Beast Taming: I gained the talent of a spirit pet

Green Willow Town was located at the foot of the mountains, with a range of mountains not far away.

However, the streets were quite lively, with various small vendors hawking their wares along the street.

The aroma of steamed buns, meat pies, and wontons filled the streets. Although Gu Yuan had already eaten breakfast, he couldn't help but feel tempted to buy some of the fragrant food to try.

There were also some hunters carrying their captured prey, such as pheasants, wild rabbits, foxes, and wild boars, on shoulder poles, eagerly waiting for people to buy them.

Gu Yuan was sizing up a few hunters not far away, preparing to go forward, when he suddenly reached out and grabbed a hand reaching into his chest.

Looking down, it was a boy whose height didn't even reach his chin, dark and thin like a monkey, with thin and sloppy clothes, emanating an unpleasant smell.

Gu Yuan revealed a meaningful smile: "A pickpocket?"

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

This thief looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, but he was not afraid of being caught on the spot. Instead, he threatened with his neck stiffened:

"If you don't let me go, I'm going to call for help!"

As he spoke, the thief struggled, but Gu Yuan's palm was like an iron clamp, firmly gripping his wrist, making it impossible to break free.

Gu Yuan noticed that two burly men not far away were approaching with unfriendly expressions, one hand reaching towards the small of their backs, seemingly to take out some kind of sharp weapon, clearly accomplices of this thief.

The passersby around, seeing this, also deliberately avoided them, looking at Gu Yuan with slight surprise, some simply stopping to watch the excitement.

Bang!

Gu Yuan kicked the thief in the back of the leg, causing him to kneel on the ground, wincing in pain. A piece of sharpened iron he held in his other hand also fell to the ground, making a cracking sound.

"Since you're a thief, then you should also be considered a local bully here, right?!" Gu Yuan asked.

Gu Yuan knew that this thief was also a member of the Jianghu, belonging to the lowest class of the three religions and nine streams. They had territorial divisions among themselves and had to abide by certain rules.

Being a newcomer and so young, he stood out on this street, so it was not surprising that he was targeted.

The thief glared at him without answering. Gu Yuan didn't care, and ignored the two men approaching. He took out a piece of silver from his chest and threw it on the ground:

"Find me a local snake catcher, preferably one who is experienced and qualified. If you do a good job, I'll reward you."

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

"Yes! I can do it! Absolutely!"

The thief ignored the pain in his leg from the kick and pounced on the silver like a hungry dog grabbing food. After biting it with his teeth, he immediately changed his expression, becoming smiley and bowing:

"This sir, don't worry. I'm very familiar with the affairs of this street. Just leave this task to me, and I guarantee it will be done perfectly!"

Seeing this, the two burly men exchanged glances, released their grip on the daggers at the small of their backs, and went back to their original positions, ignoring Gu Yuan as if he didn't exist.

"Stop talking nonsense, lead the way!"

Gu Yuan snorted coldly, knowing that he should not be polite to this kind of person. If he let them think he was soft and easy to talk to, it would easily lead to bigger troubles.

"Okay, you come with me."

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

This place was a bit remote, mostly old houses.

The thief brought Gu Yuan to the front of an old courtyard, then pushed open the door on his own. As soon as he entered 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 impolite, but he only dared to shout in the courtyard and had no intention of stepping into the room.

Gu Yuan was perceptive and clearly saw that some corners of the courtyard contained jars, some of which were covered with tiles.

Although it was winter, some of the jars had snake heads sticking out, staring at the two of them.

"Hmph, I'm an old widower, without children or relatives. Who would be full and come looking for me?"

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

One of the old man's eyes was sunken, as if he had lost the eyeball. Only 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 didn't answer his question. Instead, he took out a handful of copper coins and threw them to the thief next to him, issuing an eviction order: "Alright, you can leave now."

"Okay! This sir, if there's anything like this in the future, you can always come to me. I'll definitely do it right."

The thief didn't mind at all, happily stuffed the money into his arms, turned around and left.

After only Gu Yuan and Old One-Eye were left in the courtyard, Gu Yuan cupped his fist in greeting: "This old man, I would like to inquire about something."

"What is it? Something to do with snakes?"

Old One-Eye looked at Gu Yuan, standing at the door, with no intention of letting him into the room.

"That's right."

Gu Yuan nodded and asked: "I want to know how many kinds of snakes there are near this Green Willow Town. Also, what are the habits and special characteristics of these snakes?"

"What are you asking these things for?"

Old One-Eye's tone was still indifferent: "Also, what are you hiding in the package behind you?!"

Gu Yuan was first stunned, then smiled: "Old man, you are indeed amazing. You even noticed that."

Squeak squeak squeak!

As he spoke, a big black rat with shiny fur crawled out of the package behind him and climbed onto Gu Yuan's shoulder.

It squatted on Gu Yuan's shoulder, its claws grabbing a strand of Gu Yuan's hair, but squeaked at the old man, with a hint of vigilance, clearly wary of this old man who didn't know martial arts.

This big black rat was surprisingly large, about the size of a cat. Its claws and teeth gleamed with cold light, making people palpitate!

This rat was naturally Gu Yuan's spiritual pet, Iron Tooth Rat Ah Huang!

"Iron Tooth Rat?"

Seeing Ah Huang, Old One-Eye's old face was still cold, with a stinky face, but his tone revealed a bit of surprise: "You actually raised such a thing?"

"Old man, you are indeed knowledgeable."

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

"To be honest, I have loved being with these animals since I was a child. I heard that there are many poisonous insects and beasts in the mountains near Green Willow Town. I came here today to ask you about it, intending to raise a snake. It's easy to raise a snake, but it's a bit difficult to tame a snake that suits my heart."

"I can see that although you are a snake catcher, you are also a snake lover. Otherwise, you wouldn't have raised so many snakes in this courtyard."

Gu Yuan looked around the courtyard and sincerely said to Old One-Eye:

"Therefore, please give me some pointers."