Chapter 60
“You big oafs, couldn’t you have picked a better place to rob? Feeling comfortable now?”
Qu Banqing painstakingly soaked a frozen dragon tail in hot water, his incessant nagging making the mortified teenager even more ashamed, tears welling up in his eyes.
On his first trip away from home in search of shiny treasures, who would have thought he’d be so unlucky as to encounter a bad-tempered merman and almost become sashimi…
The culprit casually draped his arm over Ning Zhixia’s shoulder, leaned back on the sofa, and sipped his tea calmly, his expression daring them to do something.
“You could have told me this wasn’t a jewelry store…” the teenager sniffled.
No one could resist a dragon’s love for gold and jewels, the shinier and more precious the better. Every dragon’s dream was to wake up on a bed of gold and gems, counting their hoard.
Cui Ying, a young dragon recently kicked out of his parents’ cave, had finally found a suitable dwelling on Dragon Isle, and the only way to furnish it was to fill it with treasures!
He woke up earlier than the roosters every day, diligently searching for treasures, but his hoard was still far inferior to his older siblings’, and the mocked little dragon, following a wizard’s advice, flew across the canyon to a new land.
Searching ruins was too slow, so Cui Ying, emboldened, decided to try robbing, like other dragons. After preparing himself mentally, he set off and, after flying for half a day, finally spotted a small house on top of a giant tree. He had thought it was a fairy jewelry store, but there were no fairies, only a ferocious, giant fish!
The little dragon’s first attempt was a disastrous failure. He dejectedly recounted his experience, and at the thought of returning empty-handed and being mocked by his siblings, his green, silk-like hair seemed to dim.
“Hmm…”
Ning Zhixia, his expression focused, traced a finger along the curve of the teenager’s horn.
As expected of a magical creature, his horns were like jade. If Dorothy were here, she could use them as an emerald green slide!
Cui Ying, his horn being played with, didn’t dare to protest, and puffed out a small flame, which was instantly extinguished by a cold gaze from across the room, turning into a wisp of black smoke.
“Even if it were a jewelry store, you can’t rob people, it’s wrong.” Ning Zhixia, having had his fun with the horn, put on a serious face and lectured the little dragon.
Cui Ying closed his eyes and nodded: “Yes, yes, yes…”
Ning Zhixia stroked his chin and drawled, “But…”
Cui Ying opened one eye: “But?”
“Don’t you just want to show off to your siblings?”
Ning Zhixia, understanding the young dragon’s desire to be different, nudged him with his elbow, winking, “I can do your nails, do you know what a manicure is? It’s making your nails shiny and sparkly, I guarantee they’ll be envious when you go back!”
Cui Ying looked at him and blinked suspiciously: “Manicure?”
Dragons didn’t understand, but dragons were curious.
“Here, like these.”
Ning Zhixia showed him a series of photos of his clients’ manicures, the gorgeous, intricate, and cool designs making the country bumpkin dragon’s eyes widen, almost yelling, “I want that too!”
Having decorations on his nails that made him look cooler, that didn’t sound bad.
Cui Ying clutched his chest, imagining his nails covered in sparkling Barrenlands sand, his terrible taste making everyone cringe.
“Hmph, then tell me, how do you do it?” Cui Ying followed him to the workstation, hugging his tail and muttering, “I don’t want any of those pink, lacy decorations…”
Did he even know how troublesome it was to create a lace effect on nails? He wouldn’t do it even if he asked.
Ning Zhixia snorted and took the teenager’s hand, filing his nails.
Perhaps due to his dragon form, his nails were sharp, but not as long as Audrow’s, just needing a bit of rounding.
There were quite a few male clients getting manicures now, mostly trendy and cool styles. Ning Zhixia had even served a few idols and was quite experienced with these designs.
After applying black gel polish to his nails, he looked up, studying the teenager’s face.
The young man’s expression was somewhat cold when he wasn’t smiling, and Cui Ying blushed, slightly uncomfortable, trying to turn his head away, but his chin was caught and turned back, his tail curling into a tight coil as he stammered, “What are you looking at?”
Ning Zhixia didn’t reply, released his hand, and went to search for a gel polish, choosing a cat eye shade similar to the color of Cui Ying’s eyes.
He could have applied it directly, but with a black base, it would enhance the reflective effect, mimicking the dragon’s eyes.
As the golden polish covered his middle finger, Cui Ying’s eyes lit up, his tail wagging excitedly, attracting the kittens, who raised their paws, ready to pounce. Qu Banqing couldn’t help but wonder if he was a dog-dragon hybrid.
“Shiny… shiny…” The teenager chanted excitedly, already quite satisfied with the current effect.
But Ning Zhixia clearly wasn’t going for a simple cat eye effect. After creating a wide shimmer, he waved a small magnet, gathering all the particles in the center, the rest of the nail instantly dimming.
Cui Ying stopped wagging his tail, wanting to spread the shimmer again, but as he reached out, his hand was swatted, and he snorted in protest, then reluctantly retracted his hand.
“Move again and I’ll freeze you!” Ning Zhixia warned, channeling his inner merman.
Cui Ying, his tail just regaining its warmth, glanced at the figure behind the screen and reluctantly agreed.
After curing the polish, Ning Zhixia took some sculpting gel and, using a wedge-shaped silicone tool, applied it evenly to the areas around the cat eye shimmer.
He then forbade Cui Ying from moving, ran upstairs, and returned with a new bath pouf.
Cui Ying obediently stayed still, his eyes following the young man’s movements.
Ning Zhixia cut a piece of the mesh from the bath pouf and pressed it onto the sculpting gel, creating a scale-like pattern.
The scales on his tail were dark green, almost black in certain light, so he would have to layer the colors.
Ning Zhixia applied a layer of dark green with a brush, then switched to an airbrush, asking Qu Banqing to spray a bit of black gel polish on the opposite corner, blending the edges with a brush for a natural gradient.
Cui Ying realized he was recreating his eyes and wagged his tail excitedly. When Ning Zhixia looked at his eyes for reference, he widened them, even bigger than Fatty Orange’s.
Look, look all you want!
A dragon’s vertical pupils weren’t simple lines, but closer to black diamonds, with a dark green streak in the center, looking magnificent and mysterious.
This was child’s play for Ning Zhixia. He quickly finished painting, and after applying the top coat, the dragon eye on the nail looked even more majestic than the young dragon’s.
After finishing the middle finger, he didn’t use cat eye polish for the other nails, instead creating a scale pattern with sculpting gel, painting it the same dark green, then switching to a more fluid sculpting gel, he carefully drew thorns and dusted them with silver fairy dust.
Of course, he couldn’t use the same pattern for all the nails, so for the other hand, he created raised scales along the center of the nails with sculpting gel, mimicking a dragon’s spine.
So cool!
Cui Ying excitedly puffed out a small flame, almost singeing Ning Zhixia’s hair.
Ning Zhixia patted his head, relieved that it wasn’t burnt, and extended his hand with a sweet smile, “Alright, time to pay.”
Cui Ying paused, as if he hadn’t considered this step: “Pay?”
Another freeloader?
Qu Banqing grabbed his tail, ran the vacuum cleaner over the carpet, then moved it aside and said mockingly, “Oh, so it’s a poor little dragon, no wonder you tried to rob a jewelry store.”
“Rob? Can a dragon’s actions be called robbing?” His pride at stake, Cui Ying puffed out his chest and declared, “It’s called plundering!”
Ning Zhixia was extremely disappointed: “You have no money?”
Cui Ying said faintly, “Who brings money when going plundering?”
Silence. He and Qu Banqing exchanged a look. He seemed… to have a point.
Ning Zhixia deflated like a punctured balloon and slumped onto the sofa, practically begging Audrow to pick him up and cuddle him.
“Hey, don’t, don’t…”
Cui Ying panicked, as if he had just made a decision against his ancestors, and waved his hand, “How about you come to my cave and choose whatever you want?”
What? A dragon’s cave…
Ning Zhixia imagined mountains of gold and jewels, sat up abruptly, and nodded frantically: “Yes, yes, yes!”
Another trip to an unknown plane, with creatures of unimaginable size, Qu Banqing was a little worried, but Ning Zhixia, declaring that he couldn’t get dragon treasures without visiting a dragon’s lair, bid farewell to Father Qu and embarked on his journey.
As the doorway opened, Cui Ying jumped through, called out, and Ning Zhixia happily followed.
“I’ll be back soon!”
Ning Zhixia stepped through the doorway, ready for an adventure, then his foot missed the platform, and he fell like a kite with a broken string.
“My Meow Meow!”
Qu Banqing’s heart leaped into his throat. He had told him the passage was a treehouse, why didn’t this idiot look before he leaped?!
The next second, he was pushed aside, cold air and long hair brushing past him, disappearing through the doorway.
“Waaaaah!”
The cold wind of the canyon filled his lungs, his face pale, and just as he thought he was about to die, he was pulled into a tight embrace.
A flash of emerald green, and Audrow, holding the young man, landed steadily on a scale-covered back.
The wind parted, and a majestic dragon spread its powerful wings, its jade-like scales shimmering in the sunlight, each breath carrying a strong magical aura, enough to make the creatures of the canyon tremble.
“Woohoo!”
The selectively amnesiac young man, forgetting his earlier scream, sat cross-legged on the dragon’s back and cheered.
Mountains stretched before him, flocks of birds chirping, some even daring to land on the dragon’s back for a free ride.
“I can’t believe I’m riding a dragon!” Ning Zhixia, enjoying the dragon knight treatment, leaned back against Audrow’s chest.
The fragrant mountain wind ruffled his hair, and Audrow chuckled, nuzzling his chin against the soft black strands, “Let him fly a few more circles.”
“That’ll cost extra…”
Cui Ying, letting out a disgruntled roar, flapped his wings harder and flew towards Dragon Isle, his long tail trailing behind him.
Across the canyon, across the waterfall, across the thorn-covered forest, an island with towering peaks appeared.
Ning Zhixia shielded his eyes from the bright light and exclaimed, “Dragon Isle is so big!”
“Of course, we’re big too!” This was the largest island on the continent, able to accommodate forty or fifty dragons, with extra mountains for the hatchlings to play on.
Cui Ying, like a qualified tour guide, introduced his homeland as he circled the island several times, then slowly descended towards a lush forest.
Dragons of different colors had different habitat preferences. Green dragons liked plants, so Cui Ying’s cave was surrounded by trees and flowers, as beautiful as a rainforest.
Ning Zhixia slid down his tail and looked up curiously.
Cui Ying chased his tail a few times, like a puppy’s pre-sleep ritual, then transformed back into his human form, raised his chin, snorted proudly, and led the way, “Come in, we’re home. Try to keep your screaming down!”
Thorn-covered vines, impervious to fire and water, parted, revealing a dazzling sight, golden light shimmering like water.
Although prepared, Ning Zhixia still gasped at the sight of the mountains of gold and jewels: “Cui Ying, you’re so rich!”
“Of course, I’m a dragon. No dragon is so poor they only have one gold coin left, choose whatever you want.”
Cui Ying jumped onto a pile of gold, admired his nails, then, seeing the young man’s widening smile, quickly added, “Only one item!”
He had witnessed the human’s locust-like greed and didn’t want to become a penniless dragon.
“Of course, of course.”
Ning Zhixia readily agreed. In fact, if he showed any intention of taking everything, the merman behind him wouldn’t hesitate to show him what real plundering meant.
The treasures of the ocean were a thousand times greater than this. A gold coin flipped between his long fingers, and Audrow, casually leaning against a gold pillar, looked at the highest pile of gold in the cave.
“Whee!”
Ning Zhixia, like SpongeBob catching jellyfish, ran excitedly across the mountain of gold, climbed to the top with great effort, then sat down and slid down with his arms outstretched.
Except for his slightly sore butt, it was incredibly fun!
“Xiao Ao, come and play!” Ning Zhixia, completely forgetting about choosing his reward, enthusiastically waved for Audrow to join his gold mountain slide game.
Audrow walked over, effortlessly picked him up, and with a few leaps, landed on top of the gold mountain.
Cui Ying, hadn’t expected this and climbed up excitedly, eager to try it himself.
The pile of gold coins rustled again.
“Woohoo! Xiao Ao was so fast this time!”
“Ah, then I’ll be slower next time.”
As the teenager slid down, hugging his tail, the sweet laughter beside him made him want to bark.
Ning Zhixia, his face flushed, turned to him and asked, “Fun, right?”
Cui Ying puffed out his cheeks and punched the gold coins, making them clink.
Not fun! Not fun at all!
Ning Zhixia, ignoring him, after having his fun, showered himself with gold coins like a flower fairy, then finally remembered he should choose a valuable reward.
What to choose? Ning Zhixia looked around, noticing Cui Ying’s pained expression every time he picked something up. What a stingy dragon.
“I’ll take this!” Ning Zhixia, after rummaging through countless gems, chose a fan-shaped jewelry box.
The gems inside were all small, and Cui Ying, relieved, said readily, “Take it.”
“Why this?” Audrow took the box and examined it, not finding anything special.
“I’m not short of money now, so I’ll choose something useful.” Ning Zhixia took the box, tossed it in the air, caught it, and said happily, “Look, it’s perfect for storing the scale you gave me!”
Audrow paused, as if something had struck his heart, and tightened his grip on the young man’s waist, muttering a soft “hmm,” a smile slowly appearing on his lips.
Just then, a gold coin rolled to their feet.
Ning Zhixia looked down, the gems on the ground trembling like pebbles from the tremor.
“Cui Ying… Cui Ying…”
Voices came from outside the cave, and Cui Ying’s face darkened, a reluctant grunt escaping his lips.
His annoying siblings, like dogs smelling bones, were swarming towards his cave. After calling out a few times and receiving no answer, they raised their voices—
“Cui Cui Er… Cui Cui Er…” (Little Cui)
So annoying!
Amidst the barely suppressed laughter, Cui Ying glared at them. Ning Zhixia giggled even more, hiding behind Audrow and mimicking softly, “Little Cui, someone’s looking for you!”
The blushing teenager stomped to the cave entrance, took a deep breath, and yelled, “Krupober, are you annoying or what?!”
The bright light was blocked as several scaled dragon heads appeared, filling the entrance. A curious dragon asked tentatively:
“Little Cui, heard you kidnapped a princess?”
“No such thing, stop spreading rumors!”
Cui Ying roared angrily, his hands on his hips as he blocked the entrance, a flicker of something in his eyes.
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Bullshit, Third Sister just said she saw someone on your back in the canyon, and your tail was wagging like a dog!”
A red dragon squeezed in, pushing Cui Ying aside with a claw, “Cut the crap, let me see your princess… Oh, oh, oh!”
Two beautiful humans, embraced, appeared before the dragons’ shining eyes.
Small, soft, so cute!
Ning Zhixia, uncomfortable under the gazes of the larger creatures, raised his hand awkwardly: “Hi?”
“Wow! Unbelievable!”
The dragon heads froze, yelling in unison, “Little Cui actually kidnapped two princesses!”
As soon as they finished speaking, Cui Ying, sensing a familiar sense of danger, quickly hugged his tail and scuttled away like a crab, eager to distance himself from these idiots.
Audrow stared at them impassively, then, after a moment, revealed his fangs and smiled coldly.
“Whoosh—”
“Whoosh—”
A chilling blizzard swept through the cave, lingering over the silent Dragon Isle. Ning Zhixia used gold coins to make eyes for a snowman and proudly showed it to Audrow.
Cui Ying, looking up at the ice sculptures at the entrance, chuckled with schadenfreude—
Ha, what goes around comes around!
