INHA Chapter 23

Xu Dongyou gently caressed the long-healed wound, pursing his lips without speaking for a long time.

When he gets out, he must ask Elder Chen how to restore Zhulong’s consciousness. That way, Zhulong won’t need to be sealed in the grand array anymore.

Zhulong remained silent, watching Xu Dongyou, his gaze as chaotic and frenzied as ever.

This stark contrast didn’t seem strange at all; instead, it created a slight illusion.

Perhaps, Zhulong wasn’t entirely mad.

Xu Dongyou lifted his head, met Zhulong’s eyes, and softly said, “Thank you for the sacrifice you’ve made for the world. I will find a way to help you.”

Zhulong’s eyes were still filled with madness, but he suddenly let out a low, chaotic, and meaningless growl.

Xu Dongyou didn’t know if Zhulong understood his words, but he felt a surge of motivation inside.

It was time to get down to business.

Xu Dongyou carefully sprayed Zhulong’s wound with a spray bottle. After some thought, he added a bit of lingzhi powder, hoping the combination would speed up the healing.

Next, Xu Dongyou continued to climb up, treating the next wound in the same manner, adding a bit of Tianshan snow lotus as well.

The reason was that this wound was more severe.

He didn’t know if these treatments would cause pain, but Zhulong remained silent throughout, watching Xu Dongyou intently.

When Xu Dongyou reached the last and most severe wound, he realized the situation was more complicated than he had thought.

The scales that had completely fallen off and embedded into the flesh were as tall as two people, and nearly forty centimeters thick. Xu Dongyou’s hands couldn’t grasp such thick scales, and their slipperiness added to the difficulty.

Xu Dongyou carefully circled around the dragon scale, finally finding a crack about five centimeters wide underneath.

He gently moved the lingzhi and Tianshan snow lotus mud from his clothes aside, then used his clothes as a makeshift rope to wedge into the gap as a leverage point.

After taking several deep breaths, Xu Dongyou seriously explained to Zhulong, “This might hurt a lot, but you must endure it, okay?”

Although he knew Zhulong couldn’t understand, Xu Dongyou still wanted to explain.

Grabbing both ends of his clothes, Xu Dongyou focused. He prepared his body and finally pulled with all his might, as quickly as possible.

A sudden ripping sound echoed as the clothes were torn apart by the scales. Xu Dongyou, unprepared, lost his support and stumbled back several steps until something behind him abruptly stopped him.

Xu Dongyou turned his head and was slightly stunned.

It was Zhulong’s horn. He had lowered his head and used the dragon horn to block the edge, preventing Xu Dongyou from falling.

Xu Dongyou quickly whispered his thanks, then walked back to the dragon scale with a troubled expression.

What should he do?

He seemed to have underestimated the sharpness of this dragon scale and how firmly it was embedded in the flesh. Removing it might require several people working together.

But right now, he was the only one who could approach Zhulong.

Zhulong looked at his dragon scale, then at Xu Dongyou. After a few seconds, it suddenly let out a chaotic low growl.

Xu Dongyou turned around, looking confused.

Zhulong’s growl grew louder. Xu Dongyou covered his ears, retreating several steps, even more bewildered.

Zhulong slowly approached, lowered his head, bit the scale, and pulled it out of the flesh. With a casual flick of his head, the scale flew out and embedded itself deeply into the high stone wall.

Xu Dongyou was dumbfounded. Then, realizing what had happened, he quickly sprayed the bleeding wound with the healing spray and applied the remaining half of the Tianshan snow lotus and lingzhi, evenly spreading it on the wound.

The bleeding soon stopped.

Zhulong approached Xu Dongyou again, making a gurgling sound.

Xu Dongyou remembered Zhulong making this sound before, but only once.

He didn’t know what it meant, but he was very happy and gave Zhulong a big smile, raising his thumb in praise, “You are so smart!”

Without Zhulong’s cooperation, he wouldn’t have known what to do.

Zhulong, looking at the smiling Xu Dongyou, suddenly wrapped his tail around him again and headed towards his lair.

Xu Dongyou was stunned for a moment. This time, he didn’t struggle and obediently let Zhulong place him in the innermost part of the lair, where Zhulong blocked the exit with his massive body.

Xu Dongyou cooperated throughout. Zhulong slowly moved his body and rested his head on the steps not far from Xu Dongyou, still staring at him.

Xu Dongyou found a place to sit and took this opportunity to observe Zhulong. His head was really large, especially the dragon horns, which seemed to glisten.

More awe-inspiring and majestic than any dragon created in movies or TV shows.

Finally, everything was done. Xu Dongyou wondered why the chief hadn’t contacted him. So he decided to take the initiative to reach out.

He reported that he had completed the task.

The chief quickly replied, explaining why he hadn’t reached out to Xu Dongyou first.

It turned out that Elder Chen was worried that the spiritual energy fluctuations from the spiritual energy watch might affect Zhulong’s emotions, causing him to go berserk.

Xu Dongyou quickly looked up at Zhulong.

Zhulong was still quietly staring at him, his gaze seemingly fixed on the spiritual energy watch, but showing no signs of madness.

Xu Dongyou breathed a sigh of relief and explained the device to Zhulong, “Look, this is a new product developed by the bureau. It allows us to contact each other without a network.”

Zhulong listened with confusion, but seemed to enjoy Xu Dongyou’s explanation. The madness in his eyes seemed to lessen, though it was still evident that his mind was chaotic.

Xu Dongyou sometimes wondered if Zhulong’s action of helping to remove the dragon scale indicated that he could understand some simple gestures.

This would make future communication easier and help him understand Zhulong better.

But there was no rush; it could be done gradually.

He hadn’t felt it while climbing up and down, but now that he was relaxed, Xu Dongyou felt utterly exhausted and leaned against the stone wall to take a nap.

When he woke up again, he realized that seven or eight hours had passed. His watch showed it was already past six in the evening.

Xu Dongyou carefully sat up and noticed that Zhulong seemed to be asleep too. The upper half of his massive body was coiled like a mosquito coil, but he had deliberately spread out his tail to completely block the exit.

Was he afraid Xu Dongyou would disappear again?

While finding it amusing, Xu Dongyou also felt a twinge of guilt.

Perhaps, when he got out, he could ask Elder Chen about Zhulong’s sleeping and waking schedule. That way, he could arrive at the sealing array before Zhulong woke up.

There wasn’t much he could do, but at least he could prevent Zhulong from hurting himself further.

Xu Dongyou remembered the feather he had pulled out earlier and went back to the spot where the package had been flattened, searching for a while but finding no trace of the feather.

Strange.

How did the feather disappear again?

Since he couldn’t find it, he gave up the idea of placing it beside Zhulong.

Xu Dongyou picked up his scattered belongings and started to head back. On the way, he passed by the pile of rubble knocked over by Zhulong’s tail last time. He bent down and picked up two plum-sized stones, putting them in his pocket.

He thought he could try handing these stones to the bureau to see if they could be exchanged for something good for Zhulong.

Moreover, it might help the bureau seal more evil spirits, a win-win situation.

Xu Dongyou quickened his pace and finally returned to the entrance of the sealing array. Everyone who had stayed at the array immediately came forward to help put down his things, expressing their concern.

The chief was satisfied and pleased, and the branch director patted Xu Dongyou’s shoulder, saying, “Well done. I’ll issue you a reward tomorrow.”

Xu Dongyou showed an exceptionally obedient smile and took out the two stones from his pocket. He said to the branch director and the team leader, “I picked up these two stones from the rubble inside. I wonder if they can be useful against the evil spirits.”

The branch director was a bit surprised, then got excited, “Excellent! With these, we might be able to create better weapons.”

“You’ve done a great job this time. You can apply for any item from the bureau’s store, absolutely equivalent exchange.” The branch director handed the stones to the team leader, still very excited.

Elder Chen, being of the demon clan, had no need for stones. But hearing the branch director offer Xu Dongyou a reward made his tense face relax.

He couldn’t let the cub be shortchanged.

Xu Dongyou thought for a moment and softly said, “Can I forgo the items from the store?”

Everyone was a bit surprised and curious about what Xu Dongyou wanted.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Xu Dongyou said, “I noticed Zhulong’s place doesn’t have water or food. I’d like the bureau to help make a large water dispenser suitable for Zhulong and provide three steamed beef meals. He hasn’t eaten or drunk anything for a long time.”

The branch director looked a bit awkward.

Xu Dongyou quickly explained, “I understand it was previously impossible to provide good conditions for Zhulong, but now it is. I just want to do something for him to thank him for protecting the world.”

He added, “And besides, these two stones weren’t mine to begin with.”

So he felt embarrassed to take anything from the bureau.

He also thought about the pebble he carried back with his mouth in his original form. Maybe he should turn that in too.

However, the branch director spoke first, “But without you, we wouldn’t have these two stones. Since you don’t want the rewards, why not use that small stone as your reward?”

Xu Dongyou blinked, pleasantly surprised.

The branch director continued, “From now on, every time you take stones from inside, you can keep one-tenth and do whatever you want with them. As for Zhulong, you’ll need to bring the items in yourself as a part of your compensation.”

Xu Dongyou nodded earnestly, “Director, I will do my best.”

Elder Chen was also satisfied with this outcome.

After all, the demon clan still needed to deal with the bureau. Besides, Elder Bai had said not to interfere with the cub’s decisions.

Before leaving the formation, the branch director said, “You can keep the stones for now. The research institute will analyze them to determine their exact use, and then you can decide what to do with them.”

Xu Dongyou nodded. He said goodbye to Elder Chen and left the bureau.

He was now eager to get home.

---