BXBX NOVEL Chapter 78 - 78 Painted City
At the rear of the procession, a large group of ragged bandits was encircled by the officials. Their hands were broken and bound in an almost contorted manner; the agony on their faces was testament to the cruel bone-breaking punishment they were enduring…
The bone-breaking punishment was an order issued by Zheng Yu, who had all the captured bandits’ joints broken.
Indeed, any city lord who heard about the atrocities these bandits committed in the villages and towns they plundered would have wished to have them dismembered on the spot.
Zheng Yu, too, had suppressed the rage in his heart and resorted to this bone-breaking punishment to escort them all back to Dwarf Mountain City.
“Brother Zhu, was your mission not successful either?” Zheng Yu asked Zhu
Minglang with a wry smile.
“We lost a junior sister,” Zhu Minglang replied.
“Which one?”
“All I know is her surname was Yang, and when she first met me, she said I didn’t look odd or grotesque…” That was all Zhu Minglang remembered about Junior Sister Yang.
But for some reason, this made him feel an even deeper sorrow.
A fine young girl, whose given name he never fully knew, now lay in eternal sleep.
It’s no wonder Jin Minjun and the other junior sisters had lost all will to fight and left. They had clearly shared many more spirited and ambitious moments, joyful and laughing along the way, only to end up cradling a cold body, immersed in memories of her, their pain compounded by their own guilt!
“Sigh, when I reached their stronghold, I saved a few women. When I asked them where they lived and told them I was an official, they begged me for release…” Zheng Yu’s expression darkened as he slowly recounted the incident to Zhu Minglang.
Just a few light words conveyed the shock and anger that Zheng Yu felt at the time.
Zhu Minglang glanced at the bandits suffering the bone-breaking punishment, their bones shattered, understanding now why Zheng Yu had chosen to act this way even after capturing them alive.
Any person with a shred of humanity would do the same!
In comparison, at least Junior Sister Yang had died in her sleep, never having experienced the pain and terror, the torment or a fate worse than death.
“Brother Zhu, please accept my condolences.”
“Brother Zheng, you have my sympathies as well.”
Lian City Lord used every word of gratitude and tried every means to retain and lead Zhu Minglang and Zheng Yu, but neither of them intended to stay long.
Though the matter was settled, their spirits were weighed down even more. They both knew that to secure a peaceful life, the journey was long; weary as their hearts were, they had to continue on their way.
Riding the fine horses given by Lian City Lord, the two men traveled along the official road toward the next upstream city.
Clearstream River City was their next destination. They stopped at a post station along the way, and considering Zheng Yu’s frail constitution, as well as Zhu Minglang’s own inability to endure long treks, they decided to stay at an inn first.
“Brother Zhu, what is the orb you’re holding in your hand?” Zheng Yu asked with some curiosity.
“This is a Demon Soul Orb. I extracted it from that Night Vine Ratwolf Demon. I’m planning to feed it to my Little Qingzhuo. The attributes of the Night Vine are especially suitable for its native laws,” Zhu Minglang explained.
A demon-grade Soul Bead had a market price so high that it could buy a reasonably wealthy small town, making this bead a significant loot from this demon-slaying exploit.
“I’ve heard that dragon training often involves wealth-gathering. With your exceptional strength, Brother Zhu, why haven’t you taken a few cities and collected some taxes? I see some Dragon Masters doing that. They protect a region’s peace while also collecting hefty taxes…” Zheng Yu asked.
“I don’t have such plans for the time being, but if I ever find myself penniless and destitute, maybe I’ll indeed occupy some cities. Then, I’ll have to trouble
Brother Zheng to manage and govern for me,” Zhu Minglang said with a laugh.
“Speaking of occupying cities, the Female Monarch’s iron troops have already set foot in the southern region. It is said that they’ve conquered ten cities in a row, considerably expanding the Ancestral Dragon City-State’s territory…” Zheng Yu said.
Zhu Minglang scratched his head awkwardly.
Maybe in the future, he would just be a freeloader, guarding the cities that Li Yunzi conquered, chopping down monsters, eradicating demons…
Protecting the land his wife had fought hard to claim.
Zhu Minglang purified the residual malice and negative energy from the Demon Bead before feeding it to Little Qingzhuo.
Little Qingzhuo was young and injured, but with such a Demon Bead for nourishment, it should undergo a significant improvement. At the very least, once digested, it should be able to advance to the growth stage.
A thousand years of cultivation base!
If the Night Vine Ratwolf had been vegetarian, feasting on things like Spirit Fruits, immortal leaves, or demonic roots, Little Qingzhuo might have been able to inherit hundreds of years of cultivation base benefits. Unfortunately, the transfer rate of cultivation base from such Demon Beads always wasn’t high, and their compatibility with Little Qingzhuo was limited.
Originally, Zhu Minglang had planned to buy Demon Beads to enhance Big
Black Tooth’s cultivation base, but the attributes of this ready-made Demon Bead didn’t match with Big Black Tooth. Feeding it to Big Black Tooth wouldn’t be as effective as giving it to Little Qingzhuo.
For Black Tooth’s Demon Bead, he still had to search at an auction house. A Demon Bead with the bloodline of an Ancient Dragon would be far more important to Big Black Tooth.
After swallowing the Demon Bead, Little Qingzhuo went to sleep soundly within the Spirit Realm. Zhu Minglang clearly saw Little Qingzhuo’s skin, which resembled birch bark, continuously emanate a unique radiance, transforming over and over again…
Its feathers were changing, too; what began as fine, soft green down gradually became as tough as blue pine needles, dense and needle-shaped.
It was evident that once these pine needle feathers all became firm and straight, they’d be like deadly iron-edged fans, capable of severing rocks when it swooped by!
Zhu Minglang had noticed from the beginning that Little Qingzhuo’s appearance during its juvenile phase was entirely different from its older brother’s, and as it evolved toward the growth stage, Little Qingzhuo was developing in its own unique direction.
Its skin was like jade, like wood; its feathers like iron, like leaves; its tail was more gorgeous than some of the bird spirits, and its entire body intermittently shimmered with an aura of Green Saint Feathers, which seemed like a unique protective aura…
As for its vertical pupils, they were capable of commanding all greenery. Even at such a young age, it showed an extraordinary ability for controlling the Sacred Forest. Watching Little Qingzhuo’s incessant transformations nurtured by the Demon Bead, Zhu Minglang felt quite gratified.
From the very beginning, when it fell off the cliff, injured all over and helpless like a dying pup, to now radiating green feather aura, on the verge of revealing the true form of the Divine Green Holy Dragon, his efforts had not been in vain through the strenuous struggles and relentless perseverance!
“A growing Little Qingzhuo should be stronger than Big Black Tooth without his Silver Green Heavy Armor, right?” Zhu Minglang began to feel some anticipation.
“00000—–”
As if his thoughts were discerned by Big Black Tooth, the Black Azure Violent Dragon let out a plaintive cry.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. We have a big sum of money on hand, all prepared to buy you Demon Beads. When the time comes for you to swallow a two-thousand-year-old Ancient Dragon Demon Bead, you might just soar to the Dragon General Level,” Zhu Minglang consoled the imbalance in Big Black Tooth’s heart.
If Big Black Tooth reached the Dragon General Level and then put on the Heavy Armor, he would probably be able to compete with Bai Qi as he was now.
Thinking of his three dragon babies soon becoming capable of standing on their own, Zhu Minglang’s smile gradually became as benign as that of an old father.
“Brother Zhu, are you missing the Female Monarch? Why such a soft smile?” Zheng Yu took a sip of tea and looked at Zhu Minglang.
“Cough cough cough, now that we’ve rested enough, let’s get moving,” Zhu Minglang said, covering up.
At the stables, as he climbed onto the steed, Zhu Minglang suddenly thought of Little Qingzhuo in the Spirit Realm, whose body was growing rapidly…
With the bloodline of a Forest Giant Dragon, Little Qingzhuo should grow to a size close to that of its mother during its growth period. If that was the case, he would soon have a Green Saint Dragon to ride!
The Flying Bird Pseudo-Dragon was too slow, and because it was tamed, it often didn’t respond well, making Zhu Minglang especially uncomfortable when riding it. Hence, he had chosen to ride a horse to Clearstream River City this time.
The speed of a horse was limited, and he needed to travel along official roads, which also posed many inconveniences. The thought that soon he could soar through the skies on a Green Saint Dragon made the corners of his mouth curl up even more!
Now that’s a bit more like what a Dragon Shepherd should be!
Red Lotus City, fiery red lotuses like lanterns stringed together for a festival, swayed alluringly in the river beneath the city gates.
The red lotuses blazed like flame year-round, a magnificent sight and one of Red Lotus City’s greatest attractions, drawing many travelers from upstream cities…
In previous years, the city’s waterways would have been crowded with people admiring the red lotuses, but now, because of the Cannibal Monster, even the bustling Red Lotus City seemed a bit deserted, only the winter fire lotuses bloomed in full rage, gorgeously captivating.
Walking slowly on the long wooden bridge, a man with somewhat dark cheeks stopped inside the city, captivated by the sight of the red lotuses in the river, he paused to watch quietly for a while.
After a long moment, he continued his journey into the city. Looking at the still bustling streets, Zhan An stopped again, scanning the variously dressed passers-by.
Soon, his gaze fell on the shops on both sides, the gold and silver stores, the tall tea houses, the grandly constructed high pavilions, and the majestic city towers behind him…
After hesitating for a moment, Zhan An kept walking forward, but his pace had slowed down considerably compared to when he started. “Dear sir, would you like to come inside?”
“Fine jade hairpins, fine jade hairpins, come take a look!”
“Candied fruit skewers, candied fruit skewers… This string isn’t for sale, it’s for my daughter.”
“Haggling over a single baked cake, two copper coins is two copper coins!”
Zhan An continued walking forward, the hustle and bustle around him no different from the cities he had seen before, but to Zhan An, it all seemed distinctly odd.
What exactly was amiss?
He couldn’t put his finger on it.
When entering this city, he smelled a strong scent of ink, even though there were no shops selling ink or paintings nearby, yet the scent seemed to emanate from everywhere…
Suddenly, the pavement tiles in front began to ripple strangely. They were neatly laid along the grey-tiled houses lining the main street into the city but rippled like waves caused by a stone in a lake, spreading in circles across the stone tiles!
When these ripples spread to the rows of grey-tiled houses, even the buildings and shops started to sway, as if the sight before him was a reflection in water, utterly inconceivable!
Beside him, pedestrians and shopkeepers suddenly froze.
The noise came to an absolute halt in that instant.
A lone traveler, dressed as a scholar in white, walked briskly past Zhan An.
But as he walked, he began to sink into the ripples at his feet.
As he walked, he turned into ink!
Zhan An looked back.
The road behind him, the streets behind, the pedestrians, the city towers…
At some point, they had turned into a vast ink painting, exquisitely detailed!
And himself, a living person, somehow found himself within this world sketched with ink and water — a Painted City so vividly alive!
(Chaotic Sky: There are two live broadcast events, conveniently around World Book Day.
One is on the 22nd at 8 PM, in the “QQ Browser & QQ Reading Channel live room” where I’ve decided to spill the beans. Unless something unexpected happens, multiple authors within the circle are going to suffer, hehehe, saying I look like Cat’s Mischief, saying I look older than Elbow, just you wait!)
Another one is on the 24th at 9:30 PM, on Kuaishou Live, follow the account “Reading Writer.” 9:30 PM on the 24th! Lots of little gifts will be distributed to everyone. Then, I can share with everyone the bitter story of how I wavered between being a professional esports player and a writer, and finally took the irretrievable path to writing—)
(By the way, how can there still be people asking if the sky of the fish is dead or alive, I am the sky of the fish, welcome to confront me in person, old readers..)