Chapter 2
Chapter 2
To stay by Chang Yuan’s side, I lied and told him I was a kind little Jiao dragon born at the East Sea Estuary.
In reality, I wasn’t. I was an evil Jiao born in the mire at the bottom of the Great Marsh.
Because the Great Marsh Jiao Clan needs to harness the power of storms for Zoujiao and Dao Attainment, the world views us as calamitous beasts.
We destroy farmlands and harm the common people; our reputation precedes us.
There is even a cultivation sect by the Great Marsh dedicated specifically to killing us, called the Jiao-Slaying Sect.
Before long, they had slaughtered our entire clan until I was the only one left.
No matter how naive Chang Yuan might seem, he is still a compassionate semi-divine being who protects all life within the mountains and rivers.
He could accept that I had prepared Ten-Thousand-Year Realgar to kill him.
But he could not accept that I was a Great Marsh Jiao.
His eyes were rimmed with red as he looked at me, his voice raspy. “Why tell me now?”
I said, “Because I want to become an immortal. And you will only hold me back.”
Chang Yuan said, “If that is the case, I cannot let an evil Jiao like you out to stir up trouble.”
I gave him the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn.
He raised his palm, then lowered it again.
Finally, he flicked his sleeve in a fit of pique and turned away.
“If you commit any evil after you leave, I will surely kill you!”
I replied, “Fine. As long as I do no evil, let us never meet again in this lifetime.”
He said, “Fine.”
Taking advantage of the deep night and heavy dew, I shouldered my pack and hurriedly left this paradise where I had lived for over two thousand years.
After I left, at first, the danmaku were still screaming frantically-
[Female supporting character, don’t go! Leave your spirit bone and inner core behind before you leave!]
[Male Lead, kill her! Otherwise, your character setting as an impartial protector of the people will collapse!]
[…]
Later, my world became quiet.
Presumably, those danmaku only follow the Male Lead and Female Lead.
I have seen how ruthless Chang Yuan is when he kills demons.
Fearing he might change his mind, I didn’t stop for a moment until I had rushed back to the Great Marsh.
If you asked if I felt any resentment, of course I did.
I had painstakingly cultivated this heavenly opportunity for immortality for over two thousand years, and I had already molted eight times, just one step away from the finish line.
And now, it was ruined again.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve failed…
Truly.
In fact, before I met Chang Yuan, I had attempted Zoujiao over a dozen times.
Each time was a bloodbath, being hunted by human cultivators the entire way.
Every single one ended in failure.
But in the arrogance of youth, I didn’t lack for lofty ambition.
Back then, I felt pretty good about myself because the mortality rate for my clansmen during Zoujiao was very high.
‘When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on any man, it will first exercise his mind with suffering, and his sinews and bones with toil, and expose his body to hunger.’
The fact that I could survive all that meant I was surely a favored daughter of destiny.
The day of my Dao Attainment would eventually come!
The first time my mindset truly crumbled was when the last remaining ancestor of my clan and I were depending on each other for survival.
His lifespan was nearing its end. If he couldn’t succeed in Zoujiao, he would perish. So, he decided to try one last time.
Before leaving, he exhorted me: “If I don’t return, do not leave the riverbed for the rest of your life.”
I was dissatisfied. “Then won’t I spend my whole life in the muck?”
He said, “There is a way to live even in the muck.”
That night was filled with bitter wind and miserable rain, with wild winds and giant waves.
The old Jiao dragon’s scales were as cold as gold, his body winding like a mountain range as he struggled to chase the massive waves toward the sea.
But he still failed.
The next day, at the market, I saw a great drum made from his Jiao skin.