Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Bai Huo woke up bright and early, finding severaljars around him, all overflowing with fragrant beer. He was so happy that heopened another one without thinking.

“Liu Jian Guo-” Bai Huo shouted.

There was a sound of rolling stones belowthe mountain, and a short hairy dragon climbed up a few moments later, coveringhis forehead as he looked at Bai Huo: “Boss …”

“Not bad,” Bai Huo said, raisinghis jug with a smile. “You’ve gone above and beyond your task.”

Liu Jian Guo was dumbfounded: “Huh?”

“The beer ah,” Bai Huo tossed thelid at him. “Just two altars would’ve been enough. You didn’t bring outall the beer in the cellar, did you? Bahahaha …”

Liu Jian Guo covered his head and dodgedthe lid, when he took his hands away, a whip mark appeared on his forehead.

“Yo, what’s wrong with yourhead?” Bai Huo was surprised. “Who hit you?”

Liu Jian Guo giggled foolishly: “It, it’snothing.”

As soon as Bai Huo heard this tone, he knewthat something had happened. He lowered the jar and got up, patting the dust offhis body, saying over the noise of jingling chains: “Who bullied you, justsay it, boss will support you.”

Liu Jian Guo scratched his face, then said:“Okay…Foreman Deng did it. I said that I was bringing some beer to you lastnight, but he wouldn’t allow it, so we had a fight. In the end, I didn’t win,and I got whipped… “

Bai Huo didn’t understand, gesturing to thejars behind him: “You didn’t win, so where did all these come from?”

Liu Jian Guo followed his motion, finally noticingthe five or six altars by the rock wall, his eyes widening.

When Bai Huo saw this expression, he knewthat this silly child had not lied. He couldn’t help but wonder: “Didn’tyou come back here last night?”

Liu Jian Guo shook his head like a rattle:“No, absolutely not!”

“It wasn’t you?” Bai Huo was bewildered,could it be that the beer jugs ran over here by themselves?

“The dragon sect visitors broughtalong … um …” Liu Jian Guo painstakingly counted on his fingers, thenheld up six of them, “They brought this much.”

A total of six altars were gifted to YaoMountain, and in the end, all the altars were moved to his nest. Why did thisshameless act seem like … something he’d do himself?

Bai Huo couldn’t help but look down,pulling the chains on his wrist, after repeatedly making sure that they were reallytoo strong to break out of after getting drunk, he turned back to Liu Jian Guo:“Bring the key for me.”

“Key?” Liu Jian Guo’s eyes widened.His no-good brain was finally enlightened, and he slapped his thigh and said,“Boss! You want to go out!”

“Okay, don’t dawdle.” Bai Huowaved his hands bashfully, “I want to give everyone a nice surprise.”

Nice surprise? Liu Jian Guo wasn’t sureabout that, but ‘horrify them’ was a certainty.

The ‘better looking than an immortal’ BaiHuo hadn’t changed his clothes or combed his hair in more than a month. His bodywas still covered in bruises and bloody scars from struggling against the ironchains. When he suddenly appeared in the dining room in this bloody cloak, he immediatelycaused a commotion. ——A few of the timid ones even burst into tears, thinking thata white grim reaper had come to demand their lives.

Jing Lan and the palace owner, Zhao Lan, werehaving breakfast in the VIP room in the inner hall. Hearing the commotion outside,Jing Lan smiled faintly: “It seems that everybody is very energetic today.”

Li Lin Xi, sitting by Jing Lan’s side, wasoriginally digging into his meal. When he heard a familiar voice, he suddenly choked,burying his face below the table as he coughed.

Jing Lan looked at him with a smile, and handedover a cup of tea.

Zhao Lan was the supervisor in charge ofthe construction of the underground palace in Yao Mountain. In human society,he’d be called the prison chief. When he heard this, his face blackened, thenhe smiled apologetically: “The guys are probably having a good chat.” Afterthose words, he hurriedly called his subordinates to go take a look.

Jing Lan tilted his head slightly, and quietlyasked Li Lin Xi, “Do you want to go out and see?”

Li Lin Xi froze, both hands nervously rubbinghis knees.

*

Bai Huo had been in retreat for a wholemonth, the guys were very happy when they saw him, but they each stayed onemeter away from him.

“Is your estrus really over? Don’tlie, I heard that the last spouse-less dragon who went into estrus didn’t even sparethe hens.” A busybody asked him from across the table, nervously coveringhis chest.

“Relax.” Bai Huo sat at thetable, holding the beer jug in one hand, and reaching out to massage hisshoulder with the other, smacking it vigorously. “How can you, this plain grandpa,afford to be picky? Don’t worry, you’re safe! “

Bai Huo’s clothes were so ragged that hecould use them as a fishing net. Someone with sharp eyes saw the bite mark onhis shoulder and asked curiously, “Old Bai, are you sure you don’t have a wife?Then what about the bite mark on your shoulder? Who bit you? “

Bai Huo shrugged deliberately, beaming,“Guess?”

The crowd booed, a few familiar workersquipping: “I didn’t realize that you played so openly.”

“What baseless assumptions are you making?”Bai Huo patted his shoulder and snorted. “My son bit me.”

The crowd didn’t believe him at all:“I always hear you mentioning your son this, your son that. Where’s thisson? You’ve been here for almost five years, why hasn’t he come to visit you?”

Bai Huo drunkenly turned around, his longleg kicking out: “You talk too much!”

“What’s all this commotion?! Don’t youknow that I’m entertaining a VIP today–” During the liveliness, three menaggressively ran into the hall, all dressed in black and brown uniforms, the phoenixmark embroidered on each shoulder. These were the foremen of Yao Mountain, equivalentto the prison guards in human society.

When Bai Huo saw the dragon heading theprocession, his brows jumped. Grinning, he walked over to clap the other man’sshoulder: “Foreman Deng, long time no see.”

Foreman Deng felt pained as soon as he saw BaiHuo: “So it’s you, no wonder today is so noisy!”

“What’s noisy? Yao Mountain is sodeserted, what’s wrong with livening things up a bit?” Bai Huo lazily huggedhis beer jar and sat down cross-legged.

“Where did you get this?” As soonas Foreman Deng saw the familiar jug, his blood pressure began to soar. “BaiHuo, you thief!”

“Thief?” Bai Huo was upset.“Deng Hei, where is your evidence? It’s true that I drank a stolen altar yesterday,but the altar in my hand is clean. Which eye did you see me steal it with?”

“This is the beer that the distinguishedguests gave to Supervisor Zhao. There were six altars in total, and each altar wasengraved with a phrase. Look at it yourself, how can you not call thisstealing?” Deng Hei was furious.

Bai Huo’s cheeks were flushed red from the alcohol,he unhurriedly turned the jug around, and really found a few words written in beautiful,flowing cursive -it’s a pity that the words were unrecognizable.

Deng Hei calmly looked around the room, seeingLiu Jian Guo, who was shrinking behind the crowd, he scolded: “And you,Liu Jian Guo, come out! I caught you stealing things last night, yet you still haven’tlearned your lesson! It seems that the whipping wasn’t enough for you, huh?!“

Liu Jian Guo timidly tried to flee. DengHei’s whip swung out, the gale it generated instantly entering the ears.

All dragons sentenced to forced labor had aspecial black needle nailed into the divine bone at the back of their necks. Itssize was similar to that of an ordinary embroidery needle. Once the dragons werenailed with this black needle, they would lose all their spiritual powers, onlyretaining basic functions such as changing shape and self-healing. This blackneedle was forged from special materials, and needed to be taken out by a specialistafter completing their sentence. If another dragon forcefully removed it, it woulddamage the divine bone, in serious cases, it could even endanger life.

 Thismeasure was mainly to prevent the criminals from escaping. Dragons didn’t serveprison sentences like humans wearing manacles and shackles. Their personalfreedom wasn’t restricted. But if you wanted your spiritual power to be restored,you could only honestly finish your prison term. After completing the sentence,you can go get the black needle taken out.

Liu Jian Guo was originally slow, with nospiritual power, even a strong human could beat him up. Seeing the whip beforehis eyes, he covered his face in fright.

A “whack” sounded, but theexpected pain didn’t come. Liu Jian Guo tremblingly peeked between his fingers,and saw Bai Huo standing lazily in front of him, holding the beer jar in onehand, the other firmly wrapped around the whip.

The hall went silent, everyone dumbstruck.

“Deng Hei,” Bai Huo stared expressionlesslyat the dragon across from him. “It’s just a jar of beer, don’t you thinkyou’re taking this too far? With this whip, he wouldn’t be able to walk for amonth.”

Deng Hei fiercely tugged the whip, unexpectedly,he couldn’t pull it back. Angry, he roared: “Let go!”

“Oh …” Bai Huo tilted his head.

Since Deng Hei was pulling so eagerly, whenBai Huo suddenly let go, the whip naturally rebounded in the opposite direction,“whack”, smacking into its master’s chest.

Deng Hei stumbled back from the hit, almostvomiting blood.

The spectating dragons all burst intoroaring laughter, Bai Huo also laughed, holding the beer jar as he bent over inlaughter.

Deng Hei’s face turned purple, ignoring thepain, he crawled up, obviously furious. He gritted his teeth and pulled anothersilver whip out from his bosom: “See if you can still laugh!”

Bai Huo glanced over, his face changing:“Silver ring?”

One of the divine weapons of the fire dragontribe-the silver ringed whip. If this whip descended, in the best-case scenario,the flesh would be lacerated, in the worst case, the soul would be scattered!

Bai Huo turned around and kicked Liu JianGuo away: “Go hide.”

Seeing that the situation was escalating, theother two foremen hurriedly retreated, afraid that they would be affected. DengHei waved his whip, smacking it onto the ground, the floor cracking instantly.

Many of the gathered dragons had witnessedthe terror of this whip first hand, as soon as it came out, they didn’t stickaround to watch, tripping over each other to escape. Deng Hei was already muddle-headedfrom anger, seeing that Bai Huo was about to slip away, he caught up in twosteps, and raised his whip: “Bai Huo!”

However, the whip had barely swung out when,as if spelled by someone, it settled in the air, a blue aura quickly spreadingout along the whip and wrapping it up. Then, the silver whip broke away fromDeng Hei’s hand and fell softly into a pair of slender, fair hands.

Deng Hei was stunned, hurriedly lookingback.

A long-haired man of extraordinary temperamentseized the silver whip, shaking his head at him with a mild yet graveexpression: “Don’t.”

“Jing Lan?!” Bai Huo rubbed hiseyes fiercely, worried that he had started hallucinating from all the alcohol.

Deng Hei’s face flushed red, suddenly straighteningout, embarrassed. He saluted Jing Lan, then, unexpectedly disregarding Bai Huo stillon the ground, he turned and hurriedly retreated.

Bai Huo was completely dumbfounded. He staggeredup, glancing down at his hands, he looked up at Jing Lan again: “Just how muchdid I drink?”

Jing Lan bowed his head and chuckled, slowlyapproaching, he helped up the star struck Liu Jian Guo: “Are you hurt?”

Liu Jian Guo stared at Jing Lan, his mouth wideopen. He nodded blankly, then shook his head.

Jing Lan’s medical skills had already surpasseddivine, Liu Jian Guo’s injuries were examined in a short time. When he finally turnedto look at Bai Huo, his pair of peach blossom eyes were somewhat doubtful:“Why do you … look like this?”

“Ah …” Bai Huo grinned wantonly,causally patting the dust off his body. “I just let myself go since I haveno one to impress.”

Having said that, he peered out behind JingLan, excited: “If you’re here, then Lin Xi …”

Jing Lan turned around, but there was noone behind him.

“He was just here a minute ago.”Jing Lan said truthfully.

Bai Huo shook from head to toe, immediatelysobering up: “He … he’s here?”

“His injury has already healed.”Jing Lan nodded.

For the first time, Bai Huo was annoyed at himselffor getting so drunk so early in the morning. If he hadn’t drunk so much, howcould he have forgotten to check his son’s position after leaving the mountain?

It’s been five years … he hadn’t seen himin five years. He didn’t know if the little cub would still remember him.Although he was very clingy back then, he was still very young, the two hadonly been together for no more than half a year, much less than his time spentat the Water Dragon Palace. Maybe, the child has long forgotten this father.Now, the little cub might be more close to Jing Lan than with him.

He was obviously here, but he didn’t wantto see him. Thinking of this, Bai Huo was like a 100-year-old man whose heart wasbroken by his son, unable to hide his disappointment.

“Has Lin Xi already forgottenme?” Bai Huo slid down to the floor, and leaned against the table, feelingdepressed.

Jing Lan looked at him quietly, apparentlyunable to understand the meaning behind this question.

Hearing his silence, Bai Huo’s heart brokeeven more. He hugged the table’s leg, choking with emotion, he smiled wryly:“I know … It’s my fault, I’m not a good dad …”

“You don’t know just how adorable and cleverhe was when he was small …” Bai Huo resolutely wiped his eyes, then pouredthe remaining half of the beer into his mouth, apparently planning to drown hissorrows.

There was a slight movement behind him, BaiHuo sniffed, feeling a light tap on his shoulder, he drunkenly looked back.

In the middle of his spinning field of view,a young boy in modern clothes stood squarely in front of him, a pair of quieteyes staring intently at him.

Jing Lan looked at the boy’s new clothes, theones he had refused to wear all throughout the journey. The cuteness was so overwhelmingthat Jing Lan’s brain was starting to bubble again. Ah, did you leave just to changeyour clothes?

Bai Huo looked at the young boy’s lovelyfacial features, speechless, then he slapped his thigh with a bitter expression,slurring, “You … really look like my son.”

The young boy was eight or nine years old, almost reaching Jing Lan’s shoulders. When he heard his words, his expression changed slightly, and he silently crotched down, fixedly staring at Bai Huo. He just stared at him stubbornly, as if he wanted Bai Huo to confirm something.

“You don’t know how good my son is…” But Bai Huo was looking into a distant place, caught up in some kindof memory, “Even when he could barely stand up, he brought me flowers. Heate everything I gave him. He followed me everywhere I went. His name is Li …“

Bai Huo hiccupped, turning back to look intothe young boy’s eyes.

The world went quiet.

Bai Huo sat upright: “Lin … Lin Xi?”

Li Lin Xi looked at him for a long time,his shoulders clearly relaxing in relief: “You’ve woken up?”

Bai Huo stared at him in suspicion, then hesilently laid down, hugging the beer jug, mumbling as he turned in his sleep:“It’s time to stop drinking so much.”

Li Lin Xi: “…”

“Send him to his room.” Jing Lan chuckled.

Li Lin Xi looked back with a helpless expression.

Jing Lan walked over slowly, looking at BaiHuo’s bloodless lips, he explained, “He’s not like this just because he’s drunk.His pulse is unstable, he has most likely suffered internal injuries.”

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T/N:

Almost reaching Jing Lan’s shoulders- I swear that’s what it says, just how short is Jing Lan. The average9yr old is like 4ft 5in, he has to be at most 5ft 6in.