Li Miao helplessly closed her eyes.
"Teacher, what I meant to say is... please watch the road ahead. There seems to be someone up there..."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Jia Yunwan slammed on the brakes, and with a loud thud, it sounded like they had hit something.
Li Miao and the husky nearly flew out of their seats but were saved by their seatbelts, keeping both human and dog securely in place.
Jia Yunwan seemed stunned.
She quickly parked the car and stepped out in her high heels to check.
Li Miao hurried after her, only to find a massive bat lying dazed on the ground in front of the car, clearly disoriented from the impact.
"Oh no, oh no..."
Jia Yunwan was heartbroken... as she gently stroked the front of her car.
"My brand-new car..."
Li Miao: "..."
She quietly reminded Jia Yunwan, "Teacher, there's a tamed beast lying there, knocked out cold... It looks like a wild one."
Jia Yunwan glanced at the beast, which had its eyes crossed and its nose askew.
"Don't worry, I hit it on purpose."
Li Miao: ?
The husky, watching from the car window, was equally baffled and turned its confused gaze toward Jia Yunwan.
The woman patted the car hood, confirming that only a bit of paint had chipped off, before walking over to the bat. With a casual wave of her hand, a massive summoning circle appeared before Li Miao and the husky.
The summoning circle was enormous, stretching over a thousand meters. Standing at its center, Li Miao and the husky couldn't even see its edges. When the circle lit up, a gigantic tamed beast materialized before them.
Li Miao was so shocked she lost the ability to speak.
The beast had the head of an ox, antlers like a deer, a serpentine neck, a scaled belly resembling a fish, and a beard-like set of whiskers around its mouth—it was unmistakably a colossal dragon!
Its dark blue scales shimmered like ethereal lights from the depths of the underworld, and under the sunlight, the dragon's figure exuded an aura of majestic dominance. With just the slightest tilt of its head, it made the surrounding vegetation tremble. It was beautiful, elegant, domineering, and aloof—no words could fully capture the innate presence of this creature.
It was a dragon!
An actual dragon!
Li Miao was left speechless by the dragon's entrance. And when its gaze fell upon her, she couldn't even breathe. The overwhelming pressure was like a mountain pressing down on her, freezing her thoughts.
"Baobei!"
Jia Yunwan's voice cut through the dragon's oppressive aura, instantly dispelling the crushing weight.
Li Miao unconsciously broke out in a cold sweat. Only when she could finally breathe again did she slowly regain her composure.
Wait.
What had she just heard?
Did Jia Yunwan just call that dragon... Baobei (baby)?!
You're calling a dragon the size of a mountain Baobei?!
Li Miao and the husky stared at the blue dragon in utter disbelief.
The dragon lazily side-eyed Jia Yunwan, seemingly displeased, and let out a low growl from its throat: "Roar!"
Jia Yunwan remained unfazed, crossing her arms. "Baobei, aren't you going to act? If you don't, I'll have to use your other name!"
The dragon stiffened.
"Roar~"
Fine, fine, I'll do it.
The dragon huffed and raised its head, exhaling toward the southwest.
A frigid blast instantly froze the landscape for miles. The once-warm weather turned bitterly cold in an instant. Li Miao instinctively hugged herself as she watched an entire forest of ice crystals form in the distance.
"So? Pretty cool, right?" Jia Yunwan tilted her head toward Li Miao.
Li Miao nodded vigorously. "So cool!"
"Teacher, is that your tamed beast? Is it a dragon? Where can I get one like it?! I want one too!"
Her eyes sparkled with excitement, completely overlooking the husky behind her, whose jaw had dropped in shock.
The husky barked furiously in protest.
You fickle-hearted, traitorous beastmaster! I forbid a second child!
No second child, no no no!
The dog flailed its limbs wildly, nearly leaping out of the car window.
Jia Yunwan laughed in amusement.
She glanced at the husky's animated expression out of the corner of her eye and raised her brow meaningfully.
"I'm afraid you can't buy one."
She said, "After all, I 'recruited' Baobei from a secret realm. Don't let its cool, aloof dragon act fool you—it's still miles away from being a true dragon."
Li Miao paused, then instinctively looked toward the dragon's belly.
Unfortunately, the dragon was so massive that she couldn't see much—only the shimmering belly scales, as smooth and dazzling as polished gems.
"Then is it a jiao (a dragon-like serpent)?"
"Tch. At best, it's just a snake with a hint of dragon bloodline."
Jia Yunwan chuckled. "It hasn't even grown claws yet. How can it be called a jiao, let alone a dragon?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the dragon lowered its head onto hers in protest.
"Roar!"
"Fine, fine. I know you'll become a dragon someday. Stop complaining—you still haven't made any progress."
The dragon huffed in annoyance and turned its head away, as if giving Jia Yunwan the cold shoulder.
Jia Yunwan was unfazed and asked, "Finished cleaning up yet?"
"ROAR!"
The dragon growled fiercely at her before returning to the summoning circle, disappearing back to wherever it had come from.
Caught off guard by the outburst, Jia Yunwan: "..."
She snorted and casually pulled out a tissue from her pocket to wipe the dragon's saliva off her face.
"Such a temper. All I said was that it's still a snake..."
Li Miao: "..."
If anyone said that about my husky, it would probably snap at me too—let alone a beast with dragon lineage.
Wait.
She felt like she'd forgotten something.
Li Miao spun around just in time to see the husky wriggle out of its seatbelt and leap through the car window, charging at her with a crazed look—
"Awoooooo!"
No second child!
I forbid a second child!
If you dare get a second child, I'll jump from a tree and commit suicide right here, right now!
I, the husky, a real man—will keep my word!
Li Miao covered her face. "...Just stop talking."
"Go ahead and jump."
The husky was stunned: "Awooo?!"
You don't love me anymore?
You really don't love me anymore?!
How could you stop loving me?!
Li Miao: "..."
"If you can actually kill yourself by jumping from a tree, I'll call you 'Dad' from now on."
The husky immediately shut its mouth.
Its eyes darted around schemingly—clearly up to no good.
A second later, it bolted toward the nearest ice crystal tree... only to yelp and retreat instantly.
So cold, so cold!
The ground is NOT paw-friendly!
Defeated, the husky reluctantly abandoned its dramatic suicide plan.
Li Miao sighed in resignation.
"You really need to work on disciplining your tamed beast."
Jia Yunwan chuckled. "Go calm it down. I'll handle things here."
"As for this beast..."
She glanced at the still-unconscious bat on the ground. "We'll take it with us. Its master is already dead, and with its injuries, it won't cause any trouble."
Only then did Li Miao notice the pool of blood staining the bat's fur.