Shen Zhaomu had been occupied with his duties at the Blood Worshipping Church since the afternoon. With nothing to do, Long Shiyu amused himself at home, rifling through for something interesting.
Evening arrived, and with it, the return of Shen Zhaomu.
Upon his arrival, an unexpected aroma of food greeted him. As he opened the door, he heard the gurgling sound of something cooking on the stove and the scent of potatoes and meat wafted from the kitchen.
Long Shiyu, wearing an apron, was bustling about in the kitchen. His hands moved tirelessly and his silver tail alternated between deftly wielding the kitchen knife to chop vegetables and reaching for high shelves to retrieve tableware.
Shen Zhaomu stood blankly behind him for a while for a while.
“…I didn’t know you could cook. Are dragons all such good homemakers?”
“You had too many items in the refrigerator,” Long Shiyu replied, lifting the pot lid and sprinkling some salt inside. “They would spoil if left uneaten. Such a waste. I even prepared a portion for you.”
The association regularly supplied high-quality vegetables, fruits, and meats, but Shen Zhaomu was not one to enjoy cooking, even with the assistance of a robot.
The kitchen was filled with an enticing aroma. Long Shiyu bustled back and forth.
Shen Zhaomu, having been working the whole day, was understandably a little out of it as he leaned against the door. His mind seemed to contain a swirl of thoughts, yet it didn’t feel like he was thinking about anything in particular.
During moments like these, he would feel as if he was in a trance. His surroundings would fade into insignificance, making everything feel unreal. Usually, when he entered this state, he’d be reading in his room, with the ambient sounds of the sea and the forest playing softly in the background while reading a book about strangers.
Alternatively, he’d be standing alone by the floor-to-ceiling windows. His home was in a great location, offering a perfect view of the vast sunset over the distant mountains.
A day would pass just like that.
Shen Zhaomu’s life seemed eternally intertwined with hunting and bloodshed. Tonight was no different; he had another hunting expedition planned. His prey’s — an individual infected by the draconic mutation — whereabouts had been unearthed.
Sometimes, after a kill, he’d stand there, the oil lamp flickering slowly beside him. Darkness would engulf everything, as if he’d plunged into a lightless abyss, and shadows of the past would resurface. He’d think to himself, “I must keep moving forward; I must hunt endlessly, or else the darkness will consume me.”
Yet, at this moment, the clinking of pots and pans resounded clearly in his ears. The knife struck the chopping board, and the water gurgled gently as it boiled. The young man had a smile on his lips and was humming an off-key tune as he cooked.
The scene in his kitchen seemed to belong to a life far removed from his own.
What was even stranger and more surreal was that the one cooking in the kitchen was a real dragon, a species he considered his nemesis.
A peculiar sensation stirred within Shen Zhaomu.
——But the feeling was fleeting and eluded capture.
In the end, Shen Zhaomu simply said, “I’ll wait for you to finish cooking.”
He took a seat at the dining table outside, and after about ten minutes, Long Shiyu emerged with all the dishes. The potato and pork bone soup steamed invitingly, the fried pork ribs were golden and crispy, and the cabbage was tender and vibrant.
Long Shiyu handed him a bowl of soup. “Have a taste?”
The young man’s eyes sparkled with anticipation as he looked at Shen Zhaomu.
Taking a sip, Shen Zhaomu found the soup delicious and rich, its warmth soothing as it slid down his throat.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“It’s delicious,” he praised.
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Obcu Vtlse kjr j rxliifv mbbx, jcv atf vlrtfr kfgf ybat oijnbgoei jcv jqqfalhlcu. Sjmt alwf tf gfoliifv atf rbeq, Obcu Vtlse ujhfv ja Vtfc Itjbwe fzqfmajcais, jr lo rlifcais egulcu tlw bc.
Ccv rb, Vtfc Itjbwe mbcalcefv vglcxlcu tlr rbeq.
Long Shiyu refilled his bowl again.
Shen Zhaomu drank more.
Long Shiyu refilled his bowl yet again.
After downing three consecutive bowls of soup, Shen Zhaomu couldn’t help but comment, “Did you make too much soup?”
“It’s not that much,” Long Shiyu said, examining the pot. “I think it’s just right. I finished mine in a few mouthfuls.”
Shen Zhaomu: “…”
He shouldn’t have expected a dragon to accurately gauge food portions.
He said, “No need to give me more; you can have the rest.”
Long Shiyu: “…”
Long Shiyu: “Sob.” ”QAQ”
In the end, Shen Zhaomu drank five bowls of soup and almost finished the entire serving of fried pork ribs before he could escape from Long Shiyu’s eager gaze.
He was absolutely stuffed.
It took a couple of hours for this feeling to subside to some extent.
Checking the time, he realized it was nearly time to head out for his prey.
Shen Zhaomu donned his coat, preparing to leave.
Long Shiyu, still in his room playing Fight the Landlord, heard his voice and raised his head to ask, “Where are you going?”
“A post-meal walk,” Shen Zhaomu replied simply.
With that, he ventured out into the deep night.
…
Shen Zhaomu stood beneath the darkened sky of the capital, facing a dilapidated alley.
While the towering buildings thousands of meters away glowed brilliantly, this place remained enshrouded in gloom. He forged ahead, wading through stagnant water, and a few gray stains marred the tops of his shoes. In his hand, a vivid yellow oil lamp swayed gently, its elongated shadow casting itself onto the wall.
The shadows traversed over the graffiti on the wall. There were a few lines of profanity and several twisted drawings — depictions of cultists, roses, and tombstones, samurai swords and machine guns, malevolent curses, and the fiery gazes of nude females.
These disparate images melded together in a cacophony of wild colors. With each step deeper into the alley, the noxious odor intensified.
Yet, Shen Zhaomu appeared unruffled.
He seldom carried firearms; possessing neither lightsabers nor guns, and relied solely on a communication terminal affixed to his person. Clad in dark gloves, a thick black coat, a suit, and an oil lamp in hand, his strides were neither hasty nor slow. He bore the air of a time traveler from a bygone era.
Beneath his feet, the sewage gradually transitioned to a dark crimson hue. Not far away, within the shadows, a beastman’s lifeless body lay sprawled.
The terminal vibrated subtly, automatically confirming the identity of the corpse: one of the capital’s lawful citizens, bearing the identification number ID7860CT, hailing from a friendly extragalactic race.
Shen Zhaomu detected the sound of gnawing emanating from the alley’s far end.
The oil lamp flickered a few times before illuminating the source of the noise——
A towering beastman hungrily devoured a piece of carrion, juices flowing from the gaps between his teeth, tracing down his chin and dripping onto the ground.
The rotting flesh appeared peculiar, almost as though… it belonged to another person.
The sudden light from the oil lamp alerted the other, causing him to snap his head around. Half of his face bore black scales, protruding from his skin, causing his skin to look uneven.
Those were mermaid scales.
The beastman’s saliva dripped profusely and his pupils dilated, seemingly poised to lunge at Shen Zhaomu.
Yet, Shen Zhaomu stood his ground. His breathing didn’t even pick up.
Beneath the oil lamp’s radiant yellow glow, his deep-set eyes appeared even more handsome.
The next instant, numerous golden streams of light erupted from the oil lamp.
The flames extended into a long, trailing tail, casting brilliant illumination throughout the dark alley without igniting anything. Shen Zhaomu’s black windbreaker rustled in the rising breeze as the light enveloped the beastman, engulfing him layer after layer.
The beastman continued to struggle. However, he only managed to twitch his limbs slightly before he was beguiled by the light’s gentle caress.
The stream of light transformed into a golden cascade, encircling him, seemingly reluctant to depart. Under the gentle light, even the black scales on his face lost some of their ferocity, and a small gleam appeared in his rabid eyes.
In the next moment, his head crashed against the ground.
It took him a moment to realize that someone had pinned him to the ground with immense force, rendering him immobile.
As this notion materialized, the beastman’s vision plunged into complete darkness.
Behind him, Shen Zhaomu retrieved a slender blade, shaking off the blood that had coated it.
The blade transformed once more into golden light, vanishing into the air.
His movements were graceful, and his expression oscillated between gentleness and indifference.
Beside him, the streams of light continued to dance, putting on a dazzling, ferocious show. Blood splattered, and at the end of the alley, amidst the graffiti, the drawing of a pale geisha could be seen. A Rakshasa was tattooed on her back, glaring furiously.
Hastened footsteps echoed from behind Shen Zhaomu, and the assistant, dispatched by the association, rushed over, clutching bags of various sizes. A swarm of mini robots followed closely behind.
He panted and addressed Shen Zhaomu, “Mr. Shen…”
He was taken aback by the grim scene within the alley.
Shen Zhaomu straightened his coat. From his appearance, one would never expect that he had near-instantly incapacitated a beastman at least three or four times his weight just a short while ago.
The assistant stepped closer to inspect the body, while nearby criminal investigation robots diligently took a full-body scan of the beastman.
Three of the man’s ribs were shattered from a kick.
The fresh wounds undoubtedly bore the mark of Shen Zhaomu.
It should be noted that the bone density of sturdy adult beastmen had reached an astounding level. Their bones wouldn’t shatter even if shot directly at with conventional bullets.
The assistant thought to himself that Shen Zhaomu was exactly as the rumors had described — a lethal weapon. Despite having heard about it beforehand, witnessing it in person still left him shocked.
“I’ll get going first,” Shen Zhaomu uttered succinctly.
With a wave of his hand, the oil lamp vanished into thin air.
Although he’d left the dimly lit alley, the surroundings were still cloaked in darkness. This was a secluded corner of the capital, sparsely populated. The wide streets were strewn with rubble. If not for the distant radiance emanating from the wealthiest and most prosperous region, he wouldn’t even be able to see his own fingers in this darkness.
Shen Zhaomu couldn’t help but quicken his pace, yearning to return home.
The aircraft whisked silently through the bustling expanse of the capital. Eventually, he arrived at the association’s headquarters. Taking the elevator to his home, he noticed the warm glow of bright yellow lights within.
Shen Zhaomu swung open his front door. Before he could enter, the young man seated on the couch in the living room had already spotted him and smiled, his eyes curving into crescents.
Shen Zhaomu involuntarily relaxed his furrowed eyebrows. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
Before he could complete his sentence, he watched helplessly as Long Shiyu procured a bowl of pork bone soup from god-knows-where and happily bounded over to him.
“You were gone for so long! You must be famished. I saved you a bowl of soup.”
Shen Zhaomu: “…”
Shen Zhaomu: “…………”
Swiftly, he closed the door before him.
Author’s Note:
One cutesy sob a day: 1/1
An evil dragon expresses affection by sharing its food
Love goes through the stomach.
…but too much of anything is unhealthy.
Thank you for the chapter!
A good dragon makes sure it’s princess is well fed
Awwww this is too cute tysm for the chappy
Poor dragon will have to learn about hubby’s tiny fragile stomach. What a princess
Poor shen zhaomu 😂 hang in there, little princess hunter! 😆
He is the princess but I am the wife 😌