Fantasy Farm

After being corrupted, a dragon’s scales would become red, and their hearts would change such that they were no longer able to control their primitive desires. And the dragon race’s most primitive desire is to swallow their most loved ones. Lu Qingjiu’s grandfather was a corrupted dragon, but the thing that puzzled everyone the most, was that he didn’t swallow Lu Qingjiu’s grandmother, and instead swallowed Lu Qingjiu’s parents. Further, from Lu Qingjiu’s questioning, he admitted to doing as much.

Lu Qingjiu questioned Bai Yuehu about the reason he had been fighting with that other dragon. 

Bai Yuehu sat in his rocking chair, leisurely chewing on a juicy sorb as he explained in a low tone to Lu Qingjiu, “After Pangu separated the sky and earth, the dragon race split into two factions – one faction led by Yinglong racewanted to stay close to the human world; while the other faction with Zhulongrace as its leader despised any sort of human interaction and considered all of human race to be selfish and cruel beings.”

Taking another bite of the sorb, he continued, “At that time, the human world’s spiritual energy and power of faith were very thick, therefore spirits could freely traverse between the human and spirit world without any of today’s boundaries.”

Lu Qingjiu asked, “Is this not the case now?”

“Due to the movement of the stars, the spiritual energy and power of faith in the human world became thinner to the point that it could no longer sustain the spirits, and thus the human world began to move further away from the other worlds,” Bai Yuehu explained, “but as the human world lost their spiritual energy and power of faith, the number of humans that were powerful enough to protect the human world were also reduced. Humans had weak bodies that were no match for the spirits. If the situation continued, humans risked being driven to extinction.” 

Even though his tone was languid as usual, what Bai Yuehu was saying made everyone hold their breaths in suspense.

“Eventually, the Luwu race, under the orders of the Emperor of Heavens, united Xihe, Zhu Rong and various gods to construct barriers around the human world. The Yinglong race were also ordered to guard the entrances to these barriers. The barriers needed to be maintained for a number of years before they could be completely fused with nature. As time passed, most barriers fused with nature, with the only barrier entrance left to be guarded being the one in Shuifu village. Most of the entrance guardians gradually disappeared – while some still remained purely Luwu, others had integrated into human society.”

This probably referred to Jiang Buhuan, whose ancestors had been barrier guardians, but their family had now completely integrated into human society.

However, based on what Bai Yuehu had said, it wouldn’t be feasible even if these guardians had no intentions of integrating with human society. After the barriers were set up, the spiritual energy in the human world gradually became thinner. Furthermore, the power of faith also declined as humans did not believe in supernatural beings at all. As such, the guardians’ supernatural powers would gradually reduce, until their blood lineage completely disappeared.

Absorbed in all Bai Yuehu was saying, Lu Qingjiu asked, “So that red dragon you were fighting was a member of the Zhulong race?”

Bai Yuehu nodded.

“Exactly what are they thinking of doing?” Lu Qingjiu had his doubts, “Are they trying to kill the guardians of the barrier entrances? In that case, their target should be me.”

Bai Yuehu confirmed, “You’re right, their target is indeed you. However, they do not dare to make any moves lightly with me protecting you.” 

Lu Qingjiu recalled his parents, as well as his grandmother who till the end refused to leave Shuifu village. Perhaps his grandmother knew about her identity as a guardian, and due to her special identity, never agreed to Lu Qingjiu’s request for her to leave Shuifu village, until her lonely demise.

Efjmtlcu atlr qblca lc tlr atbeutar, Oe Hlcuple ugfk rilutais wfijcmtbilm jcv kfca ab rla yfrlvf Djl Tefte, “Vb atf bcis fcagjcmf ifoa bc fjgat lr tfgf lc Vteloe nliijuf?”

Djl Tefte gfqilfv, “Tbe mjc rjs atja.”

“Ktfc ktja vb sbe cffv ab vb ab mbggeqa j vgjubc?” 

Djl Tefte rlutfv, “Ktf gfjrbc obg mbggeqalbc lr ralii j wsrafgs ab atlr vjs. Ktf bcis xcbkc wfatbv lr ab xlii atf fcagjcmf uejgvljcr cfjg atf yjgglfg. Lbkfnfg atlr lr cba j 100% uejgjcaff… wjcs uejgvljcr kfgf xliifv, yea atf vgjubcr cfjg atfw tjv cba yffc mbggeqafv.”

The dragons that survived could therefore receive a second guardian, and vice versa the surviving guardian could receive a second dragon.

Lu Qingjiu’s grandmother, after witnessing her lover being corrupted, escaped from him and left the human world. Back then, she was possibly already carrying life within her  and had been eagerly anticipating their reunion. Unfortunately, when they were finally reunited, an even more terrible future awaited the couple.

Saying so much seemed to have tired out Bai Yuehu. By the time Lu Qingjiu had collected his wits, Bai Yuehu had already fallen asleep in the rocking chair. 

Watching him sleep, Lu Qingjiu suddenly recalled that Bai Yuehu had just experienced a fierce battle, and though it did not seem as if he had been seriously hurt, the battle had not been an easy matter to deal with.

At this thought, he quietly walked back to the house, rolling up his sleeves to prepare a delicious meal to comfort this cute fox spirit.

Winter soon came to an end, and with that Spring arrived.

The temperature grew warmer, the sunshine was more abundant, and the surrounding vegetation flourished. 

On an afternoon with good weather, Lu Qingjiu got Bai Yuehu to kill the remaining big white pig they owned, and used the fresh blood to make blood sausages. Unlike normal pork sausages, the blood sausages had a smoother mouthfeel which made it even tastier. He also specially mixed in some half-cooked glutinous rice and a special blend of herbs, which made the blood sausages fragrant and chewy without the bloody stench. It was greatly received by everyone in the household.

In the middle of May, Bai Yuehu brought Lu Qingjiu along to the city hospital to meet up with the god of luck, Tai Feng, whom they hadn’t seen for a long time.

Tai Feng looked a lot better compared to a year ago, but he did not seem happy, squatting in the park outside the hospital while uprooting innocent little grasses.

Seeing Bai Yuehu and Lu Qingjiu’s arrival, he raised his head and greeted them. 

Tai Feng’s seeming lack of will to live frustrated Bai Yuehu who raised a foot to kick him, but Tai Feng dodged just in time.

“Why do you look so depressed?” Bai Yuehu asked, “Do you not need my help this year anymore?”

Tai Feng shook his head.

“What happened?” Bai Yuehu frowned at Tai Feng. 

“I won’t need your help anymore.“

Scratching his head, Tai Feng replied, “She’s gone.”

Bai Yuehu fell into silence.

Lu Qingjiu cast his memories back to the last time they had visited the hospital, meeting that young lady with the bright smile. She seemed to have been ill for a period of time. He had assumed with Tai Feng’s protection she should have been ok. Who would have thought that she would suddenly pass away. 

However, Tai Feng didn’t seem overly sad, only revealing a sense of loss on his face. This was probably the difference between humans and gods – gods lived forever. As such, to them, human’s short lifespan of a few decades, passed by in just a blink of an eye.

Bai Yuehu tutted in slight displeasure, “Since she’s gone, what are you calling me for?”

Tai Feng threw away the grasses in his hands, standing up to stretch lazily, “Since I’ve regained my luck, I wanted to treat you to a meal.”

Bai Yuehu asked, “What are we eating?” 

Tai Feng replied, “I currently only have money to eat dumplings, but by the time we walk to the hospital entrance I might have more.”

Lu Qingjiu initially didn’t understand what Tai Feng meant, until they were on their way to the hospital’s entrance, where Tai Feng picked up a few hundred yuan as well as a lottery ticket. When he picked up that lottery ticket, Tai Feng didn’t even bother looking at the numbers before stuffing it in his pocket, declaring that he had won the jackpot, and would use the winnings to treat Lu Qingjiu and Bai Yuehu to a sumptuous meal.

Although Lu Qingjiu knew that Tai Feng was a god of luck, but to him this was a little too exaggerated, and so he couldn’t help asking, “How do you know that this lottery ticket will win the jackpot?”

Tai Feng dismissively said, “Lottery tickets that do not win the jackpot would not appear in front of me.” 

…Wasn’t this a bit too much?

Looking to the peasant Bai Yuehu, who was so poor he couldn’t even afford a 2 yuan lottery ticket, Lu Qingjiu’s heart ached slightly.

They walked to a lottery point near the hospital and Lu Qingjiu watched in astonishment as Tai Feng exchanged the lottery ticket he had just picked up for a 3,000 yuan prize.

After receiving the prize, Tai Feng flagged a taxi, bringing Lu Qingjiu and Bai Yuehu to a famous high class buffet restaurant in the city. Entering the restaurant, Tai Feng was intending to pay when the manager suddenly exclaimed that since Tai Feng was the shop’s 19999th customer, their meals would be free of charge. Furthermore, Tai Feng would also receive an annual membership card, which would provide him and one other guest free food every week, as long as Tai Feng was present. 

Bai Yuehu was used to Tai Feng’s luck, but Lu Qingjiu was looking on in a daze. If not for the fact that they had decided on the restaurant just now, he would suspect Tai Feng had contacted this restaurant in advance to act out a show for them.

Under the admiring gazes of the crowd, the three leisurely took their seats while a waiter brought the menu for their perusal.

Knowing Bai Yuehu’s enormous appetite, Tai Feng waved his hand and expressed that he wanted 3 portions of everything on the menu. Then, while the waiter was still stunned, he finished their food order.

“Your luck is a little too good, “ Lu Qingjiu drank some red wine to wet his throat and regain his composure. 

“It’s not bad,” Tai Feng remarked, “after being unlucky for such a long time, I am also slightly unused to it.”

Lu Qingjiu hesitated, “That young lady…” His tone was careful, planning to immediately change the topic if Tai Feng showed any signs of discomfort. However Tai Feng didn’t mind discussing the matter, and even smiled – although this smile didn’t have any warmth, it also didn’t contain too much grief – merely a little disconsolate, “I had met her when I was young, but at that time she was still a quite cute young girl.”

The dishes they had ordered arrived swifty, with small dishes and large dishes quickly covering the whole table.

Bai Yuehu was not interested in Tai Feng’s story, and began eating. On the other hand, Tai Feng started eating while answering Lu Qingjiu, “When I met her, she was lost. While helping her find her way, made a promise with her.”