Roaring Dragon-Chapter 97: You Came?

Xianyun Alley.

The old moon shone down on the overgrown ancestral home.

Laughter and birdsong of the past still echoed faintly—but the old faces were long gone.

“Jinhuan, what did Old Deng even mean?”

“‘Ascending in old age, rising step by step’...”

“Oh~ Then from now on, Dad will call you Little Deng—youth ascending through the ranks; hmm... and Meiqiu will be Bird Deng!”

“Coo~”

...

Xie Jinhuan sat cross-legged on the steps of the main house, with a wine jar beside him.

The wine was Hero’s Tears from Changle Street, priced at sixty taels. He had never seen a full jar in his memory. His father only had a few cups at County Magistrate Wu’s banquet and bragged about it for years.

Now he could afford fine wine—but alas, the son longs to serve, yet the father is gone.

Where had the old man gone...

Xie Jinhuan took a swig from the wine pot. Just as he was deep in thought, the courtyard darkened slightly.

Looking up, he saw a towering five-meter-tall supreme succubus appear again. She carried an enormous red parasol, wore a red dress embroidered with golden dragons—just like when they first met, breathtakingly striking.

“Weren’t you going to sleep at Wanyi’s place? Why’re you drinking alone?”

“I saw an illusion earlier... got a little sentimental, so I came home to look around.”

Xie Jinhuan brushed aside his thoughts and stood up, eyeing the towering ghost wife with clothes that practically blocked the sky.

“We made a bet—since I lost, I get to dance while holding you. This time, no more missing the mark.”

Ye Hongshang watched in anticipation. “Go ahead—how saucy are you planning to make it?”

Xie Jinhuan stepped up and realized he didn’t even reach her legs. The pressure was unreal.

He reached out and touched her skirt. Her thighs were smooth like jade columns, but even on tiptoes, he couldn’t reach her waist...

“Uh... can you shrink a bit?”

Ye Hongshang spun the red parasol and glanced down at the tiny man:

“This is my real size. When my main body comes out in the future, you won’t ask her to shrink too just to ‘play’ with you, right?”

Xie Jinhuan admitted that made sense—but how was he supposed to drive such a large vehicle?

Sensing his confusion, Ye Hongshang kindly shrunk down to just over two meters tall, then lowered her gaze to the little young master in front of her.

“Happy now?”

Xie Jinhuan was certainly pleased. He reached to embrace this top-tier supercar, but even at this size, her chest was right at eye level, and the golden embroidery of chubby Meiqiu’s face was practically pressed against him. The whole thing felt like a little kid craning his neck at a big sister.

Combined with her teasing look...

It gave him a tiny sting of humiliation!

And from that humiliation... a strange excitement blossomed.

Trying to stand tall, he knew even ten-centimeter platform shoes wouldn’t help. He could only play the little horse pulling a big cart. He grabbed his own hand, then slid his arm around her slender waist.

“Come on, follow my lead...”

Ye Hongshang moved with him and asked curiously:

“What dance is this?”

“The Wives-and-Children-Scattered Dance!”

“Huh?”

Xie Jinhuan didn’t bother explaining. Holding her waist, he moved back and forth:

“It’s simple—I move in, you move out; I step back, you move forward. Keep the rhythm. One-one, two-two, three-three, four-four, spin—never mind, I’ll spin...”

Step step step...

Guided by his crisp voice, the two moved through the abandoned courtyard. Her long legs lifted the fiery skirt, creating a graceful rhythm beneath the moonlight.

Because his partner was still much taller, Xie Jinhuan couldn’t twirl her overhead. So he just held her hand and spun around by himself.

Ye Hongshang swayed with him, soon picking up the beat. Her waist moved with elegant grace.

As they danced, she began to feel this Wives-and-Children-Scattered Dance was indeed quite suggestive. Their eyes met, hands brushed—it felt like subtle flirting.

Yet as she watched this much shorter but sincerely instructive Xie Jinhuan, an odd sense of déjà vu crept into her heart.

Had she... danced like this before?

Where was it?

Ye Hongshang thought for a moment and noticed Xie Jinhuan was now eye-level with her bodice—then he shrunk her a bit more, until they were face to face.

“How do you plan to investigate my background?”

Still hugging the now-normal-sized ghost, Xie Jinhuan looked a bit regretful but replied:

“The author of Chronicles of Sworn Brotherhood might be Dual Sage Ye Ci. Today I met Zhang Huaiyu’s teacher, Fan Li—Ye Ci’s chief disciple—he works at the National Academy. He might know something. I’ll try to find a way to meet him in the next couple days...”

“What if you find nothing?”

“If I don’t... sigh, we’ll worry then. For now, let’s dance. Life is short, one must seize joy. No matter how big the problem, let’s finish dancing first.”

Ye Hongshang nodded slightly, didn’t speak further, and began learning the Wives-and-Children-Scattered Dance with focus.

Step step step...

Moonlight bathed the fireless, lamplit ancestral home. Rhythmic footsteps rose and fell.

A traveler returned from afar, alone in a courtyard overgrown with knee-high weeds, miming an embrace under the moon as he danced alone.

Though his face showed delight, the empty, crumbling manor around him lent an air of madness to the scene...

—

Lin Residence.

Chirp chirp chirp~

Faint insect songs echoed outside the window. The vast Lin residence had long fallen quiet.

Lin Wanyi sat upright on the edge of the canopy bed, wearing a clean and elegant blue dress. Her hair was pinned in a refined, intellectual style. With a bridal veil, she’d have looked like a proper bride.

Honestly, her mindset wasn’t far off. Beneath the golden glasses, her eyes flickered—half fearing he’d come, half fearing he wouldn’t.

After a long wait, a soft sound came from outside. The slightly open door let in a sliver of moonlight.

Creak—

Then it closed again. Silence.

“?”

The room was pitch black. Lin Wanyi couldn’t see clearly and squinted into the shadows:

“Xie Jinhuan?”

“Shh~ Your maids are still gossiping outside. Don’t let your family find out.”

A voice suddenly whispered near her ear, laced with the scent of wine. Lin Wanyi jolted and quickly crossed her arms over her chest:

“If you’re coming in, just come in—what’s with getting so close?!”

“It’s dark. Didn’t you prepare any night pearls or something?”

She wasn’t experienced with sneaking men in—she’d only dismissed her maids. She had no clue what else to prep.

Embarrassed, she fumbled around and lit a small lamp on the bedside table.

Fwoosh—

Warm light lit the space before the bed, revealing her graceful silhouette.

Because she was tall and bent over to light the lamp, her waist and hips drew a striking curve. Everything—from her clothes to her hairpin—was flawless.

This was a woman dressing for the man she liked...

Xie Jinhuan nodded inwardly in approval. He scanned the room—neat and spotless. Clearly cleaned up beforehand.

He sat at the vanity and pulled out the banknotes he’d collected over the past days—three thousand from Wu Su, one thousand from the competition, fifteen hundred from the Heir Apparent. Han Jingchuan he could ignore. The landlady’s profit hadn’t come in yet. All totaled, fifty-five hundred taels. Half the week’s target reached.

Rustle rustle rustle...

Lin Wanyi was still a bit nervous. Seeing him count silver like a brothel customer, she blushed furiously:

“You... what are you doing?!”

Xie Jinhuan paused, finally noticing the misread vibe. He laughed:

“What are you thinking? Like I’d pay you.”

So you’re here to freeload off big sis?

Lin Wanyi felt something was very wrong here:

“Where’d you get that much silver? If you want to flaunt it, go to a brothel. Why flash it at me?”

Xie Jinhuan finished his count, kept some pocket change, and handed the rest to her:

“This five thousand is the deposit. Use it to have Crescent Moon Villa gather the ingredients for the Dragon Vitality Pill. Twenty—no, ten days max. Get them from Nanjiang. I’ll pay the rest as soon as I can.”

“Ten days?!”

Lin Wanyi frowned and sat beside him:

“You’re always rushing things! Do you even know how far Nanjiang is? If you want it expedited, Crescent Moon won’t give you a discount. And if you don’t pay the rest, the deposit is non-refundable.”

He only had nineteen days left. Of course he had to act fast. But hearing “non-refundable” still made him frown:

“You can’t resell the herbs? We’re close—are you really keeping the deposit?”

Even if we’re close, I don’t run Crescent Moon myself...

Lin Wanyi looked slightly wronged:

“Business is business. I can’t control sect policy. Even if I resell them, where would I explain getting so many rare ingredients?”

Xie Jinhuan thought that made sense. But he had to get those pills—or Ghost Wife would blow up her grave.

If he lost money, he could always go steal more.

But if she exploded and took Great Qian down with her... that’d really screw over His Majesty...

After weighing it, he said:

“Order it for me. If I really can’t pay the balance, treat it as a favor. We might need each other in the future.”

If Great Qian collapsed, his only choices were the Nanjiang witches or Northern Zhou’s empress dowager...

Lin Wanyi didn’t know the depths of his schemes. Seeing his determination, she sighed and adjusted her glasses:

“Fine. I’ll place the order under my name, say it’s for Zisu to practice with.

“If we don’t end up using them, I’ll thicken my skin and return them—so you won’t lose too much.

“But you owe me a favor. Don’t forget.”

Xie Jinhuan thought she was really considerate and handed her the silver:

“Thanks. I’ll get the balance soon.”

Lin Wanyi didn’t even know what to say. Just as she was about to stash the notes, he reached into his robes again—and pulled out a lacquered hairpin box.

“?”

Lin Wanyi blinked, her face instantly reddening:

“You... what are you doing?”

He opened the box and took out a peony hairpin inlaid with pearls.

“Saw it on Changle Street just now. Thought it looked nice, so I bought it.”

Giving a hairpin to a lady... was very suggestive.

Lin Wanyi clearly panicked, backing away:

“Why would you give me a hairpin? I... I can’t accept that.”

Xie Jinhuan smiled and tucked it into her bun:

“I already bought it. If I return it, people’ll laugh at me. Hm... looks great on you.”

She wanted to decline again, but he’d already pinned it in. She couldn’t just pull it out and throw ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) it, so she sighed:

“I already have plenty. Don’t waste money like this. You’re a righteous cultivator—use your silver wisely...”

“You think buying a hairpin for the girl I like isn’t wise?”

“?”

Lin Wanyi froze, her eyes darting away:

“You... you’re drunk, aren’t you? You came here to teach me the Divine Martial Canon... If this keeps up, I’m kicking you out!”

“I didn’t do anything.”

He picked up the vanity mirror:

“Look for yourself. What do you think?”

She peeked—and saw her face red as a lantern. Quickly slammed it down:

“Pretty, pretty, thanks. Now hurry up and teach me the technique!”

Xie Jinhuan chuckled, set the mirror down, and sat by the bed, removing his shoes.

“?”

Lin Wanyi froze and stood up:

“Didn’t you say we’d share a room? Why’re you getting on the bed?”

He sat straight-backed, serious:

“Sit like me—we’ll meditate. I’ll pass the technique to you. If you’re shy, sit on the floor.”

This is my room—why should I sit on the floor?

She wanted to drag his shameless butt down, but he really was meditating. Making him sit on the ground would be rude. So she sat at the other end and got into position.

“Now what?”

“Close your eyes.”

He raised his right hand in a sword seal and began chanting dramatically:

“Heavenly spirit, earthly essence...”

Lin Wanyi was still a little nervous, worried he’d pull something sneaky.

But before she could identify what spell he was casting, her mind spun.

Then the mattress vanished beneath her—she was falling.

The canopy, bed, and room stretched away until everything became a deep, dark abyss...