Chapter 6
Bai Huo was standing at the entrance to Toy City.
He really couldn"t understand it, how was the little dragon cub about to bite someone in the short time he"d looked down to read an autopsy report?
Fortunately, he moved quickly, grabbing the little cub just as he was about to fiercely pounce on the other child"s wrist. He shoved him into his coat, promptly stopping a tragedy.
However, he was still a half second late. The attacking power of a dragon wasn"t anything to sneeze at. Even though it was just the tip of the tooth, the bratty child didn"t come out unscathed. Almost at the same time he started crying, the marbles in his hand scattered.
The little dragon cub and Bai Huo"s movements were so fast that the brat"s mother didn"t even clearly see what happened. She only heard her child suddenly start bawling and thought that something had irritated him, then hurriedly pulled out snacks and stepped forward.
Bai Huo half kneeled and threw aside all the clothes he"d just bought, while holding the file under one arm, he gently stroked the little dragon cub"s head.
The little dragon"s tiny back trembled slightly. Under Bai Huo"s comfort, he gradually calmed down, but he also stopped moving. He was buried in Bai Huo"s chest, silent.
On the other hand, the bratty child wailed incessantly, more and more people were starting to gather around to watch.
After waiting for the little one in his arms to settle down, Bai Huo freed up a hand and, while protectively covering one side of his body, reached for the bratty child"s wrist.
”Hey, what are you doing?” The brat"s mother quickly shouted.
Bai Huo expressionlessly glanced at her, the latter was stunned and didn"t speak again.
The child"s skin was very tender, the little wound on his wrist was particularly obvious. At this moment, it was already red and swollen. There was a circle of teeth marks near a blood vessel. The sharpest canine teeth had broken the skin, and there were two b.l.o.o.d.y holes. Bai Huo shot a quick glance at the top of the little baby dragon"s head, unable to help feeling secretly scared. The little cub was still a baby, his ma.s.seter muscles were not fully developed, so they were not very strong. If he was just a month older, the bratty child"s wrist would"ve been savaged.
He seamlessly covered the wound with his palm, and when he moved it away, the child"s wrist had healed. Hidden under his cuffs, four b.l.o.o.d.y holes appeared on Bai Huo"s wrist.
- Wound Transferal. One of the few remaining spells of the dragon race. They could transfer the wounds of others onto themselves at the cost of the speller needing to bear twice the damage. In the warring era, dragon parents frequently used this spell to aide in their cubs" survival. The size of the wound the speller could “absorb” was determined by the speller"s abilities. It was rumored that those at the top of their cultivation could exchange lives. It"s “rumored” because no one has ever achieved it so far.
Bai Huo"s movements were quick and natural, to outsiders, it looked like he"d just held the child"s wrist and quickly looked over it before letting go. The bratty child"s mother had an inexplicable expression, a.s.suming that she"d just run into a crazy guy, she side-eyed Bai Huo as she carried her child away: "There"s a screw loose…”
Bai Huo"s face was blank and innocent, he had just experienced the fresh feeling of being a framed dad for the first time. Thinking like this, he found it kind of funny, and walked away to examine the little dragon, smiling: “Cub ah…”
Before he could start lecturing, Bai Huo"s smile froze. The little dragon cub was lying on his shoulder, his eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears, biting his clothes. The tear beads resembled a broken line, slowly streaming down.
This child"s crying was different from other children. It wasn"t an ear-splitting wail, but extremely soft sobs, the discomfort of wanting to hold back his grief but being unable to. It was still crying, but this way of crying was not only not annoying, it was particularly heart-breaking to watch.
Bai Huo"s mind was a mess of guilt, he wondered if his tone just now was too harsh. He hurriedly hugged the little dragon into his arms and gently rubbed his back: “Why are you crying, be good, don"t cry, I"m not blaming you ……”
It was pitiful Bai Huo"s first time being a dad, he softly coaxed for a long time, but the child didn"t calm down. If the baby dragon wasn"t desperately clinging to his shoulder while he cried, he would"ve almost been suspected to be a child kidnapper by the mall security guards.
”Are you cold, cub?” Bai Huo carried the little baby dragon out of the mall, as he walked farther away, the sobs on his shoulders gradually subsided.
It was still snowing outside, Bai Huo turned his head to look. The little guy had cried himself to sleep, lying on his shoulder, softly breathing, two teardrops stuck on his long eyelashes.
Every time the little cub was in his embrace, he was especially quick to fall asleep. Bai Huo finally noticed this; it seems that his hugs gave the cub an unlimited sense of security. He had been selfish and unscrupulous for so many years, but the appearance of this child unexpectedly made him feel unclear and heavy emotions.
He remembered a report he"d read before, it said that in everyone"s early childhood, the brain remembered the body temperature and breath of the ones who gave the child a sense of security. This first memory would be rooted in the depths of their souls, affecting the rest of their lives. Even when pursuing a mate, they would subconsciously choose a mate that closely approaches that ideal body temperature and breath.
The report was very professionally written, Bai Huo didn"t know if it was all nonsense, but he still felt very happy when he thought of how great an impact he would have on this child"s future. It made restraining himself from playing mahjong these past few days not seem like such a big deal.
”Grilled eel! Very tasty! Hey handsome guy, don"t you want one? These are the last two, once it"s sold out, I"m closing shop.” A young, fat hawker on the side of the road called out to Bai Huo with a smile.
Smelling the aroma, Bai Huo remembered that they hadn"t eaten anything yet. He walked over to take a look: “Hey, isn"t this obviously cutla.s.sfish?”
Exposed, the fat boss didn"t feel embarra.s.sed at all, he waved his big hand: “Eel, cutla.s.sfish, it"s all the same fish, and kids love to eat it all the same, hehe.”
Bai Huo saw that the fish was still fresh, so he didn"t argue with him: “Whatever, give me the two, no spicy sauce.”
His injured wrist had been pressed on during the whole journey, while fishing out his money, Bai Huo frowned very lightly and carefully moved the little dragon to his other arm, carefreely tugging his little tail.
This little guy wasn"t very big, but his bite sure does hurt.
Bai Huo had just carried the child home, his seat barely starting to warm up, when Lin Ke called him.
”Director Bai, how quickly can you come over here? Ling-jie"s about to destroy the bar!”
Bai Huo handed one of the grilled fish to the fat bird and opened a beer, taking a slow drink, then he asked: “What happened?”
”That professor something you brought over last time, h-h-he… he woke up!”
”It"s been a few days; he should be awake.” Bai Huo said, “Just give him something to eat, make sure you don"t starve him to death.”
”…”
”Not that!” There was a sound of something breaking and Lin Ke dodging, “Ling-jie, Ling-jie shifted in front of him!”
Bai Huo paused, then he resealed the beer bottle and asked: “What happened to He Ling?”
”I can"t explain, anyway, come quick.” Lin Ke wailed in panic. “If you don"t come, our hideout will disappear.”
Bai Huo face palmed: “Ok, ok, ok, wait for me.”
Hanging up the phone, Bai Huo walked into his bedroom and searched under the bed, he grabbed a small pill bottle and shoved it into his pocket.
The little baby dragon was still asleep on the sofa, he had turned back into a smoky gray dragon cub. The fat chicken sat next to him, swallowing the tail of the cutla.s.sfish, then it stared at the other fish on the table.
”Clang”, a gla.s.s soup bowl fell down, promptly blocking the line of sight between the fat bird and the cutla.s.sfish.
”What the h.e.l.l!” The fat bird cursed.
”One per person, this one is his.” Bai Huo patted the fat bird"s cheek with a grin. “I"m going out, if you behave well at home, I"ll give you a banquet when I get back.”
The fat bird angrily flew up to the lampshade: “Stingy!”
Bai Huo leaned over to look at the sleeping face on the sofa, the little cub had cried himself exhausted, he shouldn"t wake up for a while. But just in case, he took off his coat and scarf, placed the scarf under the little dragon"s head, and wrapped the coat around him, ensuring that the little guy was surrounded by his scent.
He still felt a little uneasy leaving like this. Before leaving the house, he repeatedly warned: “Don"t bully him, if there"s something, just wait for me to come back.”
”Humph.” The fat bird tsundere-ly flicked his tail at him, ignoring him.
When Bai Huo arrived at the underground bar, it was already cleared out. Only Lin Ke was left, hiding in fear behind the window curtains, only his eyes exposed.
”Director Bai, here, here!” He hastily waved at Bai Huo.
”Oh my, whoever provoked her certainly didn"t have a small temper.” Bai Huo tip-toed across the room, barely finding a path not covered in broken gla.s.s.
”Exactly, this started this afternoon.” Lin Ke lamented. “They"re in the private room, I don"t dare go look.”
Bai Huo sniffed the air, besides alcohol, there was another strange smell: “You started making durian wine?”
”No,” Lin Ke had a complicated look on his face. “That"s urine.”
Bai Huo: “?”
"This morning, the professor you brought woke up, and Ling-jie remembered that he was a zoologist. I don"t know why, but she was very happy… Although I say that she was happy, she was still expressionless. Then she immediately shifted, and demanded that the professor tell her what creature she was, or he wouldn"t get any food."
Bai Huo: "……”
Look at what happens when children get lonely.
"That professor was also weird. He obviously looked so professional, who would"ve guessed that he"d be so terrified inside of Ling-jie, he"d pee himself all day.” Lin Ke talked non-stop, “You know Ling-jie has mysophobia, so she was especially angry…”
Bai Huo suddenly felt matchless sympathy for the professor.
”Hold this.” Bai Huo tossed the small pill bottle to Lin Ke, “Make the professor smell it later.”
”What"s inside?” Lin Ke was curious, he opened up the bottle and sniffed, "Smells good.”
”Amnesia Powder.”
The private room door wasn"t closed.
He Ling was wearing a black gauze skirt, it looked as if her inky black long hair had crossed past her waist. On her head, two long horns stood almost as tall as her, the visual effect was very shocking. This was the horn of an adult dragon. The girl was crouched on the floor, tilting her head at the middle-aged man cowering in the corner of the room: “How can I talk if I"m a dragon?”
”Human, you"re a human…” The professor cried.
”Well if I"m a human, why do I have dragon horns?” The 13-year-old Lolita"s face was full of innocence.
”Dragon, you"re a dragon…”
Lin Ke leaned in, staring blankly at the bottle in his hand: “What"s in this? Smells good.”
”Amnesia powder.” Bai Huo circled around the private room, contrary to his expectations, there was no strange smell in the room, but looking at the professor"s appearance, that probably wouldn"t last long.
Bai Huo turned around and found Lin Ke blocking the door, he held the bottle and asked: “What"s in this? Smells good.”
”…” Bai Huo grabbed the pill bottle away from him, and said with a headache, “No more sniffing.”
”But what"s inside…”
”Amnesia powder!”
”…Oh.”
”He Ling,” Bai Huo walked over and blocked the emotional professor"s line of sight, then he kicked him. The latter twitched, and fainted, “Stop playing around with him.”
He Ling expressionlessly changed back into her human form, then got up and walked into the lounge: “Boring.”
Bai Huo ordered Lin Ke to clean up the mess, dragging the fainted professor into the bathroom.
Lin Ke turned his head and noticed the four b.l.o.o.d.y puncture wounds on Bai Huo"s wrist. He couldn"t hold it in, asking coyly: “Director Bai, your wrist…”
Before Bai Huo could open his mouth, Lin Ke blushed deeply, and rushed to say: “I know, I know you have a unique hobby. But I want to remind you, please be moderate ah, too much of that is not good for your health.”
Bai Huo: “…”
Only G.o.d knew what Lin Ke was thinking in his heart at this time: Director Bai"s Dom is really terrible, last time it was chain play, this time is vampire play, tch, they can"t be an average person, I should go take a look at them someday.
”Dragon…” The professor in Bai Huo"s hands murmured, almost foaming at the mouth. “It"s a fire dragon…”
Bai Huo examined his semi-unconscious face, gradually frowning.
The chef came out with four large dishes: a pot of Lamb Spine Hot Pot, a pot of Mao"s Red Braised Pork, a pot of c.u.min Gristle, and a pot of Emerald & White Jade Soup.
Four people sat around the square table, Bai Huo put down his wine gla.s.s, and said with indignation: “And that"s how you were robbed! We"re heart-broken you met with this disaster. The three of us will help you report this to the police. Just what kind of vile person brutally attacks one of our nation"s intellectuals and undermines a police investigation! As new-age socialists with Chinese characteristics citizens, we must express our strong condemnation…”
Lin Ke and He Ling looked at Bai Huo, thinking: This man is so f#cking shameless.
”Cough, cough,” The professor smiled crookedly despite his b.l.o.o.d.y nose and swollen face, interrupting Bai Huo. “Thank you, little comrade, although I don"t remember anything, after hearing what you"ve said, I feel like I"ve experienced it myself. Aiyo, I"m so lucky ah, I was beaten by so many gangsters, but none of my limbs are broken. Except for my damp trousers, I don"t feel uncomfortable anywhere else. It"s all thanks to you!"
Lin Ke couldn"t listen anymore: "Professor, should we bring you to take a shower first or go straight to the police to report it? "
"Ah, no, no, no," The professor said, frantically plucking a piece of braised pork into his bowl, "You don"t need to send me to the police.”
Bai Huo keenly sensed that something was off: “What"s wrong? Are you worried about the gangsters retaliating? Don"t worry, we"ll be…”
”Not that, not that,” The professor waved repeatedly, seemingly finding the words difficult to say, after a while, he sighed, “That, the thing is, I"m not actually a professor.”
After hearing this, the three were stunned: "What?!"
"Hehe, my name is actually Ma Zhong, people call me Zhong Ye, my true ident.i.ty is a geomancer. A few days ago, there was a vision here. I came here because I wanted to see if there was anything I could pick up from it…” Ma Zhong was a little embarra.s.sed, and said fretfully, “The real professor is my older cousin, Xiao Yi, you guys might"ve heard his name. I came here pretending to be him.”
Ma Zhong said while nibbling on the lamb, “I don"t want to bother the police again, especially since I"m not too heavily injured. I"ve been missing for a few days. If the police haven"t been trying to contact me, they must"ve already contacted my older cousin. If I report this to the police, won"t I just be delivering myself to them?”
Bai Huo thought in his heart, you"re overthinking it, with Luo Wen Xu"s workaholic nature, he"s unlikely to have ever heard about your famous cousin, and it"s even more impossible for him to take you academics seriously. If you went missing for another month, he wouldn"t even notice.
However, he naturally wouldn"t say this out loud, only reminding: “That"s fine then, you should eat some more and rest for a night, we"ll send you back tomorrow.”
”Ah, little comrade, don"t go yet!” Ma Zhong carelessly wiped off the grease on his hands and pulled Bai Huo"s clothes. “Every meeting is fate, it"s hard to find a way to thank you for what you did. Why don"t you let me divine the future for you?"
"Huh?" Bai Huo looked at where his dirty hand grabbed his clothes and raised an eyebrow.
Ma Zhong smiled like a rogue and loosened his hand: “Free of charge!”
”Thank you,” Bai Huo patted the oily handprint on his clothes. “But I don"t mix well with fortune-tellers, keep the divination to yourself.”
”You"ve hit a calamity.” Ma Zhong said behind him, his expression profound.
One side of his face was purple-ish, the other side was badly swollen. When paired with this face, this mysterious expression didn"t have the thought-provoking effect that it should have, it just looked ridiculous.
”Ha,” Bai Huo sneered. “Is it a peach blossom calamity?”
But Ma Zhong shook his head and looked at Bai Huo"s wrist: “Your next calamity is in five years, right?”
Bai Huo narrowed his eyes.
”The chains on your wrist, is it related to this?”
Bai Huo"s expression finally changed.
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T/N:
Smoky gray: the color of a German shepherd with a blue coat, like this
Whoever provoked her….: 谁惹她了，脾气不小啊 -not sure about this one
Exactly: Could also be "That"s not it". Idk why some Chinese words have opposite meanings. Seems counter-productive.
No more sniffing: 再吸就没了 - again sniff, at once to be dead (or cease to be). He could be saying he"ll kill him if he sniffs it again, or he could be saying the powder will disappear if he keeps sniffing it. Idk I"m sleepy.
Ye: grandpa
Your next calamity is in five years: 五年一次 -could also be once every five years