Chapter 392: It Never Wants to Hunt Again
Chapter 392: Chapter 392: It Never Wants to Hunt Again
The night market’s food street was exceptionally lively.
Levi Hollis sat at a coffee stall wearing a face mask, having already politely turned down two girls who wanted to add him on WeChat.
’Usually, when I walk around without a mask, no one asks for my WeChat. Does a mask actually make me look more handsome?’
’They can’t even see my face clearly!’
’Can I only be considered handsome for my vibe? That’s so hurtful!’
Levi Hollis sighed deeply and looked up at Linden Lucas in the crayfish restaurant across the street.
He was holding his phone horizontally with one hand, probably playing mahjong.
This crayfish place was co-owned by Linden Lucas and a friend. Business was mediocre, with only three or four tables of customers.
The other late-night eateries nearby were all full, and some even had people queuing at the door.
Levi Hollis had been observing for a moment. He concluded that the problem likely lay with Linden Lucas and his partner’s attitude.
When a customer simply asked if there were any group-buy discounts, the two of them immediately copped an attitude.
The bullfrog restaurant next door was much better at business. As soon as customers walked in, they were told about the discounted combo meals available on a popular discount app.
’Business models and attitudes really are important.’
Levi Hollis glanced at his watch. Half an hour had passed since Kyle Morgan and the others said they were coming.
Just as he was thinking this, he caught sight of a few figures out of the corner of his eye.
Levi Hollis turned his head, raised an eyebrow slightly, and asked, "You’re here. Want some coffee?"
"No thanks. If I drink too much, I won’t be able to sleep tonight," Kyle Morgan immediately replied, shaking his head.
The coffee stall didn’t have many seats, with only two stools left. Both Kyle Morgan and Zachary Conway acted like gentlemen and offered them to the two ladies.
The five of them kept feigning casual glances toward the restaurant across the street.
A customer eating at the entrance was the first to spot Kaiser and screamed, "AH!"
The scream startled Linden Lucas so badly that his hand trembled and he discarded his winning tile. His face turned livid. He glared at the customers’ table. ’I’ll add some special "ingredients" to their food later.’
"There’s a snake!"
"AHHH! That’s terrifying!"
"Holy crap, it’s a cobra!"
The customers at several tables ran away in a panic.
Linden Lucas saw Kaiser too. His scalp instantly tightened, his face turned deathly pale, and the hair on his body stood on end.
He remembered what he’d heard at the police station during the day—that Kaiser had come to avenge his tragically killed wife and children.
’Has Kaiser really come for revenge?’
Kaiser’s target was clear. He slithered through the tables and chairs, heading toward Linden Lucas.
Seeing this, Linden Lucas turned tail and ran.
How could Kaiser possibly let him escape? He shot forward, sinking his sharp fangs into Linden’s calf.
Linden Lucas felt a sharp pain in his leg. His body swayed, and he collapsed on the spot.
His eyes were glued to the wound on his calf as a thick wave of terror washed over him.
’Am I going to die...’
’Am I going to be the next Elias Yardley?’
"AHHHHH! I don’t want to die!" Linden Lucas shrieked, his eyes bloodshot as he broke down. "I just ate a snake! It’s not like I committed some huge crime!"
Kaiser had already turned to leave, but he stopped when he heard those words.
He slowly turned his head, his brown eyes fixed on Linden. He flicked his forked tongue, then his triangular head lunged, jaws open, and viciously bit down on the man’s carotid artery.
Fear sent convulsions wracking through his body.
Kaiser bit him a second time. Before leaving, he even whipped Linden Lucas’s face with his tail. "Shameless human!"
The onlookers gathered at the restaurant’s entrance found this scene astounding.
"Why does it seem like Kaiser came specifically to bite the owner?"
"It’s incredible! It bit the owner and just left!"
"It really does seem that way..."
After Kaiser slithered away, Renee Jennings and her group also left the coffee stall.
Kaiser was still waiting for them under the car. When he saw Renee Jennings, he spoke: "Snake must go now."
Renee Jennings crouched down and asked him, "Where will you go?"
Kaiser fell silent.
He was homeless now.
’Without my wife and children, it feels like there’s no point in going anywhere.’
Renee Jennings asked, "Do you want to go back to the forest?"
"Snake does not know."
"Are you willing to stay?"
"What do you mean?"
"Stay in the human world. There’s a zoo director who really likes you and wants to invite you to her zoo."
Kaiser didn’t understand. "What is a zoo? And what is a director? Why does she like Snake?"
Renee Jennings felt this wasn’t a suitable place to talk. "Can we talk in the car?"
Kaiser nodded his head.
Renee Jennings opened the rear car door, and he cooperatively slithered inside, even proactively crawling into her handbag.
The group got into the car. Renee Jennings sat in the back, placing the handbag on her lap.
She explained the answers to Kaiser’s three questions.
Kaiser listened and then thought in silence.
’At a zoo, I wouldn’t have to hunt for myself.’
Kaiser remembered that his wife and children had been brutally killed while he was out hunting, a memory that had left him with deep psychological scars.
He had lost all desire to hunt these past few days.
He was even afraid of hunting...
He thought for a long time. By the time he was done, the black sedan had already stopped at the entrance to a small park.
Renee Jennings took him inside the park and said before leaving, "Think about it. I’ll come find you tomorrow, and you can tell me your decision. If you don’t want to go to the zoo and would rather return to the forest, we will take you back."
「The next morning」
Renee Jennings and Faye Wyatt came to the small park to bring Kaiser breakfast.
Kaiser, who had been coiled around a tree branch, caught Renee Jennings’s scent and immediately slithered to the ground.
He slithered toward Renee Jennings, but upon sensing an unfamiliar human next to her, his body paused for a moment before he continued forward out of trust.
"Good morning. Breakfast is served," Renee Jennings said, putting down Kaiser’s breakfast. She then made the introduction, "This is the zoo director I told you about last night. She’s the one who provided what you ate yesterday, as well as today’s breakfast."
Hearing this, Kaiser stared at Faye Wyatt with his brown eyes, a scrutinizing look in them.
Faye Wyatt’s lips curled into a smile. She raised a hand and said, "Hello, my dear friend Kaiser."
Kaiser found this very strange.
The humans he had encountered before had all wanted to beat or kill him.
But ever since meeting Renee Jennings, the humans he met all seemed to want to be his friend.
"May I pet you?" Faye Wyatt asked.
Kaiser thought for a few seconds, then proactively extended his head toward her.
Faye Wyatt’s eyes suddenly lit up. She turned to Renee Jennings, her face filled with delighted surprise.
She slowly reached out her hand and gently stroked him a few times.
"Renee, I’ve noticed that all the animals you interact with seem to have gained true sentience. They’re so smart," Faye Wyatt remarked, watching the elegantly eating Kaiser.
Hearing this, Renee Jennings raised an eyebrow slightly. "They were always smart."
Faye Wyatt sighed softly. "I wonder if our friend here is willing to come back to the zoo with me."
After finishing his breakfast, Kaiser slithered over to Renee Jennings and Faye Wyatt.
He looked at Faye Wyatt, then said to Renee Jennings, "Snake has decided. Snake will go to the zoo."
He didn’t want to go back to that place full of painful memories.
’A change of scenery would be good.’
He was drawn to the fact that he would be fed without having to hunt.
Hunting had become a source of deep pain for him.
He never wanted to hunt again.