CH 37.2

Chapter 37: Miniature Zhaozhao Part 3

When Ao Yu returned to the courtyard with Sun Yang, they found it empty, except for Bai Ze slouched in a rocking chair under the shade of a tree, boneless-like.

Approaching, Ao Yu held onto the back of the chair and asked, "Where are Yun Zhao and the others?"

"Um..." Bai Ze opened his sleepy eyes and casually replied, "Chi Hua Peak sent a black panther over, and Yun Zhao took the young ones to the mountains to fish."

Sitting up and glancing at the sky, Bai Ze pondered and said, "It's been almost two hours since they left. They should be back soon."

As they were talking, they heard a commotion of footsteps not far away. Ao Yu and the others turned their heads towards the sound and saw Wu Mu, now in the form of a child, walking in the middle while being surrounded by the black panther and the rabbits.

Bai Ze chuckled, "What a scene! Wu Mu, you've finally become the leader?"

Ao Yu glanced back and didn't see the young man, so he asked, "Where is Yun Zhao?"

At those words, Wu Mu halted his steps and stood in place with a conflicted expression on his face. He looked up, caught sight of Ao Yu's slightly furrowed brows, took a deep breath, and walked over with his hands held open in front of his chest. "Here, he's right here."

Ao Yu lowered his eyes and, to his surprise, a hint of astonishment flashed through them. The young man sat quietly, kneeling in the palm of the child's hand. As if dazzled by the sunlight, he raised his hand and used his sleeve to shield his eyes. Inadvertently, his gaze met Ao Yu's, and he awkwardly smiled, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Little did he know that he looked like an exquisite and alluring doll, tempting Ao Yu to cautiously touch him with the pad of his fingertip.

"Oh..." Yun Zhao was poked and toppled over in the child's palm, rubbing his face where the red mark had appeared. He looked pitifully aggrieved, as if on the verge of tears. Seeing his expression, Ao Yu wanted to touch him again but was stopped by the tiny fingers pressing against his fingertip.

Yun Zhao scowled, his face turning serious. "D-Don't... don't touch me anymore..."

Although Ao Yu's touch was gentle, it was still too much for Yun Zhao, and he poked him to the point of nearly crying!

Ao Yu cleared his throat and nodded, retracting his hand and rubbing the residual tender sensation between his fingertips.

Bai Ze leaned in to take a look and couldn't stop laughing. "Yun Zhao, how did you end up like this? Now you can really be held in the palm of one's hand and even put in one's mouth. Hurry up and change back."

He thought Yun Zhao was just being lazy and didn't want to walk, so he transformed and shrank himself to let the young ones carry him around.

Unexpectedly, Yun Zhao held his face in frustration and said, "I can't change back!"

"What?" Bai Ze stopped laughing and exchanged a glance with Ao Yu, his eyes showing seriousness. "What's going on?"

The little black rabbit approached, tears welling up in its eyes, and explained the whole story while rubbing its paws anxiously. "Wuwu... it's my fault... we found bamboo mushrooms, and after Yun Zhao ate them, he became tiny... wuwuwu..."

"Bamboo mushrooms?" Bai Ze furrowed his brows, becoming more confused as he listened. The bamboo mushrooms he knew of didn't have this effect.

Immediately, Ao Yu's face darkened, scaring the little black rabbit, causing it to tremble and take a few steps back.

Helplessly, Bai Ze held Ao Yu's shoulder and said, "Don't get angry right away."

He turned to the little black rabbit and asked, "Do you have more of these bamboo mushrooms? Show them to me quickly."

The little black rabbit wiped its tears and, facing Ao Yu's deathly gaze, took out a mushroom from the bamboo basket and handed it over. "It's this one..."

Bai Ze held it in his hand and sighed.

Ao Yu asked, "What is it?"

Bai Ze replied, "This isn't a bamboo mushroom. It's a dream mushroom that resembles its appearance. Eating it has a probability of shrinking one's size."

Yun Zhao remained speechless. He could encounter even conceptual events. His luck was truly terrible. Fortunately, the only positive outcome of this trip was hearing the system report that Xuanming's satisfaction had increased to 30% on the way back.

Frowning, Ao Yu took Yun Zhao from Wu Mu's hand, cupping his fingers together to create a small hollow in his palm, allowing the tiny young man to sit more comfortably.

He used his fingertips to gently examine Yun Zhao's small body, even holding his breath in the process.

Yun Zhao cooperated by raising his hand and swinging his legs, behaving obediently. It wasn't like him at all. It wasn't until Ao Yu confirmed that everything was normal with the young man that he breathed a sigh of relief.

He asked Bai Ze, "Is the dream mushroom harmful to his body? How can we restore him?"

Bai Ze rubbed his chin and thought for a moment before replying, "The dream mushroom is non-toxic, and shrinking is just a probabilistic effect. Once it is depleted in Yun Zhao's body, he will be able to recover."

Yun Zhao breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He comforted the still sobbing little black rabbit, saying, "Stop crying. I'll be back to normal in a couple of days."

The little black rabbit sniffled and wiped its tears, replying, "It's my mistake for mistaking the mushroom... It caused you to shrink..."

Yun Zhao couldn't pet the rabbit's head to comfort it now, so he could only lie next to Ao Yu's hand and say, "Even Bai Ze said these two types of mushrooms are extremely difficult to distinguish. It's not your fault for mistaking them."

With tearful eyes, the little black rabbit nodded twice and wiped away its tears. It then went with the other rabbits to clean up the pots and pans they had brought back.

Seeing Yun Zhao still lying on the edge of his palm, Ao Yu furrowed his brow, reached out, and held the young man's clothes, lifting him up and admonishing him seriously, "Sit properly and don't move around."

"Yes, yes..." Yun Zhao obediently sat in the palm of Ao Yu's hand as he carried him back to the room.

Ao Yu placed his hand by the side of the bamboo basket bed, and Yun Zhao understood. He stood up and stumbled over, making a small noise as he entered the basket.

The cotton quilt inside was soft and comfortable. Yun Zhao stepped on it and created a small indentation in the center, feeling extremely cozy.

It was truly comfortable.

The young ones also entered the room and sniffed around, causing Yun Zhao to burst into giggles as the warm breath they emitted tickled him.

They had to restrain themselves from licking Yun Zhao only when Ao Yu scolded them with a cold face.

Yun Zhao patted his chest, realizing that he used to be able to enlarge all the little ones he petted by many times. Having their beast eyes staring at him made his head swell, but fortunately, he didn't get a head wash from their drool.

He touched the hem of his clothes and was relieved that they had shrunk along with him. However, he only had this one set of clothes, so he had to take good care of it.

Luo Xue couldn't help but lower its body, placing its little nose on the edge of the bamboo basket and gleaming with excitement. "Brother, can you take a nap with us? My little nest can accommodate half of you now!"

Facing the smallest-sized Luo Xue, the feeling of oppression wasn't as strong, and the idea of sleeping with a cat seemed quite nice.

Yun Zhao was about to respond, but Ao Yu coldly interrupted him. "No."

"Ah..." Luo Xue was deeply disappointed, and its ears drooped instantly.

Ao Yu used the back of his hand to push the little white cat away. "You'll flatten him."

Luo Xue moved away dejectedly but kept its eyes fixed on Yun Zhao, refusing to give up.

The young man had shrunk to the size of their rabbit doll, and Luo Xue couldn't help but imagine how sweetly it would sleep if it held him in its front paws.

Ao Yu could immediately see that the kittens were still up to no good. He pinched the back of Luo Xue's neck and lifted it off the table, waving his hand impatiently. "Go back and take a nap. Don't disturb him."

Sun Yang, on the other hand, was quite sensible. After greeting Yun Zhao, he took the other three divine beasts and left the room voluntarily.

Yun Zhao, feeling a bit drowsy after having his meal, covered his mouth politely and yawned.

Ao Yu moved the small bamboo basket to the bed and lowered his voice as he spoke to him. "If you're tired, take a nap."

"Okay." Yun Zhao could barely keep his eyes open. He politely bid good afternoon to the little dragon and yawned before lying down in the middle of the bamboo basket to sleep.

Curled up into a small ball within the soft silk quilt, Yun Zhao was sound asleep. Ao Yu looked at him for a while and couldn't help but reach out and play with the young man's ink-black hair.

Only when Yun Zhao mumbled something in his sleep did Ao Yu abruptly retract his hand to avoid waking him up.

He stood up, found a gown, and used scissors to cut off a corner. He lightly draped it over Yun Zhao's body as a small blanket.

Seeing that Yun Zhao had fallen into a deep slumber, Ao Yu left the room leisurely.

When Bai Ze saw Ao Yu coming out, he teased, "Isn't it great? A tiny little one. It's convenient to carry him around."

Ao Yu turned his head and furrowed his brow slightly.

Bai Ze shrugged and said, "I'm speaking the truth. After shrinking, he will face inconveniences, and you'll have to take care of everything personally."

"Moreover..." Bai Ze elongated his tone and looked at Ao Yu with a smirk.

Ao Yu asked, "Moreover, what?"

"The dream mushroom might make him... well, more dependent on the people around him." Bai Ze coughed to make his words sound more serious. "Yun Zhao is usually so steady and composed. It should be quite novel to see him acting spoiled and dependent."

"Is that so..." Ao Yu's long eyelashes trembled slightly, concealing the emotions in his eyes. His instinctive desires were stirred by Bai Ze's words but forcefully suppressed.

Bai Ze noticed the dark and unclear expression in Ao Yu's eyes and immediately shut his mouth.

Dragonkind's possessiveness is innate, so it's best for Ao Yu to keep his distance from Yun Zhao these days.

***

The radiant glow of the sunset stained the clouds and mist on the horizon with a golden hue. The remaining light cast a golden sheen over the entire Yuming Mountain.

A mountain sparrow chirped a few times, skimming over the water and carrying away the floating petals, leaving only ripples and water marks in its wake.

Ao Yu returned from the forest, casually throwing the captured Mountain Horned Beast to Sun Yang. He washed his hands and headed towards the room.

Yun Zhao had been sleeping the entire afternoon, so he should be awake by now.

Ao Yu pushed open the door and approached the bed, only to find that Yun Zhao was nowhere to be found in the bamboo basket.

Ao Yu furrowed his brow and softly called out, "Yun Zhao?"

After calling out, he paused for a few seconds, concentrating to listen for the young man's response. After all, now that he had shrunk, his voice was as soft as the meowing of a kitten and could easily be overlooked if not listened to carefully.

However, after waiting for a while, there was still no response from Yun Zhao.

"Yun Zhao, where did you go?" Ao Yu couldn't help but call out again. He estimated the distance from the ground to the bed and realized it was too high for Yun Zhao. He definitely wouldn't jump down.

He shifted his gaze to the bed and started searching while softly calling out.

Ao Yu was worried that he might accidentally crush the young man who was hiding somewhere, so he had to carefully and slowly search between the bedding.

However, even after searching the bed, he still found nothing.

Just as Ao Yu began to suspect that the kittens had sneaked in and taken Yun Zhao away, his peripheral vision caught a hint of ink color at the edge of the bamboo basket.

Ao Yu held his breath and used his fingertips to hook onto the silk quilt covering Yun Zhao's face. Yun Zhao was sleeping soundly, cradling the small blanket made from his gown.

With flushed cheeks, he seemed to be woken up by Ao Yu's movements. He frowned and kicked the little blanket before sitting up.

Ao Yu let out a sigh, touching Yun Zhao's forehead with his knuckles. "Are you a little pig? How can you sleep for so long?"

Yun Zhao rubbed his eyes and yawned, not sure if it was the effect of the dream mushroom, but he always felt like he never had enough sleep.

Ao Yu looked at the small and sleepy young man, faintly glimpsing his small white teeth as he yawned.

So adorable...

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Translator's note: I cut this chapter into three parts because it's almost 8k words. If a chapter reaches more than 4k, I cut it into parts.