Chapter 8

There was no grand feast.

Feng Yi was just using a temporary excuse to get through the awkward situation.

But he was clear in his heart that something had indeed changed.

He had eaten a large bowl of noodle soup and ten plus-version buns for breakfast, and by the time he left Xiaofeng Mountain, it wasn't even noon, yet the hunger was becoming more and more noticeable.

The good thing was that he had prepared plenty of food for the trip up the mountain yesterday. Due to the stress, he had been on edge the whole time and had little appetite, leaving most of the food uneaten.

"Master, I'll eat something in the car," Feng Yi said.

"Go ahead, just don't eat instant noodles, durians, or anything like that. Be careful not to choke," the driver replied.

The driver continued driving, leaving the Xiaofeng Mountain Nature Reserve. However, the image of the king cobra swallowing a frog still lingered in his mind, and he couldn't help but speak up.

"In our hometown, there's a saying, 'A flower snake on the beam can eliminate two hundred rats a year!' I don't know which of the two types of flower snakes this refers to, but compared to the slender black-browed cobra, the king cobra, with its thick and robust body, seems to eat more. I think the king cobras in the nature reserve eat even more rats, if not more! Just look at them, so robust and aggressive!"

"Right?" the driver asked Feng Yi.

"Right!" Feng Yi nodded. "A bunch of gluttons!"

Feng Yi finished the food in his bag in the car and had a good meal at the airport.

The various pieces of equipment he had bought at the outdoor store couldn't all be taken on the plane, so he packed them and sent them by courier.

Since he didn't know when he would finish his business, he hadn't made a reservation, and he bought his ticket for today. When he returned to Rongcheng, it was rush hour.

Feng Yi sat in the taxi, regretting not taking the subway.

Outside the car window, the traffic on the elevated road was jammed like a long snake...

Bah!

What snake!

Feng Yi was now a bit evasive and didn't want to mention anything related to snakes. He turned his gaze away from the long line on the elevated road, rubbed his temples, and opened his phone to check the news.

By the time he got home, it was completely dark. Tiredness hit him, and he ordered a four-person meal, ate it hurriedly, and then washed up and went to bed. He left the takeaway trash aside, planning to sort it out the next day.

In the middle of the night, most of the residents in the neighborhood were asleep.

A rat climbed from the balcony of the neighboring house toward Feng Yi's place. Just as it was about to reach the balcony, it suddenly stopped and sniffed the air.

The air was filled with the tempting smell of food.

But there was also a scent that made it instinctively wary.

After hesitating for a while, it finally turned around and climbed down the wall.

Feng Yi had a strange dream all night, but he couldn't remember anything when he woke up.

After dealing with yesterday's trash, he carefully inspected the house. He found no signs of rats or cockroaches.

Relieved, he ate breakfast and called the old butler.

This time, the old butler directly gave Feng Yi a video call.

Feng Yi answered: "I came back from Xiaofeng Mountain last night. I've already been to the ancestral home and signed the family tree."

Butler: "I already know. The money will be transferred to your account shortly."

The old butler's expression on the other side of the video was different from the first time they met.

On their first meeting, the old butler, though polite, was distant. Now, he looked at Feng Yi through the screen as if he were a newborn kitten, with a gentler expression.

Being looked at this way made Feng Yi feel a bit strange, but he was happy to hear that a hundred million would soon be in his account. Of course, he wasn't ecstatic. He had many questions that needed answers.

"I... I feel like I've changed," Feng Yi said.

"Scared?" the butler asked with a gentle smile.

"Not really. It's just... I'm not used to it," Feng Yi said, unsure how to describe the feeling. Instinct told him that this change was beneficial for survival, an advantage, an evolution. But this change also made him uneasy.

"Life is boring if you're just like everyone else, isn't it?" the butler said.

Feng Yi rubbed his face and asked, "Am I still human?"

"Of course. Why not? You can consider this as taking a different evolutionary path as a human."

"Are you too?" Feng Yi asked.

"I'm different from you."

This was a subtle statement. But seeing that the butler didn't want to say more, Feng Yi didn't press the issue. He would figure it out eventually.

"So, what do you think of snakes?" Feng Yi asked.

"What do people think of monkeys? No, not even monkeys. They are just pets or food," the butler said casually.

"...It's illegal to eat snakes now," Feng Yi reminded him.

"Of course, law-abiding citizens," the butler said, flipping through a document. "The inheritance left by Mrs. Feng, apart from the hundred million, includes real estate, stocks, and funds. I'll manage these for you first. These are secondary. Your main focus should be on your own changes. In the coming period, your body will undergo some small changes. Once these changes are complete, everything Mrs. Feng left you will be handed over to you."

Feng Yi's heart skipped a beat. "Small changes?"

While real estate and stocks were attractive, Feng Yi was more concerned about the "small changes" the butler mentioned.

Money and property, he could earn himself. How much he could earn depended on his abilities. He wasn't obsessed with being a billionaire. If he lacked the ability, he couldn't keep the money even if given more. If he had the ability, he could achieve it on his own.

But the "small changes" were about his own body and were beyond his control!

The butler's smile widened, and he reassured him, "Don't worry, just some minor changes. If you pay attention, others won't notice. If you notice any changes, you can call me."

After a moment's thought, the butler added, "Remember to wear a mask when you go out."

He then ended the call.

Feng Yi pondered the butler's words.

Summarizing the last few sentences:

1. The changes are not significant. A little discretion will prevent others from noticing, and they won't affect daily life.

2. The "small changes" might be solved by wearing a mask. Could it be... his teeth?

"At least I'm still human!"

Knowing he hadn't turned into something strange, Feng Yi felt a great relief.

The promised hundred million arrived in his account before nightfall.

With this large sum, Feng Yi didn't have to worry about how to make money. He could buy several luxury cars to switch between. But he didn't plan to do that.

He returned thirty million to the butler and left the rest untouched. His studio had been dissolved, and he was currently unemployed. He needed to think about what to do next and plan his future. Who knew what else the inheritance included and whether it could secure his life? Instead of fantasizing about things he hadn't received, Feng Yi trusted what he could earn himself.

But there was no rush. The butler had said he would undergo some small changes in the coming period. He needed to figure out what these "small" changes were.

He opened his phone and checked the neighborhood owner's group.

Since the afternoon before yesterday, the community had organized a rat extermination campaign, but the rats that had already entered the residents' homes were hard to deal with.

The property management bought many sticky traps and distributed them to residents who needed them.

However, when Feng Yi opened the group, he saw an owner complaining:

"I got the sticky traps from the property last week, and it's amazing! They stuck my whole family, but not a single rat!"

"Another rat got into my house yesterday. I don't know how it got in, but it was so big! What did it eat to grow so big? Is it on steroids?"

"High alert! [Video] It actually peeled the screen! It couldn't bite through it, so it just peeled it! Is it almost a spirit animal?!"

"Actually, these big rats have been around humans for a long time and can understand some words. That's why the elders always say, speak softly or not at all when setting traps, or they won't fall for them."

"So what do we do now! They are a nuisance! A nuisance in every sense! The highest level of urban nuisances, no other creature can surpass them!"

The owner's group was almost in a state of frenzy during this period.

As he was reading, Feng Yi received a message from Wu Ji.

Wu Ji: [How did you sleep last night? Everyone said it was the worst night for the rats.]

Feng Yi: [I slept well, all the way until morning.]

Wu Ji: [Goodbye]