I Faked My Death After Choosing the Wrong Protagonist - Chapter 27

Qi Ye coiled around Shen Qingzhuo, insisting on hearing more music.

Shen Qingzhuo played another piece. Throughout the melody, the great dragon writhed continuously, gradually winding his entire body around Shen Qingzhuo’s waist, leaving only his tail on the outside. He held his head high, leaning against Shen Qingzhuo’s neck from behind.

Shen Qingzhuo didn’t dislike this; Qi Ye acting this way toward him proved he trusted him and had lowered his guard. It seemed he was making progress.

When the music ended, the black dragon leaned closer and asked earnestly, “What was that piece?”

It was beautiful. Shen Qingzhuo was truly incredible!

“‘Gazing at Immortals’ (Wang Xian Ren),” Shen Qingzhuo replied.

Qi Ye fell into a daze of reminiscence, his body pressed tightly against Shen Qingzhuo, his eyes crinkling with joy. He said sincerely, “You are also like an immortal.”

“Hmm?” Shen Qingzhuo tilted his head back slightly, turning to look at him.

This movement caused Qi Ye to press even closer unexpectedly. The dragon, already incredibly close, nearly brushed his cheek against Shen Qingzhuo’s. Qi Ye took several deep breaths, a foolish smile on his face. “You are exceptionally beautiful and a wonderful person, just like a deity.”

“You are the most beautiful, best person I have ever met.”

Shen Qingzhuo was pleased by the flattery and laughed. “How many people have you actually met to dare say such things? There will be better people in the future.”

Qi Ye shook his head, gently nuzzling him with his dragon head. “No, you are the best. I only want you.”

Shen Qingzhuo didn’t pursue that further, instead asking, “Do you want to hear another? I’ll play for you.”

This time, Qi Ye shook his head again. Shen Qingzhuo found it strange and asked with a smile, “Do you not like it anymore?” He had seemed so happy listening just a moment ago.

But Qi Ye said, “I won’t listen. You’ll get tired.”

As he spoke, his tail the last part left on the outside curled up and wrapped around Shen Qingzhuo’s hand resting on the zither. Qi Ye was full of excitement. “I love it. I won’t listen today, but will you play for me again tomorrow?”

His original nature was somewhat dominant, especially in this posture. Realizing it might be inappropriate to speak to Shen Qingzhuo this way, he lowered his head and leaned in with flickering eyes.

Shen Qingzhuo laughed, withdrawing his hand from the restless tail. Looking at that cute, rounded tail that had just been bandaged, his fingers squeezed a spot outside the white gauze.

“Alright.”

Shen Qingzhuo put away the zither, but Qi Ye was still unwilling to let go, his tail moving back and forth near the man’s hand. Shen Qingzhuo hadn’t intended to tease him, but seeing this, he pressed his fingers against the moving tail. “Do you want me to stroke it?” he asked playfully.

Who wouldn’t love a tail like this? Especially with the bow he had tied on it himself. Though it wasn’t a decoration, but a wound.

Shen Qingzhuo gathered the dragon-form Qi Ye into his arms like a precious treasure and gave him a thorough ruffling, being careful to avoid the injury. He thought to himself that once Qi Ye healed, if he was still willing, he could tie a proper bow for him. It wouldn’t be a random bandage then; he would choose the most beautiful ribbon. Crimson might suit Qi Ye, or perhaps obsidian. One wouldn’t be enough; he could tie several and add pearls. It would be stunning.

Shen Qingzhuo’s last memory was of stroking the tail. He didn’t know when he had fallen asleep. When he woke up, he felt warm and comfortable. Opening his eyes, he saw it was already light out. The black dragon’s size had increased significantly since the night before. He was leaning against the dragon’s body, as if he had slept for a very long time.

Wait… it was light out?

Shen Qingzhuo felt a wave of chagrin. He had brought Qi Ye to see the sunrise, yet he had fallen asleep. Even setting the sunrise aside, the city had been dangerous last night; he should have stayed alert to protect Qi Ye.

Shen Qingzhuo moved. The great dragon had coiled around him with an incredibly difficult posture to protect him. It had started to snow outside, but the dragon’s body had blocked it all; not a single flake had touched Shen Qingzhuo. This comfortable, almost hot temperature was emanating from Qi Ye himself.

Shen Qingzhuo was confused. Records of dragons on the continent were sparse, but rumors said they were cold-blooded. Previously, Qi Ye’s body was always cold, except for the night he first transformed.

Why was he so hot now?

The dragon’s body was long and coiled tightly against him. Shen Qingzhuo reached out and touched a spot, then pulled back in shock. It was scalding hotter than that night. With a temperature this high, a person’s brain would be fried.

Is he having a fever? Xiao Ye’s body was weak and sensitive to cold, yet he had blocked the snow all night. Did he freeze and get sick?

Shen Qingzhuo felt deeply guilty. He reached out to unfasten his fur cloak to cover Qi Ye. Suddenly, the dragon who had been shielding him from the snow with his head on the ground opened his eyes.

Those eyes were exceptionally weak, the red brighter than usual, shifting from dark crimson to a vivid scarlet.

“Master…” the great dragon gritted his teeth, his scales trembling. He seemed unable to hold on any longer, yet he stubbornly remained half-upright to keep the snow off the man.

Shen Qingzhuo was stunned, thinking he had misheard. “What did you call me?”

Qi Ye’s consciousness was indeed muddled. Opening his eyes and seeing Shen Qingzhuo made him so happy.

He had had another dream. In the dream, he started as a tiny black dragon, very ugly. It was Shen Qingzhuo who found him and brought him home, feeding him every day.

Back then, the continent wasn’t like it was now; it was more of a wasteland, full of war and smoke. Cultivators were rare then, looking down on “weak” mortals and slaughtering spiritual beasts at will. Before cultivators, humans and demons were the lowest slaves.

But Shen Qingzhuo was different from them all.

The person in that dream also like a deity smiled with gentle elegance. In that chaotic world, he would rescue small beasts injured while fleeing and distribute silver to unfortunate mortals so they could survive. For vicious beasts and wicked people, the immortal Master would use his means to punish them.

The little dragon was rescued by Shen Qingzhuo from the talons of a beast. He had heard cultivators were terrifying that they used spells to force beasts into submission, frequently whipping and mistreating them. If the Master died, the contracted beast could not survive. The little dragon thought Shen Qingzhuo would be the same.

However, Shen Qingzhuo never used such a spell on him. Even after his wounds healed, after he had scratched the faces of other cultivators who had designs on Shen Qingzhuo and killed the tiger pack that almost ate him, Shen Qingzhuo never forced a contract.

The little dragon became insatiable, becoming increasingly dominant toward the beautiful benefactor who had saved him, begging to sign a Master-Servant contract. He thought that this way, Shen Qingzhuo would finally be forced to take notice of him.

Yet Shen Qingzhuo refused and wanted to let him go.

“Your wounds are healed. I cannot interfere with your life forever. Go,” the white-clad deity had said.

The little dragon was devastated and refused to leave. Not only did he stay, but he became even more demanding, following Shen Qingzhuo everywhere, coiling around him even during sleep, and insisting on calling him “Master.” He wanted to see a different expression on Shen Qingzhuo any expression, as long as it was one others didn’t see. He wasn’t afraid of being hit.

“I’m staying with you forever. Who told you to be so beautiful!” “Don’t try to drive me away again, or I’ll bite you! My teeth are very poisonous; you’ll be poisoned and feel terrible!” “I… I’m super fierce!”

The little dragon bared his two fangs with a menacing air, snapping at him, but Shen Qingzhuo simply thought he was cute and reached out to touch those sharp claws. The little dragon hurriedly pulled back, glaring at him fiercely. “What are you… doing?”

There was poison here, he couldn’t touch!

The white-clad immortal asked: “Then how do I cure the poison?”

The little dragon retreated, hiding his claws and never showing them again. His voice was frantic. “As long as you… as long as you don’t abandon me, I won’t bite you.” “If I ever bite you, you can kill me!”

Shen Qingzhuo knelt before him, and that day, the immortal took the initiative to hug him for a rare time. Thus, Shen Qingzhuo was forced to become his Master.

The Master smelled so good. The little dragon couldn’t help but burrow into his arms, and then into his clothes when he wasn’t looking, his tail wagging with excitement until the Master pulled him out. The little dragon coiled around the Master’s hand, holding on tight, refusing to leave.

Suddenly, he saw a beautiful Bodhi bead. Time had worn it smooth and flawless, tied with a red string around the Master’s fair, translucent forearm.

“I won’t drive you away. Since you’re following me, I should know your name. Do you have one?”

A name… he didn’t have one, and even if he did, he wouldn’t want Shen Qingzhuo to know it. Everyone saw him as a disaster, an anomaly, the source of all evil. The demons bullied and humiliated him; the humans wanted to exterminate him. The little dragon coiled around Shen Qingzhuo’s arm and bit the Bodhi bead. “I want this. Give it to me!”

The white-clad immortal was stunned. Seeing this, the little dragon purposely acted fierce to threaten him. “Say it! Give it to me!”

Shen Qingzhuo gently stroked the little dragon’s head, then untied the red string from his arm.

“It’s yours,” he said, not at all angered by the dragon’s arrogance. Looking at the dragon’s smooth body, he asked gently, “But where will you wear it?”

The little dragon excitedly stuck his head forward. “On my neck!”

Shen Qingzhuo laughed and tied the string which had accompanied him for many years around the little dragon’s neck. It didn’t look precious, but it held immense meaning for the dragon. He buried his face in the bead on his neck and took a deep breath. When he looked up at Shen Qingzhuo, he was smiling happily.

It was full of his Master’s scent! Wonderful! Now Master would be with him at all times! He had a Master!

Fearing Shen Qingzhuo would change his mind, he hid the bead. “It’s mine now. You can’t take it back! From now on, my name is Bodhi. That is my new name!”

He belonged to the Master too. The Master smiled at him. “Mm. Bodhi.”

In the dream, the little black dragon and the Master lived happily year after year, and that white-clad Master was clearly Shen Qingzhuo. Qi Ye was jealous jealous of the version of himself in the dream.

He opened his heavy eyelids with difficulty. Seeing Shen Qingzhuo, he first nuzzled the man’s hand before changing his address: “…Brother.”

Shen Qingzhuo remained calm but touched the dragon’s head with worry. Even the head was burning now. He tried to get up, but the dragon’s body was arched like a bridge, protecting him in several layers; there wasn’t much room to move.

Shen Qingzhuo wondered if he hadn’t handled the wounds well enough the night before. It was his fault for wanting to see the sunrise. If he had just taken Qi Ye somewhere else, if he hadn’t fallen asleep… this wouldn’t have happened. He shouldn’t have taken Qi Ye away from the Shen residence.

Shen Qingzhuo was frantic. “Let me go first. We need to leave. I’ll find a doctor for you.”

The black dragon lifted his eyelids, unwilling to move. “It’s not an illness.” Qi Ye lifted his head with effort. “Can you… hug me?”

“Just once…” The dragon’s eyes were red and piteous, his breath hot as he stared at Shen Qingzhuo.

Shen Qingzhuo hesitated only for a second before leaning down to embrace him. The scalding heat was uncomfortable, but thinking of Qi Ye’s suffering, he didn’t care, hoping he could do something for him.

Snow covered the dragon’s head, melting into droplets on the hot skin and flowing down the horns. Shen Qingzhuo held him tight, feeling that the heat wasn’t unbearable after all, listening to the dragon’s pounding heart.

“It is… a dragon’s nature to be lustful…”

Even though he had asked for it, with Shen Qingzhuo hugging him so openly, Qi Ye felt like shrinking back. He felt terrible. “I don’t know what’s wrong. Maybe… maybe…”

Qi Ye’s gaze darted around, the dark red of his eyes damp with pain as he tried to pull away from the embrace.

“I’m cold. Your bed is warm. I’m sleeping with you.” “Drive them all away. You’re not allowed to rescue any more demons. From now on, you can only stroke me!” “I… I think I’m turning human. What do I do? It’s so ugly. Master, come help me. Master, you can’t abandon me…”

Qi Ye didn’t like the version of himself in the dream. He felt it wasn’t him how could he be so tyrannical toward Shen Qingzhuo? He wouldn’t dare, nor would he ever want to be like that. Yet he was so envious of that dragon. No matter what the dragon did, the Master patiently played with him and never grew angry, no matter how overboard it was.

In his daze, Qi Ye heard Shen Qingzhuo calling him again, unable to tell the dream from reality. The snow on his head had been brushed away by Shen Qingzhuo, and his body had been mostly wiped clean.

Shen Qingzhuo couldn’t push him and didn’t dare use spells recklessly, so he could only hope Qi Ye would respond. “Tell me. I’m listening. I’m always right here.”

After so long, it was impossible for Shen Qingzhuo not to notice anything. Qi Ye might not be sick from the wound, but he was truly suffering. He didn’t know what had happened while he was asleep, so he could only comfort the dragon, trying to lower his guard.

“Tell me. I’ll believe whatever you say. I’ll help you,” Shen Qingzhuo said, holding the scalding, trembling body tight.

The black dragon looked at the person right in front of him, staring at his slender waist, then his throat, then his pale lips. Lustful impulses continued to stir. For a moment, he desperately wanted to be like that tyrannical, wild dragon in the dream and just kiss him.

He held back. He didn’t do it. The dragon in the dream wouldn’t get a response from the Master, but the Master wouldn’t be angry either it was as if he didn’t care, yet offered nothing but indulgence.

If he did it, Shen Qingzhuo might stay far away from him and never see him again. Finally, the black dragon lifted his head and pressed it against Shen Qingzhuo’s waist, biting a corner of his robes in frustration.