The moment the metal lid lifted, a strong salty aroma rushed into his nose.
Inside was neither meat nor soup, but a heap of white paste. It was soft and mushy, like colorless peanut butter.
It looked strange, but it smelled pretty good.
The white snake had already crept close, inching its head toward the can. Its golden eyes shone like two tiny lanterns.
It stared at the paste, and the sound of it swallowing was loud and clear.
Wang Yanfei looked at it with a smile.
"Want some?"
The snake nodded, then immediately shook its head, as if its left and right brain were fighting.
Seeing this reaction, Wang Yanfei pushed the can a little closer.
The snake tried hard to shrink back, its tail wrapped tightly around the ground like a child refusing to be touched.
"You don't want to eat?" Wang Yanfei asked.
The snake puffed up angrily, as if its secret had been exposed.
"Cunning human... say it. What do you want this time? Let me be clear first. I really cannot give you any more power!"
Wang Yanfei waved a hand. "I'm not asking for your power."
After that, he scraped off a bit of the paste with the dagger and tossed it into his mouth.
The flavor exploded on his tongue. It tasted a little like salted egg yolk, a little like butter, with a faint milky note.
It was strange, but after two days without food, his stomach was so moved it almost cried.
His eyes narrowed in satisfaction. "Damn... this stuff is good."
The snake stared even harder, drool dripping down its chin.
Wang Yanfei raised an eyebrow. "Really not going to eat?"
The snake shook its head furiously, looking like it wanted to smack him with its tail.
"You think I don't want to give you things?! I already gave you everything I can!"
"You only gave me a panel."
Wang Yanfei stared speechlessly and stuck the dagger into the ground.
The snake was silent for three seconds, then muttered quietly, "...eheh..."
"Eheh my ass."
Wang Yanfei grabbed the dagger, cut off the upper half of the can lid, and used it like a tiny feeding tray. He scooped some paste onto it and pushed it toward the snake.
The snake stared for two seconds. In the end, it could not resist. It slithered over, stuck out its tongue, and licked softly.
The next moment, its entire eyes lit up.
It started eating like a starving puppy, gulping down one mouthful after another, its tail wagging wildly.
Watching it eat, Wang Yanfei suddenly remembered something. "By the way, I still don't know your name, do I?"
The snake swallowed with effort, lifted its head, thought for a moment, then shook it. "I forgot."
"What? You can forget something like a name?"
The snake nodded, licking the tray completely clean, then still trying to swallow.
Once the metal tray was polished spotless, it pushed the tray back to his feet with its tail, as if saying, "I finished. More."
Wang Yanfei scooped another chunk of paste, placing it on the tray. While doing so, he spoke:
"Alvina Zelgarcia."
The snake froze. "...What?"
Wang Yanfei added slowly, "Your name. Alvina Zelgarcia."
The snake: "..."
It lifted its head, looking conflicted.
"...That is a very long name."
Wang Yanfei rubbed his nose awkwardly. "Sounds cool."
The snake—no, Alvina—rolled its eyes.
Wang Yanfei continued. "Alvina, what else do you remember?"
Alvina stayed silent for a long while.
The fire crackled softly. The light flickered against its scales, making it look a bit lonely.
Finally, it whispered, "...I don't remember."
Its tail curled slowly toward its body, as if trying to protect itself without realizing it.
...
After eating, the warm feeling in his stomach made Wang Yanfei finally relax a little. But soon, he felt his throat go dry, his tongue nearly stuck to the roof of his mouth.
"I'm dying of thirst..."
He licked his oily lips. The salty taste mixed with the buttery scent of the paste made him uncomfortable.
Then he turned his head and noticed the ring of bright yellow grease around Alvina's mouth.
He couldn't help it and let out a small laugh.
Alvina looked up, confused, its golden slit pupils full of question marks. "...Why are you laughing?"
Wang Yanfei coughed quickly and acted like nothing happened. "Nothing. You just ate with enthusiasm."
Alvina did not understand and simply pursed its mouth in disgust, smearing the yellow stain even worse.
After two seconds of silence, it suddenly asked:
"...Aren't you going to check on that thing outside?"
Wang Yanfei nodded. "Of course. I've been here two days, and that's the only living thing I've run into."
Alvina nodded like him. "Makes sense."
After saying that, it crawled up his arm on its own, wrapped itself around his neck like a small scarf.
Wang Yanfei glanced back at the fire, grabbed the dagger, and punched a hole in the side of the empty can.
Then he used the long stick to push out a few burning pieces of wood, feeding the flames into the can and turning it from warm to a "deadly tool" in an instant.
Finally, he shoved the stick into the hole, lifted it, and tested the weight. It felt perfect in his hands.
Dragging this improvised weapon, he stepped out of the cave.
——————
It was still gloomy outside.
The upside-down middle-aged man was still hanging there, his eyes empty.
Only when Wang Yanfei emerged did the middle-aged man suddenly "load back in" and start struggling wildly, shaking the whole branch.
Wang Yanfei ignored him, walked over calmly, and raised the steaming can.
He slowly brought the side of the can closer to the middle-aged man's face.
The heat warped the air slightly.
The middle-aged man's expression changed instantly.
His once empty eyes snapped into sharp focus, fear spreading across his face.
"Don't... don't come closer!"
He shrank back with all his strength. He was genuinely terrified. "How can you hurt your own kind?!"
Wang Yanfei almost laughed on the spot.
"Come on, man. Who said I'm the same kind as you?"
He pressed the can closer.
Even though it had not touched him, the middle-aged man reacted like he was shocked, his entire body arching upward into an almost impossible curve.
To Wang Yanfei, the posture looked exactly like a parenthesis: " ) "
He froze.
"...Damn. You're pretty flexible."
Alvina, on his shoulder, also froze for two seconds. It whispered, "Is he human? Can humans bend like that?"
Wang Yanfei didn't respond, but his eyes said everything.
There was no way this thing was human.
The middle-aged man still held that bizarre pose, his voice suddenly broken and shaky:
"Don't... don't come closer... we are the same kind... you cannot do this to me..."
Wang Yanfei narrowed his eyes and asked seriously, "Really? Then tell me what you are?"