Rebirth of MC Chapter 178

Chapter 178: Heretical Dragon awakens

Flesh and blood fly as bodies thud to the ground, motionless. No matter how skilful these intruders are, none are able to prevail against the large group of beasts within the mountain. In less than an hour's time, the group of eight men are mercilessly torn limb from limb, their corpses devoured by the carnivorous animals. By the end of it all, not even a single bone remains.

The Lone Horned Jackal is a beast that looks similar to a house cat. One shouldn't judge it due to its size, for within this Evil Dragon Mountain, this beast is one of the most dangerous creatures. To compensate for its small stature, Lone Horned Jackals are gifted with extreme cunning and intelligence.

When hunting their preys, a Lone Horned Jackal will not attack head on. Nor will it aim to kill swiftly, ending lives in a single strike. Like a cat playing with a mouse before they eat, this beast will allow its prey to run while it chases, amusing itself with its target until it collapses from fear and exhaustion. Only then will the Lone Horned Jackal end its prey's life.

This little beggar's silver hair has already been pawed at until it is a frightful mess. Tripping and stumbling, his clothes have long acc.u.mulated countless stains and tears. Large rips can be seen on a shoulder, travelling down towards his back. Blood continuously flows from the shallow scratches on his skin.

"Go away…go away. Don't eat me…wuwu…" Stumbling forward, the child waves his weak arms towards the Lone Horned Jackal stalking him.

In the beast's eyes, this weak little creature doesn't possess the slightest threat. As the little beggar trips over a protruding tree root, it eventually cannot resist the enticing smell of this prey any longer. Scarlet eyes widening, it pounces on the child with a sharp yowl.

Instinctively throwing a hand out as the Jackal leaps forward, the child falls back to the ground. Sharp teeth clamp around a dirty sleeve and rip a strip from it. A fair, slender hand is exposed. Around the small wrist, a faint silver light shines.

Before the beast can bite down on the hand, silver light converges around the little beggar's arm. A translucent dragon flashes into existence, roaring in anger. One moment, the Jackal is snarling in aggression and the next moment, it screeches in terror before fleeing for its life, tail between its legs.

The little beggar doesn't know what happened, but seeing the beast flee, he scrambles back to his feet. Sobbing and running, he continues his way.

Mouth constantly chanting "don't eat me, don't eat me," and vision blurred by tears, he doesn't see the lake until it is too late. With a splash, he falls right into the ice-cold water.

Having never learned to swim before, and coupled with his terrified state of mind, he doesn't struggle. Slowly, the little figure is drawn down into the dark depths.

Only when water enters his nose and mouth does the little beggar struggle. However, the lack of oxygen saps his remaining strength, making him stop… Just as it seems death will sink its claws into this little child, just as his heart gives one last stuttering beat, the little beggar's body jerks. Silver rays of light flow out of his body, coc.o.o.ning him. A single tendril of golden light flies out and shoots towards the bottom of the lake.

Similar to a key slotted into the right lock, the golden tendril spreads across the bottom of the lake. Instantly, a pair of golden eyes opens, illuminating the darkness. The water begins to surge, causing a large amount of bubbles to rise.

Along with the sudden roar of a dragon echoing out of and over the mountain, a large, serpentine body shoots upwards, wrapping around the sinking child before breaking through the surface of the lake.

With another huge splash, a dragon with inversed, ink-black scales glistening under the light of the setting sun hovers above the lake. In a flash of golden light, the dragon morphs into a handsome, black-haired man clad in black robes, scales covering his left cheek and a dragon totem circlet on his brow.

Face filled with anxiousness, the man swiftly lands on solid ground, setting the pale child on his arms down. Injecting a small thread of golden light into the small body, he compressed the child's chest and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

After who knows how long, the child's body jerks, then flips on his side to throw up several mouthfuls of lake water. Gasping, he glances wildly around until his breath returns. Before the man can react, the child's face scrunches as loud sobs are wrenched from him. Curling in on himself, the small frame trembles as he mumbles "don't eat me, don't eat me" under his breath.

During that critical moment, the man's mind was filled with thoughts of absolutely needing to rescue the child. The sudden loud weeping drags him back to reality. Silver hair, torn clothes, injured legs. The silver dragon circling around one small wrist is a testimony to the child's ident.i.ty. If this boy before him is not the person he misses the most, then who else could it be…?

Heart aching intensely, he reaches out to draw the trembling child into his embrace. "I am here, I will protect you. Nothing will dare eat you…"

Little Yuan, what exactly happened?

He remembers everything. The final battle with that mountain demon, delivering the last blow together with Huo Zaiyuan, the demon finally exploding under the force of two incredibly powerful strikes…

The explosion ripped open a gateway between realms, which sucked little Yuan and him in…

Here, his memories end.

But clearly, little Yuan and he succeeded in returning to the Immortal Realm. His mortal body presumably turned to dust, so his soul is now united with his original body, the one slumbering at the bottom of the lake. As for little Yuan…

Did he return to his original body? Or was this caused by their heavenly-defying act in the mortal world?

His low voice sounds very soothing in this child's ears, causing the loud sobs to gradually quieten. Slowly, his tear-stained face lifts to peek at the black-haired man. His small mouth curls into the faintest smile. Extending his hands, he wraps them around the broad shoulders and clings tightly to the man.

An answering smile surfaces on the adult's face. Although he has never hugged a child before, he instinctively knows how to best comfort this little person in his embrace. Slowly curling an arm around the child's waist, the other comes up to pat his back gently.

"Don't be afraid. With me here, no one will be able to harm you."

Carrying the child in his arms, the man settles down beside the lake. Even after a long time, the tender look in his eyes doesn't disappear. Waiting until the kid calmed down, he initiates a soft conversation.

Being only six years old, the little beggar's vocabulary and explanation ability is still rather weak. Fortunately, this man's a.n.a.lytical skills is above average. After listening to the child's recount, he lifts a hand to stroke the silver hair. "What is your name?"

"Name? Grandfather calls me ‘good grandson’. The uncle who stays with us calls me ‘little beggar’…" The child stares at the man with a serious expression on his face. Due to crying not long ago, his eyes are still red, giving him the appearance of a little bunny.

Hearing “little beggar", the man's lips thin. "Your name is not 'little beggar'. It is Huo Zaiyuan. Remember that."

"Huo Zaiyuan? My name…"

"Un, that's right. Very clever," Long Zhanye praises as he rubs the top of the child's head. "My name is Long Zhanye."

"Long Zhanye…" Repeating the name under his breath, his gaze becomes distant, as though trying to recall something.

Seeing the cute and familiar expression on the little face, Long Zhanye's heart thumps from antic.i.p.ation.

Is little Yuan's memories regarding him going to…

Just as Long Zhanye's heart is filled with expectation, the child's eyes brighten, a flowery smile spreading across his face. His next sentence is like a bucket of ice water being dumped over Long Zhanye's head, extinguishing the hope burning brightly in him. "So you are called Long Zhanye! I've seen you before! You were always sleeping!"

Long Zhanye really doesn't know if he should laugh or cry.

Sure enough, reality is cruel. Having been returned to his childhood body, how can he remember anything?

"I'm awake now. And from now onwards, I will always be together with little Yuan, is that all right?"

No matter what Huo Zaiyuan becomes, he will always be the person Long Zhanye is deeply in love with. Children will eventually grow into adults. Compared with his soul scattering, this situation is many times better.

"Really? Zhanye will always be together with me?" Huo Zaiyuan's (Author's note: from now onwards, the little beggar will be referred to as Huo Zaiyuan) eyes brighten, glistening like precious jewels.

"Un. Forever together, never separating." Long Zhanye leans down and kisses a soft cheek.

"Then will Zhanye come with me to see grandfather?"

"Of course. I will need to express my thanks to the grandfather who brought little Yuan up," Long Zhanye agrees with a nod.

From the patched and worn clothes covering this child, it is clear his grandfather's life is also not good. However, he doesn't abandon this child, instead looking after him…

"But grandfather is ill. If I give this to the doctor in the medicine store, he will be able to treat grandfather.' Huo Zaiyuan shows the jade pendant in his hands to Long Zhanye, displaying his inexplicable trust in the man.

Looking at the pendant, Long Zhanye's eyes narrow.

This jade pendant…