Losing his companion made him feel lonely, but he could not keep an egg from a parent who had come this far and been injured so badly just to get their child back.
Pouring his gratitude into the gesture, he gently stroked the egg one last time and then placed it near the snake.
"It's okay. Thanks to your efforts, the egg is safe. I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm returning it to you."
Believing there was nothing more he could do here, Qiong Xing suppressed his nausea and returned to searching for the key.
After that, while fighting back the rising nausea, he somehow managed to find the key and rescue the men from the hut.
They cried with joy and thanked him over and over, and in return, they offered to guide him to the town.
"…Huh?"
As he was thinking that maybe that egg really had been a lucky egg after all, he heard something like a hissing sound.
Judging from the direction, it was coming from where the giant snake had been earlier.
Worried that something might have happened again, Qiong Xing hurried back to the open area.
For some reason, the snake had not moved from where it was before and was making noises as if calling out to him.
"What's wrong?"
He asked if something had happened, but the snake only kept hissing and gently pushed the egg toward Qiong Xing.
"What about the egg? Is it cracked somewhere?"
They had been able to understand each other to some degree, but without words, he could not tell what the snake was trying to say.
He touched it to check, but he could not find any obvious damage.
Thinking he might have missed something, he took out some water from his bag and carefully washed the egg, then checked again.
Still, there were no cracks or injuries.
"?"
"I think it wants to entrust that child to you."
"?!"
Startled by the sudden voice from behind him, Qiong Xing nearly fell forward, but someone grabbed his waist and stopped him.
He nervously turned his head, but because his waist was still being held, an unfamiliar man's face was right there and extremely close to his own.
"…W-who… are you?"
Still holding down his pounding heart, he asked and the man answered briefly, "Leander."
No, who is that supposed to be?!
Just giving his name did not help Qiong Xing at all.
And if possible, he would really like the hand on his waist to be removed as soon as possible.
It felt like that hand was lightly stroking his waist, but that was probably just his imagination.
He really hoped it was just his imagination.
"That one wants to entrust its child to you."
He wanted to ask how the man could say that so calmly.
He wanted to ask why the man could understand a snake's words in the first place.
But he felt like that would only derail the conversation, so while turning his body slightly away from the man, he asked what he meant.