"Nonsense, you are my younger brother, how could I mistake you? If I did, then so be it!" The girl cried as she spoke with determination.
Her hands clutched tightly to Zhang Chen’s clothes, as if afraid he would run away. In the struggle, a horrifying, scarlet mark was revealed on her skin, crimson and scabbed, looking terrifying.
Zhang Chen set down the crystal pork knuckle, his eyes moved to the girl’s wrist. Noticing Zhang Chen’s gaze, the girl quickly released her grip, pulling her hands back into her sleeves.
Zhang Chen looked at the girl, his mind swirling with thoughts. She met his gaze with a nervous face, like a frightened fawn, her complexion no longer rosy but a ghastly pale.
Upon closer inspection, Zhang Chen could see faint handprints on the girl’s cheeks, concealed with makeup, making them nearly invisible. Had they not been so close, Zhang Chen would not have noticed anything amiss.
"Prince Pingbian is getting old and frail, and enjoys tormenting people for pleasure."
After a long pause, the girl lowered her head and said to Zhang Chen in a somber voice, "But don’t worry, I can endure! As long as I don’t die, I can eventually rise again."
Perhaps feeling she lost her elder sisterly dignity in front of Zhang Chen after he noticed something wrong, the girl suddenly stood with a hint of panic and said, "I must go now, the Prince’s Mansion has strict entry and exit times. I will come to see you again once I have pleased the Prince."
With her words, she turned and left, like a startled rabbit. Her legs went weak, body staggering, but she quickly steadied herself and rushed out the door in a panic.
Watching the girl’s departing back, Zhang Chen was moved. He quickly dashed into the house, grabbing a small box and hurriedly rushed out. Seeing the carriage about to leave, Zhang Chen promptly called out, "Wait a moment."
The carriage halted, and the girl lifted the curtain, revealing a somewhat pale face. She forced a smile and said, "What else does little brother have to say?"
Zhang Chen came to the carriage with the box, placing it on board, "Take this money!"
"Inside is a thousand taels of father’s silver and my own five hundred taels of savings. It’s just a token of our care, could it be that you truly refuse to recognize us?" Her eyes reddened again, thinking Zhang Chen did not want to acknowledge her.
"You need money more than I do at the Prince’s Mansion," Zhang Chen said firmly, "With this silver, your life can be a bit easier, and once it is, so will mine in the future. I have no expenses outside, this silver is like a stone in my hands, only in yours can it be fully utilized. If you don’t take it, don’t come to see me again!"
Hearing this, the girl was left speechless, her voice catching. She then stretched her hand to stroke Zhang Chen’s head, took a deep breath, and said, "Little brother has grown up! Focus on your studies, I will ensure you a future."
"Madam, time is up!" the burly coachman called out.
The girl looked reluctantly at Zhang Chen, her thousand unsaid words turned into earnest exhortations ’Study hard, I will come to see you again.’ She then let down the curtain, her eyes moist, and the carriage wobbled away into the distance.
At that moment, a figure approached from afar, cradling a White Fox and wobbly walking past the carriage. Glancing at the luxurious carriage, the bookworm Zhang Chi’s face showed surprise, "Who would have thought that such figures would visit this remote village, truly a rare guest."
Looking at the splendid carriage, then glancing at his own tattered clothes, the bookworm Zhang Chi’s gaze showed a trace of incomprehensible complexity. He saw Zhang Chen standing at the doorstep, then walked past Zhang Chen, holding the Fox Spirit with his head held high, a look of disdain in his eyes, muttering under his breath, "Brute! Country bumpkin!", and continued walking wobbly towards the village without returning home, unknown what he intended to do.
Listening to the insult from bookworm Zhang Chi, Zhang Chen did not retaliate, but his expression was subtle. A thought crossed his mind, he looked at the bookworm Zhang Chi’s back, then at the closely adjoining houses of his own and Zhang Chen’s family, once both part of Zhang Chen’s own, appearing almost as one family standing lonely at the village edge.
Back then Zhang Chen’s father was an exiled person, considered an outsider unable to integrate into this village, so they had to build a house at the village edge, some distance from the village center.
Thinking about his name and bookworm Zhang Chi’s name, sounding so similar, living in adjacent houses, Zhang Chen’s expression turned wonderfully complicated.
He suddenly remembered, wasn’t bookworm Zhang Chi brought to the village by his mother?
If so, then with Zhang Chen’s wit, a guess formed in his mind, "Could that girl be bookworm Zhang Chi’s sister? Did the bookworm’s sister mistake me?"
Looking at the bookworm Zhang Chi’s somewhat dark skin, coupled with scare-induced exhaustion from nightly hauntings, with an appearance like a suspicious addict, it looked rather sleazy.
"If that’s the case, then I might as well enjoy this situation with peace of mind, that damned bookworm Zhang Chi bullied me when I was young, seized my family’s property, and even instigated the Fox Spirit to steal my family’s food supplies, truly deserves it!" Zhang Chen suddenly felt justified enjoying these resources now, without any sense of guilt.
As for the eighteen hundred taels of silver, Zhang Chen did not regret returning it. It was hard-earned money from the woman, using her body, it couldn’t be taken!
Looking at the unfinished meals on the ground, Zhang Chen carefully packed them up, deciding to take them to his little brother and sister to try, as they might have never enjoyed such benefits.
"These fabrics are good materials, they can be used to make some clothes for my little sister and stepmother. The rest of the brushes, paper, ink, and stone I can keep. Though I don’t know the characters yet, I can practice writing, which will help speed up learning later. These things must be moved quickly, can’t let the Fox Spirit see them, if they were discovered and the Fox Spirit tried to seize them, it could prove troublesome."
Zhang Chen industriously placed the food box and fabrics on a cart, then covered them with old straw, and wobbled off towards the neighboring village.
Remember, money arouses people’s desires, with three widows and orphans in his family, Zhang Chen dared not flaunt his wealth publicly, to avoid any trouble impending.
But just as Zhang Chen stepped out of the yard, suddenly a Hunting Falcon screeched sharply in the sky, the sound filled with panic. Then the Hunting Falcon flapped its wings down, actually ran out from between the mountains, found Zhang Chen, its master, and with a face full of panic, directly plunged into Zhang Chen’s embrace.
"What’s going on? What happened to scare the Hunting Falcon like this?" Zhang Chen looked at the panicked Hunting Falcon, his eyes filled with surprise.
’ROAR~’
Just then, a roar echoed across the sky from the depths of the void, reaching Zhang Chen’s ears. Startled, Zhang Chen quickly looked in the direction of the sound, and the next moment, his pupils contracted.
A dragon!
A real dragon!
A true dragon appeared in the sky!
Zhang Chen was sure he couldn’t be mistaken, that Divine Dragon was cruising the sky, weaving in and out of the clouds and mist, startling the mountain’s birds back to the forest in panic, and the beasts on the ground crouched down.
Initially a clear sky, but in an instant, a torrential rain poured down, lightning intertwined with thunder, and the True Dragon roamed through the thunder, exceptionally mighty.
ps: What skills would you like to see the dragon exhibit?
No fillers, indeed, you might have guessed, could this dragon be related to the dragon in the tomb???
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