translator: baumkuchen
By the end, Bai Yuehu was already swimming in darkness so dark that you couldn’t see your hands in front of you. Lu Qingjiu couldn’t see anything, only able to feel Bai Yuehu swimming below him. Probably out of worry that he would be afraid, for the remaining part of the journey, Bai Yuehu was constantly chatting with Lu Qingjiu, until they reached a giant platform. That platform was emanating a cool light in little starry specks, like a vast sky full of stars. Only if you looked closer, would you realise that those lights were coming from a few very strange-looking fish. The appearances of these fish could only be described with the word “bizarre”. Thinking of something, Lu Qingjiu couldn’t help but laugh.
Bai Yuehu asked what he was laughing about.
“I once saw a line, someone asking why all the deep-sea fish looked so ugly,” Lu Qingjiu said, “Someone replied that since no one could see them anyways, they just grew however they wanted.”
Bai Yuehu was silent for a moment, before saying, “I also grew up in the deep sea.”
Lu Qingjiu, “……”
Bai Yuehu, “My entire family grew up in the deep sea.”
Lu Qingjiu started coughing violently. His face turned red. “Don’t misunderstand, I didn’t mean that you look ugly.”
Bai Yuehu didn’t speak. After placing Lu Qingjiu onto the platform, he dispersed the black fog, returning to human form.
Because of the light provided by the fish, Lu Qingjiu could just barely see the scenery on the platform. This was a very neat boulder, as if it had been specially polished. Far away, there was a huge cave. The cave was also emitting a bright light, making it especially dazzling in the dark water.
Leading Lu Qingjiu along, Bai Yuehu walked towards the cave. He briefly introduced this place, saying that he used to live here, it could be considered what humans called a home.
This being his first time coming to the place where Bai Yuehu lived as a guest, Lu Qingjiu was brimming with curiosity. He really couldn’t imagine what kind of birthday gift Bai Yuehu was going to give him.
The two continued to walk onwards, entering the cave. After entering, Lu Qingjiu saw that there were many bright pearls inlaid in the walls of the cave. These pearls radiated a bright light in the dark cave, illuminating the entire cave like daylight.
This cave was extremely big, to the point where Lu Qingjiu couldn’t even see where the ceiling ended. Thinking about it, the Bai Yuehu who lived here would definitely have an original form that couldn’t be considered small by any means.
There were many tiny forking paths in the cave, but there was only one main path. This main path was decorated extremely simply. Other than the occasional decorations hanging on the walls, there was practically no trace that anyone had lived here. But soon, they reached a huge room. In the centre of the room was a black stone plate. The stone plate was round, occupying a big half of the room.
Bai Yuehu said, “This is my bedroom.”
“Is that your bed?” Lu Qingjiu pointed at the stone plate.
Bai Yuehu nodded. He had Lu Qingjiu wait by the entrance, while he himself walked over to the stone plate. Because there weren’t any night luminous pearls in the bedroom, Lu Qingjiu couldn’t see where Bai Yuehu had went very clearly. However, he returned very quickly. After returning, he grabbed Lu Qingjiu’s hand in an extremely natural movement and said, “Come here.”
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.
Lu Qingjiu let out an okay, and was led onwards by Bai Yuehu, holding his hand.
Djl Tefte rjlv, “Pa’r j ilaaif vjgx jtfjv. Mbiibk wf, ribkis.”
Oe Hlcuple rwlifv jcv rjlv, “Sc.”
Ktfs kjixfv jgbecv atf rabcf qijaf, jcv fcafgfv j tbif lc atf yjmx bo atf yfvgbbw. Coafg qjrrlcu atgbeut atf tbif, Oe Hlcuple rffwfv ab tjnf jgglnfv ja j ajii, rqjmlber gbbw. Ktf fcalgf gbbw kjr vjgx, wjxlcu tlw ecjyif ab rff jcsatlcu.
“Lu Qingjiu.” Bai Yuehu unexpectedly stopped, moved close to Lu Qingjiu’s ear and whispered, “Happy birthday.”
As his words fell, a gentle light appeared before him. Lu Qingjiu saw a gigantic white skeleton. No, it wasn’t a skeleton, it was a white dragon horn. The dragon horn was pure white and translucent, like jade, shining white a dazzling brilliance. It almost took up the entire room. Standing before it, the human Lu Qingjiu was almost as tiny as an ant.
Lu Qingjiu stared at the dragon horn, his attention completely attracted by its brilliance. He couldn’t help but walk closer and reach out his hand to gently touch it. The dragon horn felt extremely hard, like a stone. Lu Qingjiu could’t get enough of touching it, to the point that he even wanted to rub his cheek against it.
Bai Yuehu said, “Do you like it?”
“Of course I like it.” Lu Qingjiu smiled. “Where did you get it from.”
Bai Yuehu said, “It’s my…… It’s something I picked up.”
Lu Qingjiu said, “You picked it up?”
“Yes,” Bai Yuehu said, “When every dragon matures, they will replace their horn from their youth. This is it.”
Surprise appeared on Lu Qingjiu’s face. “This is just the horn of a young dragon?” This dragon horn was already shocking enough. Just standing next to it, he was already able to imagine that dragon’s magnificent aura.
“Yes,” Bai Yuehu said, “An adult dragon’s horn is twice as big as this one.”
Lu Qingjiu couldn’t imagine it. Standing next to this dragon horn, he couldn’t even fully wrap his arms around it. If it was an adult dragon…… It would be how “magnificent” should be.
Lu Qingjiu asked, “Then this should be something really special, right?”
Bai Yuehu said, “En.”
Lu Qingjiu said, “Then giving it to me…… Is it okay?” He naturally wouldn’t really think that Bai Yuehu had picked this dragon horn up from somewhere. Clearly, the owner of this young dragon’s horn was Bai Yuehu. It was just that his family’s fox spirit seemed a little embarrassed, and had found an excuse to gloss it over for Lu Qingjiu.
“It’s fine.” Bai Yuehu averted his gaze in a rare move for him, breaking eye contact with Lu Qingjiu. “I can make the decision.”
Lu Qingjiu smiled. “Thank you. This birthday present, I like it very much.” He had never received such a special birthday present before.
With how big this dragon horn was, Lu Qingjiu originally thought that Bai Yuehu had just brought him here to see it. Even though he said that he was giving it to hin, he couldn’t take it with him anyways. Who knew that after he said that, Bai Yuehu would press a hand to the dragon horn, and after that, the dragon horn would begin to shrink rapidly, finally stopping when it was the size of a thumb.
Seeing this, Lu Qingjiu was stunned, but Bai Yuehu had already pulled out a thin chain from his pocket in a natural movement, punched a hole directly in the horn, then stringing it onto the chain. Following that, he looked at Lu Qingjiu, then said in a gentle voice, “I’ll put it on for you?”
Lu Qingjiu nodded.
Bai Yuehu reached out, and placed the chain around his neck. When Lu Qingjiu looked down, he could see that shrunken dragon horn. If not for him having seen the original form of the dragon horn, it would have been really hard for him to imagine that such a huge thing was actually hanging around his neck. It was no wonder that Bai Yuehu had had to bring him here to see it for himself. If he’d just shrunk it to give to him, and he hadn’t gotten to see the dragon horn’s original magnificence, it would indeed be a bit of a pity.
Lu Qingjiu reached out his hand and lightly stroked the shrunken dragon horn, a smile in his eyes.
After putting it on Lu Qingjiu, a satisfied expression appeared on Bai Yuehu’s face. The person before him finally had his scent, he no longer needed to worry about other things coveting him.
Only after giving him his present, then swimming in the sea with Lu Qingjiu for a while did Bai Yuehu bring Lu Qingjiu back to their home. At this point, it was already late at night. Only after checking the time did Lu Qingjiu realise that it was already 3 am.
Bai Yuehu let Lu Qingjiu down in the courtyard. The two exchanged their “goodnights” and each returned to their own rooms.
As Lu Qingjiu lay in bed, he couldn’t quite fall asleep. In his arms, he hugged the wooden box his grandmother had left behind for him, as well as that heavily scarred dragon scale that had been inside.
This dragon scale, should probably belong to his grandmother’s lover. He just didn’t know how his grandmother had felt when she decided to keep this scale.
There were a lot of things on Lu Qingjiu’s mind. Only after a long time did he fuzzily drift off to sleep.
The next day, Lu Qingjiu had a rare lie-in. He’d went to bed too late yesterday, resulting in him only getting up at noon. When he walked over to the living room, he saw the rest of the family sitting in the living room eating instant noodles.
“Why didn’t you guys cook?” Lu Qingjiu asked.
“We thought that instant noodles would be safer,” was Zhu Miaomiao’s anguished response. “After all, if I were to keep having diarrhea, I might have to visit the hospital’s anorectal department.”
Lu QIngjiu, “……”
“But after having diarrhea for a day, all the pimples on my face have disappeared,” Zhu Miaomiao said, “Could it be that the food Yin Xun makes has a detoxifying and beautifying effect?”
Yin Xun said, “Do you still want to eat some? I can make more if you want.”
“No thanks, no thanks, I’ve already expelled everything.” Zhu Miaomiao waved him off. As a woman, after all, she soon noticed the new object hanging around Lu Qingjiu’s neck. “Hey, why’s there a new necklace around your neck? Who gave it to you? How was it made? It’s so pretty.”
Lu Qingjiu said, “It was Yuehu.”
“Wa, there’s a problem with the two of you.” There was an evil smile on Zhu Miaomiao’s face.
When Yin Xun saw the dragon horn, his eyes immediately grew wide. He clearly recognised what it was. HIs face was filled with disbelief, and his mouth hung open for a really long time, but he still couldn’t muster the compuse to close it.
“What problem?” Lu Qingjiu asked.
Zhu Miaomiao said, “Hahaha I know, but I’m not going to tell you.”
After they messed around for a while, Lu Qingjiu went into the kitchen to cook. He still hadn’t had breakfast, and after having diarrhea for a full day yesterday, his stomach was rumbling, and he was already starving slightly.
In order to get something to eat sooner, Lu Qingjiu made some simple fried rice, wanting to pad his stomach with something first.
Even though fried rice was simple, you couldn’t skimp on the flavour. Ham sausages, shrimp, eggs, not one of them could be skipped. After dicing them, he fried them together with the rice. If he’d left the food overnight, it would taste even betten, but in their family, there had never been any leftovers.
Lu Qingjiu fried up a big pot, then had Yin Xun milk the cow for some milk. Everyone gathered to have lunch.
After eating, Lu Qingjiu, who still hadn’t quite woken up, went back to sleep. Only when it was past 3 pm, when the sun was high in the sky, did he slowly climb out of bed.
Yawning, he walked into the living room, and saw Bai Yuehu sitting on the sofa alone, watching TV.
Lu Qingjiu poured himself a cup of water, then sat down next to Bai Yuehu and asked, “What are you watching?”
“I’m just watching casually,” Bai Yuehu said.
Lu Qingjiu looked up, and found that Bai Yuehu was watching Animal Planet. Animal Planet was currently playing a documentary about foxes. Of course, unlike the fox spirits, the foxes in the documentary all had beautiful orange-red fur, even though it did look pretty.
A family of foxes was living in a huge garbage heap. The fox father and the fox mother lived with their adorable fox babies, looking very happy. Bai Yuehu sat on the sofa, watching extremely attentively.
After watching it with Bai Yuehu for a while, Lu Qingjiu jokingly asked, “Is there anything different about how you live?”
Bai Yuehu said, “There’s nothing different.” After saying that, he was silent for a moment, before amending, “They’re even poorer than I am.”
When Lu Qingjiu heard this, he almost spat out his water.
baum: just a note, since i saw ppl questioning this last chapter. In chinese mythology, a lot of dragons live at the bottom of seas, rivers or anywhere with water.
anyways, thanks again for your patience and understanding~ idk if my interview went well, but I guess I’ll just hope for the best and expect the worst orz
What about dragons collecting riches? Or is that only for western dragons 🐉?
Thank you
I think instead of guarding their riches, Chinese dragons guard something dangerous more. For example, BYH, i think he is guarding the lover of LQJ’s grandmother. They act as guards since they are very powerful. Chinese dragons also are one of the auspicious signs, and a sign for power (for example the emperors are called the Dragon Son or something? And that dragons are symbol of emperors).
That reminds me of a novel I read called “Tea with the Black Dragon“. The title character collected tea, books and curiosities. 😆
A danmei?
No, just a novel. Kind of a mystery? Not really a romance. FL was in her 50s or 60, ML was a dragon? It’s been a long time Since I read it.
Good luck!!!
Thanks for the chapter!!
Thanks for the update
That’s a unique way of gifting jewelry x3
Thx for the ch (≧▽≦)/
Thank you for the chapter! I also remember now, in Ne Zha (animated movie), Ao Guang and the rest of the dragons, their place have black stone plates. But, it’s because of the lava underneath thus the stone plates turned black lol 😂😂😂😂 i am guessing, an adult dragon must be as big as a building? 😂😂😂😂
Hehe marking him with his scent. I wonder what it means for dragons to give someone their horn.
Thanks for the great translation ♥️
Bai Yuehu : The person before him finally had his scent, he no longer needed to worry about other things coveting him.
Possessive much
Thx for the chappy
This is the first time I’ve read about a dragon so poor😂
Thank you so much for the chapter!(๑´>᎑<)~❤
Omgggg, the horn!!!! Also lmaoooo BYH’s “They’re even poorer than I am.” Thanks for the chapter!
hoping for the best!! thank you for the chapter ♡
this was so incredibly tender… tender is the best word i can use to describe their relationship. perfectly comfortable and warm.
for him to see bai yuehu’s precious home was cute enough already, but the EXECUTION… byh, who doesnt speak much, chattering with lqj to make sure he’s comfortable… byh still having a shy heart when it comes to laying everything bare to lqj… lqj knowing byh so well that he knows his real intentions anyway… that tacit mutual understanding born from a pure connection… serotonin in the brain
True true!!~~so sweet, ah~
Many thanks for the update!
Is someone still very dedicated to playing a fox spirit? XD
Lu Qingjiu thoughts are very adorable. I mean, he clearly suspects whose this DRAGON horn is but is still calling the person “his family’s FOX spirit” in his head XD
Does the size of the horn correlate to the size of an other part? (ฅωฅ๑)*
Hehe Yuehu already brought Qingjiu to his bedroom~
Thank you for the chapter!
What if, just what if dragons live in the Bermuda Triangle?
BYH has done his declaration but not confession😎😎😎😎
not me thinking theres probably dragon in our own sea haha ha ha