He had only meant to close his eyes for a brief nap, but somehow, Ye Qin drifted into a deep sleep.
His dreams were filled with bizarre, fantastical scenes. One moment there were people, the next there were snakes, and then two shadows slowly overlapped.
When Ye Qin opened his eyes again, quite a few dead branches and fallen leaves lay scattered across the ground, making it look rather filthy and disorderly. Clearly, the strong wind had blown them inside.
"How long was I asleep?"
Ye Qin shook his head, and his expression gradually cleared. He figured the wind and rain outside had probably stopped. He had only eaten Field Mouse yesterday, yet he was already feeling a little hungry again.
Ye Qin crawled out of the cave. After being washed by the torrential rain, the air was very damp, without the dry heat from before.
Dewdrops hung from every blade of grass, sliding down the leaves and dripping onto him with a chilly, refreshing sensation.
Although it was daytime, the sky remained gloomy. Vast banks of dark clouds gathered overhead, pressing down on the heavens until they seemed unable to bear the weight.
Everywhere he looked, the little grasses had been blown this way and that. Some trees had even been snapped in half at the waist, leaving only truncated stumps on the ground, bare and stark.
It was easy to imagine how violent yesterday's storm had been.
Ye Qin came to the wild fruit tree. Fortunately, it still stubbornly stood in place. Only a few branches had been blown down, which was no great concern.
The ground was covered with bright-red fruits. Their juices stained the grass and gave off a sweet, overripe fragrance.
Only a few fruits remained on the tree, while many birds pecked at those on the ground.
When they saw Ye Qin arrive, they flapped their wings warily and flew onto the treetops, widening their eyes as they stared at the Little Black Snake below.
The air was saturated with the scent of the fruit. If Ye Qin had guessed correctly, it probably would not be long before he could enjoy another full meal.
Just as he had yesterday, Ye Qin repeated the same method. He hid behind the black stone and continued waiting for prey to walk into his trap.
After heavy rain, many small animals would come out to forage. Their nests might also have been flooded, forcing them to find new places to dig burrows.
Before long, a small squirrel appeared before Ye Qin.
Ye Qin wrapped around it with the ferocity of a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey. The squirrel did not even have time to cry out before his body, like a powerful chain, strangled it to death.
The hunt was over in the blink of an eye.
Its texture was not much different from Field Mouse's, except that the fluffy, oversized tail felt a little like eating cotton candy.
It was soft and fluffy, but there was not much meat, and it was digested before long.
After picking a few wild fruits for dessert, Ye Qin prepared to head home.
As he passed a small puddle, the reflection within suddenly caught his attention.
Taking the opportunity, Ye Qin carefully examined himself. "I seem to have grown a little since the beginning."
There was nothing reflective inside the cave. Although he had felt that he might have changed, he had been unable to see his exact appearance and thus had no idea.
Now, the water clearly reflected the shadow of a Little Black Snake.
Previously, he had been only as thick as a chopstick, but now he was three fingers wide and considerably longer. At the very tip of his tail, the green scales had fully grown in, arranged with remarkable neatness.
The color was extraordinarily beautiful, like a fine piece of jadeite. Everywhere else, however, he remained pitch-black.
At first glance, he was quite distinctive. Compared to how he had looked at the beginning, the difference was like heaven and earth.
Even though Ye Qin did not understand the growth cycle of snakes, such a drastic change in so short a time was clearly unusual.
"Could it be because of the Contemplation Method?"
Ye Qin recalled everything that had happened and felt this was highly likely. Practicing the Contemplation Method had accelerated the healing of his injuries, while also strengthening his body and bones.
His speed and strength had both improved significantly, as could be seen from his digging.
Take yesterday, when he had accidentally snapped a dead branch. Perhaps that had not been an accident after all.
Ye Qin swayed his body and lashed his tail against the wild fruit tree.
With a muffled thud, the wild fruit tree shook, and the few fruits still remaining fell to the ground.
Looking at the mark his tail had left on the trunk, Ye Qin seemed not to feel any pain. It was not as exaggerated as snapping the tree in half with a blow, but leaving an imprint was already quite impressive.
The Ye Qin from the very beginning would absolutely never have been able to do this.
Forget leaving a mark—even if he had struck with his tail, the fruit tree probably would not have changed at all. Instead, he might have broken his own bones.
All that digging these past few days had not been in vain. The muscles in his tail had been trained and were brimming with strength. Combined with the effects of his cultivation, a single tail strike could still shatter the skull of a small animal.
Ye Qin had only just begun cultivating. He had not expected to summon wind and rain, display divine abilities and strange phenomena, or become omnipotent like the characters in television dramas or novels.
His current body was nowhere near the size of a giant, and he did not even know how to cultivate spells or divine abilities. Yet the power hidden within his body was already many times that of creatures of the same size.
This undoubtedly gave him another layer of protection for his future safety.
"I just wonder what species I am."
Ye Qin examined himself for a long while. Aside from learning that he was actually a Little Green Snake, he still had no idea of his exact species.
He did not even have venomous fangs, so he was probably just one of the most common kinds of Little Green Snake.
Ye Qin did not take it to heart. After all, it was not a particularly important problem.
His gaze sharpened. In the reflection on the water, a small black dot had suddenly appeared, and it was moving rapidly.
Ye Qin abruptly raised his head. The black dot was drawing closer and closer, racing toward his location. He could faintly make out talons glinting with cold light, as well as a sharp beak.
Accompanied by a familiar shriek, the high-pitched cry seemed capable of tearing the sky in two.
It was a huge eagle!
A terrible memory surged into Ye Qin's mind. On the first day after transmigrating into a snake, he had nearly ended up in an eagle's belly.
But now, seeing one again, he was no longer the little snake who knew only how to flee for his life.
The eagle had also noticed Ye Qin's presence. It landed not far away and watched him like a tiger eyeing its prey.
Ye Qin looked at its black feathers, interspersed with several white ones. It was exactly the same eagle that had chased him back then.
Well, well. So it was an old acquaintance after all. Ye Qin's gaze instantly turned razor-sharp.
He recognized the eagle, but the eagle did not recognize that the Little Black Snake before it was the same one that had slipped from beneath its talons and beak back then. It tilted its head, looking somewhat puzzled.
Eagles and snakes were natural enemies. Why had this Little Black Snake not fled upon seeing it?
But with the eagle's intelligence, it clearly would not think too deeply about the matter. It merely assumed the Little Black Snake had been frightened senseless.
"Come on. This is the perfect chance to test exactly how strong I am."
Ye Qin slightly arched his body, drawing in his upper half. His tongue flickered even more rapidly. This was the posture snakes took before attacking, allowing him to reach his prey at the fastest possible speed.
In the blink of an eye!
He suddenly shot forward, taking the initiative to attack the eagle.
(End of Chapter)