The Golden Finger Hatched Early - Chapter 3 - Dragon with a Conscience
Qin Ji had never witnessed a dragon so fearful of pain, but as he observed Chen Xing trembling with fear, yet refusing to withdraw her finger, the coldness in his eyes softened slightly.
"No need."
The moment Qin Ji uttered the word "no," Chen Xing's finger swiftly pulled back, leaving only an afterimage, even for Qin Ji's sharp eyes.
Sensing Qin Ji's gaze on her, Chen Xing boldly remarked,
"You said no."
Qin Ji couldn't be bothered to respond and took a sip of his wine.
Xiao Bao noticeably breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at Qin Ji once more, and then lowered his head to continue nibbling on the braised pork.
When Chen Xing finished her meal, and the table had been cleared, Xiao Bao had his puppets come and tidy up. He then transformed back into a human appearance, brought out some hawthorn honey water and a few desserts, and sat next to Chen Xing.
Although Qin Ji accepted the hawthorn honey water, he didn't drink it. A faint aroma of wine surrounded him, mingling with the fragrance of plum blossoms in the room. It wasn't unpleasant and made him seem less unapproachable.
"I will be in seclusion for some time. If anything urgent arises, send a message directly to me," Qin Ji instructed.
Chen Xing held her cup with both hands and replied,
"Alright."
With a flick of his fingers, the storage ring that Qin Ji had prepared landed on the table beside Chen Xing.
Chen Xing set her cup down, picked up the storage ring, and asked,
"What's inside here?"
Qin Ji stood up and walked over to Chen Xing. He took out a jade plaque and handed it to her, saying,
"Spirit stones and points. You'll be safe within the Guiyuan Sect. But if you ever decide to go outside, the most…"
Before he could finish his sentence, Chen Xing quickly waved her hand and said,
"We're not going out. It's too dangerous outside."
Xiao Bao nodded in agreement, affirming that it was indeed too dangerous.
Qin Ji fell silent for a moment before continuing,
"After some time, I'll be escorting Sect disciples on a trial. You can stay here at Spiritual Peak."
Chen Xing wanted to agree, but she had no choice other than to state a fact with a somber expression,
"We can't be too far apart."
Qin Ji responded,
"Then prepare everything in advance. The place we're going to is bitterly cold."
One can imagine how harsh the environment would be, as even Qin Ji described the place as bitterly cold. If Chen Xing had a choice, she wouldn't want to go at all. But now, all she could do was sigh and say,
"Alright."
There was nothing else for Qin Ji to instruct. With Chen Xing and Xiao Bao being so cautious, they might not even leave the Inner Sect. Besides, Qin Ji had introduced Chen Xing to the Sect Master today, so if anything happened, his Senior Brother would look out for her.
After the conversation, Qin Ji left the small building. This small building had just been constructed today. Although Chen Xing and Xiao Bao had reserved rooms for him, he was not willing to stay there. Instead, he chose to cultivate in a nearby small courtyard house. The courtyard house was arranged quite simply, lacking even tables and chairs for guests.
After Qin Ji left, Xiao Bao asked,
"Master, your flesh and blood are so precious. How can you give them away so easily?"
Chen Xing didn't want to either, but what could she do? If Qin Ji died, she wouldn't survive either. However, she didn't plan to tell anyone about this matter. Even if the inheritance wasn't complete, she understood that anything related to her survival was best kept a secret. So, she just made some non-committal noises accepted the storage ring as her own, and said,
"So many spirit stones, Xiao Bao, we're going to be rich!"
Xiao Bao, who hadn't seen much of the world, was amazed,
"Wow, Qin Dao is so rich and generous!"
While Qin Ji did give them a fair amount of spirit stones, the real value lay in the points within those jade plaques. After all, these points could be used within the Sect to exchange for magical treasures, rare materials, and secret manuals. These were things that couldn't be bought with spirit stones, but Chen Xing and Xiao Bao didn't quite grasp their worth.
After the meal, Chen Xing transformed back into her young dragon form and nestled on the round cushion. Xiao Bao placed the cushion on the bed and gave orders to the puppet, then transformed back into his original form and carefully guarded her on the side.
Chen Xing had only recently hatched from her egg, and she was still in her juvenile stage. Her spiritual soul was still unstable, making her much weaker than a normal young dragon, so she needed more rest.
However, Chen Xing didn't sleep peacefully. In her dream, she found herself in a strange and eerie place, filled with intermittent cries that sent shivers down her spine. Frightened, her scales nearly stood on end as she let out a dragon's roar into the air, a mixture of intimidation and fear.
This dragon's roar caused the eerie darkness to recede, and the cries ceased, revealing the true surroundings, a ground scattered with white bones and shattered weapons. In an instant, Chen Xing took flight, her young age notwithstanding, as the dignity of a dragon demanded respect.
Yet, in the next moment, countless black specters emerged from the white bones, maintaining their deathly appearances, fixating on Chen Xing as if they were about to tear her apart.
At that moment, Chen Xing abandoned thoughts of her dragon's dignity and flew as fast as she could. However, she felt something watching her from above, preventing her from flying too high. The surrounding Yin energy grew heavier, and she swung her tail, letting out another roar toward the sky.
The entire world seemed to tremble. Just as Chen Xing was about to take the risk and charge into the sky, a long sword flew through the air, causing the specters to dissipate. The sword transformed into several rays shielding Chen Xing, and a slender man in black martial attire with neatly tied hair appeared in mid-air.
It was Qin Ji.
He had a cold expression and, with a slight raise of his hand, the sword rays turned back into a long sword. He didn't say anything and swung his sword again, shattering the ground composed of white bones. Chen Xing felt herself falling and clung tightly to Qin Ji. However, she soon realized something was amiss and tried to fly upward.
Qin Ji, who remained unharmed by the Yin spirits, felt the collar tightening around his neck and grabbed Chen Xing, holding her in his embrace. Then, he swung his sword downward.
Chen Xing suddenly woke up, her cry startling Xiao Bao, who was guarding her side.
Xiao Bao quickly asked,
"Young Master, what's wrong?"
Chen Xing, now calmer in her familiar surroundings, transformed back into her human form and ran outside, saying,
"There's a ghost trying to get me!"
Xiao Bao was puzzled,
"But, but Young Master is a dragon. Evil spirits in this world are most afraid of dragons. How could any ghosts dare to approach you?"
By the time Xiao Bao realized this and chased after her, Chen Xing had already run into the small courtyard house where Qin Ji was in seclusion.
Qin Ji had set a barrier for his seclusion, but it couldn't stop Chen Xing. She entered and saw Qin Ji standing in the courtyard, now in a white sect robe, but she still detected a faint scent of blood on him.
Chen Xing stopped in front of Qin Ji and cautiously asked,
"Are you injured?"
Qin Ji lowered his gaze slightly and didn't respond. Instead, he asked,
"Is there something wrong with your spiritual soul?"
Chen Xing shook her head in confusion and added,
"Just that the inheritance is incomplete, and my spiritual soul is unstable. Nothing else is different."
Qin Ji inquired,
"Did anything unusual happen today?"
"Nothing."
Chen Xing thought about her dream-like experience and shivered,
"After you returned to your courtyard house, I had some snacks and went to bed."
Since hatching, Chen Xing had been with Qin Ji all the time. The only change was that Qin Ji was in seclusion, so she stayed alone in the small building. Chen Xing suddenly realized something,
"Could it be that something is wrong with the small building?"
Xiao Bao grew anxious,
"What should we do? Should we destroy it or create a protective home treasure that we can carry with us?"
Qin Ji responded calmly,
"It has nothing to do with the building."
Chen Xing thought of another possibility,
"Could it be that I was too far away from you?"
When Qin Ji brought Chen Xing's spiritual soul out of the Pure Yin place, he had already checked the surroundings with his spiritual sense. He looked at Chen Xing and hesitated for a moment before saying,
"The issue might be with your spiritual soul. You…"
For any living being, the spiritual soul was crucial yet fragile. Unless there was absolute trust, nobody would allow others to inspect their spiritual soul. That's why Qin Ji hesitated, and he couldn't easily continue with his explanation.
Chen Xing looked at Qin Ji in confusion.
On the other hand, Xiao Bao, who had inherited the knowledge of a Treasure-Seeking Mouse, quickly understood the situation and said,
"No, it's too dangerous."
Chen Xing glanced at Xiao Bao and back at Qin Ji.
"Did you communicate behind my back?"
Qin Ji had no personal motives and straightforwardly replied,
"I need to check if there's an issue with your spiritual soul."
So it’s just this. Chen Xing thought it was something more serious. She then said,
"Alright."
Xiao Bao grew even more anxious.
Chen Xing reassured him,
"Don't worry, Xiao Bao. If we don't find the problem, it might be even more dangerous. The ghosts there actually bit my tail."
After all, if Qin Ji were to make a move against her, he might end up in trouble himself.
Xiao Bao stomped his four tiny paws impatiently, wishing that Xiao Wu were there.
Chen Xing thought about the feeling of having her tail gnawed on by those ghosts and asked hopefully,
"Were those things fake? It was just a dream, right?”
Qin Ji didn't answer. Instead, he took out his sword, which was surrounded by a strong aura of resentment.
Chen Xing immediately transformed back into her original form, using her front paws to hold her tail carefully and inspect it. When she noticed two scales on it that looked dimmer in color compared to the rest, she raised her tail and started complaining,
"They bit me, it hurts so much."
Qin Ji couldn't see anything different about the tail at all.
He asked,
"Where did it hurt?"
Chen Xing used her claws to point out the spots and continued to complain pitifully,
"It hurts here!"
Qin Ji gently touched the indicated spots and carefully examined them with his spiritual energy. He finally discovered that there were two areas with slightly heavier traces of resentment. After a moment of silence, he asked the question that had been bothering him,
"You're a dragon, Why were you being chased and attacked by ghosts?"
Even Xiao Bao, the Treasure-Seeking Mouse, looked curious.
Chen Xing, still cradling her tail and gently blowing on it, responded confidently,
"Because I'm scared of ghosts! Who says dragons can't be afraid of ghosts?"