It feels so great to earn money in Thousand Mechanism Town and spend it back home.

...

Beast Taming Sect at Cang Mountain, Xiaobei District.

Li sat on the grass with a straw hat, teasing the little bull with a bamboo stick.

The little bull had four horns on its head, and ears unusually large, clearly not an ordinary species.

The little bull charged left and right, trying to ride onto Li's face, but no matter how it tried, it couldn't break through the slender bamboo stick.

Raw strength failed to create a miracle, overwhelmed by absolute technique where four taels could move a thousand pounds.

Probably out of frustration, the little bull snorted, stopped confronting Li, and ran off to its herd, seeking its mother's help.

However, after a few moos, it didn't call for the parent, but instead received two kicks.

After teaching the little bull the lesson that whoever provides food is the master, the cow led the little bull back into the herd.

"Boring."

Having bullied the young one, Li stretched lazily, trying to look long, groaned for a while, then got up, planning to find an elephant to play with.

And also to teach the newbies how to raise elephants.

Those cultivators from Chang State brought here by Li and Zhang Ze did not all go home like Brother Monkey, half of them chose to stay.

Among them, several were interested in the way of Beast Taming and had some talent, so they joined the Beast Taming Sect and became Outer Disciples.

Li came with those few, these days apart from herding cattle, pigs, and elephants, they taught those brothers some genuine things.

After all, sharing hardships is also a kind of fate.

Li clapped her small hands, was about to transform into a gold mudfish to fly over to Elephant Mountain to have fun, but didn't stand stable and fell with a smack.

Looking back, she found it was a Fuji vine hooking her calf.

"Don't go, there are melons to eat, and I have words to tell you!"

This Fuji vine seemed to have a bit of an accent.

Hearing there were melons, Li's little leg that had taken a step returned.

Settling back on the grass, she waved her hand, the herd that had run far away came running back, the lead cow placed a basket of unknown origin in front of Li, then mooed twice and retreated.

When the herd ran far away, Li broke half a gold melon for Fuji, "Speak quickly, whose melon is it, what's with Zhang Ze? Has Elder Li had his salary docked again?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Nope, it's about the village..."

Little Fuji, holding the melon, looked around, ensured no one was around, then whispered softly to Li, explaining the village matter one by one.

And Li occasionally exclaimed or smacked her lips, lamenting the decline of society and dragons losing their dragon-ness.

After finishing a basket of melons, Little Fuji wiped her mouth, stuffed the seeds into her cheeks, and asked Li.

"What do you think, what is love?"

Li scratched her head, "How would I know, it's probably like Zhang Ze and Chen Qin, sneaking around sleeping in a room every day, that's love."

Fuji asked again, "Then you, do you love anyone?"

Upon hearing this, Li counted on her fingers, listing like treasures, "I love muskmelons, watermelons, fried chicken, sheet metal, and jade..."

"Stop, stop!" Fuji quickly waved her hand, "I'm asking which person do you love?"

"Person?" Li frowned, "Fuji, you're being extreme, people can't be eaten, why would I love people?"

Fuji, "..."

Moments later Fuji sighed, "It's sad, I have no idea what's in your head, well, I'm leaving."

Just about to leave, Fuji was pulled back by Li's small foot, "Wait, about the village, I remember some things."

"What did you remember? Tell me quickly!"

Like an elastic band stretched to its limit, Fuji bounced back and flopped onto Li's face.

Taking Fuji off and tossing her into the basket, Li said.

"Just some recent vague memories I've recalled, I don't even know if they're true.

"The village talked to me about this during the Primordial times.

"It seemed to have said that it always wanted to find a companion, but everyone else was too young and had too short a lifespan.

"Often, after just a nap, upon waking things would have changed, investing too much emotion would only lead to pain."

"Hmm? Can't you do it?" Fuji tilted her head, "You're also a dragon, bigger, live longer, and in every aspect are invincible, why not choose you?"

Li, rubbing her small bean-like horn, recalled as Zhang Ze's cultivation grew, her power also began to strengthen.

Recently Li indeed recalled many things, though most still felt covered by a layer of fog, unseeable clearly.

"That's probably because I and the village didn't quite get along previously, we just talked useless things when bored, other than that, meeting would always lead to fights, likely due to opposing gifts."

Little Fuji nodded, agreeing with the reasoning.

A farmer who loves to plant crops surely wouldn't like wild boars that mess up fields.

Yet Fuji didn't say it out loud, she switched the topic, "But oh, I heard during Primordial times, there were many huge ones right, giant like a mountain, doesn't the village like them either?"

"Doesn't like them, they're all dumb." Li shook her head.

"What about other dragons?" Fuji started gnawing on the vine basket, speaking while eating most of it.

"Other dragons..." Li held her head, "I don't know, can't recall."

"I see..." After finishing the basket, Fuji raised her hand and said.

"So, the village is constantly single only because there's no suitable match. But its heart is always filled with longing, eager to find a perfect companion in both body and soul.

"Then I'll write this in the report."