GD Ch. 16

Chapter 16: Why She Bites

Is this dragon intentionally not transforming? Zhuyou couldn’t tell for now.

She did notice a familiar aura among the people serving porridge, quite familiar indeed. She would still recognize it even if that devil turned to ashes, not from deep-seated hatred, just her unilateral dislike.

Although the disciples of these few sects complained a bit, they were still patiently serving porridge. Ordinary people could only see their mouths moving, but couldn’t hear what they were saying at all.

The female disciple distributing pancakes on the side seemed to have sensed something. She suddenly turned and looked under the pine tree where no one was present. A smile tugged at her lips, and her lively eyes glanced around. As if the snowstorm had chilled her body, she coughed weakly a couple of times, looking fragile and delicate.

“What are you looking at, shimei?” someone asked.

(T/N: Shimei = Younger martial sister. For junior female members of one’s own sect.)

The female disciple smiled sweetly, “I saw a rare guest.”

“How could there be any rare guests? I’m tired of seeing the people here.” The person who asked sighed.

The person who had been under the tree had naturally left. The moment Zhuyou saw Jing Kexin, she turned around immediately, without even thinking.

This Third Lord seemed to have some weird quirks. With no particular preferences, she just liked to be close to Zhuyou and mess around. Even when hanging upside down outside the hall’s gate, she still wore a pleased expression. Zhuyou didn’t know where her pleasure came from.

But as she turned to leave, the dragon on her wrist suddenly coiled tightly, her black scales rubbing against Zhuyou’s wrist bone, causing intense pain.

This dragon pup was challenging to raise. When she wasn’t biting, she always found other ways to cause trouble, making it even harder to deal with her than those things in the devil’s domain.

Zhuyou immediately grabbed the dragon. Those golden eyes didn’t avoid her gaze, instead, they met hers directly, staring at her without moving, with a hint of reproach. 

Zhuyou couldn’t figure out how the dragon could look reproachful, but anyway, this dragon didn’t seem very friendly. While other divine offsprings were born innocent and lovely, this one always wore a deep frown ever since she was born, completely lacking in liveliness, which was quite strange.

“Are you hoping to be turned into dragon stew?” Zhuyou lifted the dragon’s tail, treating her like a piece of hemp rope without any mercy.

On her pristine white wrist, a faintly raised bone where the dragon coiled bore a conspicuous red mark. Thankfully, it healed in an instant.

Changying continued to gaze at her, unblinking and silent. It struck Zhuyou then that since her hatching, Changying hadn’t uttered a single sound.

During her tenure in the Heavenly Realm, she had also attended the birth of another divine demon. Not the kind emerging from eggs, but those arriving in the guise of infants, with flawless and delicate bodies, yet seeming as fragile as if a mere touch might shatter them.

(T/N: As mentioned, demons are simply monsters. Fox demons, for example, can be either divine or devil. Dragons and phoenixes can be said to be divine demons.)

At that juncture, she had just reached the age of two hundred. Her spiritual power had eclipsed that of phoenix immortals who had dedicated a millennium to their practice within her race. With a mere gesture, hundreds of birds bowed in reverence, and a clap summoned forth natural phenomena, clouds and mists swirling in unpredictable patterns.

The newborn divine offspring she cradled on that day was delicate and diminutive, as though clasping them too tightly might cause them to dissolve. 

Even celestial immortals subscribed to the principles of karma and fate. They all harbored the belief that the divine offspring she nurtured would one day shine as brightly as her, possessing enlightened minds and extraordinary talents.

Regrettably, when the divine offspring was placed in her embrace, they made no cries or protests. Their eyes remained shut tight as if gripped by fear. Witnessing this, a nearby immortal swiftly took the infant from her grasp and gently patted it until it cried out. Only then did Zhuyou breathe a sigh of relief.

A perfectly healthy divine offspring had nearly been frightened silly by her awe-inspiring spiritual power. After that incident, the divine demons refrained from assigning her to oversee any more births, fearing a repeat occurrence. 

Subsequently, she became a devil.

As Zhuyou regarded the sleek black dragon in her grasp, a peculiar thought struck her: Could this dragon too have been terror-stricken by her presence and required a good beating to recover her composure?

But her spiritual power was not as strong as it used to be; she could not have instilled such fear in this divine offspring.

Seeing Zhuyou still intended to depart, Changying, with her unwavering golden gaze, arched her back and parted her maw widely toward Zhuyou’s arm, the two razor-sharp teeth glinting with an icy light.

Zhuyou relaxed her hold, causing the snake-like dragon to slip from her grasp and tumble into the snow, leaving only a dark tail protruding, her body mostly submerged beneath the icy blanket.

Buried in the snow, the dragon stirred slightly. Lifting her head, she cast a chilly gaze upon the great demon before her.

Zhuyou became increasingly suspicious. Was this dragon really trainable? Could her habit of biting people at the slightest provocation be changed? Perhaps she had indeed been scared senseless, which explained her unusual behavior. She would have to find an opportunity to give her a good beating.

Changying had no idea what she was thinking. After staring at Zhuyou for a while, she crawled out of the snow and, once out, unexpectedly headed back toward the wooden shack where the porridge was being cooked. “Crawling” wasn’t exactly the right word to describe it. Despite being a dragon, she hadn’t even grown claws. She simply wriggled her body like a snake.

Zhuyou’s brows twitched slightly. With a slight raise of her hand, the dragon, which had been happily crawling, instantly ended up in her grasp. “Are you heading to that shack?”

Changying blinked—a rare occurrence—but her gaze remained as cold as the snowflakes falling around them.

Zhuyou wrapped her dragon back around her hand. “Is someone bothering you in that shack? But no one is watching. And even if there was someone, what difference would it make? Why risk losing a scale or two?”

Changying didn’t respond. She wasn’t the one being watched.

Zhuyou casually remarked, “Shenhua Mountain is indeed peculiar, but I don’t want to be on the same side as Jing Kexin nor the other two Lords.” 

Finishing her words, she gently hooked her long slender fingers, and a strand of silvery-white thread appeared out of thin air, resembling a fish as it swam toward her fingertip. The divine thread swayed slowly, and the moment it touched her fingertip, it swiftly merged into her body—this was a strand of divine consciousness she had attached to Luo Qing.

“Luo Qing hasn’t seen me yet. I wonder where he’s venting his frustrations now,” she chuckled.

The crimson mark on Zhuyou’s wrist bone, which had just healed, was rubbed raw again as if it had been bound tightly.

She touched the dragon coiled around her wrist and spoke with emphasis, “Being a devil is to go back on one’s word. Devils won’t reason with you, and even promises made may not be kept. Remember that.”

Changying slowly closed her eyes and flicked her tail.

This dragon was truly peculiar. She clearly understood human speech, yet she only responded by flicking her tail. If she hadn’t just hatched, Zhuyou would have suspected her of being possessed.

***

In the wind and snow, where the fallen divine offspring passed, not a single footprint was left behind. The snowy ground remained pristine as if no one had ever been there.

In the white jade Dragon Palace, the gathered soldiers were ordered to disperse. The moment they left the Dragon Palace, the thousands of soldiers instantly transformed into a group of fish and shrimp. In the blink of an eye, there were no fish or shrimp left in the sea.

Jingyi, who had arrived wearing a wedding gown and riding a bridal sedan a while ago, now had her hands bound by dragon tendons. Although she didn’t look too disheveled, she seemed somewhat pitiful.

Mangfeng knelt beside her and said solemnly, “Jingyi would never have touched that egg!”

East Sea Monarch paced with hands behind his back. “I will report this matter to the Heavenly Emperor. That egg is no ordinary matter. If it’s not retrieved, our Dragon Clan may bear an eternal stigma.”

“Who exactly is in that egg?” Mangfeng asked anxiously.

“That’s not something our race can discuss. Her arrival here was originally a blessing for our race.” East Sea Monarch’s expression darkened as he turned to Jingyi, who was kneeling beside Mangfeng. “Are you really sure you didn’t touch that egg?”

“Never.” Jingyi hurriedly replied, her eyes already turning red with anxiety.

East Sea Monarch stared at her for a moment. “Until this matter is clarified, Jingyi must not be let off lightly.” With a wave of his hand, he signaled for the soldiers to take her away.

Mangfeng’s expression changed slightly. “Lord Father, do you remember why the Phoenix Clan member was taken to the Execution Platform? Without the Heavenly Emperor’s decree, Jingyi cannot be detained without proper cause.”

East Sea Monarch paused for a moment. He carefully examined the trembling Jingyi, and then he sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Enough. First, retrieve that egg. I will go to the Upper Realm. This matter is likely related to the Devil Realm. That egg must have hatched by now. Investigate what the Three Lords of the Devil Realm have been up to recently.”