Chapter 27
The boulder was so enormous that it took a whole day to clear away the scattered fragments after it broke apart.
The foot of the snow-capped mountain has been cleaned up and is now clear. The next task is to continue digging the river mouth. Once the two rivers are connected, everyone's mission will be completely accomplished!
It should be said that Yinglong's task for the entire Muyun Clan was now completely completed.
As dusk fell, everyone who had been busy all day slowly dispersed to prepare for home, except for Jia'er, who remained motionless in a corner, grumbling and whining.
Around him were Qingye Xiaomian and the others, who were standing together with their arms crossed, watching him curl up in a ball.
At that time, Xiaolong was squatting on the ground drawing circles, with his back to everyone and facing a big tree.
Aono and the others stood calmly to the side, observing him with indifference:
Hmph, this kid knows fear now!
You see, all day long, Xiaolong was immersed in his heroic deeds, boasting to others with great pride. But when it was time to go home in the evening, he finally stopped—because he chickened out.
Why did I chicken out? It's simple.
During the day, he was surrounded by people who showered him with praise, making him smile from ear to ear.
"Jia'er, you're amazing."
"When did you become so capable? Did you learn it from your mother?"
"Could you teach us?"
The chorus of praise from the crowd left Xiaolong completely disoriented. He stood there with his hands on his hips, laughing smugly, while waving his hand "modestly" and saying, "It's alright, it's alright."
The demonic sound pierced through the clouds and shattered rocks endlessly, while Qingye and the others nearby listened with expressionless faces.
Jia'er was completely unfazed; he even started teaching others the techniques of kicking stones.
"First, you need to find the right posture and stay steady when you squat down." Jia'er demonstrated a squatting posture.
"Then run as fast as you can and jump when you're at your fastest speed." He then demonstrated a running motion.
"When you get close to the stone in the air, you have to lift your leg quickly and kick it to pieces." He became more and more excited as he spoke, and finally swept his leg up, his short leg standing high in the air, worthy of everyone's admiration.
"Wow!" He struck a great pose, and the air was filled with exclamations of "Wow!"
Aono and the others closed their eyes again.
Amidst the gasps of amazement, an untimely remark suddenly broke the silence:
"Hey? Jia'er, why are your shoes torn?"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked up at Jia'er's shoes.
On Xiaolong's shoe, which was held high, there was a large tear at the top.
His feet were thus exposed to everyone.
"Why?"
Jia'er was also puzzled; he seemed to have just discovered this as well.
He put his legs down and bent down to stare at his shoes.
A crack was clearly visible at the black, round opening of the shoe.
He lifted his toes, and the opening of his shoe opened up, making it look like a big frog at first glance.
Oh, his shoes really are broken!
It's still a huge opening.
"Jia'er, is your foot alright?" someone in the crowd asked with concern.
Jia'er felt his toes; hmm, they didn't hurt.
"It's nothing, it's nothing!" Xiaolong recovered in just one second.
"It's just that the shoes are broken, it's a minor matter." Jia'er waved his hand dismissively.
This seemed to be just a small matter, because the next second, Jia'er put it out of his mind and continued to tell everyone about his power generation techniques—he could talk about kicking a big rock for three days and three nights and still not finish. The younger group around him listened to him "passing on his experience" with starry eyes.
They chattered excitedly all day long. As the sun slowly set, everyone said goodbye to Jia'er one by one. When there were fewer and fewer people left, until there was no one left, the spirit that was truly named "Jia'er" seemed to suddenly return. The little dragon, who had been excited all day, suddenly seemed to remember this:
"Oh no! What do I do? My shoes are broken!"
?
When Qingye and the others heard him say that, they were puzzled. This kid acted as if he had just found out about it.
He clearly discovered it a long time ago, and he didn't care at all.
After some thought, everyone agreed that Jia'er was just being silly, so they continued to stand there with their hands on their hips, ignoring the kid's loud and boisterous antics.
However, this time Koji seemed genuinely scared.
He was seen shuffling around in his slippers, looking very anxious.
"What should I do if my shoes break? What should I do if my shoes break?"
He kept muttering to himself, and these mutterings reached the ears of his friends, who immediately became puzzled—
Oh? Really? This little dragon is scared now? They thought he didn't care.
The afterglow of the setting sun in the distance reflected Jia'er's slowly cooling mood.
He stopped as he turned to a corner, a sorrowful thought creeping into his mind:
Oh, his shoes are broken!
ah!
Heavens above!
Jia'er finally showed a pitiful look. Seeing him like this, Qingye and the others finally believed that the little dragon was really anxious. And seeing this scene, they actually had a feeling that he had finally received the punishment he deserved.
Hmph, let him show off!
Based on their understanding of Koji, the fact that he was in this state meant that the broken shoes would have serious consequences for him.
They were right.
Normally, breaking a pair of shoes wouldn't be a big deal, but when it happened to Koji, the situation became unusual.
After he secretly did something so dangerous at the bottom of the river without his mother's knowledge, he was severely beaten. His mother then warned him that no matter what happened in the future, he was not allowed to show off or cause trouble on his own.
Jia'er had already been beaten, and he nodded hurriedly while clutching his sore bottom, promising his mother that he would never do such dangerous things by himself again.
Then, just a few days later, he started showing off again, going to kick the big rock by himself.
Let them kick it, as long as the shoes aren't broken. I can keep it from my mother anyway, but the shoes are broken, and now I can't hide it from her anymore.
Getting beaten up is inevitable.
Even if you use someone else's shoes instead, it won't work. His shoes were made by his mother using special materials. They were soft inside and hard outside, and they were also very light. That's how he broke them by kicking a big rock.
"It's getting dark, are you still coming?" Qingye reminded the round body that was still squatting under the tree.
Jia'er heard this, dropped the branch, and slowly stood up.
They watched as he slowly shuffled towards them, stopping in front of Qingye. He held up one finger, waving it back and forth at Qingye, his voice low and pleading:
"Qingye, don't tell my mother about this."
"No way!" As the eldest brother, Qingye was extremely cold and ruthless this time. This kid clearly loves to cause trouble, and he needs to be taught a lesson.
So Jia'er dejectedly walked to the next one.
"Little Cotton, don't tell my mother about this, okay?" He continued to wag his finger.
"No!" Little Cotton's voice was also firm. It also felt that Jia'er should be punished so that he wouldn't be so bold next time.
And so Jia'er—
"Boom, don't tell my mother about this."
"no."
"Jinbao, don't tell my mother about this."
"no."
"Big Yellow, don't tell my mother about this."
"no."
From left to right, Jia'er's entire army was wiped out.
No one is on his side. Does this mean he's really going to get beaten up?
Xiao Long sluggishly looked listless, a far cry from his energetic self during the day.
how so?
Oh, his buttocks are even starting to ache slightly.
So they pulled him back!
*
What happened to Koji after he returned home that night is unknown. Aono and the others were only responsible for bringing him home, and they couldn't guess what happened after that.
All they knew was that they didn't see Xiaolong for the next few days. When they saw him again, Jia'er's already round face had become even rounder, just like his bottom.
"Oh, are you walking alright?" Everyone glanced at his buttocks, seemingly casually, and then asked with "concern."
"Very good, very good, very good." Jia'er walked briskly ahead, sometimes skipping and jumping, only occasionally losing her footing.
"Be careful." Aono looked at the little guy and felt that his body was swaying a lot.
"I know, I know." Jia'er didn't care at all; he wanted to go with everyone to clear the mud from the river mouth.
Two days ago, a torrential rain washed away the newly repaired riverbed at the foot of the mountain, leaving behind a lot of silt. Now, a lot of mud is blocking the river mouth, and the water is no longer flowing. Jia'er is going to go with everyone to dig it open again.
The group of people skipped and jumped as they ran towards the back of the mountain.
"Oh, there are so many people."
When they arrived, many villagers had already started working there. Everyone was afraid that if the silt was dumped down, it would block another river, so some people came early in the morning to dredge it.
Seeing this, Jia'er wiggled his buttocks and struggled to go up and swing the shovel.
Seeing his rather awkwardly shaped buttocks, everyone felt a pang of pity, but—
This is absolutely hilarious, hahaha!
Everyone was laughing so hard they couldn't stand up straight, but they all tacitly kept quiet.
Jia'er was confused. He thought everyone was happy to see him, so he was happy too, especially since he had finally been released!
Hehehe.
He grinned foolishly as he swung the shovel—once the dragon's nature was unleashed, Jia'er worked with unwavering precision, each stroke precise and decisive.
The consequence of working so hard was that when it was time to go home, Jia'er was the dirtiest person in the group.
Everyone was thinking about how to clean him up when Jia'er, this time genuinely unconcerned, said:
"It's okay, it's okay."
As everyone was pondering how it could be okay, they saw him plunge into the river, wash himself clean, and then emerge.
Wow!
In the blink of an eye, a clean and fresh Jia'er appeared again. Everyone looked on with genuine envy, as no one in their group dared to frolic in the river like that, because none of them were good swimmers.
"Am I amazing?" Jia'er was dripping wet, but he still didn't forget to ask everyone for praise. You know, this is how his mother bathed him.
"Awesome." Aono and the others gave a heartfelt thumbs up.
"Hehe, I have something even more amazing to offer." Just as Koji finished speaking, Aono and the others watched as he suddenly dove into the water. The next second, they saw him waving to them from a great distance downstream.
"Come quickly!"
My goodness, that speed... Nobody swims as well as him.
In those few short seconds, he swam a distance that would take most of a person half a day to cover.
Aono and the others looked at Koji, who was shining brightly in the distance, with his golden hair and dragon horns reflected on the shimmering water. He looked extremely beautiful from afar.
Jia'er was still loudly greeting everyone, shouting at them:
"Hurry up and come here!"
So everyone had to quicken their pace.
From then on, Xiaolong returned home in this way every day.
When the time came, Aono stood by the river and called out to him, "Koji, let's go home."
"Let's go home." Everyone saw Jia'er nimbly dive into the water, and in no time, he appeared downstream, waving to everyone with a grin.
"Hehe, I'm a little golden dragon in the waves~"
This scene was like something out of a painting, and everyone felt as if they were right there in it.
They're already so happy with just this little bit of water. The river will rise significantly when the flood season arrives, and Xiaolong will be even more adept at swimming around then.
The friends initially laughed happily, thinking of Jia'er's joyful appearance, but slowly, a sense of sadness suddenly welled up in their hearts.
When the flood season arrives, the river will swell significantly...
As everyone knows, Jia'er's mother gave him the task of filling the river with water as quickly as possible. Once it becomes a stable river, that will be the time for them to leave.
This might be a task assigned to Jia'er by his mother to keep him occupied and prevent him from causing trouble. However, it's highly likely that they will leave once the newly dug canal is filled with water.
Oh, Jia'er and the others are leaving. This time, they're really leaving.
The thought of this caused everyone a pang of heartache.
After spending so many days together, everyone had gotten used to Xiaolong's presence, and now that he's leaving... it would be a lie to say we're not sad.
But what can be done? Jia'er and his mother don't belong here by nature; they will have to leave sooner or later.
The heavy weight on their hearts seemed to never be lifted. They tried their best to suppress their sorrow at parting and maintain their smiles. No matter what, Jia'er and his mother had not left yet, and they wanted to cherish every minute and second they could spend with him from now on, not wasting a single one.
So a group of teenagers, still beaming with smiles, ran towards the small dragon downstream, their clothes fluttering in the wind, as if their happy days would never end.
Let this moment linger as long as it lasts.
The days that followed seemed to speed up.
After the silt at the river mouth was cleared, several heavy rains fell on the northwestern border. Fortunately, the silt was not washed away. Then came the flood season that lasted for several months. The people watched as the water in their newly dug river rose day by day, slowly turning from a trickle into a rushing river, and its momentum could not be stopped.
After the riverbed in the tribe was completely filled, Yinglong led the Muyun tribe to the border. Jia'er followed closely behind his mother, his expression serious.
He participated in the entire magnificent canal-digging project, and by the time the grand canal-digging journey was over, Xiaolong had grown a lot.
Under the witness of the Muyun clan chief, Yinglong opened the barrier that had existed in their clan for thousands of years. Without the barrier's restraint, the river water surged downstream in an instant.
The rushing water, like a silver dragon, surged continuously down to the riverbed. The turbid waves gnawed at the newly dug soil, creating pale yellow foam among the exposed gravel. The grass seeds on the riverbank were also swept away by this raging torrent, taking root downstream.
Water droplets splashed and mist swirled in the air.
Only then did the Muyun tribe realize that there was another river channel outside the barrier. This massive undertaking of digging the canal wasn't just being done by their tribe; people outside were also digging. Moreover, this outer river channel was connected to theirs, merging at the barrier and then stretching far into the distance, into an unseen place.
The riverbanks were now densely packed with people, from the Muyun tribe upstream to the Heyan village downstream. Two ethnic groups, separated for centuries, met again at this crucial moment, but the tense atmosphere of their ancestors was gone; instead, a peaceful reconciliation existed, a temporary setting aside of past grievances. The two groups watched with reverence as the life-giving river flowed across their land and onward to the distant horizon.
Tens of thousands of people knelt and prayed in the crowd, the ceremony was devout yet silent.
The earth was desolate, and in an instant, only the roar of thousands of troops could be heard.
This moment was so breathtaking; it was an epic moment when the Muyun tribe and the people of Heyan Village imbued this land with their lifeblood, a moment that no one would ever forget.
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