Drunk and swayed by beauty, Ning Buwei carried his Suzaku Knife and engaged in battle with the snow wolf. To preserve the freshness and softness of the wolf’s fur, he cast talismans liberally, drawing the Beast-Trapping Formation smoothly. Within half an hour, he had the wolf’s head under his foot.
This thoroughly enraged the snow wolf, who, with the determination to perish together, spewed countless fierce flames from its mouth, trapping both itself and Ning Buwei in a sea of fire.
Ning Buwei was furious – how could he give it as a gift if the fur was scorched!?
—
On the flying ship.
Jiang Yizheng looked at her father who was resting with closed eyes, then at Feng Zizhang who was sleeping soundly while hugging Big Yellow, and then at his two brothers who were innocently playing with dead tree branches and stones, and silently sighed.
Their flying ship had been motionless in the high sky for three hours now – did really no one think something was wrong?
She worriedly left the room to continue looking around.
“Ah~” Xiao Shan sat on the couch, handing Cui Yuanbai a small stone.
For Brother Huanhuan~
This was the first gift Cui Yuanbai had received from Xiao Shan, and he was very happy, carefully holding the pebble, “Thank you, Xiao Shan.”
“Da!” Xiao Shan grinned, then handed him a dead tree branch, “Yiya~dai~gu!”
My favorite branch for Brother Huanhuan!
Cui Yuanbai searched through his Purple Mansion and brought out a round white egg, “This is for you!”
“Aya?” Xiao Shan touched the egg, his little face full of confusion.
“I don’t know what creature’s egg it is, it seems to be dead already,” Cui Yuanbai seriously told Xiao Shan, “I’ve tried many ways but couldn’t bring it back to life.”
Xiao Shan frowned, a small ball of golden spiritual power appearing in his palm, showing it to Cui Yuanbai, “Da~”
I can do it~
A small flame appeared in Cui Yuanbai’s palm as he licked his lips, “Should we roast it? Wonder if it tastes good.”
When Xiao Shan heard ‘eat’, he couldn’t help but swallow, “Yi~”
The two little ones stared at the big white egg, swallowing hard. Cui Yuanbai secretly glanced at his sleeping father, shifted his position to face away from him, and quietly began roasting the egg with his hand over it.
Xiao Shan watched with curiosity, stood up supporting himself on the eggshell, and copied Cui Yuanbai by injecting spiritual power into the shell.
Father had fed him egg yolk several times, it was yummy~
Big Yellow, who was sleeping, twitched his nose and suddenly opened his eyes, shaking off Feng Zizhang who was lying on him.
Feng Zizhang was startled awake, then also sniffed, “What smells so good?”
Then both man and dog naturally gathered around. Feng Zizhang quietly asked, “Huanhuan, Xiao Shan, what are you doing?”
“Shh.” Cui Yuanbai made a gesture to him, whispering, “We’re roasting an egg to eat.”
Feng Zizhang sat cross-legged beside them, “I’ll help you roast it.”
“Woof~” Big Yellow also put a paw on it.
Save a bite for the dog~
Jiang Yizheng entered from outside with a serious expression, only to see everyone including the dog surrounding a big white egg doing something. She went over to ask, “What are you doing?”
Moments later, she too eagerly put her hand on it, injecting spiritual power to help roast it. “I have seasonings and sauce!”
“Let’s move outside to roast it, so we don’t disturb Father’s sleep,” Feng Zizhang thoughtfully suggested.
The four people and one dog successfully reached consensus.
The entire flying ship became unprecedentedly quiet. The four people and one dog gathered on the deck, intently watching this big white egg. Rich aromas instantly filled the air, with both humans and dog competing to swallow their saliva.
After a while, the egg finally showed movement, a crack appearing on it, then quickly spreading into a network of cracks.
Big Yellow wagged his tail vigorously.
“Ah~” Xiao Shan called out in his baby voice.
Time to eat~
Cui Yuanbai took out chopsticks and bowls.
Jiang Yizheng took out seasonings and sauce.
Feng Zizhang took out a gleaming dagger to divide the egg among his younger siblings and Big Yellow.
With a light “crack,” the eggshell split into pieces.
The four people and the dog were instantly dumbfounded.
“Wooof!” Big Yellow yelped, turning to hide behind Ning Xiu.
Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang each grabbed Cui Yuanbai and Ning Xiu in their arms, completely backing away.
“W-w-what is this thing!?” Feng Zizhang stuttered, pointing at the black, elongated creature coiled up in the eggshell, its black scales gleaming as it breathed.
Looking at the strange deer-like antlers on the creature’s head, Jiang Yizheng’s voice trembled, “D-d-do you think it might be a d-dragon?”
Feng Zizhang broke down. “Weren’t dragons extinct th-thirty thousand years ago?”
Cui Yuanbai said disappointedly. “Dragons aren’t edible.”
Ning Xiu tilted his head, “Ah?”
Where’s my food? Where’s my white, round big egg?
The black dragon coiled in half an eggshell slowly opened its eyes, raised its head to look at them, and began nibbling on its own eggshell.
The person dozing in the room suddenly opened his eyes, but found everything quiet around him. He lifted the curtain and went out of the room, only to see four children and a dog sitting very obediently on the deck, enjoying the breeze.
Chu Jun was busy looking for the drunken Ning Buwei in the Floating Sky Realm, keeping most of his attention on his main body, and had even set up a barrier to keep the flying ship suspended in the air. By all accounts, nothing unusual should have happened.
But these little ones being so quiet and well-behaved was itself unusual.
Chu Jun looked at certain remnants on the deck, his gaze pausing, “What’s that?”
Feng Zizhang swallowed hard and tentatively asked, “Father, would you be able to accept another pet in our family?”
Chu Jun had a bad feeling, “What kind of pet?”
“Well, it’s black…” said Jiang Yizheng.
“And long…” Cui Yuanbai quietly added.
“Ah-da~” Ning Xiu raised his hand to gesture.
“This.” Feng Zizhang pulled out a three-foot-long little black dragon from behind him, “It’s very well-behaved, doesn’t bite.”
Chu Jun: “???”
****
In the Floating Sky Realm.
Chu Jun finally found Ning Buwei in a bush.
Ning Buwei had set up nine layers of concealment barriers around himself. If not for the temporary spiritual contract between them, it would have taken quite a while to find him.
It took some time to break through those nine layers of concealment barriers, and he found Ning Buwei curled up in a nest “dug out” from the bushes, his clothes tattered – some burned by fire, some torn by animal claws – hanging loosely, with blood stains all around.
Chu Jun’s breath caught.
He crouched down to examine Ning Buwei’s wounds. Besides those minor injuries, the most severe was a bone-deep wound from his lower back to his shoulder.
After having a satisfying fight and a good sleep, Ning Buwei reluctantly opened his eyes upon sensing someone else’s presence, only to meet Chu Jun’s beautiful eyes.
Except those eyes weren’t looking very friendly.
Ning Buwei was still drunk, and seeing the other person angry, he immediately admitted fault, “I was wrong.”
After a moment of silence, Chu Jun asked, “How did you get hurt?”
Ning Buwei expressionlessly looked away and pulled out a huge monster core from his sleeve.
Just by looking at this core, one could tell this monster had at least a thousand years of cultivation. Even with some exceptional skills, a Golden Core cultivator like him couldn’t have avoided a tough battle.
“For you.” Ning Buwei took out a crystal-clear ice hairpin from his sleeve and placed it in his hand.
Chu Jun looked down at the hairpin – its lines were flowing and the craftsmanship exquisite, seemingly containing countless spiritual energies. He couldn’t immediately determine its grade, but knew it was no ordinary treasure, and asked, “For me?”
Ning Buwei nodded, his tone somewhat tentative, “Don’t be angry anymore.”
“I’m not angry,” Chu Jun replied helplessly to the drunk person, his voice gentle. “Just don’t drink next time.”
Seeing that he truly wasn’t angry, Ning Buwei instantly became arrogant, sneering. “Heh, I’m not even drunk.”
Chu Jun: “……”
That meant he was definitely drunk.
Ning Buwei frowned and pulled out a writing brush from his sleeve, gathering his thoughts before saying, “Although your talismans are terrible, this brush suits you.”
Chu Jun: “…Thank you.”
Ning Buwei waved his hand casually, but the movement pulled at his wound, making him draw in a sharp breath.
Chu Jun reached out to help him up, “Let’s treat your wounds first.”
Ning Buwei stumbled as he stood up, frowning. “My back hurts.”
“It was torn up by the monster beast,” Chu Jun said.
Ning Buwei leaned on his shoulder, deliberately pressing half his body weight against him, almost as if holding him in an embrace, and said weakly, “Will I survive?”
Chu Jun replied with a serious face. “Hard to say.”
Faced with such beauty and emboldened by alcohol, Ning Buwei started rambling, “Then I have a wish before I die.”
“Oh?” Chu Jun turned to look at him.
Ning Buwei suddenly felt his throat go dry, his gaze lingering on Chu Jun’s lips for a moment, hazily thinking how Chu Jun looked…
Chu Jun was wondering why he was leaning closer and was about to ask, when suddenly someone lightly brushed against the corner of his mouth.
The touch was brief, but it left him completely frozen.
Ning Buwei blinked slowly, reached out to touch his face, feeling completely satisfied.
“…This dream feels quite real.”
