Translator:- Max
Note:- Riding a boat is written as ChengZhou where the Cheng means riding but a different character from CC’s Cheng. And Zhou is the same as JQZ’s Zhou meaning boat. This is their CP name. And this is like a parallel world so not linked with the original story.
In the year when mythical beasts gathered to fight, Chu Cheng, who was afraid of trouble, packed up his heavenly materials and earthly treasures in heaven, choosing a favourable Feng Shui location to settle down. He naturally didn’t like trouble and knew that those mythical beasts fight’s endless, as well as their tendency to form gangs, he selected a location quite far away. He settled down for a deep sleep. When he woke up, he witnessed a drastic transformation, the once peaceful resting place had turned into a bustling city, people coming and people going, and very lively.
He was the son of a celestial dragon, and outsiders couldn’t see his true form. All they could see was the dragon body he occupied, resembling a formidable wall. The entire dragon coiled into a quaint house, shrouded in shadows. Passersby could not see it clearly and quickly forgot what they saw. Chu Cheng took a short nap, planned to go back to sleep.
But soon he discovered something strange in his arms.
He had fallen asleep with his heavenly materials and earthly treasures wrapped around him, and those treasures, within his embrace, were as if they were inside the house. Invisible to mortal eyes, even monsters dared not touch them. However, now, there was a faint breath of a treasure that didn’t belong to him in his embrace. Chu Cheng searched and with no effort found the origin of this breath——it was a newly sprouted seedling, lush and green, which looked quite cute.
Chu Cheng was somewhat surprised as he didn’t recall having such a tender shoot among his treasures. Closing his eyes, he traced back and discovered that this shoot had originated from a seed. Somehow, during his deep slumber, the seed had found its way into his embrace. It had taken root in the soil within his embrace, absorbing his dragon breath and the nurturing of his heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Slowly, it had sprouted and grown into a tender shoot.
Chu Cheng had never encountered such a thing before, finding it intriguing. He allowed the tender shoot to grow, while he took a nap.
The tender shoot absorbed the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth, nourished by dragon’s breath and the essence of the heavenly materials and earthly treasures. It grew very healthy, and by the time Chu Cheng woke up again, it had already grown into a small sapling.
Chu Cheng was very pleased when he saw that it was growing well. He guarded this small sapling, wanting to see what the sapling growing in his embrace would eventually grow into.
Day by day, the sapling grew taller and taller, slowly growing into a big tree. Its branches extended long, as if trying to crane its neck to see the world beyond the wall. However, every inch it grew, Chu Cheng made the wall he transformed into an inch taller, firmly blocking the sapling and preventing him from extending its branches outside.
As the tree grew larger, it bloomed with flowers and bore fruit. It turned out to be an apricot tree.
Chu Cheng smelled the spiritual energy on it and thought that it seemed to be about to transform.
Sure enough, a few days later, on a night with a full moon, Chu Cheng discovered a young man dressed in green sitting on the branches of the apricot tree. The youth had a face as fair as jade, long hair like a waterfall, and a pair of eyes that sparkled like East China Sea’s black pearls in the moonlight. His lips were rosy, and he sat on the branches, swinging his feet. His feet were delicate and white, resembling snow under the winter sunlight.
The young man seemed eager to see beyond the wall but couldn’t quite see at all. Slowly, he stood up on the tree branch and leaped towards the wall. Landing gracefully, Chu Cheng heard the joyful laughter of the young man as he sat on the wall, propping up his chin and gazing outside.
Chu Cheng didn’t think there was anything good to see outside the wall, but the young man seemed to like it. After observing for a day, he noticed that everyone was wearing shoes. So, he blew two leaves onto his feet, transforming them into a pair of green boots. He also noticed that people were tying their hair, so he conjured a headband and half-tied his hair, imitating the passersby.
After watching for a day and realising that he was no different from the people on the street, the young man leaped down from the wall and walked towards the mortal world.
Chu Cheng didn’t expect him to enter the mortal world. After thinking about it for a while, he transformed and followed him.
The house was originally a manifestation of his body, and now that he was leaving, the house would also disappeared. Chu Cheng conjured a new house and cast a spell to conceal it along with its treasures——including the apricot tree, before moving forward.
The young man walked through the streets, finding everything novel. He had been confined within the wall for too long, and he wanted to see the world beyond. However, he realised that no matter how tall he grew, the wall remained higher. Overwhelmed by his longing, he emerged from the tree, walking into the world outside the wall.
The vendors on the street were continuously hawking, and the boy followed the sweet smell and came to a stall.
“Do you want to buy some osmanthus cake, young master?” The vendor said, handing over a package of osmanthus cake.
The young man took it, tasted a bite, and found it sweet and tender. Unable to resist, he took a couple more bites, then, holding the osmanthus cake, he prepared to leave.
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.
“Cljl, sbecu wjrafg, sbe tjnfc’a qjlv sfa.” Ktf nfcvbg delmxis gfwlcvfv tlw.
Ktf sbecu wjc ibbxfv ja tlw, rbwfktja mbcoerfv.
Ktf tjkxfg jirb vlvc’a ecvfgrajcv. Lf rjk atja atf sbecu wjc lc ogbca bo tlw kjr ubbv-ibbxlcu jcv kfii-vgfrrfv. Lf ibbxfv ilxf j sbecu wjrafg ogbw j kfjiats ojwlis. Qts kjrc’a tf qjslcu obg obbv jt?
“Young Master, if you take my sweet-scented osmanthus cake, you have to give me money.”
“Money?” The young man spoke with a puzzled tone, his voice was very elegant, like ring-like jade belt pendants touching each other. After a moment of thought, he conjured two fruits and handed them over. “Here you go.”
“I don’t want your apricots, I want money.”
The young man seemed to not understand, furrowing his brow slightly.
The hawker pointed urgently to his open palm, “Copper coins, silver coins.”
The young man still didn’t understand, looking stunned. Suddenly, he heard laughter behind him. Someone placed a few copper coins in the hawker’s hand and said, “I’ve paid for him.”
The young man turned around in confusion and saw a very handsome youth in front of him. The young man had black pupils and a faint smile in his eyes. The youth leaned in, sniffed, and felt a familiar breath on him. However, he couldn’t place where he knew this person from, so he tilted his head, looking at him curiously.
Chu Cheng didn’t avoid it and simply let him look at him confidently.
After the young man looked for a while and couldn’t remember, he decided not to dwell on it. He remembered that the person in front of him had paid for him, so he extended his hand, offering the two fruits to him.
Chu Cheng reached out and took them, and the young man smiled before turning and walking away.
Chu Cheng chuckled and followed.
The young man continued to eat his osmanthus cake while walking, his eyes wandering around to other stalls. He was not entirely focused on eating, and some crumbs from the cakes stuck to the corners of his mouth. Chu Cheng reached out to wipe them away. The young man turned to look at him, making direct eye contact without any intention of avoiding it.
“What else would you like to eat?” Chu Cheng helped him wipe the corners of his mouth clean and asked, clapping his hands together.
The young man pointed to candied hawthorns not far away and said, “They are bright red.”
“Let’s go over and buy you a string.”
The young man nodded and stopped eating the osmanthus cake and ran over to get a string of candied hawthorns. As he ate and looked at Chu Cheng, Chu Cheng helped him pay for him. Watching him puffing his cheeks and devouring the hawthorns, Chu Cheng couldn’t resist poking his bulging face. The young man looked up at him but didn’t resist. He even asked, “Do you want to eat?”
Chu Cheng had no interest in this kind of mortal food, so he shook his head.
The young man continued to eat by himself.
He bought a lot of food along the way. He didn’t stop until it got dark. Glancing around, he finally looked at Chu Cheng and said, “It’s time to go to bed.”
Chu Cheng knew what he meant and took him to an inn.
The young man, having eaten all the way, wasn’t hungry at the moment. The two of them followed the waiter and went straight to their room.
Chu Cheng waited until the waiter left, then patted the bed and said to the young man, “Sleep here tonight.”
“Are you sleeping here too?” The young man asked him.
Chu Cheng nodded.
The young man looked at him and slowly sat down beside him, propping his head up and gazing at him intently.
“Is it not allowed?” Chu Cheng asked him.
The young man shook his head and asked, “What’s your name?”
“Chu Cheng.”
“Then what’s my name?” He asked, confused.
“You don’t have a name?” Chu Cheng was surprised.
The young man shook his head.
Chu Cheng thought for a while, “Then I’ll call you Ah Xing.”
After all, he was an apricot tree himself.
The young man spoke his name, then his(CC) name, and said dissatisfied, “It’s not as good as your name.”
Chu Cheng laughed, “You still understand this.”
“Change it.” He said.
Chu Cheng thought for a while, “Well then, let’s call you Ji Qingzhou.”
“Why?”
“Your current situation is like a small boat drifting with the current, has no direction, no purpose, and is unpredictable. But I will remember you as that little boat, and I will protect you.”
The young man thought for a moment and found the name acceptable. “Alright then, let’s go with this name.”
“Good.”
“What are you?” Ji Qingzhou asked, “You’re not human.”
He could sense that Chu Cheng wasn’t human and could feel a very familiar breath on him. That’s why he asked Chu Cheng to follow. However, he couldn’t figure out exactly what Chu Cheng was.
“Have we met before?” He asked.
Chu Cheng chuckled softly, “Do you still remember where you grew up?”
“In a courtyard.” Ji Qingzhou said. After saying this, as if remembering something, he leaned closer to Chu Cheng and sensed him. “You were in that courtyard too.” He affirmed, so that’s why he found Chu Cheng’s smell so familiar.
Chu Cheng shook his head, “I am that courtyard.”
Ji Qingzhou was a little surprised.
“To be precise, I transformed my body into that courtyard. You could say you grew up in my embrace.”
“So, what are you?” Ji Qingzhou was curious.
Chu Cheng smiled and said, “I am a dragon.”
Ji Qingzhou had never seen a dragon before, and upon hearing this, his eyes lit up as if he wanted to see his true form.
“Not now.” Chu Cheng said, “But when the right opportunity comes in the future, I’ll let you see.”
“Okay.”
“Go to sleep.” Chu Cheng said.
After Ji Qingzhou heard this, he directly lay down on the bed. Chu Cheng was amused when he saw that he didn’t wash up or even take off his clothes, shoes and socks.
Helplessly, He summoned a basin and snapped his fingers, filling it with water. Then, extending his right hand, he conjured a cloth. Chu Cheng dipped it to and fro into the water, and said to Ji Qingzhou, “Come here.”
Ji Qingzhou got up and leaned over. Chu Cheng used the cloth to gently wipe his face. “Before going to bed and after waking up, remember to wash and rinse your mouth. I won’t let you take a bath this time; just help you with a simple wipe.”
Ji Qingzhou nodded obediently, “Oh.”
After Chu Cheng finished wiping his face, he waved his hand, and the basin returned to its original place.
Ji Qingzhou, with a young man’s nature, saw him do this and reached out to move it. The basin flew halfway, and fell directly to the ground with a “clang.”
Ji Qingzhou looked at Chu Cheng in confusion.
Chu Cheng waved his hand again, returning the basin to its original position. Then, he summoned a foot basin, snapped his fingers, and filled it with water.
Ji Qingzhou also snapped his fingers, but nothing changed.
Chu Cheng chuckled, “Your skills are not enough; you need to practise.”
The author has something to say:
Changed to a lighter style of writing and there will be another chapter~
Their parallel world story is really cute