Chapter 148

He grew more and more excited as he spoke, "Exactly! We've left Ever Peace, the imperial carriage continuing back to Secluded Prefecture; you and I secretly head to Prosperous Prefecture. Setting out from Ever Peace, the route is cut by two‑thirds—we're practically at the gate!"

Dawang also got excited, "Good, good, good! Wait, can you still make it to your older cousin's wedding?"

"The emperor's birthday can't be changed, but my older sister's wedding can. I'll write back to Prosperous Prefecture and have them move the date to after the Longevity Festival."

Dawang grinned, "Isn't that great?"

"What's not good about it? My older sister knows she should thank you for the postponement; she never wanted to marry so early and has already delayed once. Two younger brothers—wouldn't it be worth her waiting a few more days?" The two bear younger brothers happily decided that themselves.

Dawang finished lunch, couldn't wait, and rode his horse to the ferry crossing. He deliberately waited for Weishen to go to the North Great Camp, then secretly brought only Lingyin, fearing any hard‑to‑explain scene might appear.

Upon arriving at the ferry crossing, he caught sight of a sperm whale drifting in the distance and finally relaxed.

"Beef Skin Candy! Beef~skin~candy~"

Dawang frantically shouted at the sperm whale from the shore; the bored Beef Skin Candy rolling in the sea gave a sudden jerk, then lifted its huge head, and upon seeing Dawang it rushed toward the shore.

Dawang pulled out a spirit beast bag, held it, and swayed it back and forth in front of Beef Skin Candy, saying, "What is this? I, the king, bought you a playmate! Moved? Come on, come on, let's see what this mirage beast looks like……"

Dawang finished showing off, then opened the bag mouth downward and stood on the shore, about to pour it into the sea… Who knew this thing wouldn't go into the water before his eyes; instead a flash of yellow‑green shot up into the sky, and in the next instant it landed on the sea surface behind the sperm whale, its tail resting on the water while its whole body stood upright on the surface?

Dawang let out a miserable howl, didn't dare look closely and tried to run backward, but slammed straight into Lingyin behind him; Lingyin grabbed him, preventing him from falling flat on his butt.

"What the heck is that? A big water snake? Or is it yellow‑green?" Dawang feared snakes.

Lingyin examined it closely…… He had never seen anything like it.

"Not a water snake, it's kind of like… your… dragon."

Dawang instantly stopped his howling, cautiously turned his head for a glance—it really wasn't a snake; that thing had a huge head and horns!

"…Indeed it looks like the dragon on my father emperor's robes, but it has no claws. What is this thing? Isn't it supposed to be a mirage beast? Ahhh it even exhales vapor!"

"Isn't it normal to exhale vapor? If it didn't, it'd be dead."

"No, it exhales mist—white vapor—do you see it?"

"……I saw it."

"I, the king, am about to go all‑out against Mengmeng—this thing costs ninety thousand taels? Wah, how am I going to explain this to the common folk? …No, hurry up and put it away!" Dawang got up and went to retrieve the spirit beast bag he had dropped while fleeing.

Lingyin gave Dawang a sympathetic glance. "Too late."

It's daytime—how could such a large ferry crossing possibly have no one?

Dawang's treasure ship occupied a large berth; to the south there were countless other spots, which he let the common folk use freely—there were always countless broken‑down small boats tied up there. The fishermen around Secluded Prefecture were accustomed to mooring their boats here, safe with supervision, and at night late returnees even had a lighthouse to guide them. Now the common folk over there have already knelt down in a mass……

When Dawang poured it into the sea, nobody saw it, but once the mirage beast shot up into the sky, such a huge thing drifting on the water was impossible for them to miss.

No need to ask—they'd certainly take it for a dragon.

The mirage beast stood upright on the sea surface, exhaling two breaths; seeing its owner give no command, it flopped straight down and plunged into the sea, thrashing its lower body—still, soaking in the water felt wonderful!

Dawang was dumbfounded.

His Beef Skin Candy had already abandoned him and followed that mirage beast off, eager to rush to the front to see what the heck this thing was!

"What now?"

"……Change the protected target of your edict from one to two?"

Dawang almost burst into tears, "Originally the common folk said Beef Skin Candy was a divine envoy, and I, the king, enjoyed heavenly favor—now Secluded Prefecture's waters have seen a 'dragon' appear. If I go to Ever Peace to pay court respects, will I even make it back alive?"

Lingyin's expression didn't change, "If my lord doesn't believe he's invulnerable to blades, he should at least trust the Penglai Sword."

Dawang: ……

He wasn't comforted at all.

He didn't want his wonderful days to become so perilous.

In the afternoon Dawang brought his super bodyguard to sit by the seaside, watching his two new pets interact friendly and play; after a while, it wasn't so frightening.

The money's already spent—can it still be returned?

In broad daylight he wanted to go find Qiaoyi to get things clear, but couldn't find anyone.

Dawang firmly believed that looking a bit longer would make it more pleasing to the eye—just the seaside, with fireworks intertwined, smoky and scorching.

Dawang let out a long sigh: "Alas! We can't even afford a meal, yet there's still yellow paper incense."

Lingyin: "……We still need some spiritual reliance."

Dawang: "Ah~"

Lingyin: ……

Before it even got dark, even Weishen holed up in the prince's mansion heard the news.

This fellow galloped up on horseback to the ferry crossing; as soon as he saw the two sitting in a row he ran over, "What's going on? I heard a dragon appeared in the sea?!"

Dawang, annoyed, said, "I think you look like a dragon."

Weishen burst out laughing, "Don't, don't, don't—don't talk nonsense like that, this is a capital offense I wouldn't dare!"

Dawang wanted to howl again, but even I, the king, don't want to!

He began to wonder whether, if a dragon appeared in Secluded Prefecture, he could possibly avoid it; better to let them go play in another prefecture, say East of Jiaolai or Azure Prefecture?

Weishen had just sat down beside him when he saw the previously calm water surface suddenly splash—first the sperm whale's huge head poked out, then a thick, green tail as big as a water barrel extended from the surface and swayed, then a head sprouting deer antlers broke the surface and exhaled a puff of white vapor…

"Ahhh~ dragon dragon dragon! Dragon!"

Dawang withdrew: "I'm not deaf."

Weishen jumped up all at once, unable to understand how these two could be so calm; the attendants who came with him all stared dumbfounded.

"You didn't see it? A dragon!"

Great King: "……I've seen it, I've been watching it all afternoon. Cousin, let me tell you, this is a clam, it's not a dragon. As for why it looks like a dragon, I'll tell you tomorrow; tonight I'll go look it up. Look carefully, it has no claws."

Wei Shen yong looked at his brother with the gaze one uses to look at an idiot, "Is now the time to be talking about whether it has claws! The person who drew the dragon never saw a dragon, he drew it wrong, eh! Generation after generation, the pictures passed down are wrong; it turns out dragons have no claws, dragons indeed swallow clouds and spit mist!"

Great King: "……"

Can a person possibly explain this clearly!

By evening, Great King returned to Year Feather Hall, Zhao Bao came up to greet him; his first words were: 'Your Highness, I heard a dragon has appeared at the sea?'

Great King: 'Clam! That's a clam! Right, tonight's dinner is halved.'

Zhao Bao turned pale with fright: 'Your Highness, what's wrong? Summon the physician, Your Highness!'

Great King: 'I'm so worried I'm not hungry.'

Great King hastily ate a few bites, then went to Phoenix Market to wait for Qiao Yi.

Waiting for Qiao Yi to arrive at the usual spot, he discovered Great King hadn't set up a stall either; the spread cloth had nothing on it, and he himself was sitting cross-legged there.

'What's wrong? Did you go on strike today?'

Great King, upon seeing him, jumped up: 'You finally came! I was asking you, that clam—how is it so like a dragon?'