Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
Upon recognizing Jiang Lan, Ying Qiao was about to go to meet him when he saw Jiang Lan alertly prick up his ears, adopting a defensive posture while continuing to stare intently at his… tail, and even noticeably swallowing a few times.
Ying Qiao: ?
He sensed something was wrong, but fearing he might upset Jiang Lan, he could only stay where he was and call out to him uncertainly twice.
But Jiang Lan didn’t respond to his calls at all; he just stared longingly at his tail, his eyes unblinking.
Ying Qiao’s heart sank slightly. He tentatively swung his tail and saw Jiang Lan’s ruby-like eyes follow the tail as it spun around. He seemed eager to pounce on him again, and a low gurgling sound came from his throat.
“…”
Judging from this behavior, Ying Qiao was certain that something must have gone wrong with Jiang Lan, as he didn’t even recognize him.
After a few breaths of stalemate, Ying Qiao cautiously took a step forward, tentatively approaching him.
As he approached, Jiang Lan’s pupils contracted, and he lowered his body, letting out a threatening growl. His tail was stretched straight out, with the tip swaying slightly from side to side, and his front paws were constantly retracting, already looking for the right angle to pounce and bite.
Ying Qiao was very familiar with his little tricks, and upon seeing this, he immediately took a step back to avoid further provoking him.
But Jiang Lan did not give up this idea because of his retreat and show of weakness. He was really starving. He had been wandering around this place for a long time, and his stomach was growling. He had eaten all the trees and rocks in the forest that he could eat, but it was no different from not eating at all. He was still hungry. Now that he had finally found something that could fill his stomach and looked delicious, he would not let it go easily.
Jiang Lan especially liked that tail more and more.
He really wanted to take a bite and try it.
This delicious-looking food looked a bit tough to eat. Jiang Lan subtly curled up his injured hind leg, appearing fierce on the surface, but in reality, he was already calculating the possibility of taking a bite and running away.
With such a big tail, it wouldn’t be a loss to take a bite.
Take a bite first to taste it, soothe your rumbling stomach, and eat the whole thing after you’ve recovered.
Jiang Lan’s mind raced with calculations, but before he could intimidate the other party and seize the opportunity to take a bite, he saw the food opposite him suddenly push two shiny red stones in front of him.
Jiang Lan: !!!
He had eaten this before!
That ring was filled with delicious little stones, but they didn’t last long; they were all gone in no time.
Starving, Jiang Lan temporarily shifted his gaze away from Ying Qiao, quickly pulled the small stone in front of him, and crunched it down.
After finishing his meal, he stared intently at Ying Qiao.
I want to eat more.
The satisfaction of eating another delicious little stone made Jiang Lan’s tail wag happily. He squinted at Ying Qiao and decided not to eat him for the time being. He could catch him and raise him first, and then eat his tail after he had squeezed the little stones dry.
Sustainable development was great.
Ying Qiao noticed that after he ate two pieces of fire crystal, his eyes stayed fixed on him, his pupils darting around, and he didn’t know what he was thinking. But Ying Qiao guessed that it was about nothing more than food.
Perhaps because he’d been wearing the “boyfriend filter” for too long, Ying Qiao found his expression as he pondered his little idea rather cute, in addition to his worry.
So he took out two more fire crystals and pushed them in front of Jiang Lan.
This time, however, the fire crystal was closer to him.
Jiang Lan glanced at him, and without much thought, took two steps forward and ate two more delicious little stones. This time, even his pupils, which had been narrowed to a thin line, widened slightly, and he made a gurgling sound in his throat, as if he hadn’t had enough.
Ying Qiao’s gaze softened even more, and he used the same method to coax him to come to him.
Whether it was the desire for delicious food that overcame his wariness, or even though he had forgotten the time they spent together, his body’s instincts remained, but Jiang Lan’s wariness of Ying Qiao visibly relaxed. He even walked up to him, and when he saw that he was slowing down in taking out stones, he stretched his head into the storage bag in his hand, making low, slow purring sounds in his throat, as if urging him on, or as if he was being affectionate.
Fortunately, when Ying Qiao arrived in Yunnan Province, he brought along all the little gems that Jiang Lan liked, so he could still appease him for a while and barely manage to keep his tail.
“Come with me?” Ying Qiao shook the heavy storage bag at him: “Come with me, and all of this is yours.”
Jiang Lan tilted his head to look at him, then his ears twitched, and he tentatively approached, opening his mouth to grab the storage bag.
Ying Qiao reacted even faster. He quickly retracted his claws, flapped his wings behind him, retreated a little further, and then shook the bag at him.
Jiang Lan grumbled twice in dissatisfaction at failing to grab the storage bag, hesitated for a moment, and then walked towards Ying Qiao.
Ying Qiao stared intently at him. When he saw him walking towards him, he first breathed a slight sigh of relief, but then noticed his unnatural and even slightly limping hind leg, and his heart tightened again.
“Are you injured?” He tried to check Jiang Lan’s hind leg, but Jiang Lan dodged him.
Jiang Lan glared at him with a displeased expression.
Ying Qiao had no choice but to take out a few more fire crystals for him, and use his tail to gently encircle him to prevent him from running away suddenly, before taking the opportunity to check his injuries.
Jiang Lan had a deep bite wound on the inside of his hind leg, exposing the bone. The scales around the wound had been peeled off, and there were congealed dark red bloodstains on the exposed flesh, vaguely revealing the stark white bone. No wonder he walked with a slight limp.
This injury wasn’t actually very serious for a great demon; it would heal on its own in a few days. But to Ying Qiao, it felt like being pricked by needles.
He took a deep breath, barely suppressing his anger. Knowing that he wouldn’t get any answers from Jiang Lan in his current state, he simply lowered his body, turned to him, and said, “Come on, I’ll carry you.”
“?”
Jiang Lan looked at him with a puzzled expression and didn’t move.
Seeing this, Ying Qiao tentatively wrapped his tail around him.
Jiang Lan did not resist, but his eyes were involuntarily drawn to the tip of the constantly swaying tail, watching it intently.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ying Qiao rolled him up and put him on his back. With a flap of his wings, he carried him steadily forward.
Jiang Lan, who was wrapped around his back, was startled at first and tried to struggle, but soon, as if he had discovered a new continent, he happily found a comfortable position on his back and lay down. He couldn’t help but rub his head against his smooth scales, then he rested his head on his paws, and continued to stare intently at the tail that kept swaying due to flight.
Ying Qiao carried him towards the entrance, glancing at him every now and then. Seeing him staring intently at his tail, Ying Qiao tensed up, afraid that Jiang Lan might suddenly bite him.
His boyfriend may have become a bit slow, but his abilities were still undeniable.
Being bitten for no reason may not only harm his health, but also leave him with no recourse.
Fortunately, Ying Qiao’s worries did not come true. Perhaps because he hadn’t relaxed and rested for a long time, Jiang Lan stared at the tail for a while and then fell asleep without realizing it.
When they arrived at their destination, he even started snoring softly.
Ying Qiao carefully changed his position, coiling his long dragon tail so that he could comfortably sleep on it.
Jiang Lan hummed twice in his sleep, and habitually stretched out his paws to hug a section of the tail tip to his chest.
While he was sleeping, Ying Qiao treated the injury to his hind leg and then began to plan how to get him out of there first.
As they traveled, he felt increasingly that this small world was strange, vastly different from what Song Yu had described. Apart from the similar terrain, everything else was completely different. Jiang Lan seemed to have lost his memory, and Ying Qiao had a vague feeling that something was wrong. To be on the safe side, he decided to wait for Jiang Lan to wake up before taking him out.
He found a way in from here, and now that he wanted to get out, it should be easier to break through from here as well.
However, things didn’t go as planned. When Jiang Lan woke up and Ying Qiao tried to tear open the passage, he was shocked to find that he couldn’t open a gap no matter what he did. This small world had suddenly become as solid as a rock, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t open even a tiny gap.
Things were getting increasingly out of control. Ying Qiao frowned, looked at the bewildered Jiang Lan peeking around, and could only lead him to look for a breakthrough in other directions.
After soothing his rumbling tummy and taking a nice nap, Jiang Lan lay on Ying Qiao’s back, crunching on small stones and touching and pulling at everything with great curiosity.
Ying Qiao felt like he had a mischievous child with him. He had to find a way to break through the situation while keeping an eye on the child to prevent him from taking a bite out of curiosity.
The two wandered around all day, but still couldn’t find a way out as darkness fell.
Ying Qiao had no choice but to find a cave to stay in temporarily.
Jiang Lan lay on the nest that Ying Qiao had cleaned and lined with soft grass, with small stones piled up around his paws, crunching happily. He had completely forgotten his original intention of eating meat and was so happy that he was almost ready to roll around on the spot.
Ying Qiao stood guard at the cave entrance, watching the sky outside darken rapidly, lost in thought.
He always felt that it got dark a little too early.
When he came in from outside, it was still morning. After entering, he found Jiang Lan and led him to search for a breakthrough. According to his feeling, it must have taken at most three or four hours, but now it was completely dark.
Moreover, this small world seemed to be devoid of any other living beings besides him and Jiang Lan, let alone the ancient Wa people. Even the plants and trees in the forest were lifeless, making it a completely desolate and barren place.
This was really not right.
As Ying Qiao was pondering what was wrong, he suddenly felt his tail being bitten.
“???”
He turned his head sharply and saw Jiang Lan trying to cover up his actions by turning his back, stuffing gemstones haphazardly into his mouth, and deliberately eating loudly, acting as if nothing had happened and it was none of his business.
Ying Qiao: …
He pinched his brow, feeling both annoyed and amused. He transformed back into human form, waved the storage bag in front of Jiang Lan, and coaxed, “Shall we talk? I’ll ask questions, you answer, and there’ll be a reward if you answer correctly.”
Jiang Lan tilted his head as if thinking, then hummed after a moment, his eyes darting around Ying Qiao.
Is eating the tail a reward?
Ying Qiao understood his gaze, and his temples throbbed. Fortunately, he was in human form now, so he didn’t have to worry about being bitten by his boyfriend at any moment. He reached out and tapped Jiang Lan’s nose, which was close to his, and firmly refused, “The tail is out of the question.”
“…”
Upon hearing that the tail wouldn’t work, Jiang Lan immediately wilted, nudged him with his nose in dissatisfaction, and lay down listlessly.
Ying Qiao added, “But if you answer correctly, I’ll take you out to eat something delicious, something even better than gemstones.”
Huh?
Jiang Lan, who had been looking dejected, immediately perked up. He sat up straight, put his paws together, looked intently at Ying Qiao, and let out an excited howl.
Ask quickly!
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or become a Patron or access advance chapters on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents • Next
