Leng Jing, having returned to his human form and dressed himself, appeared before the reviving crowd. One after another, they thanked him for saving their lives. Hua Yuecai was also full of praise for him. Now that the wind and snow had ceased, the path to Hanxing Villa lay clear before them. Bolstering their spirits, the group set out toward their final destination, reaching the villa gates in less than half a day.
The Master of Hanxing Villa, Shen Hanxing, was a handsome young man with an ethereal, otherworldly aura, though his complexion was deathly pale. He had been waiting outside the gates for some time. Upon seeing Hua Yuecai approach, he could not help but offer a bitter smile. "Senior Brother, it seems even the heavens favor you, allowing you to break through the barrier of wind and snow."
At the sight of him, Hua Yuecai could not suppress his inner turmoil. He stepped forward and cried, "Hanxing! We were disciples under the same master; why... why must you force us to meet at the point of a blade?"
Shen Hanxing’s eyes flickered. "Did I force you? For all these years, haven't you been the one opposing Hanxing Villa? It is you who cannot let go."
"I did it just to see you! Why have you hidden from me for ten years?" Hua Yuecai blurted out.
Shen Hanxing’s smile was pained. "I had my reasons," he said, only to be interrupted by a fit of coughing. Flecks of blood stained his pristine white sleeves; he was coughing up blood.
Horrified, Hua Yuecai disregarded everything else and lunged forward to grab his hand. "What is wrong with you? How did your body become like this? Your pulse... where is your martial arts prowess?!"
Though Shen Hanxing continued to smile, his eyes shimmered with tears. "Senior Brother, you shouldn't have come. You really shouldn't have come!" Before he could finish, his coughing intensified, and blood flowed uncontrollably from the corners of his mouth.
Hua Yuecai’s suspicions were confirmed. His voice trembled as he spoke. "You avoided me because you were afraid I would learn the truth, weren't you? You were the one who exhausted your internal energy to save me back then! You lost your martial arts for my sake and even contracted a lethal poison that ruined your health! You spent all these years opposing me just because you feared I would feel guilty if I knew the truth, didn't you?"
"Senior Brother... you... say no more..." Shen Hanxing shed hot tears. "To think the snow that hasn't cleared for a century would vanish upon your arrival. Is this heaven's will... heaven's will..."
As it turned out, Hua Yuecai and the Master of Hanxing Villa shared such a touching history. Everyone present was stunned into silence.
***
Meanwhile, back at Yuehua Villa, Leng Qingqing was hiding under his covers, secretly sipping wine, when he heard a sound by the window. Realizing his son had arrived, he hurriedly hid the wine, hopped out of bed, and scrambled to present an "offering" of melon seeds, chestnuts, and raisins to Leng Jing.
Leng Jing placed the snacks into the bag he had brought. After all, he was a fledgling dragon of only fifty years; no matter how old-fashioned or cynical his mind was, he still enjoyed snacks. In his philosophy, eating food that brought him joy was only natural.
"Son, the clothes you brought last time have all been washed," Leng Qingqing said, hovering nearby as if seeking credit while Leng Jing packed his things.
"Mhm." Before Leng Jing could say more, a maid burst in without knocking, shouting, "Young Master Qingqing, the fermented rice soup with rice balls is ready for your late-night snack. Eat it while it's hot!"
Leng Qingqing had a casual personality, so the maids had grown informal with him, speaking their minds freely.
However, the maid froze the moment she saw Leng Jing. Before she could react, Leng Jing spoke in a low, stern voice, "Stand straight! Do all servants carry themselves as sloppily as you?"
The maid was suppressed by his aura. Her playful expression instantly stiffened.
Leng Jing let out a cold snort and began a harsh lecture. "Is this how a servant behaves? How does the Villa Master usually instruct you?"
"I-I'm sorry! Young Master Leng! I won't do it again! I won't do it again..." the maid stammered, trembling. An angry Young Master Leng was terrifying! Being glared at by him felt like being struck by lightning.
"If you can't do the job, go get married and leave. What kind of snack is this? It's already cold. Take it back and redo it." Leng Jing slapped the table. Terrified, the maid grabbed the bowl and fled as if running for her life.
In her panic, she completely forgot to wonder why Leng Jing, who was supposed to be thousands of miles away, had suddenly appeared at Yuehua Villa.
Leng Jing finished packing his bundle, bid his father farewell, and departed.
However, what he never expected was that by the time he returned to the snow mountain—less than an hour later—a catastrophic change had already occurred. Hanxing Villa was shrouded in a pall of grief, and the heroes who had traveled with him were weeping. Leng Jing, confused, approached the Head Steward to ask what had happened. The steward grabbed his sleeve, sobbing piteously. "Young Master, where did you go... the Villa Master... he followed Shen Hanxing in death!"
"What!" Leng Jing had not expected such an ending. He quickly asked for the details.
The steward wailed, "Years ago, to save our heavily injured Master, Shen Hanxing exhausted his internal energy and was afflicted by a rare poison. He was at death's door, holding onto his last breath just to see our Master one last time. Who could have known he would pass away with a smile in our Master's arms? Our Master, moved by his devotion, decided to... follow him to the yellow springs! Wuuu... Young Master Leng, before the Master ascended, he left a will. He entrusted both Hanxing Villa and Yuehua Villa entirely to you, commanding us all to acknowledge you as our Lord... wuuu..."
Leng Jing stood dazed, speechless for a long time.
***
Three months later.
Leng Jing—or rather, the now-famous Master Leng of the Xingyue Villa—found himself inundated with endless affairs since making a name for himself and becoming a villa master. Martial arts challenges, business matters, social obligations, and etiquette—all of it came rushing in. Most frequent of all were the marriage proposals.
To deal with these people, Leng Jing had no choice but to lie and claim he already had a sweetheart. Once this was said, countless young maidens bit their handkerchiefs in frustration, jealously cursing the lucky woman who had won Leng Jing’s heart.
Meanwhile, Leng Jing kept Leng Qingqing by his side, almost like a sheltered pet, continuing to indulge in his "wicked" little fantasies without actually acting on them. This was because the three-hundred-year-old Leng Qingqing was still a mere youth among the Snake Clan, far too green for such emotions. Leng Jing intended to wait until he matured into an adult snake and could love him willingly. Because of this detached, almost parental patience, Leng Jing remained in a state of ambiguous pining.
However, one might remember that while Leng Jing looked at Qingqing this way, he himself was a fifty-year-old hatchling dragon—much, much younger than Qingqing. How did Leng Jing view his own age, which was equivalent to a toddler in the Dragon Clan?
"Age is not the issue; the key is the soul within the body. To me, fifty years is the same as fifty years for a mortal. In truth, I am already a very mature and profound dragon." Whenever he thought of his own situation, Leng Jing used this to numb himself.
But no matter how he self-medicated, the fact that he was a fledgling dragon was undeniable.
The most potent evidence was that lately, Leng Jing found it increasingly difficult to maintain his human form. Several times, he nearly reverted in front of his subordinates. Once, while presiding over a martial arts assembly, his arm suddenly grew dragon scales uncontrollably, and his hand began to shift into a claw. He had been forced to hide it under his cloak and flee using the excuse of a "nature call."
Driven by these circumstances, Leng Jing had to enter a temporary "secluded meditation," claiming to the world that he was refining his martial arts. In reality, he was hiding in the lake behind the villa to contemplate his problems.
Thus, Leng Qingqing would secretly bring him food at the back of the mountain every day.
On the night of the full moon, Leng Qingqing carried a food box through a secret passage to the edge of the small lake. By this time, Leng Jing could no longer maintain human form at all. He was a magnificent, winding white dragon, currently clinging to the rocky cliffs of the valley by the lake, incessantly rubbing his horns against the stone.
"Xiao Jing, what are you doing?" Leng Qingqing was stunned.
"Rubbing... it feels good," Leng Jing replied, rubbing away happily.
"Xiao Jing, I think you might be shedding your horns. It's just like a snake shedding skin, a deer shedding antlers, or a mortal child losing teeth. It means you've grown a bit more!" Leng Qingqing told him.
Just as he finished speaking, the dark, outer layer of one of the dragon horns atop Leng Jing’s head snapped off, revealing a brand-new, pristine horn underneath.
"So it is!" Leng Jing rubbed off the old horn and immediately felt much better; the itchy sensation vanished.
"Of course! Why else would I be the daddy?" Leng Qingqing said proudly.
Most dragons used their shed horns to forge divine weapons or as life-saving medicine—dragon horns were a highly sought-after treasure in the God Realm. However, the white horn Leng Jing shed ended up being treated by Leng Qingqing as a beautiful piece of "coral." He placed it in his room as a decorative potted plant.
***
Days passed as Leng Jing navigated the martial world. Occasionally, he would take his "father," Leng Qingqing, along with him. Of course, Leng Qingqing usually ended up causing more trouble than help. Despite this, Leng Jing was always able to turn the tide single-handedly, leaving the martial world in awe with his absolute dominance.
Gradually, the snake and the dragon integrated into mortal life. Sometimes, Leng Jing even felt as though he truly was a human—the revered "Lord White Rainbow" of the martial arts world. The world of demons, gods, and monsters seemed to drift further away as life became increasingly comfortable. As for Leng Qingqing, he was the quintessential "go with the flow" type. As long as his son was by his side, he was content. He never thought about using his tiny white snake self to settle national grudges or family vendettas, nor did he ever consider letting his "toddler dragon" son handle such things.
During these years in the martial world, Leng Jing’s fame grew louder and louder. Eventually, he became an undefeated legend, adorned with honors that made him appear mysterious, cold, and majestic. He had originally intended to just wander the human realm for a bit, but he ended up staying for ten years.
Ten years of vicissitudes brought significant changes to the mortal world, but time left no mark on Leng Jing or Leng Qingqing. In fact, Leng Qingqing had officially reached his three-hundredth birthday. This was a significant milestone; for the Snake Deity Clan, three hundred years marked the true beginning of adulthood. It was the age when a coming-of-age ceremony was held, equivalent to a mortal turning sixteen. If a three-hundred-year-old Snake Deity did not intend to pursue immortality, this was the age they could begin considering marriage.
As Leng Jing looked at Leng Qingqing’s perpetually silly face, vague thoughts often drifted through his mind, though he wasn't quite sure what they were. Over these ten years, he had learned quite a bit about the so-called "affairs of the bedchamber," yet he had never put any of it into practice.
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
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沈寒星 | Shen Hanxing | Master of Hanxing Villa
星月山庄 | Xingyue Villa | "Star-Moon Villa," the combined entity of Hanxing and Yuehua Villas
白虹公子 | Lord White Rainbow | Leng Jing's title in the martial world (Baihong Gongzi)
蛇神族 | Snake Deity Clan | The divine race to which Leng Qingqing belongs
登仙 | Ascended | A polite way to say someone has died (lit. "ascended to immortality")
黄泉 | Yellow Springs | The underworld/afterlife in Chinese mythology
春宫 | Bedchamber affairs | Lit. "Spring Palace," referring to erotic or intimate matters
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