Yuan Rutan left with his heart heavy and his spirit dimmed. He had lost all faith in the human race. Though he used to enjoy liveliness and company, he no longer wished to be near people.
He planned to go home, pack up what little he owned, and move somewhere no one would ever find him again.
A deep mountain, an endless sea, or a cliff lost in the clouds, he could live anywhere. He would cut off all ties with the world and become a wild dragon, untamed and free.
When Yuan Rutan returned to Songjia Village, the familiar sight of his old, crumbling clay house came into view.
But outside the house sat two men, each holding a farming tool. They yawned lazily, yet their eyes kept darting in all directions, watchful and alert. They were waiting for him, lying in ambush like hunters by a rabbit’s burrow.
Yuan Rutan’s expression darkened. Fortunately, he could make himself invisible, and he wasn’t worried about being seen. He passed straight through the wooden door between the two men and entered the house.
Inside, chaos awaited him. His bed had been split in half, the table overturned and missing a leg. The entire room had been ransacked from top to bottom.
Yuan Rutan wasn’t surprised. He had already guessed that the people of the Song clan would search his house.
At least the hidden pit where he slept was still protected by a barrier, humans couldn’t see it, much less step inside.
He slipped into the pit, picked up the dragon shaped wooden carving, and flew back out.
Taking one last look around, he realized there was nothing left worth taking with him. His possessions were meager, and nothing here tied him down.
As he soared out of the house, the sky above suddenly erupted in thunder and rain. The two Song clansmen guarding the door shuddered in fear, unable to understand how the sky could darken so quickly.
Thunder rumbled one after another. A sense of dread settled over them, and when they looked to the distance, they saw clear blue skies everywhere, except above their heads, where a single black cloud gathered ominously.
Unease twisted in their chests, and both of them turned to flee. At that exact moment, a blinding bolt of violet lightning crashed down from the heavens.
The flash was so bright it nearly blinded them. They screamed in terror and stumbled backward, hearts pounding, legs weak with fear. Then came the second strike, louder and more violent than the first, then a third, and a fourth. Nine bolts of lightning fell in total, each one more deafening and destructive than the last.
The terrifying thunderbolts struck the clay house with overwhelming force. The entire structure collapsed in a roar of crumbling earth but the storm did not stop there, the lightning grew even wilder, even fiercer, until flames burst forth from the ruins and devoured everything.
The fire blazed high into the sky. People all over Songjia Village saw the light and ran toward it. By the time half the village had gathered, Yuan Rutan’s house had already burned to ash. The ground was scorched black, sunken into a deep pit.
The two guards lay sprawled on the ground, pale as death, trembling uncontrollably, their trousers soaked with urine. Yuan Rutan’s home was gone. Completely gone.
The little golden dragon hovered in the air, clutching the dragon-shaped carving tightly to his chest. He would never live in Songjia Village again. He would never leave anything behind for these people to claim.
Ignoring the villagers’ frightened whispers, Yuan Rutan flicked his tail and flew away toward the mountains.
When he reached the foot of the range, he saw a large tree trunk lying across the main path. A man carrying a bamboo basket of herbs was trying to climb over it, but two burly men blocked his way.
The herbalist pleaded desperately, “Please, let me through! If I can’t gather herbs, how will I feed my family?”
One of the guards snarled viciously, “This mountain has been sold to our master for three years! It belongs to him now, no one is allowed to enter!”
The herbalist collapsed to the ground, his face ashen, despair filling his eyes.
Yuan Rutan blinked in confusion. The mountain had been sold?
He had once dreamed of buying the small lake hidden deep in these hills, it cost over a hundred taels of silver. But this mountain was vast. Even selling it for just three years would take a fortune!
Still clutching his wooden carving, Yuan Rutan hesitated for a long moment before flying upward.
Inside the forest, many strong men were hard at work chopping trees. Axes swung through the air, striking trunks with heavy thuds. Sweat rolled down their faces as they toiled in the heat.
Yuan Rutan floated above them, curious. Why were they cutting down so many trees?
A burly man with a scruffy beard wiped his forehead with his sleeve and muttered, “The Water God Festival is coming soon. Do you think we’ll finish building the Dragon King’s palace in time?”
Building a palace for a dragon?
Yuan Rutan was stunned. But when he thought of the officials of Linshui County and the villagers of Songjia, disgust welled up in him again. Even if they built the grandest palace in the world, he would never return to Linshui County. He would never even glance at their offering.
Then he overheard a thin man whisper slyly, “I heard the county magistrate sold this mountain just to raise funds for the festival.”
The bearded man blew into his hands for warmth. “That must’ve fetched quite a bit of money.”
The thin man looked around, lowering his voice further. “Do you know who the buyer is?”
“Of course,” the bearded man replied. “The family’s name is Yan. Everyone knows that.”
The thin man gave a crooked smile. “Funny thing, the county magistrate’s wife also happens to be surnamed Yan.”
The bearded man’s eyes widened. “You mean to say…”
The thin man chuckled. “Who knows? The money’s all for the Water God Festival anyway. Officially, the county sold the mountain for three years, but whether the county office ever received the payment, no one outside knows.
“For all we know, that master’s family didn’t spend a single coin. The magistrate can just say all the money went into the festival. We don’t have any ledgers, do we? No one can check how much the ceremony really costs.
“And look at these trees, we’ll be selling them right back to the county office. Each old tree for ten taels of silver! When it’s done, the county might even owe our master’s family more money than before!”
The bearded man gave a long whistle. “So the water for this Water God Festival runs deep indeed.”
The thin man grinned. “You can say that again. The gentry of Linshui County pooled together about two thousand taels. Every household in town had to pay one tael each, some villages were forced to pay two. Added up, this single festival will cost nearly ten thousand taels of silver!”
Ten thousand taels…
Yuan Rutan had never seen so much money in his life. They used silver to worship the dragon, yet they oppressed the dragon at the same time.
His heart ached with bitterness as he flew to the small lake. Fresh footprints were scattered along the shore, someone must have discovered the fish that lived inside.
He set the dragon-shaped carving down by the water’s edge and dove in. Every large fish he swallowed whole, while the smaller ones he gathered into a cloth bag. He would leave not a single fish behind.
The little golden dragon swam to the bottom of the lake, his claws digging rapidly through the thick layer of silt. He dug more than two feet deep before pulling out several silver ingots.
He counted them carefully. Fifty taels, not a coin missing. Only then did he breathe a small sigh of relief.
Yuan Rutan tucked the silver beneath his scales, flew out of the lake, and looked back at the calm, glimmering water. Reluctance filled his eyes, but he turned and left.
He had spent five or six years saving that silver, hoping to buy the lake for himself. But in the end, the entire mountain had been taken over by the county magistrate’s relatives.
On his way down, Yuan Rutan plucked a handful of rare herbs and quietly dropped them into the herbalist’s basket before slipping away. Then he found a random river and dove in.
He followed the current, swimming aimlessly. At one point, a large fish with sharp fangs tried to bite him. He flicked his tail, sending it flying ten yards away.
Eventually, he found a huge river clam and slipped inside, eating the pearl within before curling up around his wooden carving. He fell asleep like that, a little golden dragon coiled tightly, pressed close to the wooden dragon in his arms.
He knew he should have gone to save the last person he had promised to help but his heart was too heavy.
He just wanted to sleep.
He slept for so long that time itself seemed to blur. Had the wooden carving not begun to rot, he might never have awakened.
When he finally did, Yuan Rutan emerged from the river clutching the decayed remains of the dragon-shaped wood, fragments of it falling like dust between his claws.
He regretted it deeply. Dragons could live in rivers, but wooden things could not. By the time he emerged, the sky had already dimmed toward evening. He found a quiet spot at the foot of a mountain, dug a deep pit with his claws, and carefully buried the dragon-shaped wooden carving inside.
That piece of wood had been his old companion. To honor it, he even took out his very last piece of fragrant peach crystal cake and placed it beside the wooden dragon, as though laying a tribute in farewell.
When night fell, Yuan Rutang was once again all alone. He flew along the reeds by the riverbank, a solitary little dragon with nowhere to go. There was not even anything left in his arms to hold on to.
He wanted to hear the laughter of humans again. He wanted to lie beside a window like he used to, listening to the neighbors gossip and chat late into the night. In that warm chatter, he could at least pretend that he too belonged to the world of human noise and warmth.
A strong fragrance wafted through the air. Yuan Rutang sniffed curiously, it was the rich smell of stewed chicken.
Lifting his head, he saw a small thatched hut ahead, its window glowing with warm candlelight. The savory scent of chicken was drifting straight out from there.
His stomach twisted with hunger, the ache curling deep in his belly. He flew closer to the hut, greedily trying to catch a few more breaths of that delicious smell.
Suddenly, the sound of a door creaking open startled him.
A young woman stepped out, graceful and beautiful, carrying a clay pot in her hands. Without a word, she tipped the steaming pot over and poured the chicken stew into a puddle outside her house.
Her footsteps faded away as she went back in, closing the door firmly behind her.
Yuan Rutang blinked, puzzled, but the smell was too tempting. He sniffed a few more times, then cautiously flew toward the puddle.
There, floating in the murky water, was an entire chicken.
He hesitated, then leaned down and gently took a bite of the topmost piece of meat that hadn’t yet touched the dirty water.
It was so good, so tender and rich that his eyes squinted with pleasure.
Yuan Rutang yawned happily and finished off the cleaner bits of meat, licking his claws clean. Then, content and full for the first time in days, he curled up in a pile of straw and fell fast asleep.
The next morning, he woke to the sound of people shouting and arguing outside. Before he could figure out what they were yelling about, the door of the thatched hut creaked open again. Something else was thrown into the same puddle.
He peeked out and saw a small bundle of pastries wrapped in oiled paper floating on the surface. The paper kept the treats from getting dirty.
Carefully, Yuan Rutang scooped the bundle out, tore open the wrapping, and devoured every crumb.
The same thing happened again over the next few days. Each time the woman would toss food into the puddle, and each time Yuan Rutang waited for her to leave before sneaking out to claim it.
On the fourth day, however, things were different.
The woman came again, but this time she didn’t throw the food directly into the water. Instead, she placed a clay jar on the muddy ground beside it.
When she left, Yuan Rutang crept closer and opened the jar. Inside were five white steamed buns and a layer of braised pork at the bottom.
His eyes lit up. He devoured everything, licking the jar clean. But when he went to replace the lid, he noticed something strange stuck to the bottom of it, a small folded piece of paper.
He pulled it off and unfolded it. On the paper were two drawings, one of a woman, and beside it, a pair of eyes.
Yuan Rutang froze, realizing immediately what it meant.
The woman knew. She knew someone had been stealing her food.
He grew uneasy. For the next few meals, he didn’t dare touch anything she left out. He only hid in the tall grass, watching the hut quietly from a distance.
During those days, many people came and went, carrying boxes and bundles wrapped in red cloth. Red silk banners were hung over the roof of the hut.
Yuan Rutang guessed that the family must be preparing for a wedding.
Two days later, the woman came again with her jar. But this time, she didn’t leave right away.
She stood by the puddle, looking down, her voice soft and calm.
“I think you must be nearby,” she said. “I don’t know if you’re human or some creature of the wild, but I think you might be human.”
“I’m not angry with you. Those things you ate, if you’re hungry, eat them. I just worried that the puddle water was dirty, so I put the food in a jar this time.”
She smiled faintly, as if to reassure him. “The reason I throw food away like this… is because I’m getting married.”
Yuan Rutang tilted his head, puzzled. What did getting married have to do with throwing food away?
He watched as she returned to the hut. When she was gone, he flew to the puddle and finished off the food in the jar.
But the woman seemed to grow sadder each passing day. Though she was fair and pretty, her spirit looked dim and exhausted.
Sometimes, after placing the jar, she would stay and talk softly to herself.
“They say brides shouldn’t be too thin,” she murmured once, “A good bride should look round and fair. Only then will the groom be pleased.”
“When I was little, I was always hungry. Even when we made soup from wild herbs, I only got half a bowl but now that I’m to be married, they’re desperate to fatten me up. They scold me for being too skinny, as if I asked to be this way.”
“This isn’t the life I wanted,” she said with a weak laugh, “But my brother… he sold me for ten taels of silver.”
“Ten taels of silver, and ten acres of good farmland. That’s my price.”
Yuan Rutang finally understood. The woman was being married off against her will, to someone she did not love.
He lay hidden in the grass, his golden eyes reflecting her lonely figure. The emptiness in his heart began to fade.
Perhaps humans were not all the same. Some were cruel, yes, but others, like this woman, were kind and good.
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
You made it to the end. The translator would like a tiny coffee. ☕
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Little DragonChapter 2 · Selling FishChapter 3 · DraughtChapter 4 · Giving LifeChapter 5 · MeritsChapter 6 · Dragon can summon Rain?!Chapter 7 · Wicked Dragon?Chapter 8 · Dragon likes sweetChapter 9 · Dragon WineChapter 10 · Snow Mountain ElixirChapter 11 · The official forced the dragon to rebelChapter 12 · Ministers kneel down and confess their sinsChapter 13 · Court struggle, faith is the dragonChapter 14 · Why do others have auspicious signs, but I don’t?Chapter 15 · Corrupt officialsChapter 16 · The dark side of officialdomChapter 17 Part 1 · Transforming into a golden dragon in full view of all!Chapter 17 Part 2 · Transforming into a golden dragon in full view of all!Chapter 18 · Wrath of the True DragonChapter 19 · Give him a ninth-rank official position!Chapter 20 · The days of being loved by Longlong have begunChapter 21 · Pamper the little dragon, finally full!Chapter 22 · It’s perfectly normal for humans to like dragonsChapter 23 · Avenge Longlong against corrupt officialsChapter 24 · Is being an official like the Dragon King difficult?Chapter 25 · Dragon-shaped woodChapter 26 · Emperor felt the vibrancy of lifeChapter 27 · Do you like the obedient and affectionate little dragon?Chapter 28 · Your Majesty’s PastChapter 29 · A ray of light in a noisy worldChapter 30 · Let’s give the dragon a lake!Chapter 31 · Dragon, don’t run aroundChapter 32 · YaunBaoChapter 33 · Recruiting soldiers and buying horsesChapter 34 · Expand Dragon armyChapter 35 · Longlong is in a dilemmaChapter 36 · Being a king is difficultChapter 37 · Attended the morning court session.Chapter 38 · Secretly feeding the dragonChapter 39 · The restless little golden dragonChapter 40 · Your Majesty foreshadowed thisChapter 41 · Fostering teacher student bondsChapter 42 · Now that the dragon has an official positionChapter 43 · If a dragon wants to become an official, why not touch it?Chapter 44 · Longlong enters officialdomChapter 45 · The Emperor’s disciple?Chapter 46 · Long day’s laborChapter 47 · Being a dragon is comfortableChapter 48 · Thank you, YuanbaoChapter 49 · Very sleepyChapter 50 · The Dragon Who Saves the WorldChapter 51 · Strange storiesChapter 52 · Dragon God saying it wanted to eat peach crystal cakesChapter 53 · The tree is aliveChapter 54 · We can just hold a family feastChapter 55 · What kind of worship?Chapter 56 · Don’t be naughtyChapter 57 · Why does Teacher always avoid my human formChapter 58 · I will be an indifferent learning machineChapter 59 · Jinlong made a fortuneChapter 60 · Ten thousand taelsChapter 61 · FamilyChapter 62 · Will you accompany the dragon?Chapter 63 · What did you hunt, sir?Chapter 64 · From fifth rank to proper fourth rankChapter 65 · Orange PeelChapter 66 · Great Xuan may have enough to eatChapter 67 · Poisoned GrainsChapter 68 · The balance of the mortal world is about to changeChapter 69 · Teacher’s lap truly was very comfortable.Chapter 70 · Caught the little dragonChapter 71 · Only he alone could see that golden lightChapter 72 · Great King must not declineChapter 73 · The top scholarChapter 74 · I do not like other defying meChapter 75 · Great Xuan truly has quite a number of martial expertsChapter 76 · What was there to fear?Chapter 77 · Then Teacher can raise the dragonChapter 78 · Little Dragon Steals Peaches.Chapter 79 · Resentment and Poison.Chapter 80 · Male PartnerChapter 81 · How about choosing a human?Chapter 82 · Young Lord Zhen has a friendChapter 83 · Morning DewChapter 84 · Earth DragonsChapter 85 · Greetings, Your MajestyChapter 86 · Then what am I allowed to do?Chapter 87 · What exactly Happened?Chapter 88 · Praise The golden Dragon!Chapter 89 · ComplexionChapter 90 · Gift is almost readyChapter 91 · Surely Sir would no longer refuse himChapter 92 · Seven YearsChapter 93 · She is really just a childChapter 94 · Good YuanbaoChapter 95 · Ten Thousand year old JadeChapter 96 · They were overwhelmed with griefChapter 97 · Villain: So what if I use magic?Chapter 98 · The Dragon Clan MeetingChapter 99 · The Big reveal!Chapter 100 · The prototype of His MajestyChapter 101 · Autumn HuntChapter 102 · This painting was created by the Emperor’s consortChapter 103 · They gave themselves away and caught the plush rabbit doctor.Chapter 104 · The Rabbit gangChapter 105 · The scars on the fox spirit’s handsChapter 106 · Wang JinzhongChapter 107 · I don’t believe the White Tiger doesn’t protect its foodChapter 108 · Karmic SinChapter 109 · Yuanbao, would you take me a thousand li away?Chapter 110 · Pear FrostChapter 111 · If Yuanbao ever loses sight of the road ahead, then come find meChapter 112 · Let’s take a step at a time..Chapter 113 · The imperial marriage was announced to the public.Chapter 114 · The army, navy, and air force are preparing to attack the Yujing River.Chapter 115 · The attack on Yujing River-humans should not spread rumors!Chapter 116 · King Golden Dragon ascends the throneChapter 117 · Sir, would you like a bowl of dragon soup?Chapter 118 · Wedding celebrationChapter 119 · Establish the Demon RealmChapter 120 · Lord of the Demon RealmChapter 121 · Flourishing and decliningChapter 122 · The Ling Dynasty was defeated, and father and son fought amongst themselvesChapter 123 · The gentleman’s is dragon-themedChapter 124 · People from HeavenChapter 125 · The truth behind the White TigerChapter 126 · Azure Dragon, WarChapter 127 · A great war is about to break outChapter 128 · Victory in the great battleChapter 129 · Side Story (1)Chapter 130 · Side Story (2)Chapter 131 · Side Story (3)Chapter 132 · Side Story (4)Chapter 133 · Side Story (4)Chapter 134 · Side Story (5)Chapter 135 · Side Story (6)Chapter 136 · Side story (7)Chapter 137 · Side Story (8)Chapter 138 · Side Story (9)Chapter 139 · Side Story (10)Chapter 140 · Side Story (11)Chapter 141 · Side Story (12)Chapter 142 · Side Story (13)Chapter 143 · Side Story (14)Chapter 144 · Side Story (15)Chapter 145 · Side Story (16)Chapter 146 · Side Story (17)Chapter 147 · Side Story (18)Chapter 148 · Side Story (19)Chapter 149 · Side Story (20)Chapter 150 · Side Story (21)Chapter 151 · Side Story (22)