CHAPTER 378: CHAPTER 230: DRAGON’S SHADOW, THE THIRD MYTH, AND PARADISE

In the spirit library, the Red Dragon’s outspread wings blocked half of a window, preventing the last vestiges of dusk from entering.

It looked up at the boy in patient clothes, its dragon eyes shining like rubies in the darkness.

Ji Minghuan stepped back, staring at it curiously yet cautiously before asking:

"You just said, ’Little Qingping’?"

"That’s right..."

The crouching Red Dragon pondered, nodding slightly.

"Does this mean you know Li Qingping? Or perhaps you know him from my memory?" Ji Minghuan rambled on, "No one told me before that Anecdote Fragments could be self-aware, truly an eye-opener today."

"I am ’Red Dragon Wales’... or to be precise, just a remnant of consciousness, dormant for many centuries until Li Qingping found me in the ruins."

The giant dragon lifted its claw, scratching the pages with the tip to be careful not to tear the book.

After flipping a page, it continued, "And as you said... I’ve known Little Qingping for a few years. Not all Anecdote Fragments are conscious, it’s just that a part of my consciousness happens to linger in this era-grade fragment."

"And in these years, he never told me he had a dragon living in his mind?"

"Because you never asked him."

The Red Dragon raised its reading glasses, looking at him through them.

"Alright, from here I kind of get it." Ji Minghuan sighed in relief, "I thought Li Qingping had turned into a dragon hiding in the library, secretly browsing through my memories. Wouldn’t that mean all my embarrassing moments were seen by him? That gave me quite a scare."

Saying this, he pursed his lips, the expression on his face showing a slight disappointment.

"Little Qingping is already dead."

"Oh, no need for you to remind me."

After a moment of silence, Ji Minghuan diverted his eyes from the Red Dragon, asking nonchalantly, "Since you know him so well, do you know if he regrets anything?"

"Regret what?"

"Regret giving his life for the Third Prince, it’s so foolish."

The giant dragon was silent for a while, lowering its gaze to the pages, "He doesn’t regret it..."

"Really?" Ji Minghuan said, "I don’t believe it."

"To be precise, Little Qingping only regretted not telling you those things earlier, just before his death." The dragon paused, "However, from these memories, it seems you had already known long ago but kept it hidden from him unilaterally."

Ji Minghuan was slightly startled, then sat on the ground cross-legged silently.

After a moment, he pulled out a book from the shelf, leafing through it absentmindedly without lifting his head, "Otherwise... should I have told him, ’Qingping, Qingping, actually your only good friend is a fake person I created with my superpower’?"

The dragon pondered for a while, "I don’t quite understand you humans, always saying one thing and meaning another."

"Alright, I’m going to sleep." Ji Minghuan shrugged, "You’re welcome to stay at my place, you can rummage through my privacy, but remember not to wake those three guys above me."

With that, he pointed to the three bodies hanging from the ceiling.

"You can occasionally let them chat with me," the dragon said, "just to pass the time."

"Dragon Grandpa, please spare me. I already have enough things to deal with in reality, this is my only place for peace; if you keep at it, won’t I go insane?"

Ji Minghuan said expressionlessly, leaning against the bookshelf, and turned his head to look at the floor-to-ceiling window of the library.

Beyond the distant mountains, the sky still retained a faint layer of afterglow.

The scenery outside the library was bizarrely slipping away, much like looking out from a moving train, leaving only slowly fading outlines.

He was so exhausted he couldn’t be more so, so he turned his head to the dragon behind him and said, "If you have time, tell me something about Li Qingping. I honestly don’t know much about him."

The dragon looked up at him from behind oversized reading glasses, silent for a while, then snorted a stream of hot steam from its nostrils, as if agreeing.

Ji Minghuan rested his head against the bookshelf and pulled on the rope hanging above him.

The sun suddenly set, the last of its glow enveloping his face. He slowly closed his eyes, hearing only the rustling of the dragon turning pages, and soon his consciousness faded into slumber.

...

...

"Restricted superpower user, Code 1002—Ji Minghuan, mentor visiting, make preparations promptly." A cold metallic voice sounded from the broadcasting equipment.

Ji Minghuan groggily opened his eyes, blinking as he once again faced the silver-white ceiling.

For some reason, he always felt it’s been a long time since he was in this confinement chamber, his main body hadn’t opened its eyes in a while.

Whenever he didn’t want to eat, the Salvation Society staff would sedate him and inject nutrients, so there was no need to worry about starving here.

Actually, it’s rather convenient, the days of the Whale Court battle seemed like a century-long.

After being busy, he finally had some free time.

He got out of bed, picked up a plate, walked into the bathroom to freshen up, then stretched and sat at the table, looking up as the metal door opened.

The mentor walked in leisurely, pulled a chair to sit down in front of the table, and put down a thermal mug.

He got straight to the point: "Ji Minghuan, just yesterday, something quite surprising happened in the outside world. Would you like to hear it?"

"What is it?" Ji Minghuan yawned, "Did a traffic light come back to life?"