"Then why didn't you just state it directly? They are merely people facing death." Lucifer still couldn't quite understand. "You seem to be soft-hearted in some aspects."
Soft-hearted? Perhaps.
Bai Cha shook her head, stood up, and took the coat from Lucifer, draping it over herself.
"Tragedy breeds the next tragedy; this chain reaction might accumulate endlessly until everything plunges into an irredeemable abyss." Bai Cha looked at Lucifer, her expression carrying a near-obsessive seriousness. "As long as it doesn't harm others, I'd rather deceive rules than principles."
"The remaining Bai family members wear black their entire lives, because everyone silently mourns the deceased at all times."
If it were possible, even if the Bai family vanished, they would all wish for the world to become as they dreamed.
"Ding dong."
A text message alert.
Bai Cha picked up her phone and saw a photo pop up. Bai Cha raised an eyebrow, leaned closer to examine it, and her eyelids twitched.
"How did they end up together?" Bai Cha muttered, then turned to Lucifer. "You clean up the dishes first. I'm going to see Cang Liu. You can come over later."
"Yes, my master." Lucifer agreed obediently. Only after Bai Cha left did Lucifer's gentle smile completely disappear. He looked darkly out the window, now possessing a more regal bearing. "Is eavesdropping such a shameful act that even a Holy Dragon would do it?"
"Don't misunderstand, I just happened to be passing by." Michael pushed open the window and grinned triumphantly. "I saw my little brother getting lectured by you guys, and he still hasn't recovered from his shock."
"What, Mr. Michael, do you want to avenge your master?" Lucifer said coldly. "Oh right, for you, that's not a master, but your brother."
"Tsk, be reasonable. You can't blame me just because my boy Ye caused your master serious injuries. I was assigned to a special mission back then." Michael ruffled his newly styled wolf-like hair, saying with annoyance.
In fact, he was also curious about what his little brother had been up to, causing him to lose his appetite. Bai Cha was still single and not dating, so Ye couldn't have been heartbroken, could he?
Moreover, Michael actually avoided Bai Cha intentionally. Objectively speaking, they had a prior conflict. In the past, Michael dared not respond to Bai Cha's words or even look at her. After Meng Qinghuan exposed it last time, Michael genuinely avoided Bai Cha.
Although Bai Cha seemed to hold no grudges, Michael's memory was good, and he felt awkward.
That's why he specifically waited for Bai Cha to leave before daring to come out and inquire about the situation.
"So, you also abandoned Mr. Mo at home to participate in the mission to eliminate my master's father?" Lucifer snorted coldly. "Ridiculous. Your resonant host is disloyal and pledges allegiance to a superior with whom you have no relation."
In Lucifer's view, since dragons resonate with humans, their first priority should be their resonant person; even superiors should pass through their host.
"Uh, that was Mo Ziye's dad, okay? His biological father, which by extension is also my father. How could I possibly defy him directly?" Michael said impatiently. "I say, are you perhaps jealous that my boy Ye is pursuing your master? What, are you also interested in your master?"
Also?
Lucifer glanced at Michael with a peculiar expression and began tidying the tableware on the table. "Humans are fragile and insignificant. Even when sharing our power, they only have a few hundred years of lifespan. I wouldn't be troubled by your host."
For his past self, a few hundred years was merely a blink of an eye. Living too long would only make the world seem bland. He didn't reject the idea of entering reincarnation sooner.
Besides, even if someone came to compete, they would have to see if they had the ability. Of course, his master was an exception, being very strong.
Lucifer simply wanted to express Mo Ziye's weakness. Unexpectedly, upon hearing his words, Michael gave him an even stranger look, his brows furrowed into a knot.
"A few hundred years? You must be dreaming, Lucifer. Do you think humans deduct a zero when they share life with us?" Michael rolled his eyes speechlessly. "Humans already have over a hundred years of lifespan. Converting that to our terms means thousands of years, alright? Didn't you learn math when you came to this world?"
"Furthermore, you've resonated with Bai Cha, can't you feel that her lifespan is still long? Even a few thousand years from our tens of thousands of years makes some dragons unhappy, so reducing it to a few hundred years is too much of a loss." Michael rubbed his chin, muttering thoughtfully. "However… why do you all like aloof beauties who don't fall in love? Why doesn't anyone like cute, busty lolis like me?"
Lucifer didn't respond. He picked up the tableware with a darkened expression, cleaning it with the utmost speed. Michael, this chatterbox, buzzed around his ears like a fly, talking incessantly without stating his purpose.
He washed the tableware clean, dried the water stains, arranged them neatly, and even cleaned the entire area thoroughly. His movements were swift and decisive, more so than in battle.
"Hey, I say, how did you get so good at being a butler now? Were you used to being served before, and now you're experiencing serving others?" Michael's eyes widened in amazement. Just as he was about to jump down from the windowsill, Lucifer zapped his leg with a vacuum cleaner.
"Ouch! Lucifer, what are you doing! We're not enemies anymore, why are you ambushing me!" Michael complained loudly.
"This is the freshly cleaned floor. Please do not dirty it, Mr. Michael." Lucifer placed the vacuum cleaner back in its original position expressionlessly and turned to leave. "I have other matters to attend to. If there's nothing else, please return."
"Hey, hey, wait! Old brother, I was wrong. You have to tell me what happened to you guys!" Michael, helpless, could only shout at Lucifer who was walking towards the door. "My little brother has been depressed for almost three days!"
"Mr. Xiang Nan was also present during that incident. You can ask him." Lucifer's voice drifted from afar, causing Michael to freeze.
Xiang Nan? The one who plays with insects?
Recalling how he had foolishly ventured into an insect nest last time and was covered in multi-legged creatures, Michael's face turned green. He wasn't afraid of insects before. But after being stared at by thousands of compound eyes, he genuinely developed a phobia of them.
However, Mo Ziye was still depressed, and if he knew nothing, how could he comfort him? Thinking that he actually had to go find Xiang Nan soon, Michael felt he was about to become depressed himself.
At the back mountain waterfall of the academy, Meng Qinghuan was lying on a large rock by the water pool, lounging like a Maitreya Buddha. In front of him was a box of cherry tomatoes, which he ate one by one like offering tribute.
"Yes, yes, Little Crane, just like that, keep going~" Meng Qinghuan waved his sleeves, smiling provocatively. "He who endures hardship will be a superior person. When heaven bestows a great mission upon a person, it will surely test their resolve and weary their bodies and minds..."
"I know even without you saying it. Can you shut up for a bit, Master?" Yun He finally couldn't help it. Meng Qinghuan's voice was truly annoying. Just hearing it made one angry.
Although his voice and appearance were both refined and pleasant, why did it sound so irritating with his soul-stirring tone?
"Alright, alright~ Little Crane, keep going!" Meng Qinghuan grinned and popped another cherry tomato into his mouth.
Yun He sighed. She truly found Meng Qinghuan troublesome. If you say he's unreliable, then her rapid progress in power is all thanks to Meng Qinghuan.
But if you say he's reliable, then none of his usual actions look reliable at all.
She truly didn't know how to deal with someone like Meng Qinghuan.
Yun He took a deep breath, gathered her Qi in her dantian, and the rushing waterfall hit her body painfully. She circulated her energy, shifted her steps, and with a soft shout in her heart, she gathered all her strength in her palms and pushed upwards, actually forcing the cascading waterfall to flow backward by a few feet.
The backward-flowing waterfall collided with the downward-streaming water, instantly erupting into a larger splash, like fireworks exploding.
However, the reversal was only temporary. It could not withstand the normal flow of water and gravity. The downward water, carrying the reversed water, rushed down with even greater force. Even though Yun He was well-prepared, she was directly knocked off the rock.
"Hmm... the burst is passable, but the sustained power is a bit lacking." Meng Qinghuan watched Yun He, who was crawling out of the water in a mess, and smiled like a fox. "Do you want me to demonstrate again?"
"No need. I've seen it last time." Yun He pinched her nose. She had choked quite badly from that hit, but seeing Meng Qinghuan's schadenfreude, she couldn't get angry, only feeling helpless.
Last time, Meng Qinghuan had used one hand to push the waterfall back, then waited for it to rush down again and pushed it back again. He repeated this more than ten times without getting his monk's robe wet. Yun He had tried for two days before barely scratching the surface.
She had always greatly admired Meng Qinghuan's abilities.
"Hmm? Who's here?" Meng Qinghuan grabbed two cherry tomatoes and threw them to Yun He, then sat up and looked at the figure that suddenly appeared, asking with interest. "Why aren't you sticking by Little Bai anymore? Didn't the country give her time off these past few days?"
Lucifer subtly glanced at Yun He, who was looking their way, and said in a low voice, "Mr. Meng, could you come with me for a moment? There are some things I would like to inquire about."
"Ah? What is it?" Meng Qinghuan didn't doubt him. He jumped off the rock, dusted off his monk's robe with a wave of his hand, and a faint golden barrier enveloped the two of them. "Alright, no one can hear us now. What do you want to say? Don't tell me you want to ask how to pursue Little Bai? That's a secret, and it'll cost extra~"
Lucifer: "..."
Even though Lucifer had almost gotten used to Meng Qinghuan's unreliable way of speaking, he was still momentarily speechless and almost forgot what he wanted to ask. He pressed his temples, carefully chose his words, and then asked.
"When a human resonates with a dragon, how much lifespan can they retain?" Lucifer asked, frowning, seeming somewhat anxious. He rephrased: "Under normal circumstances, how long do humans live?"
Unexpectedly, Lucifer would ask this. Meng Qinghuan was startled and didn't immediately know how to answer. Both of them fell silent. The waterfall behind them roared deafeningly, but Lucifer's heart gradually sank.
"Under normal circumstances, it's over a thousand years, right?" Lucifer asked, his face dark, his voice almost gritted through his teeth. "Why did I only sense a lifespan of a few hundred years?"
Thousands and hundreds were not comparable at all. This meant that he and Bai Cha might be living for a fraction of the time compared to other dragon riders.
"To be precise, it's around twelve hundred to fifteen hundred years." Meng Qinghuan shrugged, a hint of mockery in his voice. "Feeling unbalanced? Who told you that?"
Lucifer covered his eyes. Even though he had some psychological preparation, when he truly learned the truth, it struck him hard, making his breathing difficult. "No wonder she said I didn't owe her. I thought she didn't care about her own soul at all."
At the time, he had even sulked with Bai Cha over this matter. He couldn't understand someone who didn't value their own soul, which made him feel disrespected by his prey, lacking any sense of accomplishment.
Now Lucifer finally understood why Bai Cha said he didn't owe her anything. Because she had paid with the majority of her lifespan, and in Bai Cha's view, it was probably an equal exchange.