ON the other side, Shen Ji Yun just found Dusk sitting on a hill almost at the edge of the village. That"s why it took a bit of time to look for the other. He was honestly a bit reluctant to volunteer to look for this dragon. But then he thought if he didn"t, then Luo Yan would definitely do it himself. If that"s the case, then it"s better to just take the initiative to do it.
And so, he spent quite a bit of time searching for him. He tried to ask the NPCs around but before he could even get close to them, they would immediately step back and run. As if he"s some kind of scourge. It was annoying to say the least. Especially when it happened a few couple of times.
He understood why these NPCs were acting that way. Because they were programmed to. As NPCs, they had to act according to how the game devs programmed them. It would be much weirder if they went out of character.
But he had a feeling that if Luo Yan was here, he could probably coax those NPCs and even break their conditioned program. All his rabbit had to do was say that right words and wham! Those NPCs would happily do what he wanted. Until he was doing these kinds of tasks with Luo Yan, he actually had no idea that one could go around the codes of those NPCs by doing that.
Well, as someone who had never enjoyed doing tasks with story lines involved, it"s probably only natural that he had no idea about that. But even if he now knew about that, he couldn"t do it the way Luo Yan does.
So, at the end, he could only sigh and search for the dragon on his own. Because what else could he do?
After more than 15 minutes of going through the whole village, he finally found the dragon.
Dusk was sitting and hugging his knees with his head buried in between. He looked like a child sulking.
Shen Ji Yun walked behind and asked, "Are you crying?"
As soon as he said that, Dusk abruptly raised his head and glared at him fiercely. "Who"s crying? This king is not someone who would shed tears!"
Then the other immediately stood up. His stance aggressive, as if he was ready to fight him if he said another nonsense.
Of course, Shen Ji Yun simply ignored that. Even if the other attacked, he just had to fight back. But Luo Yan would probably not like that. It was obvious that the other wanted to have a good relations.h.i.+p with the demon fox tribe. Probably because of Eclipse.
Then, he"d just pull this dragon out of the village if that were to happen. That way even if the two of them did end up fighting, they would not affect the kitsunes living here. They were already on the edge of the village anyway.
"Oh, sorry. It"s because you stormed off like that and then I see you hugging your knees, rocking back and forth. Anyone would misunderstand," he said, shrugging.
"I- Whatever. Just know that this king was not crying. How could that even be possible?" Dusk said in that usual stubborn tone of his. "Why did you follow this king anyway?"
"I"m worried that you might get lost. Or worse, you might pick a fight with the other kitsunes here."
"This king is not a child! Why would I get lost?" the dragon said, obviously annoyed by what he heard. "Besides," he gazed down and continued in a voice that was almost like a whisper, "I won"t hurt these kitsunes."
Shen Ji Yun raised one of his brows when he heard that. Did this dragon actually feel guilty because of the things the female kitsune said earlier? Or maybe he had remembered something from those. He just decided to ask the other.
"Did you perhaps remember something?"
Dusk suddenly showed a frustrated expression. "If I did, do you think I would still be here instead of flying directly to wherever those dak mages are? But—" He clutched his chest. "Even if I didn"t remember anything, it still hurt here. As if thousand of knives are stabbing my heart. At the same time, I feel so much rage that I just want to destroy everything. It"s making me insane!"
As if to prove that, smoke was coming out of his mouth. Like he would spit fire at any moment. But surprisingly, the other just took a deep breath to calm himself and the smoke disappeared. It seemed that he truly didn"t want to go on a rampage here.
Shen Ji Yun was not good at comforting people. Much less NPCs. So, he could only be straightforward and said;
"That anger, simply release it when you face those dark mages. Oh, there"s also that traitor who betrayed you and left you under the mercy of those dark mages. You have a lot of opportunity in the future to pay them back. Just think of that whenever you get angry."
Dusk seemed to be enlightened by his words. "You"re right. This king could just simply destroy them. I will make sure to give them the full extent of this anger." After he said that, he looked more energized. The cloud of gloom surrounding him earlier was now gone. He then looked at Shen Ji Yun. "You do say some useful things, qilin."
"I"m happy to be of service," Shen Ji Yun said with underlying sarcasm. "If your done, let"s go back."
The dragon was about to step forward but then stopped again. "That female kitsune, would she attack this king again? I- I don"t want to fight with her."
"No, I don"t think she will."
Knowing his rabbit, he probably had already handled that female kitsune to prevent her from attacking this dragon again. – Shen Ji Yun thought.
"If- if she attacked me again, then you have to protect this king!"
Shen Ji Yun resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."
Going back to s.h.i.+rayuki"s house was much faster that when he was looking for Dusk. Within minutes, the two of them reached the place.