Closer to Revealing My True Self
Chapter 171 - 141 Its Eating Style_1

Chapter 171: Chapter 141 Its Eating Style_1

"You should know the owner of this house,"

Wei Hongxun handed over a picture frame. This was originally in the house and didn’t count as leaking information.

Feng Yi took the picture frame and looked at the people in the photo.

Previously, the picture frame was displayed in the living room on the first floor, the kind that could be shown to outsiders, and there wasn’t a trace of illegality or rule-breaking.

There were several people in the photo, all dressed as elite businessmen.

Feng Yi’s gaze settled on the individual in the center to the right, and he retrieved a name from his memory.

"Feng Yao?"

Back when Feng Yi was still in high school in Yang City, Feng Yao was already considered a successful person. Feng Yao’s father was a famous foreign trade magnate in Yang City, and his success was due to his family’s background as well as his own capabilities.

Feng Yao was five years older than Feng Yi, but at that time, Feng Yi was on the fringe and knew of Feng Yao only through hearsay. Compared to the name "Feng Yao," Feng Yi heard "Feng San Tu" much more often; this was a nickname many people used behind his back.

Years had passed, and to see how Feng Yao was doing, one only had to look at the décor of this house. And looking at the remodeled basement, it wasn’t something a small amount of money could achieve.

If it had only been up to his family’s support, Feng Yao couldn’t possibly have kept pythons in secret without his family finding out, and managing to keep it a secret for so many years indicated he had real ability.

Feng Yi had never heard that Feng Yao liked raising exotic pets, and what surprised him even more was that Feng Yao actually dared to keep pythons! He even built such a "luxurious" breeding space for them!

Without obtaining a permit for domestication and breeding, business operation, etc., for nationally protected wildlife, purchasing state-level protected animals...

How deep must one’s love for the pythons be to dare such an act?

Wei Hongxun and Feng Yi stood in front of the huge transparent glass wall, looking at the "indoor jungle" on the other side.

The other houses in the same neighborhood had two floors above ground and two below.

This house’s original layout was the same, but after Feng Yao moved in, he remodeled it, redecorating and combining the two underground floors into one, while also digging deeper down. Wanting to go deeper down required submitting an application to the property management to prevent severing important pipelines or causing other damages.

The United Guarantee Bureau found the original renovation application, which stated there would be a landscape room. The property management saw no danger and approved it.

It wasn’t until this basement’s secret was discovered that everyone understood that there was a huge "breeding tank" here.

"I know some people like bonsai, some like planted aquariums, but this kind is my first encounter," said Wei Hongxun.

The first time Wei Hongxun saw this indoor jungle, he was deeply shocked; it was as if a corner of the jungle had been directly transported here.

"This place, even a Tyrannosaurus rex could be fitted in," Feng Yi said, "Building it like this, is it a case of having too much money or is it out of love?"

Some pet owners indeed spend a lot of money to build nests for their pets.

However, privately keeping pythons violated the regulations, and there’s no excusing that.

"Didn’t you question him? What did Feng Yao say?" Feng Yi asked.

"He said ’because of love,’" Wei Hongxun replied.

"Do you believe that?"

"I don’t."

"Any evidence?"

"None."

As they spoke, Wei Hongxun led Feng Yi towards a small door on the side.

"You can enter here."

The door was electronically locked, but colleagues from the United Guarantee Bureau had already dealt with it. Opening the door, Wei Hongxun guided Feng Yi into the giant "breeding tank."

"The temperature, humidity, and air pressure have already been adjusted to the mode for breeding; it’s suitable for pythons to live in but might be somewhat uncomfortable for us."

As Wei Hongxun spoke, he looked at Feng Yi, then noticed that Feng Yi’s expression was a bit strange—not nervous nor disgusted. When looking at those trees and vines, there seemed, perhaps, to be a bit of... longing?

"What are your thoughts?" Wei Hongxun asked.

Feng Yi didn’t speak for a moment.

Thoughts?

Does the desire to roll on the ground here count as a thought?

But come to think of it, this place is still a bit narrow, a bit restrictive.

Feng Yi’s discerning gaze swept around.

The setup was fine, but the space was too small.

Of course, his real thoughts were not likely to be expressed aloud.

Feng Yi put on a serious face again and began to work.

In the damp and warm air, there were mixed scents. Some were fresh; some were stale.

After the scent molecules were captured, they turned into blurry images.

Feng Yi could "see" some of the paths where the pythons had previously moved.

On the branches, in the grasses, behind the vines, near the pond...

The giant "breeding tank" also had five feeding ports for the caretakers to feed the prey into.

"The smells that remain here are mostly from animals like pigs and sheep," Feng Yi paused, then added, "live ones."

Wei Hongxun nodded; they had also learned this during their investigation.

The feed for pythons didn’t necessarily have to be live prey, but nowadays, breeding centers and zoos rarely use live feed.

And here, that eldest Feng son had always been feeding live animals.

"Feng Yao said it’s because it’s picky. It was picky when he took over its care, so he’s been feeding it live prey," said Wei Hongxun.

They couldn’t ask "Big Niuniu" if it was true or false, but it was indeed uninterested in dead prey now.

Even for snakes of the same species, tastes can vary. So even though Wei Hongxun thought that kid Feng Yao was lying, he had no evidence.

Feng Yi looked around, "In addition to the python and its food, there are scents of two humans left here."

"Yes, one caretaker, one feeder, and these two people are responsible for the basement here." Wei Hongxun had also found this out.

The caretaker was responsible for cleaning the rubbish inside the giant enclosure and maintaining the scenery within. The feeder was responsible for feeding. Both the caretaker and feeder had a deep understanding of pythons; otherwise, they couldn’t do the job.

However, there were no surveillance cameras here, and whenever Feng Yao came, the caretaker and feeder were not present, so they also didn’t know what Feng Yao had done here or whether he had interacted with the python.

"That’s all?"

Wei Hongxun was not satisfied.

"There’s nothing else... any uncommon animals?"

Uncommon animals? Feng Yi paused, then realized.

What Wei Hongxun meant was whether there have been other protected animals here.

Whether they had been kept here or were brought here to feed to the python, as long as they existed, the trouble Feng Yao was in would be even bigger.

Feng Yi discerned carefully for a moment and walked around each corner once more, confirming: "No. I don’t know about before, but at least now, I haven’t smelled them. There are only common livestock here."

Wei Hongxun frowned, standing quietly to the side, no longer pressing the issue.

Feng Yi wasn’t bothered, analyzing the scents he smelled, and took a few steps forward, "The python mostly hunts and feeds here."

Feng Yi stood on the not-so-large patch of grass, turning his body to look at the glass wall a few steps away.

"This place is more like a showcase," said Wei Hongxun.

"Hmm."

Feng Yi walked out of the giant enclosure and came to the other side of the glass wall, which was the main area where the homeowners moved about.

Under Wei Hongxun’s puzzled gaze, Feng Yi lifted the carpet off the floor and crouched down to get closer to the ground. The remaining scents weren’t much, but they were enough.

"The carpet was laid down not long ago; it’s not the one used before."

Feng Yi stood up, walked over to the tables and sofas, paused by one, picked up an armchair, carried it to a spot in front of the glass wall, and placed it down.

"What’s this?" asked Wei Hongxun.

"Now, I’ll repeat what Feng Yao did."

"Good!"

Wei Hongxun was excited.

Then he watched as Feng Yi sat down in front of the glass wall and remained still.

Wei Hongxun: ???

"What next?" Wei Hongxun couldn’t help asking.

"Then we appreciate the python’s meal," Feng Yi pointed inside the glass wall, "this patch of grass that looks like the showcase you mentioned, where the python’s hunting and feeding process is displayed."

Seeing Wei Hongxun stunned, Feng Yi continued, "Feng Yao sat here, watching inside the enclosure, watching it constrict its prey and then swallow it. I didn’t expect Feng Yao to have this hobby, engrossed in watching the python feed and unable to pull himself away."

Wei Hongxun snapped back to reality, "The python’s feeding process is not graceful; ordinary people don’t have the nerve to watch."

Thinking of how the snake’s eating speed and the size of the food are related, Wei Hongxun recalled the information he had gathered:

"The live prey they feed is not small either, the python takes a long time to eat, and the dumber ones, after strangling their prey, take even more time to find where the prey’s head is."

Pythons start feeding from the head.

There’s a python at the zoo, very good-natured and docile, but a bit dim-witted. It always struggles to find the head of its prey and can’t start eating. By the time it finds the head, other snakes have already finished feeding and gone off to laze around somewhere.

If the keeper has time, he helps it find the beginning of its meal.

But Feng Yao, he doesn’t seem like someone who would help.

Wei Hongxun noted this down in his memo; he’d instruct them to choose larger prey next time they feed to see if "Big Niuniu" has trouble finding the head.

Moreover, he’d analyze Feng Yao’s behavior, and when he submitted his report, it would even earn him some points.

After finishing his notes, Wei Hongxun looked at the landscape room that doubled as the python enclosure.

"Why didn’t Feng Yao choose a smaller snake? Smaller snakes pose a lower risk and are easier to handle. He likes to watch snakes feed; small snakes can do the trick too, like the batch of Western Hognose Snakes we investigated some time ago. There were quite a few people who kept them secretly."

Feng Yi yawned and casually said while lying on the chair, "Maybe he thinks the hognose’s way of ’eating rice’ looks too foolish."

Wei Hongxun didn’t take it seriously.

He had noted down all the problems Feng Yi discovered today; even if he couldn’t get the desired answers from Feng Yao’s mouth, he would do an in-depth analysis, and the report submitted later would be richer, earning higher scores which would be advantageous for his future promotion.

It was worth paying more than the market rate to bring Feng Yi here this time. The things Feng Yi discovered wouldn’t have been detected by others.

With the work done, Feng Yi had no intention to stay any longer. Satisfied with receiving the "expert consulting fee," he happily left.

Before he left, Wei Hongxun called out to Feng Yi, "By the way, I have a tip for you: someone from the Bureau of Joint Protection may contact you soon. Keep an eye on your phone, don’t turn it off."

"What’s it about?"

"I’m not at liberty to say, but it’s good for you, a win-win of fame and fortune."