Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

Zhuang Xing was one of those very few. Before he cultivated the Warm-up Technique, he could unleash sword energy, thanks to the "Innate Qi" he was born with.

At this moment, he opened his mouth to exhale and inhale, closed his eyes, controlled his breathing, and followed the rhythm of the warm-up technique to let the energy flow through his body.

Although he still cannot control the innate Qi in his body, as long as he lets the Qi flow in his body, the innate Qi will move along with it like a small boat being washed by the water.

He gathered his primordial Qi in his eyes, and when he opened them again, his vision had changed.

Those originally formless and colorless "qi" appeared before his eyes as if he were wearing a pair of filter glasses, and the "qi" became colorful.

The sprouting grass on the ground, the mushrooms growing on the rotting leaves, and even the bird eggs in the bird's nest above—everything that has life exudes a faint aura.

He could sense that two chicks in the nest were about to hatch, and they were very active.

The most conspicuous things in sight were Yunling, the white mouse, and the snake fruit.

The coiled-up brown snake was actually far less powerful than the white rat.

The white rat only dared to bare its teeth at Zhuang Xing's feet, but dared not run up to the brown snake.

It's probably because snakes are the natural enemies of rats. Snakes are born to eat rats. Even though they are demons, they still have some fear of their natural enemies. In the White Lotus Hermit's demon-slaying diary, it was mentioned that once he used a group of ordinary roosters to break the power of a centipede demon and easily defeat it.

From all perspectives, this brown snake was nothing more than an ordinary grass snake attracted by the exotic scent of snake fruit.

Zhuang Xing then stopped gathering his qi, his breathing returned to normal, and his innate qi moved with the flow of his breath, and his vision returned to normal.

Although he could see the brown snake's aura using acquired Qi, it was far less clear than using innate Qi. The difference between the two was obvious. If he were using acquired Qi, he definitely wouldn't be able to see the mushrooms or the eggs in the bird's nest.

However, the acquired Qi is much more convenient to use. It does not require prior preparation, and there is no need to hold your breath when using it.

All I can say is that he still needs to practice; his skills are far from perfect.

"This is a grass snake," Zhuang Xing concluded.

"In that case, perhaps throwing some pebbles would scare it away," Yunling said.

“You can scare it away, but Yunling, do you want to eat snake meat?” Zhuang Xing brandished the wooden sword in his hand.

"This..." Yunling looked at the snake and asked cautiously, "Can snakes be eaten?"

"Of course," Zhuang Xing said. "Snake gall can cool the liver and improve eyesight, and snake meat is delicious and relieves fever. Many high-ranking officials and nobles in the city love to eat snakes, and there are even people in the mountains who make a living by catching snakes."

"Then... how about... we give it a try?" Yunling pursed her lips.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Zhuang Xing said. "This brown snake is plain in color and has a large head, so it should be non-venomous. Let's test our swordsmanship on it today."

Yunling glanced at the brown snake again from afar, a hint of fear in her eyes. However, looking at Zhuang Xing beside her, her gaze gradually cleared, and she nodded, saying, "Okay."

Soon, the two devised a plan and split up into two groups.

Yunling picked up many pebbles from the ground, and when she got close, she threw the pebbles from her pocket one by one at the brown snake.

The brown snake immediately raised its head, its forked tongue hissing.

It raised its snake body, but its lower half remained coiled around the snake fruit, unwilling to leave, as if trying to make itself appear larger and scare away the human who had come to attack.

Yunling stopped throwing stones and slowly retreated towards the brown snake.

The brown snake stared intently at Yunling's face. At that moment, Zhuang Xing leaped down from a nearby tree trunk and swung his sword at the snake's head!

A flash of sword energy, and amidst the falling withered leaves, the snake's head fell to the ground, a splatter of snake blood on Zhuang Xing's face. The brown body twitched a few more times before becoming completely still.

Yunling quickly stepped forward, took out a handkerchief from her bosom, and wiped the blood off Zhuang Xing's face.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly.

"It's just a grass snake." Zhuang Xing waved his hand and squatted down to look at the snake fruit.

Seeing that the brown snake was dead, the white mouse suddenly jumped out, ran to the snake fruit, and rubbed against it affectionately a few times.

It picked off half of the fruit, and like a hamster, put the snake fruit in its mouth. It pointed to Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling, meaning that this was their share, and then waved its little paws and scurried into its burrow.

There were three apples left, emitting a pleasant, sweet aroma.

Zhuang Xing thought for a moment, then picked two fruits and shared one with Yunling.

"This is a snake fruit, a kind of spiritual plant. It's good for us if we eat it." Zhuang Xing didn't care much, wiped it casually, and threw the snake fruit into his mouth.

It tastes sweet and juicy, somewhat like a persimmon. He kept the pit and swallowed all the pulp and peel.

Not long after he ate it, he felt a warm sensation coming from his stomach.

Following Zhuang Xing's example, Yunling swallowed the snake fruit.

She looked at the remaining snake fruit and said, "You can have the last one. You killed the snake, so you should take more."

Zhuang Xing shook his head: "Let's leave this snake fruit here."

"Stay here?" Yunling asked, puzzled.

"Draining the pond to catch all the fish is not advisable; we must follow a path of sustainable development."

Zhuang Xing's gaze was fixed on the snake with its head severed, a smile curving at the corners of his eyes.

Yunling tilted her head, not quite understanding Zhuang Xing's meaning.

"This snake fruit is called snake fruit because it emits a unique fragrance that attracts snakes when it ripens..." Zhuang Xing drew a circle in the mud around the snake fruit with his wooden sword. "If we set some traps around the snake fruit, what do you think would happen?"

Yunling suddenly realized: "That way we can eat snake meat without much effort!"

“Yes, that’s called waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump.” Zhuang Xing snapped his fingers.

Chapter 38 Long Dream

"But how do we make a trap?" Yunling looked around the snake fruit. "Dig a hole?"

“A cave can’t trap a snake.” Zhuang Xing shook his head. “Yunling, go find a rock nearby, something a little heavy, but not too heavy. Let me think… um, something that you think a snake can’t drag away. Try to find a long and thin one, not too wide or too big.”

“Okay.” Yunling nodded and immediately began searching the surroundings.

"Be careful, there might be snakes around," Zhuang Xing called out to her retreating figure. "If anything happens, just shout for me."

"I understand!" Yunling replied.

Zhuang Xing nodded. Yunling was a reliable child. If she went to school, she would definitely be a good student in the class and could become the class monitor or academic representative.

Zhuang Xing confidently entrusted her with the task of finding stones, while he used his wooden sword to dig a hole next to the snake fruit.

He dug a hole about forty centimeters deep, and at the same time, Yunling returned.

She was holding an oval pebble, about the length of three eggs put together.

Zhuang Xing took the stone and weighed it in his hand: "This weight... should be about right."

"Should we crush the snake with a stone?" Yunling squatted down to look.

"That's roughly the idea, but I also need a thin, long rope."

Zhuang Xing felt around on his body. He didn't have any suitable rope. It had to be a smooth, sliding rope. If he used rough hemp rope or straw rope, the trap would be very insensitive.

"rope..."

Yunling felt around on her body, thought for a moment, and then reached out to untie her hair tie.

Her long hair was draped over her shoulders, and a red tassel hair tie was handed to Zhuang Xing.

"Zhuang Xing, do you think this rope will work?"

Zhuang Xing took the hair tie, rubbed it, and tested its feel.

This rope looks quite old; you can tell it's very well-made, with a small "Fu" knot at the end.

In terms of material and feel, this rope meets Zhuangxing's requirements perfectly, but...

"It's possible... but isn't it a waste to use such a nice hair tie to catch snakes in the mud?" Zhuang Xing shook his head and handed the hair tie back.

The hair tie was kept very clean, and it was clear at a glance that it was something Yunling cherished. It was like when he was looking for a dishcloth, Yunling handed him a fragrant washcloth, and he couldn't bear to use it.

Yunling said calmly, "It's alright, you can take it and use it. You can tie your hair with straw rope just the same way."

Zhuang Xing met her gaze, looking into her calm, watery eyes, and suddenly understood something.

He was being presumptuous. Yunling was capable of taking care of herself before she met him; she didn't need anyone to make decisions for her.

"Since you've said that, it wouldn't be right for me not to use it."

Zhuang Xing smiled, placed the hair tie on the ground, swung his sword, and cut off the tassel knot at the end of the hair tie.

"I only want the front part; you can keep the knot."

"Hmm." Yunling wrapped the knotted rope with a handkerchief and carefully put it into her purse.

Zhuang Xing used a rope to tie the stone together and hung it inside the dug hole, making sure it didn't touch the bottom.

Next, he cut two sturdy branches and stuck them in front of the snake fruit to make an archway.

He wedged a piece of wood in the middle of the "Golden Arches" and then used the remaining rope to make a trigger knot, the kind of knot used when tying a yo-yo.

"Try gently touching that piece of wood with your wooden sword." Zhuang Xing pointed to the small piece of wood stuck at the bottom and handed the wooden sword to Yunling.

Yunling nodded, took a breath, and triggered the trap.

After the branch was knocked off, the stone fell into the hole with a whoosh, tightening the knot and binding the wooden sword, which was then hoisted up.

Yunling was stunned for a moment, looking at the ingenious structure of the snake trap in front of her, and exclaimed in surprise, "Amazing!"

"This way, when the snake crawls over, it will be tied up with the rope, its head will be suspended, and it won't be able to move."

Zhuang Xing bent down and put the trap back in its original position.

"However... this trap can only bind snakes that come from one side. We still need to find something to cover the snake fruit, leaving only the passage of the trap exposed."

“But then the apple won’t get any sunlight,” Yunling said. “It might wither.”

“The snake fruit only ripens once a year. Once it bears fruit this year, it won’t bear fruit again. When it withers, we will pick the snake fruit and then we won’t need to use this trap anymore.”

"I see." Yunling nodded. "Then let's cover the snake fruit with stones and mud."

"good idea."

Zhuang Xing and Yunling then moved stones and, like doing civil engineering, built a small, round mound to cover the snake fruit.

They left only one exit, and that exit contained a snake trap. This way, if a snake was attracted to it and tried to crawl in, it would definitely trigger the trap.

"It really does look a bit like an igloo from Eskimos." Zhuang Xing nodded in satisfaction as he looked at his masterpiece.

"You love chicken...it's so annoying?" Yunling asked, tilting her head.