Chapter 68.2
translator: baumkuchen
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Lu Qingjiu walked into the courtyard . It was still raining from above, but when the rain fell onto Lu Qingjiu’s body, it was repelled by an invisible force . Bai Yuehu stood at the entrance to the courtyard . His dark eyes drowned in the night, making it a little hard for people to see them clearly . He watched as Lu Qingjiu stopped before him, then reached out a hand to Lu Qingjiu . “Come with me . ”
Lu Qingjiu nodded, taking Bai Yuehu’s hand .
Then, a whirlwind swirled up around them . Lu Qingjiu felt his body start flying along with Bai Yuehu . When Bai Yuehu stopped once more, a familiar sight appeared before his eyes—— A gigantic pit .
This pit was the place Bai Yuehu had brought Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun too when they were exchanging horror stories . However, compared to back then, the pit in front of him had changed tremendously .
At the edge of the pit, a huge hole had been made . The giant dragon that had been trapped within had also disappeared, leaving behind only a pool of stinking mud .
“He escaped,” Bai Yuehu said, “He might come find you . ”
“Find me?” Lu Qingjiu was a little shocked . “What would he come find me for? Does he want to eat me too?” Even though Bai Yuehu had said that this dragon hadn’t eaten his parents, that was, after all, just Bai Yuehu’s word . Besides, if he didn’t do this, then why did he suffer such a cruel punishment without trying to explain himself?
It was still raining around them . The sound of the falling raindrops muffled Bai Yuehu’s voice . Lu Qingjiu didn’t know if it was just his misconception, but, from Bai Yuehu’s tone, he actually heard a trace of pity . “That’s just my guess…… After all……”
Lu Qingjiu asked, “After all what?”
Bai Yuehu said, “Nothing . ”
Lu Qingjiu felt like Bai Yuehu was clearly hiding something from him . He said, “Yuehu, is there something you’re not telling me?”
Bai Yuehu looked back at Lu Qingjiu . He unexpectedly admitted frankly, “En . ” He paused for a moment, then whispered, “I don’t know how to tell you . ”
Lu Qingjiu sighed . “This dragon very powerful?” He had been trapped in such a put, and even had his eyes dug out, but even so, he’d still been able to escape from the pit .
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“Of course . ” Bai Yuehu said, “Him being trapped here before, was just because he didn’t want to come out . ”
Lu Qingjiu, “He didn’t want to?”
Bai Yuehu, “He felt like he’d done something wrong . ”
Lu Qingjiu, “Done something wrong? He was imprisoned because he ate my parents……” Upon speaking to this point, he became a little sad . “Why did he have to do that . ” He thought of how he had to arrange his parents’ funeral back then . At that time, he was still in university, still just a half-grown child . It was his parents’ death that had forced him to mature rapidly . However, if he could choose, he wouldn’t have wanted to have grown up like this .
Bai Yuehu started to speak, then stopped . In the end, he said nothing, just reached out his hand and lightly placed it on Lu Qingjiu’s shoulder .
Lu Qingjiu said, “Does he want to eat me now?”
Bai Yuehu, “I don’t know . ”
Lu Qingjiu let out a bitter smile . “The light in the sky just now……”
Bai Yuehu said, “The light was just to attract my attention, to give him the chance to escape . ” He let out another sigh . “If he wanted to leave, he would always have a way to do so . ”
Oe Hlcuple ibkfgfv tlr fsfr . “Qtja mjc P vb?”
Djl Tefte, “Gbc’a yf jogjlv, P’ii vfolclafis qgbafma sbe . ”
Oe Hlcuple ofia ogeragjafv . “Dea lrc’a la reqqbrfv ab yf wf qgbafmalcu sbe? Qtja fzjmais vbfr atlr xlcv bo uejgvlcu wfjc? P’w pera jc bgvlcjgs tewjc . P mjc’a fnfc tfiq sbe ktfc P rff sbe tega . ”
“No . ” Bai Yuehu’s voice softened . “You have power you don’t know about . ”
Lu Qingjiu, “Power I don’t know about?”
Bai Yuehu said, “Yes . ” But I hope that you’ll never have to know . As he looked into Lu Qingjiu’s sad eyes, he silently added on this line in his head .
Lu Qingjiu just took Bai Yuehu’s words as perfunctory words of comfort . He forced a smile, then stopped speaking .
Bai Yuehu rarely spoke to humans . At this moment, watching as Lu Qingjiu forced himself to smile, even though he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, he didn’t know how to comfort him . In the end, he could only turn his head, and land a comforting kiss on the top of Lu Qingjiu’s head .
As Lu Qingjiu stared at the pit in front of him, he fell silent .
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Bai Yuehu said, “Let’s go back . ”
Lu Qingjiu nodded .
So Bai Yuehu brought Lu Qingjiu back home once more . Lu Qingjiu’s thoughts were in a mess . After returning home, he didn’t greet Yin Xun, simply heading back alone to his room to rest .
Seeing Lu Qingjiu’s dejected appearance, Yin Xun gathered up his courage and asked Bai Yuehu what had happened .
“The imprisoned dragon escaped,” Bai Yuehu said calmly, “He might come and find Lu Qingjiu . ”
“What???” Disbelief appeared on Yin Xun’s face . “He escaped? How could he escape!” At the thought of his best friend’s life potentially being threatened by a member of the powerful dragon race, he instantly became panicked . “Qingjiu, Qingjiu isn’t in danger, is he!”
Bai Yuehu, “I’m here . ”
Yin Xun said, “I know…… But……”
“There’s no but,” Bai Yuehu brusquely cut Yin Xun off, “As long as I’m still alive, I’ll protect Lu Qingjiu . ”
Yin Xun grit his teeth . “But can you guarantee that you’ll be able to stay by Lu Qingjiu’s side forever?”
Bai Yuehu said coldly, “Why can’t I?”
Yin Xun was struck silent . He naturally could tell, Bai Yuehu was serious .
“It’s late, you should go back and renew the incense . ” Bai Yuehu put an end to their conversation .
It was still raining heavily outside . Yin Xun chose to leave . He didn’t have an umbrella, nor did he have a way of repelling the rain, so he trudged back home, step by step, in a sorry state . The village was as silent as a tomb . Yin Xun pushed open the door to his house, and saw the incense, which was quickly about to go out, as well as countless tablets .
As Yin Xun stared at the tablets, a smile appeared on his face, but this smile, looked even uglier than crying .
It rained heavily for the entire night, like the heavens wanted to wash away the colour of the entire world .
Lu Qingjiu sat in his bedroom, staring at that black, scarred scale . This was probably from that giant dragon that had been imprisoned in the pit, so what kind of emotions had his grandmother been feeling as she decided to keep this scale?
Could that grandfather who had never been brought up, actually be that dragon? But if that was so, then why did he have to devour his own child, and create this irreparable tragedy?
Lu Qingjiu couldn’t understand, and there was no one who could give him an answer .
He raised his head and looked out the window, and was only met with darkness covered by a curtain of rain . The heavy rain seemed to be endless, just like how it had been on the day of his parents’ death—— The huge mountain had collapsed . Within it, humans were so small that even finding their corpses became an extravagant hope .
Lu Qingjiu’s chest throbbed with intense pain . He placed the scale between the pages of the diary, and placed them into the drawer of his bedside table . The wooden box with the text lock had become locked once again . It could probably only be opened on his birthday . Fortunately, he had already taken out the things in the box .
Only when it was at least past 3 in the morning did the sleepless Lu Qingjiu finally force himself to fall asleep . However, the quality of his sleep was absolutely terrible . He even dreamed of that imprisoned daragon .
The dragon’s horn had been broken off, but his eyes were still there, a pair of beautiful dark eyes . There was a sad look in those dark eyes as he stared at Lu Qingjiu, as if he was looking at someone else through him .
“Who are you?” In the dream, Lu Qingjiu couldn’t help but ask .
The black dragon opened his mouth, revealing that he was missing half his tongue .
Lu Qingjiu said, “You…… you can’t speak?”
The black dragon nodded .
“Why am I dreaming about you? Do you want to tell me something?” The boundary between dream and reality began to blur, to the point that Lu Qingjiu couldn’t even quite tell if he was awake or still asleep .
The black dragon didn’t speak, and the sadness in his eyes grew . He used his broken horn to gently nudge Lu Qingjiu’s arm, his actions incredibly light, as if he was afraid of frightening Lu Qingjiu .
Lu Qingjiu’s heart hurt . He didn’t know why, but he suddenly thought of Bai Yuehu . If he hadn’t guessed wrongly, Bai Yuehu’s original form should also be a black dragon like the one in front of him . If Bai Yuehu were to become like this, he couldn’t even bear to think about it . The moment he did, he felt an incredible pain in his chest .
Dragons, such proud creatures, how could anyone bear to let them reach this badly damaged state like the one before him? They should be beings of legend proudly flying in the sky . Even in death, they should be magnificent .
“I don’t understand what you want to say,” Lu Qingjiu said, “I……” He still had more to say, when everything before him was suddenly swept away . He woke up from his dream, and was met with Bai Yuehu’s worried expression .
“You had a nightmare,” Bai Yuehu said .
Lu Qingjiu blinked . Only then did he realise he felt incredibly cold, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat . He said in a low voice, “I dreamed of a black dragon . ”
Bai Yuehu watched Lu Qingjiu quietly . He didn’t interrupt him .
“HIs horn was broken, and his tongue was gone,” Lu Qingjiu said, “He looked utterly terrible . ” He tried to use a smile to tell Bai Yuehu that he was fine .
But Bai Yuehu unexpectedly said, “Don’t smile . ”
Lu Qingjiu was stunned .
“If you don’t want to smile, don’t . ” Bai Yuehu reached out and pulled Lu Qingjiu into a hug, his warm body gave the already stiff Lu Qingjiu a sense of warmth . “Make whatever expression you want, it’s alright . ”
Lu Qingjiu let out the breath he’d been holding . He closed his eyes . “I’m a little tired . ”
Bai Yuehu said, “If you’re tired, then sleep . I’m here . ”
The two slept on the same bed . The person next to him held him tightly, him feel as if he’d turned back into a baby, huddled in the warmth of the amniotic fluid . Lu Qingjiu closed his eyes once more, and quickly drifted off to sleep . This time, he didn’t dream again, nor did he see that black dragon with the sad eyes .
When he woke up the next morning, the rain outside had already stopped . The sun hung high in the blue sky, yet another warm scene of spring .
Bai Yuehu, who had been next to him, was gone . Maybe he’d already went off to the fields to farm .
It seemed to be such an ordinary morning that it couldn’t be any more ordinary . The heavy rain and strange scenes of yesterday, were all as if they had just been a fantastical dream .
If only that had truly all been just a dream . Lu Qingjiu sat up, and saw Yin Xun sticking his head in from outside the door . Yin Xun grinned at him, revealing the adorable tiger tooth at the corner of his mouth, his smile as bright as a sunflower facing the sun . “Jiu-er, good morning . ”
“Morning . ” Lu Qingjiu also began to smile, infected by Yin Xun’s cheer . After sorting out his emotions, he quickly got up . “What do you want to eat?”
Yin Xun said, “Anything’s fine, but I do have a slight craving for beef noodles . ”
“Then let’s eat noodles,” Lu Qingjiu said, “Go to the fields and pick some fresh vegetables . ”
“Alright,” Yin Xun smiled and agreed .
From an ordinary morning, an ordinary day began .