Gu Yuena crouched at one corner of the stall cloth, clutching a cup of hot milk tea in her paws.
Several oil-paper-wrapped fried chicken drumsticks were piled beside her.
She ate until her mouth was slick with grease.
Lin Yan had bought them with the hundred yuan Ouyang Zixin had given him.
The condition was that Gu Yuena use Elemental Purification to remove the toxins from every mushroom.
Gu Yuena had no objections.
She gnawed on a drumstick, tears nearly welling in her eyes.
Waaah, this is the most delicious meal I've ever had.
The things she used to consider junk food were now the perfect source of calories.
The crispy coating shattered between her teeth, and hot juices filled her mouth.
The rich, fatty flavor made every one of her scales gleam.
It still wasn't as good as the high-grade nourishing ingredients from the Spirit Pagoda, but compared to instant noodles and mushrooms, it was the difference between heaven and hell.
At least things were finally looking up.
She chewed on a chicken bone as she thought, her mouth full.
To Lin Yan's surprise, the middle-aged women at the market were much more straightforward than the university students.
They didn't react much to Lin Yan's face.
Of course, they still took a second look. Someone who looked like him was bound to stand out at a market.
But what really made them stop was the little silver-white dragon crouched on the stall cloth, chewing on a drumstick.
"Oh my, what a well-behaved little thing!"
"What kind of Soul Beast is that? Can you raise one?"
"Sonny, how much are these mushrooms?"
The middle-aged women were far more sensitive to prices than the university students.
Lin Yan quoted the market price. They haggled two yuan off, just for show, then happily pulled out their money.
They didn't even care whether the mushrooms were poisonous.
In less than an hour, every mushroom on the stall cloth had been snapped up.
Some genuinely wanted to buy mushrooms.
Some felt sorry for a child so young who was already running a stall and wanted to give him a hand.
A small number recognized Lin Yan as the boy who had caused a huge stir at the Spirit Pagoda. They had simply come over to watch the excitement.
"Sonny, aren't you the one from TV who—"
"If you're not buying, move along."
"...How much per pound?"
Lin Yan had little patience for people who only came to gawk, but as long as they paid, he would sell to them.
A little over three hundred yuan.
Clutching the crumpled bills, he stood beneath the market entrance's dim yellow streetlamp and counted them twice.
After adding Ouyang Zixin's hundred yuan and subtracting what he'd spent on fried chicken and milk tea, he still had a little over three hundred and eighty yuan in his pocket.
It was the most money he had ever held in his life.
Lin Yan stood under the streetlamp, silent for a long time.
Then he picked up Gu Yuena and headed for the Soul Guidance Train station not far away.
It was his first time riding the Soul Guidance Train that year.
He used to run the more than ten-kilometer trip, there and back making over thirty kilometers, until his knees went weak and his feet blistered.
But today, he had money.
There weren't many people in the carriage. Under the dim lights, the city's lights streaked past outside the windows.
Lin Yan sat by the window. Gu Yuena lay across his lap, clutching her round belly as she savored the memory of her fried chicken feast.
A boy who looked about his age sat opposite them.
He had an honest, simple face and slightly messy hair. He wore a faded work uniform, with a few flecks of iron filings on his shoulder.
He leaned against the seatback, looking exhausted, his eyelids drooping. He seemed to have just finished a part-time shift at some blacksmith's shop and be on his way home.
Lin Yan glanced at him and made a rough assessment.
A peer, doing manual labor, and probably not much better off than himself.
Still, he envied him a little for having found work.
Then he looked away and gazed out the window.
Tang Wulin noticed the boy opposite him as the Soul Guidance Train passed its third platform.
More precisely, the first thing he noticed was the dragon in the boy's arms.
Its silver-white scales gleamed with a soft metallic sheen beneath the carriage's dim yellow lights.
Its round belly rose and fell gently with each breath, and its soft tail draped over the boy's arm, the tip swishing unconsciously back and forth.
Tang Wulin's heart lurched.
It wasn't the flutter of seeing something cute.
It was a deeper yearning welling up from the depths of his bloodline.
Something about the dragon seemed to call to him, making it impossible to look away.
The feeling was hard to describe.
It was as if a long-lost family member had suddenly appeared before him.
He parted his lips, his throat suddenly dry.
"Do you... sell that dragon?"
The moment he said it, he regretted it.
His pockets were emptier than his stomach. He worked himself to the bone forging at the workshop every week, and all he earned was a few coppers.
How could he afford to buy a dragon?
This was a dragon.
Even if it looked weak, dragons were an extremely rare species. One would fetch at least six figures at an auction.
It was far beyond the means of a poor student like him.
But the yearning in his bloodline made him reluctant to let go.
He felt that if he missed this chance, he would lose something incredibly important.
Lin Yan turned and looked at him.
Then he smiled.
It was a faint smile, the corners of his mouth lifting only slightly, but on a face so perfect it seemed unreal, the effect was remarkably striking.
"Sorry, I'm not selling her. Unless you give me a million."
Not even for a million!!!
Gu Yuena's mental voice roared inside Lin Yan's mind.
She raised her head and bared her teeth at Lin Yan, glaring at him, her tail puffing up like a feather duster.
You beast! I've been with you for so many days, sharing your food and lodging, through thick and thin.
I stole instant noodles for you, gave you a Divine-bestowed Soul Ring, and worked like an ox for you, and you think I'm worth only a million?!
Furiously trembling, she turned and let out a series of snarls at Tang Wulin.
And you, human.
She recognized him at a glance.
The host of the Golden Dragon King's Bloodline.
Tang Wulin hunched his shoulders as Gu Yuena hissed at him, but he still couldn't help sneaking another look at her.
He paused, then decided that it made sense.
A million was an astronomical sum to him.
But for a dragon, it was even a bargain. Lin Yan wasn't asking an outrageous price at all.
"I'll buy it... when I have the money."
He scratched his head sheepishly and held out a hand. "I'm Tang Wulin. Nice to meet you."
"Lin Yan."
Lin Yan reached out and shook his hand.
Tang Wulin looked down at Gu Yuena.
The little silver-white dragon glared fiercely at him with her purple eyes, making menacing growls in her throat.
But he still couldn't help asking, "Can I pet her?"
Gu Yuena responded with an even fiercer hiss.
Pet my ass! Go home and pet your mom! Stupid human, how dare you covet the Golden Dragon King's Bloodline? I'll make you pay for this one day—
Of course, to Tang Wulin, it was just a string of adorable little "roar, roar, roars."
"Doesn't look like it. She bites."
Lin Yan muttered and withdrew his hand.
Then he suddenly froze.
Wait.
Tang Wulin?
His eyes widened as he stared at the honest, simple face opposite him. His brain began spinning furiously at thirty thousand revolutions per second.
Tang Wulin. The protagonist of the original story. The Golden Dragon King's Bloodline.
All the information clicked into place in an instant.
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