Beast Taming: I gained the talent of a spirit pet.

Chapter 33: Snake Catcher! (Please give me a monthly ticket to read!)
Qingliu Town is located at the foot of the mountain, with continuous mountains not far away.

But the streets are quite lively, with various small vendors hawking their wares along the streets.

The aroma of steamed buns, meat patties, and wontons spread across the streets. Although Gu Yuan had already had breakfast, the sight of the delicious food made him want to buy some to try.

There were also some hunters who carried their captured pheasants, rabbits, foxes, wild boars and other prey on their shoulders, waiting eagerly for people to buy them.

Gu Yuan was looking at several hunters not far away and was about to step forward when he suddenly reached out and grabbed a hand that was reaching into his arms.

When he looked down, he saw a young man whose height did not even reach his chin. He was dark and thin, like a monkey. His clothes were thin and shabby, and he emitted an unpleasant smell.

Gu Yuan smiled meaningfully: "Three hands?"

"Bah! I'm not. Why are you arresting me? Are you trying to slander me because I'm young?"

This thief, who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, was caught in the act but showed no fear. Instead, he stiffened his neck and threatened:

"If you don't let me go, I'll call for help!"

The thief struggled as he spoke, but Gu Yuan's palm was like a pair of pliers, tightly gripping his wrist and he couldn't break free at all.

However, Gu Yuan noticed that two men with unfriendly faces came over from a distance, with one hand reaching behind his waist as if to take out a sharp weapon. They were clearly accomplices of the thief.

Seeing this, passers-by deliberately avoided him and looked at Gu Yuan with a hint of surprise. Some even stopped and pretended to watch the fun.

Bang!
Gu Yuan kicked the thief in the knee, making him kneel on the ground. He grimaced in pain, and the sharp piece of iron in his other hand fell to the ground with a crackling sound.

"Since you are a thief, you should be considered the local boss here, right?!" Gu Yuan asked.

Gu Yuan knew that this thief was also a gangster, a member of the lowest class among the three religions and nine classes. There were territories divided among each other and some rules to follow.

I looked like a stranger and was so young that I stood out on the street, so it was no surprise that I was noticed.

The thief stared with his eyes wide open without answering. Gu Yuan didn't care, and ignored the two people who came over. He took out a dime from his pocket and threw it on the ground:

"Find me a local snake catcher, preferably one with plenty of experience. If he does a good job, I'll give him a reward."

After a pause, he said, "If you can't do it, I'll take back the money, and you can forget about those fingers you touched me just now. Can you do it?! If not, I'll find someone else!"

"Yes! We can do it! We can definitely do it!"

The thief ignored the pain in his knee from being kicked and pounced on the silver like a vicious dog snatching food. After biting it with his teeth, he immediately changed his expression, smiled playfully, nodded and said:

"Don't worry, sir. I'm very familiar with the affairs on the street. Just leave this job to me. I promise to do it perfectly for you!"

Seeing this, the two men looked at each other, loosened the daggers that were tightly gripping their waists, returned to their original positions, and ignored Gu Yuan.

"Stop talking nonsense and lead the way!"

Gu Yuan snorted coldly, knowing that he must not be polite to such people. If he gave people the impression that he was soft-hearted and easy to talk to, it would only lead to greater trouble.

"Okay, follow me."

The thief didn't care about Gu Yuan's bad attitude. He took Gu Yuan around in a circle and came to the northwest corner of the town.

This place is a bit remote and mostly has old houses.

The thief brought Gu Yuan to an old courtyard, then pushed open the door and just walked into the courtyard, he shouted: "Old One-Eye, are you there? Someone is looking for you, why don't you come out quickly?!" His words were quite rude, but he only dared to shout in the courtyard and had no intention of stepping into the room.

Gu Yuan had a keen eye and could clearly see some jars placed in certain corners of the yard, some of which were covered with tiles.

Although it was winter, snake heads popped out of some of the jars and stared at the two of them.

"Humph, I'm an old widower with no children or friends, and no relatives. Who would be so bored as to come to me?"

A voice came from the dark house, and then a hunchbacked old man with a gloomy face and wrapped in a tattered black coat walked out of the room.

One of the old man's eyes was sunken, as if there was no eyeball, but the other eye was quite sharp and indifferent. He ignored the thief and looked at Gu Yuan:
"Young man, what do you want from me?"

Gu Yuan did not answer his question. Instead, he took out a handful of copper coins and threw them to the thief next to him, ordering him to leave: "Okay, you can leave now."

"Alright! Sir, if you encounter this kind of thing again, you can always come to me."

The thief didn't mind at all. He stuffed the money into his arms happily and turned away.

When only Gu Yuan and the one-eyed old man were left in the yard, Gu Yuan bowed and said, "Old man, I want to ask you something."

"What's going on? Something to do with snakes?"

The old one-eyed man looked at Gu Yuan and stood at the door, with no intention of letting him into the room.

"good."

Gu Yuan nodded and asked, "I want to know how many species of snakes there are near Qingliu Town. In addition, what are the habits and special features of these snakes?"

"Why are you asking this?"

The old one-eyed man's tone was still cold: "Also, what's hidden in the package behind you?!"

Gu Yuan was a little stunned at first, then he smiled and said, "Father-in-law is really amazing. You even discovered this."

Squeak!
As he spoke, a big black rat with shiny fur crawled out from the package on his back and climbed onto Gu Yuan's shoulder.

It squatted on Gu Yuan's shoulder, grabbing a strand of Gu Yuan's hair with its two claws, but it squeaked at the old man with a bit of vigilance, clearly a little afraid of this old man who knew no martial arts.

This big black rat is surprisingly large, as big as a cat. Both its claws and teeth are flashing with cold light, which is frightening!
This rat is naturally Gu Yuan’s spiritual pet, the Iron-Tooth Rat Ah Huang!
"Iron-toothed rat?"

Seeing Ah Huang, the old one-eyed man's face was still cold and sullen, but his tone revealed a bit of surprise: "You actually raised such a thing?"

"My father-in-law is indeed very knowledgeable."

Gu Yuan smiled and stroked Ah Huang's smooth fur, saying:

"To be honest, I've loved interacting with animals since I was a child. I heard that there are many poisonous insects and ferocious beasts in the mountains near Qingliu Town. I came here today to ask you about raising a snake. It's easy to raise a snake, but it's a bit difficult to tame a snake that suits my taste."

"It can be seen that although you are a snake catcher, you are also a snake lover. Otherwise, you would not keep so many snakes in this yard."

Gu Yuan looked around the yard and said to the old one-eyed man sincerely:

"So, please give me some advice."

(End of this chapter)