LiangLin's hand resting idly by his side. "YaYun beat me up and stole the dragon bracelet from me and returned the snake to you. Now you smacked me until my teeth shook. I think it is a fair trade."

Ah… LiangLin slowly lowered his hand. XueYa had a point, LiangLin admitted it, but only to himself. This bastard still deserved a few kicks in the balls, but LiangLin would save it for later. He didn't want the sorcerer to die – just yet.

Besides, LiangLin ran his fingers over the bracelet. He still hadn't gotten his snake back. If even a dragon god-like YaYun couldn't do it, how would LiangLin get his zodiac animal back? Nothing was going his way, and it all started ever since he met this piece of shit, XueYa!

XueYa watched as the white snake bit down on his lower lip, gnawing at it while touching the bracelet on his wrist. Until now, XueYa hadn't paid attention to the bracelet. He knew it would be there.

If YaYun had gone as far as wanting to marry LiangLin, of course, he would return the snake to the man. But why was the white jade snake still wrapped around the dragon bracelet? Was XueYa imagining it, or was the snake wrapped even tighter around the dragon?

How odd… XueYa would have to check the facts from the two zodiac books once he got his hands on them again. A smile bloomed on XueYa's thin lips as he looked back up at the beauty. If his plans went smoothly, this little snake would be his partner in crime.

"Let's make a deal, She LiangLin."

LiangLin released his lower lip and glared at the sorcerer. "Sorcerers make deals? How do I know you will keep your end of the deal?"

"I have broken no promises until now, have I?" Had he? XueYa had sounded way more confident than what he felt. Everything he had said to the white snake until now, he had kept his word like a gentleman. XueYa didn't break any promises or offers, not when he was caught and strung up here for god knows how long.

"That-"

"I promised to let your family go once you surrendered your snake," XueYa said, feeling a bit of satisfaction as the white snake pursed his lips in annoyance. Bingo.

"I also said I would never step foot back in Hei'ang." Now there he had lied, but the snake god didn't know that. He wanted to visit again someday but got caught up, literally.

"Still-"

XueYa sighed, letting his head droop forward as a sign of fatigue, when, in fact, his heart was beating out of his chest. His freedom largely depended on LiangLin and his co-operation.

From under the curtain of hair that had fallen before his visage, XueYa could see LiangLin taking a cautious step forward, closing the gap. Perfect. The white snake was worried, either about him, which was more of XueYa's hopeful thinking, or LiangLin was afraid he wouldn't help YaYun. Quite the irritating thought, XueYa had to admit it to himself.

"Tell me about this deal." LiangLin felt like a fool, but he had nothing else to work with currently. Either XueYa agreed to help him, or they would leave Zhang YaYun to the fox spirit's mercy while the snakes would have to leave the palace with a heartbroken QingYu.

LiangLin wouldn't give up once he gave QingYu his word. He would tie YaYun up and leave him at QingYu's mercy if he had to! Being pinned down be damned!

"I won't back down on my word, LiangLin," XueYa said as he tilted his head back to look up at the white snake. "I will help you save my brother from that fox spirit."

Brother… No wonder they looked so uncanny, but why would YaYun string his brother up like this?

XueYa must have read LiangLin's expression as he laughed bitterly. "Our family has its issues. You don't need to worry about it. I will keep my promise, especially when it's about baby YaYun."

"What is the plan?" LiangLin fingers itched to brush the strands of matted hair away from obstructing XueYa's face, but he held his hand to himself. The less familiar he got with the sorcerer, the better.

"All the information I need is in the two books YaYun took from me."

Technically, only one of them belonged to XueYa, the other one was his mother's, and after her death, uncle WeiJie had given it to YaYun. But what was his mother's, naturally belonged to XueYa too.

"Find those books. They must be kept somewhere in YaYun's study. Bring them to me, and we can together move forward from there."

LiangLin hesitated, not about stealing the books, no. It was a separate problem the snakes were facing. "I can steal books for you, but we have an issue."

"What?" XueYa felt a weight settle in his guts. He didn't like the sound of this. He wanted out of this hellhole already!

"YaYun said he plans to marry the fox within a month. We are being driven out of the palace before that happens."

XueYa didn't want to ask it yet. It could easily make the white snake turn away and never come back. But this issue was larger than what he had thought at first and that damned fox spirit moved faster than he had expected. There was no slowly winning the snake's trust at this rate, XueYa just had to demand it now.

"If that is the case, release me now."