chapter 2
After Cheng Jia and his people left, I led my horse and slowly made my way home.
On the way, I picked a handful of wildflowers and placed them in a porcelain vase when I returned.
Grandfather heard that I had given a Ginseng Pill to a Central Plains Person and was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at me, saying I was meddling in other people’s business.
I retorted, “I’m nowhere near as bad as you. I only gave away a Ginseng Pill, not Dragon Meat.”
Grandfather immediately fell silent.
A long time ago, it was indeed possible to dig up Dragon Meat beneath the Dragon Mound.
Because that place is our ancestral tomb.
Grandfather and I are not human.
Our ancestors lived near Tianshan; we are of the Dragon Clan.
Western White Dragon, different from those of the Four Seas.
Our lineage is small in number and not very powerful. Cultivating to take human form is already difficult, and we were once persecuted by Western Evil Monks.
Now, only Grandfather and I remain as dragons in this land.
So we have hidden our names and have always lived as humans.
A hundred years ago, there was an old man surnamed Huang from the Central Plains who did porcelain business in the Western Regions and met my grandfather by chance. They hit it off immediately.
Old Man Huang was always cheerful, talkative, and loved to play chess.
He taught Grandfather how to play chess, and Grandfather often visited him, enjoying himself greatly.
They regarded each other as confidants and had many pleasant conversations.
Until Old Man Huang said that he had sold all his porcelain and was going back to the Central Plains.
He also said that he was getting old, and his family was worried about him, so he probably wouldn’t come here for business again.
Cheng Jia said the Wusun People are greedy and vicious, but it’s not just the Wusun People; among the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions, there are many with violent tempers who also run Bandit businesses.
They disguise themselves and love to rob caravans from the Central Plains.
Old Man Huang thought he had sold all his goods, and in a moment of carelessness, he didn’t take the Official Road and was killed by bandits.
When Grandfather heard about it, he went to the Dragon Mound south of Tianshan and dug up a piece of Dragon Meat to save him.
The White Dragon is a spiritual beast born of the essence of heaven and earth. After death, its body does not rot or decay, and after being buried for a long time, its bones remain a medicinal material that can cure illness and save lives.
Grandfather saved Old Man Huang, who was moved to tears, saying he had clearly seen the Gate of Hell.
He asked Grandfather what he had fed him.
Grandfather believed that the two of them were trustworthy and spiritually connected friends, so he did not hide the truth and told him about the Dragon Meat.
But he was afraid Old Man Huang might really tell others, so he warned him: “Anyone who eats Dragon Meat must never utter the words ‘Dragon Meat’ to outsiders, or thunder will strike them dead.”
After that, Old Man Huang returned to the Central Plains.
Twenty years later, rumors suddenly spread in the Central Plains that Dragon Meat could be dug up beneath the Dragon Mound in the Western Regions.
After some inquiry, we learned that before Old Man Huang died of old age, he couldn’t keep the secret and told his son about eating Dragon Meat.
Grandfather and I moved our ancestral tombs for three nights straight.
Grandfather cursed and swore, and from then on, he never trusted anyone again.
Especially people from the Central Plains.