The next morning Liu Yong ordered breakfast for himself. Zhou RenShu no longer tried to escape but he also paid no attention to Liu Yong, instead he faced the wall and stayed curled in on his slender body in hopes of staying warm but this of course was pointless since there was no heat in his body. Once breakfast arrived Liu Yong opened the lid to Zhou RenShu’s new home and placed down a piece of meat the size of a mouse, before closing it and returning to the table to eat his own food.

 

The meat was freshly cooked so the heat was more welcoming than the delicious scent, causing Zhou RenShu to slide his way over to where the meat was placed and wrap his slim body around the small piece of warmth. Unfortunately because a snake’s body was always cold and Zhou RenShu was colder than usual, the warmth he seeked very quickly disappeared. 

 

Disappointed, cold and sad Zhou RenShu could only eat the cold meat then return to his corner, resuming his ball-like position. Liu Yong completely ignored the snake after giving it breakfast and once he was stuffed he pulled out his laptop to continue tracking Wu Yun.

 

Like all of his attempts before, last night had been a fail too. Using various demons and cultivators with high cultivation to lure the man, he still had no luck. His acquaintances in the hospitality industry, although having caught glimpses of the wanted man were never enough to have a sufficient address. Once all of his contacts were called the only information he had been given was that Wu Yun was wanting to stay in the city a while longer since it was pot full of high cultivation. That and there would be a dinner happening at a restaurant. Wu Yun was guranteed to attend.

 

Zhou RenShu was bored, hungry and cold after spending a few hours ignoring the scary man he didn’t know the name of yet and rolled over to see what the man was doing. Liu Yong was no longer naked but wasn’t fully clothed either since he was only sitting at the table in his underwear. Zhou RenShu hadn’t noticed this last night but he could see on both of Liu Yong’s biceps were thin metal cuffs, inserted into the metal looked like different precious stones but sensing that Liu Yong wasn’t the average cultivator, Zhou RenShu knew these stones held a purpose.

 

A small knock at the door sounded before a gentle voice called out room service, Liu Yong stood up with no shame and answered the door. The young woman pushing the cart smiled sweetly even though an obvious blush filled her face, she pushed the cart inside the room before placing a total of five large plates down onto the table. “So many dishes, aren’t you staying by yourself?”

 

Liu Yong couldn’t be bothered to make small talk with a stranger and he held the door open, giving the woman a hint that she shouldn’t dilly dally with her talk. The woman shyly pushed the cart before spotting Zhou RenShu in his glass case. Usually people would become scared once catching even the smallest glimpse of a snake but this woman wasn’t frightened at all and ditched her cart in hopes of getting a better look.

 

“Leave him.” Zhou RenShu shrank back when the woman tapped on the glass firmly, turning a deaf ear to the half naked man behind her, she spoke in a baby voice, as if what she was looking at was not a snake but a puppy. “Aren’t you so cute~”

 

Before she could tap on the glass again her wrist was caught and her body was firmly turned. She wanted to cry out but once she saw how angry Liu Yong looked she hurriedly apologised then took her leave. The hotel Liu Yong was currently staying in was strictly open to only cultivators and demons, the staff also had to fit into this criteria too. 

 

Liu Yong didn’t want any unnecessary attention in case Wu Yun caught wind of him, so after finishing his large lunch all of his luggage was packed, including the glass case holding Zhou RenShu. Without batting an eyelid Liu yong shoved the glass case into the small bag holding all of his cultivation items and weapons. 

 

Zhou RenShu had never been inside captivity before, let alone inside an unlimited space bag, he thought that being in front of Liu yong was annoying but after only 5 minutes inside the dark bag he wanted out and couldn’t stop hissing while writhing around. No other objects could be seen and there was no way of telling which way was up or down because it was as if gravity was non-existent. Even after closing his eyes the dreadful fear never left, he felt like insects were crawling all over him though he was completely alone.

 

_ _ _ _ _ _

 

Liu Yong booked into another hotel not too far from where he was previously staying, after setting down his single suitcase and bag, as if there wasn’t a living creature in his possession, Liu Yong left the room in hopes of finding Wu Yun in the restaurant that he had been tipped with earlier in the day.

 

The wait lasted until a little past midnight and just when Liu Yong was losing hope and patience, the man he had been chasing after entered the building. On a small piece of paper Liu Yong wrote an invisible seal along with a listening seal. The paper floated down from the table then drifted towards the table where Wu Yun was being seated, like all the other times, Liu Yong was wearing a body changing seal, his seals were used with a high energy making it close to impossible for even great cultivators to see through but even though he had this power, Liu Yong didn’t stay and instead left the restaurant. The seal was already doing it’s job and would return to him when he called it back.

 

Returning back to his new room, Liu Yong had been away for almost 8 hours leaving Zhou RenShu alone in that haunting space for almost 9 hours, once inside the room Liu Yong walked over to his storage bag. Though, if you thought this strong man would quickly realize his mistake and release the petrified snake from a living hell then you were wrong.

 

After spending hour after hour sitting on a stiff chair Liu Yong had the itch to workout, reaching into his bag he summoned two heavy dumbbells and a resistance band before starting his long workout. Even when reaching into the bag no light shined on Zhou RenShu. Earlier in the day he lasted only 30 minutes before passing out from fear, once he awoke he went against Liu Yong’s word and released as much venom as he could in hopes the soft sweet scent would reach Liu Yong’s nose but his efforts were wasted, as the scent only lingered around his own small body, never exiting the small breathing holes in the box.

 

Even though it seemed pointless, Zhou RenShu never stopped releasing his venom. Unlike other snakes that bit their prey, Zhou RenShu was of a breed of extremely rare snake that released pheromone through a gland in his mouth, the scent attracted whoever was closest and would lull them into a drunk-like daze, ready for eating. Although he could still bite his prey and they would fall into a coma, the small snake had never bit anyone in his life. Zhou RenShu kept releasing his pheromone until his body stopped producing. For the next 4 hours Zhou RenShu could do nothing but ball himself together and sit in his own scent. Falling in and out of consciousness.

 

Without stopping for a breather or water break, Liu Yong worked out for almost 2 hours. Once finished he called back his seal before undressing on the spot and making his way into the luxurious bathroom. It was only until Liu Yong used the complimentary soap for his body that smelled like fresh flowers that he remembered the snake in his bag.

 

Not bothering with drying or washing the soap from his toned body, Liu Yong rushed to the bag. He didn’t even bother looking at the seal that was lying right beside it. When he summoned Zhou RenShu out the pungent scent that had been trapped inside was finally released into the room. Liu Yong’s eyes instantly turned red and he quickly held his breath. Zhou RenShu made no reaction from finally being released from his hell, his pale yellow colouring had turned almost white and his slender body looked limp.

 

While still holding his breath Liu Yong took the unconscious snake out of the case and walked back into the bathroom. The snake's body felt similar to ice and only once his body was placed directly under the shower head did his colouring return. Liu Yong kept Zhou RenShu under the water until his skin was warm to the touch. 

 

Zhou RenShu woke up once the water was turned off but his body was so weak he couldn’t even lift his head, all he could do was open his eyes and feel relief to finally see something that wasn’t eternal darkness, even if it was the scary man who refused to let him go. Seeing that Zhou RenShu was awake and he no longer looked on the brink of death, Liu Yong returned to the main room, placing the tired snake back into the cold glass case. The scent had almost fully disappeared. To get the rest of the smell out all of the windows were opened and Liu Yong took a squat position while he manipulated the wind to clean the air in the room.

 

While laying tiredly in the case Zhou RenShu hoped he wouldn’t be punished for releasing so much scent but it seemed like Liu Yong didn’t care since after the windows were closed, he ordered dinner then recorded whatever was on the piece of paper in front of his case onto the laptop Liu Yong used in the morning. Not wanting a repeat of what happened during lunch, Liu Yong instructed room service to leave everything outside the door. Leaving Zhou RenShu on the dining table Liu Yong quickly set everything onto the table. It was already past 2am so this meal was “light” meaning only three plates of food.

 

It seemed like Liu Yong thought that when snake demons were in their serpent body they ate like snakes. However Zhou RenShu had been starving ever since he had been given the small piece of meat. Zhou RenShu was still tired after being tortured for a whole day but he still forced his head to stretch up and stare at the plate filled with barbequed meat. Liu Yong ate quickly yet never spilled even a drop of meat juice, when he got to the last few slithers of meat, only then did he notice the stare he was receiving.

 

Wanting to tease  the snake further, Liu Yong picked the meat up and moved it side to side. As if he was hypnotised Zhou RenShu followed, moving his head at the same slow speed. The next second Liu Yong moved his chopsticks to his mouth acting like he was about to bite. He watched as Zhou RenShou jumped forward.

 

Pa! Zhou RenSHu hissed while shaking his head, he heard a low chuckle before meat dropped down in front of his face. Not caring that his body was already decreasing in heat, Zhou RenShu gulped down the small pieces of meat. Once the meat was gone, Zhou RenShu looked back up at Liu Yong expectantly. I’m still hungry!

 

Liu Yong moved the dirty plates back into the corridor before placing Zhou RenShu onto the night stand. He didn’t get into bed but instead looked over his new found information for a second time before pulling up the most recent picture he had of Wu Yun. Zhou RenShu didn’t go to sleep at first either but instead took a peak at the laptop screen. Wu Yun looked to be in his mid twenties in the picture, with a cold face similar to Liu Yong’s though his features weren’t as rigid but instead were softer with pale skin.

 

The picture stayed on the screen for a long time and Zhou RenShu didn’t see when the screen was turned off since he fell asleep before Liu Yong got into bed.

 

_ _ _ _ _ _ 

In the morning Liu Yong woke up early after only 2 hours sleep and called a nearby investigative office to inform them of the new information he found. Like the previous city Wu Yun was residing in, Wu Yun was hoping to hire people to work on collecting demons before starting their mission of sucking the life essence and energy to transfer it into a precious stone. These stones could then be sold to cultivators to prolong their life, the lighter the stone the longer the life, there was even a rumor that Wu Yun himself was wearing a white jade giving him eternal life.

 

Single cultivation was already a known thing since Zhou RenShu had tried to do it with Liu Yong however the difference was that the person doing the cultivating would only take a little to stop the giver from becoming sick or even worse dying. Zhou RenShu awoke long after the phone call had ended so he didn’t hear the scary news. With the assurance that Wu Yun would be staying in the city indefinitely Liu Yong allowed no space for error in his mission.

 

For the next few days Liu Yong left to stake out Wu Yun, before making an arrest more information of the underground organisation was needed to prevent another cultivator picking up where Wu Yun left off. Life was boring for Zhou RenShu because of this since he was left alone in the hotel room from morning until late into the night, everytime Liu Yong returned he would feed Zhou RenShu a few bites of meat before placing the snake on the nightstand and turning the laptop on to stare at the picture of Wu Yun.

 

The picture had been updated now but the face still looked the same, young, cold yet soft and handsome. Zhou RenShu thought nothing of it since all of the feelings he felt for Wu Yun was annoyance. If it wasn’t for this man then Liu Yong would’ve let me go but even after spending almost a whole week together Liu Yong hasn’t realised that I wasn’t lying when I wasn’t involved with Wu Yun.

 

If he could, Zhou RenShu would change back into his human form and scream from the top of his lungs I DON’T KNOW WHO WU YUN IS! But he couldn’t since he was scared that if he were to change his whole body would become so squished he would turn into meat pudding, as Liu Yong had already demonstrated how strong the glass box was.

 

Over the past few days Zhou RenShu had somewhat gotten used to being hungry but the feeling of coldness was something that couldn’t be ignored, the main reason he had picked Liu Yong to cultivate with was because he needed cultivation to stay warm, if he went too long without cultivating he would feel like he was about to freeze to death. This feeling was becoming stronger with every passing day. 

 

In the morning Liu Yong noticed how Zhou RenShu didn’t eat his meat but instead wrapped his body around it, he crouched down to inspect what the snake was doing.”What? Not hungry?” Liu Yong couldn’t say he was attached to this snake demon but he didn’t mind it’s company, seeing that Zhou RenShu was ignoring him and continuing to wrap around the meat until the steam stopped and then ate, confused Liu Yong.

 

Today Liu Yong wanted to follow behind Wu Yun some more but seeing this odd behaviour from Zhou RenShu he decided against it and instead opened the case again. There was no strength left in Zhou RenShu’s body, even after having his light meal so he made no movement when he felt Liu Yong pick him up. Even if he wanted to he wouldn’t be able to change back into his human form. Walking over to an armchair and holding the limp snake, Liu Yong could feel the reasoning behind the strange behaviour from the snake. You need to cultivate.