Growing Up with the Demon King Tyrant - Chapter 2

Driven by the instincts of a hatchling dragon, Xue Yi did not dare to stray too far from his eggshell.

The shell was thick, capable of blocking the wind and shielding him from the cold. It also served as a source of nourishment for a young dragon after hatching and would consistently retain its warmth.

Finding that the youth had returned, Xue Yi was incredibly happy. He had completely forgotten how he had previously been tossed aside by the scruff of his neck.

Xi Huai must have gone out to hunt; he didn’t abandon me.

Xue Yi pushed aside the “lid” at the top of the shell and scrambled out over the edge.

Xi Huai stood a short distance away, watching the little dragon cub accidentally tumble off the shell and roll through the weeds before wagging its tail and scurrying toward him.

He looked away, stepped to the side, and sat cross-legged under another tree.

The little dragon cub followed him closely. Once Xi Huai sat down, it circled him half a turn.

Eh? It seems he didn’t bring back any prey.

Xue Yi leaned in to sniff the hem of Xi Huai’s robe but smelled only the scent of vegetation.

It didn’t matter if the hunt failed. The little dragon cub tilted its head and rubbed against Xi Huai’s sleeve, wanting to comfort him.

Xi Huai moved his hand away and closed his eyes against the tree trunk. “Stay away from me.”

His entire being radiated a “do not approach” aura, and there seemed to be a faint, lingering scent of blood about him.

The little dragon cub scooted back and lay down obediently nearby, its clear golden eyes wide open.

Soon, Xue Yi’s stomach began to growl.

The rustling sound of movement in the grass rose again, and Xi Huai opened his eyes.

The little dragon cub had returned to the eggshell, sniffing it thoroughly and licking it from time to time.

After choosing a spot it liked, the cub bit the edge of the shell, laboriously broke off a small piece, held it in its front paws, and ate it with a “crunch, crunch” sound.

So dragons can eat their own eggshells.

Xi Huai found this novel and watched for a few moments longer.

In truth, this was the first time Xi Huai had seen a living dragon. Previously, he had only seen illustrations of adult dragons in books or heard about them from other tribesmen.

The dragon race was extremely protective of their young. Underage dragons rarely went outside, and newly hatched cubs were hidden away like treasures; outsiders were never allowed contact with them.

In Xi Huai’s impression, dragons were massive creatures that were somewhat ugly.

However, the hatchling before him was different. Its pure white, delicate scales looked comfortable to the touch, its horns lacked ugly branching, and its claws were small and round.

The way it sat holding its eggshell while nibbling was actually somewhat cute.

Xi Huai was inexplicably reminded of a cat Queen Wei used to keep—it had snowy, fluffy fur and a soft, mewling cry.

In his view, that cat looked decent enough, but it wasn’t very intelligent, so he didn’t like it.

This patch of grassland was large, and the surrounding woods were sparse, allowing the glow of the setting sun to reach them.

After a short while, the little dragon cub had finished half of the broken piece of shell. Sensing that Xi Huai was watching, it looked up.

Xi Huai immediately looked away, but unfortunately, he was a step too late.

With a “wu” sound, the little dragon cub picked up the remaining half-piece of shell in its mouth and ran over.

It reached Xi Huai’s side and placed the shell on the grass.

Xue Yi simply thought that Xi Huai was hungry too. Since he hadn’t brought back any prey, he might want to eat the eggshell.

Xi Huai looked straight ahead with a cold, indifferent expression.

The little dragon cub raised a paw and pushed the shell toward him.

Xi Huai saw this clearly from the corner of his eye. After a moment of silence, he said, “I’m not eating that.”

Xue Yi understood. He still squatted quietly and waited for a while, but seeing that Xi Huai truly wasn’t going to eat, he lowered his head and ate it himself.

That small piece of shell was enough to fill his belly. The little dragon cub licked its paws.

It was getting dark, and the night wind was picking up. Hatchling dragons needed to stay warm, so Xue Yi returned to his shell.

Xi Huai remained motionless, but his gaze drifted over again.

The little dragon cub had already climbed inside. It poked its head out to grab the “lid” with its mouth, slowly pulling it into place.

The shell wobbled slightly and then fell still.

Xi Huai stared for a moment longer, then tidied the grass beside him and lay down to sleep.

Early the next morning, Xue Yi woke up and crawled out of the shell, only to find that Xi Huai was not nearby.

The little dragon cub tilted its head back and gave two “ao-wu” cries, but received no response. It nibbled on some eggshell by itself and played with the fallen leaves under the tree.

It wasn’t until noon, when the sun was at its strongest, that Xi Huai appeared.

Xue Yi had just finished a nap and was full of energy. He excitedly circled the youth, following him wherever he went.

For a few hours in the afternoon, Xi Huai vanished again.

Xue Yi couldn’t catch up to him. He guarded his shell and waited until dark, finally seeing the familiar figure emerge from the woods.

For several days in a row, the man and the dragon maintained this state.

Several times, Xue Yi tried to get closer to Xi Huai—to rub against his hand or sniff his scent more closely.

If Xi Huai could just hold him, it would be even better. Hatchlings were always clingy and instinctively needed care.

But Xi Huai didn’t seem to like Xue Yi’s closeness. He would either speak up to stop him or simply walk away.

After a few attempts, Xue Yi finally stopped trying to lick Xi Huai’s fingers.

However, with a hatchling’s simple understanding, every time he saw Xi Huai, Xue Yi would still circle him, following behind like a little accessory.

One afternoon, Xue Yi was digging through fallen leaves under a tree.

Xi Huai had returned at some unknown point and was leaning quietly against the trunk. Xue Yi only saw him when he looked up.

“Ao!”

The little dragon cub ran over on its short legs. When it was just a step away, Xi Huai turned to leave.

Xue Yi followed skillfully, weaving through the woods until Xi Huai walked beyond the area where the cub usually stayed.

The little dragon cub looked up and saw that Xi Huai had also stopped and was looking back.

Sensing something, Xue Yi hesitated but then stepped forward into the unfamiliar territory.

Xi Huai walked very slowly, as if intentionally leading the way, stopping from time to time.

The little dragon cub was nervous and apprehensive, yet also a bit excited. He accidentally tripped over a branch and face-planted into the grass.

Hearing footsteps approach, Xue Yi hurriedly scrambled up and shook the grass leaves off his nose.

Xi Huai stood before him. “We’re almost there.”

After walking a bit further, Xue Yi smelled the scent of water.

The little dragon cub picked up its pace and burst through the trees ahead. Sure enough, there was a flowing stream.

The water made a “huala huala” splashing sound. Xue Yi’s eyes sparkled, and he squatted by the bank, wagging his tail incessantly.

Xi Huai was half a step behind and sat down on the grass.

He hadn’t thought much of it initially; he just felt this little dragon was always staying in the same spot, too timid to come out, eating eggshells every day without drinking any water.

Do all dragons grow up like this?

Xi Huai wanted to see if he could lead the little dragon out, and it had turned out quite successfully.

He rolled up his pant leg, intending to see how the wound on his leg was recovering. He caught sight of the dragon cub nearby with its head lowered, its whole body wobbling as if it were about to fall headfirst into the stream.

Xi Huai was quick and grabbed the cub by the scruff of its neck.

The little dragon cub struggled slightly. “Wu wu…”

Xi Huai asked, “Thirsty?”

Xue Yi looked at him and licked his lips.

The stream wasn’t deep, and as a dragon—even a hatchling—he shouldn’t be that weak. But Xi Huai instinctively felt that, for the dragon before him, it was still a bit dangerous.

Once he realized what he was thinking, he frowned and fell silent.

The grip on his neck wasn’t heavy. Xue Yi struggled down on his own and stretched out a claw to try and touch the water.

The tip of his claw touched a bit of cold. Before Xue Yi could be happy, he was lifted and moved away by Xi Huai again.

“You…” Xi Huai’s expression was somewhat dark, his thoughts unknown.

Then, he picked up a leaf, washed it clean in the stream, and used it to scoop up some water.

The little dragon cub immediately leaned in, eagerly licking the water from the leaf.

Xi Huai didn’t set the leaf down in time, so he just held it in his hand.

The eggshell provided enough nutrients; Xue Yi wasn’t truly thirsty, he was mostly curious.

The cub soon licked the leaf clean, and licked Xi Huai’s fingertips in the process.

Xi Huai said coldly, “Behave.”

His tone wasn’t harsh. Xue Yi quickly licked away one last drop of water, retracted his claws, and tilted his head to look at him.

Afterward, Xi Huai found a larger leaf, filled it with stream water, and placed it on the bank.

Xue Yi dipped a claw in, got a bit of water, and then lifted it to lick it off, playing tirelessly.

Xi Huai washed the wound on his knee; it no longer needed to be wrapped in cloth.

As he pulled down his pant leg, a small silver-white figure approached.

Xue Yi saw Xi Huai’s movements and the scar on his leg, keenly sensing something unusual.

The little dragon cub moved closer of its own accord, sniffing at the fabric over the knee, its nose carefully pressing against it.

Xi Huai didn’t move. He saw a hint of worry and tension in the hatchling’s golden eyes.

Breaking his usual pattern, he reached out and gave the top of the cub’s head a stroke.

If this were an ordinary spirit beast or some kind of pet, Xi Huai might consider raising it.

Unfortunately, it was a dragon.

Once he left Ghost Valley, this dragon would likely be taken away and strictly supervised, or perhaps sent directly back to the dragon race.

Regardless, it had nothing to do with him.

Xi Huai’s touch was a bit heavy-handed. Xue Yi almost tumbled over. When he steadied himself and looked up, the youth had already stood up.

“Going back.”

The little dragon cub gave a cry in response and followed Xi Huai’s lead.

Before dark, Xi Huai led Xue Yi back to the grassland.

Having spent a lot of energy this afternoon, Xue Yi ate two pieces of eggshell in a row and went to sleep early.

A few more days passed, and Xue Yi’s eggshell was almost gone.

By the time he had eaten more than half, the lid was long gone. The shell could still be slept in normally, but every day brought a new missing piece.

To block the wind, Xue Yi moved the shell behind a tree. Every night he slept hugging the warm eggshell and didn’t feel cold.

On the final night, the last of the eggshell went into his stomach.

Xue Yi licked his paws clean and paced around the tree trunk, flattening the grass on one side and dragging over some fallen leaves with his mouth.

By the time he finished, the sky had turned completely dark.

The little dragon cub lay in the grass, curling its body and closing its eyes.

Xue Yi had seen Xi Huai sleeping like this, and the soft leaves were indeed comfortable to lie on.

However, as time passed, Xue Yi felt colder and colder.

The cold leaves couldn’t provide enough heat. Xue Yi hugged his tail and endured it, but eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore. He rolled over, stood up, and peeked toward where Xi Huai was.

Under the moonlight, a dark shadow was resting quietly nearby.

It must be very warm near Xi Huai.

The little dragon cub hesitated for a moment, then quietly approached.

The sound of rustling reached Xi Huai’s ears, and he opened his eyes.

A little dragon cub was squatting beside him, letting out a weak “wu…”

“What are you doing?”

The little dragon cub reached out a claw and touched Xi Huai’s sleeve.

Xi Huai guessed the eggshell must be gone, but he said nothing.

Are dragons so delicate when they’re little? They need something to sleep with, and when the shell is gone, they come looking for me.

Seeing no reaction from Xi Huai, Xue Yi tilted his head and rubbed against the hem of his robe.

The exposed palm of the youth continuously radiated warmth. The little dragon cub couldn’t help but press against it.

Xi Huai still didn’t move. The little dragon cub relaxed, lay down while tightly hugging the youth’s hand, and let out a large yawn.