INHA Chapter 21

When leaving the feather, Xu Dongyou inevitably had a thought: it would be great if Zhulong could understand him.

He was not feeling very well at the moment.

In fact, he could spend half an hour every day with Zhulong. But when Zhulong was awake, he would never let Xu Dongyou leave.

Xu Dongyou had no choice but to settle for spending one day a week with Zhulong.

Right, next time he could bring something to see Zhulong.

For demons, time meant nothing. However, for Zhulong who had no distractions and whose mind was in complete chaos, it might be very lonely.

Thinking this, Xu Dongyou flapped forward until he saw scattered stones out of the corner of his eye.

One of them was the size of a soybean.

Xu Dongyou’s eyes lit up. He quickly picked up the stone with his mouth and slid towards the exit.

The chief originally wanted to meet Xu Dongyou at the third array gate. But Elder Chen, who had just repaired the grand array, immediately stopped him. “Zhulong just fell asleep; if you go in, you might wake it up early.”

Last time, the chief went in after Zhulong had slept for a whole night. Zhulong’s consciousness was in deep sleep and wouldn’t wake up easily.

When Xu Dongyou slid back to the gate of the sealed array, exhausted and collapsed on the ground, Jiu Chao had already prepared water in advance. Elder Chen made a hand gesture. The water instantly turned into droplets floating in the air, making it easier for Xu Dongyou to drink.

Xu Dongyou’s eyes widened.

So this was another use for hand gestures?

Feeling sorry for Xu Dongyou, Elder Chen picked him up and waved his fingertips, making a droplet of water float to Xu Dongyou’s mouth. “Drink some water to catch your breath; you must be exhausted.”

Xu Dongyou shook his head and proudly showed the small stone he was holding in his mouth to Elder Chen.

This was a treasure he had painstakingly brought back.

Elder Xu leaned in to take a look and hesitantly said, “A stone?”

And it was only the size of a soybean.

Although Xu Dongyou was exhausted, he was incredibly happy inside and nodded joyfully.

Even though the stone wasn’t big enough to be used as a brick weapon, he could try embedding it in a brick, and it would work just the same.

Jiu Chao, feeling sorry for the young one, tentatively said, “How about I keep this little stone for you while you drink some water?”

Xu Dongyou hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded, placing the small stone in Jiu Chao’s palm. After drinking the water, Jiu Chao handed the phone to Xu Dongyou.

After the difficult experience of unlocking the phone password last time, Xu Dongyou changed the password to six 1s in advance.

Now, he only needed to tap the number 1 on the screen six times with his claws to easily unlock it, without jumping around like last time.

Elder Chen, Jiu Chao, and even the chief all showed slightly regretful expressions.

Xu Dongyou stood on the phone screen, struggling to swipe it with his bird claws, searching for the previously saved photos in the album.

He examined them carefully.

After a few seconds, Xu Dongyou felt inspired and chirped excitedly at Jiu Chao.

Jiu Chao hurriedly urged everyone to turn around and then spread out a piece of clothing, as if to dress Xu Dongyou.

Xu Dongyou stared intently at Jiu Chao.

Jiu Chao had no choice but to put the clothing down and reluctantly turned around as well.

Xu Dongyou felt his body elongate, and in just a few seconds, he transformed from an extremely cute ball into a human.

His long eyelashes trembled slightly. When he looked up, a stunningly beautiful face with star-like eyes was revealed.

The last time he transformed, it was his first time and he was highly stressed, leaving no room to think about these details.

But now, mentally prepared for the transformation, he felt very uncomfortable changing clothes in front of so many people.

Even though they had turned around.

Xu Dongyou quickly dressed. His ears were slightly red but he tried to maintain a calm expression, showing no sign of discomfort. “Okay,” he said.

The others finally turned around. The director had only seen photos of Xu Dongyou before, and from just the photos, he could tell that Xu Dongyou must be exceptional in person. However, he never imagined that the real person would be so stunning that he hardly looked human!

Oh.

Of course, Xu Dongyou wasn’t human but a cub of the demon race.

His original form was a Northern Long-tailed Tit. The director had been curious and looked it up online, only to be shocked by the round, fluffy, and adorable birds he saw.

They almost looked like enchanted glutinous rice balls!

Gathering his thoughts, the branch director said to Xu Dongyou, “You’ve worked hard this time.”

Xu Dongyou shook his head and, after hesitating for a few seconds, asked Elder Chen, “The ancient Zhulong got injured when it collided with the grand array, and a dragon scale got stuck in the wound. Shouldn’t it be treated?”

They couldn’t just leave it like that, right?

The branch director explained, “The demon race and the bureau want to provide the ancient Zhulong with good living conditions and treatment, but we can’t get close to it.”

Xu Dongyou thought for a moment and said, “I can go in and help treat the wound, but I can’t do anything in my original form. I would have to go in my human form.”

For a moment, everyone, including Elder Chen and Jiu Chao, fell silent.

The problem now was… no one was sure if the mad Zhulong could accept Xu Dongyou in his human form.

Xu Dongyou wasn’t sure either.

After hesitating for a long time, Xu Dongyou quietly said, “Let me go in again, okay? I’ll help treat Zhulong’s wound. If it can’t accept me, I’ll immediately revert to my original form.”

“No,” Elder Chen was the first to oppose.

Treating Zhulong’s injury was important, but so was the only cub of the demon race.

If they had to choose one.

Elder Chen believed all the demons would unhesitatingly choose the latter.

Of course, there was another crucial reason behind their choice. Elder Chen explained, “The ancient Zhulong’s injuries are not something that just any medicine can treat. Its healing abilities are even stronger than ours. Sometimes, its recovery is faster than the effect of any medicine.”

After listening, Xu Dongyou was silent for a while, then quietly insisted, “Let me go in and try. Even if I don’t apply medicine to the wound, I still need to help remove that dragon scale.”

His pure, clear eyes carried a small plea.

This small stubbornness moved the branch director a bit, but he couldn’t intervene since this was a matter within the demon race.

Elder Chen also found it hard to refuse the cub, but he was more concerned about the cub’s safety.

Elder Chen pondered for a while, then seemed to have thought of something. Gritting his teeth, he nodded and said, “Alright, remember to immediately revert to your original form if you are attacked by Zhulong.”

Jiu Chao, who was anxiously standing by, was stunned by Elder Chen’s words but strangely did not protest or stop him.

Then, Elder Chen asked Jiu Chao to fetch something from the top floor and hung a jade pendant, made of some unknown material, around Xu Dongyou’s neck. “This is for you. It can protect you from one attack by the ancient Zhulong.”

Jiu Chao bit his lip and took out a bracelet, seemingly woven from some material, and tied it around Xu Dongyou’s wrist. “This can also help block one attack.”

Xu Dongyou was very grateful and smiled shyly, “Thank you.”

Even the branch director and the chief took out their own treasures to lend to Xu Dongyou.

Xu Dongyou accepted them all.

During this time, the branch director submitted a report about Xu Dongyou’s plan to help Zhulong.

The headquarters took it very seriously and immediately instructed the branch director to take out the best healing medicines from the warehouse.

Zhulong had sacrificed himself to save humanity.

Humans needed to show gratitude; they had been unable to before, but now that they had the chance, they had to make amends immediately.

The branch director explained this and had Xu Dongyou wait for about twenty minutes until the items were delivered to the entrance of the sealed grand array.

The branch director took out something that looked like a spray. “This is a spray version of the healing pill, along with 300-year-old lingzhi and Tianshan snow lotus. Try giving them to Zhulong.”

Xu Dongyou nodded.

These items were clearly valuable.

Then the chief put down a package weighing about thirty pounds and introduced it to Xu Dongyou: “Inside are sturdy, hundred-meter-long portable climbing ropes.”

Xu Dongyou’s eyes lit up.

This was exactly what he needed right now. Oh, and gloves and pliers—these had also been prepared by the chief in advance.

As Xu Dongyou carried the heavy package inside, he could still feel the worried gazes behind him.

After taking a deep breath, Xu Dongyou made sure to bring his spiritual energy watch and phone as well. However, to prepare if ever the phone got broken inside, he sent his photos to the chief, thinking they might be useful when he came out.

When Xu Dongyou reached the second gate and could no longer hear the sounds from the entrance of the grand array, the branch director turned to Elder Chen. “I don’t understand. Your demon race values its young above all. How could you agree to let him go in?”

Elder Chen did not answer the question.

The branch director didn’t mind and smiled. Then, gazing at Xu Dongyou’s receding figure, he murmured almost inaudibly, “No matter what, I hope your cub can accomplish this task. The world can’t withstand an attack from the ancient Zhulong…”

Carrying the heavy load, Xu Dongyou walked for a while before suddenly feeling a bit foolish. Why hadn’t he asked the bureau for an electric cart? Even a small three-wheeler would have been better.

But since he was already inside, he’d save that request for next time. Xu Dongyou took several deep breaths and continued trudging forward with the heavy burden.

When he finally reached the fifth gate, Xu Dongyou hastily put down the heavy backpack and took a few deep breaths. His gaze was once again drawn to the enormous creature in front of him, which was so huge it resembled a mountain.

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.

This was his first time encountering Zhu Long so closely in human form. The densely packed scales emitted a faint glow under the night pearls embedded in the stone walls, giving off a mysterious and ancient vibe.

Xu Dongyou lowered his head and gently unfastened the chains, pulling out the healing spray from inside. He aimed to spray it on Zhu Long’s tail to see its effect.

But as he looked up, he found himself staring into a pair of blood-red eyes that had unknowingly opened.

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