I'm Feng Aotian—And I’m Running Away from My Wedding - Chapter 29

Her mind was hazy and muddled. Li Baiying felt as if she were trapped in a cramped space, with an undeniable pressure closing in from all sides.

Her body seemed to have undergone some inexplicable changes as well.

Thump! Thump! Instinctively, she tried bashing her head against the wall above her.

There was a strange protrusion on her forehead, but she had no idea what it was.

Crack.

A sliver of light seeped through a gap, making her squint uncomfortably.

Thump! With another forceful lunge forward, the barrier shattered like paper, revealing a vast nest stretching hundreds of feet high before her.

Countless treasures of gold, silver, and rare artifacts lay scattered across the ground. Only the area beneath her and a few nearby eggs was covered with dry hay, standing out starkly amidst the opulent surroundings.

“Wait… eggs?”

It took Li Baiying a moment to process this. She turned to look behind her, where a shattered eggshell lay. Quickly glancing down at herself, she realized that where her feet should have been was now a red tail, and her hands had transformed into strange little claws. On her back, a pair of fleshy wings had sprouted.

“Ancestor, are you there?”

She tried communicating with the voice in her mind, but after a long silence, there was no response, as if it had never existed.

Seeing this, her expression grew serious, and she decided to take a closer look at the cave.

The scene before her closely resembled the dragon habitats described in ancient texts. Dragons loved collecting rare treasures, and their caves were often filled with gold, silver, and, of course, plenty of shiny objects.

She reached out a claw toward a translucent, crystalline jade. But just as she was about to touch it, a soft white light repelled her, sending her tumbling three meters away.

Scrape!

Her scales made a harsh sound against the ground as she rolled over and stood up, shaking off the dust clinging to her skin. It seemed she had become much tougher now, aside from a slight dizziness from the fall, she felt no discomfort.

Steadying herself, she turned her attention back to the treasures. She hadn’t noticed before, but now she saw that each item was enveloped in a faint, almost imperceptible barrier. The powerful aura was so refined it was nearly undetectable.

Unable to touch the treasures, Li Baiying shifted her focus to the remaining eggs. She even pressed her ear against the eggshells to listen, but they were completely silent, with no signs of movement.

Should she venture deeper into the cave?

She didn’t hesitate for long before taking small, steady steps into the dark depths.

This was a dragon’s nest, filled with gold and silver treasures, undoubtedly protected by powerful restrictions. As long as she didn’t tamper with anything, her safety wasn’t a concern. Besides, she was now in dragon form herself, the cave’s owner likely wouldn’t trouble her.

Though she didn’t understand why she was here or how she had turned into a dragon, she wasn’t overly concerned. Whether it was an illusion or a scheme, she decided to press forward regardless.

Tap, tap.

The deeper she went, the drier the ground became, eventually giving way to bricks and tiles like those used in human society.

Suddenly, Li Baiying halted, her gaze fixed on a massive crystal palace emerging in the distance. For a moment, she felt dazed.

She had never seen such intricate and exquisite patterns before.

Even the carved birds under the eaves were lifelike and varied in form, each with intricate details as if poised to take flight. At the very top of the palace, a massive dragon with outstretched wings was sculpted, its seemingly casual downward gaze striking awe and fear into the hearts of all who beheld it.

Just then, a vast shadow enveloped her.

In the next moment, a sharp claw gently lifted her, and the howling wind whistled past her ears. In the blink of an eye, she was brought to the entrance of the crystal palace.

This was Li Baiying’s first encounter with a dragon, a creature recorded in the bestiary of mythical beasts.

Scales of fiery red covered its entire body, each one radiating the scorching aura of molten lava. When its wings spread, they blotted out the sky, leaving no doubt that it could even swallow the sun whole.

The dragon was two to three times larger than the palace itself, so immense that she couldn’t even see its entirety when she looked up.

As she glanced around in astonishment, the red dragon transformed, shifting into a gentle woman who picked her up.

Li Baiying sensed a familiar aura from her, as if they shared the same bloodline.

Before she could fully process this feeling, the palace doors swung open, and a woman in a blue Daoist robe hurried out to greet them.

The moment Li Baiying saw her, shock flashed in her eyes:

It was the portrait of the Li family’s founding ancestor, hung in the ancestral hall. Only now, it had come to life!

Li Xiyue was nothing short of a legend in the Li family’s history and the aspiration of countless younger generations.

Despite her humble origins, she possessed the most enigmatic Chaos talent, capable of unraveling the secrets of heaven. Once she embarked on the path of martial cultivation, she not only mastered all techniques with ease but also advanced at an astonishing pace.

It was said that even as a mortal, she had trained alone beneath a cliff for fifty arduous years. Upon emerging, she founded the Li clan in one fell swoop, becoming one of the three great powers of Taichu Mountain. Territories, cultivation methods, spiritual veins, all were gathered by her and her followers.

It could be said that the prosperity of the Li family was inextricably linked to the foundation laid by this ancestor in her early years.

“Lanlan, is this our child?”

Li Baiying was still lost in her thoughts when she suddenly felt herself lifted lightly, cradled in the ancestor’s arms as she was examined closely. Despite her strong mental fortitude, she was momentarily stunned.

“This little one is quite clever, walking out of the cave on her own,” the woman transformed from the red dragon chuckled softly, her gaze tender as water. “But the other eggs still show no signs of movement, I’m afraid…”

Dragons were naturally scarce in offspring, and even when they laid several eggs, there was no guarantee they would hatch. Merely breaking through the shell was enough to trap and doom many frail young dragons.

It was no exaggeration to say that if two hatchlings emerged from a clutch of eggs, it was a rare occurrence, and that didn’t even account for those lost during growth.

“Have you thought of a name?”

Li Xiyue held the little red dragon in her arms, unable to put her down, her smile unwavering. “She’s still young; it would be better for her to stay by your side.”

“Her name will be Baiying. As for her surname, she’ll take mine while among the dragons, but once she steps out, she will be part of your family.”

“Our family,” Li Xiyue corrected, pulling her close and planting a gentle kiss on her lips. “I will find the right opportunity to make the elders accept you. If not, I would rather leave the family and roam the world with you.”

“What are you saying? Revitalizing the family has been your life’s work, how could you abandon it so easily?”

Long Jinglan shot her a playful, chiding glance, her gaze unconsciously settling on the unusually quiet little red dragon. “Xiyue, do you still have one use left for your Celestial Eye? If possible, I hope you could take a look at our daughter-”

“Her birth stirred celestial and earthly anomalies. I fear her fate…” Her words trailed off, leaving the thought unfinished.

“Leave it to me.”