CG’s 10k discord event has ended! The prize of 2 bonus DDAS chapters has been selected by Mellownite, so here they are~ happy reading
Dinner was cooked food from the supermarket along with several dishes Zhuang Qing put together. After living in the human world for some time, Fu Li had already cultivated the habit of having three meals and supper a day. Feng Ruizhong and Kang Gu were also happy to eat with Fu Li at the same table, so the atmosphere was extremely harmonious the entire meal.
Clouds and mist coiled around the mountain. Kang Gu moved a small stool to the entrance of the hall and sat down, gazing out at the ink-black sky. He took out a fruit from his sleeves to nibble on.
“King,” Fu Li carried a stool over and sat near Kang Gu. “Why are you sitting here late at night?”
“Looking at the sky,” Kang Gu pointed at the sky. “Why aren’t you playing with Little Zhuang?”
“We’re together all the time at work, what’s there to play?” Fu Li rested a hand on Kang Gu’s back. “Uncle Feng said he wanted to teach him how to refine devices and brought him to the Divine Fire Hall.”
To Fu Li, Zhuang Qing was a yao cultivator with high innate talent. It was just that there had been no opportunity for his talent to be showcased since he didn’t have guidance from a good elder. If Zhuang Qing had been guided by Reflecting Mist Mountain’s elders like he had, his future prospects would definitely be greater than his.
His refining ability was so-so, he was even more so-so at pill-concoction, his talismans and formations were just barely passable, and beast-taming was all Greek to him.
“Little Zhuang’s natural talent is indeed quite high,” Kang Gu had an exceedingly good impression of Zhuang Qing. Thinking that Fu Li had romantic feelings towards Zhuang Qing, he was even more willing to praise Zhuang Qing and make Fu Li happy. “What plans do you have for the future?”
“What plans?” Fu Li thought about it. “I want to first get a degree in the human world and then become a civil servant if the opportunity arises.”
“You want to be a government official in the human world?” The thought that his family’s child would have such an idea had never crossed Kang Gu’s mind.
“Apart from these, I don’t know what I can do for the time being,” Fu Li told Kang Gu about the news he had watched after waking up and the interesting things that had occurred after he joined the management bureau. “I want to help my pet take a good look at the flourishing human world.”
“The human called Bo Lian?” Kang Gu had never forgotten the human with the name of Bo Lian, because he had had the golden glow of virtue of someone who had been a virtuous person for ten lifetimes, as well as the purple cloud of a monarch. Little Li’s natal chart had undergone a change after saving him.
A virtuous person for ten lifetimes, a monarch for three lifetimes – for a human with such a fate, even if he hadn’t been conferred the status of a god in the human world, he would definitely reincarnate into an individual of virtue and prestige. Unfortunately, a human with such a fate was too extraordinary. He couldn’t divine the trajectory of Bo Lian’s fate.
“En,” Fu Li nodded. “He told me many things about the human world. Although the current human world differs from what he told me, it’s still very interesting.”
“It’s been so many years, it’s surprising that you still remember him,” In Kang Gu’s memories, Bo Lian was an extremely talented man of nobility. After his arrival at Reflecting Mist Mountain, he hadn’t lost much of his composure because they were yao cultivators, nor had greed risen in his heart upon seeing the gold, silver, and gems in the mountain.
Elegant demeanor, extraordinary bearing – this was Kang Gu’s evaluation of Bo Lian.
It was a pity that humans had short lifespans. Or perhaps this was fate predetermined by the Heavens. A few years after Bo Lian started living on Reflecting Mist Mountain, his body suddenly weakened. No medicine was effective. After his death, Little Li sank into a deep sleep from sadness.
Now that he recalled the matters of that time, Kang Gu couldn’t be more glad that Fu Li had fallen deeply asleep. If heavenly law had sealed him in a corner of the world like them and punished him day after day without sleep, how much pain would he be in?
“I am a good, responsible owner,” Fu Li spoke about the dog yao he had met while working. “To dogs, they would be ecstatic if their human owner treated them kindly and didn’t forget them after they passed on. That pet of mine probably had such thoughts as well.”
“Little Li, humans are different from dogs,” Kang Gu was a broad-minded auspicious beast, but even then, humans were much more complex creatures compared to other animals.
“You’ve never thought about seeking him out these few years?” Kang Gu teased him without thinking. “With him, your understanding of the human world might increase.”
“He is another person in his next life. The past is akin to smoke, what would I find him for?” Fu Li couldn’t understand. “I raised that year’s pet, that year’s Bo Lian. Who his reincarnation is and what he possesses has no relation to me.”
Sometimes, Kang Gu wondered whether Fu Li had such thoughts because he didn’t understand emotions or because his mental state had already undergone supreme enlightenment, enabling him to see through the cycle of life and death and the true essence of emotions.
“What’s more, Zhuang little dragon is still around to teach me anything I don’t understand,” Fu Li shook his head. “The past cannot be pursued, cherish the present.”
“You’re right. The past cannot be pursued, why not cherish the people in the present?” Kang Gu laughed heartily. “That’s how cultivators ought to be. Meeting Bo Lian was your fortune, it is also your fortune that you now know Zhuang Qing.” Kang Gu looked up at the sky. “Heavenly law is merciless yet merciful. All living things will have a chance at survival.”
Fu Li couldn’t comprehend why the topic had suddenly shifted to chances at survival. Thinking that Kang Gu was lamenting about his experiences these years, he nodded as well. “King is right.”
“Zhuang Qing is quite a good yao. You’re two thousand years older than him, don’t let him down,” Kang Gu stroked Fu Li’s head. “Us yao from Reflecting Mist Mountain must be morally upright, do not be half-hearted or do anything unfaithful.”
There seemed to be something off about these words. Fu Li felt that King Ganglie might have misunderstood something.
“Fu Li,” Zhuang Qing was standing beside the door engraved with flowers. Under the light of the night pearls, his tall and straight posture softened a little and lost some of his usual aloofness.
Fu Li looked back on conditioned reflex after hearing Zhuang Qing’s voice. “Ai.”
He glanced down at the time. It was already his usual sleeping time. He spoke to Kang Gu, “King, it’s late, I should be going to bed. I’ll prepare the food tomorrow morning with Zhuang little dragon. We’ll definitely give you a whole table of dishes at that time.”
“Sure sure sure,” Kang Gu naturally had no objections, smiling so widely that his whole face exuded good cheer. “Then the two of you quickly go to bed.”
Fu Li’s footsteps paused. This statement was even more wrong.
Zhuang Qing stood on the spot and waited for Fu Li. Only when Fu Li reached him did he continue proceeding forward. “Refining is very interesting.”
“En, King and Uncle Feng said that you’re a very talented junior,” As Fu Li walked beside Zhuang Qing, he took out an eight treasures colored glass lamp from his Qiankun pouch to hold in his hand. The glass was as transparent as clear water, and an enormous night pearl was contained inside it. Not only did it illuminate the path beneath their feet, it also lit up the mountain fog in the palace.
Fu Li sent Zhuang Qing to the door. Zhuang Qing took one step past the threshold while Fu Li remained outside. Zhuang Qing turned to look at him without closing the room door.
Zhuang Qing’s eyes were very bright under the glow of the night pearl, as bright as the stars Fu Li had seen on Reflecting Mist Mountain. They were beyond good-looking. Suddenly, Fu Li thought that being Dao Companions with Zhuang little dragon didn’t seem… half-bad?
“What’s wrong?”
A slightly rough palm was placed on his forehead. The hollow of this palm wasn’t as soft as Sister Zhu Yue’s, but it was warm.
“It’s not hot, why is your face red?” Zhuang Qing had one foot outside the threshold and one foot inside. The distance between him and Fu Li was minuscule.
Fu Li touched the spot on his forehead that Zhuang Qing had touched and raised his head, looking at him. “Zhuang little dragon, I have a question I want to ask you.”
The raised corners of Zhuang Qing’s mouth lowered slightly. His eyes remained as bright as starlight. “What?”
“If you don’t reproduce with a female dragon, will the golden dragon clan become extinct?”
“The golden dragon clan has already become extinct, I’m only half-dragon,” Zhuang Qing raised a brow. “So this worry of yours came a bit late.”
“I understand,” Fu Li had a short moment of contemplation. “I’m the only member of this clan of mine, so the clan can also be considered extinct.”
Zhuang Qing wanted to ask what he meant by that, but in the end, Fu Li turned and left with a heavy expression all over his face.
“Why did this stupid yao suddenly think about an issue like clan reproduction?” Zhuang Qing closed the door, his heart laden with worry. Had Senior Kang Gu told Fu Li something that made him want to have children?
How could a male yao incapable of giving birth be together with a male yao who wanted children?
Zhuang Qing sat on the spiritual jade bed, too preoccupied to look at how priceless the display items were in the room and how luxurious the jade-crafted walls were. His mind was wholly focused on Fu Li wanting children.
He had thought that everything would be fine when Fu Li was enlightened, but he hadn’t considered what he would do if Fu Li liked another female yao after he was enlightened.
Silently wish him happiness and then bury his feelings in the depths of his heart?
F*ck silently wishing him happiness.
Zhuang Qing expressionlessly punched the headboards. Wishing him happiness was an impossibility. In this lifetime, he would never do that.
On a certain forum at this time, the netizens were going crazy on the post made by ‘Mighty and Majestic Rabbit’.
At the start, this post had attracted quite a few drama-watching netizens because the OP was male and was being secretly liked by another man. After that, this OP said something about gifting a villa, gemstones, and whatnot, which made everyone suspect the OP of intentionally fabricating a story and cheating everyone of a good time, thereby inviting the mockery of even more netizens. Above all, everyone discovered that the OP never appeared again after they exposed the OP as a liar, which resulted in them being even more certain that the post was purely made up.
Little Strong’s Brother is Called Big Strong: I’ll weakly make this statement – read this post with the neighboring hugely popular post and you might have an even more beautiful experience. Maybe the OP wasn’t lying; he’s just too rich.
This netizen’s comment attracted countless jeers the moment it appeared. There were even some people who called him the OP’s sockpuppet. Of course, there were also many idle and bored netizens who really went over to the neighboring post.
Those who didn’t read it would be left in the dark, while those who took one glance at it were shocked. Many details coincidentally matched up, so much so that it bordered on scary.
Mighty and Majestic Rabbit said that his good friend bought little umbrellas at the supermarket and in that post, it was mentioned that Chairman Zhuang and the Little Assistant had also bought little umbrellas today when walking around the supermarket.
Mighty and Majestic Rabbit said that the most expensive gift his friend had given him was a villa and in that post, it was also mentioned that Chairman Zhuang gave Little Assistant a villa worth several tens of millions.
All that stuff about working together and being thought of as a couple by many people also matched up with many details on the neighboring post. The netizens fell silent. They scrolled up to their curses at the OP and silently applied to the forum moderator for deletion.
It was okay if it was just a coincidence, but if the OP was really Chairman Zhuang’s little assistant, that would be unbelievable…
Flower: So Chairman Zhuang and Little Assistant aren’t together yet, and Chairman Zhuang’s secret love is one-sided?
Crabs Taste Bad: Kneeling and begging for the OP to come back and take a look. The words we said at the start were just a joke. What we actually wanted to say is that you and your good friend are a match made in Heaven and Earth, and that you should quickly get together.
Potato: Being rich is really good, I want my male friend to casually give me a villa and for me to casually give him a bag of gems too.
Can Fish Fly: Being rich is really good +1
Nonsensical Cloth: All those brothers who cursed the OP should eat some good food at home. If Chairman Zhuang knows that you guys actually cursed Little Assistant on the net like that, go and think what your outcome will be.
The netizens who had cursed: …
Fu Li tossed and turned on the bed, unable to sleep. He took out his phone to scroll through the post and realized that a small fire symbol had actually appeared at the back of the post he had previously sent, indicating that his post had exploded in popularity.
“These humans have so much energy, they can even curse me till the post went up in popularity,” Fu Li clicked open the post and discovered that the top was indeed all curses directed at him, but the style at the bottom was completely different. They were all ‘Little Assistant, we were wrong’, ‘Little Assistant, kneeling and pleading for you and Chairman Zhuang to get together’, and so on.
Flower: OP, if you really are Little Assistant, please believe that Chairman Zhuang truly loves you very much. Words can deceive, but the eyes will never lie. Chairman Zhuang’s eyes only have you. [picture] [picture]
The netizen called Flower sent quite a few photos in succession. Whether it was static or moving, all of them were sent out. But in every photo, Zhuang Qing’s gaze was always on him.
Especially the moving photo where he was reaching out to help Zhuang Qing put on the panda ears. Zhuang Qing was looking helplessly at him like he was indulging an unreasonable child, with an all-encompassing tenderness.
Fu Li had never noticed all these before. But now that these netizens posted them, even Fu Li himself nearly believed that Zhuang Qing really liked him.
On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month – the last day of the Year of the Rabbit – Fu Li pushed open the windows. He stretched his head out. The sky was a vast expanse of white, and snow was once again falling from the sky.
“Put on your clothes and come out for breakfast,” Someone rapped him on the head.
Fu Li covered his head. Looking at the vigorous and handsome Zhuang Qing, the words in his heart slipped out, “Zhuang little dragon, do you…”
“Don’t find a female yao to have children with,” Zhuang Qing suddenly closed the distance between them. “The Hou is born from the Heavens and nurtured by the Earth. No matter which female yao you’re with, the children that are born won’t be Hou.”
Fu Li’s eyes widened, his gaze fixed on Zhuang Qing’s face. The rabbit in his heart was hopping about.
He seemed to have learnt how to appreciate the good looks of humans.