Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

The dragon, a dragon swimming in a bowl full of water, is not an illusion, nor a dream.

Jia'er looked up, shocked at the smiling monk in front of him. No matter how smart and calm he was, he was still a child, and the scene before him was completely beyond his comprehension.

Jia'er had heard many stories about dragons and seen many portraits and sculptures, but the dragons in the stories were all described as huge and mighty, able to turn the clouds and rain with a single somersault and summon thunder around their necks.

In these stories, there are good dragons that help the people and bad dragons that break the heavenly rules, but he had never heard of a dragon so small that it could be put into a bowl.

"This is one of the five hundred little dragons in Tianchi Lake of Changbai Mountain. The little dragon is young and unruly. It jumped out of the lake. I have now captured it and put it in the bowl for the time being."

After Mu Longjun explained to Jia'er, he kept his word and returned the porcelain bottle containing the medicine.

The presence of such a large amount of spiritual energy in an ordinary child was highly unusual, even dangerous. He took the medicine bottle to check its safety and to prevent it from causing unnecessary trouble for the child.

This place is already entangled with a fox spirit, and its excessive pure spiritual energy might attract the covetous eyes of other evil spirits. Oh, right, that fox spirit.

Mu Longjun looked at the garden wall next to him. It was tall enough for an agile child to climb, but it was still somewhat dangerous.

“Go east from here, and there’s a section of wall that’s broken. The crack is big enough for you to go in. Inside there’s a bamboo grove, and the fox demon and his servant are in the bamboo grove.”

In terms of cultivation level, Mu Longjun and the fox inside are truly worlds apart. He can't actually take action, but as I said before, he's just here to chat and doesn't really help. This matter has nothing to do with him.

"Remember to hide well."

"...Thank you, Master."

Jia'er glanced in the direction the monk was pointing. Since the monk was the one who could put the dragon into the alms bowl, he shouldn't be lying to him. Moreover, the monk kept his promise. After looking at the alms bowl, he returned the medicine bottle.

This might be a highly skilled person like the two immortals from before, Jia'er thought. Following the direction the other party pointed, he left. His immediate priority was to see if the fox was still there.

We must find a way to kill that beast who harmed my mother.

After Jia'er left, Yuan Wuxiang and Juan Shou tested the little dragon, who had transformed into a child. The little dragon was very intelligent, able to understand their speech and read, but it could not speak human language and could only make some animal-like sounds.

Preliminary speculation suggests that the child may not have used human form much and is not used to the structure of a human throat, which makes it difficult for him to speak. After all, he looks about four or five years old. Normally, children of this age can walk, jump, and make noise, but so far, Xiaolong still crawls using his hands and feet and can't even say what he calls himself.

He even tried to wrap his arms around Juan Shoutian's arm, but due to the short stature of the human form, he couldn't do it and almost fell. Luckily, the two of them reacted quickly and caught him.

In short, apart from not being able to speak or walk upright, and having an extra tail compared to ordinary children, he has all the energy and liveliness that children should have. In fact, because he is not human, he has more energy than ordinary children. When Juan Shoutian holds the child, he feels like a cat tree.

"This should be Jianzi's job."

In terms of raising children, Jianzi Xianji has some experience, the most recent being Xiao Mibao. Moreover, if you think about it carefully, the top figures of the three religions all have experience in raising children.

And what about Shuangxiu... does Su Huanzhen, who suffered from amnesia and dementia, count? They were quite a handful back then too.

The sky has been clear for a long time now. Regardless of whether the parents of this little dragon are of the same kind or someone else, they should have come looking for him by now. Where are they? Don't you want your child anymore?

Mu Longjun: Coming, coming, almost there.

Actually, the two of them should be grateful. If they had encountered the exact same original version of the Dragon Lord's child-catching plot, they would have had to raise the dragon doll for several years after picking it up.

Juan Shou Tian and Yuan Wu Xiang: Thanks for the invitation. I don't want to be a father unexpectedly. Life as a couple is just fine.

"Even dragons have their own territories. Could this be the child of a dragon king from the surrounding area?"

Yuan Wuxiang teased Xiaolong with a silver fan. The child did indeed like shiny things, including fan surfaces with a metallic sheen that reflected light.

Of course, if he could refrain from biting, Yuan Wuxiang would be even more willing to let him play.

Whether it was because people here had a different understanding of "prosthetics" or because of certain standardized postures for appraising gold and silver, Yuan Wuxiang felt that his hands and weapons were always being bitten by various creatures.

Yuan Wuxiang: Please take better care of your teeth. Look carefully before you bite. I really don't want to see anyone break a tooth because of biting me.

If the family lives nearby, then the little dragon ran away from home, and the family hasn't been found yet, which explains why the other parents haven't come yet.

"So, which dragon king do you think it is?"

Juan Shoutian thought it was possible, but just guessing wouldn't help. The title of Dragon King sounded impressive, but this profession was not uncommon. Apart from the most familiar Four Seas Dragon Kings, there were "Dragon Kings" or similar rulers in all major rivers and lakes. It seemed that any slightly larger body of water would have a Dragon King assigned to it.

Even if you accidentally fall into a well, a Dragon King might come out from the bottom of the well to save your life. Too many "Dragon Kings" have made this profession as ubiquitous as the Earth God.

Moreover, they are in the south, and they plan to go even further south, where there are more rivers and lakes. Just looking at that, it's hard to imagine how long it would take to find them.

"Let's change places first."

The sky cleared, and people began to come out of their homes. Jia'er's appearance reminded them that this place was not completely deserted. If they continued to sit here, they would run into other people. Not only were the two of them conspicuous in appearance, but now there was also a child who was obviously not human. Running into other people would be even more troublesome.

Before the two could move, they saw a monk walking towards them. His direction and destination were clear: the shed in the remote village of Juan Shou Tian Yuan. He was walking normally, but his speed was incredibly fast, and he was right in front of them in the blink of an eye.

The monk looked very ordinary, from head to toe, with a decent but not outstanding appearance, simple monk's robes, and an ordinary alms bowl.

However, this very technique of moving like shrinking the distance between two points indicates that he is definitely not an ordinary person.

"This master... eh?"

Before the two could say anything, the little dragon in Juan Shoutian's arms suddenly attacked as soon as the monk came over. Like two magnets with the same poles colliding, it suddenly rushed off in the opposite direction.

If an ordinary person were to carry him, Xiaolong would probably have already disappeared by now, and the person carrying him would have been pulled down because they wouldn't have had time to react.

But Juan Shoutian was no ordinary person. He swiftly pulled the little dragon back as it struggled free. Even so, the dragon didn't stop, continuing to charge forward. To escape Juan Shoutian's grasp, it even transformed into a miniature dragon the thickness of a chopstick, shooting forward like an arrow.

This actually made it easier for the person holding him. Juan Shoutian didn't just look at things with his eyes, so he could more easily capture the process of the child turning into a small dragon. When the child in his arms disappeared, Juan Shoutian calmly raised his hand and caught the mini dragon that was trying to burst out and bloom again.

It's quite convenient now that it's smaller; you can hold it with one hand.

The commotion Xiaolong made was quite loud, attracting the attention of the other two. Yuan Wuxiang couldn't help but laugh out loud when he saw the little guy in Juan Shouwantian's hand twisting and trying to run away.

Although it's a bit impolite, the size combined with the movement really does look like it's crawling wildly in the dark.

Then, realizing that the monk's gaze was also on him, Xiaolong struggled even more violently, almost blurring into a blur.

“I didn’t see you this scared when you ran outside.”

Mu Longjun was speaking to Xiaolong. Upon hearing his voice, Xiaolong froze in its struggle and then stopped struggling, instead lying on Juan Shoutian's hand and pretending to be dead.

"Oh, behaving yourself again?"

Xiao Long: I can't hear you, I can't see you, I can't see you.

This series of actions looked suspicious no matter how you looked at it, and it made Yuan Wuxiang glimpse the combo that Ling Ziling had used when the group left the East Sea.

"Master, do you recognize this little dragon?"

"nature."

They were more than just acquaintances; he was the other person's parent.

“This little dragon comes from Tianchi Lake in Changbai Mountain. There are five hundred little dragons in Tianchi Lake, and I am here to be in charge of them.”

Changbai Mountain?

Goodness, this little dragon can run fast.

With the parents arriving, the two no longer needed to worry about the child being unattended. With Mu Longjun right in front of them, Xiao Long knew he couldn't escape. Seeing his former accomplices who had escaped from prison in the alms bowl, he felt somewhat relieved that he wasn't the first to be caught.

Inside the alms bowl, the little dragon, knowing what its companions were thinking, blew a bubble to express its speechlessness.

After putting the second small dragon into the alms bowl, Mu Longjun began to properly examine the two. The two, one in gold and one in silver, were quite gorgeous and eye-catching. Standing under the sunlight, they seemed to be surrounded by their own radiance. Although they claimed to be just ordinary cultivators, their appearance made them look more like immortals than Mu Longjun.

However, the Daozhen lineage?

After the introductions, Mu Longjun felt that the name "Daozhen" sounded somewhat familiar, and the two of them also looked somewhat familiar. He lowered his head and thought for a moment, recalling the two figures, one pink and one blue, that he had seen on the ship before.

By the way, Ling Ziling said her sect is the "Dao Ling lineage," Dao Ling, Dao Zhen...

Thinking of this, Mu Longjun looked up again and glanced at the magnificent longsword on Juan Shoutian's back. If he wasn't mistaken, the Tai Chi diagram on it seemed to be spinning.

"...Do you two know about Todoshigeshi?"

Although their styles are different, Ren Yunzong, whom I've met a few times, also carries a long sword that looks more like a weapon than a weapon, wears exquisite clothing that is different from what is common in society, and has an outstanding appearance. The more I look at him, the more we resemble the same group of people.

"Naturally, it is known that Dengdaoan belongs to the Daoling lineage and is one of the main forces of the Daoist sect, along with Daozhen."

Ling Ziling was heading straight south when the other side was chasing two small dragons to the south, so it's not surprising that they would encounter Ling Ziling.

I thought I had just met them, but they turned out to be "acquaintances".

……

Turning his attention back to Jia'er, he followed Mu Longjun's instructions to find the crack, and crept in. Sure enough, he found himself in a bamboo forest. On the ground, which had been wet from the rain, he could see some footprints, not human footprints, but fox footprints.

The monk hadn't lied to him after all. Jia'er was young and naturally small. Hearing voices not far away, he crouched down and hid, slowly crept over.

Thanks to this dense bamboo forest, a heavy rain caused the bamboo to grow rapidly, with the leaves tightly packed together. A gust of wind could easily create a rustling sound, allowing Jia'er to move slowly and hide perfectly.

Jia'er gently parted the tangled branches and saw two people sitting on the ground not far away. They looked like brothers, and a servant with a long beard was serving them with a wine pot.

The air was thick with the smell of damp earth after the rain. Jia'er couldn't smell blood or the pungent odor of a fox, and she didn't know if the fox she was looking for was among them. She could only watch quietly.

The three men spoke in soft, low voices, unlike the voices of normal men. Jia'er could only listen carefully to discern what they were talking about.

In the muffled words, he heard one of them raise his voice, as if they were running out of wine, and tell the servant to buy more wine tomorrow. Then the two left, leaving only a long-bearded servant standing there.

As they left, Jia noticed that one of them was walking strangely. It wasn't that there was something wrong with his leg; it was as if he was enduring some kind of injury.

After the two left, the long-bearded servant took off his outer garment, curled up, and lay down on a stone in the courtyard, his back to the direction where Jia'er was hiding.

Therefore, Jia'er could see very clearly that although the servant had human limbs, the way he curled up and slept looked more like a dog, and there was indeed a tail hanging down behind him, a perfectly intact fox tail with some red stubble.

If the servant is a fox spirit, then obviously the two who left are also fox spirits. The one who walks strangely is probably the one whose tail he cut off.

Fearing discovery, Jia'er remained hidden even after the other person had lain down, waiting until the other person was completely asleep before considering leaving, already plotting a plan to kill the fox.

The fox told his servant to buy wine the next day, and there was only one place nearby that sold wine: the only tavern in the market.

Since he couldn't kill the scourge himself, Jia'er didn't mind using other means. His uncle was a hunter and had poison for poisoned prey, and he also had poison for poisoned rats.

Once he was sure the fox servant was really asleep, Jia'er tiptoed out of the yard. He casually dusted himself off and went home. Upon hearing the news that his father was about to return, he started acting crazy again, demanding things.

This time it wasn't something dangerous like a kitchen knife, nor was it something like mud or tiles. What he wanted this time was quite normal: a fox tail for sale hanging in a hat shop on the street.

This kind of thing is very common in the hands of hunters. With a little processing, it can be made into a small decoration that children like. Jia'er's family is rich, and since what he wanted to buy this time was within the scope of normal children, the adults bought it for him directly.

That's good. This time it's just playing around with hats and fox Weibo, which is better than being sharpening knives all the time.

Having obtained the fox tail, Jia'er recalled the appearance of the fox servant's tail and hung it around her waist in front of the mirror.

Hmm, it does look quite similar.