Bai Huo was a guest, Jing Lan wouldn’tpunish guests, but the consequence of corrupting the chefs was that there wasno dinner.
One day without dinner wasn’t a problem forhim, but the little dragon cub was still sick. Bai Huo couldn’t bear to let hisson go hungry, so after asking around, he visited Jing Lan’s Lan Ting Pond.
The Lan Ting Pond was a large pool thatconnected the Water Dragon Palace to the outside world. It was also one of theoutlets for the fishermen to catch food. Because it was connected to theoutside world, unknown fish sometimes came in.
Bai Huo didn’t deep dive often, but he wouldn’tlet his injured son enter the water, so, he turned into his dragon form, and attachedsome leftover crab meat paste to his tail as bait. Then he soaked his dragonbody in the pond, lazily waiting for the fish to walk into the trap.
Who knew if his method was flawed or he wasjust unlucky, but after waiting for a long time, he only caught one big grideyefish.
The little dragon cub waited obediently, feelinghungry, he groped his empty belly, playing with the feathers on it.
“Eat first.” Bai Huo saw that thecub was practically defeathering his belly, and climbed out of the pond, transforminginto his human shape. He crouched down to descale the dragon cub’s fish.
The little dragon cub used his wide sleeveto wipe the water off Bai Huo’s forehead: “Cold.”
Bai Huo laughed, his sharp chin softening:“It’s all right, I’m not cold.”
The grideye fish didn’t have much meat, it wasn’tenough to fill the little cub’s belly. Bai Huo was worried, wondering if heshould sneak into Jing Lan’s pharmacy to steal something to eat, when thelittle dragon cub suddenly looked up, noticing something outside the bubblefilm, exclaiming, “Snowing.”
The Lan Ting Pond was actually located inan octagon shaped palace, it was supported by eight huge fish spines at itseight points. It was also decorated with gorgeous jewels, and in the middle ofthe palace was the bottomless circular pool. The walls were a transparentbubble-like film. Bai Huo hadn’t figured out the principle behind this film yet,he only knew that in addition to keeping out the seawater, it also played therole of gas exchange, balancing the pressure, and keeping the temperature constant.
Standing in front of this transparentbubble film, the moving schools of fish, crawling crustaceans, and swaying aquaticplants were all clearly visible, it gave the feeling of being in a human aquarium.
“How can it snow in the sea?” BaiHuo was baffled, but following the little dragon cub’s gaze, he found that he wasright. In the sea water outside the membrane, white snowflake-like clusters werefluttering down from above. From a distance, it made for a somewhat hazy, beautifulview.
“Maybe it’s fish shit.” Bai Huosat down cross-legged.
The little dragon cub choked, looking downat the fish in his hand, he suddenly lost his appetite.
“That’s marine snow.” Someone saidat the door, a smile in their voice.
The father and son glanced back, Jing Lan wasslowly walking in, wearing a gray flax robe and holding a silver platter in hishand. He was probably about to head to bed, his hair was loose, casually scatteredacross his shoulders.
The little dragon cub had a sharp nose,immediately smelling the aroma of food.
“Here.” Jing Lan leaned over andhanded the platter to the little dragon cub, smiling.
The platter had fish roe, sea cucumber, andfish steaks for two, no grass.
The little dragon cub gulped audibly, but hisfirst reaction was to shake his tail and look at Bai Huo.
Bai Huo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry,leading him: “Quickly thank your Shishu.”
“Thank you, Jing Shishu.” Thelittle dragon cub thanked him in a crisp voice, then hugged the platter and satdown, chomping on the fish. Judging by his ravenous appearance, you’d thinkthat Bai Huo had been starving him since he hatched.
Jing Lan petted the little dragon cub’s horns;his expression gentle: “Were you hungry?”
The little dragon cub shook his head, whilechomping the fish meat, he pointed to the grideye fish bones on the ground, meaning,my Dad caught me a fish.
Bai Huo looked at the big fish bones, hisconscience assaulted by a rare trace of guilt.
“What did you say this was?” BaiHuo asked, looking at the flurries outside the membrane.
Jing Lan strolled to the edge of the film:“Marine snow.”
“That’s a beautiful name.”
“Yes, unfortunately, its significance isn’tso beautiful.” Currently, it was late at night in the Water Dragon Palace.The halls were very quiet, there was only the sounds of water flowing andbubbles popping. Jing Lan stood in the palace, looking out at the unendingmarine snow falling outside the membrane, a long while later, he sighed almostimperceptibly, “Little Bai, the Water Dragon Palace … might not lastmuch longer.”
Bai Huo was astonished: “Why do yousay that?”
Jing Lan glanced back at him with a profoundlook, but didn’t reply, he just tilted his head and smiled very faintly.
At this moment, even the usually careless BaiHuo felt a hint of the heaviness hidden behind this smile, a weightyresponsibility and pressure that he couldn’t imagine, but was shouldered by JingLan for many years. Bai Huo suddenly realized, currently, the patriarch of anentire tribe was standing in front of him, not just his close friend.
“I’ve been thinking about a collectivemigration recently, but, Beichuan is already in the polar region, where else canwe go?” Jing Lan reached out, his slender, fair fingers lightly touchingthe water film, at the places they met, a dim glow followed.
“You can hide among humans,” BaiHuo suggested. “Humans are very interesting.”
Jing Lan shook his head faintly: “LittleBai, they’re not like you. The water dragons have been isolated from the worldfor many years, most of them won’t be able to adapt to human life.”
Bai Huo thought about the people here who didn’teven know how to roll dice, and fell into silence.
“I’m full!” The little dragon cub,sitting behind the two, held up the plate.
Bai Huo turned, the little dragon cub hadn’tcleaned the plate, leaving some of the fattiest fish steaks and sea cucumbers.
“This is full?” Bai Huo knew thatthis child’s appetite wasn’t any smaller than an adult dragon’s. He crouched downand rubbed his son’s belly, laughing. “I’m not hungry, you should eat therest. Your Jing Shishu is here, if I feel hungry, I just have to ask him.“
The little dragon cub looked at Bai Huo doubtfully,then glanced at Jing Lan, fearing that his father would go hungry after he eatsall the food.
Jing Lan was amused by this look, coveringhis mouth to restrain a laugh. With such a distinct noble temperament, he’dlook even more otherworldly if he laughed, it’s a pity, Bai Huo thought, thatJing Lan was so reserved. If he made a debut with this face, he would capturethe hearts of many women.
“The kitchen is still here.” JingLan said straightforwardly.
The little dragon cub was relieved, he fedhis father a piece of fish meat, then obediently carried the plate to the sideto eat.
“This child is so well-behaved,”Jing Lan sighed, “How did you teach him?”
Bai Huo waved his hand, saying boldly,“I didn’t teach him, he was born with it, just like his Dad.”
Jing Lan tactfully chose to remain silent.
*
The little dragon cub slept in Jing Lan’s chambersat night, and in order to take care of him, Bai Huo slept on the floor besidethe crystal bed.
Jing Lan had asked him to pay attention to thelittle dragon cub, Bai Huo took it to heart, waking up several times a night tofeed the cub water and tuck his quilt. Due to his damaged divine bone, thelittle dragon cub didn’t sleep well, his small paws clenched tightly intofists. Bai Huo was afraid that he would injure himself with his own laws, so hecarefully pried open his hands. As a result, not only did he not pry them open,the blood pearl bracelet on his wrist was tugged away.
Unexpectedly, after grabbing the bracelet, thelittle dragon cub’s breath calmed down significantly.
Bai Huo was surprised by this discovery,but he vaguely knew that magic tools shouldn’t casually be worn by children. Hetook it off, and ran to Jing Lan the next morning.
“Blood pearls have an extreme calmingeffect on the divine bone, if a child wears it, it might delay their growth fora period of time.” Jing Lan said without raising his head, reviewing somedocuments.
Bai Huo had overactive hands, he wascurrently picking through the medicine ingredients on Jing Lan’s desk and sniffingthem. Hearing these words, he stared blankly: “So, he shouldn’t wearit?”
“Yes and no,” Jing Lan explained,his pen moving incessantly, “Delaying growth isn’t necessarily a badthing. For a child with a damaged divine bone, wearing it can lighten thepressure from the growing bone, which is overall beneficial. “
“You mean that he can wear it, but ifhe was going to become an adult at fifteen years old, maybe he’ll now become anadult at eighteen?” Bai Huo flicked the blood pearls around his indexfinger, recalling the time when the cub was still an egg. The fat bird had saidthat if he wanted to stop him from hatching, he could use the pearls from thegiant clam to suppress it. It can be assumed that the principle was the same, itdelayed growth.
Jing Lan finished writing the document and putdown his pen, glancing at him in praise. He scanned the string of blood pearls,asking in surprise, “These blood pearls aren’t ordinary, where did you getit? “
If Jing Lan said that something wasn’tordinary, it must be very extraordinary, Bai Huo forthrightly said, “Shigegave it to me.”
Jing Lan was puzzled.
“Zhou Chong Wen,” Bai Huo added,“He’s also the current patriarch.”
Jing Lan thought for a moment, getting someimpression: “Oh … him? The one who always protected you as a kid?”
“No,” Bai Huo refused to admit.“He was really clumsy as a kid, it’s me who always covered him.”
Jing Lan smiled silently.
When Bai Huo was eleven, the three dragon tribesset up a joint study class. Each race had to select a few qualified youngsters toattend the school. Although Bai Huo was disliked by the clan, he was loved bythe old patriarch, who chose to send him against all opposition. At that time,Jing Lan had just become an adult, and came to teach as a patriarch candidate. Evenback then, he could already cause a big commotion, even some ignorant andincompetent dragons ran over specifically to see the legendary noble beauty.
Oh, Bai Huo was one of those ignorant andincompetent dragons, as well as Zhou Chong Wen, who had mediocre aptitude atthe time. Of course, the main culprit was Bai Huo, Zhou Chong Wen was simplydragged in.
A genuine celestial being—This was Bai Huo’sfirst thought upon seeing Jing Lan, even the sarcastic comment he’d originallyprepared, “Ehh, so-so”, was stuck in his throat. Instead, he feltthat the rumors those people spread were too insufficient, they were not worthyof the otherworldly beauty in front of him.
He and Zhou Chong Wen both stared in awe, accidentallyslipping off the wall they were crouched on, twisting their ankles.
Bai Huo originally thought that this waterdragon beauty would take him for a peeping tom and demand that he be expelledfrom the school, but the reality was far from that. The beauty not only wasn’tangry, he even worriedly asked if he’d sprained his foot, furthermore, he usedthe spiritual power unique to the water dragons to help heal their injuries.
Since he was a child, Bai Huo had gotten usedto being treated with loathing, so he couldn’t handle being treated withkindness. If someone belittled and vilified him, he could laugh and returntheir hateful words. But if someone cared about him and treated him withsincerity, his first reaction wasn’t gratefulness, but panic.
In this way, the two lowest-rankingstudents that regularly gave their elders headaches were completely subdued by JingLan, going to and from class obediently, and not causing mischief. Bai Huo oncespeculated, that if it wasn’t for what happened later, he might’ve embarked onthe same road as Zhou Chong Wen, staying dutifully with the dragons, and findinga part-time official job in the association when he became an adult, takingcare of some unimportant matters.
“Little Bai?” Jing Lan asked,puzzled.
Bai Huo snapped back to reality:“What’s up?”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Jing Lansmiled faintly. “I was a little surprised to hear you talk about PatriarchZhou. Has old Patriarch Zhuo abdicated? I haven’t seen the elder for someyears.”
Old Patriarch Zhuo was highly respected,and was one of Jing Lan’s teachers in his adolescence.
Bai Huo’s expression turned gloomy:“No, he’s sick.”
“Sick?” Jing Lan was slightlysurprised, “What illness? I can …”
“It’s scale rot.”
Jing Lan paused.
Scale rot was a terminal illness, even thebest medical expert Jing Lan was helpless.
“When… when did it happen?”Jing Lan asked.
“More than half a year ago, Lin Xi hadjust been born a few days before.” Bai Huo heaved a sigh, but he found ita little strange. A new patriarch being appointed was such a big event, itstands to reason that a notice of the appointment should’ve been sent to JingLan.
“Didn’t you receive a notice about thenew patriarch?” Bai Huo asked.
Jing Lan shook his head: “Maybe I’mtoo far away.”
Bai Huo looked at his sad deep blue eyes,and suddenly recalled something. Since he reconnected with Zhou Chong Wen, healways felt that the other man was different from his memory. Something abouthis movements was very inconsistent. Now, looking at Jing Lan, Bai Huo finallyunderstood. Zhou Chong Wen’s every move resembled Jing Lan.
Was it a coincidence?
Jing Lan finished reviewing the documentsand went to the anteroom to discuss business with someone. Before leaving, heasked Bai Huo to think over giving the little dragon cub the blood pearls. BaiHuo’s first instinct was to reject it, after all, with the current aptitude displayedby the little dragon cub, he was very likely to break He Ling’s adulthoodrecord. But, thinking about how the little dragon cub was injured after losing controlof his divine bone, he hesitated again.
Riskily become a genius, or healthily becomea mediocre dragon, the young loving father faced a life altering choice for thefirst time.
Idk why Jing Lan thinks marine snow is a badthing. It’s a good thing, in fact, we want more of it to combat climate change.Maybe he’s thinking about toxic marine snow, which is in fact a bad thing.