Chapter 122: White Dew Again

Chen and his companions continued their leisurely stroll through the avenues of the Exalting Sanctum, still holding the half-eaten snacks they’d acquired along the way.

March 7th was in the middle of recounting a particularly scandalous rumor he’d heard from a vendor, one concerning a certain General of the Luofu in his younger days. Qiong listened with quiet amusement, occasionally taking a bite of the Dragon’s Beard Candy Chen had handed him.

As they rounded a corner, they noticed a small crowd gathered not far ahead. Curiosity piqued, they drew closer and saw several Cloud Knights clustered together. In the center of their circle, a young Cloud Knight lay semi-conscious on the ground.

A waxy, death-like pallor had settled over the soldier’s face, and a sheen of cold sweat clung to his brow. A wound on his arm was bleeding freely, staining a small patch of the ground a stark, wet red.

Crouched beside him was a small, solitary figure.

It was a boy who looked no more than ten years old, with soft, snowy-white hair and a pair of small, delicate dragon horns sprouting from his head. At that moment, his small face was taut with a concentration that seemed far too mature for his tender age. His hands were placed over the soldier’s wound, and a gentle, emerald luminescence flowed from his palms, enveloping the injury.

The bleeding soon slowed to a stop, and under the soft green light, the torn flesh began to knit itself back together before their very eyes.

“Whoa, is that kid healing someone?” March 7th’s eyes went wide with astonishment. He had never seen a child so young perform such an advanced medical technique. For that matter, he’d never seen anyone with dragon horns before. “Are those… horns? Or just some kind of decoration?”

Chen didn’t answer right away. He simply watched the small figure focused on his work, the corner of his mouth unconsciously curving into a smile.

‘It’s Bailu.’

It seemed that after Chen had made his escape, this little Dragon Lord had likely been caught and dragged back to the Alchemy Commission. But clearly, they hadn’t managed to keep him cooped up for long. He’d slipped out again to practice medicine on the streets.

Bailu’s healing was remarkably effective. The injured Cloud Knight’s tightly furrowed brow relaxed, and he let out a weak whisper, “Thank you… Little Doctor.”

His comrades standing nearby breathed a collective sigh of relief.

However, just as Bailu was about to withdraw his hands to check the soldier’s other abrasions, the situation took a violent, unexpected turn.

The young soldier, who had just moments ago seemed weak from pain and blood loss, suddenly began to convulse, his body jerking and thrashing on the ground. His eyes shot open, instantly filling with a terrifying spiderweb of crimson veins. Deep within his pupils, a malevolent, dark red light pulsed.

A guttural, inhuman chuckle rattled in his throat.

His breathing, which had just stabilized, suddenly became erratic and ragged. Beneath his exposed skin, shadowy patterns writhed like worms.

“This is bad!” an older Cloud Knight nearby blanched, his voice cracking with alarm. “Mara-Struck… He’s about to fall to the Mara!”

With a savage roar, the soldier violently broke free from his companions’ grasp, attempting to spring up from the ground. His fingernails darkened and elongated into vicious claws, his hand lashing out straight for Bailu, who was right beside him and completely defenseless.

“Watch out!”

Amid the chorus of panicked shouts, a blur of motion cut through the chaos, arriving faster than any of them could have anticipated.

It was Qiong.

He had sprung into action the very instant the soldier had turned. With a single, decisive swing of his baseball bat, the motion was brutally efficient.

The soldier’s frenzied attack froze mid-lunge. His body went limp, and he collapsed back to the ground, knocked out cold.

The entire process, from the attack to its conclusion, had taken no more than a few breaths.

A heavy silence fell over the street corner. The Cloud Knights gaped in stunned silence, their eyes darting from Qiong to their unconscious companion, momentarily unsure how to react.

The sudden violence had bleached the color from Bailu’s cheeks, but the initial shock quickly gave way to a steady composure. He let out a shaky sigh of relief, then turned to Qiong and gave a deep, earnest bow.

“Th-thank you, sister, for stepping in!”

Qiong retracted his bat, his expression unreadable as he looked at the small boy and gave a slight shake of his head, saying nothing.

“My goodness…” March 7th finally found his voice again, patting his chest dramatically. “That scared me half to death! Was that… the Mara-Struck? It just… happens like that?”

He then turned his worried gaze to Bailu, though his eyes couldn’t help but linger on the pair of pearlescent horns. “And you, little… little brother, are you okay? Are… are your horns real? Who are you? How can you use such amazing healing arts when you’re so young?”

Bailu seemed a bit overwhelmed by the torrent of questions but answered politely, “I’m fine. Thank you for your concern. My name is Bailu. And yes, the horns are real. I learned healing from the sisters at the Alchemy Commission.”

“The Alchemy Commission? Oh, right, the big hospital on the Xianzhou,” March 7th said, a flicker of understanding in his eyes. His expression then shifted to one of pity. “You’re learning medicine at such a young age? And you even come out to treat people on the streets? Where are your parents? How could they let you wander around all by yourself?”

Hearing this, Bailu replied with the same polite innocence, “I… don’t have a father.”

March 7th was taken aback. The realization that he’d just stepped on a conversational landmine dawned on him, and his face flushed with remorse. “Ah, sorry, so sorry! I shouldn’t have asked… What about your mother, then…?”

“I don’t have a mother either.”

March 7th was now completely flustered, waving his hands in a panic. “I-I didn’t mean it! I really didn’t know… I’m so sorry, really!”

Seeing that March was about to bow his head to the ground in apology, Chen, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up, his tone laced with helpless amusement. “Little March, stop digging yourself into a deeper hole.”

He walked over and crouched down to meet Bailu’s eye level, a warm smile on his face. “You’re from the Vidyadhara, right?”

Bailu’s eyes widened in surprise. “You… you know about the Vidyadhara?”

“I know a little,” Chen said with a nod. “The Vidyadhara undergo a cycle of reincarnation and rebirth, so they don’t have parents in the conventional sense. Asking about that isn’t poking at a sore spot; you’re just broadcasting your own ignorance.”

“Vidyadhara? Reincarnation?” March 7th looked utterly bewildered.

Chen, however, ignored him and leaned in closer to Bailu. His smile widened, and his expression shifted into one of theatrical mystery as he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“But what I really want to know is… Bailu, are you… a member of the Hook Adventure Team?”

[Elysian’s Note:

Having a good time with the story?

Every single bit helps immensely:

Thanks a ton for making this journey possible!]