Wu Zhi bent low carful not to make a sound. He stood there unmoving, looking for the snake. He saw it move, slithering across the grass and bushes. He waited uncaring if the prey got away. What do people think is the best trait for a hunter? The most important thing when going on a hunt is patience. The patience to carefully sneak up on your prey. The patience to lie in wait for however long it takes. Wu Zhi was in no hurry, he made his way closer and closer. Step by step, breath by breath, making sure he was as silent as a mouse. It was taking so long that it was going to be nighttime soon. But Wu Zhi didn't panic, it just meant his time to strike was coming close. Eventually he managed to sneak up on the snake. It was curled up by the river on the sandy beach. Wu Zhi was on a cliff right next to the beast. It wasn't a big drop but if someone fell from this height a few broken bones were almost guaranteed. He carefully unsheathed he sword trying his best not to make a sound. His eyes glued to the beast refusing to focus on anything else. He positioned himself right above the head of the beast and with carful precision he leaped. He branded his sword holding it strait down as he jumped onto the snakes head and immediately pressed it down. With his full strength and the help of gravity on his side the blade went strait through its head. The beast didn't even react, wasn't even paying attention to its surroundings. 'The king of the jungle doesn't pay attention to mice' he thought to himself. But he was no mouse. All it took was patience with a bit a strength to take the beast down.
With the beast slain it was time to collect his reward. He went strait to work carving out the head and taking some of the meat to eat as well. Just like with the bear he prepared a meal with the newly acquired snake meat and cut off its head to take with him to the sect. 'They really are putting me to work'. The head of the beast was around a bit more than half of his size. It was easily able to eat humans at the very least. The only thing the mission told him to bring back was the head of the beast. So he was going to have to carry this heavy skull throughout the full 2 day trip back to the sect. 'What a bother, at least the meat tastes good'. He roasted some snake meat on the fire and then went into the forest to collect some thatch. With enough of it he strapped the skull to his back, refilled his water skin with the river water and went on his way back home after he slept on the beach. The road wasn't that eventful, there really was no one on it. Travelers were warned about the safety of this road a while ago. Many of them have a keen sense of caution on the road. With disease, bandits, strangers, beasts, lack of food or water, rain, heatwaves and more. The life of a traveler was fraught with danger, they either had to be cautious or pay the price. This most certainly led to all the surviving travelers becoming cautious and then teaching down these principals to any travelers that come after them. 'Was this called survivorship bias or survival of the fittest or something like that'. Anyway all he could do to pass the time was to think of something interesting and to walk along. By the time he started to see people again they steered clear of him. One look was all it took for people to not want a part of anything that had to do with him. That was fine by him as he was on a tight schedule. He eventually made his way back home as his parents greeted him. They were all smiles even with a bear's corpse hanging off his body and snake head tied to his back. He had already told them he was hunting a giant snake so they were more curious about the bear. He told them the story at lunch, exaggerating here and there to add some more flair. Spending his remaining days with his family he eventually had to head back to the sect. He had to make sure he turned in the mission on time or else it would be pointless... literally. He made his way to the city paid off the guards with some money he got from his parents. He felt bad, but what was he going to do? He then left and made his way up the mountain. He was a little curious why there wasn't any guards guarding against people going up to the sect. But he had a inkling that anyone who dared to do so that wasn't a part of the sect would not have a good ending.
Finally arriving back at the sect he made his way to the mission hall. He was still holding strong but it was certainly an inconvenience tying this much weight to his back. When he finally made it he cut off the ropes he made with his sword and dropped the head on the receptionist's desk. "I'm turning in the mission to kill the snake that's been causing trouble at swan river road" he said. The receptionist said nothing, grabbing up the head with her bare hands like it was a paper weight she carried it with her and headed off to another room. She returned with nothing but a jade slip in her hand. "Here are your contribution points. Make sure you don't lose this as the sect won't refund you." She then handed him a jade slip. Curious he injected some qi into it only to find the number 85 show up. 'Hmm, I have no idea how this works. How do you transfer points between one another? how does this stop counterfeits?' In all likelihood these questions probably had simple answers. He just didn't have the knowledge about it. 'It looks like its time to get a new technique' he thought to himself as he made his way back to his abode.