INHA Chapter 22

Xu Dongyou’s mind went blank, and his hand froze.

Everyone closely watching this scene, including Elder Chen, instinctively tensed up and held their breath.

The ancient Zhulong continued to stare at Xu Dongyou with its blood-red, maddened eyes.

Elder Chen and the others felt as if Zhulong might suddenly attack and devour Xu Dongyou.

Jiu Chao clenched his fists, murmuring repeatedly, “Turn back into your original form, hurry.”

Xu Dongyou slowly blinked and, under Zhulong’s gaze, straightened up. His heart was pounding. Trying to stay calm, he managed a sweet smile and held up the spray, speaking in a gentle, coaxing tone, “Look, this is a healing spray. It can help you heal your wound—”

Before he could finish, a massive shadow rushed at him with incredible speed. The roar was deafening, and the blast of wind and debris was overwhelming.

Everything happened so fast that Xu Dongyou didn’t have time to revert to his original form. He watched helplessly as the debris flew toward him until a gigantic tail suddenly cut through the air, shielding him from all the falling rocks.

Xu Dongyou looked up in shock to see Zhulong’s tail protecting him from the debris.

He hadn’t been touched at all.

“Huh?” Xu Dongyou was stunned.

The dragon’s tail slowly moved away, revealing Zhulong’s unique, frenzied blood-red eyes. Zhulong lowered its head to Xu Dongyou’s eye level.

Its breath was heavy.

Unexpectedly, the force of Zhulong’s breath made Xu Dongyou lean back. He instinctively tried to support himself with his hands.

A tail quickly caught Xu Dongyou, preventing him from falling to the ground.

Xu Dongyou’s entire back was pressed against the dragon scales, and he felt a cold sensation against his palm.

It made Xu Dongyou think, so this is what dragon scales feel like?

It was quite a remarkable sensation.

However, Xu Dongyou didn’t dare to continue touching them and quickly stood up.

Elder Chen and the others, who were watching, collectively sighed in relief. Jiu Chao, whose back was drenched in cold sweat, said with lingering fear, “That was close.”

For a moment, he thought Zhulong was going to eat the cub.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Zhulong moved its upper body and rotated its head, seemingly scrutinizing Xu Dongyou. It then circled around him, inspecting him from every angle.

Xu Dongyou was confused for a few seconds. As if realizing something, he asked in a hopeful, small voice, “Did you recognize me?”

Otherwise, why had it protected him just now?

Zhulong didn’t respond. Its chaotic consciousness made it impossible to reply; it simply continued to observe Xu Dongyou, its tail flicking restlessly.

Xu Dongyou felt that Zhulong must have recognized him. But the difference between his human and original forms was quite significant.

Xu Dongyou thought for a moment and tried flapping his arms and mimicking the sound he made in his original form.

Surely, it would recognize him now?

Zhulong continued to scrutinize Xu Dongyou, its expression becoming increasingly agitated, showing signs of impending madness again.

Xu Dongyou was troubled for a few seconds. Glancing at the feather on the ground, he came up with a good idea.

He quickly ran over, picked up the feather, and stuck it on his head. He flapped his hands and chirped several times.

This time, Zhulong should recognize him, right?

Zhulong suddenly became still. After several long seconds, it moved closer to Xu Dongyou, carefully examining the feather on his head and then looking at him.

The agitated flicking of its tail calmed down.

It seemed to truly understand.

Xu Dongyou pursed his lips and gave a small smile, waving at Zhulong. “Do you understand now?”

Zhulong emitted a low, chaotic growl without meaning, looking around for a while before skillfully curling the tip of its tail around Xu Dongyou and heading toward its lair.

Xu Dongyou’s eyes widened.

Could Zhulong think that he was lost again and want to lock him up like last time?

Xu Dongyou quickly patted the tail and raised his voice. “Put me down. I haven’t taken the stuff yet.”

Knowing that Zhulong couldn’t understand his words, Xu Dongyou kept pointing towards the distant package.

Zhulong paused, turned its head, and finally saw the package it had been ignoring. After watching Xu Dongyou’s gestures for several long seconds, it seemed to realize something and lifted Xu Dongyou high up, then used the front part of its tail to smash the package.

Xu Dongyou was instantly bewildered.

That wasn’t what he meant at all.

Zhulong continued to carry Xu Dongyou forward, despite his seemingly strong but ultimately ineffective struggle against Zhu Long’s strength.

Xu Dongyou had to shout loudly again, which finally made Zhulong stop and turn back in confusion.

This time, Xu Dongyou didn’t dare point toward the package again. He could only struggle to get down.

Zhulong immediately understood this gesture. Its blood-red eyes became even more intense, and its low growl turned angry.

Xu Dongyou instantly fell silent and slowly lowered his head, not speaking.

He only intended to help Zhulong. However, it was difficult for Zhulong to understand his intentions.

Especially since Zhulong had smashed the package, Xu Dongyou wondered if the supplies and the things inside were damaged.

Zhulong emitted a chaotic sound, appearing slightly uneasy, and slowly lowered its head to nuzzle Xu Dongyou.

Xu Dongyou stumbled again from the nudge. When he looked up, seeing Zhulong like this, the sadness in his heart was replaced by compassion for Zhulong.

He couldn’t bear to see Zhulong with such an expression.

Zhulong had sealed itself to protect the human world, couldn’t eat, slept on rocks every day, and had no one to talk to.

This life had likely lasted for thousands of years, maybe even longer.

Moreover, Zhulong’s mind was inherently chaotic. It didn’t mean to break the package.

More importantly, Xu Dongyou felt that as someone responsible for protecting world peace, he couldn’t let such a small setback break his spirit.

Xu Dongyou adjusted his emotions. He mustered his courage, reached out, and petted Zhulong’s scales under its cold, chaotic gaze. He then smiled broadly, pointed to the package, and said in a coaxing tone, “I need to go get the package.”

Zhulong hesitated and raised its tail again.

Xu Dongyou’s eyes widened, and he quickly rushed over to guard the package.

His actions clearly stated his intentions.

This time, Zhulong finally understood. It quickly glanced at its raised tail and then swiftly retracted it, curling itself into a coil, leaving only its large eyes peeking at Xu Dongyou.

Xu Dongyou couldn’t help but laugh, not like before with a restrained smile, but a genuine, open-hearted laugh, with his eyes resembling crescent moons full of light.

Zhulong quietly took a deep breath.

By this time, Xu Dongyou had already stopped laughing and carefully opened the tattered package. The supposedly indestructible equipment highly praised by the team leader was now completely in shambles.

Fortunately, although the lingzhi and Tianshan snow lotus were reduced to mud, they could still be collected and eaten.

Xu Dongyou took off his coat to gather them up and was incredibly grateful that he had been holding onto the spray bottle the whole time.

Otherwise, the spray bottle would have ended up like the other items.

Xu Dongyou hugged his clothes and the spray bottle as he approached the injured tail of Zhulong. However, that spot was about ten meters off the ground, and the scales were too smooth to climb up.

But there was one other method, though it was uncertain if Zhulong would agree.

Xu Dongyou hesitated for a moment. But realizing that treating Zhulong’s wound was the priority, he bit his lip and cautiously walked to the tip of Zhulong’s tail.

The very edge of the dragon’s tail was the lowest point of Zhulong’s entire body, allowing Xu Dongyou to climb up from there.

After taking a few deep breaths, he tried to place his left foot up.

Zhulong didn’t move or show any signs of anger.

Only then did Xu Dongyou place his right foot up. Luckily, Zhulong’s body was wide and large, so he didn’t need to worry about falling. He could even roll around with his eyes closed.

Xu Dongyou quickened his pace, and Zhulong continued to watch quietly. Eventually, it peeked its head out from its body, slowly moving forward with Xu Dongyou.

Its huge eyes, though confused, held a trace of curiosity and bewilderment.

It couldn’t understand why this was happening, but it obediently allowed Xu Dongyou to step on its body until he stopped in front of the first wound, beside which was a blue chain that almost pierced through its body.

Xu Dongyou stared blankly at the wound pierced by the chain.

Previously, due to his body size, he couldn’t see Zhulong’s body clearly. Now he realized that these chains weren’t just wrapped around its body, but had actually pierced through its flesh and bone.

The surrounding area had already healed.

Xu Dongyou felt that this healing site was even more shocking than the wounds he had seen before.

He struggled to lift his head and could only see part of the massive body, but already, he could spot several places that had been pierced.

Suddenly, Xu Dongyou remembered something Elder Chen had said.

When Zhulong was left with only a sliver of sanity, it sealed itself here. Did this mean it had used this chain to pierce through its own flesh?

Just imagining that scene made Xu Dongyou feel an even deeper pain and awe for Zhulong.

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