I am the old, fiery-faced man from the senior department.

Nian jumped up and took the booklet. After looking at the cover and confirming that it was the "True Dragon: Secrets of the Seal" he wanted, he happily put it away and then bid farewell to Miaobi with a smile.

"Go now, I'll come see you again when I have time. Don't be lonely, think of Ah Xi and you won't feel lonely!"

"roll!"

He was practically kicked out, but the immortal had a genuine smile on his face.

Having once again ascertained the true thoughts of a relative, she felt even more confident in preventing the old man from waking up.

"But that's not enough."

A localized act of resistance is nothing more than a ripple in the ocean to the main body; once thrown in, it leaves no trace.

But what if all consciousnesses worked together in unison?

I love you sixty to one hundred and ten times.

"@＃$^＆%!$＃"

what?

Who is speaking?

In the hazy, dreamlike state, the true dragon was awakened by a low, muffled murmur.

The sound was like the tide, sometimes loud and sometimes soft.

When one concentrates to listen, the sound is only obscure and difficult to discern. But when one lies down casually, the sound is as loud as a bell.

"#$...thief...&%..."

thief?

You're spouting nonsense!

He is a true dragon, and his actions throughout his life have always been upright and honorable. When has he ever done anything thieving?

But the owner of that voice ignored him and kept repeating that sentence.

As the voice grew louder, it eventually transformed into a bolt of lightning that cleaved through the chaos.

The true dragon finally heard the contents of the words clearly.

"Those who steal fate from Heaven will perish, and their nation will be destroyed, and their people will perish..."

■

"Ah Xi?"

As he opened his eyes, the worried voices around him drowned out the thunder outside the window, and a sense of peace welled up from the depths of his body, enveloping him completely.

As the next sentence was spoken, rain began to fall, drenching the earth.

"Ah Xi, you're awake? Did you have a nightmare?"

The first thing I noticed was a pair of bright iridescent eyes.

"gentlemen……"

His gaze dipped slightly downwards, finally settling on the artist's abdomen, and Bai Zhou realized that he had been holding her hand the whole time.

The gentleman's hands were warm and soft.

"Nightmare... I guess so."

He didn't clarify whether it was his delusion or a fantasy.

"Ah Xi, your hands... why are they so cold?"

The artist noticed it when he held his hand.

Her son Ah Xi's hands were no longer as warm as they had been a few days ago; holding them felt like immersing her hand in a pool of cold water.

“It is my ability, sir. My right fingertip has become the mouth of a river.”

This is Bai Zhou's innate talent as the spirit of the Great Flame Land. It allows him, who is already connected to this land, to directly understand the various anomalies occurring on this land through changes in his body.

"Something... wants to go against the current."

As Bai Zhou withdrew his hand from Xi's, colorful water ripples appeared on his fingertips.

Upon closer inspection, peculiar little black dots can be faintly seen mixed in with the white, wave-like patterns that represent flowing water.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that they were not small black dots, but a strange type of "scaly creature".

"This is... from the sea..."

Looking at those small dots, the artist recalled some vague impressions.

"These creatures should be gentle, fish that migrate in the sea. But now, for some reason, they have become violent and ferocious."

As the daylight gently brushes against my fingertips, the white, wave-like ripples begin to deform, their lines becoming thicker and more defined, signifying that they have transformed from tiny ripples into surging waves.

During the day, they were used to ward off the strange, scaly creatures that kept pouring in.

"I'm sorry, sir, things have come to a sudden halt, and we can't go to Yanbei. I need to go to the coast of the East China Sea to see if I can resolve this matter."

I feel ashamed during the day.

The promise to go on our first trip together after our reunion had to be changed at the last minute.

"Don't worry about it, Ah Xi."

The artist did not feel sad.

As far as she could see, all that was needed was to be by her side during the day. As for where to go?

Just do it the way it always has.

Wandering aimlessly, following my heart.

As long as they're together, it doesn't matter where they go.

However, before that...

The painter grasped Bai Zhou's hand again, a hint of inquiry appearing in his bright, rainbow-colored eyes.

“Ah Xi, the trip is not important.”

She stared at the dragon and asked a question.

"Could you tell me... who is the person you keep talking about while you're sleeping... the one called Kal'tsit?"

She held the hand that had warmed again in the daylight, gripping it tightly.

"Is she Ah Xi's friend? Ah Xi has never told me about her."

“Kal'tsit…”

Why would he mutter the lynx's name? Has he ever talked about it in his sleep like that? Could it be that he misses the lynx too much?

Daytime foggy-eyed.jpg

“Kal'tsit is indeed my friend, sir.”

Although she didn't understand why she was talking about Kal'tsit in her sleep, Bai Zhou knew what was most important right now.

I need to hurry up and explain my relationship with Kal'tsit to Mr. Kal'tsit.

"They are very good friends, you could call them confidants. At the same time, Kal'tsit was my teacher who taught me the history of Terra."

"I met her in Syracuse, and it was thanks to her that I gained a better understanding of other countries."

Bai Zhou briefly recounted his story of traveling with the lynx.

"I see. He sounds like a pretty nice person."

The artist's words were ostensibly a compliment, but subtly implied something more.

"Yes, if it weren't for Kal'tsit, I'm afraid I would have taken much longer to understand the difference between humanity and other human beings."

Bai Zhou was very grateful for the knowledge the lynx had taught him.

At the same time, if it weren't for the lynx's loving sacrifice, he wouldn't have become a prince so early.

"Then, Ah Xi."

The artist hadn't finished asking the question.

This time, she gripped even tighter, and her long, bluish-white tail involuntarily wrapped around Bai Zhou's legs.

"How did you two become so close?"

Sister...

He even called out his older sister's name?

The daytime was even more confusing.

He was clearly having a nightmare, so why was he calling out other people's names?

Or perhaps in his dream, although he appeared fearless, his body betrayed his fear?

He had heard that when people are afraid, they instinctively call out the name of the person they trust most.

But how could he pronounce two people's names?

Was it because he felt that both of them were trustworthy?

“My older sister…helped me a lot.”

He would never have succeeded in this ascension without Nian's help.

The Nine Cauldrons, forged over many years, dispersed the excessive power of the earth's veins for him, and also helped him to concentrate the earth's veins into his body when he ascended, allowing him to transform into the blazing sun and shine upon the Great Yan territory.

Besides, she had sacrificed so much for him that year, how could he not appreciate her kindness?

"Hmph, after a lifetime of playing around, he's finally done something worthwhile."

After hearing Bai Zhou recount his story about Nian, the painter, unusually, praised the sisters.

Having learned the origins of the two names from Bai Zhou, the artist loosened his grip on the handshake with a hint of satisfaction.

She had something else to say.

What she heard from Bai Zhou was actually three names.