DADH Chapter 66

“Uh… the Son of Light!?”

Jing Nian recognized the child’s identity and was completely astonished. After the betrayal of the Light Temple, weren’t all of its members expelled by the dragons? How could there be a straggler and one who happened to be their son?

As he looked at the dirty little face of the child, a wicked thought crossed Jing Nian’s mind.

Should he… use the child as leverage?

However, he quickly realized that his gaze was noticed, and the Light Son’s trembling hand was quickly withdrawn.

Jing Nian hadn’t actually intended anything sinister. To reassure the child, he turned his attention away from the boy. Meanwhile, he heard “tap, tap, tap, tap” sounds coming from behind the child, from the direction of the rustling grass.

“Don’t be afraid; I didn’t mean anything like that,” Jing Nian said, looking at the Light Son awkwardly.

After a brief moment of eye contact, the Light Son, seeing the sincerity in Jing Nian’s eyes, timidly nodded. Then, they both turned to look in the direction of the approaching “tap, tap” sounds.

The rustling in the grass was getting closer, and so were the “tap, tap” sounds.

“Tap, tap, tap,” the sound grew nearer, faster, and more urgent as it approached. Jing Nian positioned himself protectively in front of the Light Son. Then, with a sudden rustle, the source of the noise broke through the closest patch of grass.

A small, dark figure emerged.

Jing Nian: “Skeleton King?”

The Light Son, who was clutching Jing Nian’s robe in fear, was equally astonished. His golden, tear-filled eyes seemed to freeze, their pupils enlarging slightly.

“Tap, tap, tap…” The black cloak-clad little skeleton shivered as it approached Jing Nian and the Light Son. Its bones knocked together as it moved closer.

Jing Nian watched the figure’s shaky approach, concerned that it might fall apart at any moment, and couldn’t help but offer some reassurance: “Don’t rush.”

The Light Son, holding Jing Nian’s hand, nodded in agreement and gazed blankly at the slowly advancing little skeleton.

However, when the little skeleton heard Jing Nian’s words, it got excited and tried to hasten its pace, only to stumble over a small stone with a “thud.”

Its skeletal pieces are scattered on the ground.

Jing Nian: “…”

Light Son: “…”

Several minutes later, after painstakingly reassembling itself, the little skeleton, who was slightly shorter than Jing Nian, reached out its hand towards him. Jing Nian assumed it wanted to hold hands and extended his other hand to meet it.

But to his surprise, he noticed that the “tears” from the skeleton’s eye sockets were flowing even more vigorously.

Ah, this… Jing Nian had always been popular with younglings, but this time, he managed to frighten a little child. He felt a bit lost.

The next moment, the little skeleton changed the direction of its hand and took the Light Son’s hand instead of Jing Nian’s. Consequently, Jing Nian had to let go.

Then, something astonishing happened.

The little skeleton actually removed its only cloak and wrapped the anxious Light Son in it. Since both of them had similar short statures and were approximately the same height, the little skeleton couldn’t quite reach to do it properly. So, it did something even more surprising—it disassembled itself.

It stacked its two hands on top of each other, creating a secure cocoon for the Light Son, leaving only a pair of pleading eyes visible.

Jing Nian, who was observing the scene: “…”

Weren’t these two fighting each other just a moment ago?

“Don’t be afraid, I was wrong,” a sudden, deep male voice made Jing Nian jump.

He looked around but didn’t see anyone. It took him a moment to realize that it was the skeleton who had spoken.

The Light Son struggled for a moment and almost pushed the little skeleton away. However, the skeleton didn’t get angry and clumsily repositioned its displaced bones. It then moved closer and held the Light Son’s hand.

With its rather peculiar voice, the skeleton continued to apologize, “I’m sorry. I won’t take that long next time.”

“Hmph!” The Light Son’s voice remained the same, but after a brief pause, he reacted swiftly and shook off the skeleton’s hand.

The little skeleton approached again.

The two little guys staged a sticky, playful scene right in front of Jing Nian, coming and going in their antics.

Jing Nian stood on the sidelines, pondering the mysteries of life. Wasn’t this deep-voiced little skeleton just “whining” and being cute the last time?

He watched the two identical beings—The Light Son and the Skeleton King—cautiously. He took a half step back, wondering, ‘Could this be two divine avatars coming online?’

Suddenly enveloped in a familiar aura, Jing Nian turned around, his gaze rising to meet a man with an elegant jawline. The man reassured him, saying, “Don’t be afraid.”

Ten minutes later, Jing Nian watched in amazement as the two little guys suddenly matured.

“Hello, Child of the Heavenly Dao,” the smooth-skulled little skeleton, who had comforted the Light Son, raised his head to greet Huo Yi. Although he still looked fragile, both his voice and actions had become mature. He no longer resembled a baby.

The Light Son, who had been red-faced earlier, handed his cloak to the little skeleton, and said, “Hello,” in a voice that had transitioned from cute baby to a young man’s timbre.

Another ten minutes passed, and Jing Nian finally understood the current situation. These two were none other than the Gods of Light and Undead.

“So, could the situation be resolved now?”

In response to Jing Nian’s question, the chubby-faced Light Son blushed slightly and admitted, “There was a little accident… I’m now trapped in this body.”

Thinking about the incident where the Light God was betrayed by his own substitute, Jing Nian cast a sympathetic look towards him and then turned to the Undead God.

Huo Yi had mentioned that the Undead God’s substitute was his own physical body, and considering their ambiguous relationship, it seemed unlikely that the Undead God would let the Light God be betrayed.

The Undead God, who had a habit of teeth-chattering, tapped his teeth twice before scratching his head, saying, “Ah, I sealed myself in this body because I wanted to be with my wife…”

*Smack!*

Mid-sentence, the little skeleton was kicked by a small foot, causing him to shatter into pieces on the ground once again.

Determined to continue, the resilient little skeleton painstakingly reassembled himself and continued, “Share… joys and sorrows!”

After finishing, he proudly approached the Light Son and said, “And my substitute betrayed me too!”

Jing Nian: “…”

Huo Yi: “…”

Although they had heard about the Undead God’s actions, seeing it with their own eyes was quite different.

Given a stern look by the Light Son, the Undead God almost went weak in the knees. He discreetly held the Light Son’s hand and then looked at Jing Nian, who had a furrowed brow. He reassured, “But you don’t need to worry. My group of Dark Devotees isn’t that easy to tame.”

Huo Yi and Jing Nian had previously discussed the situation in the Undead Temple, so Jing Nian quickly understood the Undead God’s meaning.

But he was still quite speechless. Is this how gods behave? He couldn’t help but glance at Huo Yi, thinking about Huo Yi’s reliability in the past, and then shook his head vigorously. There must be more serious gods out there.

Huo Yi noticed his little gesture and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jing Nian looked at the two unreliable gods and said, “Nothing, what should we do now?”

Huo Yi looked at the approaching Light God and Undead God, then shifted his gaze back to Jing Nian. “You have two ways to safely return home.”

Jing Nian didn’t know why Huo Yi suddenly could say this, but he was pleasantly surprised. He propped himself up with his small hands on Huo Yi’s shoulder and lifted his upper body to look into Huo Yi’s eyes, like an eager listener.

However, when those beautiful blue eyes blinked at him unblinkingly, Huo Yi’s face showed a hint of discomfort, and he looked away first.

“Your soul is too fragile to withstand crossing the world barrier. You need to strengthen your soul’s power to ensure you won’t be hurt when crossing the world barrier.”

Jing Nian focused on the man’s profile and nodded obediently, “Okay, and then?”

Huo Yi cleared his throat, “Mortal souls can’t reach that level of strength.”

Jing Nian paused, furrowing his brows slightly and murmuring, “So, does that mean I have no chance to go home?”

“Of course not!” The Undead God, for some unknown reason, suddenly became enthusiastic and joined the conversation between the two.

Jing Nian was drawn to look at him. He saw the little skeleton being smacked by the clearly unhappy Light God, and his arm fell to the ground with a “smack.”

The little skeleton, unfazed by the situation, picked up his arm, trembling slightly, and said, “But you can become a god!”

Seeing Jing Nian furrow his brows, the little skeleton added, “Even a pseudo-god!”

Jing Nian looked at Huo Yi. Huo Yi nodded and said, “That’s right.”

“For example, becoming the new Light God’s messenger. Are you interested?” Despite the Light God’s attempt to stop him, the little skeleton turned into a pile of bones again while continuing to talk. The head, still emitting black smoke, stubbornly turned toward Jing Nian and asked.

The Light God noticed Huo Yi’s cold gaze, cursed silently, and then kicked the little skeleton’s mouth into the ground to silence him. Afterward, he turned back and, with an apologetic expression, addressed Huo Yi and Jing Nian.

“I’m sorry. You don’t need to pay attention to this foolish guy. Please, continue.”

Then, he expressed his gratitude towards Jing Nian and added, “I will personally deal with the matter of my replacement.”

After thinking for a moment, the Light God explained further to Jing Nian, “When we last met, we hadn’t awakened yet, and we didn’t intentionally deceive you. Anyway, I’m very grateful for your hospitality. In the future, I will send you a token of gratitude.”

The Light God was referring to the time when they were hiding within the Dragon Clan. At that time, the Dragon Clan didn’t have a positive opinion of them. Without Jing Nian’s help, they might have been expelled. During that period, the Light God’s replacement was aware that the long-lost Light God might be seeking him to hide his true identity and was searching for him.

If the Light God had been found before awakening, he might have been manipulated and successfully replaced. So, Jing Nian was unaware of the enormous favor he had inadvertently done for the Light God.

As he listened to the Light God, he couldn’t help but recall the two little troublemakers who had been fighting in the meeting room. It left him a bit speechless.

But when he looked at the Light God’s current appearance as a soft and white human child, he couldn’t help but find everything the child did to be adorable. So, he smiled and said, “It’s okay.”

Thinking about the Light God’s situation, Jing Nian pondered for a moment and signaled to the Dragons in the Abyss.

“You can continue staying in the Abyss Canyon.”

After all, the enemy of his enemy is his friend, and the Light God happened to be opposing the Light Temple.

After the Light God made his proposal, asking if Jing Nian wanted to take the place of the Undead God’s replacement, Jing Nian looked back at Huo Yi and furrowed his brows, asking, “Is becoming a pseudo-god one of your suggested methods?”

Huo Yi shook his head and said, “No, being a pseudo-god, or as you call it in your Interstellar terminology, is more like being a contracted worker.”

Jing Nian’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Can you hire me and then fire me?”

Without waiting for Huo Yi’s response, Jing Nian found the answer in his eyes.

“Can’t you?”

Seeing the vivid brightness in the boy’s eyes dimming, even his soft hair seemed to droop slightly. Huo Yi’s heart tightened as well. He wanted to reach out and smooth the boy’s furrowed brow, but the boy misinterpreted his intentions, thinking he was going to pat his head. He instinctively leaned away, causing Huo Yi’s hand to pause. The boy’s resistance left him unexpectedly disheartened.

However, to his surprise, the boy pursed his lips, then leaned his head back in, offering his forehead to rest in Huo Yi’s palm. He whispered softly, “Don’t pat my head too much. I won’t grow if you do.”

Huo Yi’s previously fallen heart was healed once again. He tilted his mouth slightly, concealing his feelings behind a faint smile, his tone oddly cheerful.

“There are two options. The first one is for you to become a new god in the Grans Continent.”

Jing Nian looked at the man who spoke of godhood so casually, bypassing that question entirely, and asked, “What’s the second option then?”

Huo Yi knew that the boy was eager to know the second option precisely because he had no idea how to become a new god in the Grans Continent. However, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pleasure in his heart.

The smile at the corner of his lips was no longer concealed, and he continued, “Sign a contract with me.”

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