Chapter 88 - 58: Taming

Chapter 88: Chapter 58: TamingJi Xinghuo had waited for five hours. The snake in the cave finally moved. It shrank down to just a few centimeters long, crawled out through the crevices in the rocks, crossed the valley, and slithered into the nearby woods. Clearly, the little green snake was very familiar with the area. It slithered quickly, and its reduced size did not slow it down but instead made it more agile as it navigated through weeds and trees, making barely any sound. As the little green snake moved forward, it frequently flicked out its tongue, changing direction from time to time. It was using its sense of smell to search for prey. In Ji Xinghuo’s magnetic field sensor, he detected several wild animals – both large and small – and burrowed rodents and insects underground. However, the little green snake seemed uninterested in them – it would pause momentarily, sniff, and then disdainfully move on. Before long, it found a suitable target. It was a wild hen resting on a tree, slightly smaller than a rooster, with long tail feathers and capable of flying, a common white-bellied flying pheasant in the Star Realm Forest. The little green snake gently climbed the tree trunk, cautiously approaching the white-bellied flying pheasant. Moving silently in its miniature state and utilizing the leaves for cover, it remained out of the prey’s line of sight and quickly ascended the tree. When it was only two to three meters away, the snake’s body contracted and sprung forward, instantly accelerating toward its target. The white-bellied flying pheasant had no inkling of the impending danger, its body was penetrated by a streak of green light, emitting a pitiful cry before falling down. The little green snake gracefully landed and immediately crawled towards its dead prey. It opened its mouth and the entire white-bellied flying pheasant disappeared. It then headed back to the valley where its burrow was located and quickly returned to the cave, spat out the prey, and then began to enjoy its meal. After watching the whole process, Ji Xinghuo couldn’t help but be amazed. The snake acted like an experienced hunter, making use of its abilities to easily obtain food. However, there was one detail. The little green snake didn’t immediately eat the white-bellied flying pheasant. It actually plucked the feathers bit by bit with its mouth, removed the internal organs, and then swallowed the meat. "A snake that even processes its food..." Ji Xinghuo found it very peculiar. Upon reflection, it was a creature with intelligence, a Spiritual Object, not to be treated by normal standards. Being picky about its food could be understood. After eating the chicken, the little green snake did not rest immediately like the last time, but instead, it swallowed all the feathers and detritus in the cave, crawled to a pond in the valley, spat them out there as if taking out the trash, swam around the water a few times to clean its body, and then returned to the cave. "Quite clean." Ji Xinghuo thought to himself disdainfully. Only then did he notice that the burrow of the little green snake was very tidy, obviously often cleaned. Hours later, the little green snake emerged from its burrow again. This time it changed its hunting spot and found a bird’s nest in a tree a few kilometers away. It showed no interest in the eggs but waited patiently like waiting for rabbits, ambushing the mother bird when it flew back, and then took the prey back to its nest. Plucking feathers, removing organs, eating, cleaning up trash, and then sleeping. Ji Xinghuo secretly observed it all day and roughly figured out the activity patterns of the little green snake. It did not distinguish day from night, and went out hunting every three to six hours. However, it showed no interest in the foods that ordinary snakes prefer, being very picky and favoring medium-sized birds and fowls, and it cleaned them thoroughly before eating. The little green snake’s sense of smell was incredibly sharp; it could probably detect scents from as far as three hundred meters away. Through the scent, it could discern directions, distances, and locations, as well as distinguish the smell differences of various prey. It obviously was thoughtful and very cautious. If it smelled an unfamiliar scent within its olfactory range, the little green snake would immediately stay quiet and motionless to avoid detection. It was immensely patient and would wait until the other party left before continuing to move. It never approached unfamiliar wild beasts or monsters actively. Ji Xinghuo summarized its personality. Smart, timid, patient, cautious, and as intelligent as a five- or six-year-old child. For such a Spiritual Object, forceful methods would definitely not work. It required a more patient approach to reduce its wariness and to show friendliness. Ji Xinghuo thought of a simple method. Given the nature of the little green snake, it would typically not approach upon detecting him, unless there was a temptation it couldn’t resist. That would be food! This might be the only vulnerability it had. As Star Night drew to a close, Ji Xinghuo no longer concealed his movements, brazenly arriving at the cliff above the valley, but he did not climb onto the rock column and instead set up camp on a platform on the opposite side of the cliff. This position was also within the olfactory range of the little green snake. Ji Xinghuo kept a close watch on its movements. When he arrived at the cliff, the little green snake in the cave opened its eyes. He continued setting up the tent, arranging simple traps around, and as usual not making a fire at night, just eating dry food and water, then resting inside the tent. That night, Ji Xinghuo hardly slept. The little green snake did not approach the cliff, and during this period, it went hunting silently twice as usual. When daylight came, Ji Xinghuo got up to wash and shot two white-bellied flying pheasants nearby, took them back to the camp to process, and prepared noodles while roasting the chicken. This time, he had brought enough seasoning. Though his cooking skills were average, far inferior to Jiangnan Caiyi’s, with frequent practice, he had mastered the trick, and the aroma of the roasted chicken quickly wafted through the air. The little green snake resting in the cave raised its head, its tongue flicking continuously. As the scent of the roasted chicken grew stronger, it couldn’t contain itself any longer and crawled out of the cave, cautiously approaching through the grass in the valley and stealthily climbing up the cliff, hiding in a layer of moss to sneak a peek at the campsite from just four or five meters away, thinking itself well-hidden. Ji Xinghuo’s lips curled into a smile. If it were yesterday, he might not really have been able to spot the little green snake and might have ignored it. But now... After barbecuing two days in a row nearby, given the little green snake’s intelligence, it would naturally suspect that this might be a trap, so it just watched from the shadows, motionless. Ji Xinghuo wasn’t in a hurry, he leisurely roasted the chicken, grabbed one, and started eating. Smack, smack... He chewed the chicken forcefully, deliberately making a loud noise. A roasted chicken was quickly eaten more than halfway, he casually tossed the chicken bones on the ground, spreading the aroma across half of the cliff. While eating the chicken, Ji Xinghuo paid attention to the little green snake. It stared intently at the roasted chicken in his hand, its tongue flicking incessantly, and surprisingly, drool was dripping from the corners of its mouth. "A snake actually drooling, haha..." He almost burst out laughing. However, despite its desire for the roasted chicken, it didn’t attack stealthily like yesterday. Clearly, it was seriously suspicious of everything happening before it and resisted the temptation of the food. "If you won’t come out, I will create an opportunity for you." Ji Xinghuo purposely roasted two chickens, one for himself and the other prepared for the little green snake. He finished eating the one in his hands and began on the second one. After only a couple of bites, he suddenly patted his stomach, stood up, and went outside the camp to a bush to relieve himself. When Ji Xinghuo returned to the camp, the remaining roasted chicken was gone. In the magnetic field sensing, the little green snake was quickly moving through the grass and had reached near its cave, hiding in a crevice. "Damn!" Ji Xinghuo pretended to curse a few times, then packed up his tent and belongings and left the cliff. Once he was out of the little green snake’s olfactory range, it immediately returned to its cave, spat out the roasted chicken, and savored the food blissfully. It had seen Ji Xinghuo take a couple of bites, so it didn’t suspect the roasted chicken had issues, and quickly ate it all up. Ji Xinghuo wasn’t far away; magnetic field sensing enabled him to see everything. The little green snake was intelligent, but not very. It was still too naive. The fact that he himself had eaten the roasted chicken didn’t mean it was safe, it was entirely possible to poison the inside even after taking bites, and if he had harbored ill intentions, it would already be dead. But it was precisely because the little green snake was so naive that there was a chance to tame it. If it were as smart as an adult, such a petty trick would be useless, it would have seen right through it immediately. For the next few days, Ji Xinghuo camped around this valley, changing spots every day, sometimes going beyond the little green snake’s olfactory range, a bit farther away. Nevertheless, the little green snake could still find its way back, lurking near the campsite and peeping around. Every time Ji Xinghuo set up camp, he would cook food, not always birds. Deer meat, wild boar, fruits, spider leg meat, etc., but no matter what the ingredient was, it was always finely cooked and quite delicious. He pretended to guard against the little green snake, not giving it a chance to steal food. And the little green snake also made all sorts of efforts to steal the food. Sometimes Ji Xinghuo let it succeed on purpose, other times he prevented it completely, to let it know food was not easy to come by. Man and snake, a battle of wits and courage. Sometimes, Ji Xinghuo would also leave and make it unable to find the campsite, indirectly applying the hunger marketing tactic. For five or six consecutive days, Ji Xinghuo had not gained a bit of Spiritual Origin Ability, but his relationship with the little green snake grew much closer. It was no longer so wary of him, eager to lurk nearby as soon as Ji Xinghuo set up camp, waiting for food. Yet if Ji Xinghuo approached it, it would still immediately flee. "It should be about time." That day, Ji Xinghuo directly set up camp in the valley, only about two hundred meters from the little green snake’s cave. Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He circled the forest around, hunted several wild chickens and large birds, and caught a black-horned goral, picked a bag of wild fruits, and brought them back to the camp to start cooking. The little green snake had already climbed onto a small tree outside the camp, perched on the tree, staring at Ji Xinghuo without blinking, its eyes filled with curiosity. Ji Xinghuo showcased his culinary skills, bustling about for two to three hours and made a feast. The entire valley was filled with tantalizing aromas. The little green snake watched from the side for a long time, its mouth already watering. Ji Xinghuo looked up at the little green snake on the tree, and regardless of whether it could understand him or not, suddenly said, "I’m leaving. This is the last time I’m making food for you, enjoy it well." After saying that, he began packing up his tent and baggage. The little green snake hesitated for a moment, and taking advantage of Ji Xinghuo turning his back, it swallowed all the food on the ground and quickly slithered away. Ji Xinghuo didn’t chase after it, quickly packed his things, and left the valley. Soon, he was beyond the little green snake’s olfactory range. Magnetic field sensing stayed locked on the little green snake hiding in the crevice until it realized Ji Xinghuo had left, then immediately looked up in the direction he had gone. Ji Xinghuo kept walking, getting farther and farther. Minutes later, he was more than eight hundred meters away from the little green snake, beyond the range of magnetic field sensing, but he didn’t stop and continued forward. That night, Ji Xinghuo camped at the foot of a mountain dozens of kilometers from the valley. The next day, when Ji Xinghuo came out of the tent and turned to look at a neighboring tree, through the dense foliage, he saw a familiar green figure.