Xuanwu Nation, Yuzhou City.
Ning Qianqian was still carrying out her daily tasks today.
Cultivating spirit plants, watering flowers, feeding fish, and cleaning.
Only one task had changed: from looking after an egg... to feeding.
Besides, Ning Qianqian had originally thought that such a large egg would hatch into some beautiful, pettable creature.
After all, she was afraid of anything too ferocious.
Although cats and dogs are born live, this was an immortal's egg, so you could never be sure what would hatch.
What if an immortal dog was different from a normal one?
The main thing was that Ning Qianqian had some experience raising familiar animals.
House dogs eat leftovers, so wouldn't an immortal dog just eat good food?
Even if it hatched into some kind of immortal crane, it shouldn't be too hard to take care of.
If it hatched into something like a chicken, duck, or goose, that would be even better. Ning Qianqian had experience; they were considered easy to raise.
But she never, ever expected that what hatched out was... a green snake with a sharp gaze and a murderous aura.
Ning Qianqian could never have imagined that this egg could actually hatch a snake!
As for snakes, Ning Qianqian possessed a great fear of them—for no other reason than having been bitten.
Back when Ning Qianqian had almost thought her young life was going to end in a snake's mouth, she had cried with such vigor for almost an entire hour.
Only after crying herself hungry did she stagger home, still sniffling.
She pulled herself together, despairingly finished dinner, and fell asleep amidst her sadness...
After several days, the still lively and energetic Ning Qianqian finally told her father about being bitten by a snake.
Later, she learned that the snake that bit her was a Trinket Snake, it wasn't venomous, and it wouldn't kill her.
Although she didn't die, the fear of death was still deeply imprinted in Ning Qianqian's memory, so she began to keep her distance from snakes like that.
At that first sound—Ahhh!
Ning Qianqian had thought something wonderful had hatched from the shell. In her mind, she had even fantasized it was a top-tier divine beast like a Qilin.
But when she turned back and saw that cold snake's eye, the green giant snake flicking its crimson forked tongue, her soul almost scared right out of her.
The protective treasures on her body instinctively activated.
Her scream pierced through the entire sect.
That snake was as thick as Ning Qianqian's arm! The snake that had bitten her back then was nowhere near that big!
To this day, Ning Qianqian could still remember the first thing that snake said after it hatched.
"Stop screaming. I wasn't planning on eating you anyway."
The voice was childish and sweet, making it impossible to tell if it was male or female.
Ning Qianqian hadn't even recovered from the shock of a freshly hatched snake being able to speak human words when the snake spoke a second sentence.
"I'm hungry. I haven't eaten in a long time. Get me something good to eat."
Ning Qianqian, still stunned, instinctively replied, "What do you eat?"
The green snake was also taken aback for a moment, then said in a strange tone, "Do I eat vegetable leaves?"
"Alright... you wait a moment."
Ning Qianqian mumbled as she got up groggily. The first thing she saw was her father, Ning Kun, rushing over in a hurry.
But before Ning Kun could even ask what was happening, the disbelieving voice of the green snake rang out:
"With an IQ like yours, they actually dared to let you be the gatekeeper? What kind of decent person feeds a snake vegetables?"
Ning Kun rushed closer. Although he was usually a bit dull, for some reason, he could actually see a hint of disbelief in the cold gaze of the green snake.
He also saw the broken eggshell behind the green snake and understood the situation.
Ning Kun had originally wanted to calm Ning Qianqian first, but as he reached out to pat her back, he didn't hit her back; he hit layer after layer of protective barriers instead.
After seeing this, the green snake's disbelieving gaze turned into an expression of—all is lost.
The intelligence level of these two was even lower than someone who had just graduated from prenatal education.
When the green snake was in the egg, it had thought hearing someone talk about boiling it in water was a joke. Now it seemed... it was probably not a joke, but a solid, truthful statement.
After all, one can know a master by observing his servant.
To entrust their home to two people who were at best dropouts from prenatal education... they couldn't be too bright.
The green snake's mind flashed with many thoughts—wandering... was that an option?
"Sorry... what kind of meat do you want to eat?"
Ning Qianqian used her protective artifact to wrap her father in it as well.
The green snake felt not a shred of the "I've finally come to this world" feeling of wonder. It only felt that its snake life was bleak.
It said casually, "No rats... anything else is fine... if you have spirit stones, bring me a few to grind my teeth on..."
Having received her instructions, Ning Qianqian quickly led her father out of the room.
Ning Kun's expression showed a slight shock as he spoke:
"As expected of an immortal's snake... it can speak human words right after hatching from its egg."
Ning Qianqian quickly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The Sect Leader gave me a talisman before he left, I should notify him first..."
She had no experience raising snakes, and this one could even speak human words.
But before she could finish, she was interrupted by the green snake from inside the room:
"There's no need to contact them! I know how to take care of myself, just listen to me."
Ning Qianqian was taken aback, not expecting the snake to be so sensitive to sound.
But listen to the snake or listen to the Sect Leader? Was there even a choice?
Naturally, she had to listen to the Sect Leader!
The green snake, as if seeing through Ning Qianqian's thoughts, used its tail to push open the door and poked its head out:
"Are they snakes or am I a snake? They're probably busy. What if this trivial matter of yours disrupts their great cause?"
"I don't plan on dying, and I won't starve myself to death."
In this day and age, it was better to be self-reliant. If those people really tried to feed it vegetable leaves, or force-feed it all sorts of random things, then this brief snake life would be completely over.
Besides, they had planned to boil it when it was still an egg. Now that it had hatched, what if they made it into snake soup?
Hearing this, Ning Qianqian showed a hint of hesitation. The Sect Leader had given her a talisman before he left, saying she could contact him in an emergency.
This situation with the egg could be considered an emergency, or then again, maybe it wasn't that big of a deal.
At the very least, she had definitely heard the Sect Leader's theory about boiling it in water.
Besides, this snake sounded like it knew how to take care of itself.
The green snake sighed inwardly and continued, "Just consider it a good fate between us. When the Sect Leader gets back, it'll all be on my head."
After a moment's hesitation, Ning Qianqian agreed.
This snake could speak right after hatching; an immortal's snake... must be incredibly formidable.
But putting that aside, this snake was actually quite easy to raise.
It didn't eat much meat, mostly just gnawing on spirit stones.
It usually didn't come out to wander, just staying obediently in the room... sleeping?
All it needed was to be fed at regular intervals.
For a long time, Ning Qianqian would feed this snake with all her protective treasures activated, but as time went on and she talked to the green snake more, and grew more familiar with it, things got better.
It was just that her heart would still race whenever she saw it occasionally.
But she could consider herself to have made a friend.
It was just that for some reason, Ning Qianqian always felt that this green snake's tone of voice... was a bit like coaxing a child.
Today, after finishing everything, Ning Qianqian carefully cooked a plate of meat and then walked towards the green snake's room.
The Sect Leader had left for the Central Province a long time ago.
He would just send letters and things back every so often—spirit stones, valuables, and some other strange items.
Ning Qianqian relied on these things sent back to confirm—this sect hadn't disbanded, and their Sect Leader was still alive and kicking.
She walked to the room door and knocked gently.
"Come in," the green snake replied.
After getting the answer, Ning Qianqian pushed open the door, her gaze naturally falling on the green snake, which was curled up in a pile of spirit stones, looking a bit lazy.
This snake had been fed for quite some time now. Although it didn't eat much, it shouldn't have failed to grow at all.
Could it be... this snake doesn't grow?
The green snake lifted its head, its tone a bit lazy:
"Your gaze is quite bold. What are you thinking about?"
Ning Qianqian didn't say anything, just revealing a gentle smile on her face.
This trick worked very well on the green snake. Whenever Ning Qianqian smiled like this, the green snake wouldn't ask any more questions or give her any more instructions.
This time it was effective too; the green snake's lifted head lowered again.
The green snake sighed inwardly—those prenatal education dropouts are showing that silly smile again.
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