CH 42

Evil Dragon-xiansheng.

When Ji Guichen left Bai Zhi, they had already spent many years together. After he passed away, Bai Zhi returned alone to the school from all those years ago.

The school season had just started, and the students coming and going were just as young and immature as Ji Guichen and he had been back then.

Most of the teachers had also changed. The class teacher who was always dragging Luo Le to stand as punishment in his office had also passed away long ago. Bai Zhi watched calmly for a while, then suddenly remembered the year of the national college exams, how Ji Guichen had shared a tender moment with him in the corner of the academic building as they returned from the schoolyard.

The earbuds had been playing recorded study materials. One end had been set in Bai Zhi’s ear, the other end was with Ji Guichen, and the white cord had connected the two youths standing shoulder to shoulder. During that rainy season of the plum trees, the light rain had fallen in a drizzle; with an umbrella in one hand, Ji Guichen had leaned forward, and with his legs slightly bent, had kissed Bai Zhi ever so lightly and gently.

In that moment, time had come to a standstill. Only the soft patters of the falling raindrops could be heard.

In that moment, others had ceased to exist. It was as if the schoolyard contained only the two of them embracing.

That moment had held the purest and most poignant feelings of young love, born of a childish innocence. He had suddenly understood then, that these feelings had been deeply rooted long before he had recognized them.

……

In the end, Bai Zhi quietly returned to the real world alone. The system pulled the little demon, who had his head lowered and wasn’t speaking, by the hand the whole way to their new house.

“Don’t feel bad anymore, nephew!” The system patted his head: “We have returned to the real world, look at the big house we can live in now!”

Only then did Bai Zhi lift his head, look around, and froze for a moment.

The walls were covered with a wallpaper showing a lush forest, there were several potted plants hung pleasingly around the walls. The abundant greenery filled the whole house with vitality. 

As Bai Zhi slowly stepped forwards, he was astonished by the crystal night lights  arranged on the ceiling. A colorful kite hung from the wooden window, fluttering in the wind.

An enormous teddy bear sat on the sofa. Bai Zhi squatted down and saw that the DVD player was filled with various cartoons.

His heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he immediately turned around and said very urgently: “Who decorated this house!”

The system froze for a moment and then said after a while: “I did.”

“You?” Bai Zhi’s eagerness subsided, and his voice returned to its usual pitch: “…this…was all done by you?”

“Of course!” The system was very proud: “I’m very capable!”

“It’s very beautiful.”

Bai Zhi sighed, then slowly sat down on the sofa: “I like the feeling it gives.”

“I know.” The system pointed at its own head: “I detected that these kinds of decorations were the most in line with your tastes.”

“Uncle, you can even detect that?” Bai Zhi was somewhat in awe.

“Of course.” The system said: “Before I met you, my mind already knew the full range of your preferences.”

Hearing this, Bai Zhi was surprised and could not help asking: “Before you met me? Why? Did you recognize me?”

“I didn’t.” The system shook its head: “But I just knew. Maybe it was put there by the manufacturer.”

“…Who is your guys’ manufacturer?”

“Don’t remember.” The  system gazed into the distance. “I’ve never met them.

“Maybe they were long gone.”

After the system finished speaking, Bai Zhi’s expression darkened a bit.

It was he who was too sensitive. Even an illusory figure with unknown whereabouts had been associated with the villain.

It would be better to find him in another world.

Bai Zhi rubbed his eyes: “Uncle, let’s go.”

The system, who had stuffed itself onto the sofa with great difficulty, hadn’t even been able to relax before hearing Bai Zhi speak. Its expression instantly became that of a bitter gourd: “What are you doing, I haven’t even had the chance to enjoy our new home yet.”

“Send me to the new world and then you can come back and sit…” Bai Zhi squatted back down on the floor: “Staying here by myself is so boring.”

“Little brat, I’m not a human.” The system scowled: “Forgetting about your uncle once you have a target, this is the type of white-eyed wolf [1] I’ve raised.”

Bai Zhi: “Aooo.”

System: “That’s not how wolves howl……!”

The system that had been worn down by Bai Zhi until it had no choice finally agreed. With a face full of unhappiness it pulled open its stomach and put Bai Zhi inside.

“All day, all night, all you think about is the target, the target.” The system complained nonstop: “Can’t be apart for even a few minutes, no potential at all.”

Bai Zhi: “Even if I have no potential, having the target is enough for me.”

Single-dog system: “…woof woof woof!”

The speed of the time travel was still very fast, and it wasn’t long before Bai Zhi felt himself change locations. He opened his eyes, and suddenly came face to face with an inky black skull.

“…Aaaaah!” A certain little demon froze for two seconds before leaping three feet off the throne: “Uncle there’s a skull!”

“What’s a demon like you doing being scared by this!” The system who had scolded Bai Zhi for having no potential slowly turned to look at the skull and then suddenly leapt even higher than Bai Zhi: 

“Aaaaah how come this skull is black!!”

Bai Zhi: “……”

“……En, uncle.” With a face full of black lines, Bai Zhi patted the system’s shoulder: “What’s a system like you doing being scared of skulls?”

“Rules for thee but not for me?” [2] The system squeezed out after a long delay, angrily pushing Bai Zhi forward: “Hurry and tidy up your clothes, we’re about to video call the princess.”

Bai Zhi: “…??? Hah?”

“With the princess? Video?” Bai Zhi with a face full of confusion: “Uncle have you lost your mind?”

“Aiya, I forgot to send the plot to you.” The system slapped its head: “One second.”

In an instant, a large amount of information entered Bai Zhi’s mind. Bai Zhi furrowed his brows, immediately understanding what the system meant.

This world was different from the previous world. The male lead was a certain prince of a small country in the west – noble, extraordinary, and handsome. The female lead was a beautiful, generous, warm, and kind princess.

The male and female leads had fallen in love at first sight. Alas, the father of the female lead held the male lead in contempt as he was the prince of only a small country and had sworn to not let the princess wed the prince.

Just as things were locked in a stalemate, the turning point had emerged..

An enormous dragon had flown into the castle and snatched away the princess who had been enjoying the garden flowers. In an instant, the entire country had panicked, the king had sent out the most talented knight to rescue the princess, and the prince upon hearing this had also set out from his own country.

The knight had combed the snowy mountain, battled the evil dragon, and with great difficulty arrived at its castle. But he discovered that the princess had already left with the prince who had come a step earlier.  Not only that, but when the knight had exhausted all his strength returning the way he came and arrived at his country, it was only then that the apologetic princess revealed the truth to him.

The evil dragon was a lie, being snatched was also a lie. It was only a situation created by the prince and princess so that they could be together. It was only that they had accidentally involved the knight, an outsider to their plan.

The knight had felt severely tricked and had quickly blackened. He had taken the king’s stick that was used to beat apart couples [3] and started doing it himself. In the end, his fate was naturally to become cannon fodder, another stepping stone for the male and female leads’ path forward.

“So, this time the villain is the knight?” Bai Zhi asked cautiously after viewing the whole plot.

“Of course.” The system nodded: “At least it’s not you, the dragon assistant, right?”

Bai Zhi: “Hah?”

“Stop hah’ing.” The system swerved back to the topic: “Hurry and wipe your magic mirror, the princess will be calling you in a bit.” 

“……Oh.” Bai Zhi obediently wiped the mirror until it shone, and after a few seconds, the mirror suddenly vibrated once. Startled, Bai Zhi saw a face that didn’t belong to him at all in the mirror.

Long golden curls, big blue eyes, perfect skin. Bai Zhi blinked, his heart full of complaints.

This really is the princess, ah.

Princess Hathaway very politely greeted the Evil Dragon-xiansheng, after which she directly sat back down on her seat, and said with a lazy air:

“Evil Dragon-xiansheng, your flower cakes [4] are pretty good, bring some when you come to kidnap me, hm?”

Bai Zhi who just now was in shock from the princess’s beautiful aura: “……”

[1] 白眼狼 (bái yǎn láng) – lit. white-eyed wolf, idiom for backstabber

[2] 只需要怪防火不许系统点灯 – lit. “Only the demon (Bai Zhi) is allowed to set fires, but the system is not allowed to light lamps.” Original idiom had state official instead of Bai Zhi and common people instead of the system, and was used to express how (corrupt) officials could do things that normal people weren’t allowed to (ie. hypocrisy). Tldr; the joke is that system called Bai Zhi a hypocrite (while being the hypocrite itself. It had just made fun of Bai Zhi for being jump-scared before jump-scaring itself.)

[3] 打鸳鸯 – lit. beat mandarin ducks, which are believed to form lifelong couples and thus represent couples/fidelity in Chinese culture

[4] flower cake: