Cao Cao

“You, stay quiet!” The larger snake hissed at Xu Min. As the young man was feeling somewhat uncomfortable about having a one meter long snake curled atop his shoulder, the snake looked at him with a very curious gleam in its eyes.

Despite not knowing what was happening, the young man did not dare disobey the big snake, so he stayed quiet. He constantly felt the snake on his shoulder move about. He investigated everything from his feet and shoes to the insides of his clothes. It even went as far as to personally investigate his skin beneath his clothes. This caused the intimidated and frightened young man to tremble even further as he was scared about what the snake might do.

The larger snake was casually lying on top of a branch of the tree, and it seemed as though the two snakes communicated with the tree, much as when the big snake communicated with the tree before. This was something that took Xu Min by complete surprise. He had never imagined that a tree and snakes could communicate this way.

Although he considered it communication, he could not help but wonder how it was being done. No words were said, but from time to time, the snake would nod or shake its head. Its tongue was constantly slithering, and its eyes were focused solely on the tree in front of him.

After what seemed like an eternity, anger could be seen in the eyes of the snake. However, it did not take long before the anger was replaced by tenderness and apology, and once more, the conversation continued.

Xu Min had been standing close to the tree for hours on end. And while he was standing there, the small snake had investigated the young man’s entire body. After a while, it had finally found the small bag on his waist where he entered and curled up inside. While inside, the small snake only allowed for his face to be visible.

After yet another hour, the snake suddenly made its way down to the young boy. Looking at him, the snake sighed deeply.

“You, human!” He called out, and without wasting time Xu Min stepped forward. “My son, Cao Cao, has been itching to go out and adventure for a long, long time,” he stated while gazing at the sleeping snake’s head that was peeking out of the open bag.

“You will take him with you on your travels, and you will be personally responsible for him,” the snake continued. “You will make a blood bond with my adorable son so you will have some authority over him. But! If you ever mistreat him or sell him off, you will soon find yourself dead. I won’t even need to act as my dear son is strong enough to get rid of someone as weak as a mere One Star Warrior, but even if that weren’t the case I, myself, would wipe you from existence moments after you did something so stupid.”

Hearing this, Xu Min felt a shiver run down his spine. He quickly nodded in reply as he bit his finger and allowed for some blood to run out.

The large snake suddenly slashed the forehead of the tiny snake. Within moments, the snake woke up and let out an alarmed scream. Seeing the actions of the larger snake, Xu Min’s heart grew cold. He previously called the baby snake his dear son, but now he had mercilessly sliced him open, something which could have been accomplished in a much less painful way.

Not daring to say anything, Xu Min stayed quiet as he allowed their blood to merge. A weird feeling filled the young boy as he felt as though some of his soul was sucked into the beast in his bag. In return, he gained a little bit of this little snake’s soul in him.

‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!’ A juvenile voice echoed throughout Xu Min’s consciousness. It was a voice filled with indignation. It sounded as though the voice came from a ten year old child.

Hearing the voice, Xu Min’s eyes widened in surprise. He stared at the snake, lying in his bag that had its eyes closed.

“Don’t cry,” the young man said. He had completely forgotten that the large snake and the tree were right next to him. His entire being was focused on the snake as he could feel the sadness and indignation in the snake’s heart.

Picking up the small snake, Xu Min placed it around his neck. The small snake didn’t seem to care and allowed him to move him as he wished.

As soon as the snake was moved from the bag, Xu Min rummaged through it and quickly found the medicinal herb he recognized. With the herb in hand, he allowed the small snake to return and sleep in the bag again. Then he shredded the herb and placed it in the mouth of the meter-long snake.

“Eat this,” he said with a tender voice. The situation made him recall how Xu Wu had stolen herbs to heal him. Now, ironically, he was using stolen herbs to heal someone else. He now felt like he understood how Xu Wu felt during the times that she was looking after him. A sad smile appeared on his face as he gently patted Cao Cao’s little head after he had given him the herb to eat.

Standing beside him, the tree and the snake were completely surprised at this young man’s actions. The snake’s eyes were filled with utter disbelief; however, soon he was laughing. Looking at the large tree, his eyes filled with tenderness as it nodded gently.

“Go out and explore the world with our little Cao Cao,” the snake said with a gentle voice. “As long as you have Cao Cao with you, you are welcome inside this valley. But if you ever arrive without him, I can guarantee that you will die an excruciating death.”

Nodding his head, Xu Min had already guessed that returning without the small snake would be suicidal. However, actually hearing his words caused him to feel slightly worried.

The small snake had fallen asleep as though this conversation had nothing at all to do with him. The only thing it felt before going to sleep was that this human, who had given him herbs, was a good person. The little snake was but a child, and he instantly felt safe. Because of this, he instantly went to sleep as the comfortable, healing warmth of the medicinal herb started healing his wound.

“Feel free to come back whenever you need to, but don't take too many medicinal herbs,” the snake warned. “Although we’ll allow you a few, you can only fill your bag twice a year. We need the rest of the flowers to reach the final stage.”

Hearing this, Xu Min’s eyes grew larger as he understood that he was allowed some of their amazing medicinal herbs. He no longer felt as though he should fear the snake and the ancient tree. With a deep bow, he turned around and picked up multiple healing herbs from the field. Although he picked quite a few of them, he still made sure to not take more than what he could fit in his bag.

Currently, he was incapable of placing them in the bag as the small snake was in it. He just tucked them into his robe before exiting the mysterious mist-filled valley.

Traveling through the top of the trees, Xu Min quickly found his way back home to the nest he had created. On the way, he had come across another Winged Hare which he swiftly executed. This time he brought the beast back with him to the nest. As he neared his new home, he started to hear an uncomfortable amount of leaves rustling. This was not something done by one creature or human, but it was clearly the work of a whole group or horde.

As he inched closer, he slowed his speed drastically. His eyes were alert, and his senses stretched to their limits as they observed everything around them. Feeling the change in Xu Min’s soul and his vigilance, Cao Cao slowly woke up. His eyes were alert as he stared into the distance, captivated by whatever this first moment of excitement on his new journey would hold. He was just as prepared as the older boy who was being very cautious.

As he slowly moved closer, he noticed that the sounds did not come from the ground. Instead, they came from the nest that Xu Min had created. He soon saw a group of seven men come into view, and the instant he saw them, he retreated slightly.

Cao Cao’s voice sounded out within Xu Min’s mind. ‘Why retreat?’ However, the young man still did not know how to talk with his mind to the snake like Cao Cao was doing. He did not know how to communicate without needing to open his mouth. Instead, he just shook his head as he retreated.

‘Oh right,’ a disappointed voice sounded out in his mind. ‘You are just a weakling; I could have dealt with these troublemakers if I did not have to spend some effort to heal this wound on my forehead.’

Hearing his voice, Xu Min almost let out a snort only to stop himself in the final moment. Shaking his head, he started to move away from the location where he had been before. After traveling through the trees for a few more hours, he finally found a place that seemed devoid of humans. He built a small nest for the two of them. Throughout his stealthy escape, Xu Min had brought the hare with him. After finally setting up another nest, he found more big stones and started cooking the beast.

As soon as Xu Min brought the stones into the nest, Cao Cao was incredibly curious about what was happening. His eyes twinkled with curiosity as he saw how the beast was being cooked on the stones.

He was only watching curiously because he had never seen anything like this before. As the meat was getting cooked, and the scent filled the air, Cao Cao started salivating. He was constantly asking whether or not he could have a small bite.

Xu Min was quite worried because the scent of the cooked meat could attract the attention of others. When he looked at the small snake, he felt that the snake was in no way as weak as him. He believed that the snake would not fight for the sake of a weak human, but, just maybe, he would fight for the food he was salivating over.

Chuckling slightly, Xu Min looked at the snake whose eyes were glued to the meat. He could not help but laugh at the snake. Although he laughed at him, he spent some time trying to ascertain the snake’s rank. He was astonished to find out that the aura this tiny snake exuded was far stronger than even the Three Star Warrior he had come across earlier.

Having shared his blood with the beast, something had happened between the two of them. Now, Xu Min felt as though he too was capable of communicating with the beast without speaking. When trying to do so, he realized that he needed to use a part of his brain he had never used while speaking naturally. It took him some time before he managed to perfect this new method of communicating.

During this time, the young man quickly understood that Cao Cao was getting bored. He bought himself time by giving the young snake more and more cooked hare meat. This seemed to work perfectly well. After countless mistakes, Xu Min finally understood how to speak using nothing but his will.

Looking at the non-existent hare meat that was left, Xu Min could only sigh heavily as he found some dried meat from his bag and ate it with a jar of fine wine. It turned out that the entire hare had long since been eaten by the small Cao Cao.

‘You aren’t that bad,’ the snake said with a tired voice as it slithered up to Xu Min. Seeing that the human was seated with his legs crossed and his eyes closed, he noticed one speck of gold after another appearing out of nowhere. The small snake quickly coiled up on the lap of the young man and closed its eyes contently. Xu Min spent the night cultivating, much like every other night.