ăăIt was said that in the early years, a certainleader wanted to experience field work, so he joined a group of peasants and participatedin the work on Wuluo Mountain. When he looked up, he saw the distant sunset inthe west. He was stunned by the short lived, beautiful fiery scenery. After awhile, he rose up and wrote several poems in admiration. Later, this big shot gota promotion all the way to the capital, and the local officials wanted to curryfavor with him, so they made a fresh start. When they submitted theprefecture-level city for approval, they changed its name on a whim.
ăăBut coincidentally, a few years after renaming,the nearby villagers actually dug out a gold mine at the foot of WuluoMountain, under the mountain top where the leader had stood. This project wentawry, directly rewriting the fate of Xi City. Soon after, there was a crazyinflux of mining, production, sales and various surrounding industries, resultingin Xi Cityâs economic level jumping leaps and bounds in just a few years. Thedevelopment momentum putting it near the second-tier cities.
ăăUnfortunately, the plentiful gold-oreresources had not only lead to a rapidly expanding economy, itâd also incurred thedissatisfaction of nature. Due to the lack of supervision over the miningprojects, Xi City had repeated cave ins, and in the most serious one, WuluoMountain directly collapsed. Afterwards, the government finally took controland issued several ârestriction ordersâ, even the punishments were increased.This just about curbed the situation, but the already collapsed Wuluo Mountain couldnâtbe fixed.
ăăGuanxi Park was built on the ruins of the mines.It was considered to be one of the few scenic spots in the southwest,especially the natural lake formed after the collapse of the mine. The water wasclear, the vegetation was lush, and there was a spiritual atmosphere. Nature haddenounced human greed in a self-destructive way, but itâd also demonstrated itspowerful self-healing ability in its own way.
ăăThe park was far from the downtown, and notmany people went there on weekdays. There was less rain in the winter, so droughtswere everywhere. But Wuluo Mountain seemed to be favored by nature. The lake waterwas still clear and abundant. It even freely rose out of its low border anddescended down slopes, dividing into several mountain streams. Because of that,many of the surrounding trees and plants were well fed.
ăăThe sky was quickly brightening, Bai Huo struggledto climb out from the water, coughing uncontrollably.
ăăâIs the compass broken?â The fatbird skimmed the water surface and landed on a stone. âIt obviouslypointed to here, but thereâs nothing below.â
ăăBai Huoâs hair was still dripping wet. Holdingthe compass with one hand, and quietly looking at the lake surface, his complexionlooked somewhat abnormal and pale.
ăăThe blackneedle was motionless at this moment. No matter how Bai Huo shook it or turnedit, it seemed to be determined to get into the lake, pointing straight at thelake.
ăăâWhat are you depressed about?âBai Huo couldnât help but ask the compass.
ăăIt wouldâve been better if he hadnât spoken, becausesuddenly there was a âkachaâ sound, and the compass unexpectedly cracked,splitting into two halves.
ăăBai Huo: ââŚâŚâ
ăăThe fat bird turned to look at Bai Huo:âWhat are you depressed about?â
ăăBai Huo held the broken compass in his palmand coolly said: âYouâre lucky youâre still a magical artifact, youâre noteven as useful as a washing machine.â
ăăâKachaâ, the compass impressively brokeinto four quarters.
ăăAlas, even if it was useless, it still had aheart of glass.
ăăBai Huo was speechless, he raised his hand,and the compass turned into a fine powder, floating away with the wind.
ăăâStill gonna look?â
ăăBai Huo closed his eyes, saying: âNo, Iâmtired, letâs go.â
ăăThe fat bird quickly followed him, and one manand one bird walked along a creek. But suddenly, the lake surface behind them startedrumbling, and huge bubbles appeared.
ăăThe fat bird flew over to check it out first,shouting: âThereâs something!â
ăăBai Huo turned his head and immediately saw around object pop out of the water and float toward him. He suddenly had a bad hunch,unable to make himself step forward.
ăăThe fat bird was ignorant, excitedly flyingover and circling around the round object, then he shrieked to announce his discovery:âLao Bai, look, look itâs an egg, itâs an ostrich egg.â
ăăBai Huo frowned, after a few beats, he walkedup to the waterâs edge, his face pale.
ăăIt was indeed an egg. It wasnât strange forthe fat bird to not recognize it, but it was impossible for Bai Huo to notâŚThis was a dragon egg.
âIâll stew you into a snack, stupidchicken, this is a dragon egg.â Bai Huo walked away from the fat birdâstwittering, crouching down to pull the dragon egg into the palm of his hand.
ăăAlthough it was in the cold lake water, thedragon egg was slightly warm. Bai Huo frowned and tapped it, putting it up to hisear. Incredibly, there was a response inside, and the egg rolled vigorously inhis palm, as if something urgently needed to come out.
ăăBai Huo stared blankly for a moment, then hisbrain exploded.
ăăGod, this dragon egg is about to hatch!
ăăAs a species that had already been eliminatedby the Three Realms, dragons were now less prolific than the giant panda. Thelast dragon was born more than a decade ago. At that time, Bai Huo had been solemnlyinvited, and had looked on from a distance.
ăăThis young white dragon was 101 yearsold this year, equivalent to a 20-year-old human. In his limited life experienceduring these hundred years, heâd still never touched a dragon egg. Currently,the man had basically been petrified from head to toe.
ăăFor a short while, the white dragon neitherlet go nor threw it away, this degree of bewilderment resembled a dad holdinghis baby outside the delivery room for the first time.
ăăâFat⌠f-fat,â Bai Huoâs cold sweatrained down, âLook at it, isnât it shaking?â
ăăFat bird: âI think itâs your hand thatâsshaking.â
ăăâNo, I think it wants to come out.â
          Bai Huoâs hands trembled even moreviolently, panicking. âQuick! Help me call He Ling! Ask her⌠is thereany way⌠to make this little thing go back?â
ăăâNo need to do something so troublesome.âThe fat bird fanned its wings, âOur ancestors have everything documented in theâDapeng Mark.â
ăăâSay it already!â
ăăââŚâŚwait for me to translate it for you. â
ăăBai Huo was annoyed: âYou really are achicken!â
ăăThe fat bird took a deep breath and turned itshead to bury its face in its tail feathers.
ăăâUhh⌠Let me see, there it is! Itâswritten down here.â
ăăâHurry!â
ăăââA dragon birth is Godâs will; it canâtbe changed.â⌠Ah⌠here, âThe ancient giant clamâs spirit is very powerful, soyoung dragons naturally fear it. Binding the egg with the pearls will trap thedragon inside.â Okay, so quickly look to see if you have a, oh I donât know, agiant pearl bracelet, ormaybe a giant pearl necklace or something on you. If you wrap itaround the egg, it wonât hatch.â
ăăBai Huo stared blankly.
ăăThe fat birdâs head was still buried in itsfeathers, but its body was trembling, each feather quivering: âSoâŚBai HuoâŚhahahaâŚBahahahaâŚâ
ăăâKaâ, a very light and crisp soundinterrupted the laughter, the air instantly solidifying. One man and one birdlooked at each other in apprehension, then they stared at the egg, both anxious.
ăăThe dragon egg was broken by the occupant inside,the crack getting bigger and bigger. It felt like they were watching thezombies in a zombie film pounding at a door late at night. Bai Huo gulped, and almostsimultaneously, the shell finally broke. A furry little head popped out of thebroken eggshell, a pair of black watery eyes staring directly at Bai Huo.
ăăIn the distance, the sky slowly dawned, andthe morning wind penetrated the forest, the leaves rustling.
ăăAs the sun rose, by the lakeside, one big and onesmall dragon stared at each other. Oh my, this scene was awfully lovely.
ăăThe fat bird was already petrified, almost droppinginto the lake. It flapped its wings, rising with a splash of water.
ăăWhile the droplets scattered everywhere, thelittle dragon cubâs feet suddenly poked out of the shell and it completely fellout. Bai Huo hurriedly grabbed and steadied him.
ăăA newborn baby dragon had no scales, only coveredfrom head to toe in thin, velvety soft hair. Since it was currently moistenedwith egg liquid, the dragon cub felt strangely slippery.
ăăDonât judge dragons by their majestic adultscales. In fact, dragons were very weak in their infancies. Their scales werefragile, senses underdeveloped, and they had no basic defense capability. Any randomhuman child could strangle them to death.
ăăAs a dragon born in the last generation, BaiHuo was deeply emotional about this. At the beginning of the last century, alarge number of newly hatched dragon cubs died during the era of turmoil,failing to survive the first three months of the cub stage. This was one of themain causes leading to the destruction of the dragon race.
ăăA dragonâsgrowth period was lengthy, they had to go through three stages in theirlifetime: the cub stage, the soft scale stage, and the adulthood stage.
ăăDuring the cub stage, it really resembled a puppy.It couldnât talk, couldnât hunt prey, couldnât fly, and followed anyone around,a good kidnapping target. Basically, it relied on adult dragons to feed andprotect it, equivalent to an infant child. This state lasts about three yearsfor humans, but for the dragon race, it only took three months.
ăăThree months later, the dragonâs fluff would graduallyfade away, replaced by considerably harder and glossier feathers. Of course, thesefeathers werenât only there for good looks, they had an important role inprotecting the fine scales that were rapidly growing underneath.
ăăAt this time, the scales were still soft, thehardness wasnât very high and it could easily be damaged. So, the protectionand camouflage from the feathers were particularly important. The soft scale stagewas very critical, equivalent to human children growing their permanent teeth.If you donât take extra care, the scales could grow out deformed or you could leavepermanent scars on the scales.
ăăDragons used their scales as a measure ofbeauty. Each dragon valued their scales tremendously. A dragon with defectivescales would find it very difficult to defeat love rivals in the future.Therefore, the moment a dragon cub gained more awareness, they paid specialattention to the growth of their scales.
ăăIn addition to exterior scales, the horns,wings, and claws also grew out during this stage, gradually completing thebasic form of a dragon. Long ago, when the dragons were still in their heyday,the harsher races would organize flight exercises for the young at the end oftheir soft scales stage. This stimulated the growth of the dragon wings, sothey could enter the battlefield as soon as possible. Later on, the dragon racewas in decline, and even surviving healthily wasnât easy, so gradually thesematters were paid less and less attention.
ăăThe duration of the soft scale stage wasnâtuniform among all dragons, the individual differences were very big. Some lasteda short 10 years, and some lasted several decades, it all depended onindividual talent. Once the scales were fully grown and reached a certainhardness, the feathers would gradually fall off. At that time, the three major bodyparts â the horns, wings, and claws- were basically developed. In general, adragonâs first independent flight usually marked its official transition into adulthood.Now begins its long adult stage, which occupied an overwhelming majority of adragonâs life.
ăăA dragonâs lifespan was very long. Thelongest-lived earth dragon at the foot of Changbai Mountain has lived for morethan a thousand years. However, most adult dragons donât have such good luck.They usually died after living less than five hundred years, either from battle,sickness, or punishment. Very few truly elderly dragons exist.
ăăBecause of their scarcity, modern dragons nolonger engaged in civil war. Their greatest threats came from two sides, one washumanity, and the other was â loneliness.
ăăBai Huo rubbed the little dragon cubâs furryhead, thinking to himself- being born in such an era, who knew if it was luckyor unfortunate.
ăăThe little dragon felt that the human being infront of him was very novel, he stared with round eyes, very curious. Althoughhe couldnât tell that this was an adult dragon in human shape yet, the familiaratmosphere made him feel very comfortable, he even spit out his tongue to lick BaiHuoâs palm.
ăăâThis is a dragon cub? Is it male orfemale?â The fat bird excitedly jumped around the young dragon, stretchingout his claw, as if he was about to poke to explore.
ăăBai Huo grabbed the birdâs claw and cautioned:âWhen was the last time you trimmed your fat claws? Youâll scratch him.â
ăăâHmph, favoritism already!â The fatbird furiously stomped on top of Bai Huoâs head. Condescendingly looking down atthe baby dragon.
ăăThe little dragon cub had two roundprotrusions on the top of his head. One on the left and right, forming a â不âshape, somewhat similar to antlers. This was the fledging stage of a dragonâshorns. A male dragonâs horns were thick and stout, a femaleâs horns weregraceful and slender. Bai Huo studied the shape and said: âItâs a maledragon.â
ăăThe little baby dragon obediently let himtouch, not resisting. He tilted his head upward; his eyes hadnât left Bai Huoâsface.
ăăâWhat? You dragons look at the horns? Shouldnâtyou look down below?â
ăăBai Huo spread his hand: âI wonât.â
ăăThe little dragon had been out of his shellfor a long time, without an outer shell to defend against the cold, his body temperaturequickly dropped. A cold wind blew and he sneezed softly, then, seeminglyseeking protection, he dived straight into Bai Huoâs clothes.
ăăâWe canât stay here for too long; othersshould be coming up soon.â Bai Huo got up and removed his coat, wrappingthe little dragon cub in it. Then he walked a little further into the woods, andstarted digging a hole with a branch.
ăăHis body hadnât completely dried yet, so hewas also cold and trembling. The half-dry shirt was stuck to his back, and hislips were frozen.
ăăThe fat bird watched him dig: âYouâregonna bury the little guy?â
ăăâI was going to bury you, actually.âBai Huo said while digging. âIâll give him to the association; they shouldraise him.â
ăăA few meters away, the little dragon hadsomehow managed to roll himself out of the coat and was waddling over.
ăăBai Huo turned around and almost stepped onhim. He crotched down, chuckling: âWhat are you doing here? Iâm helpingyou bury your eggshells, when you grow up, you can come take a look.â
ăăâHe doesnât understand.â The fat birdsaid.
ăăâHe understands.â Bai Huo refuted,picking up the baby dragon with one hand, he stepped out of the woods, puttinghim back into the coat. âYou canât use your bird IQ to judge us high-leveldivine races.â
ăăâBird? Whoâs a bird? How many times do I haveto tell you? Iâm a Dapeng, Dapeng!â
ăăThelittle baby dragon turned a deaf ear to their energetic quarrel, unsteadilycrawling out of the jacket and relentlessly following Bai Huoâs footsteps.
ăăBai Huo walked to the waterâs edge to pick upthe eggshells, and he followed.
ăăBai Huo walked into the woods to bury theeggshells, and he still followed.
ăăâSee, he really canât understand.âThe fat bird said.
ăăBai Huo frowned and crouched down, staring atthe little dragon, then staring at the eggshells in the hole, suddenly, a dazedlook took over his face.
ăăNo wayâŚ
ăăBai Huo tilted his head to the left, and the littledragon cub also tilted to the left, Bai Huo tilted to the right, and the littledragon also tilted his head to the right.
ăăThis clichĂŠ imprinting plot⌠if he couldnâtunderstand what was going on, Bai Huo wouldâve lived these one hundred years invain.
ăăThe fat bird squealed, then shoutedsarcastically: âLao Bai! Lao Bai! Youâll love being a dad!â
ăăStanding next to the hole, the branch in BaiHuoâs hand snapped in two.
Depressed: ćłä¸ĺź -cannot figure out/fret over trifles/be depressed/take things toohard/be unable to take a lighter view. Idk which meaning the author wanted toconvey, but depressed made more sense when the fat bird repeated the questionlater on.
Young white: Couldbe naĂŻve. But BH is young and a white dragon so idk
I wonât:Could also be âI canâtâ. Everything has multiple meanings; I just try to pickthe ones that make the most sense.