Chapter 337: Chapter 225: Stealing the Bellyband_1
Su Bei tucked away the urge to commit any crime, and found that his gaze upon the little girl before him had cleared considerably.
Nevertheless, numerous thoughts surfaced in his mind. There are no dragons in the Twenty-One Provinces, except for that one place—the Northern Sea. The Northern Sea, the Western Wasteland, the Eastern Lands, the Southern Barbarians. And the Eastern Lands are what the people of the world commonly call the Twenty-One Provinces. But why would the Dragon Clan that rules that place suddenly appear in the Twenty-One Provinces? And...
Su Bei, with a scrutinizing gaze, examined her closely once more. On her porcelain-doll-like face, two large bumps still hadn’t completely retracted. Below her fair, jade-like neck, a few faint, luminous patterns were vaguely visible on both sides.
GULP.
Su Bei uncharacteristically swallowed hard.
Seeing Su Bei eyeing her with ill intent, Ao Yue clearly became guarded, her pitch-black eyes widening. "What are you staring at?"
Su Bei remained silent for a moment, then he asked, "Can your horns retract fully? Why didn’t I feel them just now?"
Ao Yue was speechless.
Perhaps because it was his first time seeing a living Dragon Maiden, Su Bei couldn’t help but feel a thrill of excitement. It reached the point where Ao Yue felt that agreeing to meet this guy had been an utterly wrong decision.
But... the Qingping Sword is in his possession.
Recalling words her grandfather once said, she decided to endure it for now.
But can I really entrust the Dragon Palace to this unreliable human before me?
Taking a deep breath, she hopped off the chair and handed a storage ring to Su Bei. "Elder Su, this is what you pawned at the Multi-Bao Pavilion previously. The four million spirit stones have been exchanged for Primordial Essence. It’s all in the ring, not a bit missing!"
Su Bei accepted it but didn’t inspect it. The Dragon Clan possessed vast wealth; it was said that countless treasures were buried in the Dragon Palace beneath the Northern Sea. She certainly wouldn’t shortchange him.
"May I ask why the Pavilion Master summoned me here?" Su Bei then asked with a hopeful smile, "Hmm, could Uncle get a hug?"
Ao Yue hastily tossed a Token into Su Bei’s hands and turned to fuss over her potted flower. Clearly displeased, whatever she had intended to say was completely forgotten. It was also his fault for the bad timing.
"The night has grown late; I won’t keep Elder Su any longer," Ao Yue said. "Sometime soon, I will send someone to invite Elder Su as a guest. And, Elder Su, please don’t speak of today’s events to anyone."
It wasn’t that she was unwilling to reveal her true dragon form. But in this place, in the Cang River basin, in Jiangnan... the world’s resentment towards dragons ran deep.
Perhaps it stemmed from the deluge hundreds of years ago? A torrential rain that lasted almost a month, leaving billions of people homeless?
Su Bei looked at the Token in his hand, a strange feeling stirring within him.
How many is this now? Why would the Multi-Bao Pavilion’s Master just hand me an Elder Token without a word? There’s the one from the Sacred Land, the Star Moon Sect, the Multi-Bao Pavilion, and my own Sword Sect...
But since his host had clearly asked him to leave, it wasn’t right for him to overstay his welcome, even though his heart still yearned for those small, bump-like dragon horns.
"Well then, I shall take my leave," Su Bei said.
Ao Yue didn’t respond.
He turned, left the room, pushed open the door, and disappeared into the night.
Just after Su Bei departed, the moisture in the air gradually condensed, turning into a light drizzle. Moments later, it became a torrential downpour, blurring this corner of the world. Then, a soft, low dragon’s cry echoed as a Silver Dragon, its body radiating a flowing light, slowly submerged into the lake’s depths. Its pair of exquisite, coral-like dragon horns glinted. As it exhaled, bubbles rose to the water’s surface.
Why can’t I ever get these horns to retract properly?
GLUG GLUG GLUG...
The bubbles floated upwards.
「 」
When Su Bei emerged from the grand entrance of the Multi-Bao Pavilion once more, the sky was utterly dark. He walked with his head bowed in thought, fiddling with the storage ring in his hand. Meeting Ao Yue today was completely unexpected.
Suddenly, he keenly sensed a gaze directed his way. Lifting his head, he looked towards the petite figure—it was the Sword Maiden.
She was wrapped in a goose-yellow cloak, standing in a corner of the Multi-Bao Pavilion, half-leaning against a nearby vermilion pillar. Her beautiful little face was full of joy, though it was hard to tell if it was from excitement or nervousness. Two crimson blushes rose on her snow-white cheeks, shimmering under the lanterns above, giving her a captivating charm that seemed beyond her age. Her large, misty eyes held a deer-like timidity that tugged at one’s heartstrings.
Seeing Su Bei notice her, she gently lowered her head, her eyelashes veiling her gaze to avoid his. But then, as if remembering something, she immediately lifted her head and gave him a radiant smile.
Su Bei smiled back, pushing thoughts of the dragon to the back of his mind. He raised his hand and waved to her. "Sword Maiden, where did you go?" he called out. "Have you been waiting here for me all this time?"
The Sword Maiden nodded and walked towards Su Bei, her small hand seeming to clutch something tightly. Then, she stretched out her hand and placed a beautiful Jade Plate into Su Bei’s palm. Su Bei looked at the two characters engraved on it—"An Ning"—and felt a flicker of surprise.
Lifting his head, he saw her gesturing animatedly towards him, her little face beaming with happiness as she explained, "Master, your scabbard was broken, so I bought a Sword Box! And this is an Amulet..."
Su Bei’s expression softened. He swiftly lifted her into his arms, gently pinching her slightly cold cheeks, and said joyfully,