novelraw Chapter 120
Chapter 120
Chapter 120: This is how humans express their affection!
The car slowly came to a stop.
Xia Li found the right angle and parked the car in a roadside parking space at a very slow reversing speed.
He let out a long sigh of relief and grabbed a piece of paper to wipe the sweat from his palms.
The traffic in downtown Qingcheng City was much more complicated than on the highway. If he wasn’t careful, someone would suddenly appear out of nowhere, always catching Xia Li off guard and slamming on the brakes. The Little Dragon sitting next to him almost flew out several times.
Fortunately, he had fastened the Little Dragon’s seatbelt, otherwise, the guy would probably have grown dragon horns on his head （referring to a bump on his forehead from hitting something）.
Pulling up the handbrake and turning off the ignition, Xia Li confirmed that the entire process was complete. He first took out his phone to report his safety to Mrs. Fang, casually attaching a handsome photo of himself with his hand on the steering wheel.
Mrs. Fang immediately replied with “Vain, aren’t you?”.
Putting his phone back in his pocket, Xia Li turned to look at the silent Little Dragon in the passenger seat.
Half an hour had passed since the kiss. Xia Li felt a little thirsty and licked his lips frequently.
What does it mean to have a lingering fragrance on one’s lips and teeth?
The bite he took of the soft little pudding just now would leave a lingering fragrance on one’s lips and teeth.
Lucia didn’t even reject him, does that mean it’s okay to kiss her a couple more times?
Xia Li unbuckled his seatbelt and was about to lean over.
Lucia quickly turned her head away, her watery eyes looking out the window, as if she was admiring the scenery.
Xia Li held back a smile and said seriously, “Don’t move around, we’ve arrived. I’ll unbuckle your seatbelt.”
“Oh, oh…”
Lucia realized she had misunderstood.
Just as she turned her head back, Xia Li’s big face quickly approached. Lucia gripped the seatbelt tightly with both hands and hurriedly turned her head away again in a panic.
“Why are you holding the seatbelt so tightly?”
Xia Li could no longer suppress the corners of his mouth, the expression on his face as he smiled like a villain.
“…It was dangerous just now.”
Lucia looked out the window and said without turning her head.
“My bad, my bad,” Xia Li admitted, “This is my first time driving today, I’m not good at judging the distance, so I’ve been slamming on the brakes.”
“It’ll be fine once I get used to it,” Xia Li assured.
Lucia didn’t know if she heard him or not, she silently released the seatbelt in her hand, ready to get out of the car.
She fiddled with the door handle for a bit but couldn’t open it. Lucia’s delicate eyebrows furrowed, and she wanted to turn around and ask Xia Li how to open the door. But the moment she turned her head, she saw his big face still next to her head, so she quickly turned back again.
That was close.
They almost touched just now.
Lucia touched her dragon heart, feeling extremely nervous.
Xia Li failed to get his way and sighed silently.
Why did this Stinky Dragon suddenly become shy?
This series of reactions should be a kind of shyness, right?
But it shouldn’t be.
Isn’t this guy fearless, taking advantage of the fact that she doesn’t understand human emotions at all, so even if she’s taken advantage of by Xia Li, she’s completely oblivious?
Xia Li felt strange.
Could it be that she suddenly understood?
“Let’s go, let’s go for a walk.”
He got out of the car first, then walked halfway around the car and opened the passenger door for Lucia.
Xia Li extended his hand, very gentlemanly, wanting to help Lucia out of the car, but this Stinky Dragon actually ignored his outstretched hand. A small foot wearing white socks stuck out, followed by a nimble jump.
“Thud!” A sound, a steady landing.
Locking the car door, Xia Li followed closely behind Lucia.
There was a long river across the road ahead, and the park was built around the river. Both of them had a clear goal, they both wanted to avoid the noisy streets and go to a quiet place.
Looking at Lucia walking in front, Xia Li sighed in his heart.
Just a kiss, is it necessary?
It’s not like he hasn’t kissed her before.
She didn’t even react when he kissed her last time.
Now it’s good, the Stinky Dragon won’t even let him hold her little hand.
Staring at the white and tender little hand that hung naturally by her side, Xia Li refused to back down, he was determined to succeed today.
“It’s quite dangerous on this road.”
Xia Li said faintly, “If I get hit by a car, I think I’ll fly pretty far.”
As expected, Lucia in front stopped immediately.
She turned her head, her beautiful eyes looking over, with a hint of vigilance in them.
It seemed she was judging the truth of Xia Li’s words.
Oh no…
The Stinky Dragon actually started to guard against him!
“Rumble—”
A car sped past them. For the first time, Xia Li felt that those ghost fire teenagers who would blast their music weren’t that noisy after all.
“Come here…”
Lucia frowned, but still extended her little hand.
Xia Li quickened his pace and grabbed the dragon claw he had been longing for.
However, following the principle of “one dragon claw on top”, in the end, he was held by Lucia.
“There’s a park ahead, want to go for a walk?”
Lucia’s hand was still too small, she couldn’t even hold Xia Li’s wrist, after struggling for a long time, she could only hook three of his fingers.
“Okay…”
Wangjiang Park, most of its area was covered by plants.
Winter in southern cities was never bleak, the emerald green bamboo forest rustled in the wind.
If it weren’t for the fact that everyone was wearing dark, thick cotton jackets, it would be hard to imagine that this lush scene would appear in winter.
“Speaking of which, the change of seasons in Azure Continent is not obvious. Apart from the difference in day and night time difference, which leads to a cycle in plant growth, it’s usually difficult to distinguish between spring, summer, autumn, and winter.”
Xia Li was making conversation, the topics he could talk about with Lucia were limited to those few.
Apart from daily chores, the only thing left was what happened in Azure Continent.
Lucia brought back her wandering thoughts, she didn’t look at Xia Li, but lowered her head and stared at her shoes while walking, answering Xia Li’s questions as she walked.
“The seasons there mainly depend on the location… The North Continent is frozen all year round, and the East Continent is mostly barren due to too much sunlight.”
“You’ve been to such distant places?”
“Most of it is inherited memory, I’ve actually experienced very little, after all, I’ve just come of age.” Lucia said, her head lowered.
And she was a homebody dragon.
Moreover, for the first half of her life, she was either moving or on the way to moving… She would be visited by brave heroes with swords from time to time.
Thinking of this, Lucia looked at Xia Li with resentful eyes.
When she saw that Xia Li was also looking at her, she looked away again, pretending to look at the bamboo forest behind his head.
“Why are you so wary of me? I don’t eat dragons.”
The evil dragon was still the honest and simple evil dragon, she subconsciously nodded and said, “I don’t eat people either.”
“…”
Xia Li was obviously dissatisfied with the evil dragon’s look.
Just a kiss and she’s like this, wouldn’t she bury her head in the ground if he kissed her twice?
Xia Li had always wanted a delicate evil dragon to lie shyly in his arms, but now that the evil dragon was really shy, he felt it wasn’t good.
“That car, I borrowed it from my dad, I want to take you to more places… Is there anywhere you want to go?” Xia Li asked.
In the park with wide roads, old men were exercising by whipping spinning tops with long whips, aunties in festive red clothes were practicing sword dancing in the pavilion, and young men and women were sitting on benches, shyly entangled like two strands of rope.
Looking at this harmonious scene, and then looking down at his three fingers held by the evil dragon, Xia Li felt a sense of restlessness in his heart.
“…Can we go anywhere?”
“Yes.” Xia Li nodded.
The two walked around the bamboo forest and finally found a bench to rest on, but Lucia didn’t intend to sit down, instead, she stood there holding Xia Li’s hand.
After thinking for a long time, she finally spoke.
“Azure Continent.”
Xia Li’s heart skipped a beat when he heard the answer.
From the moment he realized he liked Lucia, he had been making an effort.
The direction of his effort had changed from “letting Lucia find her own interests on Earth” to “letting Lucia find a reason to stay on Earth”.
He had done so much, just to make Lucia attached to Earth, to make her stay.
But after going around in circles, he brought her back to the starting point?
“…Why?”
Xia Li’s gaze became serious.
He stood in front of Lucia, blocking the warm winter sun.
The shadow covered Lucia’s vision, the emerald green leaves of the bamboo forest above her head were blown into waves by the wind. She looked at the brave hero in front of her, who had a look of loss in his eyes, and lowered her head slightly.
“Don’t you like it here?” Xia Li asked softly.
“I like it.”
“Then why do you want to leave?”
“I’m too weak on Earth…”
Lucia’s answer surprised Xia Li.
“Here, I don’t have the power to protect you, nor do I have the power to protect myself, which makes me very uneasy.” Lucia said.
Xia Li looked at her quietly, she paused and then said.
“The current me, doesn’t have the ability to take Xia Li away.”
“…”
Xia Li was silent.
He suddenly remembered the movie he had asked Lucia to watch.
This was the first time Lucia had seen a movie about dragons, she should be very immersed in it.
The ending of the movie was that at a wedding full of flowers and blessings, the dragon snatched away the princess he loved in front of everyone. The princess got her wish, lived with the dragon, and even gave birth to a lovely daughter for him.
Thinking of Lucia’s unique way of thinking.
Xia Li scratched his head, feeling like his brain was about to grow.
So, she put herself in the shoes of that dragon, and the reason she wanted to go back to Azure Continent was to take him away?
That’s not right either.
Xia Li was innocent, he had never had any relationship with any woman, Lucia shouldn’t have this sense of crisis.
“You…”
Stunned by Lucia’s two sentences, Xia Li hesitated several times.
Lucia continued speaking on her own: “The relationship between humans and dragons must be based on the premise that the dragon is a dragon. If the dragon is a human…”
“Wait, stop talking, let me think.”
Lucia was about to start explaining her theory when Xia Li stopped her with his hand.
After thinking for a long time, Xia Li felt that Lucia’s uneasiness was normal.
For dragons, controlling power and dominance was very important.
But the movie Xia Li asked Lucia to watch was to make her understand human-dragon love, not to make her face reality.
This was Earth, the rules were different from the magical world.
“Lucia, you used to rely on me a lot, didn’t you?” Xia Li said.
“Rely?”
“Like when you can’t sleep, you send me messages, you come to me on time at mealtimes, and if the appliances break down, you tell me immediately. These are all dependencies.”
“These are dependencies…” Lucia thought seriously.
As a solitary dragon, she had never thought about this before.
◈◈◈
The word “dependence” was foreign to her.
“Just like fish can’t live without water, sheep can’t live without grass, and we can’t live without air… these are all forms of dependence.
In this world, you don’t need that kind of world-destroying power. If you have any worries, just leave them to me like before. I want you to rely on me like this.”
Xia Li said, taking a step forward.
His shadow completely enveloped Lucia.
If Lucia wanted to go back because she missed home, then Xia Li would find a way to take her back.
But if it was because of that silly dragon’s own theories, then there was no need at all. It was all her overthinking.
“I rely on Xia Li…”
Lucia murmured, looking up in thought.
“Then when can Xia Li rely on me?”
“I’ve always relied on you.”
“…How do you show your dependence?” The silly dragon looked up in surprise.
“I can’t live without you.” Xia Li said bluntly.
“Th-that exaggerated?!”
“Yeah, I’d just lie down and die without you.” Xia Li nodded seriously.
Lucia’s little face was stunned. She didn’t avoid Xia Li’s gaze, and those amber-like, clear eyes reflected Xia Li’s face.
Looking at the face that was gradually approaching, Lucia didn’t even have time to dodge.
Her vision darkened, her head spun.
The evil dragon nearly fainted.
Her mouth… her lips were touched again!
Her dragon eyes widened in shock.
Lucia licked her still slightly moist lips, standing there in a daze.
At the end of the movie, the human and the dragon kissed like this.
After watching the movie, Lucia used her phone to search for “why do humans want to touch their lips together”.
The result she got wasn’t rumination at all!
Xia Li had lied to her on the bus!
Brave hero, big liar!
This was clearly a way for humans to express their feelings!
Depending on the region, kissing on the cheek could express friendliness or be a form of greeting, but kissing on the lips was definitely something that only two mutually attracted humans would do.
In short… it meant… partners!
Lucia also looked it up, and partners meant couples.
She and Xia Li were now… a couple?!
“We’ve been downgraded…”
“Huh?”
After stealing a kiss, Xia Li immediately straightened up.
There were still many people walking around. Although the young couples who came to the park were more or less scheming for this kind of little intimate act, it was still broad daylight, and the action wasn’t skillful enough, so it felt awkward.
“We’ve been downgraded.”
Lucia said in surprise, touching her pink little mouth.
“What nonsense are you talking about…”
“Because touching lips means being a couple, that’s what the internet says.”
“Yeah, so what if we’re a couple.”
“But we’re purely friends!”
“…Our pure friendship disappeared a long time ago.”
“No, no,” Lucia shook her head like a small electric fan, “You said that pure friendship is higher than a couple!”
“Y-you can use the internet now, just search for the difference between the two words…”
Saying that, Xia Li took out his phone and gave it to the evil dragon.
Lucia slowly typed, starting to make good use of the browser to search for keywords.
Xia Li pulled her to sit down on the bench.
The sun was exceptionally bright today, and the river in the distance was as still as a mirror, reflecting the water and the sky in the same color.
Rubbing his slightly cold palms, Xia Li leaned over to look at Lucia, who was busy beside him.
“What does it say?”
“It hasn’t said anything yet!”
“Then keep looking.”
Xia Li breathed into his palms, the dappled light from the bamboo forest falling on his face.
The evil dragon beside him, holding his phone, was extremely focused, typing one word at a time, and finally choosing the wrong one.
Xia Li suddenly felt like laughing.
If today, Lucia had said that she wanted to go back, and Xia Li had chosen to believe her, and neither of them had asked or communicated… would they have really sent Lucia back?
Xiao Xia was right, many words couldn’t be said after being missed, and the regret left behind would become a lifetime regret.
Some feelings were difficult to convey without being spoken aloud.
Not to mention, Lucia was originally a dragon who didn’t understand feelings at all.
Xia Li wanted Lucia to understand what liking someone meant, but he had never actually said the words “I like you”.
He hadn’t even set a good example, yet he expected a dragon to be like this towards him.
“There’s no such thing as pure friendship in this world!!”
After using a series of complex operations such as search, pinyin, and dictionary, Lucia finally came to a conclusion.
“Yeah,” Xia Li said with emotion.
“I believed it existed at first, but later I didn’t.”
“Why?” Lucia turned back.
“Because of you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, I was going to treat you as a pure friendship at first…”
Xia Li was ready to come clean.
He had kept the words he wanted to say hidden for so long, and when he finally decided to say them, he felt a little anxious.
“Later, the pure friendship quietly changed, and I don’t know when it started.”
“It changed… because I’m a dragon?”
“No.”
“Then what!”
“Because I fell in love with you.”
“Fell in↑love with me?”
“…Do you have to emphasize the word “in” so much?”
Lucia propped her small hands beside her, her two short legs dangling from the stone bench and swaying.
After hearing Xia Li’s words, she felt a little happy, a sweet smile forming on her pursed lips.
“So, Xia Li likes me.”
“Yeah, I like you.”
“Oh! I like Xia Li too!”
“No, no, no, the liking you’re talking about isn’t the liking I have for you, our two kinds of liking are different…”
“Is liking also divided into many types?”
Lucia’s swaying legs stopped, and Xia Li finally moved his gaze from her white socks back to her soft face.
The fleshy cheeks were illuminated by the warm light, and a layer of fine fuzz could be seen on the surface of her skin, making people want to take a bite.
“But, liking is liking.”
Lucia didn’t understand why the same feeling had to be categorized.
“The liking I have for you is the kind of liking that makes me want to be with you. The liking you have for me is because I’m a good person, and right now, I’m just a small gold coin in your eyes.”
“No, you’re a big gold coin!” Lucia retorted seriously.
Xia Li was helpless, “That’s the same thing. The liking I have for you is possessive.”
“Possessive? I have that too!”
“Our feelings are different. I said I would teach you slowly, so, in the future…”
“It’s clearly the same!”
Lucia interrupted what Xia Li was about to say, rarely insisting on her own opinion.
In her view, there was no hierarchy in this matter.
“Liking is liking!” She emphasized.
“Okay, then I like you, I want to kiss you, would you want to kiss me?”
“I want to bite you!”
“See, I knew it was different…”
“But the way humans and dragons express liking is inherently different, you can’t say that!”
“I don’t care.”
Xia Li seemed to be being unreasonable, but he was actually setting a trap for the evil dragon.
“Unless you kiss me, I won’t believe you like me.”
To accommodate the height difference with the evil dragon, Xia Li deliberately bent down.
The warm sun fell on their heads, making their cheeks flush and their heads feel like they were about to smoke.
The evil dragon’s cheeks were puffed out, unsure if it was from anger at the brave hero.
Looking at the brave hero’s shameless face leaning in, Lucia opened her giant dragon mouth and took a bite.
“I knew it!”
Xia Li covered his face, which had been ruined by dragon saliva, with an expression that said “I knew it”.
“See, I knew our liking was different. But don’t worry, I’ll teach… hiss, no, why are you biting me again!”
The evil dragon took another bite on the back of Xia Li’s hand, catching him off guard.
How did a well-behaved evil dragon learn to bite people?!
“You gave me a gift, so I have to bite you again to be fair!”
Lucia wiped her little mouth, revealing a pair of sharp little tiger teeth.
Xia Li felt that these teeth were dangerous, and he would definitely get into trouble with them sooner or later.
“…It’s ‘li’, not ‘ni’, go back and relearn pinyin!”
After biting him, the evil dragon wanted to run, but Xia Li chased after her and caught her.
Lucia’s little face was filled with fear, wondering how she was caught in two seconds.
A giant dragon’s speed was hundreds of times faster than a human’s!
…Was it really because her legs were short? A big miscalculation.
Xia Li held the evil dragon in his arms. The evil dragon struggled a couple of times to no avail, and finding that she couldn’t win in a fight, she resigned herself to her fate.
The two twisted together, just like the young couples under the greenery in the park, intertwined like a braid.
“Let’s not play anymore, let’s go home.”
“I’ll teach you slowly when we get back, how humans express their liking.”
Transition chapters are so hard to write, finally I can start writing the main story!（Rolling up sleeves）