THE REAL PROTEGE-Chapter 536: THE DRAGON THAT SWALLOWED THE MOON

Small Witnesses

Shi Min had believed he was alone that night at Verdant Bamboo Pavilion.

He chose the outer ridge because no one ventured there after dusk. The cliff was steep, the wind sharp, the bamboo dense. Even the servants avoided it at night.

But he had forgotten one detail.

The twins did not fear darkness.

Boredom, not darkness, was their true fear.

The twins had woken abruptly from sleep, hearts thumping at the sudden emptiness of their big brother's chamber.

That alone was unacceptable.

To the twins, Shi Min was a hero and a treasure — someone to guard like any favorite thing.

If he was awake, they should be awake.

If he was training, they should watch.

So they slipped out quietly, bare feet silent on the floor, their little blanket wrapped around them like a cloak of invisibility.

They followed the faint ripple — the gentle tug they always sensed when Shi Min cultivated.

It wasn't conscious; just instinct.

Just instinct.

The twins' steps were soft against the stone path.

The bamboo touched their shoulders.

And then they saw him.

Shi Min sat cross-legged, balanced at the very edge of the cliff, silhouette poised above the vast drop below.

His back was straight, body unmoving.

Moonlight draped over him, soft as silver silk, wrapping his stillness in gentle radiance.

The twins squatted behind a thick cluster of bamboo stalks.

Wide eyes peeking through.

At first, they only saw the beautiful part.

Behind him, the azure dragon phantom rose — a luminous spirit born from Shi Min's qi, shimmering between sky and cliff, powerful yet as intangible as morning mist.

It stood majestic, radiant, and wondrous.

And then—

A second presence answered.

From behind the dragon, a flame bloomed.

Not bright and blazing—

It glowed a deep crimson, threaded with something darker.

A phoenix unfolded from that flame, its wings spreading wide in silence, each feather edged with ember-like glow that seemed to drink the moonlight rather than reflect it.

It did not cry out.

It did not flare.

It hovered.

Quietly.

As if it had always been there.

As if it had always belonged.

The dragon circled once.

The phoenix rose slightly above it.

Two forces—

One was vast and sovereign, the other consuming and reborn.

They balanced perfectly, each force holding the other in check.

The twins gasped silently.

"Wow!

Big Brother really has a dragon…"

Chin Chin's voice trailed off.

Kim Kim's eyes widened even more.

"…and a Phoenix."

The Black Dragon

But when the dragon and phoenix faded away,

The air altered.

Even a child could feel it.

The wind stopped.

Not because it died.

Because it was told to wait.

Kim, Kim, and Chin Chin all inclined their heads in unison, their breaths held and their pulses quickening.

'That was strange.' They silently thought.

Then they noticed the moonlight.

It dimmed.

Not fully.

Just enough.

As if something vast settled between heaven and earth.

But cast no clear outline — only an unnatural darkness pooled visibly behind Shi Min, gathering into a new shape.

Behind Shi Min,

Behind Shi Min, a shadow crept over the cliff, slow and silent. At first formless, it soon gathered fiercely into the ghostly outline of another dragon — darker than midnight, vast as the sky. Its coiling body devoured the moonlight until nothing remained. Where a mane might have shimmered, deeper darkness gathered instead. The shadow dragon's presence pressed quietly against the world.

It did not shimmer like the azure dragon.

It did not blaze like a phoenix.

It did not roar.

It rose.

Silent.

Its body curved like a serpent's arc. But far larger.

Its body curved like a serpent's arc.

Much larger than the blue one.

Far larger.

Those scales did not catch the light.

They swallowed it.

Both Kim Kim and Chin Chin squinted hard, apprehension fluttering across their faces as their hands pressed together.

'Why can't I see it properly?' They both silently asked.

Its head lowered behind Shi Min.

No eyes glowed.

But they felt something watching.

Not at them.

Not in the world.

Just watching.

Watching.

The twins' tiny fingers grasped their blanket, knuckles tight and white, holding onto safety as the air pressed quietly against their skin.

It wasn't scary.

Not like monsters in their big sister's books.

It didn't feel evil.

It felt quiet and heavy, but not crushing — a hush that settled not only on them, but across the whole mountain. The world itself seemed to pause and listen.

Like when their father became serious.

Like when their mother made a decision no one could change.

Like something that commanded strength without the need to shout.

To their three-year-old minds,

It was a dragon.

Not a colorful or shiny one.

Not a shiny one.

A night dragon, its body broad and endless as the sky, each scale a shadow deeper than black, its form trailing through the darkness like drifting smoke. Unlike the azure dragon, it swallowed the moonlight, leaving only emptiness in its wake.

A black dragon.

For a heartbeat, the air grew dense, as if the mountain remembered something ancient. Wonder and awe tightened the twins' chests and sent a shiver up their spines, as if they glimpsed a secret meant for those who walk between shadow and starlight.

It didn't flap its wings.

It didn't breathe fire.

It didn't need to.

It simply existed. No movement. No sound. Only presence — vast and unyielding, as if the mountain had exhaled darkness into the night.

The bamboo leaves around the twins drooped slightly.

The clouds below compressed faintly.

Even the crickets had grown silent.

And then,

The black shape receded.

Not vanishing dramatically.

Just folding inward.

Returning to wherever it had come from.

Shi Min opened his eyes.

He turned slightly,

For a second, the twins thought Shi Min saw them.

Their tiny hearts jumped into their throat.

But he said nothing.

The wind returned.

The moon brightened.

The world resumed its old rhythms, returning one by one, quiet yet brimming with restless energy beneath the hush of night.

The twins stayed frozen for a long moment, breaths shallow, faces flushed with shock.

Then they blinked.

'Big Brother has two dragons,' they thought proudly.

One blue.

One black.

The black one is bigger. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Definitely bigger than the blue one.

They hugged their blanket more tightly and scampered back before anyone noticed their absence.

The twins never mentioned it.

Not because they were afraid.

But because,

In their simple, unquestioning minds,

That black dragon was part of Big Brother. So part of Big Brother was safe. Holding on to this thought, the twins felt warmth settle deep in their chests, with awe fluttering quietly in their hearts. Even in the presence of the unknown, as long as it belonged to Big Brother, the world remained gentle and full of wonder.

So when Chin Chin proudly declared earlier in the courtyard—

"Big Brother's dragon is much more beautiful and powerful than ours!"

She was not exaggerating.

She was remembering.

The silent dragon that swallowed up the moonlight,

And guarded their brother without roaring.