Chapter 11 Collecting Her is His
The burrows of the pythons were clearly very different from those in Tarasco. The burrows of the silver pythons were drier and warmer.
At this moment, the empty cave contained only two creatures: Catherine and the python, along with various specimens fixed to the wall, coldly overlooking them.
The cave was large enough to accommodate a five- or six-meter-long snake without feeling crowded. After the python brought Catherine into the cave, it flung her straight down, without considering whether a fragile human could withstand falling from that height.
As Catherine watched the ground getting closer and closer, her eyes widened in surprise. She then instinctively curled herself into a ball to try and avoid injuring her vital parts.
However, the distance was still too high. With almost no preparation, Catherine's exposed skin inevitably suffered a large abrasion, and a searing pain instantly assaulted her senses.
“Hiss…” Catherine gasped softly.
The python paid no attention to Catherine and instead went to the wall covered with specimens.
He circled around in front of her; it was clearly the head of a snake, but Catherine inexplicably saw a hint of pride in those snake eyes.
In the empty cave, the hissing of the python echoed: "I'd heard long ago that that blockhead Tarasco captured a human and kept him as a pet, hiding him like a treasure. And today, I finally found the chance to steal him out!"
"Hello~ my dear little guest... hehehe..."
To Catherine's surprise, the silver python spoke a human language fluently. Although its voice sounded very strained and unpleasant, she could understand everything it said.
Catherine was secretly tending to her wounds and hadn't had a chance to respond to the silver python. However, it was clear he didn't care.
Looking at the wall full of specimens, the silver python said to itself, "Look at all these beautiful collections I have!"
With a flick of its tail, the python removed a long, shiny black horn from the wall, which looked like a bull's horn: "This is a horn I took from the Bone Ox! Look at its beautiful and captivating curve!"
"And this!" The python tossed aside the bull's horn and curled up a human hand that was an abnormally white color. "Look at this slender, soft hand! Extremely fragile, yet incredibly beautiful. It would be perfect as a collectible!"
But as he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on Catherine, darting around constantly. It was as if her allure to him was far greater than the hand that had been rolled up.
Catherine pursed her lips, her hands unconsciously clenching the damp soil beneath her.
The python introduced almost half a wall of "collections" before stopping and moving towards Catherine after seeing how frightened she was.
He was too fast; before Catherine could even back away, she was already coiled up by the python.
A chilling, bone-deep cold emanated from the scales, sending shivers down her spine. Those bright yellow beastly eyes stared greedily at her, never looking away.
At such close range, the python could easily sense the slight trembling emanating from Catherine. Although she was trying to control herself, the body's instincts were often difficult to completely suppress.
"You're... scared, hehehe..." The python's voice was full of mockery.
“I am just a human who doesn’t know magic.” Catherine did not deny his words, but lowered her eyes and tried to control the tremor in her voice. “Of course I would feel fear of the corpses of my own kind.”
"Hmm? You're quite honest." The python snorted softly.
Catherine glanced at the human limbs hanging on the wall out of the corner of her eye, forcibly suppressing the urge to vomit.
She wondered if among these human species there might also be prey lured in by the language spoken by this python.
"You kidnapped me, surely not just to see me scared?"
"Hehehe...and you're quite clever too. No wonder that spider likes you."
The python finished speaking with a laugh, but his voice still carried an inescapable sinister aura, just like his scales.
“Tarasco comes from a group of alien spiders that despise the weak! You, such a fragile human, were able to survive in his cave for more than half a month!”
"There must be something different about you..."
The python stopped speaking and instead coiled around Catherine's body. Catherine instinctively turned her head away, avoiding his greedy, bright yellow beastly eyes.
Her gaze shifted, and just then, a different color flashed by in the corner. Catherine was startled and instinctively looked in that direction…
There was a tiny, inconspicuous green mark on the python's belly.
Catherine's brow twitched; she felt she had seen this thing somewhere before.
The python sensed the change in its prey's mood, but it paid no attention. It simply continued to climb the rocks in circles, seemingly searching for something that interested it.
"I must say... you are indeed more beautiful than other human species."
The silver python pressed against Catherine's face, its cold, wet touch sending shivers down her spine and successfully drawing her attention back to the present: "Perhaps... I can keep you here for a few more days."
"After all, no matter how beautiful a collection is, it's still an inanimate object. I don't want something as beautiful as yours to become cold and lifeless."
Being treated like an object, having one's fate arbitrarily arranged, is obviously not a pleasant feeling. But compared to that, being able to have a brief period of survival is what Catherine cares about more.
She accepted her new status as a "potential collectible" without any difficulty, and gave the silver python a sweet smile: "Do as you please."
The silver python laughed loudly and wrapped itself around her even tighter. Catherine even seemed to faintly hear the sound of her own bones creaking.
It hurts a lot.
"I think I might like you too..."
But Catherine made no resistance whatsoever; instead, she deliberately made herself more relaxed.
"Hehehe... If you continue to be this obedient."
Catherine could feel the cold, sticky feeling of the silver python's gaze fixed on her when he said those words.
She subconsciously recalled that when he was introducing the collection to her earlier, his gaze had been lingering near her eyes.
Her eyes are beautiful, Catherine knows.
From childhood, she had received many compliments because of her eyes, and she had once been secretly proud of them. But now, she no longer felt there was anything to be happy about.
The silver python's gaze clearly told her that these eyes of his were the "collection" he had reserved.
-
Around three or four in the afternoon, the sun had lost its midday heat, and the thick fog that had barely dispersed gathered again.
Tarasco returned on time with his prey, but as soon as he reached the vicinity of the cave, he sensed something was wrong.
He stopped, and the area in front of the cave became eerily quiet. The stagnant air retained the scents from hours before, which now slowly drifted to Tarasco's nose.
It was an unfamiliar smell, with a fishy odor that made him nauseous.
Tarasco knew almost instantly that the smell came from a snake—only those cold and strange snakes could have such an unbearable odor.
An unfamiliar smell appeared in front of his vagina, which was not a good sign.
Thinking of Catherine, Tarasco immediately abandoned his prey and rushed into the cave. However, the cave was completely silent, and there was no sound of someone coming out to greet him as he had expected.
He had long been used to seeing Catherine every day when he returned home, and now everything was just like it had been half a month ago. But for some reason, he felt a little uneasy.
She was just a slightly special kind of reserve food. That was what Tarasco had always thought before.
But now, Catherine has been abducted by a snake. Tarasco's usually calm heart clenched painfully at the thought that she might die.
He raised his hand to cover his chest. Strangely, this was only the second time he had felt his heart beating abnormally while not in combat.
He frowned and inhaled the lingering scent in the cave...
His blood-red eyes snapped open, and the lingering scent in the air guided him. Tarasco sped off toward a certain place.
No matter what, bring her back first.
She is his.
-
Inside the humid underground cave, a wild party is in full swing.
And Catherine was on her way to this festivities.
She sat on the silver python, trying to keep her body low and hug his neck to prevent herself from being thrown off due to the excessive speed.
She couldn't quite tell how long she had been walking through the passageway; she only felt that a very long time had passed, so long that she began to have some difficulty breathing.
Catherine glanced at the towering snake head in front of her and finally chose to remain silent.
Because she knew perfectly well that even if she told the python she was feeling unwell, it wouldn't react in any way.
She obediently lay down and quietly waited for their destination.
But... she missed Tarasco a little.
After about the same amount of time, Catherine saw that the number of small snakes on the ground was increasing. Some of them, smelling the scent of humans hidden in the air carried by the breeze above, raised their heads and boldly tried to devour this delicious food.
Catherine looked down at the clusters of raised snake heads and pulled her feet back as far as she could.
She was extremely fortunate that the silver python was large enough; otherwise, she wouldn't even have had such a small place to hide.
The further you go, the more numerous the small snakes become on the ground. Later, because there wasn't enough open space, many of the small snakes even piled up on top of each other, densely packed, their bodies intertwined and writhing.
Catherine looked up and found that as far as the eye could see, there were all kinds of snakes, and not a single place for her to step.
As she watched the slippery little snakes wriggling, she felt her stomach churn.
She had never seen a snake pit in the church in her early years, but she had heard some of the older nuns who had gone out to preach mention it.
For disobedient slaves, the nobles outside devised many horrific punishments. One of them was to throw people into a snake pit, where they would be bitten to death by thousands of snakes.
She had never seen the snake pit in person, but the nun's vivid description was enough to terrify her.
Looking at the countless tiny snakes on the ground, each flicking its tongue and revealing its hidden fangs, Catherine instinctively dug into the depths of her memory, recalling the nuns' accounts and belatedly realizing the inhumanity of those nobles.
Although she had some prior understanding, combined with what she was seeing now, she felt that her previous understanding was not deep enough.
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