Picked up from Chrysanthemum Garden, the previous chapters can be read here: chpt 1 – 47
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Long Shiyu was sweeping the floor. He swept from the hall to the kitchen, from the utility room back to the doorway, and then from the first to the second floor. Soon the entire old hunter outpost was completely renewed.
Song Qianqian witnessed all of this and was quite surprised: “You’re so fast, and you swept so clean.”
Long Shiyu put away the broom: “I’ve swept the floor in many places before.”
“Oh.” Song Qianqian was suddenly very moved, and whispered to Shen Chaomu beside her, “Sister-in-law is really not easy; you must treat him well.”
Shen Chaomu said: “You believe his nonsense.” He still remembered the few bosses who had hired Long Shiyu—it was simply a nightmare.
Song Qianqian was angry: “How can you say that about sister-in-law? You’re too scummy.”
Shen Chaomu: “…” He was speechless.
Over the years, the route had been blocked by many glaciers. It was even necessary to avoid areas suspected of having skeletal mermaid activity, which took more time than they imagined.
They arrived in the evening. The old outpost was built on a glacier, and no one had returned for many years; even all the cleaning robots were broken. The hunters were busy preparing for tomorrow’s exploration, and the sailors rested after counting all the available ships, so Long Shiyu volunteered to clean up.
He was really skilled at cleaning.
… Probably very experienced.
Late at night, Long Shiyu took a shower and sat on the bed playing Landlords.*
*(Fight the Landlords, popular game in China. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dou_dizhu)
The signal here was not very good; his character repeatedly jumped back and forth, and eventually, he was banned.
*(when the internet is not good, your character might be seen teleporting all over the place)
The beans that he had saved for a long time were all gone again.
He was very disappointed. He thought about it and went to find the princess to play with him.
In the room, Shen Chaomu had just finished packing up the materials. Looking out from the window beside him, there was an endless glacier. They were forever shrouded in darkness, and the starlight in the sky was more brilliant than anywhere else, floating and rolling in large swaths, illuminating the sea and ice wherever it passed.
Long Shiyu poked his head in.
Shen Chaomu said: “I don’t have a bedtime story tonight.”
“Okay.” Long Shiyu was a little disappointed.
“Where’s your Flamingo Lily*?”
*(
, ref: https://www.gardenia.net/plant/anthurium-andraeanum)
“I put it by the window and warm it with the heater.”
Shen Chaomu said: “You actually put it by the window to curse.”
“What do you mean curse? It’s singing happily.”
Shen Chaomu listened carefully, and sure enough, the melodious singing of “Fuck your mother~~Fuck your mother~~” came from outside the window.
Shen Chaomu: “…”
Long Shiyu had already skillfully hugged the quilt and came in, occupying half of the bed.
Shen Chaomu always felt that Long Shiyu was getting more and more proficient in doing this kind of thing. From a certain day onwards, he didn’t even ask his opinion.
Long Shiyu carefully arranged the quilt, arched it into a strange shape, and then slowly got into it.
Shen Chaomu had seen Long Shiyu do this kind of thing before, and he didn’t pay attention to it all the time. Today, he noticed it and finally asked: “What are you doing? Are you afraid of dust on the quilt?”
“No,” Long Shiyu was already nestled inside, “I’m building a nest.”
Shen Chaomu: “…”
Shen Chaomu: “…………”
He knew that some dragons do like to build nests, but they usually occupy old castles, swamps, volcanic edges, or at worst, some high mountain, and then put down many, many treasures, with their tails coiled. In ancient times, dragon hunting families would plot to directly destroy the lair one day – no species likes to be raided, especially dragons. This is the fastest way to make dragons furious, bar none.
But what is a dragon doing using a quilt?
Sure enough, it’s a silly dragon.
Long Shiyu hugged a pillow and continued to read the terminal, his tail sticking out from the end of the quilt, swaying slightly on the ground.
Shen Chaomu said: “Do you have any other lairs?”
“I’ve had a lot.” Long Shiyu recalled. When he was young and frivolous, he often scared away many other strange beasts, and then built his nest in those good places.
This is probably during the rebellious phase of the evil dragon.
Shen Chaomu looked at him with sympathy in his eyes again: Orphan dragons are really miserable, they can only treat this kind of place as a lair.
Long Shiyu: “?”
The night temperature here is very low, even with the heating on, it is still slightly cold in the deepest part of the night.
This coldness is not obvious, a thin long-sleeved shirt can resist it. But today when Yang Zhiming was cleaning things up, he found several bottles of wine in the old outpost.
Bei En’s sea flower wine is a good wine, brewed from special plants grown on the islands in the center of the sea. It is spicy and stimulating in one gulp. In the past, when sailors patrolled the sea, they would pour some into bottles, and after a few sips, they would sweat profusely.
Shen Chaomu rarely drank alcohol, but the cold night made it a perfect time for some spirits. So, after packing up, he poured himself half a glass of wine. The wine bottle, as exquisite as a piece of art, was quite valuable, with words from all over the world written on the wrapping paper.
Long Shiyu, on the bed, looked at it curiously.
Shen Chaomu, noticing Long Shiyu’s interest, asked, “Want some?”
Long Shiyu nodded.
“It’s not good for you; you’re not allowed to have any,” Shen Chaomu said. “What if you start breathing fire after drinking it?” He then took a sip himself.
Long Shiyu whimpered.
He stared blankly as Shen Chaomu poured out a glass of wine; the amber liquid had a beautiful luster.
Shiny good stuff.
Evil dragons have no resistance to gorgeous and shiny things.
But past experience told him that getting drunk never ended well.
Shen Chaomu went to bed and turned off the light. Long Shiyu asked again, “I really don’t get a bedtime story tonight?”
“No, I can’t make one up.”
“Okay.” Long Shiyu shifted a little.
The room was quiet for a while.
Shen Chaomu inexplicably recalled the strange dream he’d had the night before.
That silver dragon…
He hadn’t seen Long Shiyu’s dragon form, but the colorful scales around the edges were unique. For some reason, he could even imagine the scales shimmering like diamonds as the dragon spread its wings in the clear sky.
The dream and this image felt so real, as if they had actually happened. But there was no such scene in his memory; he and Long Shiyu had never met before.
He temporarily put the matter aside. “I’m going to explore the northern glacier tomorrow. You stay at the outpost and don’t wander off.”
“Okay.” Long Shiyu nodded.
Although he couldn’t see him in the dark, Shen Chaomu could sense the young man’s sincerity. He said, “Don’t follow me either.”
“Okay.”
“Really?”
“Really. When have I ever lied to you?”
Because of this sentence, Long Shiyu boarded the warship the next day.
Shen Chaomu had said, “Anyway, since you’re definitely going to run around, it’s better to take you with me from the start.”
“Okay.” Long Shiyu looked happy and began to stick his head out to enjoy the breeze.
Shen Chaomu thought of that silly golden retriever again.
The warship sailed through the waves. In the distance, other ships were heading in different directions. They all carried signal flares. If they discovered a large gathering of skeletal mermaids, they would throw the flares into the sea. The bright light would scare the mermaids away temporarily, and a marker would automatically appear on everyone’s terminal.
Long Shiyu asked, “What if their lair isn’t destroyed?”
“We’ll just blow up the entire Land of Eternal Night,” Shen Chaomu replied. “High-powered thermal weapons are very effective against large groups of slow-moving beasts like these. The association first encountered a skeletal mermaid frenzy 57 years ago. The only reason we didn’t use those weapons then was that we didn’t have time; they had already reached the main island.”
“Oh.”
“And we won’t blow this place up unless it’s absolutely necessary. The waterfall’s water source comes from the other side of the planet. There’s another waterfall there, flowing towards the planet’s center and then up to the high-altitude Land of Eternal Night. If we destroy this structure, we don’t know what the consequences would be. A planet collapsed completely because of this once.”
He continued, “Not to mention, some strange beasts have special ways to travel between planets. Many are like him or you. When they become human, they’re difficult to find and can easily blend into the evacuated crowds—crowds where it’s impossible to identify everyone. The alliance can’t reject all their evacuation requests. As a result, the strange beasts on the collapsed planet escaped with the alliance fleet.”
“If they get fake identities, it will be even harder to identify them. So, we often have powerful thermal weapons but won’t use them rashly.”
“Oh.” Long Shiyu sat on the deck, flicking his tail. “It sounds difficult and troublesome.”
“It is what it is.”
Long Shiyu wrapped his tail around Shen Chaomu’s wrist. “It’s okay; I’ll be with you. You can ask me to bite anyone.”
Shen Chaomu was stunned for a moment, then rubbed Long Shiyu’s head. “Good boy, biting is wrong.”
Long Shiyu: “…”
The oncoming sea breeze blew, Shen Chaomu thought, although the silly dragon was so happy when he was by his side, eating, drinking and having fun all day long, he should apologize to Long Shiyu after this matter is over. At that time, Long Shiyu can go wherever he wants.
Long Shiyu said again: “It’s too boring on this boat, let’s listen to music.”
“Listen to what?” Shen Chaomu said, “Speaking of which, I don’t seem to know what kind of music you like.”
Long Shiyu reached into his down jacket and dug around.
Shen Chaomu: “What are you doing?”
Long Shiyu took out a pot of flowers from the fluffy clothes.
Flamingo Lily “Fuck your mother, fuck your mother”
Shen Chaomu said: “…Why did you bring it out too?”
“I think it’s auspicious to bring it out, it can bring good luck.” Long Shiyu looked at his little flower happily, and put it on the bow, “It’s like the kind of small decoration placed in front of a car or aircraft.”
“This decoration is too strange.”
“That’s why it’s interesting.” Long Shiyu said, “Look, it has recently learned to sing.” He poked the little flower’s leaves, “Come on, sing a song for us.”
The Flamingo Lily swayed in the wind, singing loudly: “Oh~~ You are all turtles~~ You are all mother’s grandsons~~”
Shen Chaomu: “…Quickly put this thing back.”
“Oh~~you are also a grandson~~”
Shen Chaomu: “…”
The flower sang continuously like a radio, spreading fragrant words all over the ice sea.
Two warships came from afar, facing them, and it was the young hunter Shen Chaomu met in the submarine—they took a photo together after returning to the island.
The hunter’s face turned red with excitement when he saw Shen Chaomu, and he waved while standing on the boat: “Mr. Shen, Mr. Shen”
Shen Chaomu nodded to him.
He admires Shen Chaomu extremely. Today, he was still extremely nervous when cruising in the Land of Eternal Night. It was all thanks to the “little secret” that Shen Chaomu had told him before that he calmed down.
The skeletal mermaid is so scary, when the ships met on the route, Mr. Shen was still as calm as before.
He could even faintly hear singing, as expected of a calm and brave dragon slayer.
After confirming that there was nothing unusual about each other, the three ships quickly passed each other.
The loud singing voice approached and moved away quickly: “Oh ~~ I’m dancing on your grave~”
“Oh~ Turtle son, I’ll fuck your mother~”
The hunter was dumbfounded.
His companion also murmured: “Mr. Shen’s hobbies are a bit special.”
“…Maybe this is the power of an excellent hunter.” The young hunter suddenly cheered up, “What we hear is swear words, but in his ears it is a powerful spur, that singing tells him that if he doesn’t work hard to hunt, he will enter the grave. You can only climb higher”
“Is, is that so?”
“It must be so.” His eyes were firm, “I must learn from Mr. Shen and try not to be a turtle son.”
Over there, Flamingo Lily finally finished singing, swaying in the cold wind with a look of disdain.
Shen Chaomu rubbed his brow and said, “Don’t take this thing out next time.”
Long Shiyu was still nostalgic, but the little flower was tired of singing and refused to say anything more.
The warship sailed for over half an hour. The deep sea area was normal, and there was no trace of skeletal mermaids.
A large ice sheet appeared in the distance.
This was where Shen Chaomu was going today.
Shen Chaomu said, “This is the Griffin Icefield, so named because glacier griffins used to be spotted here year-round.”
There were three crashed aircraft near the ice sheet by the sea, and the wreckage was covered with ice and snow.
After the warship approached the nearby waters and dropped anchor, the two of them landed on a simple black rubber boat.
Shen Chaomu walked around the aircraft twice and used his abilities to break through the ice. He found two frozen corpses inside.
“Why did they come here?” Long Shiyu poked his head in to look. “Doesn’t the large amount of stardust here affect the aircraft?”
Eternal night also comes from this; the light of stars cannot penetrate the stardust.
“There are also many ruins of the Bei En Dynasty here, and there is no one guarding them, so occasionally mercenaries who want to make a fortune come here to take risks,” Shen Chaomu replied. “In remote places, if there is no special communication channel of the association, there is no signal at all. Many of them froze to death here due to the aircraft being out of control or crashing.”
Shen Chaomu took out a black and red short stick from his equipment bag. With a light flick, the stick unfolded and stretched into a long stick.
He squatted down and inserted the signal pole deeply into the snow so that someone would come to transport the body back for identification after the mission was over.
Long Shiyu was turning his head to look at the distant ice field when he heard Shen Chaomu say, “If you go ten kilometers further here, you will reach the death zone of the Blazing Dragon… I don’t know if you know him.”
Twenty or thirty years ago, hunters went deep into the polar regions and were swept into the crevasses of glaciers by avalanches.
Following the narrow gap forward, they saw a thick ice wall. The huge black shadow within, frozen in its final moments, was all that remained of the creature that perished here.
The red dragon’s claws were outstretched, its eyes wide open. Its wings and tail, however, had turned to white bone.
It had been killed by an unknown monster, its flesh and blood instantly decayed.
This image was captured in a documentary. To this day, the identity of the Blazing Dragon’s killer remains a mystery. The scene suggested a battle between monsters, perhaps… one involving spiritual abilities.
But history records only one individual capable of such rapid decay through spiritual means.
Shen Di of the Dragon Hunting Family.
Shen Di, a revered hero and role model among dragon slayers, is a figure of legend. His tales of valor and extraordinary feats are widely known.
Before Shen Chaomu’s rise, Shen Di was the undisputed top talent in the family’s history. His spiritual power was immense; at its peak, his battles with strange beasts left mountains barren, their plants withered.
However, he perished during a dragon slaying mission centuries ago. He chose not to preserve his spiritual power through an alchemy circle and enter the trial hall. Instead, he was buried like an ordinary person.
Thus, this unsolved mystery was ultimately attributed to a clash between monsters.
Having ventured here, Shen Chaomu casually inquired about the incident, though he held little hope of gleaning any insights from Long Shiyu.
“I don’t know much,” Long Shiyu admitted. “I might have seen it before; I’d have to see it again to be sure. But I’m not interested in dead dragons.”
As always, he displayed little sentiment when discussing his own kind.
He had occasionally mentioned other strange beasts to Shen Chaomu, never seeming particularly concerned.
Though most strange beasts are inherently hostile to one another…
The rubber boat carried a simple sled, capable of gliding swiftly across the vast expanse of snow once activated.
The sled started, propelled by the biting wind. As they ventured deeper into the Griffin Icefield, Shen Chaomu asked, “Don’t you like them? The other strange beasts, I mean.”
“Like?” Long Shiyu, who had been playing with the Flamingo Lily, seemed momentarily taken aback. “Why would I like them?”
“…It’s nothing.” Shen Chaomu, realizing the absurdity of his question, backtracked. “Forget I asked.”
After all, Long Shiyu was merely a weak, naive, and innocent dragon, possessing meager wealth and resorting to nesting in a quilt. Such indifference seemed somewhat incongruous.
Shen Chaomu disliked the aloof nature of these strange beasts.
But when it was Long Shiyu’s turn, his first thought was that it was okay. At least the young man wouldn’t easily relax his vigilance or get too close to other dangerous beasts.
After going deeper into the ice sheet for another two hours, they stopped in front of an area with tall glaciers. Several ferocious scratches marred the ice, as if something had fought fiercely there. On the ground were the brown feathers of a griffin, covered in frost.
Shen Chaomu stroked those sharp scratches and said after a few seconds, “These were left by mantises, and there are a lot of them. We also saw mercenaries killed by mantises in the undersea tunnel before.”
The scratches continued deep into the glacier.
Long Shiyu wrapped his tail around Shen Chaomu’s wrist. “Didn’t Wilpan mention that his settlement disappeared in Bei En?”
“Yes.” Shen Chaomu looked up at the white snow. The crevices of the glacier under the floating starlight were deep and terrifying, extending into the distance.
He said, “The sky settlement has fallen to the Land of Eternal Night.”
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T/N: Translating this is definitely unrelated to Sylus’ myth card, I promise.
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