Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 121

In the Future, You Will Be Taught by Father Himself

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When Hua Niang's husband, the Snow Wolf Demon, was captured by the monks, she always felt that he would return and refused to leave the small house on Weihua Lane, the place where they had made their love contract and had children.

It was only when Yan Yuan decided to give her A'Zhi, after her husband had already been missing for seven or eight years, that she went back to Flower Mountain, as it was not safe for her to be alone with two young children on Earth.

Flower Mountain is the home of the Flower Spirit clan, and is also Hua Niang's hometown, located in an uncontested corner of the Demon Realm, which Yan Yuan heard Hua Niang mention before he died. Now that he was the Emperor of Heaven, when he arrived at a place, he could knock on the ground at will and a land lord would come out to show him the way, and in no time at all, he could determine the way.

When he was close enough, he could find them by their scent.

It had just rained and the mountain was full of cherry blossoms in full bloom, filling every breath of air with a sweet fragrance. An unassuming wooden house is surrounded by a sea of flowers, small but exquisite, surrounded by a small courtyard with a half-human-tall wooden fence and a well made of pebbles.

There was a little boy, about five years old, dressed in a clean little black robe, nestled by the well, fetching water. Half of his body was hanging down, and he was frowning as he struggled to lift the bucket full of water on the rope, his face slightly red and his breath uneven.

A human five year old was rolling around in the mud, not able to do any work, it was just good enough if they behaved. The little boy, however, was already able to help the adults. He had inherited some of Xuan Long's spiritual energy and had been stronger than his peers since he was a child, but the bucket filled with water was heavier than his whole body, so it was impossible to lift it without straining.

When the bucket was lifted out of the well, it spilled a bit because he couldn't hold it steady. He put the bucket on the ground, untwisted the rope wrapped around the handle little by little, and stood there for a while before lifting the handle with both hands and wobbling towards the house, the water sloshing out and wetting the little boy's clothes.

“A'Zhi..."

A hoarse, muffled call scattered through the air.

The little boy froze at the sound and turned around with difficulty, while holding the bucket of water, to see a man standing outside the half-human-tall wooden fence. The man was dressed in white robes, the fiery red sunset in the background, the hem of his garment dancing in the wind, his smile so gentle with the sadness of a long separation and the joy of a reunion that A'Zhi felt it was surreal.

"Father?..."

At a young age, A'Zhi has a calmness beyond his age, but at this moment, his eyes were uncontrollably growing red. He looked at Yan Yuan, his voice was mute, and he was about to cry.

"Father... when will you and Mother come to fetch me."

“A'Zhi misses you so much..."

Yan Yuan shrunk an inch and appeared in front of A'Zhi in a flash. He slowly squatted down and raised his hand to caress A'Zhi's face, smiling, "Father is here to pick you up now."

A'Zhi looked at Yan Yuan in a daze. When Yan Yuan was about to touch him, he suddenly took a step back, and the cold well water spilled over half of his body without him even noticing.

A'Zhi held back his tears. No matter how strong he was, he was only a five year old child.

"Don't lie to me..."

“A'Zhi dreams of Father every night, and Father says every time that it's soon, soon... but when is soon, and when exactly will A'Zhi grow up."

"The demons in the academy say that growing up takes a long, long time, and that to die is to die and there is nothing left. Father said that when A'Zhi grows up he will come back for A’Zhi, but in fact it was all a lie, right?" As he said that, tears fell down the little boy's face.

Yan Yuan's hand froze mid-air, his heart felt like a knife was twisting inside: "It's not..."

A'Zhi was so aggrieved that he choked up with emotion: “A'Zhi dreams of Father every night, and every time he tries to touch him, he disappears immediately... This time it must be a lie too, Father doesn't want A'Zhi anymore, so he left him alone, so A'Zhi doesn't want to see Father anymore either...” Even though he said this, he was reluctant to leave.

Even if he was dreaming, he wanted to see his father more and stay with him longer.

Yan Yuan was heartbroken and entertained at the same time, because this little boy thought he was dreaming. He lifted his hand and executed a spell, and the bucket in A'Zhi's hand fell to the ground, leaving no weight in his hand. A’Zhi slowly looked down to see.

Yan Yuan opened his arms and took the little boy in front of him into his arms, looking at his turquoise pupils, similar to those of Xuan Long, and said in a soft voice, "Silly A'Zhi, Father has never lied to you."

"If you touch Father's face, you will know whether it is true or not."

In his dream, his father would only smile at him from afar and say something ethereal, and it was impossible for him to touch it. Only then did A'Zhi gradually realise that he might not be dreaming.

But isn't Father dead? They all said that his father was dead and that he was a fatherless, motherless child.

A'Zhi lifted his small hand very slowly and touched Yan Yuan's cheek, fearing that his dream would be shattered. After feeling that real, warm touch, a sourness rushed up in his nose and instantly filled his eyes with hot tears as he softly called out, "Father..."

Ever since A’Zhi was born, he had not left Yan Yuan's side. At first, after being separated for so long, Yan Yuan's heart was also filled with mixed feelings, and he was extremely sad.

The end of Yan Yuan's eyes were red, and he used his fingertips to wipe away the tears on A'Zhi's face, smiling, "You are Father and Mother's baby, how could Father not want you."

"Don't listen to the nonsense of others."

A'Zhi stopped talking and suddenly jumped into Yan Yuan's arms, his little arms tightly wrapped around Yan Yuan's neck and he called out sullenly for his father.

Yan Yuan raised his hand and patted his back. As if some mechanism had been triggered, A’Zhi cried out uncontrollably, his voice rising from small to loud as Yan Yuan comforted him.

"Father... Father..."

“A’Zhi misses you so much..."

“A'Zhi thought you really didn't want me anymore… wu wu wu wu wu..."

Yan Yuan knew he was sad and knew he needed to vent his frustrations, so he hugged him and let him cry, patting his back over and over again. His shoulders became soaked with warm tears, and while his heart ached, he thought, if Xuan Long knew he had caused their child such grief, he would surely hate him even more.

Yan Yuan sighed softly in his heart and said, “A'Zhi don't cry anymore, Father will go buy you candied haws to make up for your sins, okay?"

A'Zhi slightly loosened his hand around Yan Yuan's neck, his red eyes looked at him and said seriously, “A'Zhi doesn't want candied haws, as long as Father comes back, that's enough."

Yan Yuan laughed and scratched his small nose with his fingers, "How can A’Zhi be so generous?" He really is just like his mother.

A'Zhi leaned his face onto Yan Yuan's shoulder and said softly, "Because Father treats A'Zhi the best."

Yan Yuan: "Is Aunt Hua treating you badly?"

A’Zhi shook his head and explained in a small voice, "Aunt Hua treats A'Zhi well, but Father is the best and the most important."

Yan Yuan's palm stroked the back of A'Zhi's head, unconsciously thinking of something, his gaze turned dark: "Father is not as good as you think... your mother is the one who treated you the best. When he gave birth to you, he suffered a lot and endured a lot of pain, so when you see him in the future, you must treat him well and not make him sad. Do you understand?"

A’Zhi nodded obediently, indicating that he had understood, and then asked with some anticipation, "Has Father gotten Mother back yet?... When can A'Zhi see Mother?"

"... Soon."

"Soon, you will be able to meet him."

"He is definitely looking forward to seeing you too." Yan Yuan said with a smile.

The location of the last wisp of soul ash scattered on Earth had already been determined. Just as he stepped into Flower Mountain, the soul gathering box had reacted, proving that Xuan Long was here.

Once the last wisp of soul consciousness was collected, he would be able to take Xuan Long back to the Nine Heavens and ask his mother to rebuild his body, and Xuan Long would be able to live again.

“A'Zhi has to hurry and fill the water jar, Aunt Hua will be back soon." The little boy in his arms suddenly let go of Yan Yuan and prepared to lift the bucket of water on the ground.

Yan Yuan furrowed his long eyebrows and clasped A'Zhi's small body, his heart aching: "Why do you have to do this?"

A'Zhi paused, "Aunt Hua goes to the deep mountains every morning to collect spiritual medicine in exchange for demon coins for A'Zhi and Ying’er Jie Jie to eat, dress and study. It’s very hard work, and when she comes back at night she has to cook and clean. A'Zhi doesn't want to make Aunt Hua so tired."

"... If she were to see A'Zhi working, she would be angry, so I have to get everything done that I can before Aunt Hua returns."

A small demon with a low cultivation level like Hua Niang was not well off anywhere. For a powerful demon, cooking and washing were just a matter of snapping one's fingers, but for Hua Niang, it was not easy, and she had to do one thing at a time, just like a human, which was naturally tiring.

When Yan Yuan died, he left Hua Niang a lot of money, but the human currency was not the same as the demon currency, so when she took the children back to Mount Hua, the gold and silver treasures were useless.

"I'm sorry, it's Father's fault for not thinking… for making you all suffer."

A’Zhi lifted his little hand and touched Yan Yuan's cheek, his icy turquoise eyes clear as water, "A'Zhi is not suffering, he just misses Father sometimes."

"It's Aunt Hua who is suffering."

"Good A'Zhi" Yan Yuan gently took the little boy into his arms, and his nose was filled with a faint cold scent; he had Xuan Long's blood in him, and had the same scent as Xuan Long.

After a few sniffs, Yan Yuan picked the little boy up and walked towards the house, ready to take a look at the interior.

The house was simply furnished, with every piece of furniture showing its age, but it was neat and tidy. In the centre of the house stood a four-sided table, with wooden stools grouped under it and a pale pink tablecloth covering the top, adding a lot of warmth to the house, in the style of the flower maidens.

The outer room contained the stove and the dining room, while the inner room was the bedroom.

At this time of the day, A'Zhi and Ying’er are usually at the Goblin Academy, but today they are off. Hua Niang has gone out to collect herbs as usual, and Ying'er went with her. A'Zhi wanted to stay at home and do some chores for her, so he deliberately pretended to sleep.

Yan Yuan carried A'Zhi around the house, listening to him talk about what he had experienced over the past month, his heart as soft as water. He saw a water jar placed next to the stove, and lifted his sleeve and waved, immediately filling the water jar.

When A'Zhi saw this, he was puzzled, "Father... are you not a mortal?"

Yan Yuan smiled lightly and did not say much: "Once I was, but now I'm not."

His mother was a powerful dragon, so the fact that his father suddenly had spiritual power was not particularly strange to A'Zhi. He paused for a moment and whispered, “…A'Zhi studied spells at the Goblin Academy and has yet to learn how to manipulate his spiritual power, so Master and my peers say that A’Zhi is stupid."

Seeing the little boy's downcast look and not knowing how much grievance he had secretly swallowed, Yan Yuan suppressed his heartache and stroked his little dragon horn.

“A'Zhi is not stupid, you were born a dragon and a phoenix among men, and you could recite three thousand ancient poems at the age of three. It must be because those demons cultivate a method that clashes with your spiritual core. It’s because they don't know how to teach you, later on, Father will teach you personally."

"When your mother returns... he will also teach you."

‿︵‿︵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: December 6, 2022