Yang Qi stopped in his tracks.

’An untamed python?’

’In a bustling restaurant lobby like this?’

Yang Qi scanned his surroundings.

The lobby was filled with dozens of tables, nearly all of them occupied.

Waiters weaved through the crowd with trays, and the lively chatter of guests toasting each other filled the air.

’Where could a snake possibly be hiding?’

After turning in a slow circle, Yang Qi’s gaze landed on a booth seven or eight meters away, near a large potted plant.

Two women and a man were seated in the booth, apparently a group of friends catching up.

What caught Yang Qi’s eye was the woman sitting on the outside of the booth with her back to him.

She had shoulder-length hair and was wearing a simple, off-white t-shirt. From behind, she had a quiet demeanor.

On the empty seat next to her rested a dark brown leather bag. It looked quite old but was very well-maintained.

’The snake is in the bag?’

’Untamed’ meant it was currently ownerless, or its wild nature was still intact.

’Golden Threaded Ghost Python. With the word ’Ghost’ in its name, it’s most likely venomous!’

After studying it for so long, Yang Qi had more or less figured out the system’s quirks.

The creatures he’d encountered before were all designated ’Spirit,’ ’Mystic,’ ’Celestial,’ or ’War.’ At the very least, they were ’Demonic’ or ’Berserk.’

’Whether this Ghost Python is actually a python remains to be seen.’

’After all, pythons are non-venomous.’

’But this is the system’s assessment.’

’When the system makes an assessment, it’s based on the creature’s awakened bloodline traits.’

’With a bloodline awakening, a non-venomous creature could become venomous, and a venomous one could become harmless. Anything is possible.’

’For this woman to be carrying a potentially venomous snake, she’s either fearlessly ignorant or has some ulterior motive!’

Yang Qi didn’t approach immediately.

He regulated his breathing and, feigning the look of a regular customer searching for a private room, subtly angled his path. He walked toward a large monstera plant behind the booth, using the foliage as cover to get a clearer view.

As he got closer, he could faintly hear the conversation from the booth.

"...Xiaoxuan, now that you’re back, are you really not planning on leaving again?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The speaker was a round-faced girl with glasses who was facing Yang Qi’s direction. Her tone was full of concern.

"Yeah, I’m tired of running around out there. Donghua is still the best."

The short-haired woman with her back to Yang Qi, the one called Xiaoxuan, spoke in a soft voice tinged with a faint, almost unnoticeable weariness.

"It’s good that you’re back, really good. We should get together more often from now on."

The other man, who was slightly chubby, smiled and raised his glass. "Come on, a toast to welcome Xiaoxuan back!"

The three of them clinked their glasses. The atmosphere seemed harmonious.

But Yang Qi’s attention wasn’t on their conversation at all.

He activated his Great Derivation Spirit-Controlling Technique, heightening his senses and extending them as far as he could, trying to get a clearer read on the movement inside the leather bag.

Just as he thought!

Beneath the noisy chatter and the clatter of dishes, Yang Qi caught an extremely faint, strangely-pitched HISS. He also sensed the friction of some cold, slick creature slowly slithering within a confined space.

A normal person would never have noticed this sound and sensation, but to Yang Qi, with his senses enhanced by his Third Level of Qi Cultivation, it stood out like a candle flame in the dark.

’The Golden Threaded Ghost Python is in the bag!’

Just as Yang Qi was pondering this...

"Brother Qi? Over here!"

A voice called out from the entrance to the private room corridor.

Gao Zhenyue was leaning out, scanning the main hall. He spotted Yang Qi by the plant at once and waved his arm enthusiastically.

The shout not only snapped Yang Qi back to reality, but it also drew the attention of the three people in the booth.

The short-haired woman named Xiaoxuan instinctively glanced back as well.

Their eyes met.

He saw a delicate but slightly pale face with large eyes. Her pupils were a little lighter in color than a normal person’s, giving them a somewhat profound depth under the lights.

Her gaze lingered on Yang Qi’s face for less than half a second before she casually turned away, as if it were just a random glance.

But in that instant, Yang Qi sharply perceived that her hand, hidden under the table, seemed to twitch ever so slightly. At the same time, the faint HISSING from the leather bag abruptly stopped.

’She’s controlling the snake?’

Yang Qi suppressed his doubts and walked toward Gao Zhenyue with a smile. "Coming, coming. The traffic was brutal."

"We were just waiting for you. Quick, come on in."

Gao Zhenyue replied with a laugh, pulling Yang Qi into the private room corridor.

Before entering their room, Yang Qi took one last glance at the booth out of the corner of his eye.

The short-haired woman, Xiaoxuan, had already turned back and resumed chatting with her friends. Her profile was serene, as if that fleeting glance and subtle movement had never happened.

...

Inside the private room, all the dishes had been served, and the drinks had been poured.

Ye Haibing, still in his standard-issue programmer plaid shirt, was engrossed in his phone, probably scrolling through a tech forum.

Qian Yu was in casual clothes, his posture ramrod straight.

Song Wan was holding up her phone, apparently adjusting the angle to take pictures of the food on the table.

"Well, well, if it isn’t Master Yang, gracing us with his presence!"

Ye Haibing looked up, pushed his glasses up, and teased, "I heard your Zoo was pretty lively last night. Even made a local news brief?"

"You saw that too?" Yang Qi sat down, accepting a drink from Qian Yu.

"I got a push notification. ’Donghua Wildlife Park Successfully Resolves Late-Night Public Order Incident, Several Suspects Apprehended.’ It was vague, but there’s definitely more to the story," Ye Haibing replied.

"Brother Qi, come on, spill it. What happened?" Gao Zhenyue pressed.

Yang Qi gave a simple version of the story, leaving out the details. He just mentioned that a few local thugs had been causing trouble and were stopped in time by security.

"Nice one!"

Gao Zhenyue gave a thumbs-up. "Thugs like that need to be dealt with harshly. Come on, let’s have a drink!"

The group clinked their glasses, and the atmosphere grew warmer.

The conversation quickly shifted from the incident at the Zoo to what everyone had been up to lately.

Gao Zhenyue griped that the ride-sharing platform’s commission had gone up again, Ye Haibing complained about the tight deadline on his new project, Qian Yu mentioned a recent spike in telecom fraud cases in his jurisdiction, and Song Wan shared some fun stories about filming her videos and her tips for gaining followers.