Chapter 172 I Will Always Favor You
The rain grew heavier and heavier. After watching the commotion for a while longer, Achan returned to her residence with Bai Xiuming.
Although she wasn't wet from the rain, she felt a fishy smell lingering around her.
Achan took a bath, and after she got dressed and walked out of the screen, she saw Bai Xiuming sitting by the bed reading a book. Seeing this, she climbed onto the bed and lay down on his lap.
Her wet hair fell onto her thighs, and a warm, damp sensation seeped through the fabric onto her skin. Bai Xiuming put down the book in his hand, scratched the soft flesh of her chin with his fingers, and commented, "Lazy."
Achan closed her eyes, pretending not to hear.
Bai Xiuming's slender fingers twirled a strand of wet hair. The room was dimly lit, with only the occasional sound of fingers rubbing against hair. Achan turned to the side, finding a more comfortable position, and soon her breathing became increasingly shallow.
Achan had a dream in which she became a dragon, a young dragon born with an eye disease.
She was injured in a fight with her own kind, and the water vein she lived in was taken away, so she had to come out to find a new place to live.
Because she couldn't see the road, she lost her way. And because she was too badly injured, she ended up in a mountain. At the foot of that mountain, there was a small village inhabited by humans.
Not long after, she was discovered by a boy in the mountain village.
The boy wasn't frightened when he saw her. Instead, he cut off her festering wound, found herbs to stop the bleeding, and gave her the rabbit he had hunted with great difficulty to eat.
They gradually became familiar with each other, and she learned the boy's name: Xia Xun.
The food Xia found couldn't fill her stomach, and her wounds hadn't fully healed, leaving her feeling weak.
Then, Xia sought out the people in the village.
At first, the villagers were very afraid when they saw her, but soon they changed their attitude.
They gave her what little food they had left and bought a lot of medicine for her wounds. Finally, she began to recover.
She encountered the most innocent and kind-hearted people, but unfortunately, she didn't know what they looked like.
After her injuries healed, she was supposed to leave, but she couldn't bear to leave the villagers and craved their warmth, so she kept putting it off day by day.
One day, Xia Xun sadly told her that there was a girl named Ningning in the village who was about to die, and he wanted to ask her to save the girl.
She didn't know how to save people, but she knew her blood should be very effective for humans.
So she gave Xia Xun her blood so he could save people.
But the girl was too weak; after drinking its blood, she not only did not improve but fell into a coma.
The village chief and his family brought the girl to see her, hoping she could think of other solutions.
She sensed that the girl's soul was extremely weak, and if left unchecked, she might die soon.
She didn't know how to save them, so she could only tell them the truth.
The village chief's family seemed very sad. At this moment, Xia Xun said that he had heard from his ancestors that if a person's soul was tainted with dragon energy, they would become stronger.
But how can a soul be imbued with dragon energy?
Xia Xun said she could put her soul into Zhou Ning's body and maintain it for a period of time, so that Zhou Ning could absorb enough dragon energy to survive.
She thought this method was good, so she tried it and it did have some effect.
So she poured her own soul into Zhou Ning's body to protect his frail soul.
After entering a person's body, she discovered that she could see. She saw Xia Xun, and she also saw the village chief's family.
Although the world she sees is still somewhat different from what ordinary people see, being able to see it is a wonderful surprise for her.
Using Zhou Ning's body, she ran and played in the mountains with Xia Xun and Zhou Ying. Xia Xun would pick fruit for her to eat, and Zhou Ying would give her beautiful new clothes to wear. They were both very kind to her, and she felt that those were the most carefree and relaxed days of her life.
Half a month passed in this way. Although she was somewhat reluctant to leave, she also began to miss the feeling of being in her own body, and she decided to return to her own body.
However, she was unable to return.
On that very day, she found herself trapped inside Zhou Ning's body.
Xia Xun comforted her, saying that something might have gone wrong, and that she shouldn't worry, things would be fine in a while.
The village chief and his family told her not to worry, and that she could stay in their home and they would take care of her like their own daughter.
And so, year after year passed, and she was never able to return to her body.
She watched as the name of the small mountain village was changed to Bailong Village, and they built a temple called Bailong Temple, supposedly to commemorate Bailong, but her body was placed under the temple.
One day, she suddenly realized that she had fallen into a conspiracy, but she didn't even know when it had started.
She transformed from a dragon into a little girl named Zhou Ning, who was raised and treated very well by the village chief's family.
They prepared beautiful clothes and hair accessories for her, and there was always meat in every meal at home, with her bowl always containing the most meat.
Aside from not allowing her to leave the village, they almost always indulged her every whim.
But she found it increasingly difficult to face them; she stopped talking to them and just stared at them coldly.
Year after year passed. The village chief grew old, Xia Xun and Zhou Ying grew up, and the village changed. Because she was there, the village now had a stable water source.
The village chief told the villagers that this was all thanks to the blessings left by the white dragon they had rescued years ago. They designated March 18th of each year as the White Dragon Festival, and began to worship the white dragon ten days before the festival.
At first, it was just a simple sacrificial procession. Later, they cut open her flesh, let out some of her blood, and stained the offerings with blood before sending them to the villagers who worshipped her.
Xia Xun said that this would make the villagers more devout in their faith.
Later, as their need for blood increased, their prayers to the white dragon became more frequent.
Every day, she could hear prayers coming from all over the village: the old prayed for family harmony, the adults prayed for the safety of their livestock, and the children prayed that they could eat candy the next day.
Her daily prayers caused her increasing pain.
Because she couldn't return to her body for a long time, her spirit was weakening, and her body was also becoming weak. She was about to give up.
Achan woke up. She hadn't slept for long. When she opened her eyes, her hair was already dry, and the sound of pages turning could be heard above her.
She reached out and touched the purse hanging at her waist, opened it, and took out the small piece of scale.
Now she understands why Zhou Ning gave her this Achilles' heel.
Zhou Ning's eyes possess a special power, capable of seeing through illusions. This must be a divine ability of the dragon race, so powerful that the baby dragon went blind after birth.
After she entered Zhou Ning's body, her supernatural powers were brought over, and although they were weakened considerably, she was still able to see some extraordinary things.
When we met yesterday, she must have seen her own soul, or a phantom of it.
No wonder Zhou Ning didn't believe him when he said he was only nineteen. Although Xiaolong was a bit stupid, he knew that a fox that could grow eight tails shouldn't be only nineteen years old.
When she gave him the dragon scales, she must have been hoping that he could save her.
Achan played with the scales in her hand and said to Bai Xiuming, "Let's go to the White Dragon Temple after dark."
"good."
"Bai Xiuming, if humans manage to trap a dragon using their own abilities, from a human perspective, they shouldn't be considered to have committed a mistake, right?"
Bai Xiuming moved the book away from his hand and looked down at A Chan: "You want to let that dragon go?"
Achan wasn't surprised that he knew. Even without dreaming, she guessed that a dragon was trapped in the village. Bai Xiuming had dealt with these things for many years, and with his keen senses, he probably had already noticed the anomaly.
"What if I let her go?" Achan asked tentatively, unsure whether Bai Xiuming would help them, given that they were both human.
"Whatever makes you happy."
“If we do that, those villagers could suffer a terrible fate.”
"You have to bear the consequences of the choices you make." Bai Xiuming's tone was very indifferent.
“If I had chosen not to let that dragon go, maybe none of this would have happened.” From Achan’s angle, she could see his clearly defined jawline. She raised her hand and touched his face, and Bai Xiuming did not stop her.
“They should blame themselves for being greedy, for not being ruthless enough, for not being strong enough. They should never blame you for letting the dragon go.” He paused after saying that. “Besides, you hate them.”
That last reason alone is enough.
Achan emphasized: "I just hate all hypocritical and greedy people."
Bai Xiuming smiled and said, "You don't need to ask me for the answer."
He said, "I will always favor you."
Ah Chan's hand touched his lips, her fingertips brushing against his lower lip: "Then you must remember, you can't change it in the future."
As night fell, the rain outside continued to drizzle. Just now, Lie Xian came over and said that the luggage had been packed, and as usual, the weather would clear up tomorrow morning, at which time the caravan would continue its journey.
Achan said "I understand" and sent the person away.
After Lie Xian left, Bai Xiuming also left the room with A Chan.
Bailong Village was still lively at night. Although it was raining, the villagers were in good spirits. Families visited each other and chatted together. Tonight's dinner was even more sumptuous than that of the Spring Festival.
They are celebrating the good weather and the increasingly better life they have had this year.
The two figures vanished in the night as they entered the mountains and went into the White Dragon Temple, a place where outsiders were never allowed to enter.
This White Dragon Temple looks quite ordinary. Upon entering, you enter the main hall, above which sits a clay sculpture of a white dragon that occupies half of the hall. In front of the white dragon statue are an offering table and three prayer cushions.
The offering table was laden with abundant offerings, and the incense in the incense burner had not yet burned out.
Passing through the main hall, the side room is a bedroom with a neatly made bed. Further inside is a storage room containing rice, flour, vegetables, and cured meat hanging from the rafters.
It appears that nothing is amiss.
Achan didn't bother searching. She tugged at Bai Xiuming's sleeve and whispered, "Where is he?"
Bai Xiuming led her back to the main hall, and they went around to the back of the white dragon statue, where there was a dark entrance.
Achan instinctively reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, and Bai Xiuming led her underground.
They made no sound, thus avoiding alerting those already underground. The two stood in the shadows, their presence and figures concealed.
Beneath the temple lies an underground palace, with an oil lamp hanging on each side, illuminating most of the space.
This underground palace doesn't look like it was built by villagers; it must have existed much longer than the temple. The passageways around the underground palace have all been blocked, leaving only this cleared space.
A not-so-large white dragon is coiled in the middle.
The dragon's scales were mottled, many of them had been peeled off, and its body had many wounds that had been covered with dark herbs. It looked just like the wooden dragon that Achan had seen during the day that had been burned.
In addition, many red threads were wrapped around the dragon's body, and those threads converged and were pressed under the four stone tablets that were arranged on the four sides of the dragon's body.
Each stone tablet is engraved with the character "镇" (zhen, meaning town/town). The characters seem to have been painted with color many times. Sometimes the dye has blurred the outline of the characters, but they are still clear.
Zhou Ning, who had been taken to the White Dragon Temple during the day and had not appeared since, was now sitting motionless beside the dragon. Xia Xun was sitting next to her, gently stroking her hair.
Xia Xun's actions sparked a thought in A Chan's mind.
Before she could think any further, she heard Xia Xun say softly, "Ningning, you've reached the age of marriage this year."
Zhou Ning didn't react. He continued, "After Zhou Ying gets married, the village chief said he will hold a wedding for us. Then we will become a family. Are you happy?"
Hearing his words, Zhou Ning slowly turned her head and looked at him silently.
Xia Xun spoke sincerely, saying, "I've wanted to marry you for a very, very long time."
Xia Xun is quite different now than he was when he was a child.
He was very thin when he was a child, but now he is physically strong because he also drank her blood.
“Xia Xun, I won’t live to see that day,” Zhou Ning said. “If I don’t return to my own body soon, I will die.”
Xia Xun was silent for a moment, then suddenly hugged her tightly: "No, Ningning, you are a dragon, how could you die?"
Zhou Ning did not struggle. Her gaze went over Xia Xun's shoulder to the light emanating from the oil lamp, but her heart was filled with boundless darkness.
After a while, Xia Xun seemed to realize something was wrong. He released Zhou Ning and reached out to touch her forehead.
"Ningning, why do you have a fever?"
The question was so strange that Zhou Ning almost laughed.
"Didn't you link my soul to the wooden carving? When you burn it, it's the same as burning me. Isn't it normal for my body to get hot?"
"But before, your body would return to normal whenever it rained," Xia Xun questioned her. "Are you doing this on purpose, deliberately trying to make me worry?"
Just then, a somewhat familiar female voice rang out.
"Brother Xun, are you there?"
Xia Xun turned his head and replied, "I'm downstairs."
Before long, Zhou Ying and her mother, Wu, climbed down the ladder together.
Xia Xun stood up and went to greet them, his tone familiar: "Auntie, Yingying, what brings you here?"
Zhou Ying glanced in the direction of the dragon's body and said, "Actually, I have something to discuss with you. My mother just came with me."
"What's up?"
After hesitating for a long time, Zhou Ying finally revealed her purpose: she had come to ask for dragon blood.
The family she was engaged to was not from Bailong Village. Although her fiancé's family received offerings during the Bailong Festival, the offerings alone were not enough.
All the men in their village had drunk dragon's blood. As long as they drank dragon's blood, they would not get sick and would become strong.
Zhou Ying wanted to get a bowl of dragon's blood for her fiancé.
Xia Xun hesitated for a moment, then looked back at Zhou Ning and said to Zhou Ying, "A lot of blood has been drawn today, and Ningning is much weaker, and she has a fever."
Zhou Ying frowned: "It's okay, Ningning recovers quickly, she'll be fine tomorrow. Anyway, we've already bled a lot today, so one more bowl won't make a difference. Besides, if we cut the wound open again after it's healed, wouldn't we just get hurt again?"
Wu, who was standing nearby, chimed in, "Yingying is right. Xun-ge'er, please be lenient with her. Ningning only suffers for a few days a year anyway, she'll be fine."
Xia Xun hesitated for a long time before finally nodding.
Wu hurriedly handed the prepared bowl to Xia Xun. Xia Xun took it and walked back to the dragon's side. He then peeled off the herbal paste covering a wound, revealing that the flesh inside had already grown back. Upon seeing this, he drew his dagger and cut a slit in the flesh, allowing thick dragon blood to drip into the bowl.
As Xia Xun was bleeding, Wu and Zhou Ying came to Zhou Ning's side, asking her with worried expressions, "Ningning, how are you? Are you alright?"
Zhou Ning didn't answer, and Zhou Ying continued, "Ningning, don't be afraid. You can go home after three days. Tell your mother what you want to eat then, and she'll give you a good meal."
Mrs. Wu nodded hurriedly, "Yes, we'll be home soon, just bear with it."
The scene before her eyes made Achan realize for the first time that ordinary people could also have a chilling side; they were truly terrifying.
Soon, Xia Xun gave a bowl of dragon blood to Zhou Ying. After thanking Xia Xun, Zhou Ying asked him to keep it a secret, and then left the underground palace with her mother.
As the night deepened, Xia Xun left Zhou Ning in the underground palace and returned to the surface alone.
He wasn't worried that Zhou Ning could destroy the formation here; these red threads would harm the dragon soul, and she had tried many times before, all of which failed.
After Xia Xun went up, the entrance to the underground palace was closed, and then the sound of a lock being put on could be heard.
At this moment, Zhou Ning, who had been standing like a wooden doll, turned to look in A Chan's direction. She opened her mouth and uttered three words: "You've come..."
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