CH 46

I Miss You

At first, Xuan Long thought he was hallucinating. He often saw Yan Yuan in his dreams these days, dreaming not of what had happened, but of him and Yan Yuan living together in the Nine Heavens Divine Palace, surrounded by an immortal aura, facing each other day and night and enjoying each other's company.

The scene in his dream was too good to be true, with Yan Yuan lovingly pestering him, combing his hair and tying it back, and the two of them flirting with each other in the daytime as the immortal cranes swept by outside the hall, their voices singing long and hard.

Most of them were fragments, which felt real in the dream and imaginary when he woke up. Perhaps it was because he was thinking about it every day and dreaming about it every night, but Xuan Long did not take it to heart.

The persistent shouting came from the shore to the bottom of the pool, and Xuan Long gradually came back to his senses and finally realised that it was not an illusion, it was Yan Yuan who came.

Hu Le, who was setting the dishes at the table, looked over at the man who was sitting up in bed and hesitantly said, "It seems that someone is calling you?”

“No," Xuan Long paused in his movement to lift the covers, “you heard wrong."

Hu Le frowned and placed his chopsticks on the plate, straining to hear, "It's clear there is."

There was silence in the room for a moment.

Hu Le suddenly understood something: "It's that dog emperor who's here?!"

"......"

Seeing that Xuan Long didn't say anything, Hu Le immediately confirmed his suspicion, hooking his lips and smiling coldly, "Good for him, the fucking human emperor, I didn't have to go clean him up, but he came to my door himself. Wait, I'm going to skin him alive to make you soup so he can taste what the pain of plucking scales is like."

As soon as Hu Le turned around, his form disappeared, and Xuan Long disappeared from the room immediately afterwards, stopping him halfway, "Don't go."

The two of them were in the middle of the pool, with fish swimming around them. Xuan Long had come out in such a hurry that he was not even wearing shoes on his feet, his long raven-black hair scattered behind him, his robe and long hair floating slightly with the vivid current, his handsome face expressionless.

Hu Le saw him in this state and hated him, “Why? He treated you that way, do you really not resent it at all?!"

Xuan Long's lips twitched slightly, "If you show yourself in front of people, there will be no peace in the future."

"Don't change the subject! You're just protecting him, you're still protecting him even now.” Hu Le pushed aside Xuan Long, who was in the way, and walked away. "I'm going to kill him! I hate those filthy humans! I hate that they killed my brother and now they're going to continue to hurt you!!!"

"......" Xuan Long lowered his eyes and grabbed Hu Le by the wrist.

Hu Le turned back with scarlet eyes, his eyes themselves were originally ice blue, but now they were blue and red, even more demonic, "Just pretend you didn't hear anything."

"I no longer want anything to do with him." Xuan Long's small fan-like lashes blocked the intense emotions under his eyes, and the sadness that surged around him softened Hu Le's heart; this man clearly looked tough, but it was always easy to make his heart ache.

Hu Le frowned, reluctantly pulling his wrist back from Xuan Long's hand.

"Never mind."

"Let's go back to dinner."

"We made grilled shrimp and grilled fish for dinner, and we have sashimi, too."

"Are you hungry?"

Xuan Long nodded, "Yes."

So one dragon and one fox went back to their dwelling at the bottom of the pool.

There were ten dishes on the table covered with a navy blue tablecloth, most of which were food from the water, such as sea bass, crucian carp, grass carp, crab, and shrimp... cooked into a variety of dishes.

In addition to taking care of Xuan Long, Hu Le loves to think about these things. He feels very happy to cook for his favourite person, but of course he doesn't show it too much on the surface, after all, he is a noble fox, in the past, it was always others who came to please him.

The first thing he did at the table was serve Xuan Long. Hu Le took Xuan Long's bowl and ladled soup into it, then placed it in his hands, "This is clam soup, only found in the sea. Drink it to warm you up before the meal."

"Thank you." Xuan Long picked up the spoon and drank slowly with his head down.

Hu Le stared at him and asked, "Are you this polite with that dog emperor too?"

Xuan Long was slightly stunned and did not say anything.

Hu Le felt that he had said the wrong thing and hastened to give him a dish to change the subject, "This is braised crucian carp, I ran to a restaurant and stole it, try it..."

Xuan Long ate quietly.

Hu Le couldn't resist asking, "Is it good?"

"Mmm. Delicious."

Hu Le was happy, and behind him, nine snow-white fluffy fox tails slowly grew out, dangling at an angle where Xuan Long couldn't see them, wagging and wagging, and he looked down happily to eat the roast chicken.

Yan Yuan's shouting stopped at some point, and Xuan Long was distracted by the meal.

He had not expected Yan Yuan to come to him.

He thought the words had been made clear when he left that day.

Why did he still come...

On the shore, the cultivator hidden behind the trees walked up to Yan Yuan's side and whispered, "Your Majesty, this is not the way to go on, we need to use some means to force that dragon to come out."

"Even if he comes out, what can you do to him?" Yan Yuan said coldly.

"This..." The cultivator was in a difficult position.

"I have my own way, you hide in the dark and do not come out."

The leading cultivator retreated back into the shadows sarcastically. Yan Yuan took a few steps towards the bottomless ancient pond and continued to roar at the top of his lungs.

“A'Po-"

“A'Po-"

"Are you really that heartless – not even willing to see me anymore –"

“A'Po..."

"If you really don't want to see me – I'll jump into this pool to find you–"

Xuan Long, who was sitting by the window in a daze, froze.

At this time, it should be late on the shore, and he thought Yan Yuan had left, but he didn't expect the man to not only not leave, but to also say that he would jump down to find him.

Without spiritual protection, this thousand-year-old pool was a dead end for the human race. There were so many dark currents in it that if they were swept in, they would be swallowed up in no time.

Xuan Long's hands on his lap slowly tightened, and his thin lips pursed. A transparent barrier separates outside the window from inside the house, and outside, fish of different colours weave in and out of the water and grass, so cheerful. He closed his eyes, forcing himself not to listen to that abrasive sound.

However, in the next breath, the sound of a heavy object falling into the water was heard from the surface.

"Thud!–"

Xuan Long jerked to his feet.

"Don't go.” Hu Le appeared in front of him, "I thought you said you had nothing more to do with him, so what does it matter to you if he lives or dies?"

Right.

What did it matter to him whether the man was dead or alive when there was no longer any connection between them anyway.

But he couldn't... ignore it.

Even if it was only because the man had saved his life, he couldn't ignore it... He couldn't watch the man die in front of him.

"... I can't do it." Xuan Long dropped a sentence and disappeared into the distance.

The shore had fallen into chaos, and Chen Yan, who had accompanied the driver out of the palace, was in a hurry.

"Your Majesty–"

"Your Majesty–"

“Aiyo! How can the Emperor jump into the pond just like that! This is killing me, you… you guys, what are you still standing there for, why don't you hurry up and jump in and rescue the Emperor?" In his panic, Chen Yan grabbed a guard and pushed him into the pond, but the guard was so tall and big that he could not be pushed by an old and thin eunuch.

The guard looked embarrassed: "Eunuch Chen, His Majesty has instructed that we are not allowed to save him, and if I ruin His Majesty's plan, he will execute the nine clans of my family..."

"If the Emperor is gone, you, you, you all have to die..." Chen Yan was so anxious that his old face was red and he could not even speak, but he was a dry duck and did not know how to swim, so he could only seize the guards and cultivators here. However, these people had the emperor's order, no one dared to go down, so they were on the shore, staring in disbelief.

Chen Yan felt that Yan Yuan must have gone mad, saying that there was a dragon in the ancient pond that could save the Empress's life, so he did not even want his own life.

Although Yan Yuan had been trained in martial arts since childhood, he was also a real dry duck!

That's right, Yan Yuan could not swim, but he believed that Xuan Long would not leave him alone. It was a trust that started deep in his soul, even if his breath was deprived by the cold water coming from all directions and his lungs seemed to explode, he still believed that Xuan Long would not leave him alone.

Xuan Long loved him so much, how could he bear to see him die?

As his body slowly sank, Yan Yuan's consciousness grew thinner and thinner. His hair spread out and he no longer had the strength to struggle, his light brown eyes reflected the clear moonlight on the surface of the water, his eyelids were so heavy that he could hardly lift them.

It was a foolish thing to gamble his life on the other party's sincerity, but Yan Yuan had no choice but to do so, for the sake of Ning Zhiyu... and because he really wanted to see Xuan Long.

But why is the dragon still not coming...

Just as Yan Yuan was about to fall into unconsciousness, he saw Xuan Long swimming towards him in the shadows. The moment his body was caught in Xuan Long's huge tail, Yan Yuan's breathing was instantly smoother, but his earlier drowning made him very tired, and he closed his eyes at ease, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

See, he had won the bet.

That was the last thought Yan Yuan had before he fell unconscious.

At the bottom of the pond, Xuan Long marched inside with a drenched Yan Yuan in his arms. Hu Le opened his arms in front of him, his eyes red with a low growl, "You are not allowed in our nest with this dog emperor!"

Xuan Long pursed his lips, “Hu Le..."

"Me and him, you can only choose one, if you choose him, I will leave now!” Hu Le hated the human race, especially this insidious and malicious one who also hogged Xuan Long's affection.

"......"

Xuan Long's silence cut like a knife into Hu Le's heart. He dropped his hand feebly and nodded with a cold smile, "I see, this man is important to you after all, and I am nothing compared to him."

"I am nothing! It's all wishful thinking on my part!"

Hu Le shouted at him and flew out the door, Xuan Long looked at him blankly and took two steps after him, “Hu Le."

With Yan Yuan still unconscious in his arms, and with Xuan Long now pregnant, it was hard to carry such a big man, so he had to move over and put him on the bed first.

He raised his hand and used some spiritual energy to dry Yan Yuan's clothes and hair, forcing out the water he had poured into his lungs.

As Yan Yuan slept through the night, Xuan Long watched over him, recalling what Hu Le had said before he left. He felt a little puzzled, but could not make sense of it, so he had to give up.

At dawn, Yan Yuan opened his eyes and saw the man in a daze on the side of his bed, and his nose tingled: “A'Po..."

Xuan Long returned to his senses and his face was flat: "You are awake."

Yan Yuan suddenly sat up and embraced Xuan Long, resting his chin on his shoulder, and saying mutely, "I knew you wouldn't leave me alone."

Xuan Long's body froze, and after enduring for a moment, he did not push him away: "Why did you come here?"

Yan Yuan buried his face into the nook of Xuan Long's neck and sullenly said, "I missed you."