Closer to Revealing My True Self
Chapter 174 - 144 Not Fierce_1

Chapter 174: Chapter 144 Not Fierce_1

Feng Yi’s goal this time was the snake breeding farm; he wasn’t really interested in going fishing with Bai Lu and Mo Xiaoguang; it didn’t matter whether Bai Lu was late or early.

Today, Feng Yi didn’t bring Jia and Ding with him either. Since he hadn’t decided on the matter of breeding snakes, he just treated this as an inspection, and he didn’t want others to know about it for the time being.

The serpentarium was far from the city area, and such breeding farms naturally couldn’t be close to the city.

The drive took nearly an hour and a half before they arrived at their destination.

The friend Mo Xiaoguang mentioned was Tang Kui, whose family had been breeding snakes for generations. Especially Tang Kui’s grandfather’s generation became wealthy through snake breeding, bought land to expand the breeding scale, and cooperated with many pharmaceutical factories and universities, resulting in a well-managed operation. So, after the extraordinary climate period, when the strictest protection laws were introduced and many breeding farms were shut down, their family’s business remained stable and continued to develop. Now, several large pharmaceutical factories and many laboratories across the country partnered with their farm.

Mo Xiaoguang’s uncle’s pharmaceutical factory was one of the customers.

Therefore, when Mo Xiaoguang told his family that he wanted to use venom to overcome his allergy through desensitization treatment, his uncle recommended someone to him. It wasn’t necessary to trouble the boss of the breeding farm with such matters; his uncle recommended his son, Tang Kui.

Tang Kui had graduated and returned home this year and had taken a piece of land near his family’s farm to try his hand at running his own business.

Feng Yi fell silent for a while when he heard the name Tang Kui.

Feng Yao, Tang Kui.

One bred pythons, the other bred venomous snakes.

Do those with more ’earth’ in their names tend to like snakes more?

The car did not head to Tang’s large breeding farm, but to Tang Kui’s smaller farmstead.

It was evident that the farmstead was recently built, and although it was a small breeding farm, from the outside, it wasn’t much different from some farm stays. If someone passed by without knowing that venomous snakes were bred inside, they wouldn’t feel any psychological pressure at first glance.

However, the warning sign next to it was too eye-catching. Even if the place was built with a pastoral charm, the sight of that sign with the venomous snake symbol would likely dim any visiting intentions—the farther away the better.

Feng Yi got out of the car and looked ahead.

There was a door in the front, though it was unclear if it was the main entrance or a side one, nicely decorated and spacious.

At that moment, a young man was sitting on the steps in front of the door. Unlike Mo Xiaoguang’s strangely fashionable hairstyle, this person had a neat buzz cut, his skin was slightly tanned, and while he was lean, he didn’t appear frail, eating from a lunch box.

A large yellow dog sat next to him wagging its tail, its ears half-drooping as it yearned for a bite of his food.

When the dog noticed strangers arriving, it barked twice, but after being scolded, it focused on the lunch box, only growling a warning as Feng Yi and Mo Xiaoguang approached, sweeping its dog eyes back and forth, guarding against the strangers while watching its owner’s reactions.

Tang Kui put his lunch box on a shelf to one side, stood up, wiped his hands, and walked over slowly. His gaze lingered on Feng Yi’s face for a moment before he talked to Mo Xiaoguang, his face revealing a polite, businesslike smile, "Brother Guang, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Tang Kui."

Mo Xiaoguang went forward with a laugh and shook hands with Tang Kui.

Although they were called friends, it was actually their first meeting, and normally they wouldn’t hang out together. Before coming, they only chatted about fishing online.

After the pleasantries, Mo Xiaoguang introduced him, "This is Brother Yi, a certified expert from the Joint Protection Bureau!"

Since it wasn’t certain whether Feng Yi would actually come, and a last-minute change of mind was possible, Mo Xiaoguang had not mentioned Feng Yi’s matters to Tang Kui in advance, only saying there might be three people.

"He’s the one who the resort called in to catch snakes—both those pythons were caught by him!" Mo Xiaoguang got straight to the point.

Tang Kui paused, momentarily startled. Of course, he had heard about the python incident at the resort, and he even followed the news. He just knew that the catching expert’s surname was Feng.

With the temperatures dropping in Yang City these past two days, Tang Kui didn’t have the time to distract himself with thoroughly investigating the Feng expert’s story. He had assumed that the Feng expert was at least in his thirties or forties, as it would be impossible to control a python without sufficient experience and physical strength.

Originally planning to inquire properly and visit later, he didn’t expect to meet the expert himself at the gate of his own farm, who also happened to look like a celebrity. He had no reason to doubt Mo Xiaoguang’s words, considering that Mo Xiaoguang had experienced the resort events firsthand; moreover, his family had connections that could reveal more, and it was unlikely they would lie about such matters.

Thus, Tang Kui’s somewhat indifferent and falsely polite smile suddenly brightened, and he looked at Feng Yi with more sincerity than he might give to an important client, gripping Feng Yi’s hand tightly and with great enthusiasm:

"Is this... Expert Feng? It’s an honor to meet you!"

Tang Kui was very excited. He was a snake breeder, and sometimes he needed help from other experts in the field of herpetology. There were not many snake experts in the country.

However, he knew that Feng Yi and Mo Xiaoguang had come over to fish today, so he didn’t delve into the topic of snakes right away. After asking a few questions about the python-catching process and techniques, the conversation returned to fishing.

"Weren’t there supposed to be three of you?"

He had already prepared three sets of fishing tools, but there were only Feng Yi and Mo Xiaoguang present.

"The other one had something come up and will arrive later," Mo Xiaoguang said.

"Alright, your fishing gear is ready. Should I take you there now or do you want to wait a bit longer?" Tang Kui asked.

Mo Xiaoguang had already discussed this question with Feng Yi on the way there.

"We’ll go over later, and we’d like to tour your farm first, if it’s convenient?" Mo Xiaoguang asked.

Having finally made up his mind to come, and deciding to proceed with desensitization treatment, he wanted to take a look inside.

Mo Xiaoguang had already informed his uncle about this, and since his uncle’s pharmaceutical factory cooperated with Tang Kui’s breeding farm, visiting was not a difficult request to fulfill.

Of course, Tang Kui agreed as well. Since it was a relative of the important client, he could handle any request, as long as it wasn’t too demanding.

However, after discovering Feng Yi’s identity, Tang Kui no longer maintained a perfunctory attitude. What a great opportunity to make the acquaintance of an expert!

Tang Kui led them inside with great enthusiasm.

Although the place wasn’t very large, the security measures were quite comprehensive. It was clean, disinfected, and items were arranged neatly without looking cluttered.

From the smell, it was clear that the cleanliness of the place was maintained regularly and not just a hasty clean-up because they were visiting today.

Tang Kui took them through safety gates one after another while introducing:

"You can’t enter the facility where my family raises snakes. I’m only allowed in when accompanied by my parents—it’s strictly controlled.

As for this place, I’m in the start-up phase. I’ve only recently obtained the license, so the scale isn’t large yet. I’m raising just one type of snake, to start practicing. Shall we go straight there to see?"

Mo Xiaoguang answered with a stiff smile. He talked easy, but deep down, he was constantly on edge. It’s true that today he was fully prepared and didn’t need to worry about his safety, given that there was a capture expert and a snake-rearing master with him, but this place was, after all, a snake breeding farm!

The name alone made him shudder, much like someone afraid of ghosts entering a haunted house.

However, there was nothing grim about the decoration and layout of Tang Kui’s farm, and as Mo Xiaoguang stayed close to Feng Yi, he gradually gathered more courage.

The three arrived at a building that, at first glance, resembled a guesthouse you might find in a scenic area: seemingly simple, but the details combined to impart a sense of leisure and relaxation, evocative of a pastoral landscape.

Amidst the laughter, Tang Kui opened one of the doors, peered inside, and walked in.

Feng Yi followed closely behind.

Mo Xiaoguang, completely unguarded, followed them in.

What met his eyes was a large bed, adorned with a logo-printed quilt.

Seeing this, Mo Xiaoguang laughed: "So you live here? Looks a bit spartan... Shit!"

As he was speaking, he saw Tang Kui lift the logo-printed quilt, revealing four or five snakes underneath, with two of them slithering out.

Before Mo Xiaoguang could finish his sentence, the sight of the snakes, with no mental preparation, startled him so much that he leaped up, his blue-green fringe almost flying off his scalp, his face turning pale with fright.

Looking at Tang Kui, then at those snakes, something seemed to dawn on him.

"Damn it!"

The two snakes that crawled out from under the quilt, sensing the approach of people, raised their front bodies and their necks’ skin flaps ballooned and spread. Even Mo Xiaoguang, who knew little about snakes, recognized what kind of snakes they were.

"You actually keep cobras in your own room! And let them sleep with you!"

Mo Xiaoguang jumped behind Feng Yi, his eyes wide with astonishment as he looked at Tang Kui: "I never would have pegged you for this type! Sharing your bed with snakes, huh!"

Tang Kui: "..."

Tang Kui looked at him as if he was looking at an idiot, then lifted the hanging "blanket" to reveal the nest made of stones and wooden boards underneath, with even more snakes there.

There were also containers for water and food.

Tang Kui: "This is a room for raising snakes; I live on the floor above, next door."

Mo Xiaoguang touched the goosebumps on his arm and then noticed the details of this "bed" in the room. If one looked closely, even without lifting the "quilt," it could be discerned that this place was probably not meant for sleeping.

Mo Xiaoguang chuckled awkwardly, "Ahem, my mistake, didn’t notice, I was wondering about the strange smell."

He really thought Tang Kui was sleeping with the snakes!

For Mo Xiaoguang, things like sharing his bed with snakes or walking along with them were impossible—never in his life would it happen!

Mo Xiaoguang, hiding behind Feng Yi and scared to death, couldn’t help but peek inside.

Feng Yi had smelled the snakes from afar and wasn’t surprised. He curiously observed the arrangement inside and inspected the condition of the snakes: "Do your Zhoushan cobras spit venom?"

The calmness of Feng Yi was expected by Tang Kui. An expert who could capture pythons by hand wouldn’t be scared by this. Hearing Feng Yi’s question, he replied: "No, not really. They don’t spit or chase after people much. They’re bred ones; I don’t know how many generations down. They’ve lost a lot of their wildness. Besides, even if they do spit, they aren’t experts at it. It’s more like spitting saliva. Once you get the hang of it, it’s manageable."

Feng Yi was reminded of Steve’s mimicked "Pounce, open mouth, coil, tu—" during the scientific survey.

Tang Kui: "I grew up watching my family raise snakes. I’ve had a lot of contact with them, and I find cobras relatively easy to deal with."

In the middle of the conversation, Tang Kui extended his hand and "smack"—lightly tapped the back of a cobra’s head that was facing away from him.

The cobra swiftly turned around and hissed angrily, but that was all it did.

Feng Yi stood silently on the side, watching, then commented, "They are not very aggressive."

Tang Kui nodded firmly: "Right! Not fierce at all!"

Mo Xiaoguang, whose hair had frizzed up with fright: "..."

What kind of bold claims are you making!