Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 51: Zopyra — III

Hu Lijing let out a sigh, curling up to himself as he sat on a warm rock in his fox form, three tails swishing idly. As he basked in the rays of sun on a small island in the middle of the sea.

It was the dragon’s lair.

What was Hu Lijing doing in the dragon’s lair? Well, they were close to one another thanks to their similarities.

Despite their initial differences when they were young, the divine fox and dragon had become tentative friends. If they could even be called one.

It started when Hu Lijing became 100 years old and was finally able to transform into a human form. While most — not all — spirit foxes tended to take up a female form, he felt inclined to be a male instead.

At that time, the younger dragon was still unable to transform.

Hu Lijing, being the older of the two, felt embarrassed and somewhat apologetic for the things they had gotten up to in their childhood. Hence, somewhat begrudgingly, the divine fox decided to apologise to the young hatchling.

The dragon of the sea had purred, nestling itself on his lap, the hatchling crooned, seemingly pleased. Hu Lijing — as pained as he felt — didn’t push it off. It had gotten his clothes wet but he endured.

From that point on, they had made peace with each other and no longer fought, thus sparing the realm of any further damage.

The peace felt a little strange. But even stranger than that was the young dragon’s attachment to Hu Lijing.

Despite the fox’s attempt to steer away, the dragon always found its way to him. It had been a headache and then, eventually Hu Lijing got used to it.

"Jing’ge!" A familiar and deep voice trilled Hu Lijing’s name. Hu Lijing grumbled, reluctantly cracking open an eye as he gazed at the younger dragon who was swimming towards him, bluish white scales glistening under the bright rays of sun.

Hu Lijing let out a pur, shutting his eyes as he curled up to himself more, three fluffy tails hugging his body closer.

"I’m not your Ge." He grumbled softly, ears twitching as the dragon drew closer. "Stop calling me that, I’ve been saying that for the past century."

"But—" the dragon withered under his reprimand. "But I like calling you..." he trailed off.

Hu Lijing snorted through his nose, yawned and buried his snout in his paws. "You are three centuries old now. We are three centuries old. Stop acting like a hatchling."

The dragon grumbled some more and crawled out of the water, making his way towards Hu Lijing slowly.

Hu Lijing purred to himself and fell asleep under the sun’s warmth again.

The dragon watched the fox, icy blue eyes gazing at the flame-born creature as he let out a dejected noise.

Jing’ge never understood how much he wanted to always be with Jing’ge. Without Jing’ge around, the dragon didn’t feel complete.

Sure, heaven mandated them to be adversaries. Sure, the dragon was a restraint to Hu Lijing and Hu Lijing a deterrent to the dragon, but why make them from the same soul imprint if it wanted hatred between them?

The dragon could never hate Jing’ge and he would never even dream of hurting Jing’ge anymore!

With that, the dragon of the sea raised his head, turning to look over at the rolling waves, he then glanced at the sleeping fox and crooned to himself.

As gently as he could, he drew closer to the divine fox, a tall, slender shadow loomed over the canine creature as the dragon looked down at him.

Then, raising a clawed appendage, the dragon reached out towards the fox, cautiously setting something on the fox’s snout. Having done that, he drew back. Fondly, he gazed at the slumbering fox and cracked a canine smile as he let out an amused snort.

Upon sensing a sudden weight on his nose, Hu Lijing broke away from his slumber and stirred.

When he opened his amber eyes and saw the dragon’s startled face, his fox eyes narrowed. Before he could react, the sea dragon trilled, transformed into his human form and scuttled away, laughing unabashedly.

Hu Lijing scowled, eyes crossing as he looked at the tip of his nose.

A big, sparkling, pink pearl sat inside its seashell; perched on his nose.

Hu Lijing rose, canine body tensing as he tossed the seashell in the air and flung it away with his tails.

As he watched the dragon run off, Hu Lijing jumped down from the rock and morphed himself into a human, sprinting after him with a yell.

"Long ZhenHai*! You stop right there!"

Long ZhenHai — the water-borne dragon of the infinite sea — twisted around, a wide grin plastered on his handsome face as he stuck his tongue out.

"No, Jing’ge! Catch me!"

Hu Lijing scowled more, amber eyes blazing as he ran after the dragon, splendid robes and silky amber tresses fluttered along the wind as his feet dug into the dry sand.

The pearl and the seashell long forsaken.

One dragon and one fox, ran and ran around the isolated island away from civilization, merry in their own world.

But for how long?

...

When the sun began setting, it’s orange and red light painting the sky in a beautiful hue, the blue expanse of it hiding away to blend with the setting day, Hu Lijing lay on the floor, back on the warm sand as Long ZhenHai lay beside him, raven hair splayed about.

The dragon turned to gaze at the fox, his icy blue eyes staring at Hu Lijing’s face as the latter looked at the beautiful horizon of the world.

The day ended in silence, the dragon’s thoughts concealed within his heart, unknown to the fix who kept him company.

With a frown, the divine dragon pursed his lips and opened his mouth, daring to ask the divine fox. "Jing’ge, where is the pearl and the seashell I gave you?"

Hu Lijing hummed, at first confused as he turned away from the setting sun slightly. His elegant brows drew into a furrow as he spoke. "Oh, that?" He asked, strands of amber hair tracing the pale sand. "I threw it away." He nonchalantly turned away, going back to watching the sky.

The dragon’s face fell, lips pressed together as his heart sank. He blinked and looked away.

"Oh."

Hu Lijing closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the coastal air.

"Jing’ge... You should go back. I’m tired." Long ZhenHai murmured and sat up, particles of sand raining down his raven tresses. Then, without even a proper goodbye, he dissolved into water and left.

When the dragon was gone, Hu Lijing laid on the sand for a long time. At one point, he hid his face behind his arm, lips curling into a sardonic smile.

As the sky darkened and stars twinkled in its vast platter, the divine fox sat up. His three tails flicked against the sand as he took a deep breath.

As he sat there, rooted on the spot, head hanging low and soft, smooth, amber locks hanging down, shimmering ever so slightly under the shining moon and twinkling stars.

His shoulders trembled, tremors wrecking through his body as he breathed in and out, fingers curling into the sand, trembling minutely.

After a long time, the divine fox raised his head, face tilting towards heaven as his lips parted, gem-like amber eyes glimmered as he attempted to school his expression.

After that, he nodded to himself, breathing out softly as his chest heaved.

Hu Lijing straightened himself and tried to stand up. But his legs refused to move.

Biting his lips, Hu Lijing scoffed at himself, let out a slight snort and quietly dragged himself around the island, hands scrambling around in the dark, looking for something.

The wind blew, leaves rustled and waves crashed against the shore as the divine fox continued to search without any expression on his face.

From one place to another, one spot to another, his slender fingers dug around, nimble and swift until finally, he felt a familiar texture.

His handsome face lit up, amber eyes brightening as he drew it out from under the sand.

He looked up, facing the dark sky, the fingers of one hand clasping a round, sparkling pink pearl and other curled around the seashell.

With a sigh of relief, the fox spirit hugged the pearl and the seashell to his chest and allowed himself a quivering smile.

"Jing’ge found it, ZhenHai."

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Author has something to say:

[In the author’s little theatre made for my dear readers (read: angels), the play comes to an end]

Author (a small firefly holding a green bamboo in her little gremlin arms, walks out): [Bowing grandly to the audience] Thank you, thank you! This Chapter was brought to you by our dear sponser: "How to be a tsundere"!

Hu Lijing (behind the curtains, being restrained by a certain dragon): Let me go, let me go! Laozi is going to make a pancake out of her!