The mountain wind was piercing, yet the laughter of the men sitting around the fire pit, roasting their prey, was as lively as merchants selling their goods in a bustling morning market. Jiāo and Baishui stood on the side of the cabin facing away from the mountain, out of sight of the five Tanzang men and the others.
When Baishui thought they were out of sight, he abruptly pulled his arm away from Jiāo's hand.
"Ninth Prince," Jiāo said in a petite voice, almost a whisper, "you can't run away without telling His Highness, and His Highness is still here, you know it."
"Jiāo, have you forgotten?" Baishui countered, his voice firm. "Father took away my ability! He took away my ability to prove his point that I will never be a free dragon wandering this land among mortals. On the contrary, I also want to prove to father that even without my ability, I can use my knowledge to survive."
Jiāo frowned, her concern evident. "What exactly do you need to prove? Why are you always so stubborn? Although we may not have seen Huoyan with our own eyes, we know how dangerous Huoyan's abilities were from history. Although everyone said he was imprisoned, what if he is also improving his cultivation for thousands of years?"
Baishui looked at Jiāo, a challenging glint in his eye. "Are you afraid?"
"Yes," Jiāo admitted, her voice trembling slightly. "Huoyan can turn people into ashes with one breath."
Baishui chuckled, dismissive. "Jiāo, these words are used to scare children." He began to walk towards the front of the cabin.
"Huoyan didn't call himself the Son of Fire for nothing!" Jiāo exclaimed, her voice laced with desperation.
Baishui turned his head. "Why are you so anxious about things that haven't happened yet?" he chastised. "You should take on the task entrusted to you now, and not the nonsense of those elders trying to scare us."
Jiāo quickly grabbed Baishui's arm again. "My lord, are you not going to change your mind?" she pleaded.
"I will not change my mind," Baishui stated definitively. "You have two choices: one is to stay and take care of my cabin, the other is to follow me to Magior."
"I have to go with you, but I have to go home to prepare things," Jiāo conceded, though still reluctant.
Baishui smiled, pleased. "Alright… you must bring what we can." He watched Jiāo begin to walk towards the mountain lake, then quickly caught up with her. "Jiāo, go to my room and bring the ancient book of life."
"Do you have the Book of Life?" Jiāo asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
"I took it with me when I left home," Baishui replied casually.
"This is also one of the reasons why His Majesty is furious at you!" Jiāo exclaimed, exasperated. "What if something happens to the Book of Life? Do you think your life is enough to restore its contents?"
"Stop looking at the world with negative eyes," Baishui chided. "Why do you always put bad things before good things?"
Jiāo pulled her hand away, a sigh escaping her lips. "Well, at least one of us is like that. Unless we're going to be in trouble all the time." She started to walk away again.
"It's inside my pillowcase," Baishui called after her. "Meet me early tomorrow at the bottom of the mountain, and make sure there are seven horses!"
Jiāo waved at Baishui and continued walking into the dark.
When Baishui returned to the cabin, the food had already been set, and the five men were sitting at the table, waiting for him.
Abrafo looked up. "Oh, where is the pretty maid?" he asked, a teasing note in his voice.
"She went back to the cave to retrieve some important items left behind," Baishui explained smoothly.
Hajime looked at Baishui oddly. "Strangely, and allow me to ask for clarification," he began.
"Ask away," Baishui encouraged.
"You let such a young and beautiful woman wander alone in the dark," Hajime stated, his concern evident.
"There won't be wolves on this mountain to attack her," Baishui dismissed, a faint smile on his lips.
Abrafo watched the men sitting by the woods, laughing as they roasted their pheasants over an open fire. "There are many tired and hungry wolves lying around your hill," he said, a pointed look at Baishui. "Didn't you notice?"
Baishui looked at the men sitting outside, and then back at the men sitting inside. The two groups of people were not far apart, but the atmosphere was quite different. Thinking of this, Baishui chuckled. "I already asked Jiāo to come back in the morning. No matter how powerful those people are, they can't catch up with Jiāo."
"Let's eat," Michio interjected, cutting short the conversation. "The food will be cold if we continue talking." He looked at Baishui. "You are our host; you go ahead and take the first bite."
Baishui picked up the chopsticks on the table and used them to select a piece of mushroom. "I'll try this first," he said, putting the mushroom in his mouth and chewing slowly. "Well… these taste good." He looked at the people sitting at the table, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Eat… going to bed on an empty stomach is for introverts."
At the bottom of the lake, Jiāo diligently packed Baishui's luggage in his bedroom, placing all the travel necessities on a large white cloth. She retrieved Baishui's pillow and took out the Book of Life from the pillowcase. She then placed the book in the middle of Baishui's robe and carefully folded the cloth around it.
"Why does he always make trouble for me?" she muttered, frantically knotting the cloth. She picked up her bag, turned around, and saw Bailong standing at the doorway, his imposing figure filling the opening.
"Where is he?" Bailong asked, his voice deep.
"The Ninth Prince is resting in the cabin," Jiāo replied, her voice strained.
"There seem to be a lot of people," Bailong observed. "What is he going to do?"
Jiāo hurriedly knelt down, begging. "Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince is preparing to take another adventure with a few people he just met not long ago."
"So that's the case, huh…" Bailong said, a sigh escaping him, laden with a mix of resignation and irritation. "I'll wait for him to crawl back home."
"Your Majesty," Jiāo asked, her voice tentative, "then, do you mind if the Ninth Prince goes with these mortals?"
"I don't mind," Bailong stated.
"But I am worried about the safety of the Ninth Prince," Jiāo pressed, "His Majesty has taken away his source of life."
"But I didn't take yours," Bailong countered. "You can protect him."
"I'm afraid that if I encounter a dangerous situation beyond my ability, I may not be able to protect the Ninth Prince safely," Jiāo confessed, her voice filled with genuine fear.
Bailong rolled up his sleeve and peeled off a glistening scale. He handed the pearl-like dragon scale to Jiāo. "Let him wear this all the time," he instructed. "It will protect him until I come to rescue him from danger."
Jiāo happily took the scale. She smiled at Bailong, relief flooding her features. "I guarantee he will always wear this around his neck."
Bailong sighed, a heavy sound. "Where is he going?"
"They are going to Magior," Jiāo informed him.
Bailong looked at Jiāo, his eyes piercing. "Why Magior?" he asked.
"The Ninth Prince's companions are going to Magior, but the Ninth Prince doesn't know why they are going or what they are looking for," Jiāo explained. "They only said it was their king's task."
Bailong shook his head and sighed heavily. "Magior is not a place for him to seek his adventure."
"May I ask why?" Jiāo inquired, her curiosity piqued.
"Although Magior is called the Lost City, it is not really lost," Bailong revealed.
"I heard from the Ninth Prince that Magior was destroyed by the Northern King," Jiāo recalled. "He came at dawn and destroyed the city overnight. The next morning, he disappeared without a trace."
Bailong smiled, a knowing glint in his eyes. "Do you believe that there is a mortal king in the world who can appear before dawn, destroy a city overnight, and disappear without a trace the next morning?"
Jiāo shook her head, a dawning realization in her eyes.
"That is just one of the many versions of stories to help children fall asleep at night," Bailong continued, looking at Jiāo intently. "As far as I know, long since ancient times, no mortal, no piece of talisman paper, can have such a powerful power to keep the city frozen in time." He scoffed, thinking of mortals' limitations. "A mortal can only borrow his weak spells through a paper talisman." Only then did he suddenly realize that although a man does not have magical abilities, he is very capable of possessing other abilities. "Jiāo, Baishui is childish by nature. I'm afraid he will fall into the bad side of mortals. You should pay more attention to the mortals. If you can separate him from those mortals, do it and go home as soon soon as possible."
Jiāo nodded, her expression serious. "I understand," she said.
"If you feel that you two are in great danger, you must call me immediately," Bailong commanded. "Before I arrive, my silver scale will protect the safety of both of you." He sighed, a troubled look on his face. "I dreamed about Huoyan again. When I went to Kinigan Island last time, I saw that the ice layer freezing him had become thinner. I think I need to go to the Heavenly Court again and ask the Emperor of Heaven…" He looked at Jiāo, his gaze grave. "You have to be careful."
In the center of Kinigan Island, in the southern part of the South Sea, stood a huge black solid rock mountain. The only sound that could be heard was the relentless crash of waves against the shoreline. The vast expanse of open water, stretching for miles, was devoid of marine life and strictly off-limits to the Dreakori. The Dreakori had known from the beginning that the Black Cave of Kinigan Island was the land of the Son of Fire. To avoid waking the Son of Fire, they had moved everyone from Kinigan Island to Dreake City.
Inside the Black Cave, the only thing that could burst into sparks was the thick ice crystals that trapped the Son of Fire, frozen in time. When some cracks began to appear in the thick ice, and water droplets, formed by stalactites and stalagmites, fell into the cracks, the closed eyelids of the Son of Fire began to move.