Chapter 114: Nian

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

The winter fog and rain as fine as silk threads was both cold and entangling. With one breath, a slight chill would penetrate the depths of the heart.

Zhuang Qing was slightly regretful after the words escaped his mouth. Telling any yao straight to their face that their race was unable to continue reproducing as normal was always a surefire way of infuriating the other party.

Fu Li looked at Zhuang Qing with his mouth wide open, seemingly not having thought that Zhuang Qing would consider such a thing. He blinked dazedly and touched his chest in an attempt to press the continuously hopping rabbit down. “But I don’t have any intentions to have a little Hou with a female yao.”

Just thinking about how much energy his elders on Reflecting Mist Mountain had spent on raising him was enough for Fu Li to feel that raising children was an extremely scary affair, particularly for people like him.

“Since you don’t have any intentions to have a little Hou with a female yao, then you can consider being together with a male yao. Best if the male yao can cook, fight, has cars, houses, and status in the human world, dislikes having ambiguous relationships with other yao or humans, and won’t scheme against you,” Zhuang Qing’s face was solemn. “And also good-looking.”

Fu Li remained silent, his eyes wide open. But the rabbit in his left chest still hadn’t been pressed down by him and instead started bounding about with heightened intensity.

“For example…” Zhuang Qing’s luminous eyes were fixed on Fu Li. The expression on his face was even more solemn and serious than usual. “Me.”

“Ah?!” Fu Li felt that he might be heavenly law’s dearest son. He just had a tiny bit of unspoken intentions towards Zhuang Qing when the person in question took the initiative to confess. He hadn’t made things difficult for Fu Li at all.

Seeing Fu Li’s stupefied look, Zhuang Qing pursed the corners of his mouth. “I thought about it carefully. Other than me, no one else of age in the yao world is worthy of being with you.”

Fu Li silently wondered why he had never known about Zhuang Qing’s narcissism.

“It’s fine if you’re unwilling to be with me now, I’ll ask you again after a period of time,” Zhuang Qing wasn’t accustomed to saying thick-faced words. His cheeks and the tips of his ears had turned a subtle red. Even then, he still said it. As if only by doing so would he have a reason to continue being with Fu Li and to be present in Fu Li’s future. “Until you agree.”

In Fu Li’s memories, Zhuang Qing was a taciturn yet arrogant young dragon who didn’t indulge in small pleasures like his other colleagues. He was the symbol of the management bureau – calm, rational, brave, with virtually no emotional weaknesses.

“Okay,” Fu Li squinted as he smiled, nodding.

Zhuang Qing stared blankly, momentarily uncertain whether Fu Li was saying that he could continue asking in the future or if.. he agreed to be with him.

Seeing the way Zhuang Qing stood there foolishly, Fu Li extended a hand and poked him on the forehead. “Didn’t we agree to make the twelve zodiac buns today?”

“En…” Zhuang Qing gradually came back to his senses and realized that Fu Li had already dragged him to the entrance of the kitchen. His flawless shirt sleeves were wrinkled by Fu Li’s grip, completely lacking the flair of a high-end product.

“Fu Li, are you…” Zhuang Qing wanted to ask Fu Li if he agreed for them to be together, but when he saw Feng Ruizhong and Kang Gu seated at the doorsteps of the kitchen, he swallowed his words.

If these two elders knew that he harbored such intentions towards Fu Li, they might chase him out of the flying palace right there and then, never allowing him even one step near the flying palace.

He endured the surging emotions in his heart and finished making breakfast. The four yao sat together. Apart from Zhuang Qing who still wasn’t talkative, Fu Li, Feng Ruizhong, and Kang Gu spiritedly discussed what they would eat for lunch and dinner.

“Little Li, what do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you,” Kang Gu had a mysterious confidence in his own culinary skills.

“King, how can this sort of small thing be done by you? Zhuang Qing’s cooking is quite good and he’s also your junior, it can’t be more appropriate for him to do the cooking,” Kang Gu’s proclamation that he would cook scared Fu Li into hurriedly pulling on Zhuang Qing’s hand and making eyes at him. “Right, Zhuang little dragon?”

Seeing the way Fu Li looked, Zhuang Qing recalled him mentioning before that he most feared eating King Ganglie’s food. Suppressing the emotions in his heart, Zhuang Qing nodded. “Fu Li is right, leave these things to me. Senior Kang and Fu Li haven’t met for many years, chat more now that you’re together. Fu Li often mentioned all of you to me, he’s missed all of you these few years. Now that you’ve finally reunited, how can you waste your time on this sort of small thing?”

Zhuang Qing seldom spoke so much and whenever he did, it was always to echo Fu Li’s words. Feng Ruizhong and Kang Gu were both somewhat embarrassed by this. What was their family’s child doing bullying the person by their side?

“Little Zhuang, this child has been spoiled by us since young, don’t go along with him for everything,” Feng Ruizhong watched Fu Li smile till even his eyes became unnoticeable. “The more spoiled he is, the more shortcomings he’ll have.”

“No, Fu Li is very good,” Zhuang Qing stated. “He’s helped me very much at the bureau and he’s of good character as well. All the cultivators in the bureau are very fond of him.”

Feng Ruizhong shook his head. Truly, beauty lay in the eyes of the beholder. As elders, they were very clear in their hearts the shortcomings and strengths Fu Li possessed. Ever since their meal started, they had discovered that Zhuang Qing would occasionally glance at Fu Li in secret, while Fu Li still thoughtlessly ate and ate and ate, smiling like a fool.

If he wasn’t their family’s child, he would have been brought out for a beating. But they loved their family’s child dearly, and could only close one eye.

After their meal, Kang Gu insisted on remaining in the kitchen to help, so Fu Li had no choice but to stay behind as well and knead the dough with Feng Ruizhong at a corner.

Fu Li wasn’t about to be outdone. He started making the once-hated dragon, but in order to express that his liking was only for the golden dragon and that the other dragons were still slags, he specially chose to make the dragon body with cornmeal.

After Zhuang Qing’s successful transformation, half his dragon body had evolved into the true body of the Aquatic Emperor Fu Li saw. To show off the golden dragon’s might and majesty, he directly took half the cornmeal.

The dragon horns had to be handsome, the dragon beard had to be elegant and full, and the bull nose could be done a little less realistically. The key points were the dragon’s mysterious meandering form and its pretty golden scales.

“Oh, Little Li, that eel’s not bad,” Kang Gu, who had come over to retrieve the steamer basket, took a glance and suppressed his conscience, praising him. “Vivid, lifelike, lively, and fascinating.”

Fu Li threw down the knife he had been using to carve the dragon scales. “But I’m making a dragon.”

“It’s…” Kang Gu blanked out for two seconds. “It’s still very lifelike.”

Other than ‘lifelike’, he had no other words of praise left.

The dragon and Feng done by Fu Li and Feng Ruizhong took up a good half of the steamer basket while the other zodiacs shrunk aggrievedly at a corner of the other half, completely lacking any sense of presence.

Kang Gu carried the steamer basket to the pot and asked Zhuang Qing, “Anything else we need to prepare?”

“Nothing much,” Zhuang Qing opened the cover of the steamer basket and glanced in. He smoothly picked up the rabbit squeezed at a corner and placed it beside the golden dragon’s head before expressionlessly putting the cover back on.

Kang Gu: … 

The young yao nowadays were really becoming more and more difficult to understand.

Washing the vegetables and cutting the meat were the next tasks. The four yao were clearly almighty figures with profound cultivation, yet they did them the exact way the humans did, and even did so with great zest.

“I got you to learn swordplay from Zhu Yue properly, but you insisted on dragging me along to be your playmate. Look at the shreds of potato you sliced, how is that considered shreds? Those are clearly strips.”

“If worst comes to worst, I’ll let Zhuang little dragon deep-fry potato strips for me. His deep-fried potato strips are delicious. Besides, you didn’t persuade me to return and learn swordplay properly when I played with you either.”

“Still talking back to me? Believe it or not, I will whip you.”

“Inflicting domestic violence on a child is not right.”

“A child who’s lived more than four thousand years?”

Hearing the bickering at the corner, Zhuang Qing looked back repeatedly. He couldn’t be bothered with the soup boiling in the pot. At this time, his entire mind was fixated on how he could get Fu Li to agree to be with him. Also, what exactly did Fu Li’s ‘okay’ mean?

“Don’t pay any heed to those two. They just met two days ago and were adjusting to the unfamiliarity, so they couldn’t argue then,” Kang Gu patted Zhuang Qing’s shoulder. “In the past, on Reflecting Mist Mountain, Old Feng was most fond of staying on the parasol tree at the entrance of Fu Li’s cave. Fu Li thought he was a little sparrow who couldn’t change forms and took him as a little partner of the same age. When they’re together, they’re either playing or arguing. Half of Little Li’s bad habits were brought about by Old Feng.”

More than five thousand years ago, Old Feng fought a fierce battle with a few fiends, causing his cultivation to take a huge hit. Since then, he assumed his childhood appearance in order to restore his vitality. Later on, after restoring his cultivation with much difficulty, he was sealed by several fiends capable of moving the mountains and seas with a single sneeze and naturally reverted to his childhood appearance.

Fu Li had never seen Old Feng when he changed forms, so when they first met a few days ago and Old Feng discovered that the little yao calling on them was Little Li, he thickened his skin and pretended to be a senior to scare Little Li into calling him uncle. His wish could be considered to have been granted.

The corners of Zhuang Qing’s mouth hooked up as he listened to Kang Gu’s descriptions of the past events on Reflecting Mist Mountain. “Fu Li has a very good relationship with Senior Feng.”

“Yeah,” Kang Gu sighed. Seeing that Feng Ruizhong and Fu Li were still quarreling, he told Zhuang Qing in a low voice, “The day I found him, he told me that if not for the fact that Fu Li hadn’t called him uncle, allowing him to hold on, he might not have persevered until the day the fire went out.”

Zhuang Qing looked back at the two yao who had turned the vegetables into a messy pile. He gave a light smile. “It’s quite good this way.”

“Yes, it’s quite good this way,” Kang Gu nodded.

The steaming of the buns was done. Kang Gu removed the cover of the steamer basket, and Fu Li and Feng Ruizhong went over. After steaming, the entire body of the originally ugly dragon and Feng swelled up, rendering them even uglier.

In contrast, the rabbit Zhuang Qing had previously pinched was squatting on the dragon’s head in a lively manner, the exact image of a rabbit borrowing a dragon’s might.

“It’s cooked,” Kang Gu touched the tiny steamed buns and placed the steamer basket at the side. “Eat at the side.” These two weren’t of any help in the kitchen; all they did from start to end was blindly stir up chaos.

Fu Li swept up the dragon and rabbit, telling Feng Ruizhong, “These belong to me and Zhuang little dragon.” Then, he took the little fat pig away as well. “This is for the king.”

Feng Ruizhong ignored him. He grabbed the steaming hot Fenghuang bun and bit into it. The ugly Fenghuang lost half its wings at once.

“Zhuang little dragon, come, for you,” Fu Li plucked the two dragon horns and delivered them to Zhuang Qing’s mouth. “Eat the dragon horns, eat the dragon horns. You’ll become the most beautiful dragon in the dragon world.”

There were only a total of fifty-plus dragons in the dragon clan now, was it very difficult to become the most beautiful one?

Looking at the dragon horn buns in Fu Li’s hand, Zhuang Qing lowered his head and ate them, touching Fu Li’s fingers by accident. Fu Li silently stole a glance at the rosy corners of Zhuang Qing’s mouth. Zhuang Qing’s gaze was fixed on Fu Li’s fingertips. He too remained silent.

“Little Zhuang, the oil’s going to turn old,” Kang Gu reminded him in a low voice.

Zhuang Qing returned to his senses. He spoke to Fu Li, “Go and play first, your clothes will be dirtied if the oil splatters.”

Fu Li nodded, telling him softly, “Then I’ll play with my phone outside, I’ll leave the rabbit bun for you.”

Zhuang Qing laughed gently. “Okay.”

Fu Li walked to the kitchen door with the hornless dragon bun and sat down. While nibbling on the bun, he fished out his phone and clicked on the forum page.

The area beneath his post was filled with netizen comments asking him and Zhuang Qing to get together, the total number of which had already exceeded five thousand. Even the forum moderator had also appeared to send an ‘eternal unity’ emoticon.

Fu Li saved some of the videos, gifs, and photos on his phone and then directly scrolled all the way down to the bottom. Amongst the numerous eagerly hopeful netizens, he replied to the post.

Mighty and Majestic Rabbit: Thank you everyone for your concern, we’re together now.

After sending out this reply, he placed his phone into his pocket and resolved to polish off the entire dragon, including the tail.

Flower: F*ck, OP really is Little Assistant?!

Crabs Taste Bad: It’s time to witness a historical moment.

Bye-Bye Moon: Has no one suspected this OP of pretending to be Little Assistant and deliberately sending this reply to deceive everyone?

The comment by the netizen called Bye-Bye Moon was supported by many netizens. To them, things couldn’t be this coincidental – the moment the neighboring post exploded in popularity, many small identical details appeared in this post. Successful figures like Little Assistant and Chairman Zhuang didn’t lack anyone by their sides, how could they come online to post?

But even more netizens could care less about the authenticity of the post. They were moved by the sweet romance in their imagination and went around various platforms promoting this post. The attention of innumerable netizens was attracted by this, nearly paralyzing the forum’s server.

“F*ck my ancestors, those two really got together?” The crested ibis had spent an entire day scrolling through the post without even sleeping. When he saw the OP’s reply stating that they were ‘together’, he nearly flung his phone. 

Many netizens took this matter for entertainment but he knew that this wasn’t someone fooling around. There was an eighth or ninth-tenths possibility that the poster really was Fu Li.

Thinking of Zhuang Qing’s viciousness when killing those yaoguai, the crested ibis’ shoulders couldn’t help trembling. He was truly worried that Zhuang Qing would swallow Fu Li the rabbit in one mouth if he was in a bad mood one day.

Rubbing his dry and fatigued eyes, he got up from the bed and walked to the windows, pushing them open. Snowflakes intermingled with cold air gushed into the room. He hurriedly shut the windows.

When Zhuang Qing and Fu Li dated, the presents they casually gave out consisted of villas and gemstones. On the other hand, he lived in a shabby second-hand house that wasn’t even seventy square meters. He, the national treasure of the bird world, couldn’t even bumble along as well as a rabbit. Truly an affair that would make listeners grieve and witnesses weep.

While he was off in another world, a red shadow with thick yao qi flashed past his window.

“What’s that?” The wave of intense yao qi made the crested ibis subconsciously hold his breath. There was a touch of uneasiness in his heart. According to bureau guidelines, yao cultivators could not give off overly-strong yao qi in the human world. If they were discovered by the management bureau, they would be punished.

He sneakily opened the window a crack. Apart from the remnants of yao qi in the air, there were no other visible traces that a yao cultivator had passed through.

“It’s the management bureau’s problem anyway, what am I worrying about?” The crested bis returned to his bed and picked up his phone to game. However, he lost three consecutive rounds shortly after he started.

“Forget it, I’d better report this to the management bureau,” The crested ibis logged out of the game and dug out the hotline for the bureau.

No matter what time it was, there were always yao cultivators on duty at the bureau. After receiving this warm-hearted yao’s call, they immediately reported the information to the various superiors of the yao teams and issued this piece of news on the yao world’s platforms.

The management bureau frequently issued all sorts of warning messages, but every incident was either handled in a timely manner by the bureau or there was a reporting error. Therefore, the cultivators who received this news continued to happily eat their sumptuous lunch and didn’t take this matter seriously.

The dispatched workers investigated the surroundings and even obtained surveillance footage in the vicinity, but didn’t discover the suspicious yaoguai mentioned by the crested ibis, much less any excessive amount of yao qi. Therefore, the management bureau categorized this matter as a reporting error.

The crested ibis saw the people from the management bureau arrive without managing to find anything and also thought that he had seen wrongly. But just as the sky was about to darken, he discovered the sound of human screams from outside, along with the crying sounds of children.

He lived in a small, old neighborhood. Although the houses weren’t very good, the number of people living here was not small. He hurriedly opened his windows and saw a malevolent-looking monster half-resembling a lion pounce towards two children. In a moment of despair, he leaped out of the window and yelled, “Yaoguai, release those two children.”

The monster halted its movements and turned to look at the crested ibis. It let out a roar, revealing white, dense teeth and bright red gums. The two children had long been scared silly, and didn’t dare cry nor run.

The crested ibis realized that there were even a few deathly-pale adults lying unconscious on the snow-covered ground beside the children.

The monster had fur similar to that of a lion and a lone horn emanating baleful qi on its head. The bloody qi engulfing its body was so thick that it could practically congeal into physical material.

When the crested ibis got a clear glimpse of the monster’s appearance, he was slightly regretful about rushing out in the heat of the moment.

“Nian…”

The Nian was born two thousand years ago. Despite the fact that it hadn’t appeared for several hundreds of years, its fearsome reputation meant that it was still a terrifying existence to ordinary yao cultivators.

It was said that the Nian had odd tastes in food and was also picky. If it wanted to eat a man that year, it definitely wouldn’t eat a woman. If it wanted to eat an infant the following year, it definitely wouldn’t eat an adult.

The crested ibis didn’t have more than a few hundred years of cultivation. Faced with the Nian, he nearly couldn’t maintain stable footing. He forcibly squeezed out a smile. “Nian daren, you haven’t descended upon the human world for a few hundred years, this year…”

“Scram!” The Nian didn’t even spare the crested ibis a single glance and sent him flying with one swipe of its tail.

“F*ck your ancestors,” The crested ibis lay sprawled on the snowy ground as he spat out a large mouth of blood. With a wave of his sleeves, three of his feathers turned into silk fabric. Scooping up the two frightened children, he hid them behind him, allowing the two children to evade the Nian’s ravenous mouth.

“All you bureau bastards, what was that about reporting error? Laozi’s done for now.” The crested ibis dialed through to the management bureau. “You idiots, the Nian came out!”

He wasn’t in time to hang up before the Nian’s enormous hoofs slammed onto his back.

“Even a bird yao dares to stop me from eating?”

“F*ck you, damned idiot, laozi is a national treasure! National treasure!” The crested ibis was spitting out blood from being stomped on, but he still didn’t forget to declare his status as a national treasure. 

Unfortunately, the Nian didn’t know what a national treasure was. In his eyes, the little yao snarling beneath his foot was nothing more than a harmless bird. This bird’s neck was something he could snap in one mouth. 

But just when he was about to snap the crested ibis’ neck, a red whip wound around his back. He gave a pained howl and released the crested ibis.

Looking up at the people who had arrived, the crested ibis transformed into his bird form without the slightest hesitation. Waving his bloody wings, he hid behind a branch.

“Which ignorant junior dares to attack me?” Enraged, the Nian looked back at the yao who had arrived. “Dragon?”

Zhuang Qing took off his apron, using it to wipe his hands. “Nian?”

“This is the Nian?” Fu Li wrinkled his brows in distaste. “How ugly, just like a balding lion.” He shook the whip in his hands. “We have to rush back quickly, we still need to watch the Lunar New Year party later.”

The crested ibis perched on the tree branch licked his feathers as he stared hatefully at the lovey-dovey pair below, choking in silent fury.

“Don’t move. You still have to cook after going back, don’t get your hands dirty,” Fu Li took out his whip, slamming it onto the Nian. “There haven’t been firecrackers in the city the past few years, so you came running out again to cause trouble?!”