/

Chapter 24




Chapter 24
“Thanks man.” Bai Huo thanked thechildcare worker and led the child out.
The little dragon cub heard the conversationbetween the two, and stared blankly for a moment, looking up at Bai Huo in hesitation.
“What’s wrong?” Bai Huo asked himfrom up above.
The little dragon cub frowned and suddenlyreached out: “Hug.”
Bai Huo paused for a moment, then leanedover and hugged him up, muttering, “You’re so big and still want to becarried around, how annoying.”
Like a flexible cat, the little dragon cub quicklyclimbed up to Bai Huo’s collarbone and sniffed, then he looked down at hispalm, his brows wrinkling.
After all, he’d just formed the contract, sohe wasn’t familiar with its use of positioning, but Bai Huo and the childcareworker always looked at each other in hatred, when did he ever thank them? Whendid he ever complain about carrying him? Also, when did his Dad ever pick himup empty-handed? He didn’t bring dried fish, nor sea urchin snacks, and mostimportantly –
“You don’t smell nice!” Thelittle dragon cub suddenly raised his head from the man’s shoulder, and said ina crisp voice, his expression grave.
“What—ouch!” Bai Huo had justspoken when he was firmly bitten on his shoulder, his expression sank. Heraised his hands and clamped down on the child’s neck, forcibly dragging him away,suspending him in the air with one hand.
Although the little dragon cub’s teeth werealready very solid, the tip of his teeth had been half submerged when it wasforcibly pulled out. His gums were pulled, and the pain was almost unbearable. Duringhis cub stage, for a brief spell, he’d gotten obsessed with biting things. Evenwhen he was chewing on Bai Huo’s brand new expensive leather shoes, Bai Huo hadnever forcibly grabbed it from his mouth, he had just reached out with a smileand patted him on the head, patiently waiting for him to loosen his teeth andspit it out.
He’d never felt such an onslaught of paininvade his mouth before, the little cub was dazed from the pain, the tearsfilling his eyes as he covered his mouth.
…… This man was not his Dad. If he bithis Dad, he would never retaliate like that.
“Little bastard!” “Bai Huo”grimaced as he inspected his injured shoulder, lifting the little cub and shakinghim vigorously.
“Who are you? I’ll bite you!” Thelittle dragon cub was dizzy, wrathfully forcing back his tears, he opened hismouth wide, trying to bite the other man.
“Bai Huo” finally revealed histrue colors, he smiled darkly and said, “Little thing, you’re pretty smart.”
After all, the little dragon cub was verysmall, before he could break free, he suddenly felt a sting on the back of hisneck and fainted.
*
Bai Huo was sitting lazily in the car, chattingwith Zhou Chong Wen, when his face suddenly changed, he sat upright and ordered:“Wrong, turn here.”
“What?” Ding Ping glanced back.
“Turn right at the intersection.”Bai Huo’s complexion paled.
“Isn’t the kindergarten to theleft?” Ding Ping said, annoyed. “Don’t treat me as a chauffeur, if itwasn’t for the patriarch, I’d never…”
Noticing his strange look, Zhou Chong Wen softlyinterrupted: “Do as he says.”
Ding Ping stopped talking and turned thesteering wheel right.
“What’s wrong?” Zhou Chong Wenturned to ask Bai Huo.
Bai Huo looked down at his palm and saidnothing, a moment later, he explained, his voice tight: “His positionchanged.”
Zhou Chong Wen sized him up, then narrowedhis eyes: “Did you form a contract?”
Bai Huo nodded, still pale.
Zhou Chong Wen fell silent, staring at BaiHuo’s profile for a long time, his expression incomprehensible.
After arriving at an alley’s entrance, thecar couldn’t go in further. Bai Huo opened the door and got out, but Zhou ChongWen stopped him: “I’ll go with you.”
“But …” Bai Huo subconsciouslyrefused, but Zhou Chong Wen didn’t wait for him to say more, he turned aroundand ordered Ding Ping to wait here, following Bai Huo into the alley.
“Where?”
Bai Huo jogged ahead: “Here.”
Seeing his forehead drenched with sweat,Zhou Chong Wen comforted him: “Don’t worry, it’s normal for children torun around. Maybe he’s just playing with his classmates.”
Bai Huo shook his head, his tone quite confident:“Not my son, he’s very obedient.”
There were more reasons Bai Huo didn’tstate. The little dragon cub had no interest in ordinary human children, withthat child’s temperament, even if he was among dragons, he’d still snub them.He didn’t like playing with his peers, he wanted to stick to his Dad. In the littledragon cub’s opinion, fighting with the fat bird, jumping into the lake tocatch fish, and watching his Dad play mahjong were all more interesting thanplaying with his peers. What the child looked forward to the most every day washis Dad picking him up. He would never run away like this; something must’ve happened.
Thinking about Ji Bei’s child trafficking case,Bai Huo felt anxious. Although his son was a dragon, he was still a child. Ifhe really met malicious adults, he might not have the upper hand.
“It’s my fault, I’m too careless. Ishouldn’t have gone to play mahjong.” Bai Huo blamed himself.
Zhou Chong Wen didn’t know what to say, sohe merely patted him on the shoulder.
The two walked crossed a few alleys and meta dead end.
“Where next?” Zhou Chong Wenasked.
Bai Huo frowned deeply, closing his eyes fora few beats, when he opened them, his face even paler: “It should be nearhere, I can’t get a more accurate position, the child’s spiritual power is tooweak.”
There was an ancient residential areanearby with numerous broken walls and ruins, utterly dilapidated, no one livedthere anymore. Several rows of buildings were marked with the letter “D”for demolition in red paint.
“Look in those rows, I’ll start fromhere.” Zhou Chong Wen said.
Bai Huo was a little out of it, turning slowly,he started looking from the other end.
*
The little dragon cub didn’t pass out forlong. When he woke up, he found himself in a strange cage, it looked a bit likesomething a circus lion would be in.
Close by, an elderly man and woman were arguingin whispers, holding a few bundles of banknotes in each hand.
A young woman was crouched in front of him,staring at him attentively, quite shocked to see him suddenly open his eyes.
“Whew, that scared me. Hey, this kidlooks really good, white skin and big eyes, he’ll definitely be a lady-killerwhen he grows up.” The young woman braced her chin on her hand and smileda bit flippantly.
“Xiao Yan, what do youthink?” The young woman glanced back.
On the window sill, a young man in hisearly twenties was sitting by the window, aloof. He sat against the light, revealingonly a tall silhouette, with half of his body hanging outside the window. Whenthe little dragon cub saw him, he dashed forward in anger, but was blocked bythe iron cage. He slammed against the iron cage, and it shook with a ‘clang’.
“Why is this child so strong?”The woman recoiled two steps, frightened by his abrupt movements.
“Quiet him down!” Nearby, a fatman glanced back impatiently, then continued negotiating with the old woman.
The woman rolled her eyes: “I’m not amother.”
The young man never responded, dissatisfied,the woman asked: “Xiao Yan, why are you ignoring me?”
The young man turned his head and glancedat her coldly: “When will you return it to me?”
“What the hell, if you hate me somuch, then why were you so desperate to sleep with me at that time.” Thewoman pouted.
The young man gritted his teeth, as if hewas suffering from a great shame: “I’ve done everything you’ve asked mefor, what else do you want?”
“It’s not so great when somebody likesyou.” The woman winked at him, then ran up to the young man, smiling,“Look Xiao Yan, hasn’t our collaboration been very pleasant? What’s thepoint of just packing up and leaving? Let’s work together.”
When the young man heard this, his face immediatelysank: “Are you breaking the contract?”
“Why do you always speak so harshly? Isn’tthere a saying ‘Once a lover, always a lover’? You …”
“I’ve said it countless times, that wasa mistake!” The young man couldn’t help but roar loudly.
The fat man roared back in annoyance:“What are you two doing?! Quiet down! Do you want to alert thepolice!”
“It’s none of your goddam business!”The woman turned back and yelled, her eyes quickly filling with tears as shesobbed.
The young man was simply bewildered, a longmoment later, he approached her and kneeled in front of her, pulling his hair insuffering: “I’m sorry, please return it to me, I beg of you, let mego.”
“Okay, I’ll give it to you, lovelessbastard!” The woman wept, pulling a white crescent-shaped ring from herjacket pocket and throwing it at him, “Take it.”
Seeing the ring, the young man’s eyes widened,he quickly grabbed it, wiped it on his clothes, and impatiently swallowed it.
“What are you …”
The woman was stunned, watching the youngman roll out his muscles, his eyes changing dramatically in an instant.Something that could be called an aura quickly spread out after he swallowedthe ring, in the blink of an eye, the entire abandoned building was enveloped.
Smelling a familiar dragon’s breath, thelittle dragon cub stopped hitting the iron cage and stared at the young man’sface.
The two looked at each other, astonished.
“You’re …” The young man’s eyeswidened, his complexion gradually changing.
At that moment, the fat man finally reachedan agreement with the other party. After counting the banknotes in his hand, hewalked towards the cage in satisfaction, crouching down to unlock the cagelock, intending to grab the little dragon cub.
“Come here, come here.” The fatman reached in and grabbed.
No one would act cautiously around a lessthan four years old child, so when he was bitten on his arm, the fat man ignoredit at first. When he finally sensed that the sharp pain was abnormal, it was alreadytoo late. The blood was practically gushing out of where he was bitten, terrified,he subconsciously threw the child away.
When a human’s desire for survival erupts,their strength increases exponentially. The little dragon cub rolled across thefloor after being violently tossed away, because of the pain, his sharp clawsflashed for two seconds, before he retracted it.
The young woman thought that she was seeingthings, and rubbed her eyes.
The young man stepped back nervously forsome reason, saying, “I urge you, let this child go …”
“Let him go?” The young woman’s facesank.
“Bah!” The fat man’s forehead veinsbulged violently, he stepped forward, covering his wound, “I’ll teachyou!”
The little dragon cub shook off hisdizziness and stood up, swaying. Watching the human approaching himaggressively, his black pupils slowly contracted.
*
“Arrgggh-” A scream rang out froman abandoned building.
Bai Huo and Zhou Chong Wen looked back simultaneously.
“That way!” Bai Huo ran towardsthe sound’s source without hesitation, but before taking two steps, he suddenlyfelt weak, like his spiritual power was being sucked away by a vacuum, and fellforward.
Right behind him, Zhou Chong Wen quicklyreached out to grab him, stopping Bai Huo from falling flat on the ground.
“What’s wrong?”
Bai Huo opened his mouth, but before hecould speak, his complexion changed dramatically, and he leaned over, coughingup blood.
“Little Bai!” Zhou Chong Wen anxiouslyshook his shoulders.
“It’s … it’s okay.” Bai Huofelt like the sky was spinning, a bad premonition rising in his heart. Heforced himself out of Zhou Chong Wen’s embrace and continued forward, half-staggeringtowards the destination.
“Lin Xi!” Bai Huo shouted as heran.
The metal door on the second floor of thebuilding was locked. Bai Huo kicked it off its hinges, the door slamming intothe ground, raising dust.
“Cough … Lin …” Before Bai Huocould take in the surroundings, a dark shadow leapt out from the dust, fiercelybiting into his right shoulder.
Bai Huo stumbled backwards, smelling the familiarbreath, he stared blankly for a moment, then looked down, discovering that the onewho was biting him was none other than his obedient baby boy. The little dragoncub was completely in his dragon form, fiercely biting into his flesh. Like a berserkwolf, his eyes were full of hostility, as if he simply didn’t recognize who hewas.
This bite was different from the littledragon cub’s tantrums in the past, it was deadly, a sharp pain emitting fromdeep in his shoulder, causing Bai Huo to gasp in pain.
“Cub …” Bai Huo helplessly leanedagainst the wall, letting the little dragon bite him. He laboriously raised hisleft hand, lightly stroking the child’s back.
The little dragon cub froze, his griploosening.
“Dad didn’t know, that your teeth wereso powerful.” Bai Huo constantly smoothed his feathers, his complexionespecially pale because of the pain. He smiled, coaxing, “Shhh, your Dad ishere, don’t be scared.”
When Zhou Chong Wen rushed over, this wasthe scene he met: broken tables and chairs littering the worn out floor, oneman and two women randomly lying in a heap, blood flowing out on the ground,and at the other end of the building, a young dragon was holding his injuredleg, trying to jump through the window.
Bai Huo hugged the little dragon cub, whohad fallen asleep, and staggered up, his voice tight: “Shige.”
Zhou Chong Wen nodded, striding over to thewindow, he nimbly grabbed the dragon youth and dragged him back, tossing him tothe ground.
“P, patriarch …” The youngdragon cried out in alarm, ignoring his leg injury, he climbed up and knelt inone breath.
Zhou Chong Wen ignored him, walking over tothe humans with a solemn expression, testing the breath of each one.
It was the first time Bai Huo had seen ZhouChong Wen with such a serious expression, he subconsciously hugged the dragoncub a little tighter, his lips thinning. The child wasn’t so much asleep as hewas unconscious. His small head leaned weakly against Bai Huo’s chest, his backstill occasionally spasming, making Bai Huo feel distressed.
“There’s still life left, but theyneed to be treated immediately.” Zhou Chong Wen turned to look at Bai Huo.
Bai Huo was obviously out of sorts, it tooka few seconds for him to understand Zhou Chong Wen’s meaning.
According to Article 6 of the DragonConvention, dragons must not injure human beings in their true form under anycircumstances, violators shall be punished by three to three hundred years ofhard labor.
“I’m coming.” Bai Huo ran over, planningto use the wound transferal spell.
Bai Huo had just brushed up his sleeve, whenZhou Chong Wen clamped down on his thin wrist, saying heavily: “You’ll die.”
The two looked at each other, Zhou ChongWen’s eyes were very deep, making Bai Huo subconsciously gulp, his face deathlypale: “But Shige …”
Bai Huo turned to look at the man and twowomen. The three humans were almost bitten from head to toe, especially the fatman lying the furthest away, his arms were almost mutilated. The three people’swounds would be doubled after being absorbed. If he wanted to use the woundtransferal spell to save them, even two Bai Huos wouldn’t be enough.
“R-report it to the police.” Thedragon youth to the side interjected in a quiet voice.
Zhou Chong Wen glanced back at him, and theyoung man immediately shut up, kneeling composedly.
Bai Huo woke up like from a dream, lookingaround, he ran towards the cage. The little dragon cub’s schoolbag was stillthere, Bai Huo quickly found the alarm and tracker, then pressed it.
Without saying a word, Zhou Chong Wensimply stopped the blood flow of the three humans. He scanned Bai Huo’s bloodyshoulder and terrible complexion, saying in a heavy voice, “Hold out yourhand.”
Bai Huo was afraid that he would absorb hiswounds again, and hid his hands behind his back, backing up two steps: “Don’t,Shige, it’ll heal in two days.”
Zhou Chong Wen said helplessly: “Iwon’t do the spell, just show me your injuries. What happened outside?”
“I don’t know, my chest suddenly hurt,and I felt a wave of weakness.” Bai Huo hesitatingly stretched out hishand.
Zhou Chong Wen felt his pulse, after amoment, his eyes moved to the little dragon cub in Bai Huo’s arms, his brows furrowed.
“His.” Zhou Chong Wen saidconcisely.
Bai Huo was a bit reluctant, but Zhou ChongWen’s gaze was too heavy, he had no choice but to stretch the little dragoncub’s paw out for Zhou Chong Wen to take a look.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Chong Wen didn’t takethe hand, instead, he directly reached out and placed his hand on the littledragon cub’s nape, prying apart his feathers.
“Shige, don’t …” Bai Huoquickly moved to stop him, but suddenly hesitated, “What is that?”
A small crescent-shaped, bloody scar hadappeared on the little dragon cub’s nape. The child’s skin was tender, so the woundwas especially startling.
“His divine bone is damaged,”Zhou Chong Wen had a grave expression, “His dragon breath is weakening.”
Like he was struck by a bolt of lightning, BaiHuo’s brain instantly blanked.
===================================================================
T/N:
Xiao Yan- lit.Little Flame. Idk if it’s his real name or a nickname/codename. Just found itinteresting that that’s the Chinese name for Homura from Puella Magica
It’s not so great when somebody likesyou- 不怎么样啊，人家喜欢你嘛.Think that’s what she’s saying, not sure why or to whom. I guess she’s sayingthat love isn’t all fun and games, and she’s saying it to LLX.
Once a lover, always a lover– A day together as husband and wife means endless devotion the restof your life.