Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 21

I'm at the Mercy of God

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Xuan Long woke up in severe pain; the pain in his abdomen was even more intense than last night, as if something was falling down, and his lips were pale. He covered his stomach and sat up slowly, finding himself alone in the room, the other side of the bed cold.

"A'Yuan."

Thinking that perhaps Yan Yuan was in the courtyard, he called out hoarsely, but there was no answer, not even from the palace staff who should have been guarding the door.

Perhaps he had slept too long, so he had left first.

Yan Yuan had to attend the morning court every day, so he couldn't afford to be delayed.

Xuan Long lifted the bed tent and shifted out of the bed, walking out with feeble steps, leaving a blood-red footprint on the ground with every step he took.

Drops of red fell from under the hem of his robes, hitting the dark floor.

When he opened the door to his room and looked out, Yan Yuan was indeed gone, the courtyard was quiet and the drizzle had not yet stopped.

Xuan Long looked down at the blood at his feet. He originally thought that the repeated abdominal pains in recent days were due to the approaching heavenly tribulation and weakening of his magic power, so he didn't take it seriously, but now it doesn't seem so.

Why is there so much blood flowing…

Last night, he and Yan Yuan clearly did not go all the way to the end…

If he rushed back like this, he would definitely scare Yan Yuan. After thinking for a moment, Xuan Long transformed into his original form and flew into the sky.

Half an hour later, in the realm of the Dragon Clan.

In the darkness of the valley, the black dragon hovered in mid-air for a few seconds before suddenly charging towards the ground and transforming into a man in black clothes. He stumbled in the rain, as if he would fall down in the next moment.

Dragons love water, and this rainstorm is a perfect time for them to have fun and play. There are many young and old dragon boys and girls in the valley flying around in their original forms, laughing and playing.

Seeing the intrusion of a foreign dragon, they were alerted and immediately sent the youngest dragon to inform the clan leader while the rest hid in the bamboo forest not far away and whispered.

Green dragon maiden: "Who is he…"

Silver dragon teenager: "I don't know, I've never seen him."

They were all still underage and naturally could not have met Xuan Long, who had left the dragon clan as a young child. At that moment a slightly older looking white dragon girl looked over and said:

"I used to hear my mother say that there was a dragon in the patriarch's family who was born ugly and terrifying, and his personality was so extraordinarily withdrawn and unpleasant that no dragon was willing to play with him…"

"Later, even the patriarch could not tolerate him anymore, so he was expelled, and it seems he even had one of his horns chopped off."

"Really?" The green dragon maiden starred in surprise with wide aqua eyes.

"En."

"That's too pitiful… Dragon horns are essential for our dragon clan's courtship. Having a pair of good-looking dragon horns is more important than being beautiful, and besides, the matriarch is his own mother." The green dragon maiden touched her dragon horns and felt a vague pain… Cutting them off, how painful that must have been.

Ordinary dragons keep their dragon horns when they take human form, as they have always been proud of having a pair of beautiful dragon horns.

The silver dragon teenager coldly snorted, "I think he deserved it, our dragon race is born with outstanding looks and has never been ugly, he must have done something wrong in his past life to end up like this, born with bad luck."

……

This was said in whispers, but in reality, the volume was not deliberately lowered. Dragons are born with five sharp senses, and Xuan Long heard every word of those comments.

His obscure turquoise eyes looked vaguely at the muddy ground without any reaction, and his blurred back gradually disappeared into the rain.

In the elegant little bamboo courtyard, an old man with white hair sat at a small stone table drinking tea, and even though it was pouring rain, his body was not even half wet, and the tea bowl was even steaming hot.

Xuan Long pushed aside the half-height bamboo fence and quietly walked up to him. "See a doctor."

The old man looked as if he was not surprised. He slowly sipped his hot tea before raising his slender eyes to look at Xuan Long. "Charge you for a hundred years of Taoism."

Xuan Long nodded his head.

The old man placed the tea bowl in his hand on the table and lifted his jaw, "Sit down."

Xuan Long was about to sit down when the old man suddenly said sharply, "Ai, wait, don't sit. What a strong smell of blood, don't dirty my stone stool."

Xuan Long stood up straight again and quietly extended his right hand towards him.

The old man ritualistically rubbed his hands twice on his jewelled blue brocade robe before he placed two fingers on Xuan Long's wrist and used his spiritual breath to probe into him.

With a slight lift of his thin eyebrows, he said:

"You're pregnant."

The sky was clattering with rain and Xuan Long thought he had heard wrong, "… What?"

"Originally a hermaphrodite, then having sex with a man, the essence becomes knotted and there it is." (Angel: A hermaphrodite is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both reproductive cells associated with male and female sexes.)

"It's a good thing the foetus is unstable, it's almost gone. The heavenly tribulation is approaching, and the spiritual breath is gradually weakening. This foetus needs to absorb your spiritual power to grow, which is extremely unfavourable to you. If you want to be cleansed, I will boil you a bowl of immortal herbs, drink it and it will be gone."

Xuan Long's lips were trembling, and he was already struggling to speak. He barely stood up straight, and he didn't dare to touch his abdomen. The blood and rainwater under his feet had merged into a small pool, "… What if I want to keep it?"

The old man took one look at his feet and gave a disgusted 'tsk', "I should have known better than to let you in, you're making this old man's floor dirty."

Then he picked up the bowl of tea on the table and took a sip, "Think carefully, this is a human child, you are a demonic beast, can people tolerate it? I don't know what the hell it will be when it is born."

"If I want to keep… what should I do." Xuan Long lowered his eyes, the rain dripping over his thick black lashes.

"Shame on you, to get yourself into this state for the human race, shame on you, truly shame on you." As if prejudiced against the human race, the old man cursed and gulped down his tea.

"……" Xuan Long was silent.

He had lived in the ancient pool for a long time and was unfamiliar with everywhere else, but he remembered that there was a holy doctor among the dragons who would treat anyone, demon or devil, as long as they paid enough money.

Other than him, he could not find any other being who could help him.

"A thousand years of Taoism will be charged for the preservation of a foetus, and seeing that it is not easy for you nowadays, the hundred for the consultation will be waived." The old man put down his tea bowl and stood up, "Come with me."

"Many thanks." Xuan Long strained to lift his feet to follow.

The old man entered the room and turned around, rummaging through a five-drawer cupboard to find something, "You are not clean, so lie down on the floor, lest you soil this old man's bed and have to clean it up."

"Hmm." Xuan Long answered, holding onto the door frame and stepping over the threshold. He stopped walking inside and slid helplessly against the door frame to sit on the floor, his eyes downcast as he panted.

"Hurting badly?" The old man asked.

Xuan Long shook his head, no longer able to speak.

"Serves you right." The old man cursed and walked over with a white jade bottle glowing with silver light, handing it to him. "Drink it."

Xuan Long moved his hand hanging on the ground, but failed to lift it up. The old man frowned as he pulled the lid off and brought it to his lips, "A tonic to stop the bleeding."

"It took me forty-nine days to boil such a small pot. You are too late, drink it and then I will cast a spell, whether it will be saved or not is up to God." (Angel: The author uses 七七四十九天, seven seven forty nine days, which from my research, is a traditional Chinese funeral ritual. It's complicated to explain here, so feel free to read about it if you are curious.)

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: February 26, 2022