Seeing the youth’s pitiful expression, Immortal Emperor Qing Heng helplessly rubbed his hair: “Mo Lin, you…”
“Mo Lin?” Qiu Yutong could not help but mutter. It turns out that the youth was called ‘Mo Lin’; it really fit him. The scales of the little dragon in the bamboo grove were a strange dark red, almost ink-black, so the name ‘Mo Lin’ was probably the name given to him by Immortal Emperor Qing Heng.
Mo Lin whimpered twice and tried to lower his head, rubbing his face against the palm of Immortal Emperor Qing Heng, looking like he enjoyed it.
Qing Heng laughed and rubbed him twice, “Stop whimpering, go up to the roof and I will teach you to blow leaves.”
“Oooh! “With a faint gleam in his dark golden eyes, he immediately took Immortal Emperor Qing Heng by the hand and they leaped out of the window.
“Let’s go, follow me, and have a look!” Qiu Yutong was curious and pulled Lu Xiao up to the roof.
The two of them went up to the roof and discovered that the bamboo building was a hanging building, about ten feet above the ground, and very well-designed.
At this moment, as the sun was setting, the orange semi-circle sun was faintly discernible behind the ink-like mountains, and the hazy warmth of the afterglow shone on the endless sea of green bamboo, creating a soft orange glow. In the breeze, the entire sea of bamboo undulated and the afterglow shimmered as if it were a sparkling sea.
Sitting on the glazed roof, Immortal Emperor Qing Heng picked a bamboo leaf and, after folding it slightly, put it between his pale lips and whistled a bright spring ditty.
Lu Xiao whispered, “He is also out of tune.”
“What did you say?” Qiu Yutong couldn’t help but glare at his young disciple. What was ‘also’ off-key! What did the “also” mean?!
Mo Lin, lying on the glazed eaves, tilted his head slightly and listened in fascination to Immortal Emperor Qing Heng blowing bamboo leaves, occasionally humming to show his favour.
After playing for a short while, Qing Heng made several mistakes, and his face was somewhat embarrassed, so he threw the bamboo leaves aside in anger, “This bamboo leaf is leaking, so I won’t blow anymore.”
Mo Lin blinked in confusion: “Hm?”
He seemed to be asking, ”It sounds so good, why did you stop playing?
He was so frustrated that he didn’t bother to pay any attention to Mo Lin, so he picked up the small wine jar next to him, slapped open the seal on it, and drank.
He took several gulps before putting down the bottle and wiping the corner of his mouth slightly, “Phew, as expected, sweet wine is the best. In a few days, we have to go to Paradise Auction. The wine there is disgusting, spicy and bitter.”
Mo Lin stared at him closely.
“What, do you want a drink too? I only have two jars of this Bamboo Leaf Honey Wine left…”After a moment’s hesitation, Immortal Emperor Qing Heng handed over the jar of wine, “Never mind, you can have a taste, but only two sips.”
He stared at the corner of his lips, not taking the wine bottle, but suddenly moving up to lick the small honey-coloured stain on the other’s lips.
“This silly dragon, does he think he’s drunk wine?” Qiu Yutong couldn’t help but let out a laugh sound. Lu Xiao looked at him, but he wasn’t laughing.
Immortal Emperor Qing Heng blinked and his whole body froze as Mo Lin licked again for another moment. Only when he saw Mo Lin’s tongue moving closer did he react abruptly and push the other party away in annoyance, “What are you doing?!”
Mo Lin who was pushed to the side, blinked grievously, “Wu.”
“Stop crying, talk well!”
“Qing Heng said… said, give Mo Lin, drink,” Mo Lin stammered.
“That’s not the way to do it!” Qing Heng was going crazy. “Don’t do that kind of thing anymore, do you understand?!”
“Wh-why?”
“That’s only for two people who like each other!”
“Qing, doesn’t Qing Heng like Mo Lin? However, Mo Lin likes Qing Heng. And, and… when Mo Lin was a child, obviously also kissed, and Qing Heng liked.
“You silly dragon, do you know what it means to like? I, I really… Forget it. At that time, you were still a little dragon, the chopsticks were so big, you were always around my neck, so you just kissed me…”
“Little Dragon?” Mo Lin tilted his head and thought for a while. Slowly, his dark scales grew until they reached his ears and cheek. Dark gold eyes shrunk into vertical pupils, the nails gradually become extremely sharp and slender, and finally with a loud ‘snap’, a long, ink-coloured dragon’s tail swept up and strangled Immortal Emperor Qing Heng.
Mo Lin’s two hands were propped up on the left and right sides of the Immortal, and he muttered, “Mo Lin is now a little dragon, Qing Heng, and Qing Heng has said that little dragons can be kissed.”
Before he knew how to deal with this robber’s logic, the other had already pressed down on him and was nibbling on his lips, and now Qing Heng was the one ‘whimpering’.
“They are so silly,” Qiu Yutong couldn’t help but smile, but at the same time, his heart felt a strange soreness and tenderness.
“…” Lu Xiao looked at the two men and didn’t say anything.
Immortal Emperor Qing Heng struggled with a crying sound, but Mo Lin held him down and kissed him messily all the way to his neck, his breath heavy, unstructured and agitated. Immortal Emperor Qing Heng was both angry and amused by the nibbles and tickles when suddenly he jolted and his body stiffened, “You…”
Mo Lin kissed him while rubbing against him dazedly, grabbing his hand and probing down, “Wuwu, it’s hard here, Qing Heng touch it.”
Immortal Emperor Qing Heng’s face turned black and he fiercely pushed him off the ground, “Are you crazy?!”
Mo Lin was pushed until he sprawled on his back and looked at Immortal Emperor Qing Heng with a very confused expression, but he seemed to understand that he was really angry, so he didn’t dare to make any move. He just looked at him blearily, his dark golden eyes flushed with a bit of moisture, looking both impatiently eager and dazed.
After a while, he said reluctantly, “Forget it, you have grown up, it is normal.”
Mo Lin tilted his head.
“It’s natural for you to be like this when you grow up, but you can’t… sigh.” Immortal Emperor Qing Heng rubbed his brow with great difficulty, “How should I explain this to you? It’s not like there are any of your kinsmen here…”
“Anyway, it’s good that you’re growing up. When you return to the Devil World, there will be many, many beautiful girls who will love you, and you will love one of them, and you will… well, do what you like, as you did just now, and then you will have little dragons,” Immortal Empror Qing Heng stammeringly explained.
Mo Lin blinked, as if he didn’t understand.
“Anyway, you’ll leave me later and find someone you like, and that person will have to like you too before you can do such things, you understand?” Qing Heng could only be brutally honest as he explained.
Mo Lin stared at him and suddenly shouted, “I don’t understand! I don’t want to understand! I won’t leave!”
He looked nervous, angry and sad, his dark golden pupils narrowed to a thin line, and his tail tightened around his waist.
Immortal Emperor Qing Heng was annoyed and gave a sharp push, “Let go! No, remove your tail!”
Mo Lin covered his head and cried in anguish and anger, glaring at Qing Heng with accusations, his eyes red.
Qiu Yutong’s heart inexplicably softened slightly and he couldn’t help but sigh, “He’s too young and there are no other females here, so he doesn’t know anything about this.”
Lu Xiao was silent for a long time and suddenly whispered, “I think, it just wants to ……”
Before he had finished, the scene in front of their eyes was transformed again.
……
A clearing in the bamboo grove with fine white jade tables and benches. Qing Heng leaned against the white jade table, trying hard to read out a dog-blood novel about love between a man and a woman, trying very hard to explain to Mo Lin what it meant to “like”. Mo Li was lying on the table, pretending to look attentiv.
Halfway through his recitation, Immortal Emperor Qing Heng suddenly looked up, “Chang Ning? What brings you here?”
A handsome man in grey pushed aside a few branches of green bamboo, went to the white jade table, and sat down, “Why can’t I come? Eh, there’s fruit!”
Daoist Monarch Chang Ning picked up a fruit from the fruit bowl and was about to gnaw on it, when Mo Lin clutched his wrist and said sternly, “Don’t eat it! Qing Heng picked it for me!”
Daoist Monarch Chang Ning raised his eyebrows and said, ”Oh, the little devil has grown so big? You can now talk easily, but you have become a little stingy. Little devil, you haven’t even hatched from your egg when I met Qing Heng, so why are you anxious when I’m eating two fruits provided by Qing Heng?”
Mo Lin pursed his lips and glared viciously at him, his hands not letting up at all. Daoist Monarch Chang Ning struggled several times but was unable to break free, so he shamelessly lowered his head and took a big bite.
“Pei, pei, pei! It’s f****** poisonous!”
Immortal Emperor Qing Heng wasn’t happy, “How is it poisonous? I picked these with my own hands and although they are a bit sour and I don’t really eat them, but Mo Lin likes them. Forget the fact that you want to take it from him, you even waste it, and say it’s poisonous; how can you act like that?”
“…Does he like to eat this?” Daoist Monarch Chang Ning took one look at the Mo Lin protecting the fruit plate and said dryly,” All right, maybe devils don’t taste the same as we do.”
After chatting for a while, Daoist Monarch Chang Ning suddenly said, “By the way, have you thought about what I told you last time?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Immortal Emperor Qing Heng looked at Mo Lin again, “Mo Lin, you haven’t practiced your calligraphy today, go back to the house.”
Mo Lin looked hesitantly at Daoist Monarch Chang Ning and then at Immortal Emperor Qing Heng, and reluctantly left.
Qiu Yutong said softly, “This little dragon is quite obedient today.”
Lu Xiao narrowed his eyes, “It hasn’t gone away, it circled around and come back, listen.”
Qiu Yutong listened carefully and was a bit speechless, “…seems to be behind us now.”
The two of them look back cautiously, and there Mo Lin was, crouching behind them, staring intently at the stone table.
Daoist Monarch Chang Ning took a sip of tea and sighed again, “Qing Heng, haven’t you thought about it yet?”
Immortal Emperor Qing Heng stared at the dog-blood text in his hand and did not say a word.
“Sooner or later, we will have to send it away. It’s better to end it early than late.” Chang Ning shook his head, “At the last Paradise Auction, it escaped from your sleeve and made a mess of the venue, and now word has spread throughout the cultivation world that Immortal Emperor Qing Heng has a devil dragon.”
Immortal Emperor Qing Heng clenched the book in his hand silently, “It is only a small dragon.”
“What kind of dragon it is, are you still not clear in your heart? Eighteen years ago when the Devil Realm was in turmoil, the young son of the Haotian Devil Emperor escaped… It is said that this young son is of the Heavenly Demon Vein, with blood-coloured ink scales all over his body like the remnants of flames, exactly like this little dragon you have raised.”
“So what?”
Chang Ning said slowly, “You know very well that unless you send it away, you will never be able tolive peacefully in this bamboo forest.”
Immortal Emperor Qing Heng said softly, “This bamboo forest is protected by a seal, and without my permission, you can only go out but not in.”
“Your seal is certainly powerful, but what if several great powers strike at the same time? I have heard that the heads of the four great sects are very interested in the magic dragon you have raised, especially in the demon core.”
“It won’t happen; since it will be a powerful cultivator, they wouldn’t be so despicable.” Immortal Emperor Qing Heng frowned and said, “Even if I’m raising a demon dragon, it hasn’t done anything bad. Moreover, over the years, I have helped many people and have some slight reputation. If these sect leaders teamed up to attack my Cui Zhu Forest for the devil core, and such information got out, then most of them wouldn’t be able to sit in the position of sect leader.”
“Let’s hope so.” Daoist Monarch Chang Ning sighed, “Speaking of which, you’re about to make a breakthrough, aren’t you? Then, while you are in seclusion, think about it, which is more important, cultivating the righteous path or a devil?”
Qing Heng Xian lowered his eyes, “Those are two different things.”
“Qing Heng, you are always open-minded, why is it this time…” Daoist Monarch Chang Ning couldn’t help but shake his head, “Since it was born in the Devil’s Realm and is in that position, sooner or later it will have to go back. Staying with you for a long time isn’t necessarily good for him. In fact, maybe when you’ve been in seclusion for a long time, and it got bored and left…. You don’t mean you can’t let it go, do you?”
Immortal Emperor Qing Heng lowered his eyelashes and did not say a word.
Mo Lin listened to their conversation with a dazed expression, his dark golden pupils narrowing slightly, “Qing Heng…”
……
The illusion kept changing, and soon afterward, Immortal Emperor Qing Heng was in retreat in the Glazed Bamboo Building.
Mo Lin sat dazedly at the bottom of the glazed bamboo building, looking up at the glittering building, “Wu, Qing Heng ……”
There was no movement in the bamboo building.
The lower half of his body gradually transformed into an ink-black dragon body, while the upper half of his body was lying on the door, scratching it repeatedly, “Qing Heng, let me in, I want to come in!”
After scratching for a long time, there was still no movement in the room, and the whole dragon was lost in thought, its dark golden pupils gradually dimming.
After thinking about it, he coiled up again around a huge emerald bamboo nearby and tried to look into the glazed bamboo building, trying to see what he was doing, but the whole building was shrouded in a faint light, making it impossible to see anything.
The illusion world was changing rapidly, the weather was getting colder, and Mo Lin had been watching outside the bamboo building for three months, but Immortal Emperor Qing Heng had not yet come out.
Qiu Yutong thought couldn’t bear it, “He is too young to be understand seclusion, and probably thinks that the Immortal Emperor Qing Heng does not want him anymore.”
Lu Xiao was silent for a moment and said in an astringent voice, “In fact, if nothing happens, Immortal Emperor Qing Heng will also have to ascend and it will still be… the same.”
His voice was a little bitter, not knowing whether he was talking about Mo Lin and Qing Heng, or the enthronement ceremony back then.
Gradually, it began to snow in the bamboo groves, and the hills were white.
It seemed that Mo Lin thought that Immortal Emperor Qing Heng was angry with him, so he went out all day long, braving the snow, and picked up many strange things from somewhere, trying to please him, such as bright-red chicken blood stones, sparkling crystals, and strange spiritual flowers and grasses… All of them were piled up at the entrance of the glazed bamboo building.
On this day, he returned with a large pile of rain flower stones, then climbed up a bamboo and looked inside, but of course, he could not see anything.
Mo Lin lookd disappointed, when suddenly, he turned his head slightly sideways in alarm, his pupils tightening sharply.
Qiu Yutong hesitated, “It seems that… someone is coming.”
Lu Xiao frowned deeply, “Listening to the sound, there are at least five hundred people or more.”
“What’s going on?”
“I guess that someone has come to take advantage of Immortal Emperor Qing Heng’s seclusion to get the demon core from this dragon.”
Sure enough, within a few moments, a large group of cultivators, at least seven or eight sects by the look of their clothing, poured into the Jade Bamboo Grove, and someone shouted, “He’s in a critical moment of seclusion, so everyone with their weapons in hand should just throw them at the bamboo building! Make him deviate!”
“As long as Qing Heng is dead, the demon dragon will be in the palm of your hand!”
“How can you get a tiger’s son without entering the tiger’s den?!”
The crowd shouted loudly, and all at once, countless spiritual swords shot towards the Glazed Bamboo Building! The area was suddenly filled with a crisp cracking sound!
The faint glow of the bamboo tower immediately dimmed for a moment, and the eyes of the Mo Lin suddenly filled with blood as it lunged with its body to protect it.
But his half-dragon, half-human body was too small to protect!
Inhaling deeply, Mo Lin quickly revealed itself as a huge, dark devil dragon! The dragon was covered in fine scales, which glowed with ominously, as if they were the ashes of a burning flame!
The crowd of cultivators shouted in unison!
“Devil Dragon! It’s the Devil Dragon!!”
“It has tranformed! What can I do?!”
“Don’t be afraid, he’s still young and doesn’t know any spells, let’s go!”
“Go on, smash the glazed building, kill the devil dragon and get the devil core!”
“Kill the Devil Dragon and get the devil core!”
“Kill the Devil Dragon and get the devil core!!”
With these shouts, spiritual swords, spiritual attacks, and all sorts of magic weapons rained down on the Glazed Bamboo Building!
Mo Lin hovered but it was still not enough to protect the building, and every now and then, a spirit sword would pass through the gap and hit the doors and windows of the building, making a crisp cracking sound!
“These people have taken advantage of Immortal Emperor Qing Heng’s seclusion to disturb his mind and make him go mad… How despicable!” Qiu Yutong wrinkled his brows.
Lu Xiao said softly, “The main objective of these cultivators should still be the devil core. After all, this Mo Lin is only a devil, he has never been in the human world and does not understand the danger of human hearts… In fact, once he is gone, these cultivators will definitely chase him away, and Immortal Emperor Qing Heng will be safe for the time being.”
Mo Lin clung to the shaky glazed bamboo building, heartbroken, angry, anxious and disturbed, and a little confused as he looked down at the group of fierce-looking cultivators, seemingly completely baffled as to why these people would want to kill Qing Heng when he was so good?
“Qing Heng is an enemy of our cultivation community by raising devils! Not worthy of the title of Immortal Emperor!”
“Yes, he only has himself to blame!”
“Kill the Devil Dragon and get the devil core!”
“Kill the Devil Dragon and get the devil core!”
“All of you, go!!”
Suddenly, a huge, shiny, spiritual sword appeared with a cold wind and broke through the air!
Mo Lin flicked his tail. With a cry, the sword cut open its tail and a bright red beads of blood spill out! It shuddered in pain, its dark golden pupils tightened abruptly, but it remained motionless, guarding the crumbling bamboo building.
Countless attacks of spiritual weapons came in a flurry… While suffering from severe pain and firmly protecting the bamboo building, Mo Lin tried to think about the purpose of these human beings. After a long, long time, he finally understood that these people wanted to kill Qing Heng because of himself.
What that nasty Daoist Monarch Chang Ning said was right.
It was his fault.
If he wasn’t here anymore… Qing Heng would be safe.
Mo Lin closed his eyes, then slowly craned his neck, and with a furious roar that resonated through the sky, a dark red, boiling flame erupted from his mouth!！
“Boom!!” The bamboo forest was instantly burnt to the ground and dozens of cultivators were on fire, rolling on the ground and wailing loudly!
“The dragon killed!!”
“Sure enough, it’s a devil! The beast is brutal and untamed!”
“What should we do?!”
The four powerful cultivators who had been standing idly by were all staring intently at the furious devil dragon, and then they all levitated at the same time, slowly drawing their spiritual swords.
Who could resist the combined efforts of the four great sects? ！
Without waiting for them to make their move, Mo Lin leapt into the air and swept out of the bamboo forest with a scorching gust of wind!
“The dragon has escaped, chase it!!”
