Chapter 52: Dragon Scales
This time, Zhu Chi arrived at the Ejian Sect with her guqin, the bell Luo Nianshang had gifted her tied to her wrist. The two puppets controlled by the Demon Lord stared intently at the bell.
Luo Nianshang, seeing that Zhu Chi had brought a disciple and her guqin, her appearance suggesting a long journey, assumed she was leaving.
They sat facing each other. Perhaps the sunlight was too bright. Zhu Chi shielded her eyes with a hand.
She seemed unusually cheerful today, her smile constant. “I came to bid you farewell, Venerable One.”
“Where are you going?” Luo Nianshang asked.
Zhu Chi handed her guqin to her disciple, her excitement evident, her cheeks flushed.
She took a sip of tea, her voice bright. “I’ve found her,” she said.
Luo Nianshang’s heart skipped a beat, then a wave of concern washed over her. The Demon Realm was in turmoil.
The Demon Lord was feigning a serious injury, the forces of Que City were growing stronger, and now, almost a third of the demon cities supported Ouyang Ba’s claim to the throne.
It was dangerous for a righteous cultivator to venture into the Demon Realm during such a chaotic time, but finding her lost love had become Zhu Chi’s sole purpose in life.
Luo Nianshang glanced at the guqin. It was unusual, its body a pale, moonlit white, its material unknown.
Zhu Chi, her cultivation weakened by her blindness, was in no condition to face the dangers of the Demon Realm. Luo Nianshang flicked her wrist, and a layer of frost covered the guqin, then vanished.
“Be careful,” she said, her voice soft.
Zhu Chi smiled, then rose to her feet and left.
Bai Jingxue, seeing that their conversation had ended, jumped onto the table. She was one step away from reaching the Golden Core stage, but that one step seemed insurmountable.
“Meow.”
Luo Nianshang, her attention caught, reached out, and Bai Jingxue rubbed her head against her hand.
This was a clear sign that the cat needed something. She wasn’t usually this affectionate.
Unable to understand the cat’s meows, Luo Nianshang retrieved a special treat from her spatial ring, a chicken-flavored snack shaped like a cat paw, specially made by Fu Yuan.
Ignoring Fu Yuan’s girlishness, Bai Jingxue meowed frantically, trying to explain.
But before she could, Luo Nianshang popped the treat into her mouth.
Her meows were silenced. The treat was undeniably delicious.
She finished it, opened her mouth to meow again, and another treat appeared.
She ate it, her heart filled with despair, then refused to open her mouth again.
Luo Nianshang, however, was eager to feed her. She held the treat near Bai Jingxue’s mouth.
“Don’t you want more?” she asked.
Bai Jingxue sniffed the air. The aroma was intoxicating.
No, she had wanted Luo Nianshang to help her with her cultivation. How had this happened?
But the treat smelled so good…
No! She needed to focus on her cultivation!
But the treat was so delicious…
After a long internal struggle, she snatched the treat from Luo Nianshang’s hand, devouring it, her heart filled with conflicting emotions.
Lü Qingyan, hearing the commotion, dashed out of the chamber, settling beside Luo Nianshang, her tail wagging.
Luo Nianshang gave her a treat, which was gone in two seconds.
The usually aloof and intimidating Sword Saint now resembled a doting mother, spoiling her children.
The cat and dog were soon full.
Bai Jingxue patted her round belly, lamenting her lack of self-control. At this rate, she would become a fat cat.
“Jingxue, I’m so full,” Lü Qingyan groaned.
Bai Jingxue, seeing the dog struggling to move, chuckled, quickly hiding her amusement.
As a strict cat, she asked, her voice stern, “How is your cultivation progressing?”
Lü Qingyan’s ears drooped. She remained silent, her paws covering her head.
Bai Jingxue, in this life, enjoyed using her paws to deliver head pats, but only when Lü Qingyan was slacking off on her cultivation.
However, she was currently too full to move, so Lü Qingyan was spared.
But Bai Jingxue was still annoyed. “Hmph,” she said. “If you don’t work harder, I’ll transform before you.”
Lü Qingyan’s face fell. She had also reached the Foundation Establishment stage, but without Fang Xin’s assistance, she had fallen behind.
She was worried. If she couldn’t catch up to Bai Jingxue, then Bai Jingxue would be human again while she was still a dog.
That would be disastrous. She wouldn’t be able to walk side-by-side with Jingxue, hand-in-hand. People would think she was Jingxue’s pet.
She had carried Jingxue on her back in their past life. Would Jingxue have to carry her in this life? That wasn’t so bad.
She suddenly realized that she could be carried by Jingxue in her human form.
The thought was so delightful that she giggled.
Bai Jingxue, seeing her giggling while covering her head, was confused.
She jumped down from the table, peering at the dog. Satisfied that Lü Qingyan was fine, she slowly made her way to her room.
Luo Nianshang’s two new disciples spent all their time meditating. They were as good as invisible. Sometimes, Bai Jingxue wondered if they were secretly sisters.
Their behavior, mannerisms, and even their speech patterns were so similar. They were like robots programmed with the same code.
She shook her head. She needed to focus on her cultivation, to reach the stage where she could transform back into a human. Then, she could expand her range of movement and perhaps even influence the plot.
She leaped onto the bed, its sheets a vibrant red, and closed her eyes. And then she fell asleep.
Dreams were inevitable, but she hadn’t expected to see a pink-haired girl in her dream.
“Ying?” she asked tentatively.
Ying, in this dream, wasn’t a statue. She stood before Bai Jingxue in her human form.
She was clearly delighted to be remembered by the cat. She crouched down, poking Bai Jingxue’s whiskers, her eyes sparkling.
“You remember me,” she said. “That’s wonderful. It’s a shame we can’t leave the ocean freely. I would love to visit you.”
Dragons were forbidden from leaving the ocean without permission. It was akin to a princess from another country sneaking across the border.
And dragons were valuable. Both righteous and demon cultivators coveted their scales, claws, and blood.
Bai Jingxue swatted Ying’s hand away, her voice flat. “Why are you here?”
“I wanted to pet you,” Ying replied. “Even though it doesn’t feel real in a dream.”
So she was simply craving some cat cuddles. But Bai Jingxue wasn’t just a cat. She saw this beautiful, pink-haired dragon girl as a creepy stalker.
She backed away, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Ying, sensing the cat’s distrust, withdrew her hand, her cheeks flushing. She noticed that Bai Jingxue had reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. “Wow, you’re progressing so quickly,” she said, her voice filled with surprise. “You’re one step away from the Golden Core stage.”
Bai Jingxue attributed her progress to luck. She was about to downplay her achievements when Ying’s next words shocked her.
“You could give your core to a demon you love,” Ying said, her smile innocent.
Bai Jingxue’s fur bristled. She was not a fan of this gruesome tradition.
She calmed herself, her voice laced with disbelief. “Do you really have to torture yourselves like this?”
Ying didn’t see it as torture. Removing one’s core wouldn’t kill a demon, and as long as the core remained intact, it wouldn’t significantly weaken them.
But Ying wasn’t interested in love and romance. Her only goal was to inherit her father’s throne.
Bai Jingxue suddenly had an idea. This dragon, who could communicate with her, could help her with her cultivation.
Her eyes lit up. She approached Ying, her tail held high. “Can you help me break through to the Golden Core stage?”
Lü Qingyan, who had been napping, suddenly smelled fish. She sat up, sniffing the air, then traced the scent to Bai Jingxue’s room.
Worried, she dashed inside, barking. “Jingxue!”
A mountain of pink dragon scales lay on the bed. Bai Jingxue, hearing Lü Qingyan’s voice, emerged from the pile, her head shaking.
She stared at the scales, her expression a mixture of shock and disbelief.
Were all demons this hardcore? Plucking out their own scales? And so many of them? It must have been painful.
Luo Nianshang, who had entered the room at some point, stared at the pile of scales, her mind reeling.
She was still stuck in her old-fashioned mindset, believing that dragons only gifted their scales as a token of love. But this was excessive.
She suddenly realized that her cat seemed to be quite popular. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of worry.
She glanced at Lü Qingyan, then picked up a scale, examining it. She then proceeded to imagine a dramatic love triangle.
Lü Qingyan jumped onto the bed, staring at the pile of scales. “Did you turn into Nezha*?” she asked. “Which dragon did you skin?”
“The one on the male lead’s wrist in the original story,” Bai Jingxue replied nonchalantly.
She picked up a scale, crushing it into a fine pink powder.
Lü Qingyan sneezed as the powder filled the air.
“What are you doing, Jingxue?” she asked.
Bai Jingxue crushed another scale, her voice calm. “That dragon said if I soak these scales in water and drink it, it’ll help me reach the Golden Core stage faster.”
She hadn’t wanted so many, but Ying, upon hearing about Lü Qingyan, had insisted on plucking out more.
Bai Jingxue hadn’t been able to stop her.
Lü Qingyan, seeing the magical properties of these scales, joined in, crushing scales with her paws.
Luo Nianshang, watching them, her expression a mixture of amusement and pity, couldn’t help but feel sorry for the dragon who had gifted these scales. Her love token was being treated so carelessly.
It seemed the lovelorn dragon’s affections were unrequited. This was the dog’s victory.
Luo Nianshang’s thoughts drifted to the future. If the cat and dog were truly in love, then she would need to prepare a dowry.
She began to rummage through her “treasury.”
She rarely organized her belongings, simply tossing aside anything she found interesting or useful. Finding a suitable gift was proving difficult.
She dug through the pile, her gaze falling upon a small doll buried beneath a pile of miscellaneous items.
The doll was dirty and ordinary, its black dress faded.
She picked it up, realizing that the black stains were dried blood.
***
T/N: Nezha is a famous character from Chinese mythology, known for his bravery and magical powers. He is often depicted as a young boy with supernatural abilities, and is said to have battled dragons and other monsters.
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