Chapter 100 Chapter 100 Peace of mind.
As they crossed the bone-strewn wasteland, she could see the towering ruins of palaces.
In front of us is a magnificent mountain wall hundreds of meters high. It is carved into the shape of an arch and is covered with dark moss and strange crystals after being eroded by time and war.
Among the mottled and broken stones, you can vaguely see golden veins shining in the cracks of the rock. It is a wonder formed when molten gold was poured into the rock.
Su Cheng looked up at the strange texture of black and gold.
Under the dark and gray sky, the exposed rock walls are uneven, and dark golden threads flow faintly like living things, like tears oozing out of the rocks.
"...What is this? Gold?"
"Yes."
Kai was also looking at the golden patterns on the mountain.
The lines that were once brilliant and bright were now covered with a layer of dirty black and gray, as if polluted by some force, and all became dim.
It is the same color as the entire canyon.
In the middle of the arched cliff, there is a huge stone sculpture of a roaring dragon head. Most of the head has collapsed, leaving only an empty eye socket on one side.
Clusters of twisted crystal stones grew out of the hole, which looked like a sickly flower branch trying to stretch towards the sky from a distance.
"...I often see stories saying that higher dragons love gold."
Su Cheng sighed, "I thought they would be piled up in the palace and people would sleep on them or something like that."
Kai glanced at her. "Someone did, in fact. But this was once the 'garden' of a certain dragon. They were simply decorating their territory with gold, so it's the same thing."
Su Cheng looked at the surrounding valley. "...So, do you like it too?"
"What?"
"Gold, or other jewels, I mean."
"Hmm?" Kai looked down at her. "What if I like it?"
"Then," Su Cheng met those stern golden eyes, his tongue suddenly tangled, "I still have a lot of gold, can I lend it to you to decorate the house? You usually spend money lavishly, so you must not have much savings——"
After saying that, he paused.
"etc--"
Behind the arch-like cliff is a broken ladder bridge.
The broken dome is inlaid with densely packed gems, and the crystal layer is several feet thick. The colorful rare minerals are like twinkling stars, hanging upside down in the broken Milky Way.
Most of the covered bridge had collapsed, and the gems were scattered on the ground like falling snow, covered with thick dust and inexplicable gray-black dirt.
Su Cheng couldn't help but look at the wreckage, "There should be a lot of valuable things in here, can we dig them out?"
After saying this, I felt that this suggestion seemed a bit unethical.
"...If you need it," Kai pondered for a moment, "it should be possible, but they are all contaminated, and it will take some time to clean them up."
He paused, "And most people would probably die if they came into contact with it."
Su Cheng frowned, "I'm saying if you want it, I'm not short of money now——"
"I don't really have any feelings about these," Kai smiled, his eyes seemed to soften a little, "If you see something you like, just tell me and I can clean it up."
Su Cheng had no appreciation for jewelry minerals and could hardly distinguish between those rare materials and ordinary gems, so he could only watch.
Until she caught a glimpse of light amidst the rubble and ruins of the wall.
"What is that?"
"...It's a Sky Cloud Crystal."
Kai pulled out a thick stone slab from the crack in the wreckage. The material was a rich green, and even though it was covered in dust, it still looked bright.
The stone slab is exquisitely crafted, with smooth edges and engraved with fine and neat runes, obviously made by a skilled craftsman.
It looked only slightly larger than an ordinary book.
Su Cheng: "Can the dragon craftsmen make something this small?"
Kai shook his head slightly. "The dragon race has no craftsmen, or rather, they have no professions. Many dragons are proficient in forging, smelting, polishing, and other techniques, but they often only serve themselves."
The races at the top of the food chain do not need to choose a profession to make a living. Even a newly hatched dragon can suppress most wild beasts.
So even without the care of a birth parent, they can grow up on their own.
"...We're talking about giant dragons, right?" Su Cheng raised his hand. "Flying dragons and sub-dragons seem to be relatively weak when they are born?"
"Yes," Kai looked at her helplessly, "We are talking about dragons with craftsmanship skills who can forge works with their own hands. As far as I know, flying dragons and sub-dragons can't do that."
Su Cheng silently looked at the slate in his hand.
In the middle was a picture depicting a majestic dragon with its wings half-spread, perched on the roof of the temple. Below it were countless tiny human silhouettes. They were not fleeing or fighting, but raising their arms in a gesture of reverence, like believers praying to the gods.
She squinted at the inscriptions around the stone slab. "What's written here? And it doesn't seem to be an ancient human language?"
Although I don't master the ancient human language, I have seen that language several times, often appearing in places related to gods.
But this way of writing text seems even more troublesome.
"...This is the dragon's writing."
Kai lowered his eyes to look at the stone tablet. "To the Supreme Kanion, the Spine of the Sky, the Lord of the Earth, the Heart of the Mountains, I offer you the first-ripened grains and the purest mithril. I pray that your scaly wings will protect our people, grant us wisdom, and keep us away from famine and disaster..."
He paused and tapped his finger on the edge of the slate, where a gap had broken off a word.
"It should be 'people', I guess."
Su Cheng: “?”
Su Cheng carefully examined the densely packed human figures beneath the stone slab. "So they're praying to the dragons? Uh, that sounds like an ancient dragon. Is that the Rock Dragon King? Wait, are those little figures below human?"
Were humans once worshippers of dragons?
There has never been such a record in history, and the earliest historical records date back to the era before the God of Light.
It is said that it was a time of chaos and ignorance, with countries and city-states in the northern and southern continents embroiled in years of war until the two supreme gods descended.
——As for whether the appearance of the two gods of light and darkness made things better or worse, that is a matter of opinion.
"Wait a minute," Su Cheng recalled the memories of the ruins of Miseros. "Only a few historical books today mention that the ancient dragons perished in their fight against the evil gods of the void. Other places only mention that the ancient dragons were the ancestors of giant dragons. In short, no one says that the ancient dragons were once a belief of mankind. Is this also a conspiracy of the God of Light and the Church?"
wrong.
I'm afraid it's more than just the God of Light.
Many territories in the southern continent are under the control of the Eternal Night Cult. If the Dark God wants to reveal this past, this matter cannot be concealed.
"...Neither the God of Light nor the God of Darkness want people to know this truth?"
Su Cheng looked at the stone tablet again. "Perhaps these 'believers' are not human? Perhaps they are elves or dwarves? After all, there are only blurry silhouettes here, and it's impossible to tell their race."
Kai didn't answer her.
She thought he didn't know the answer either.
Su Cheng raised his head and asked, "Are your ancestors here?"
Kai was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "No."
Su Cheng suddenly became interested, "Are you sure about this?"
As far as she knew, many dragonborn were unable to trace their bloodline, and many dragonborn who did not inherit the appearance characteristics might never know that they had dragon blood in their entire lives.
Although their power is innate, it is mostly dormant in their blood and can only be ignited at the right time.
The dragonborn may not even know that they are dragonborn, let alone trace the source of their bloodline.
At best they can determine a certain attribute.
Su Cheng blinked. "Is it because the ancient dragons and giant dragons that died here had different attributes from yours? Wait, what is your attribute?"
The so-called attributes actually refer to elemental attributes. Ancient dragons are classified according to natural elements, and the same is true for giant dragons.
The color of their scales will vary depending on their attributes.
In principle, of course, these high-level dragons can use magic from all elements, but they will always be more proficient in their own elemental magic.
Su Cheng: "I don't think I've ever seen you use elemental magic...?"
Kai was silent for a moment. "If you want to know about my past, I can tell you. But right now, there are still some things that I haven't figured out myself."
He lifted the girl in his arms slightly higher and looked directly into her clear amber eyes.
"I wanted to wait until one day... when I could give you a complete story, and then tell you, instead of now."
Su Cheng looked at him in surprise.
"I," she almost stuttered, "I don't have to know right now. I'm just a little curious. Just follow your ideas. If there's anything you think you can say, I'm willing to listen."
Kai slowly lowered his head.
Su Cheng suddenly felt inexplicably nervous.
Until their foreheads touched.
His body temperature was obviously lower than hers, and she could feel a distinct chill through his hair, like some giant cold-blooded animal.
However--
She could see those golden eyes that seemed cold and sharp, but were actually filled with tenderness and care.
Every cracked line on the iris is like an ancient sun burning silently, and slowly flowing and curling with every slight breath, like a hot yet cold fire.
The two vertical pupils, as black as swords, shrank into narrow cracks, and the golden lines next to them were like gathered tongues of fire, licking and tumbling on both sides of the blade.
His eyelashes were dense and long, a rich black like ink, curled up in distinct arcs, giving his beast-like eyes a more human look.
Even seems very affectionate.
Su Cheng heard his own crazy heartbeat.
"...My past is a mess."
He whispered, "I don't know where to begin."
Su Cheng blinked. "I just said that. What kind of mess are you referring to? The kind that's been married many times, or the kind that went bankrupt due to business failure, or the kind that's been involved in the struggle between the Church and the Secret Society? Well, it doesn't really matter. I don't care. Look at me, isn't my life a mess? I've done a lot of inexplicable things with this inexplicable curse—"
"No, neither of those," Kai seemed amused by her. "Besides, you're very good. You're brave and perseverant, and you're always full of energy. I often feel happy and at ease when I see you."
Su Cheng was stunned for a moment, "Really?"
They stared at each other in the dead silence of the canyon, the air still thick with the smell of corruption.
But she could feel a kind of joyful sweetness sprouting and bursting from her chest.
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