Lu Qingjiu felt very upset, but he didn't know how to express it. He really wanted to talk to his grandfather again, but judging by the current situation, his grandfather's condition didn't seem optimistic. Moreover, it was unclear why Zhu Rong came to Bai Yuehu with the dragon claw.
Zhu Miaomiao, who was working in the field with Bai Yuehu, came back early. When she came back, she told Lu Qingjiu that Bai Yuehu asked her to tell him that he had something to go out for, so he would not be back for lunch.
"Did he go out with that red-haired guy?" Lu Qingjiu asked.
"Yeah." Zhu Miaomiao nodded, "What's wrong?"
Lu Qingjiu said, "It's okay, I'll make lunch later." Zhu Miaomiao was an ordinary person after all, and there didn't seem to be any benefit in telling her about these things.
Zhu Miaomiao nodded blankly and said, "Oh...Is that so?"
Lu Qingjiu smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and went to cook. He'd eaten glutinous rice in the morning, which was incredibly filling, and now, almost noon, Lu Qingjiu had no appetite. But there were still several hungry mouths to feed at home, so he pulled himself together and cooked a hearty lunch.
For lunch, they had the fruit that Zhu Miaomiao brought. Lu Qingjiu made pineapple steamed rice with glutinous rice and fried a plate of shrimps. There was some high-quality pork belly left over from the pig slaughter at home, so he took it out and thawed it, fried some salt-fried pork, and stewed half a chicken.
Zhu Miaomiao's mouth watered at the aroma, and she clutched her chopsticks, never letting go. She'd tasted plenty of fine cuisine, but she'd never experienced anything quite like this. Not to mention the other dishes, even the rice in the bowl was incredibly fragrant, each grain distinct and sweet and fragrant. She could finish the rice alone without even adding any other dishes.
Lu Qingjiu was worried and had a poor appetite, but he was still happy to see Zhu Miaomiao eating rice with big mouthfuls.
Seeing that Yin Xun and Zhu Miaomiao had almost finished eating, Lu Qingjiu stood up and said that he wanted to take a nap, and left the table.
"Is Qingjiu unhappy?" Zhu Miaomiao poked Yin Xun.
Yin Xundao: "It seems... something happened this morning?"
Zhu Miaomiao told the story that Bai Yuehu had left with someone.
Yin Xun said: "That might have something to do with Bai Yuehu. It's okay. It should be fine when Bai Yuehu comes back tonight. I'm going to wash the dishes. You should go and have some rest too."
Zhu Miaomiao nodded and said hello.
Lu Qingjiu returned to his room and took out the wooden box that his grandmother had left him. The box had been closed again, and it seemed that it could only be opened on Lu Qingjiu's birthday. Fortunately, Lu Qingjiu had taken out everything in the box, including his grandmother's diary and the scarred scale.
Seeing the scales, Lu Qingjiu suddenly thought of something. When he was bathing Bai Yuehu before, Bai Yuehu had mentioned that every scale of a dragon has a sense of touch, and if a scale falls off a dragon's body, it will only continue to exist with the dragon's consent.
This scale is obviously the thought that grandpa left for grandma, and it is also the last bond between the two.
Lu Qingjiu couldn't help but pick up the dragon scale and gently stroked the old scars on it. He thought of Zhu Rong holding the bloody dragon claw in his hand, and his heart was very sad. After seeing the true form of the White Moon Fox, he was full of affection for this beautiful and noble creature. Moreover, his grandfather was his last relative in this world. When he thought of his grandfather's body covered with various wounds, Lu Qingjiu couldn't help but sigh heavily.
It was already two o'clock in the afternoon, and the bright sunshine illuminated the entire courtyard. Yin Xun and Zhu Miaomiao were both taking a nap, and the entire old house was filled with silence.
Lu Qingjiu was about to put down what he was holding and take a nap in bed, but he noticed a butterfly flying in from his window. If it were just an ordinary butterfly, it would be fine, but this butterfly caught Lu Qingjiu's attention the moment it appeared. The reason was simple: it was so beautiful. Its wings were dark blue, dotted with black patterns. At first glance, it looked like a swimming black dragon. It slowly fluttered its wings and flew in through the window. In front of Lu Qingjiu, it landed on the black scales that belonged to his grandfather.
Lu Qingjiu looked at it and couldn't help but stretched out his finger towards it. The next moment, the butterfly flew onto Lu Qingjiu's finger, gently fluttering its wings, as if telling him something.
Lu Qingjiu said: "Do you want to tell me something?" he asked.
The butterfly seemed to understand what he said, and flew into the air again, then flew towards the window. As it flew out, it turned back from time to time, as if asking Lu Qingjiu to catch up.
Lu Qingjiu remembered that his grandfather seemed to have used a similar method when he came to find him before, so he quickly followed him out.
The butterfly moved forward, and Lu Qingjiu followed closely behind. One man and one butterfly, one in front and one behind, they soon left Shuifu Village and headed towards the forest.
Before Lu Qingjiu left, he sent a text message to Bai Yuehu, briefly explaining the situation and asking him not to worry about him.
The butterfly flew very slowly, as if it was worried that Lu Qingjiu could not keep up. Lu Qingjiu also noticed that as he followed the butterfly deeper and deeper into the forest, the surrounding environment was gradually becoming unfamiliar. He had obviously entered a whole new world. If he guessed correctly, this world belonged to his grandfather.
The lush trees around began to wither, and there was not even a trace of green grass on the ground, let alone other animals and insects. It seemed as if the world had lost all vitality, leaving only a silent and dead silence.
Among a group of dead trees, Lu Qingjiu finally saw the person he was looking for. He stopped and couldn't help but shout out the call that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time: "Grandpa..."
The man sitting in the middle of the dead tree slowly turned his head. He was wearing black clothes, his eyes were closed, and there were unhealed scars on his cheeks. When he heard Lu Qingjiu's voice, he smiled and wanted to say something, but remembered that he couldn't speak in this state, so he waved to Lu Qingjiu, motioning him to come over.
"Grandpa, are you okay?" Lu Qingjiu hurriedly walked in front of him.
Ao Run smiled, as if he wanted to reach out and hold Lu Qingjiu's hand like before, but he found that his right arm was empty and he could no longer reach out. After a moment of hesitation, he switched to his left hand as if nothing had happened, motioning Lu Qingjiu to put her hand up.
Lu Qingjiu looked at Ao Run's empty right arm and felt something stuck in his throat. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
"You're injured." Lu Qingjiu said, "Zhu Rong said you'll die if you don't go back. I'm so worried..."
Ao Run smiled and wrote on Lu Qingjiu's palm: "I won't go back."
Lu Qingjiu asked: "Why..."
Ao Run explained slowly, his fingertips sliding across Lu Qingjiu's palm, very lightly and gently, "I stayed there before to atone for my sins, but now I have to get out. Qingjiu, you are my grandson, and I hope you can leave Shuifu Village."
Lu Qingjiu looked at Ao Run blankly: "Why?"
Ao Run continued writing, "Because only after being polluted can one understand the true meaning of pollution." He gave a wry smile and wrote, "Pollution...is just an exaggeration. To be precise, it simply exposes your desires completely."
Lu Qingjiu thought of his red-haired grandfather and trembled as he asked, "The dragon race's desire is to eat the person they love most?"
Ao Run nodded and continued to explain: "It has been like this since ancient times. In fact, humans are also like this. It's just that humans have limited abilities and destructive power. Therefore, even if many people are contaminated, it will not cause much impact. As for the dragon clan..."
The dragon race is originally a god. Needless to say, the destructive power of a polluted god can be imagined.
Lu Qingjiu continued to listen quietly. There were too many things he didn't understand. Ao Run's words only lifted a corner of the fog.
"I'm going to tell you what really happened back then," Ao Run wrote. "The answer will be cruel. Do you want to hear it?"
Lu Qingjiu nodded in panic, and at the same time, he felt an ominous aura.
"After I fell in love with your grandmother, we had a wonderful time together," Ao Run wrote. "But then she became pregnant, and before I knew the news, I fell into a trap and was unfortunately contaminated."
Lu Qingjiu sat down next to him to make it easier for Ao Run to write. For the first time, he felt Ao Run's weakness. He no longer had the sharp aura of the dragon clan, but instead was like the mist that was about to disappear in the mountains in the early morning.
As Ao Run slowly described, Lu Qingjiu understood what happened next.
The corrupted dragons faced no punishment; after all, they were ancient gods, their only restriction being that they could no longer enter the human realm. However, regardless of their previous personalities, the corrupted dragons' temperaments would drastically change, becoming irritable and erratic. Even the gentle Ao Run was no exception. Although deeply reluctant, he chose to leave, fearing harm to his lover. Meanwhile, the dragons sent a new tenant, the White Moon Fox.
Upon returning to the otherworld, Ao Run learned that his lover was pregnant. Overjoyed, he wanted nothing more than to see the child after birth. However, he still had a shred of reason, knowing that if he returned to the human world, he would likely do something irreversible. Therefore, Ao Run suppressed his inner desires and began searching for a way to suppress the corruption.
According to Ao Run, pollution is actually to completely turn your inner desires and desire for control inside and out. Under normal circumstances, the desire for control will suppress the desire, but after being polluted, this suppression will no longer be effective.
The instinct of dragons is to eat what they love most, so a polluted dragon will naturally be unable to control the urge to eat its lover.
Ao Run also wanted it, and he wanted it so much that he went crazy.
Even when he felt that he was about to lose control of himself, he finally found a way to reduce the pollution - split his soul into two parts and drive the pollution into the other half of the soul. This was the red-haired Ao Run that Lu Qingjiu had seen before.
Splitting the soul is not an easy task for the dragon clan. Ao Run may even lose control of his body at certain times. But fortunately, when he is awake, he can sneak into the human world to see his beloved without worrying about hurting her.
Ao Run watched his daughter grow up and eventually leave Shuifu Village at the request of his grandmother. Though heartbroken, he realized that being an ordinary human was safer than being a guardian. His grandmother, unwilling to let her daughter make the same mistake, didn't even tell her about the White Moon Fox, keeping it a secret until her death.
Ao Run paused at this point. Lu Qingjiu didn't rush him, but waited quietly. He hadn't paid close attention before, but now, after careful observation, he realized that Ao Run's eyebrows and eyes were indeed very similar to his mother's, especially his eyes, which should have been very beautiful but now looked like two empty holes. Lu Qingjiu took this opportunity to observe his surroundings. He noticed that there were butterflies resting on Ao Run's shoulders and back. These butterflies were the same blue butterflies that had attracted him here, and they were extremely beautiful.
"Are you tired?" Lu Qingjiu asked softly, "If you are tired, we can talk about it next time."
Ao Run smiled and shook his head, indicating that he was not tired.
Lu Qingjiu said, "But I'm worried about you..." He smelled the blood on Ao Run.
Ao Run sighed slightly, stroked Lu Qingjiu's head with his remaining left hand, and then continued writing: "This kind of life continued until a certain summer. By then, you were already very old. I had seen you when you were a child, but I never gave you a hug."
Lu Qingjiu felt sad. He reached out and hugged Ao Run tightly, as if he was hugging his grandmother. He no longer had parents or grandmother, so Ao Run was his only elder.
"That summer was very hot. I heard your mother seemed to want to return to Shuifu Village, so I wanted to come to the human world to see her." Ao Run wrote slowly, "But I didn't expect...an uncontrollable accident to happen."
Lu Qingjiu's mother's identity was unique: neither human nor dragon, but rather a hybrid. If a human were contaminated, their soul would be suppressed within Shuifu Village, forbidden from leaving. The tablets in Yin Xun's home also derive from this. However, her blood was half dragon. During a visit to her hometown, Lu Qingjiu's mother tragically became contaminated. Ao Run didn't elaborate on how his mother became contaminated, and Lu Qingjiu didn't press the issue, for he could sense immense pain in his tone.
“Someone is behind this whole thing,” Ao Run wrote. “Including me and your mother.”
Lu Qingjiu's heart tightened when he heard this.
"Your mother wasn't spared either and was contaminated. But perhaps because she had dragon blood in her body, she wasn't trapped in Shuifu Village and was able to leave." Ao Run continued writing, "Your grandmother didn't want her to repeat the same mistake, so she didn't tell the other dragons about this. Aside from the White Moon Fox, no other dragon knew..."
As expected, Bai Yuehu knew about Lu Qingjiu's mother from the beginning, but perhaps because of the promise he made to his grandmother, he did not tell Lu Qingjiu.
"Then, it was that summer." Ao Run's hands began to tremble slightly. Although his expression didn't change much, a deep sadness emanated from him. "Your mother is back... I want to see her. I haven't seen her for a long time..."
Lu Qingjiu's eyes turned red when he heard this. He reached out and wiped his face, suppressing the emotions churning in his chest. He used his other hand to press the back of Ao Run's hand, trying to comfort him: "Grandpa..."
Ao Run didn't answer. He patted his hands and continued writing: "But, something unexpected happened."
Lu Qingjiu's mother suddenly erupted with the dragon part of her bloodline, and she ate her lover - Lu Qingjiu's father.
As Ao Run wrote these words, Lu Qingjiu felt a chill run down his spine. He had guessed many possibilities, but never this truth. Thinking carefully now, it was true that his mother's temper had become much more irritable some time before this incident. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it, simply assuming it was a rift between mother and father. Only now did he understand what that irritability truly meant.
Humans don't have the habit of devouring their loved ones, so even if they are contaminated, it won't cause much harm to their loved ones, at most it will just make them a little more irritated. But dragons are different. They are greedy animals by nature, and they would like to hide all their beloved things in their stomachs so that they will never be coveted by others.
The mother, whose dragon bloodline had been restored, transformed into a dragon and swallowed her lover whole without hesitation.
Ao Run, who came to the human world in order to see his beloved daughter, witnessed all of this.
Lu Qingjiu was speechless. He was in great sorrow. He couldn't imagine the scene at that time, let alone what kind of mood Ao Run must have felt when he saw all this with his own eyes.
"Then, she headed towards the old house," Ao Run wrote. "I knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to eat her beloved mother, my love." As he wrote this, a sad yet kind smile appeared on his face. "I can't allow this to happen. My love, I can only devour her myself."
Lu Qingjiu said in a trembling voice: "So... you ate my mother."
Ao Run nodded. He seemed to be worried that Lu Qingjiu would feel disgusted with him because of this. He nervously grabbed Lu Qingjiu's hand and continued writing: "I just wanted to stop her, but when I used my power, the polluted soul used my body. When I regained control of my body, she was gone..." Only the glaring blood and countless broken scales were left on the ground, telling Ao Run what he had done.
Lu Qingjiu already knew what happened afterwards.
Ao Run, who ate his daughter, was severely punished by the dragon clan. He did not refute it because he had indeed done it. However, he did not explain the reason. Perhaps he felt that it was no longer necessary. After all, letting his grandmother know that her daughter had also eaten her lover would only be a blow, not a comfort.
At this moment, Lu Qingjiu also thoroughly experienced what it meant to be better not to know. He finally understood the cause of his parents' death, but he didn't get a single bit of comfort. He looked at his grandfather, who was in a state of disrepair, and couldn't help but reach out and grab his wrist. Ao Run's wrist was icy cold, and he seemed to have lost all warmth.
"Grandpa, go back and explain things to them." Lu Qingjiu couldn't bear to see him continue like this. He couldn't bear to see his only relative suffer such pain. "Don't go on like this. I'm your grandson. I'm willing to clear your name..."
Ao Run smiled and shook his head. He wrote, "I came out this time for a purpose, and I won't go back until I achieve it."
"What's the purpose?" Lu Qingjiu asked anxiously.
Ao Run wrote: "I told you, I was contaminated because I fell into a trap, and your mother was contaminated by accident..."
Lu Qingjiu immediately understood: "You want to find the mastermind behind this?!"
Ao Run nodded.
"Who is he, and why is he doing this?" Lu Qingjiu recalled some of the things Bai Yuehu had told him, and asked hurriedly, "Is it related to the people on Zhulong's side...Grandpa..."
He was halfway through his words when Ao Run started to cough softly. He coughed very hard and finally began to dry heave as if he wanted to cough out all his internal organs.
Lu Qingjiu quickly patted his back, hoping to make him feel better, but as he did so, he felt something was wrong. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the ice-blue butterflies that had previously clung to Ao Run's back were actually increasing in number. Previously, Lu Qingjiu had assumed that these butterflies were driven by Ao Run, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that they were actually feeding on the blood on Ao Run's clothes. No matter how he tried to shoo them away, they wouldn't go away, and their numbers were increasing.
"Grandpa, Grandpa! Are you okay?" Lu Qingjiu suddenly became nervous. He clearly felt that something was wrong. "Why are there more and more butterflies?"
Ao Run was still retching heavily, but after hearing Lu Qingjiu's words, some confusion appeared on his face. He seemed to want to say something, but was interrupted by the violent vomiting reaction.
Lu Qingjiu, who was sitting next to Ao Run, watched Ao Run retching continuously. His hair gradually turned red, and his gentle temperament was replaced by an arrogant aura - the polluted soul was about to come out.
Although Lu Qingjiu knew he was dangerous, he still couldn't bear to abandon him. When Ao Run stopped retching and raised his head, a smug smile was already on his face. He grinned and uttered the hoarse voice that Lu Qingjiu had heard before: "Long time no see, my dear grandson."
Lu Qingjiu frowned and looked at him: "You..."
"I'm your grandfather too." He straightened up and moved closer to Lu Qingjiu. "Why, don't you recognize me?"
Lu Qingjiu wanted to stand up, but he held his shoulders down and said, "He told you everything?"
"What do you mean by everything?" Lu Qingjiu asked, "What do you want to know?"
The red-haired Ao Chun tutted his words, seemingly dissatisfied with Lu Qingjiu's reaction. He flicked his empty sleeves and said unhappily, "Tell him not to mess with this body anymore. If he dies again, he'll never know what he wants to know."
Lu Qingjiu asked cautiously, "Do you know who is behind this?"
"Of course I know." Ao Chun laughed loudly. He stretched out his hand and a blue butterfly landed on it. "Without him, there would be no me. He created me, so of course I have to know." He waved his hand and caught the butterfly in his palm. The butterfly actually turned into a ball of water emitting cold air in his palm.
Lu Qingjiu wanted to say something, but Ao Run reached out and patted him on the head. Lu Qingjiu felt a bone-chilling chill invading his mind, and then the world spun around him, his vision went black, and he passed out.
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