Chapter 113: A Cure for Bestial Habits

A-Yan and A-Ying looked at Bai Naizhao with curiosity. Chu Feng also fixed his gaze upon him, waiting for a reasonable explanation.

Unexpectedly, Bai Naizhao acted as if nothing were amiss, squinting his small eyes at the vast, snow-covered plain as if lost in his own thoughts.

"Hall Master Bai, may I ask if you are thinking, or just pretending? If I didn't press you for an answer, were you never going to explain this?" Chu Feng asked, clearly displeased.

"That is not the case."

Bai Naizhao shook his head and said, "The Shadowless Snow Snakes and Shadowless Snow Rats do not attack you because they fear the heat within you—the heat from the Snow Scorpion Fire Wine. As for the Snow Mountain Snake Vultures, they fear you not only because of that heat, but also because of the aura of the Battle Python you carry!"

"The aura of a Battle Python?"

A-Yan and A-Ying were startled. Their sources of information were not as well-informed as Bai Naizhao's, and they were unaware that Chu Feng had once consumed a century-and-twenty-year-old Golden Battle Python raised by the Wind and Thunder Martial Arts Hall, which had imbued his physical body with its lingering aura.

What Chu Feng had not expected was that the Snow Scorpion Fire Wine, sent as a gift by the Tang siblings of the Twilight Snow Villa, was so extraordinary. Could it really be, as Tang Xichen had claimed, that a single bowl of this wine would cause the various snow monsters of the Great Snowy Mountains to keep their distance? Chu Feng had dismissed it as exaggeration, but now he was forced to believe it.

"Bai Naizhao, is this just your speculation, or is it based on evidence?" Chu Feng asked.

"It is naturally based on evidence! There are thousands of snow monsters in the Great Snowy Mountains, but generally speaking, they fall into two categories: those that fear heat, and those that feed on it. The three types of monsters we encountered all fear heat!" Bai Naizhao declared. "What I, Bai Naizhao, say is beyond doubt!"

"Oh?"

Seeing his arrogant demeanor, Chu Feng asked, "Does this mean you knew all along that those three types of monsters feared heat?"

"Naturally!" Bai Naizhao nodded.

"If that is the case, knowing I still had two large skins of Snow Scorpion Fire Wine, why didn't you ask me to share them with everyone? If everyone had drunk a bowl, those snakes and rats would have stayed away, and we would have saved ourselves a lot of trouble." Chu Feng continued with a series of rhetorical questions. "Back at the boundary marker of Twilight Snow Villa, you complained that I only cared about drinking and not about the journey. Now it seems that if I had drunk the wine, it would have actually sped up our progress, but you knew this and said nothing, delaying us instead! Bai Naizhao, your guilt is not small!"

"Chu Feng, would you have me beg you for a drink? Especially when the wine was given by those Tang siblings from Twilight Snow Villa who insulted me?" Bai Naizhao retorted defiantly.

"That depends on your own heart! If you harbor the mindset of a beggar, even if I were to offer you a bowl, you would view it as charity. If you had no such intention, why wouldn't I be happy to share a drink among us to strengthen our bond?" Chu Feng replied.

A-Yan and A-Ying looked at Chu Feng and nodded in agreement—a man who had repeatedly saved their lives in dangerous situations would hardly be stingy with a couple of bowls of wine. On the contrary, Hall Master Bai's attitude seemed rather petty.

Bai Naizhao looked stubborn and proud, stating, "I, Bai Naizhao, have never liked owing people anything in my life!"

"Oh, is that so? You certainly have a backbone! Even if you don't like owing people, you could have given me a hint. I naturally would have let A-Yan and A-Ying drink the Snow Scorpion Fire Wine so they could avoid the attacks of the snakes and rats and suffer less fright, just like me! Furthermore, you knew I possessed the aura of the Battle Python, so why didn't you let me deal with the Snow Mountain Snake Vultures? I could have taken one down with each shot; in two or three breaths, I could have wiped out all five of them! Instead, you stopped me, and then your own moves were so reckless that you triggered an avalanche! If not for my Spirit-Moving Giant Crab to save our lives, wouldn't we have been buried in the snowy mountains and died a miserable death?"

Chu Feng punctuated each word, firing a barrage of questions at Bai Naizhao. With every sentence, Bai Naizhao's face grew uglier, and his stubborn, proud expression faded into gloom.

A-Yan and A-Ying exchanged surprised glances. In their eyes, Bai Naizhao’s cold demeanor was usually enough to keep anyone in check, especially his peers in the Nine Profound Sect. Even elders and other hall masters tended to yield to him, let alone reprimand him. Yet here was Chu Feng, scolding him mercilessly, and every point he made was so logical that Bai Naizhao had no room to argue, forced to bow his head and keep his lips tightly sealed.

Chu Feng was like a strict master, and Bai Naizhao like a muddled disciple, unable to lift his head under the critique. The arrogance of his earlier "naturally" had vanished without a trace.

Seeing Bai Naizhao in this humbled state, Chu Feng stopped scolding him and asked, "Bai Naizhao, do you know where we are? Where should we go from here?"

At these words, Bai Naizhao seemed to perk up. "If I am not mistaken, this vast snowfield is the border between the territories of the male and female tribes of the Wuhan Snow Clan. To the west of the plain lies the land of the female tribe, and to the east, the land of the male tribe!"

"Oh? The Wuhan Snow Clan is divided into male and female tribes?" Chu Feng asked with surprise.

"Yes! The Wuhan Snow Clan has about sixty thousand people, with about twenty-eight thousand in the female tribe and thirty-two thousand in the male. The men outnumber the women, and the male tribe is stronger. Our mission is to solve the crisis of the Ice Shell Gold Pearls for the female tribe, as the male tribe does not lack them!" Bai Naizhao answered patiently.

"So that's it! Hall Master Bai, you really know quite a lot!" Chu Feng said with a smile.

"Not that much. If you want to know anything else, just ask," Bai Naizhao nodded.

Seeing Bai Naizhao’s submissive attitude, Chu Feng smiled silently. He thought to himself that this fellow was truly the master of the Beast Taming Hall; he had even picked up the habits of the beasts themselves—the more you treated him well, the more arrogant and cocky he became. But the more you scolded and confronted him, the more obedient he turned.

Wasn't someone with such habits much like a beast? And Chu Feng was an expert at handling such beastly temperaments.

"Hall Master Bai, stop standing there. Lead the way!" Chu Feng said decisively.

"Understood!"

Bai Naizhao nodded and walked ahead alone. Watching this, A-Yan and A-Ying were at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. Was this really the usually stern Hall Master Bai? His current behavior before Chu Feng was no different from a quiet but hardworking waiter in a restaurant.