novelraw Chapter 288
Chapter 288
Chapter 288: Two Farewells
As the sun began to set, Lucia set off to return to Lachlan’s territory on the east side of the forest.
This time, she didn’t dare to fly as fast as she had on the way there.
She stopped and started along the way.
She would rest for a while, rub her snow-white dragon belly, and then continue flying.
It was strange. She had felt so energetic in the morning, but after talking to Neer Hulk, she suddenly felt like her body really weighed three thousand tons. Even her limbs felt heavy, and she didn’t dare to use any of her strength.
It was better to be careful…
Speaking of which, speaking of which.
Yesterday, she had played with Xia Li’s holy sword like that.
Would it have any effect on her belly? She had no experience.
It would be great if she could find a kind female dragon passing by to teach her about childbirth.
Lucia thought to herself.
She couldn’t count on Xia Li anyway.
That Brave Hero only cared about aiming, nothing else.
After all, he wasn’t a dragon, so he would know less than Lucia.
“Huh?”
Thinking about this, Lucia’s gaze caught a dragon shadow in the dark forest.
Because the figure was a bright red, it was eye-catching enough in the dark forest, so Lucia saw her at a glance.
Red…female.
It should be a female fire dragon.
Lucia flapped her dragon wings and lowered her body. She didn’t choose to stand directly in front of the female fire dragon, but the female fire dragon sensed her presence from afar and was looking at her warily.
Lucia meant no harm. She just happened to encounter a female dragon while passing by, so she wanted to ask for some experience in raising children.
“Have…have you ever given birth to a child?”
Facing the female fire dragon’s wary gaze, Lucia didn’t mind and spoke amicably.
The female fire dragon was stunned for a moment, then took two steps back, using her crimson long tail to block the entrance to the lair behind her.
This behavior looked exactly like she was ‘protecting her young’.
Lucia felt delighted and continued to ask.
“How long is the gestation period…Do they need to be breastfed? Although the memories I inherited tell me that dragons should eat raw meat from birth, what if they are in human form? Human cubs don’t have teeth, so it’s difficult to chew fresh meat, right?”
After asking three questions in a row, Lucia dragged her long silver dragon tail and walked around the female fire dragon with her wings half-folded.
Her massive body cast a shadow over the slightly smaller female fire dragon.
The female fire dragon stood at the entrance of her lair, looking up at the beautiful and familiar silver dragon.
There was only one pureblood silver dragon left in the world.
Therefore, the silver dragon in front of her was undoubtedly…
“Lucia Sivana.”
The female fire dragon’s mouth opened slightly, and her voice mixed with magic came from the depths of her mind.
Lucia breathed a sigh of relief when she understood her words.
So it was a female fire dragon with intelligence…
If it were a low-level mixed-scale dragon, then she would have been talking to a brick wall just now.
“The absorption rate of younglings in different forms is different…If it’s dragon form gestation, a dragon egg needs to be carried in the belly for two to ten years. But if it’s entirely human form gestation, it only takes ten months to give birth to offspring through viviparity.”
“Human cubs need to drink breast milk when they are born, so it is recommended that if a giant dragon gives birth to a child in human form, it should be nurtured in human form, otherwise there will not be enough breast milk…”
The female fire dragon had been a mother after all, so she answered fluently, answering Lucia’s questions one by one.
Lucia nodded repeatedly, remembering every word.
As for why this female fire dragon knew her, Lucia didn’t need to think too much about it.
She was the last pureblood silver dragon. It was not only humans who had a deep impression of her, even those low-level mixed-scale dragons knew her name, let alone the slightly older female fire dragon in front of her.
“Thank you for your answers.”
Lucia spread her wings, ready to take off.
At this time, the female fire dragon called out to her again from behind.
“Do you still remember me…”
The female fire dragon guarding the entrance of the cave asked with a hint of hope in her voice.
“Huh?”
Lucia turned around and looked at the red dragon behind her again.
The female fire dragon seemed to find this way of talking to the pureblood silver dragon awkward. She turned her head away and said cautiously.
“I lived with you for a while when I was little. You are the only pureblood silver dragon in the world, so I remember you. Later, our presence disturbed the local human lord, and I was captured by the Duke…”
Looking at the female fire dragon’s eyes full of memories, Lucia pondered for a moment and suddenly realized.
“Oh! I remember you.”
Lucia remembered the little red fire dragon.
She and her had dug mud pits together, hunted small animals, and at night, they would stand on the top of the mountain and spew flames from their still somewhat childish dragon mouths, competing to see whose flames burned more vigorously.
Later, humans invaded their lair, and Lucia and her childhood playmate went their separate ways.
The female fire dragon was captured by the human Duke, while Lucia went to a farther place.
Unexpectedly, after they grew up, they could meet again in this way.
It was truly fate.
“How are you doing now?”
Lucia was delighted. She transformed back into her human form, her long legs extending from under the silver scale armor, and high heels made of dragon scales appeared on her feet. She took a step forward.
Seeing this, the female fire dragon also transformed into her human form.
To Lucia’s surprise, her childhood playmate…this female fire dragon, was actually a black woman.
The woman’s body was well-proportioned, with distinct thigh muscles and biceps on her arms. Her black skin made her look quite healthy and strong.
The horns on the female fire dragon’s head were much shorter than Lucia’s slender antlers, which symbolized the power of a giant dragon. Her pupils were golden, and the whites of her eyes were jet black.
Lucia looked at her carefully.
Perfectly connecting her to the young dragon face from her childhood.
The female fire dragon was also staring at her. When she was young, she didn’t understand the difference in status between dragons. Only after she grew up did she gradually awaken to the worship of pureblood giant dragons in her heart. She hesitated to touch Lucia and said in a low voice from the entrance of the cave.
“The first few years were quite rough…”
“Now Lord Neer Hulk has protected us all. His power covers the entire forest, and humans cannot invade our territory, so we have gradually settled down.”
Lucia nodded and said, “I heard from Neer Hulk that you are moving soon.”
“Yes…that’s another continent far away from Azure Continent. We all yearn for it.”
The female fire dragon smiled. Looking at her eyes, Lucia suddenly said again.
“The dragon who discovered the new continent must be a genius.”
“…”
The female fire dragon chuckled and raised her hand to cover her lips.
Lucia’s words undoubtedly brought the two closer together. The same smiles bloomed on their faces, as if they were back in that ordinary afternoon a hundred years ago.
Tilting her head, Lucia glanced into the cave.
She saw a half-human, half-dragon boy curled up on the ground covered with hay, sleeping.
The child looked about seven or eight years old, with short horns on his head and a thin tail behind him.
“Your son?” she asked.
“Yes…this is my third child.”
The female fire dragon said without hesitation. She took a step forward, revealing the entire view of her dragon lair.
Lucia didn’t choose to ask any more questions. Her old friend’s life as a dragon must have been rough.
“I have to go. My family will be worried if I go back late.”
◈◈◈
Without further ado, Lucia took a step forward and gently hugged the female fire dragon.
This was one of the ways Xia Li had taught her to express her feelings.
This method could be used on family members, as well as on good friends.
The female fire dragon was a little flattered by her action, but she still mustered up the courage to accept the hug of the pureblood giant dragon.
She raised her hand and hugged Lucia back, blessing her.
“You take care too.”
“Yes! We will see each other again next time.”
Dragons were long-lived species. Even a female fire dragon with less pure blood could live for thousands of years.
Lucia smiled at her gently and stood on her tiptoes, transforming into a giant dragon.
The beautiful figure of the silver dragon soon disappeared into the starry sky at the junction of dusk. The female fire dragon looked up and watched her go.
◈◈◈
Lachlan Royal City.
Xia Li spent the whole day at his mentor Fiona’s house.
Undoubtedly, this would be his last time seeing Fiona.
When he came back next time, Fiona would probably be nothing but a pile of bones.
Although it was a pity, Fiona said she was happy enough.
The average lifespan of humans in this world was not long, and she was content to have lived to be over sixty.
She would spend the rest of her days with her family and friends. A rocking chair, a small house, a small garden, she was satisfied with this kind of life and was ready to enjoy her old age like this.
Xia Li hugged her one last time, arriving with a smile and leaving with a smile.
The sun was setting in the west, the last rays of the year.
Xia Li looked at the dusk in the sky, feeling that everything in front of him was hazy.
There is no feast that doesn’t end.
Constant ‘farewells’ are something everyone experiences throughout their lives.
Composing himself, Xia Li saw a golden carriage stop in front of him.
The carriage stopped quietly outside Fiona’s manor. An old butler with gray hair stood by the carriage, his eyes silently looking towards Xia Li.
It seemed that he had been waiting for a long time.
Xia Li’s gaze went to the window of the golden carriage, where he saw another old figure.
The old man was already in his twilight years. Despite wearing thick silk clothes, his body was as slow as a dying candle in the wind.
His deep-set eyes sank into his shrunken eye sockets, and the way he looked at Xia Li made Xia Li himself feel nostalgic.
The old swindler.
To be precise, it was the swindler old king who, after being tricked by Xia Li, tricked Xia Li in return.
When Xia Li first came to the magical continent, the first person he saw was him.
Without a word of communication, Xia Li walked straight towards the carriage.
The old butler tacitly opened the carriage door and made a gesture of invitation, signaling Xia Li to get in.
Xia Li got into the carriage without a word.
The carriage set off slowly, as if afraid of jolting the old man inside. The carriage moved very, very slowly.
Xia Li took this opportunity to admire the scenery outside.
When they arrived at a familiar place, Xia Li suddenly realized.
The former City Lord’s Mansion had not been torn down and rebuilt into a palace.
It still existed deep within Lachlan Palace, hidden behind the garden. Xia Li hadn’t seen it when he came over yesterday.
“This is my parents’ house.”
The old king noticed Xia Li’s surprise, and his aged voice slowly spoke.
“I’m still waiting for them to come home.”
He said something that didn’t fit his age.
Although, the old king knew that he would never wait for his parents in his lifetime.
But it was good to keep a thought, or to leave a place for his parents’ souls to return to. He had kept this place.
Perhaps even Xia Li himself didn’t expect that seventy-five years ago, when a stranger said to an eight-year-old boy, ‘Your parents will never come back’, the blow to the eight-year-old boy would be so great.
However, it was precisely because of the words Xia Li had left behind that he had walked all the way strong and then founded the current Lachlan Kingdom.
Therefore, for the old king himself, he was actually very grateful to the mysterious person who had brought him enlightenment back then.
“Actually, I’ve always had a question…”
The carriage stopped at the door of the former City Lord’s Mansion. The old king dismissed all his attendants and got out of the carriage alone, leaning on his pure gold cane.
Seeing this, Xia Li went forward to help him.
The old king gave Xia Li a grateful smile. He looked at the overgrown City Lord’s Mansion under the golden sunset. Recalling the past, he seemed to still be able to see himself at eight years old, standing in this desolate garden, seeing the beautiful silver dragon and the mysterious dragon knight beside her.
“You, are him, right?”
The old king looked at Xia Li and spoke.
The ‘you’ he was referring to was the Brave Hero Xia Li.
And ‘him’ referred to the dragon knight who appeared at the City Lord’s Mansion seventy-five years ago.
Although the memory was very old, because the meeting was hurried and short, the old king couldn’t clearly recall the face of the silver dragon knight.
Even when he first saw the Brave Hero Xia Li, he couldn’t match the dragon knight from back then with Xia Li.
However, when a person’s life was nearing its end, the flashbacks in his mind became clearer day by day.
Until yesterday, when the old king heard that the Brave Hero Xia Li had returned.
He suddenly remembered.
The human hero who wielded the Demon Repelling Sword looked exactly like the dragon knight he had met before.
Seeing Xia Li again today, the old king was even more certain of the face in his memory.
Hearing this, Xia Li looked at the old king quietly.
He knew that if he didn’t tell the old king the truth now, the old king would go to his grave with this question.
Gently squeezing the silver-white dragon scale hanging on his chest.
Xia Li felt the magic flowing in the air and poured the magic he could mobilize into the soft dragon scale.
Suddenly, a white light flashed.
The dying golden sunset enveloped the dilapidated City Lord’s Mansion. In the vast back garden, a magnificent silver dragon appeared out of thin air.
The setting sun plated a layer of gold on her, and the golden light seemed somewhat sacred at this moment. Mixed with the flowing silver scales, it was incredibly beautiful.
The silver dragon lowered her huge head and rubbed it affectionately against Xia Li’s face.
Xia Li raised his wrist and gently stroked her chin.
The spirited young man and the beautiful silver dragon stood together, blending into the background, etched into the old king’s mind.
At this moment, the old king’s eyes widened, and tears glistened in his eyes.
Seeing this familiar scene, familiar people and things.
It was as if he had also returned to his eight-year-old childhood.
On a midsummer morning, the dragon knight and his beautiful silver dragon changed his life forever.
The old king tremblingly stretched out his hand, wanting to touch the last ray of the setting sun in the west.
“Thank you…”
“Thank you for telling me this answer.”
“And thank you for giving me the courage to face the future back then.”