Chapter 98: River Water
The little guy rolled around on the ground a few times, struggled to get up, his small wings fluttering, looking at the “fierce” little black cat with both grievance and fear, completely daring not to breathe fire anymore.
Chu Jiu squatted down, curiously staring at the little guy in front of him:
What… what kind of race is this?
He saw that the other party was a size smaller than Little Can, with a pair of grayish-white wings on his back and a tail covered in tiny scales.
This setup did look like a newly hatched young dragon, the chibi version.
But his skin and appearance had absolutely nothing to do with “dragons”:
His whole body was a light pink, and his head and eyes were round. Around his round head was a circle of tender yellow, petal-like small protrusions.
These unidentified small protrusions, combined with his pink little head, made him look exactly like a flying… little sunflower?
Chu Jiu was certain that he had never seen this kind of race in any “folktale.”
He blinked and tentatively asked, “Are you… a Flowery Dragon?”
The other party’s pink body puffed up like a pufferfish, and he shouted angrily, “Don’t call me by that name!”
Chu Jiu: …Ah, he actually guessed right.
Flowery Dragon: “We are the overlords of the sky, the inheritors of true dragons, the great fire-breathing dragons!”
Chu Jiu: “…My apologies, my apologies.”
A Flowery Dragon that breathed tiny flames, confirmed.
Flowery Dragon: “And I am the future high priest of the Flying Dragon Clan! You—”
The future high priest originally wanted to accuse these intruders of being fierce and rude, but found that the little black cat had silently taken a step forward.
He immediately shut up.
The future high priest tilted his head instead, with an expression that said, “The Flying Dragon Clan doesn’t stoop to your level.”
Chu Jiu wasn’t in a hurry either, slowly repeating his self-introduction, this time in more detail.
When he mentioned that “he needed to find the Nine Heavens Jiaolong,” the Flowery Dragon suddenly turned his face towards him, his eyes becoming bright and shiny, as if he had something to say.
However, when Chu Jiu asked him if he knew about the “Nine Heavens Jiaolong,” the Flowery Dragon turned his face to the other side again, pretending not to hear.
Chu Jiu was still not in a hurry.
He continued to the Flowery Dragon: “Let me introduce my companions. The little black cat who just caught you is called Little Can.”
“This white little rabbit with long ears is Rawr Rawr Rabbit.”
“This smiling little capybara is Kakaba.”
“And this one, this flying little sapling, is Glup-Glup.”
“Huh?” The Flowery Dragon turned his face back again, blinking his clear, glass-like eyes, “A flying… little sapling?”
Glup-Glup shook the small leaves on the top of his head, his eyes curving into two arcs: “Glup-Glup!”
Many small stars immediately appeared in the Flowery Dragon’s eyes: “Wow…”
“It really is a flying sapling!”
“So amazing!”
He blinked, flapped his wings, trying hard to fly a little higher, hovered in front of Chu Jiu, and said seriously:
“Anyone who can be good friends with trees is not a bad person!”
“I believe you now, you are indeed a trustworthy friend of the spirits!”
Chu Jiu: “…Um, thank you.”
Although he didn’t understand the little guy’s logic, being able to communicate further was always a good thing.
The Flowery Dragon’s tone was very sincere: “I thought you were intruders just now, so I wore a white bone mask and used flames to scare you.”
“It was rude of me to frighten you upon our first meeting.”
Chu Jiu: “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
The Flowery Dragon tilted his head: “Speaking of which, you must have never seen such powerful true dragon flames, right?”
Chu Jiu: “…Not really.”
The Flowery Dragon was a little smug: “Hehe, this is our specialty, we Fire-Breathing Flying Dragons.”
“Even if you were so scared that you couldn’t speak, it’s very normal, you don’t need to feel embarrassed.”
Chu Jiu: …
What to do, this conversation is about to die.
Chu Jiu decisively chose to change the subject between the options of “awkwardly praise” and “change the topic.”
He asked the Flowery Dragon again if he knew about a shark with the peculiar name “Nine Heavens Jiaolong.”
Flowery Dragon: “Ah, I haven’t heard of that kind of shark.”
“But, the most important tree in our tribe—the one that our tribe’s high priest must serve for life—is called the ‘Nine Heavens Tree’!”
Chu Jiu subconsciously repeated, “‘Nine Heavens Tree’?”
Flowery Dragon: “Yes, yes!”
“It’s not an ordinary tree! When our tribe was weakest, it protected us and allowed our tribe to survive—it’s the best, the very best tree in the world!”
Chu Jiu thought to himself, so that’s how it is. No wonder this little guy valued “trees” so much and had such a big change in attitude as soon as he saw Glup-Glup.
The Flowery Dragon continued:
“I think, since this tree and the shark you’re looking for have such similar names, perhaps there’s some connection?”
“Although I don’t know what the specific connection is, I can take you to the current high priest.”
“The high priests, they know everything!”
Chu Jiu: “That would be great—please lead the way.”
The Flowery Dragon nodded his sunflower-like head:
“Mmm! No problem! I will take the good friend of the flying little tree to our tribe! But you have to wait for me a little while!”
“I still need to pick up some fish to take back.”
Chu Jiu: “Pick up fish’?”
Flowery Dragon: “Mmm! I originally went out today to pick up fish to take back for dinner! I didn’t expect to meet you!”
“I haven’t picked up a single fish yet, so you’ll have to wait for me a little longer!”
What Chu Jiu was actually curious about was why the little dragon had to “pick up” fish.
But he thought that maybe the little guy’s expression wasn’t precise, and he meant “catch fish” or “fish” when he said “pick up fish.”
However, the next moment, he saw the Flowery Dragon flying along the turbid river water, searching and searching along the riverbank, flipping over any dumb fish that might have bumped into the shore and died.
While picking up the fish, the little guy explained to Chu Jiu matter-of-factly:
“There’s no way, we’re fire dragons, not water dragons.”
“The river water is so muddy, we can’t catch fish at all, we can only pick them up like this.”
Chu Jiu was silent for two seconds and whispered to Little Can, “Little Can, let’s help the little sunflower.”
Little Can meowed, leaped onto the river surface, lightly tapped a few times, and then scratched a few times with a speed invisible to the naked eye—
They saw all kinds of big and small fish falling from the sky around the Flowery Dragon, quickly forming a small mountain below the little dragon!
The Flowery Dragon was so surprised that he didn’t even move his wings, “thumped” down to the ground, and then laboriously sat up, rubbing his eyes with his claws:
“T-so many fish!”
“I haven’t seen so many fish even in my dreams!”
Chu Jiu smiled and said, “Our Little Can is very good at catching fish.”
The Flowery Dragon looked up at the little black cat on Chu Jiu’s shoulder, his scaly little tail wagging non-stop, tears almost falling from his eyes:
“Wuwuwu, big brother cat, you’re so amazing!”
“You’re the most amazing, the very most amazing cat!”
Little Can lay on Chu Jiu’s shoulder, with a disdainful “I don’t want to bother,” and lazily closed his eyes.
Then, when it heard the Flowery Dragon say to Chu Jiu, “With such an amazing little companion, you must be a super amazing friend of spirits, a super amazing pioneer!” it immediately opened its eyes and nodded in deep agreement: “Meow!”—”Of course!”
The Flowery Dragon’s tribe was located in even more distant mountains.
The Flowery Dragon used the bamboo backpack Chu Jiu gave him to pack the fish, refused the spirit beast babies’ offer to help, and with his small body carrying the heavy bamboo basket, flew ahead, leading everyone up the mountain.
While flying, the little guy chattered to Chu Jiu about the stories of their tribe.
It turned out that the Fire-Breathing Flying Dragons used to live on the banks of this “Nether River.”
At that time, under the protection of the “Nine Heavens Tree,” the river water was still very clear, and the estuary didn’t have such big waves.
Even the Fire-Breathing Flying Dragons who couldn’t swim or go into the water could easily scoop up fish from the river.
But two hundred years ago, the Nine Heavens Tree withered, and its protection disappeared.
The river flooded, seawater poured in, and the tribesmen had no choice but to leave this area and live on higher mountains that wouldn’t be flooded.
Hearing this, Chu Jiu couldn’t help but be stunned: “The Nine Heavens Tree has withered?”
Then what were the high priests serving?
The Flowery Dragon quickly said, “Although it’s withered now, it will revive soon!”
“No, no, to be more precise, starting tomorrow, it will gradually revive!”
Chu Jiu was even more puzzled: “Starting tomorrow? Such a precise time?”
Flowery Dragon: “Yes! Because tomorrow is August!”
“The Nine Heavens Tree is a divine tree!”
“Our tribe’s legends say that every two hundred years, even the withered Nine Heavens Tree has a chance to ‘reborn’!”
“This year happens to be the two hundredth year since the Nine Heavens Tree withered! It’s also its first year of rebirth!”
“In the year when the Nine Heavens Tree can be reborn, starting in August, ‘Nether Flowers’ will bloom on the banks of the lowest reaches of the Nether River—these flowers bloom specifically to revive the Nine Heavens Tree!”
“We just need to offer enough ‘Nether Flowers’ around the tree, and we will definitely be able to revive the Nine Heavens Tree!”
“Tomorrow, I, this future high priest, will go pick flowers before the tide rises, and I will definitely be able to pick many, many flowers!”
Hearing this, a sense of unease welled up in Chu Jiu’s heart.
But seeing the Flowery Dragon’s bright eyes, full of anticipation for tomorrow, he didn’t voice his doubts, only nodded silently.
*
The Flowery Dragon led Chu Jiu and the others for a long time, finally reaching a small hill at nightfall.
Hidden among the tangled trees were inconspicuous little treehouses.
The Flowery Dragon flew directly to the largest one, introducing to Chu Jiu, “This is where the tribe’s high priest lives,” while shouting loudly, “Mommy, Daddy! Kui’zai is back!”
Kui… Kui Hui?
It really is a sunflower…
Chu Jiu thought silently, bowing to the two deep red dragons who came out to greet them.
Compared to the little Flowery Dragon, these two adult dragons did look more like “dragons.”
They were about half the height of a person, and their bodies were covered in scales. Their heads were still round, but they no longer had the circle of “petals” around them.
After their cub explained Chu Jiu’s intentions, the two flying dragons exchanged a glance and didn’t speak immediately.
Finally, the mother dragon, who had a red gem tied to her tail, said with a smile:
“To think you sailed all the way from such a distant human world—it’s been a long time since we’ve seen humans.”
“It must have been a tiring journey? Stay and have dinner with us later, we can chat while we eat.”
Speaking of dinner, the little Flowery Dragon proudly handed the bamboo basket to his mother: “Mommy, look! This is the fish that Chu Jiu’s cat companion caught for us! We haven’t eaten so much fish in a long time!”
Both the mother dragon and the father dragon exclaimed in surprise and smiled:
“So many! Thank you so much!”
“We will definitely roast these fish until they are fragrant!”
At this moment, Kakaba lying on Chu Jiu’s backpack, whispered a reminder: “Dang dang dang! That mother just now smiled very forcefully when she heard you were looking for the ‘Nine Heavens Jiaolong.’ But when they saw these fish, they were genuinely smiling.”
Chu Jiu whispered back, “I understand.”
*
Dinner time.
The mother dragon enthusiastically laid out a large table of grilled fish.
After hearing that Kakaba didn’t eat meat and Glup-Glup only drank water, she specially washed several kinds of fruit, cut them into pieces, and also made a cup of juice for Glup-Glup.
After Chu Jiu took a few bites of the grilled fish, which wasn’t bad but not particularly good either, he directly asked again where he could find the “Nine Heavens Jiaolong.”
The mother dragon, who was enthusiastically cutting grilled fish for Rawr Rawr Rabbit, and the father dragon exchanged a look, their expressions quite troubled.
Chu Jiu put down his cutlery, bowed to them very solemnly again, and told them sincerely:
On the Carrot Continent, many people have been invaded by a toxin. Without a special antidote, they might only die from poisoning.
Therefore, he really needed to find the Nine Heavens Jiaolong as soon as possible to make that special “antidote.”
After Chu Jiu finished speaking, neither of the adult dragons said anything.
The Flowery Dragon swallowed the grilled fish in his mouth and said anxiously, “Mommy, Daddy, if you know, please tell Chu Jiu! Chu Jiu is a very good pioneer, a friend of the flying little tree, he must be very anxious to save people!”
The father dragon sighed deeply, his silver-gray wings folding behind him, and said with his head lowered, “We only know…” “that the ‘fruit of the Nine Heavens Tree’ can be used to lure the ‘Nine Heavens Jiaolong.'”
“But… as you know, the Nine Heavens Tree is withered now…”
Before the father dragon finished speaking, the Flowery Dragon immediately said, “Ah, but starting tomorrow, won’t the Nine Heavens Tree be able to revive?”
“After it revives, it will be able to bear fruit, right?”
Father Dragon: “Y-yes.”
“The Nine Heavens Tree… bears fruit very quickly. In about a month, it can bear a tree full of fruit…”
The Flowery Dragon excitedly flapped his wings: “Then isn’t that perfect?”
“Tomorrow I’ll go pick the Nether Flowers and revive the Nine Heavens Tree.”
“A month later, Chu Jiu will be able to get the fruit and find that big shark!”
He clapped his claws hard: “Great! Everything is perfect!”
Chu Jiu’s gaze lightly swept over the two silent red dragons, thinking that this matter probably wouldn’t be so “perfect.”
*
The night deepened.
The high priest’s treehouse was spacious enough, even having spare rooms for Chu Jiu to put out his sleeping bag.
Chu Jiu had just laid out his sleeping bag when a small pink figure appeared at the door: “Chu Jiu, Chu Jiu!”
It was naturally the little Flowery Dragon.
The little guy flew into the room, circled Glup-Glup twice, and whispered, “Can… can I shake your hand?”
Glup-Glup generously raised a tentacle: “Glup-Glup!”
The Flowery Dragon carefully held the tentacle with his claws and shook it, countless small stars appearing in his eyes again.
Looking at this scene, Chu Jiu couldn’t help but chuckle to himself: Ah, Glup-Glup has a little fan now.
After expressing his affection, the Flowery Dragon landed beside Chu Jiu: “Chu Jiu, Chu Jiu, I heard that you humans all have that kind of tool that keeps time very accurately, so that people never miss important moments?”
Chu Jiu: “…A clock? I do have one.”
Before setting off, Clara had prepared a small pocket watch said to be exclusively for royalty, saying it would be convenient for Chu Jiu to tell the time and find his direction at sea.
Chu Jiu took out the pocket watch, opened the cover, and showed it to the Flowery Dragon: “This, this outer circle, is the time scale.”
“These thick, thin, short, and long things are the hands. With the hands and the scale, we can know the exact time.”
The Flowery Dragon’s eyes widened: “Wow… this is much more convenient than our big hourglass…”
He then looked at Chu Jiu, with a hint of pleading: “Then, could you please, please wake me up before 3 o’clock tomorrow morning?”
“I heard Mommy and Daddy say that the tide will come in before 5 o’clock and flood the lower reaches of the Nether River.”
“I have to fly to the shore and pick the Nether Flowers before that time!” Chu Jiu closed his pocket watch, thought for two seconds, and said, “Okay.”
An extremely relieved smile appeared on the little sunflower’s round face: “Ah, that’s great…”
“That way I don’t have to worry about missing it…”
Chu Jiu: “It’s not early anymore, hurry back to sleep.”
The little sunflower happily left.
After the Flowery Dragon left the room, Little Can rubbed against Chu Jiu’s face: “Meow?”—”Why do you seem so worried? Is something wrong?”
Chu Jiu sighed softly, hugged Little Can, and lay down in his sleeping bag: “Little Can, if it were you, and you knew the Nether Flowers were very, very important, that these flowers would bloom tonight and be washed away by the seawater tomorrow morning, would you lie here and sleep?”
Little Can immediately flicked its tail: “Meow!”—”How could that be! I would definitely be guarding the riverbank, waiting for them to bloom, and picking them as soon as they did.”
Chu Jiu smiled wryly: “That’s right.”
“If the Nether Flowers really bloom, that’s the normal thing to do.”
Little Can thought for two seconds and was shocked: “Meow!”—”Then those two red dragons, are they lying?!”
Chu Jiu: “I don’t think they intended to lie.”
“Anyway, let’s see tomorrow.”
*
Early morning.
Chu Jiu knocked on the Flowery Dragon’s door on time.
The two red dragons who were about to set off were somewhat surprised to see their Hui’zai really rubbing his eyes and coming out of the room.
The father dragon even said directly, “Kui’zai, why don’t you sleep a little longer? Mommy and Daddy will go pick the flowers.”
The mother dragon also said, “Yes, it’s so dark outside now, you should go back to sleep. Mommy and Daddy will be back after you wake up.”
The Flowery Dragon shook his head resolutely: “No!”
“We made a promise! I am the future high priest. How can I not go to pick flowers and offer them to the divine tree!”
“I’ll go out with you right now!”
The two red dragons had no choice but to sigh: “Then stay close.”
At this moment, Chu Jiu said, “I’ll go too.”
The expression on the father dragon’s face was somewhat complicated: “It’s like this, we are going to fly over, it’s faster that way.”
“Even if you run all the way, you won’t be able to keep up with the speed of flying…”
Before he finished speaking, Little Can had already transformed into a lithe black cat in front of them.
Chu Jiu flipped over and mounted the big Little Can: “I’m indeed not fast at running, but my partner is very fast.”
The two red dragons couldn’t say anything more, silently went out, flew down the hill, and flew towards the lower reaches of the Nether River.
*
Just as the red dragons had said, there wasn’t even moonlight outside, it was so dark it chilled one’s heart.
However, after Chu Jiu took out the [Moonlight Stone], this pitch-black darkness was artificially carved out into a bright hole, a tunnel made of light. The two red dragons flew silently ahead, occasionally stopping to look back to see if their cub was keeping up.
After flying for about half an hour, the group arrived at the bank of the Nether River.
The Flowery Dragon landed on the ground with great excitement: “I’ll look, I’ll look!”
“I’ve seen the appearance of the Nether Flower in the murals, I can recognize it!”
The two red dragons accompanied him on his left and right, silently searching the muddy ground.
Chu Jiu quietly followed behind the three dragons, doing nothing extra except holding up the Moonlight Stone for illumination.
Beneath his short boots was soft mud that squelched with every step.
After walking for a quarter of an hour, the Flowery Dragon scratched his head in confusion:
“It’s so strange, why haven’t I seen a single flower?”
“Didn’t they say that by August, both banks of the lower reaches would be full of those purple flowers?”
Neither of the red dragons responded.
Chu Jiu also remained silent.
Another half an hour passed, and the Flowery Dragon still found nothing.
He began to get anxious.
He flapped his wings, flying high and low along the riverbank, staring intently at every inch of soil, even using his small claws to dig at the rocks on the shore, wanting to see if purple flowers would bloom in the crevices.
However, there was still nothing.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and the mother dragon’s voice trembled slightly: “Kui’zai, the tide will rise in a little while, let’s—let’s not look for them today.”
The Flowery Dragon was unwilling to leave.
He even stopped flying and instead landed in the mud by the river, digging at the soil little by little with his small paws: “Are the flowers too small that we didn’t see them?”
His pink body was covered in splattered mud.
And his beautiful little tail was even more covered in mud.
“No… no…” he murmured anxiously, “How could it be, how could it be, how could there be none?”
Chu Jiu took out his pocket watch and looked at it, announcing the time: “Ten more minutes until high tide.”
At this point, the sound of the distant sea could seemingly be heard.
The father dragon was anxious: “Kui’zai, let’s go, let’s go back today first—maybe we can find the Nether Flowers tomorrow!”
The Flowery Dragon’s voice had a hint of crying: “No! We can’t leave! Didn’t they say that the Nether Flowers on the first day have the best effect?!
How can I let the flowers of the first day be soaked by seawater!”
Chu Jiu looked at his pocket watch again: “Five more minutes.”
Hearing this countdown, the father dragon simply reached out his claws to grab the little sunflower.
However, this stubborn Flowery Dragon actually lay on the ground and hugged a rock, shouting, “The sea hasn’t come yet, I’ll look for three more minutes!”
The mother dragon beside him couldn’t bear it anymore and shouted out:
“Stop looking! It’s impossible!”
“How could any flowers grow in this muddy ground!”
As soon as these words came out, the Flowery Dragon’s whole body froze.
He raised his head, looked at his parents, and blankly said “Ah.”
Taking advantage of his daze, the father dragon directly picked him up and flew away from this muddy pit that was about to be flooded.
