Chapter 4 (continued)

The sounds of the outside world gradually reached his ears.

Birdsong, running water, and the shouts of humans across the river.

He swished his tail and gradually woke up, then yawned and got to his feet.

The early morning sunlight was gentle.

He returned to human form, put on his dried clothes, and walked slowly to the creek to wash up.

Once he was fully awake, the sounds around him became clearer, especially the shouts of people carrying from far across the river.

After washing up, Xie Juanhan went to the riverbank to take a look.

A thin morning mist hung over the forest and fields.

In the flat fields, several farmers were driving draft horses pulling heavy plows. The shouts came from them.

A little farther away, several farm women in aprons were sowing seeds.

The familiar sight of farming filled Xie Juanhan with warmth.

There were too few dragons. For almost as long as he could remember, he had lived in human society.

Being close to people made him feel more at ease.

Xie Juanhan watched for a while, then went into the woods and hunted a small magical beast that resembled a hare. He brought it out, roasted it, and ate it.

The meat had barely absorbed any flavor, and without being marinated, it had also turned out somewhat tough.

It tasted awful.

Xie Juanhan forced down half the meat, tidied up, and went to clean up the house.

He had taken a quick look at the house the previous evening and thought it was pretty good.

Looking at it again today, he realized he had been too optimistic yesterday.

Weeds grew thick inside and outside the house, having nearly destroyed the once-compacted earth floor.

Xie Juanhan crouched down to inspect it. Plenty of weeds had grown in the gaps between the fallen stones.

He reached out and felt them.

The stones had originally been held together with lime mortar mixed with chopped grass, but the mortar had weathered badly. At his touch, it crumbled into powder, sending choking dust into the air.

It looked like the small section of stone wall still standing couldn't be kept either. It would have to be torn down and rebuilt after everything was cleared away.

Xie Juanhan felt his way from stone to stone.

When he touched one stone, a large black beetle crawled out of a gap and turned to bite his finger.

He quickly pulled his hand back. The beetle crawled a few more steps, still looking ready to attack.

The bugs in this spacetime were fierce.

Xie Juanhan looked at the beetle expressionlessly and touched the stone with a fingertip.

A current of extreme cold poured from his fingertip, freezing the beetle in place before spreading to the rest of the ruins.

In the blink of an eye, moisture fell from the air and formed solid ice, covering the entire ruin with a white cap.

The insects beneath the ice had undoubtedly all been killed as well.

"Chirp!"

A startled cry rang out behind Xie Juanhan.

He turned around to see the group of little creatures he had just met yesterday standing behind him, their eyes wide.

Xie Juanhan wasn't wary of the little creatures, and he had been so focused just now that he hadn't noticed them arriving.

Seeing their astonished expressions, Xie Juanhan smiled and beckoned. "Come here."

The little creatures hesitated. One with a gray back and a white belly was the first to hop forward. It dashed to Xie Juanhan's feet and looked up. "Chirp, chirp!"

Xie Juanhan crouched down and scratched its chin.

The little creature cautiously reached out a paw to touch the ice, then quickly jerked it back from the cold. It looked up at Xie Juanhan in shock. "Chirp!"

The others also ran over curiously and tentatively touched the newly formed ice.

Before long, the cold had them all chirping and squealing.

Xie Juanhan played with the little creatures for a while, then began clearing the ruins.

After being frozen, the ruins seemed much safer. There were no strange bugs, and they were cleaner too.

Xie Juanhan sorted out the stones and tossed them aside, then pulled out the weeds growing between them.

Perhaps because the earth in the original house had been tamped down, the weeds had struggled to grow and developed especially extensive roots.

Whenever Xie Juanhan pulled up a weed, it would turn over one or two square meters of surrounding soil.

He didn't like tamped-earth floors anyway, so he didn't mind.

It was just that-

Xie Juanhan straightened up and looked at the ruins.

Yesterday, he had only planned to repair the house using what was already there. Now it seemed it would be faster to tear it down and rebuild it, and he would be more comfortable living in a house built to his liking.

The fallen stones could still be used, but there wasn't much else worth reusing.

Xie Juanhan tossed the stones one by one onto a nearby clearing, collecting them there.

As he worked, he heard another clacking sound.

He turned and saw that the little creatures beside him were helping him clear the stones too.

Some carried stones in their mouths, while others dragged them with their paws. They huffed and puffed as they moved them to the clearing, working quite earnestly.

The sight made Xie Juanhan's heart melt. "Why are you all so good?"

"Chirp, chirp."

There weren't many stones to begin with, so clearing them didn't take long.

By the time the last stone was tossed onto the clearing, the sun had just reached its zenith.

Xie Juanhan was a little hungry.

He wiped his hands, patted the head of the nearest little creature, and asked, "How about I treat you all to something to eat?"

"Chirp?" The little creature under his hand immediately stood up on its hind legs and stared at him.

The others also stood up on their hind legs, ears perked and bellies sticking out as they looked at him.

Xie Juanhan chuckled. "Looking forward to it that much? Then I'll go hunt a nice fat deer."

"Chirp, chirp." One of the little creatures interrupted him and ran forward a couple of steps, its eyes shining. "Chirp!"

The others dropped onto all fours and looked at it blankly at first. They soon caught on and excitedly followed their companion, looking back at Xie Juanhan as they ran.

They seemed to want to lead the way.

Xie Juanhan understood immediately. "Is there something you want to eat?"

"Chirp, chirp."

Xie Juanhan wasn't picky at all. "All right, I'll catch it for you."

Xie Juanhan didn't think the little creatures would lead him to prey that was especially difficult to catch.

He had already met the local dragon.

No matter how strong the prey was, it couldn't be stronger than that local dragon.

The forest was damp, and huge trees over ten meters tall stood everywhere.

Xie Juanhan sniffed the air to gauge the situation around them.

He detected quite a few magical beasts and even saw a startled herd of deer running away.

The little creatures paid them no attention and continued leading Xie Juanhan onward.

Xie Juanhan couldn't help growing curious. What exactly did they want to catch?

They weren't even interested in such plump prey?

Xie Juanhan ran after them for dozens of minutes.

He was getting a little tired and wondered whether he should return to his original form and fly the rest of the way.

The little creatures gradually lightened their steps. Even when their soft paw pads landed on fallen leaves, they made no sound at all.

Here we go!

Xie Juanhan perked up and lightened his own steps.

"Chirp." The little creature in the lead gave a breathy chirp and looked back, signaling Xie Juanhan to look ahead.

Xie Juanhan stepped forward, held his breath, and peered through a gap in the bushes.

A dozen meters ahead, beneath a tall tree, a white bird was pecking at nuts on the ground.

The white bird's feathers were exceptionally fluffy, and it seemed to glow in the dim surroundings.

Xie Juanhan had a hunch that the bird would taste very good and have a high energy density.

He narrowed his eyes.

The little creatures squeezed past Xie Juanhan's legs to get a look. One even stuck out its pink tongue and licked its mouth.

Their expressions were plainly full of longing.

Xie Juanhan said in a low voice, "Wait here. I'll catch it for you."

The little creatures didn't dare make a sound. They only looked up at Xie Juanhan with longing in their eyes.

Before he had finished speaking, Xie Juanhan transformed into a white dragon and shot out like lightning, lunging straight at the white bird with his claws spread.

Then.

He messed up.

He was fast, but the white bird was faster.

The instant it sensed him, the white bird flashed like lightning into a hole in the earth beneath the tree.

Even with Xie Juanhan's eyesight, all he saw was an afterimage.

Xie Juanhan froze.

He returned to human form and looked down into the hole beneath the tree, the tips of his ears growing a little hot.

Granted, he wasn't the kind of dragon who excelled at fighting.

And granted, the white bird had indeed been very close to the hole. Lunging from several meters away, he really couldn't reach it as quickly as the bird could dive inside.

But this was far too embarrassing for a dragon.

Xie Juanhan turned to look at the dumbstruck little creatures, then looked at the hole before him.

He silently turned back and sent a little wind into the hole to investigate.

Soon, the scent of damp earth, moss, and tree roots came back up.

Judging by the smell and the wind's speed, Xie Juanhan determined that the hole was at least six or seven meters deep.

There was practically no chance of him digging it open with his bare hands and pulling the white bird out.

Awkward.

Xie Juanhan looked back at the fluffy little creatures stretching their necks and waiting expectantly for him to catch the white bird.

All he wanted to do was suggest they choose different prey.

Any other bird would do.

Xie Juanhan rubbed his nose and was about to speak.

Two little creatures ran up and nuzzled his legs.

Xie Juanhan said, "What's wrong?"

"Chirp." The two little creatures took his pant legs in their mouths and tugged, signaling him to follow. "Chirp, chirp."

"What are you going to do?" Xie Juanhan asked, looking down.

The two little creatures tugged at his pant legs again. "Chirp, chirp!"

Xie Juanhan understood what they meant and stopped asking questions, simply following them.

The little creatures nimbly led him back several dozen meters to hide beneath a giant tree.

Xie Juanhan was still thinking about the white bird.

If he couldn't catch it today, he could come back and lie in wait after the little creatures went home.

He refused to believe the bird would never leave its hole.

While he was thinking this, the little creatures ran forward.

They ran to the entrance of the white bird's hole and plunged headfirst inside.

Xie Juanhan: "?!"

"Awroo!" The little creatures lowered their heads and growled into the hole, their voices coming out muffled.