CH 79.1

Translator: Yuki

Editor: Wuwu 

The abnormally strong winds, which also had a hint of bloodiness, slightly unnerved Lu Qingjiu. Furthermore Bai Yuehu, who would usually return from the fields everyday around 10am like clockwork, was also nowhere to be seen. Feeling like something was amiss, Lu Qingjiu tried giving Bai Yuehu a call, only to realise that Bai Yuehu had left his mobile at home when he had left to tend their fields.

“Qingjiu, what’s going on?” Watching Lu Qingjiu’s expression grow increasingly impatient, Yin Xun asked in doubt.

“Nothing…” On second thought, Lu Qingjiu decided to not reveal what had just happened, instead saying, “I’m going to the fields to harvest a few more things. Can you wash these vegetables?”

Hearing this, Yin Xun replied, “What other vegetables do you still need harvested? It’s probably better if I go…” 

However, before he could finish his sentence, Lu Qingjiu had already made his way out of the front door.

Lu Qingjiu walked along the small country road towards the fields, but there was a strange feeling in the atmosphere that made him quicken his footsteps, to the point of slightly jogging.

A few minutes later, Lu Qingjiu finally arrived at their fields and sucked in a cold breath upon seeing the scene in front of him. Not only were the fields totally empty without any signs of Bai Yuehu, but even worse, there was an obvious patch of blood on the ground. This image immediately seared itself into Lu Qingjiu’s brain.

“Bai Yuehu, Bai Yuehu!” Lu Qingjiu called out while looking all around, but ultimately couldn’t even catch a glimpse of Bai Yuehu’s shadow. Just as he was growing increasingly frantic, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

Lu Qingjiu jumped. Turning around, he was confronted by a familiar face – it was his grandfather, who was also the black dragon that he had seen imprisoned before. Although his grandfather’s eyes were still closed, the gentle expression gave Lu Qingjiu the sensation that he was being stared at.

“How… how are you?” Lu Qingjiu stumbled slightly over his words, realising he still did not know this dragon’s name, but at the same time calling him Grandfather would be too sudden.

The dragon nodded, the corners of his lips tugged upwards as if in a smile. He pointed into the distance, then pointed to the dark pool of almost congealing blood.

Unexpectedly, Lu Qingjiu was able to understand, scrambling to ask, “Do you know where Bai Yuehu is? Is he alright? Is he injured?” 

Without any explanation, the dragon reached out and held Lu Qingjiu’s arm. Before he could react, a tornado appeared, sweeping him away as if he was floating in the air. The zero gravity moment only lasted for a few seconds before Lu Qingjiu realised that he had left Shuifu village, and arrived at a totally different place.

The place they had landed in was a craggy mountain range shrouded in mist. In the distance, a high mountain peak could be seen piercing through the thick fog, drawing Lu Qingjiu’s attention.

In the instance he glanced at that mountain peak, Lu Qingjiu was immediately sure that he had been here before. This was Bai Yuehu’s territory. Previously, during the storm in Shuifu village, Bai Yuehu had brought him and Yin Xun here to escape the rain. However, he couldn’t understand why his grandfather had brought him to this place.

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Lu Qingjiu had assumed that what he had previously seen would be similar to today’s scene. Unexpectedly, before having seen hide nor hair of the black dragon, Lu Qingjiu heard some loud impact noises, together with the noises of wild creatures’ hissing and growling.

Lu Qingjiu was almost deafened by the loud sounds, and could only look up in astonishment. In the air, the black dragon he had seen previously was fighting with another dragon, twisted around each other. The two dragons were similar in size, continuously attacking each other as they revolved around the peak. Dragon claws and horns clashed violently, producing deafening clangs as if metal objects were hitting each other, turning the world upside down. 

Lu Qingjiu was completely absorbed by this glorious scene before his eyes. He had yet to see how the dragon race fought each other.

Intertwined together were a black coloured dragon and a dark-red coloured dragon. Although their appearances were mostly similar, a closer look revealed some small differences – for example, the red dragon’s body was slightly shorter, but had a longer neck and scales that were dull red – which clearly differentiated it from the black dragon.

However, it seemed that the red dragon was not a worthy adversary compared to the black dragon. At first, their fight seemed to be quite evenly-matched, with blows being initiated by both parties. As time went by, the red dragon incurred more bodily injuries, as the black dragon clawed its body.

On the other hand, even though the black dragon was also hurt, it was still in a better condition than the red dragon. At least from what Lu Qingjiu could see, there were no life-threatening injuries. Lu Qingjiu had only seen a few of Bai Yuehu’s scales, but he clearly remembered that his household’s fox spirit had black scales. As such, watching the black dragon gain the upper hand, his heart relaxed slightly. 

Realising that he wasn’t the black dragon’s opponent, the red dragon turned tail and tried to escape, only for the black dragon to take a bite out of its neck. At this moment, Lu Qingjiu was not sure if it was real or he had just imagined it, but he could have sworn that he heard a delicate sound of bones shattering. Following which, the red dragon let out a pitiful roar. Its head and body split in two, with the skull being consumed by the black dragon, while the body plunged from the skies into the dark abyss below.

Lu Qingjiu felt a slight shiver go up his spine watching this. His grandfather, who had brought him to this place, lightly tapped him on the shoulder, as if comforting him.

“What the hell… is going on here?” Lu Qingjiu was unable to resist asking.

His grandfather lightly lifted Lu Qingjiu’s hand and traced a sentence in his palm, “This is a corrupted dragon.” 

“Corrupted?”

Grandfather continued tracing, “All dragons have the possibility of being corrupted.”

“What’s the difference between a corrupted and a normal dragon?”

“Corrupted dragons will only think of destroying their most precious objects.” 

Feeling the words his Grandfather’s finger traced on his palm, Lu Qingjiu was dumbfounded. He looked up in slight disbelief towards his Grandfather, and in a trembling voice, asked, “Did you really eat my parents?”

Although he was really hoping for a disconfirming answer, however it seemed he was destined to be disappointed.

Grandfather fell into momentary silence, unable to hide the brief traces of pain on his face, and then slowly but resolutely nodded his head.

Lu Qingjiu froze. Although his hand was still held in his grandfather’s and he could feel the warmth from those fingers, but as the answer was as clear as crystal, he couldn’t even lie to himself. 

“Why?” Lu Qingjiu’s voice quivered.

“I’m sorry,” his grandfather only slowly wrote out these 2 words.

“Why did you have to eat them?” Lu Qingjiu clutched his Grandfather’s sleeve, loudly shouting, “were they… not your children?

Grandfather didn’t say a word. 

Lu Qingjiu wanted to continue his questioning, but heard light footsteps coming from behind. He turned around and saw a familiar face emerge from within the thick fog – the one Bai Yuehu called an executioner, Zhu Rong.

With his red hair, Zhu Rong stood in the thick fog, quietly staring at Grandfather, then said, “Long time no see, Ao Run.”

Ao Run, that was his grandfather’s name.

Hearing Zhu Rong call out his name, Ao Run smiled. His smile was warm, looking not at all like a monster who would eat Lu Qingjiu’s parents. 

“Lu Qingjiu, come over here,” Zhu Rong waved to Lu Qingjiu.

Lu Qingjiu hesitated, unsure what he should do. At that moment, he felt Ao Run gently patting his back, indicating that he should go over to Zhu Rong.

Lu Qingjiu turned back to look at his grandfather. Ao Run, seemingly feeling his gaze, lowered his head and used his forehead to gently bump against Lu Qingjiu’s.

This movement was really light, but Lu Qingjiu felt the spot being bumped on his forehead begin to heat up. He was reaching out to feel his forehead, when he heard Zhu Rong once again urging him, “Lu Qingjiu, come over now.” 

Lu Qingjiu hesitantly stepped forward, looking at Ao Run while he walked over to Zhu Rong’s side.

“Move further away from him, “ after ensuring that Lu Qingjiu had left Ao Run’s side, Zhu Rong warned in a voice as cold as ice.

Ao Run didn’t bother acknowledging Zhu Rong’s bad attitude. In fact, his smile became more brilliant.  However, Lu Qingjiu noticed that his originally black hair slowly turning into an eye-catching red from the roots. The red colour spread quickly, in what felt like seconds, Ao Run’s head of black hair turned into a blood-like bright red.

“Hide behind me, “ Zhu Rong told Lu Qingjiu. 

Although Lu Qingjiu didn’t understand what had happened, from Zhu Rong’s serious expression, he knew that the situation was not ideal. Taking a few steps, he walked behind Zhu Rong, throwing worried glances at the other two.

Zhu Rong warned, “Don’t come over here.”

Ao Run grinned, but it was vastly different from the previous warm smiles. The smile of he who had become red-haired was insolent, carrying something evil within. Opening his mouth, he spoke in a hoarse voice under Lu Qingjiu’s stunned gaze, “Long time no see.”

Zhu Rong didn’t say a word, continuing to stare coldly at him. 

Ao Run continued, “And my dear grandchild.” He faced Lu Qingjiu saying, “You see, the reason I escaped, wasn’t it all for you?”

Lu Qingjiu was so shocked by this change that he unconsciously took another step backwards.

Zhu Rong did not move, as if he already knew that such a change would happen. Waving his hand, a spear made from flames appeared from his palm. Then he raised his chin provokingly at Ao Run, pointing towards the skies covered in black mist.

Ao Run inclined his head, and with a flash, flew towards the skies. 

Zhu Rong followed closely behind, as both of them flew into the dark skies.

Mid-flight, Ao Run changed back into his original form. However this was different from the black dragon Lu Qingjiu had previously seen in the deep hole. The scales on Ao Run were a bloody red, and while his eyes remained black voids and his horns were still broken, these injuries did not affect his majestic dragon form. The humanoid Zhu Rong facing him looked as insignificant as mole crickets and ants.

With a loud bang, a person and a dragon met together in their first clash against each other. Red flames erupted from their fight, lighting up the skies with a vibrant red colour.

Lu Qingjiu couldn’t bear to look away from the fight, but was soon forced to close his eyes. The flames were too bright, bringing tears to his eyes. However, even if he closed his eyes, the deafening sounds of the fighting did not stop. Lu Qingjiu sat on the ground, and though unable to see anything, he could feel the violent vibrations in the ground, as if the earth was being shaken to its core. 

Feeling utterly helpless, after a particularly violent impact/confrontation, Lu Qingjiu reached out wanting to hold onto something, only to be pulled into a warm hug. He suddenly heard soft breaths from behind him. Feeling these familiar breaths, Lu Qingjiu’s entire body relaxed and softly called out, “Yuehu?”