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Chapter 4




　　Chapter 4
　　Bai Huo lived near the old forestry station in the eastern suburbs.
The wooden house was bought from an old lady, it was a little old, but it was more convenient to live in a single house when keeping a secret identity. When it snowed in winter, the opening of the reservoir would freeze, becoming a pure white together with the surrounding woods. At first glance, it looked like a winter paradise.
　　Early in the morning, Bai Huo was holding hiscoat in one hand, and three breakfast crepes in his other, unsteadily pushinghis door closed with his shoulders.
　　”Thump”, the door closed, and the fatbird immediately flew out of the scarf, circling around the three crepes andsniffing, accurately pulling out the one with the extra eggs and chowing down.
　　Because BaiHuo had no choice but to slowly walk to the sofa to put down the little dragon,when he turned around, the double egg crepe was already being devoured.
　　”Fat chicken, that’s cannibalism ah.”
　　The fat bird “mmh humpd’’ for a long time, whoknew what abuses it was hurling.
　　The little dragon had fallen asleep on the wayhere, which spared Bai Huo a lot of trouble. The first few days following a youngdragon’s birth, the divine bone would slowly awaken, involuntarily releasing alittle divine power occasionally. Like releasing a puff of fire, or suddenly changingshape and the like. Never mind a little destruction here and there, but exposingyour identity was very troublesome. Bai Huo was on edge the whole journey, butfortunately, this little cub didn’t have any plans to make a fuss. As soon ashe’d held him close, he’d automatically curled up into a ball, and fell asleepin the crook of his arm, very obedient.
　　Gently putting down his coat on the sofa, BaiHuo stared at the small face poking out of the collar for a long time. The littledragon was covered in fine fuzz, as if he came with his own bloom effect, and hissmall claws were plump, very cute. Maybe it was because of malnutrition, hiscoat was very faint, not like a dragon, but like an artic wolf on a snowy field.His physique was also slightly off, the tail was too long and the wings weretoo big, the dragon cubs Bai Huo had seen in the past didn’t quite look like this.
　　In terms of dragon esthetics, he almost lookedalien.
　　The dragons were a divine race born from the primordialchaos when the heavens and earth first opened. Their divine bone was bestowedby the heavens, so their physical appearance was generally not lacking. Even inhuman form, their appearance would be a few grades higher than an ordinaryhuman.
　　Bai Huo lifted the little dragon cub’s tail andpinched it for a while, thinking that it was no wonder human babies competed incuteness, it must be to prevent them from being thrown away by their parentswhen they cried too much. In current human society where everyone still lookedat the face, being good-looking was awfully advantageous. Bai Huo himself hasalso shamefully taken advantage of this fact.
　　This little guy also had a big advantage. He couldgrow up wantonly just by relying on his status as a last generation dragon. Inany case, the association wouldn’t dare not foster him. If this was the war-tornera, it was entirely possible for him to be abandoned if he had a cold-bloodedparent.
　　 Inthe end, the little dragon was a tiny thing, so even after Bai Huo examined himfor a long time, except for determining that he was a genuine baby dragon, hereally couldn’t make out his ancestry, and had no choice but to give up.
　　Taking advantage of the little one being soundasleep, Bai Huo massaged his aching temples, and turned over the cupboard topull out a bottle of Qingke beer. Then he ran to the bathroom while drinking,filling the tub with hot water.
　　Bai Huo had a terminal case of laziness. Afterbuying this house, he never did any renovations. The only thing he did was paysomeone to repair the bathroom and install a modern toilet and bathtub. The sadfact was that this less than eight square meter bathroom was the mostatmospheric place in the entire house.
　　The day had been really overwhelming, Bai Huo wasa bit out of energy. Holding the beer bottle, he sank into the hot water, slowlyunwinding.
　　Within the steam, two tall horns quietly appearedat the top of his head. The horns were also white, almost the texture of muttonfat jade, it and its owner’s skin tone complemented each other.
　　Bai Huo lazily flexed his legs in the water, hiswhole body relaxing into the water, his head tilted, revealing a slender neckline. Under the influence of alcohol, a blush slowly emerged on his face.
　　The dragons have been lurking among mankindfor thousands of years. Many things had already become customary. For example, forthe sake of security, if it wasn’t an absolutely safe area, dragons nevershowed their real bodies. They usually dealt with daily life in their humanform, including sleeping, eating, etc.
　　This wasn’t problematic for Bai Huo. On thecontrary, he’d always been pleased with human civilization, especially the eating,drinking, prostitutes, gambling…uh, never mind the prostitutes.
　　Thinking of this, Bai Huo slowly opened hiseyes. Today’s growth environment was not like a hundred years ago, humanexpansion into the natural world had reached the point of pervasiveness, the littledragon cub would most likely be forced into human spaces from now on. He was soyoung, who knew if he’ll be able to adapt.
　　What if he failed and accidentally revealedhis identity…How would the association handle that? Would he be condemned?
　　”Ack–” A shriek was suddenly heardin the living room.
　　Because of the strong alcohol, Bai Huo’s reactionwas sluggish. After muttering a few words, he slowly climbed out of the bathtub.The horns on his head had already disappeared. He wiped off and pulled on apair of beach shorts before opening the bathroom door.
　　”What are you doing so early in themorning – Oh.” Bai Huo caught the little dragon cub that had pounced athim.
　　In less than ten minutes, the living room was rainingbird feathers, and the fat bird had pitifully covered his wings and wasthrowing a tantrum on the floor: “This little thing bites people, ah, it reallyhurts….”
　　Bai Huo asked helplessly: “He wassleeping so well, what did you do to him?”
　　The little dragon had obviously received afright, he buried his head in Bai Huo’s chest, letting out two cat-like soundsof complaint.
　　When BaiHuo was embraced this way, his heart melted, and he immediately felt a burst ofprotective instinct: “Shhh, nothing’s wrong, don’t be scared.”
　　”He’s obviously the one who rushed overto bite me!” The fat bird flapped its wings.
　　Bai Huo patted the trembling little dragon cub,asking softly: “I was just taking a bath, do you want to bathe too? You, uhh,smell like raw eggs.”
　　As he spoke, he brought the little one to thebathroom, ignoring the fat bird’s bawling behind him.
　　The water in the bathtub was still hot, but BaiHuo wasn’t too concerned about this, and he directly tossed the dragon cub in. Helooked around, trying to find the shower gel, not sure where he’d last left it.
　　Bai Huo generallydidn’t use human detergents; the scents were way too strong. With his sensitivesense of smell, they stimulated him like a drug. Someone once gave him a free bottleof shampoo for a supermarket promotion. He’d used it out of curiosity and feltdazed for several days.
　　The little dragon was covered from head to toein egg liquid, water alone probably wouldn’t be enough to clean him. At thistime, he could only rely on the human race’s vast wisdom. Bai Huo fished aboutfor a long time, and finally pulled out a half bottle of shower gel from thedrawer. He looked at the bottle, surprisingly not expired.
　　Bai Huo pinched his nose and poured some out intohis hand. He walked to the bathtub and found that the little dragon wasfloating on his back. Like a small otter, two delicate claws lying on his chest,swinging his tail, happily swimming back and forth.
　　”Well, you’re gonna enjoy this,” BaiHuo pulled him closer to the edge and smiled. “Come on, close youreyes.”
　　The little baby dragon’s sense of smell wasn’tfully developed yet, so it wasn’t sensitive to anti-dragon things like this showergel. He’d noticed that his whole body had become slippery, but he was veryhappy, incessantly chasing after Bai Huo’s fingers.
　　This marked the beginning of Bai Huo’s suffering.After all, he was incompetent at life. When he came to do battle, he regretfullyrealized that his bathing ability wasn’t as skilled as his mahjong. He struggledfor a long time, pasting and rubbing, somehow managing to cover himself inbubbles.
　　In the end, at his wit’s end, he could onlythrow the dragon cub back into the water and let him swim around, consideringthe project complete.
　　One man and one dragon “bathed” thencame out of the bathroom. The fat bird was already eating a second breakfastcrepe, it looked up at the two with a look of incredulity.
　　”What, never seen a divine being bathebefore?”
         “Well I’ve certainly never seen such a rotten divine being…”The fat bird looked at the little dragon cub. “Was he not afraid ofwater?”
　　“Ah right…” BaiHuo said vaguely. He stared blankly for a moment, then shivered, suddenly soberingup.
　　Fat bird: “…”
　　Just how drunk were you?
　　In fact, not every dragon could swim. Dragons couldbe roughly divided into three types: water dragon, earth dragon and firedragon, which were equivalent to humanity’s ocean, land and air military. Onlywater dragons were born with natural swimming ability. A few earth dragons couldstay in water for a short time after learning how to swim. And fire dragons werecompletely at odds with water, entering water was a quick way to commit suicide.
　　”So…you’re a baby water dragon, huh?”Bai Huo pinched the little dragon cub’s tail and lisped, “Oh, the tail is alittle thick.”
　　Water dragons were born to swim, thanks inlarge part to their flat, long, sting-ray like flexible tails, which could beused to freely control their speed and direction in the water. Relativelyspeaking, their scales were also the weakest, in order to help them feel the currentand temperature of the water. The color of their scales was mostly cool colorssuch as blue and green, which acted as camouflage in water.
　　Luckily, this little guy was a water dragon,Bai Huo thought, slightly traumatized. Otherwise, he would’ve just committed amajor sin.
　　The fat bird swallowed the last bite of crust,burping in satisfaction, then its claws reached for the third crepe.
　　The little dragon heard the sound and pokedhis head out from Bai Huo’s shoulder, looking at the fat bird, gulping.
　　”What are you looking at? Ask your cheapdad for food!” The fat bird humphed.
　　Bai Huo explained: “He wants to eatyou.”
　　”…” The fat bird silently withdrewhis claw.
　　”You hungry?” Bai Huo patted the littledragon and grabbed the crepe from the fat bird, holding it up to the littledragon’s mouth.
　　Poor little dragon, it was his first mealafter birth, yet he was immediately forced to confront this huge monster that wasn’tmuch smaller than his own body. He side eyed his senseless temporary dad, then stretchedout his nose and sniffed, tentatively taking a small bite.
　　The fat bird furiously flew to the top of BaiHuo’s head and stomped, expressing his dissatisfaction.
　　”Tastes good?” Bai Huo grinned and touchedthe little dragon’s head, moving the crepe back to his mouth. “Let’s eatsome more.”
　　Unexpectedly, the little dragon cub took twobites, then his small face wrinkled into a ball, and he buried his face in BaiHuo’s chest, not eating.
　　”Look, he doesn’t like human food.”The fat bird was elated, it flew down and grabbed the crepe, carrying it out throughthe window.
　　Obviously, this little thing hadn’t ‘imprinted’on the food. Bai Huo didn’t expect him to be a picky eater, it was quite surprising.
　　”What do you want to eat?” Bai Huoasked.
　　The little dragon glanced at him, then waddledup a stool and rested his two front paws on the window sill, looking out at thenearby reservoir, then anxiously looking back at Bai Huo.
　　Meaning, he wanted to go out.
　　”You want to go out to eat?” Bai Huowas happy, completely not feeling that there was anything wrong with casuallytaking a barely mobile newborn outside, saying in delight “Let’s go!”
　　After saying this, Bai Huo started looking forhis windbreaker, but once he stooped down to pick it up, he felt a wave of dizziness.When he got up, he was unsteady on his legs, and almost fell back down.
　　The little baby dragon saw this and quicklyran over.
　　Bai Huo sat on the ground, dizzy, his backagainst the sofa, his palm on his forehead: “Baby, sorry, it seems I’m alittle drunk. I’ll call in some take-out for you, let’s go out tonight instead,okay?”
　　The little dragon cub clearly understood, obedientlysqueezing into Bai Huo’s arms.
　　Bai Huo stared at his swaying horns, wondering,this kid’s IQ seemed to be beyond the standard? He even understood the conceptof ‘drunk’.
　　He scrolled through a few pictures of food onhis phone.
　　”Cake? Fried chicken? Rice bowl? Milkshake?”Bai Huo flipped pages, asking.
　　As his finger scrolled past one page, Bai Huonoticed that the little cub’s paw had reached out and he quickly scrolled back,asking: “You want to eat this?”
　　This was a grilled fish from a nearby traditionalrestaurant. In order to highlight the freshness of their fish, the store owner hadincluded two pictures of a lively fish.
　　The little dragon silently pressed his softpaw to the middle of the screen, not moving.
　　Bai Huo was shot by the cuteness, indulgently saying:“Okay, I’ll order this right away.”
　　He ordered the roast fish, also adding in twobowls of sweet congee. When the order was placed, Bai Huo felt extremely sleepy,his eyes refusing to stay open. He shouted for the fat bird, but no one answered.He had no choice but to turn on the old dusty TV set, flip to the parentingchannel, and climb onto the sofa. He held the little dragon in his arms andfell asleep.
　　*
　　Today was Monday, early morning, and the city wasdisplaying its unique charm – traffic, endless, impenetrable traffic. On themain road, two police cars flashed their lights and zipped down the emergencylane, and a meddlesome driver looked out of his window.
　　”So early in the morning, was there anaccident?”
　　”Who knows, there’s been no peace lately.”
　　”…”
　　”bang-” a loud noise broke the silenceof the Xi City office, and a furious snarl opened the prologue of the week:“I don’t care what method Luo Wen Xu uses, this situation must end, now.If there’s a fourth murder, your whole team had better pack up and beat it! OldSong, let’s go!”
　　The two’s footsteps sounded like a storm waspassing through the corridor. Inside the anxious office, everyone immersed themselvesin work, afraid of being noticed by the superiors.
　　Ji Bei lagged behind: “Take care, Yang Ju.”
　　A young police officer, Lu Luo, bit into a steamedbun, and raised her head from behind her desk, asking in concern: “Vice-Captain,are you okay?”
　　Ji Bei rubbed his obviously sleep deprived eyes,tiredly saying: “It’s nothing, continue on.”
　　”But Yang Ju is being so…ugh! Captain Luorushes to the crime scene as quickly as possible, he’s actually a really good captain.He doesn’t even need to ask about the case before figuring out the murderer.”Lu Luo was indignant. “They only take advantage of when the fierce CaptainLuo isn’t here to bully you. Just wait for Captain Luo to come back, I’m goingto complain!”
　　Xi City really hadn’t encountered such adifficult case in years, it’s not like Ji Bei didn’t understand, but the superiorshave been too comfortable these years, and had already forgotten that Luo WenXu was also a mortal.
　　Although Lu Luo’s words were unprofessional,as a violent crime detective working in the same unit, Ji Bei still felt verypleased to hear these words. He joked in a low voice: “You’re not afraid ofthem hearing you and singling you out? Later…
　　”Ah, what’s wrong Vice-Captain?!”
　　Before he could take a bite of breakfast thismorning, Ji Bei had been dragged in by the superiors to be reprimanded. Nowthat the superiors had left, he felt somewhat dizzy. Everyone heard the shoutand came over to help him sit down, Lu Luo immediately went to get him a glassof sugar water.
　　”It’s nothing, I’m fine.” Ji Bei’sface was deathly pale, he waved his hand weakly. “You guys can go back towork. I’ll be okay after taking a short break, thanks.”
　　”Vice-Captain, don’t collapse ah.” LuLuo’s eyes were red, she stretched out to pull open a drawer, “I think Istill have two buns hidden here, eat it.”
　　Ji Bei shook his head, politely declining herkindness.
　　Lu Luo felt a burst of helplessness, just asshe was about to close the drawer, Ji Bei noticed that there was a yellow bookinside it. He asked, “Wait, what’s that?”
　　”What?” Lu Luo pulled the draweropen again, and tilted her head, saying, “I think this is Xiao Shu’s.”
　　Ji Bei has been on the front lines for manyyears, he was very sensitive to suspicious items. He reached for the book.
　　It was a vertical handwritten, thread bound manual.Looking at the wear and tear of the paper, it was at least forty years old. Thetitle was very worn out, he could only vaguely distinguish a few of thecharacters. It was “Dragon Search Manual”. Ji Bei flipped through itand couldn’t make heads or tails out of it. It was a completely messy pattern,and some symbols were indiscernible. Nowadays, these kinds of old books were rare.Ji Bei couldn’t help but find it a little strange.
　　He looked around and asked: “Is Xiao Shustill not here yet?”
        “Hewent to the Family Affairs Division.”
　　Seeing Ji Bei’s confusion, Lu Luo hurriedly explained:“As soon as he came in this morning, he started chattering nonstop aboutthat zoologist yesterday and asking for his name, then he ran to the FamilyAffairs Division to look up his household registration.”
　　Ji Bei frowned: “What a troublemaker.”