Chapter 131 – ‘Sea Dragon’ Horn
Novel Title: 龙血 (Dragon Blood)
Author：水千丞 (Shui Qian Cheng)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 单鸣 (Shan Ming -MC), 沈长泽 (Shen Changze -ML)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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“How do you plan to lure Shen Yao out?”
“Don’t worry about this. You just focus on driving along the route I told you.”
Shan Ming has been driving along the mountain road for three hours. Looking at the display on the electronic map, they are still in Beijing. But the geographical location is already very remote. Within the scope of the Lingshan Mountains, the mountain road is very remote and difficult to drive on, especially at night. At this time, although the winding mountain roads they drove on were not very steep, it was still very thrilling to occasionally miss a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. It was especially thrilling in the middle of the night. All the large trucks driving on this mountain road at night were carrying goods for delivery.
But this kind of thrilling driving experience can only be regarded as a pastime for Shan Ming. He looked at the dashboard and saw that he had already travelled for more than 90 kilometres. Zhao Qingling finally frowned, “I believe in your driving skills. But I still hope you can slow down. If you dare to drive at such a speed in Jiuzhaigou, you would die long ago.”
After Shan Ming was reminded by her, although he didn’t think it was a big deal, he still slowed down. From time to time, there was a gloomy air in his chest. It was a mixture of anger and unwillingness. It had been lying on his chest since the day he separated from Shen Changze. It makes it hard for him to breathe. He has been trying to suppress this dark emotion through intense physical training and combat. But he knows that no matter how much he makes himself so tired that his fingers can’t move, or if he speeds while driving his car on a winding mountain road, it can’t help him feel at ease. Only Shen Changze could make him feel better.
Shan Ming asked, “How long will we get there?”
“Turn to this exit. Only two kilometres away.” Zhao Qingling pointed to the electronic map.
Shan Ming turned to the exit. They are driving along a very narrow road. It is even windier than the Panshan Highway. In the end, basically, only one car can pass. The vegetation on the side was pressed from time to time. Fortunately, there are no other cars driving on the opposite side.
The electronic map of the next road could no longer be displayed because there is no road and signal at all. So it all depends on Zhao Qingling’s guidance. In the end, even a person with a strong sense of direction like Shan Ming can’t remember the way he came.
Shan Ming wondered: “Will Shen Yao be in there?”
“Of course not. I’m just coming back to get something.”
“Come back? Where is this place you’re coming back to? Where are you taking me?” While speaking, a house appeared in front of Shan Ming. If he didn’t look at it carefully, he wouldn’t be able to tell that it was a two-story building even under the strong light of the high beams of the car. The room on the first floor has been covered with green plants. It has been abandoned for a long time. Almost the whole building is covered in plants. It appears in this kind of deep mountain and old forest with no village or shop around at all. It looks gloomy and terrifying.
Zhao Qingling looked sad, “It’s just our old home.” She jumped out of the car and turned on her searchlights. She shone it on the house in front of her.
Shan Ming also got out of the car, “Have you been hiding here before?”
“Yes. I have been here since Changze was born. But I didn’t expect us to be found by them.”
“What else is left here? All the useful things have been taken away.”
“There should be nothing of value in the house anymore. But there is one thing that they must not find.”
“Can that thing be used to attract Shen Yao?”
Zhao Qingling said with certainty, “He definitely wants it.”
Shan Ming frowned, feeling that what she said was illogical, “Then, why didn’t he come and get it himself? Could it be that he didn’t know that it was hidden in his own home?”
Zhao Qingling said briefly: “It was stolen by me.”
Shan Ming was surprised: “You stole something from your own house and hid it in your own house?”
“Isn’t it safer to hide it in the most dangerous place?”
“Well, I’m more curious now. What is this thing? However, it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to tell me.”
Zhao Qingling drew a machete from her waist and walked to the house with Shan Ming, “I can show you what it is. This thing won’t mean much to you. But it is very important to Dragon Blood people.”
Shan Ming also drew out his sabre. Like her, he took down the vines and weeds that blocked the door of the house.
They finally cleared the obstacles at the door. Shan Ming kicked the door open and the two of them covered their mouths and noses, waiting for the cloud of dust to dissipate.
The state of the house was completely consistent with its appearance. It was in disarray. Everything was covered with a thick layer of dust. There were only ashes around. Zhao Qingling stood at the door with a searchlight in her hand, scanning every corner of the room without missing a single place.
Shan Ming quietly waited for her to look for that thing.
But she just looked at the living room back and forth. She then walked slowly to a table and picked up something. Shan Ming walked over to have a look. It was a photo frame.
Zhao Qingling wiped off the dust on the photo frame. It was a family portrait. Shan Ming saw the young Shen Yao and Zhao Qingling with the small Shen Changze.
Even when the couple took pictures, their expressions were very serious. It was just the kind of seriousness that was just natural for a soldier. The Shen Yao in this photo is definitely not looking as cruel and cold as the current Shen Yao. Zhao Qingling right now is also not like the one in the photo. Her eyes were filled with unresolved sadness.
And the child. The child smiles cheerfully and innocently at the camera. His round and big eyes are full of curiosity about the world. Shan Ming remembered that he once trembled in fright because of a bloody wolf leg. He once cried as he got into his arms because he was afraid of the cold. He once hugged his thigh and begged him to take him away. He once cried and complained because of heavy training. Shan Ming used to be so familiar with the child in the photo. There was a time when he couldn’t help but smile whenever he thought of him back then.
Zhao Qingling opened the frame of the photo and took out the photo. She stuffed it carefully into her arms and walked out of the door with Shan Ming.
Shan Ming asked, “Wasn’t the thing hidden in the house?”
“Not there.” Zhao Qingling took two spare batteries for the searchlight and a military shovel from the car. She handed them to Shan Ming. She then led him to the forest behind the house.
The two walked for more than half an hour. Zhao Qingling kept looking at the coordinates and finally stopped in front of an inconspicuous stone.
She shovelled into the side of the stone and dug out the soil beside the stone. Shan Ming followed suit. After digging for about ten minutes, the foundation of the big rock was finally loosened. The stone weighing hundreds of catties was moved away and then they dug down some more. Finally, they came across a hard object.
Zhao Qingling threw away the shovel and used her hands to dig. After digging for a while, she pulled out a rectangular object from the soil, which was tightly wrapped in several layers of oilcloths. It was not big. It was only about ten centimetres wide and thirty to forty centimetres wide.
Shan Ming asked, “What on earth is this?”
Zhao Qingling circled around the oilcloth whose original colour was no longer visible. The oilcloth gave off an unpleasant smell. It must have been treated with insect repellent. A metal box was finally exposed under the oilcloth. The metal also did not look like its original appearance anymore.
Zhao Qingling stroked the edge of the box lightly with her finger and then pressed lightly on a certain place. The box opened with a click. Shan Ming looked inside the box curiously. There was a deer antler-like thing lying inside it. It was about 20 centimetres long. But Shan Ming definitely wasn’t a deer antler expert. This thing actually exuded a faint golden light and it looked magical.
Zhao Qingling touched it carefully, “You should be able to guess what it is, right?”
“Is this…the horn of a Dragon Blood Man?”
“Not quite right. This is indeed a horn. But this is the horn of the ‘Sea Dragon’.”
‘Sea Dragon’? Isn’t that the source of all Dragon Blood people? Isn’t that the fish that was accidentally caught during offshore oil drilling operations in the South China Sea? That strange fish that has never appeared in human history has created so many Dragon Blood people today.
“How did you have this thing with you?”
“Shen Yao stole it from the laboratory. I hid it from him.”
“Why did you do that? What can this thing be used for?” Although Shan Ming doesn’t know if this thing is useful or not, it must be of great significance. The blood of that fish can mass-produce monsters, let alone its horns which are only two.
“I hid it because I don’t like Shen Yao holding on to it. It will make him make more mistakes in his life. But I have no chance to send it back to the lab.”
“What can it do?”
“The role it can play is absolutely beyond your imagination. It must be more powerful than dragon’s blood itself. But I know one usage of it. That is, it is enough for Shen Yao to want to pay any price to get it.”
“What?”
“To put it simply…it is a stimulant for Dragon Blood people.”
“You mean. By using it in a certain way, will it greatly improve the ability of the Dragon Blood Man in a short period of time?”
“That’s right. This is the horn of the ‘Sea Dragon’. It is the mother body of all Dragon Blood people. The method of using it is also very simple. We just touch it to the damaged skin of the Dragon Blood people. Shen Yao has tried it before. The best way is to grind a small part into powder and then apply it on the damaged forehead of a Dragon Blood Man. It can drive the Dragon Blood Man crazy. If it is a Dragon Blood Man with very low blood purity, it can increase the blood purity by 40% in just a short time. It can even speed up the growth of dragon wings as well. However, it also puts a heavy load on the body. That is a terrible thing.”
When Shan Ming was fighting guerrillas in Africa, he had seen before his eyes how those African mercenaries used the children they kidnapped. When they fight, they will first cut their foreheads or eyebrows and apply heroin powder on the wound. Those children will go crazy, not afraid of death, and rush to the forefront of the battle uncaringly even if they are facing guns right in front of them. When the war broke out, there were children all over the mountains and plains, charging upwards like madmen, facing the quadruple-mounted high-speed machine guns. Thousands of these children were beaten into meat paste. The largest piece was the size of a fist. These children in Africa were famously known as ‘soldier ants’. This was because their lives are cheaper than ants. Their dogma is – if you are afraid of death, you should not be born.
Although one is painted with drugs and the other with ‘Sea Dragon’ horn powder, the reasoning is the same. The nerves at the corners of the forehead and eyebrows are very strong. Stimulation focusing on these places can make people bring out the craziest side of their nature.
The ability of the Dragon Blood Man is already very terrifying. Shan Ming can’t imagine what kind of peak state they will reach after using this kind of thing. Fortunately, Shen Yao doesn’t have this kind of thing with him. Or else, they won’t come back alive when they face Shen Yao back then.
Zhao Qingling touched the ‘Sea Dragon’ horn, “I will not give it to Shen Yao. After the matter is over, I will destroy it. The existence of this thing itself is a crime.”
Shan Ming looked at the horn emitting a faint golden light and thought to himself that such a terrible thing should be destroyed as soon as possible.
“So, what are you going to do now? If you want to use the ‘Sea Dragon’ horn to lure him, are you not afraid of it being snatched away for good by him?”
“If we don’t use this, then how can we lure him out?”
“So what are you going to do next?”
Zhao Qingling hid the ‘Sea Dragon’ horn into the clothes by her chest. It seemed to make her feel assured. She said softly, “Let’s put out a bait for him and wait for him to bite the bait.”
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*Translator’s Note: Jiuzhaigou is a nature reserve and national park located in the north of Sichuan Province in southwestern China.-K
☝🏻Panshan Highway
☝🏻Jiuzhaigou National Park
Next update: 2023.–.–(*TBA)
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