The First Dragon Convention Volume 1 Chapter 5

Chapter 5

　　Bai Huo was awakened by a poke from a dragon's horns.

　　Right under his nose, a little dragon cub was shaking his tail and stealthily touching his chest. He lifted his claws up high, then carefully put them back down. Quite like a cat who was trying to find out if its owner was still alive.

　　Bai Huo adjusted his posture, putting his hands behind his head, asking curiously: “What are you doing ah, kneading?”

　　The little dragon saw him wake up and decisively stopped his actions, then he laid down, very cute.

　　”What's that smell?”

　　Bai Huo got up and finally saw the state of the small living room. The previously clean wooden floor was covered with fish bones. In addition, there was spilled congee and sauces, shredded takeaway boxes, scattered change… as well as sticky bird feathers.

　　Bai Huo: “…”

　　”Fat chicken -!” He roared.

　　”It wasn't me!” The fat bird covertly tried to cover up its round belly.

　　Such a large amount of destruction really was not something a single person could accomplish. Bai Huo looked at the little dragon. The latter looked at him with an innocent look and shook his tail, not realizing that there was a suspicious smear of sauce by the corner of his mouth.

　　Forgive him, he was still a baby, Bai Huo face palmed.

　　The little dragon completely lacked the consciousness of a suspect. Instead, he glanced at the fat bird with vigilance, then pulled out a pea flower from under the sofa, carrying it in his mouth as he tottered towards Bai Huo and put it down, pus.h.i.+ng it forward. His tail swayed back and forth, he seemed to be offering a treasure.

　　Bai Huo saw the purple b.u.t.terfly-shaped petals and stared blankly for a moment, then he quickly ran to the balcony. Holy c.r.a.p, his carefully planted fairy peas had been uprooted, all that remained in the flower pot was a few weakly drooping green leaves, which were full of bite marks.

　　”…”

　　Bai Huo pinched his brows, a pained expression on his face. He turned his head and looked at the little guy who was still looking at him with antic.i.p.ation. His black eyes were filled with the words “Look what I did, praise me.”

　　Inexplicably, Bai Huo immediately felt amus.e.m.e.nt, shaking his head with a smile, he resignedly crouched down to re-bury the fairy peas.

　　This fairy pea was actually hard to come by. Bai Huo had worked very hard to transplant it successfully. Then it took more than ten years for it to flower and bear pods. Last time, the pod was eaten by the fat bird. This time, under the little cub's care and kindness, not even the flowers were left.

　　While cleaning up, Bai Huo noticed a small concealed pod at the very bottom of the stem, it had not formed yet. The plant was damaged, it would grow out of shape and wither if he left it there, so he casually picked it.

　　The fat bird hadn't said a word yet, it aloofly squatted on the hanging lamp's lampshade, immersing itself in picking at its own wings.

　　The little baby dragon seemed to perceive something, and he half ran and half-rolled towards Bai Huo. His little claws were plump, so his walking ability wasn't too nimble. After running up to Bai Huo's hand, he grabbed his fingertip and started nibbling. He seemed to know the difference between light and heavy, completely unlike how he dealt with the fat bird this morning, he was now only using his teeth to lightly grind, so the bite wasn't painful, more like a child trying to get an adult's attention.

　　Bai Huo's heart melted, how could he stay angry? He sighed and touched the little dragon's head: “Are you hungry? It takes a lot of energy to make such a mess.”

　　The little dragon cub switched to poking his palm with his horns.

　　Bai Huo felt ticklish and laughed: “Okay, let's go out and eat.”

　　When the little baby dragon heard that, he quickly climbed up to sit on Bai Huo's left shoulder. That place has always been the fat bird's seat. The latter saw that his throne was occupied, and his eyes narrowed, fluttering his wings to try and fly over. Unfortunately, he hadn't realized just how much he'd eaten, he flapped his wings but couldn't even rise a few inches

　　”Schemer! Scheming boy!” The fat bird was unwilling, angrily accusing.

　　The little dragon clung to Bai Huo's neck, ignoring it.

　　After napping, Bai Huo felt much better. His always pale cheeks even had a little color. He washed his face in the bathroom and shook his wet hands out, but when he walked past the mirror, he almost stumbled.

　　At some point in time, the little dragon cub had transformed into a human cub, who looked no more than 12 months old. The small plump hands grabbed his back collar, two calves swayed on his shoulders, and the infant's unique big eyes looked indifferent at a glance. That look revealed a bit of coldness that was inconsistent with his appearance. But he was still small after all, his transformation wasn't skilled enough, so he still had his horns on his head and tail on his b.u.t.tocks, it looked a bit out of place.

　　Bai Huo pushed down the shock in his eyes and quickly grabbed the little dragon, he crouched down and looked at him at eye level: “Be good, tell me where you learned to do this?”

　　The parenting channel behind him finished a cartoon and timely cut to commercial, selling a product for mothers of infants. – “Kids don't cry, don't make noise, sleep well at night, Balala disposable diapers, the most trusted brand for mothers!” The accompanying scene was a human baby laughing and rolling around

　　Bai Huo: “…”

　　This learning ability really was in defiance of nature. The average dragon cub wouldn't transform into human form for at least three months. Bai Huo vaguely felt that this kid wasn't quite right.

　　However, this man Bai Huo had a skill, whenever he faced a problem, he could instantly accurately select the most trouble-free way of thinking. The most diligent work this man has ever done in his life was find excuses for him to be lazy. Moreover, he could use those excuses to dominate all the cells in his body, making himself embrace laziness with a clear conscience, and without burdensome thoughts.

　　He'd adhered to this low-ambition life creed for many years. Now, he also immediately found the best excuse- this child was too talented and clever, there's just nothing he could do about it.

　　”Alright, this is more convenient.” Bai Huo snapped his finger and cheerfully decided to throw any doubts to the back of his mind.

　　It was the beginning of winter after all, Bai Huo rummaged through the cabinet to find a small white scarf he'd shoved to the bottom of the chest. Then he glanced at the Santa Claus doll on the refrigerator and pulled its clothes off with a jerk. Then he poked a tail sized hole in the pants and dressed the little dragon cub.

　　Before leaving the house, he didn't forget to call the housekeeping service.

　　Counting on Bai Huo to clean up? Don't be ridiculous.

　　”Fat chicken, look after the house ah.” Bai Huo said with a grin, then he locked the door and left.

　　As soon as he stepped out, it began snowing. Bai Huo searched the old shed in the courtyard for a long time before pulling out a worn-out umbrella. He lazily shook it open and held it over the dragon cub's head.

　　”Cold?” Bai Huo rubbed the little dragon cub's clothes; he really was wearing too little.

　　The little dragon cub didn't speak, only drilling into Bai Huo's clothes. Bai Huo simply opened up the coat and wrapped him inside: “Stay close to me.”

　　The little dragon found a comfortable position in the coat and remained still. From the collar, a pair of sparkling eyes emerged, looking straight up at Bai Huo. From that angle, he could probably only see Bai Huo's sharp chin.

　　”Why do you always stare at me?” Bai Huo touched his swaying horns and couldn't help a smile. “Let's go to the mall and buy you some clothes first. Then we can go eat, okay?"

　　It snowed every day and the sky got darker earlier. The snowfall was very big, the surrounding woods had already been dyed into a pure white. The little baby dragon was pressed up against Bai Huo's chest. He soaked in the constant body temperature and listened to the squis.h.i.+ng sound of snow under footsteps, gradually falling asleep.

　　Ji Bei had went out to get the video data, but he was just a step slower when re-entering the room, and failed to stop Lu Luo from complaining to Luo Wen Xu.

　　Luo Wen Xu was furious, like a ferocious beast on the verge of going berserk. He impatiently paced back and forth in the office, but when he saw Ji Bei enter, he forcefully pushed down his rage and resentfully asked: “He dares to abuse you, why didn't you tell me?”

　　Ji Bei didn't know whether to laugh or cry: “He's our boss, and it was just a few words, I won't collapse.”

　　”The Vice-Captain fainted after they scolded him this morning.” Lu Luo interrupted.

　　Ji Bei gave her a look, and Lu Luo snapped her mouth closed and slipped away.

　　Luo Wen Xu exploded at once: “What?! Does he have a screw loose? How dare he move Laozi's man!”

　　Ji Bei hurriedly walked up to him and pressed him back down onto the stool: “Ge, I'm fine, really.”

　　Every time Ji Bei called him “Ge", he always softened up. He reached for the USB stick Ji Bei handed to him and inserted it into the computer, cursing: "Those f#ckers, Laozi will slaughter them sooner or later…”

　　Ji Bei was afraid he'd really go out and do something, and hurriedly brought up work to distract him: “Okay, enough about that, let's examine the case. You went to the crime scenes today right; did you learn anything?”

　　When it came to a case, Luo Wen Xu would instantly quiet down and enter work mode faster than anyone else: "First incident, half a month ago, male victim, 20 years old, killed in his home; Second incident, four days ago, female, 19 years old, killed in her rented apartment; Third incident, last night, male, 23 years old, the incident occurred in the utility room of a company's warehouse.”

　　”The three cases have several things in common,” Luo Wen Xu pulled out a piece of paper and listed them out. “The victims were all young, they were all alone when they were killed, the crime scenes were sealed, and they all died in the middle of the night.

　　”Another point,” Ji Bei frowned, "They all happened on the first floor or the bas.e.m.e.nt.”

　　Speaking of this, he recalled something: “Right, I combed over the surveillance video during lunch break today, and I noticed something strange.”

　　”Yeah?” Luo Wen Xu opened up the surveillance video on the USB stick.

　　After mentioning watching the surveillance video, a few people in the office gathered around, even Xiao Shu, who had been out of it all day, also raised his head.

　　The monitoring equipment was installed by the victim's company itself. The resolution was very high. In the video, a young employee finished eating a bento and stretched, walking into the company's warehouse. Five minutes later, an ash-gray colored dog followed the scent of the lunchbox and turned around near the warehouse's entrance. Then, who knew what he sensed, but he suddenly froze, his legs trembling, then he turned around and ran away.

　　This scene, when attached to the victims' horrible outcomes, would inevitably make people reach outrageous conclusions.

　　”I asked the victim's company; this was the watchdog their night s.h.i.+ft employees had raised. It was very clever and usually immediately alerted everyone to strangers. It was better than an alarm. So last night, what could make such a fierce dog not only too afraid to bark, but even turn around and run? This is very unusual.”

　　”Even a dog wouldn't dare bark at it," Someone muttered a few feet away. “Isn't it a ghost…”

　　”Ghost?” Luo Wen Xu was angry, sneering. “I'm going to find out just what kind of ghost it is.”

　　Ji Bei wasn't interested in this illogical guess, he turned and asked: “Has Director Bai called back today?”

　　- At this moment, Director Bai was standing in a noisy shopping mall, finis.h.i.+ng up a half-hour long fitting. He let out a long sigh of relief and smiled at the two beautiful saleswomen: “Thanks sisters, just wrap up all the things he tried on, oh right, don't wrap that one, the neckline is too tight, I'm afraid he'll feel uncomfortable.”

　　The two beautiful saleswomen smiled sweetly, the blush on their faces not fading. They'd noticed him as soon as Bai Huo had walked in. The customer flow in the child clothing store usually consisted of mothers, sometimes some young men came in, but nine out of ten of them were accompanying women, and they didn't stay long. This kind of unaccompanied man coming in to buy clothes with their kid was very rare.

　　Bai Huo openly asking for a.s.sistance, his gentle movements as he held his child, as well as his attentiveness as he tried on the clothes- add all those things together, and it wasn't difficult to win the salespeople's favor.

　　”Are you his father?” The beautiful clerk teased while writing out a receipt. “Why are you buying clothes by yourself, where's his mother?”

　　Bai Huo looked at the little dragon, and the little dragon also looked at him.

　　"Hmm… guess?” Bai Huo feigned mysteriousness.

　　The two saleswomen on the other side of the counter giggled and asked in a low voice: “Could it be… older brother?”

　　He obviously couldn't say that he'd just randomly picked the kid up, so Bai Huo smiled mysteriously and didn't confirm or deny.

　　Before leaving, Bai Huo exchanged the little baby dragon's clothes for thicker ones, a down jacket, and a baby sized bomber hat. The two horns poked out from the hat, almost looking like a hat ornament. In fact, most dragons weren't as affected by the cold as human beings, and didn't need to wrap their children up like humans did. But Bai Huo was still worried that the baby would freeze, so he covered him in several layers.

　　The little dragon made no objections from beginning to end. He obediently put on whatever Bai Huo made him wear, didn't cry or make a fuss, even the saleswomen felt amazed.

　　After buying the clothes, Bai Huo hugged the little cub and headed towards the restaurant. But while walking past Toy City on the first floor, the little dragon's head resting on Bai Huo's shoulder turned extremely slightly.

　　Such a small movement, but the sensitive Bai Huo still caught it, he followed the direction to take a look.

　　It was just a few days after Christmas, and the business hadn't yet gotten around to taking down the Christmas tree at the entrance. There were bright lights and ornaments hanging on it, blinking along to the music. Many children were attracted to it and had gathered under the tree, playing.

　　Dragons naturally loved s.h.i.+ny things, such as jewels, diamonds, crystals, etc. This fondness would gradually be restrained after the dragon entered human society, but to newborn dragons, liking s.h.i.+ny toys was in their nature.

　　Bai Huo stared at the carefully concealed stars in the little dragon's eyes, somehow, his heart was secretly delighted. It seemed he'd finally glimpsed a crack in the child's seamless barrier.

　　In the end, he was still a child ah.

　　”Want to go take a look?” Bai Huo asked with a smile.

　　The little dragon didn't answer, but the tail hidden in his clothes rolled up.

　　He obviously wants to go, Bai Huo thought, this kid must be having an inner conflict. Smiling, he brought the little dragon over and put him under the Christmas tree.

　　There were some gla.s.s marbles for sale on the tree. A hand full of marbles were packed together in see through pouches, s.h.i.+ning under the Christmas lights.

　　Bai Huo's phone rang. He looked down at the number and picked it up, gesturing to the little dragon cub to pick something: “Take whichever one you like – h.e.l.lo, Officer Luo?”

　　The little baby dragon looked up at the gla.s.s beads reflecting the tree's colorful lights, it was very dazzling. Then he looked at Bai Huo moving two steps away to answer the phone. His small hands clenched into fists, and he reached for the golden pouch closest to him.

　　”Mine!" At some point in time, a six-year-old bratty child had sprung up beside him. He b.u.mped into the dragon cub and grabbed the bag he was about to pick. The little cub wasn't very steady on his legs yet, so after being suddenly pushed, he toppled over and fell to the floor.

　　Behind him, the parent of the brat ran over, shouting: “Feifei, how can you bully others?!” The mom moved to help the little dragon up, but the latter didn't wait for her before climbing up by himself. He stared at the stolen marbles, his eyes sinking, his expression completely changing.

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T/N:

Laozi: Arrogant way of saying I/my.

Sisters: jiejie- older sisters, not necessarily blood related

There it is again, sealed crime scene. I can only a.s.sume it means that the rooms were locked, with no sign of breaking and entering. But that proposes a problem that I'll get to later….