The Second Prince’s naming day banquet was held with great bustle and excitement, with people coming and going. Bali from the Golden Lion Animal Taming Troupe easily slipped into the small courtyard of the pavilion where Ye Dui and the others were resting.
He had a face full of cold menace, with an iron cage covered by a grey cloth strapped to his back. He quietly approached the window on one side of the pavilion, crouched down low, and lifted the grey cloth from the cage. In the sunlight, one could see the colourful, terrifyingly venomous snakes inside the cage. They were entangled together, constantly flicking their tongues, and as if sensing the sunlight, they all raised their heads. This sight was enough to make one’s heart tremble with fear.
But Bali had dealt with these poisonous creatures since childhood and felt no fear at all. Instead, he had an irrepressible sense of excitement. He pulled out a strange object from his bosom, about the size of a palm. It resembled a flute, but was carved with many small holes.
This was called a snake flute.
Playing this flute required many techniques. For ordinary people, it was simply impossible to use such an instrument. As a snake tamer, Bali had also spent a great deal of time gradually figuring out how to use this flute. He took a deep breath, lifted the lid of the iron cage, placed the flute to his lips, and prepared to play it.
Through the sound of the flute, he would control those venomous snakes to crawl into the adjacent pavilion.
However…
Just before he was about to sound the first note, a strange musical sound suddenly emanated from the room next door. It was a tune he had never heard before, one that was leaping and bouncy, filled with… a cheerful and festive feeling.
This music made him freeze abruptly. Then, something even more astonishing happened: as the music started to play, the venomous snakes that had been quietly entangled in the cage suddenly began to crawl out one after another. It was as if they were drawn by that sound. They quickly slithered down from the cage and started heading towards the window on the wall, trying to drill into that room.
Bali was stunned by this scene. He had originally intended for his darlings to crawl into the pavilion, but now seeing these venomous snakes heading inside on their own, he immediately sensed something was wrong. He hurriedly put the snake flute back to his lips and began blowing it vigorously. A faint, almost inaudible weak sound emerged from the flute. If one did not listen carefully, it would be impossible to discern that weak sound at all.
Snakes could not hear sounds, but they could sense vibrations in the air. The snake flute used precisely this kind of vibration to control the venomous snakes.
However, the venomous snakes that were usually obedient to his every command now completely ignored it. Even though he issued the order for them to stay in the cage and not move, they still involuntarily headed towards that room.
Several startled cries came from inside that room.
“Oh dear, where did these venomous snakes come from?”
“So many venomous snakes! Everyone, get out of the way. I’ll smash them to death!”
“Wait a moment, Grin. These venomous snakes were summoned by me. Who would have thought there were so many venomous snakes in the Second Prince’s residence? Luckily, I found them. From now on, they will be my performance props.”
“Eh? These snakes seem to be dancing?”
“Wow——”
Bali crept up to the window and peered inside. He clearly saw that in the centre of the inner room, the snakes were rearing up their upper bodies high, swaying their bodies along with that faintly cheerful tune. It truly looked like they were dancing… and moreover, it was a movement that Bali had never been able to make these venomous snakes perform before.
Shock crept across his face. He had never imagined that in this world, there could be someone who could tame snakes even better than he could!
“These, these people truly have some skills…”
Bali’s heart raced with fear. He quickly made up his mind and quietly retreated. “I must find the leader! I need the leader to step in and help me get these darlings back!”
……
In the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, Debbie, Guni, Lessa, and Grin were sitting in seats around the four sides. At first, when they saw these venomous snakes, they all felt a bit fearful. But after the initial fear passed, what remained was nothing but novelty and amusement. They all widened their eyes, watching the snakes constantly writhing their bodies. Ye Dui, meanwhile, was standing right in front of these venomous snakes, playing the music on one side.
He discovered that under the Golden Snake Dance tune, these venomous snakes would involuntarily start to dance. In Ye Dui’s eyes, that dance was as festive as the Northeastern Daguanyge… and he could even, to a certain extent, make them perform some actions through the movements of his fingers. They would follow Ye Dui’s fingers as they moved, even quickly gathering together and intertwining with each other, as if coalescing into one body.
The Golden Snake Dance tune was originally a dance created for celebration, the kind of song played during the New Year. Ye Dui had spent fifty points to unlock it, and he never expected its effect to be like this. This made Ye Dui feel immensely novel and interesting.
These venomous snakes were all ordinary animals and posed no threat at all to swordsmen or magic guides. But if used properly, they could indeed produce unexpected remarkable effects…
He was pondering and exploring the uses of the Golden Snake Dance BGM when the door to the pavilion was suddenly flung open. A group of people stormed in aggressively.
Debbie, Grin, and the others, who had been sitting on the stools, hurriedly stood up.
Ye Dui looked at the newcomers. They were wearing performance costumes, and each one’s chest bore the emblem of a golden lion. From their fierce glares, it was clear they came with ill intent.
“Who are you people?” Debbie immediately asked.
“Give me back my darlings!” Bali blurted out first. He looked at those venomous snakes now circling around Ye Dui, his face full of anxiety. He hurriedly pulled out the snake flute, put it to his lips, and blew a few notes, but the venomous snakes showed no reaction whatsoever.
“Your darlings?” Debbie was stunned for a moment and looked at the venomous snakes beside Ye Dui.
“These snakes are yours? You are… animal tamers?” Ye Dui was taken aback. He suddenly understood something. So, the ones attracted by his Golden Snake Dance were not venomous snakes from the Second Prince’s residence at all, but rather this animal taming troupe’s.
Ye Dui was not the sort of domineering and unreasonable person. He felt that he had indeed done something wrong in this matter, so he smiled and said, “Oh, so that’s how it is. Then these snakes can be returned to you…”
“Just returning them to us is not enough!” Clearly the leader of this animal taming troupe, one man said in an icy voice. “Hmph, daring to come and steal our business. You truly have some nerve. Return the snakes to us, then get lost at once. I do not want to see you performing in front of His Highness the Prince!”
“What?” Hearing the leader’s words, the expression on Ye Dui’s face immediately froze. He glanced at the window on one side of the room where the venomous snakes had crawled in, and at the iron cage strapped to Bali’s back. His heart stirred, and he said to Bali, “These snakes were not attracted by me. You were just outside the room, preparing to release these venomous snakes to bite us?”
“That’s right!” With the leader backing him, Bali naturally felt no fear. “The Golden Lion Animal Taming Troupe’s performance does not wish to have its spotlight stolen by others. You deserve to die. Get lost now, or we will not be polite! Also, quickly withdraw your technique and return all these darlings to me!”
Anger appeared on the faces of Debbie, Grin, Guni, and Lessa. These people were truly detestable!
They looked towards Ye Dui, but Ye Dui also revealed a cold smile. He only heard him say, “Fine then, these snakes are returned to you…” As he said this, Ye Dui’s fingers immediately pointed at Bali. The venomous snakes instantly received Ye Dui’s command and, hissing loudly with their tongues flicking, charged towards Bali.
He was not a domineering and unreasonable person, but he was not one to let others bully him just because he reasoned with them.
Bali’s face turned cold. He hurriedly put the snake flute to his lips and blew, but it was utterly useless. In almost an instant, several venomous snakes leapt onto his body and bit him. A loud scream followed from his mouth, the sound utterly miserable.
“You dare!” That leader dodged to the side while shouting loudly. “Zack, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and act!”
The one named Zack was a short, dark-skinned old man. He had been standing in the corner all along. Hearing the leader’s words, the old man gave an eerie smile, opened the porcelain jar he was holding in his arms, and immediately a layer of black sand spread out from the jar, falling to the ground.
Ye Dui was curious in his heart and looked closely, only to abruptly discover that where was this any black sand? It was actually black ants, one after another!
A magic guide book with a green cover appeared beside the old man. He was a magic guide, using mental magic to control these ants!
The ants gathered together, like some invisible fierce beast, and rapidly rushed to Bali’s side. Ye Dui’s expression shifted slightly. He hurriedly made several summoning gestures, wanting to call all those venomous snakes back to his side. But still, two venomous snakes failed to escape in time and were climbed upon by those ants. The colourful venomous snakes then turned into two skeletons of惨白的 snake bones!
Yet Zack had no intention of stopping there. With a savage expression, he controlled the ant swarm to continue crawling towards Ye Dui and the others.
A look of interest appeared on Ye Dui’s face. He summoned his own magic guide book, preparing to use flames to deal with this ant swarm.
“You are a magic guide too?” That leader said, slightly shocked upon seeing Ye Dui’s magic guide book. “But it is just a magic guide book with a white cover. Hmph, truly shabby!”
Ye Dui: “It has been a long time since I heard such mockery. I rather miss it…”
He then prepared to use magic. But at that moment, those ants seemed to sense some kind of aura and suddenly stopped moving altogether.
“Zack, what are you doing?” The leader turned his head and questioned the old man Zack.
Zack’s face looked somewhat strange. “I, I cannot control them anymore. They, they seem to be fearing something…”
“Fearing?” Hearing Zack’s words, Ye Dui was also stunned in his heart. Then he thought of something. “Could it be…”
He hurriedly opened the storage space of the magic guide book. Moments later, he took out a red, ostrich-egg-sized round object.
As soon as this thing was taken out, those ants became even more restless. The formation that had still maintained some shape instantly seemed on the verge of dispersing.
“What is that thing of yours!?” Zack felt he was about to lose control of the ant swarm and shouted in surprise.
“This is an ant egg…”
Ye Dui felt an indescribable surprise in his heart. The egg of the Dragon Ant Queen actually had such a wonderful use?
Bloody hell, luckily he had not previously treated this thing as an egg and roasted it to eat…
