Feihe Mountain Dragon Vein: What are you trying to do in my home?
It was truly strange. In a place filled with spiritual energy, it seemed as if people could become different.
Water droplets slid slowly down Meng Qi’s black hair, and his demeanor was especially natural, as if humans were never meant to wear clothes in the first place. He felt no discomfort, nor any need to feel ashamed, avoid others, or awkwardly cover himself.
Mo Li stood in the water as fish swam past his arms and waist. It tickled slightly and felt slick.
The water provided him with an unparalleled sense of security.
Mo Li was always dressed meticulously, whether in a wide-sleeved robe or simple cloth garments. No matter the clothing, it was hard to erase the air of righteousness he carried. But now, that feeling was gone, as if he had momentarily forgotten the twenty-odd years he had lived as a human, returning directly to his beginnings.
From formless energy, he had taken on a tangible form.
Regressing through time, forgetting the world—
If they had been born on the same mountain, and the first person they saw upon gaining awareness was each other.
Bewitched, unable to think of anything, leaving only instinct…
Water droplets fell from a raised arm, and in the next moment, they almost touched.
“Cheep cheep!”
A slightly sharp chirp rang out.
Meng Qi and Mo Li simultaneously snapped out of their daze, instinctively taking defensive postures and turning their heads to look.
There, on a bush by the mountain stream, perched a plump, greyish-brown mountain sparrow.
Its entire body was covered in soft, fluffy feathers, except for its round, black head, which looked like it was wearing a comical little skullcap with no brim.
Its beak was small and delicate, from afar resembling a sunflower seed embedded in the fluff.
—That beak looked so much like a sunflower seed that it seemed as if a seed kernel might fall out when it opened its mouth.
Its cheeks were surprisingly white, as if powdered, and its black beady eyes glistened. As it jabbed its sunflower seed-like beak, it looked full of spirit.
“Cheep cheep cheep!”
The mountain sparrow let out another series of long, melodious chirps. It hopped onto a tree stump, raised its left wing, and swung it forcefully toward Meng Qi and Mo Li, then turned sideways, its small legs hopping with an air of “what is this world coming to?”
Mo Li instinctively lowered his head: “…”
Oh no, clothes!
It was one thing when he was in fish form, as scales were clothes in Mo Li’s eyes, but as a “human,” he could not meet strangers like this, even if it was a strange dragon vein.
Meng Qi quickly tossed over Mo Li’s clothes and threw on his own as well.
There was no time to worry about undergarments, covering up was more important. In that moment of distraction, had the mountain sparrow not suddenly called out, things might have gotten even more awkward. In truth, it all happened in an instant—just a fleeting loss of awareness, lasting only a few blinks of an eye.
Meng Qi quietly gathered his energy, then darted into the woods.
Moments later, he emerged, his clothing neat, his aura restrained, looking just as he had when he first met Mo Li in Pingzhou.
The two of them moved in sync. After Meng Qi returned, Mo Li quickly wrapped his outer robe around himself and sank into the water to get dressed, completely unconcerned that his clothes were now soaked through. When he lightly leaped out of the water, his internal energy surged, causing a wave of white mist to rise around him, instantly drying both his clothes and hair.
They were worried the mountain sparrow might fly away.
The sparrow stood with its wings folded on the tree stump, its white cheeks puffed out comically. Its head tilted upwards, its beak pointing toward the sky, displaying an air of disdain, as if to say, “My home is so magnificent, and yet you two had to come and ruin it.”
Meng Qi was more dissatisfied than the sparrow.
The Taijing Dragon Vein felt cheated. The doctor hadn’t been wearing clothes just now, and the sparrow had clearly fallen into the water. So how had it climbed back up, and why were its feathers still dry?
Mo Li hadn’t figured it out, but Meng Qi had already guessed the truth—
Just like that time when his consciousness had drifted to Qimao Mountain, where he briefly transformed into a sand rat through the spiritual energy of the mountain springs before quickly disappearing from Mo Li’s palm. This sparrow, being near its birthplace at the spiritual core of the mountain, could transform at will and vanish just as easily.
When it wanted to appear, it did. When it didn’t, it didn’t even have a physical form.
It was the playful droplet in the mountain stream, and the cool breeze weaving through the dense forest.
Catching the Feihe Mountain Dragon Vein? Nearly impossible. Even seeing it was difficult unless, like Meng Qi and Mo Li, you precisely found the spiritual core and waited there, hoping luck and the dragon vein’s willingness to show itself were on your side.
From Meng Qi’s experience, it was clear that the Feihe Mountain Dragon Vein would not easily show itself.
Whether it was irritated by the sand rat and Mo Li “taking over” its home, or simply intrigued by the arrival of two other dragon veins, it finally couldn’t resist showing itself.
“Cheep—cheep cheep!”
The mountain sparrow raised its head, chirping directly at Mo Li.
Though its voice wasn’t unpleasant, with long, melodious notes, Mo Li could clearly sense its displeasure toward Meng Qi, as if it were asking why Mo Li was allowing himself to be so deceived by Meng Qi.
“Is there… some misunderstanding?” Mo Li was confused.
After all, the Feihe Mountain Dragon Vein’s appearance was far from what he had imagined.
The mountain sparrow wasn’t large—this one was barely bigger than the sand rat, perhaps due to the abundant spiritual energy, making it round and plump. From a distance, it looked like a fluffy ball bouncing on the tree stump.
Mo Li had never felt more grateful for being born in the northwestern Pingzhou. Looking at these two mountains in the heart of the Central Plains, overflowing with spiritual energy, both of them had produced creatures that were… spherical.
Chubby spheres.
Mo Li could almost imagine holding one in each hand, easily fitting them both in his palms, as neither was larger than his hand.
—Upon further thought, he found the sand rat more pleasing. At least it could fit into his arms or even a bamboo tube cup, whereas the mountain sparrow had wings.
As for the feel of their fur, the sand rat was fine to touch, but bird feathers were a different story.
In his eyes, the sand rat was far more endearing. He was glad that the Taijing Dragon Vein wasn’t a bird, though both were dragon veins—appearance mattered after all.
“Can’t speak?” Meng Qi asked, with a half-smile, scrutinizing the mountain sparrow.
The sparrow glared at him. It was a sparrow, not a parrot—since when could sparrows speak human language?
“Can’t take human form?” Mo Li also frowned.
That didn’t seem right. With so much spiritual energy in Feihe Mountain, and no evidence of damage to its original form like that unfortunate tree on Silang Mountain, this secluded river valley had barely seen human activity. The Feihe Mountain Dragon Vein should have been able to take human form long ago.
Mo Li’s gaze towards the mountain sparrow gradually became peculiar.
After the sparrow flew to the riverbank and scratched out a crooked character with its claws, the feeling grew even stronger.
Large patches of white mist suddenly surged in, covering the entire valley. The figures of Mo Li and Meng Qi froze for a moment, then slowly fell to the ground.
At the same time, the sparrow buried its head under its wing, lying motionless on the riverbank.
Next to it on the ground was a barely recognizable character for “dragon.”
The first to appear within the mist was a massive golden dragon. Its head rested at the northernmost point of the valley, its tail stretched to the southernmost, and its body coiled five or six times before it managed to snugly fit itself beneath the mist. If one wasn’t paying attention, they might miss the flash of its shimmering golden scales.
The rest of the valley was occupied by a green dragon.
It was full of vitality, with coral-like horns and jade-colored scales. Its slender body stretched gracefully along the mountain walls, skillfully maneuvering in the last remaining shrouded area of mist.
In terms of size, the green dragon was ten times smaller than the golden dragon.
The last to appear was a dragon with scales black as ink, ten times smaller than the green dragon. It didn’t need to find a space— the golden dragon had already made room for it within its coiled embrace.
If they hadn’t been incorporeal beings, capable of passing through rocks and trees, the valley would have shaken by now.
Even so, all the birds and beasts either fled back to their nests or found places to cower, trembling. Fish and shrimp sank to the bottom of the river.
Mo Li was not quite used to this new perspective; unlike before when it was in midair, the valley seemed too narrow for the golden dragon. When it turned its head, all it could see was a dazzling expanse of gold. This wasn’t like the time at Mount Shangyun, where the spiritual energy continuously nourished it— the dragon vein of Mount Feihe did not share its spiritual energy with others.
This made the black dragon look particularly delicate and petite.
The green dragon snorted, narrowing its eyes, and stuck its large head over, scoffing, “The dragon vein of Taijing, did you kidnap a child?”
“Nonsense. The rivers and mountains of the world vary in size, and the spiritual energy differs in abundance. Who dares to claim they are the eldest simply by age? Are you looking down on Ah Li because of its size?” The golden dragon also widened its eyes, unafraid— its eyes were ten times the size of the Feihe Mountain dragon vein’s.
Yes, ten times!
The green dragon snorted again, lifting its head slightly. Its cheeks puffed up, showing the same expression as the sparrow.
Their conversation was carried out through spiritual energy, a communication of consciousness. To Mo Li, it felt very much like dreaming, floating comfortably.
Having experienced the transformation into a dragon at Mount Shangyun, Mo Li could now control this body.
The black dragon gently wriggled free and found a better position where it could see both of the large dragon heads across the mist.
“Are you the main dragon vein of Mount Feihe?” Mo Li asked to confirm, as a mountain with abundant spiritual energy might have two dragon veins.
“Indeed,” the green dragon answered with an air of authority, “Mount Feihe has only one dragon vein. Who else could it be but me?”
Meng Qi, displeased with the green dragon, mocked, “I thought the dragon vein of Mount Feihe would be an immortal crane, but I didn’t expect it to be a tiny sparrow.”
A little ball of fluff that couldn’t even catch a sand rat properly, with poor hunting skills, and once got slapped into the water by a fish’s tail.
“What’s wrong with sparrows?” the green dragon snapped, originally wanting to retort that Meng Qi wasn’t much better, but remembering that the round sand rat was quite agile, it grudgingly muttered, “Small enough, ordinary enough as a bird, so it doesn’t attract attention.”
The dragon vein of Mount Feihe was born in this deep valley with steep cliffs. Its first instinct was to fly.
So it became a bird— a mountain sparrow, commonly seen in the secluded spots of this mountain.
“That’s not right, the feather Ayanpuka gave us…”
Mo Li hesitated. That feather wasn’t long, and it was hard to tell what bird it came from, but the sparrow was indeed too small. Its longest feathers were its tail feathers, but the tail feathers of the Feihe Mountain dragon vein were gray-brown and not shiny at all.
“Have you ever shed a feather? Has anyone picked one up?” Mo Li tentatively asked.
“How could that be possible?” The green dragon scoffed, raising its head and saying, “I am different from you. Once a feather falls, it immediately turns into spiritual energy and dissipates into the earth’s veins.”
Mo Li had never shed scales, but the sand rat did shed fur, and it definitely wasn’t like that.
Mo Li, not understanding, humbly asked for clarification: “Why is it different?”
“You have the desire to ‘be human’; I do not.” The green dragon leisurely moved along the mountain wall, its massive head resting next to the obedient gray-haired ball of a sparrow. The dragon’s body was semi-transparent, faintly visible, and the white mist flowed like water over its jade-like translucent scales.
“You don’t have a human form?” Meng Qi was truly shocked.
Mo Li, having already suspected it, was less surprised.
There were hermits in the world, so it wasn’t strange that a dragon vein wouldn’t desire worldly existence.
When Mo Li transformed, it had been too lonely, and before Meng Qi’s transformation, he had seen too much of the Taijing Dynasty’s turmoil and the suffering of the people. Thus, the dragon veins, born from the spirit of heaven and earth, naturally developed a strong desire to “be human” and “enter the world.”
“So, decades ago, when you kept avoiding me, was it because we had different paths?” Meng Qi realized instantly. The Feihe Mountain dragon vein didn’t want to meet a dragon vein who had gone to participate in worldly conflicts and become an official.
Although he felt annoyed, everyone has their own aspirations, and dragons have their own thoughts, so why force it?
“Why are you willing to show yourself today?” Meng Qi mocked.
The green dragon flicked its head. It couldn’t say that it had suspected the Taijing dragon vein of abducting a fellow dragon and then brought them here to attempt another kidnapping— seeing the closeness between the black dragon and the golden dragon, the Feihe Mountain dragon vein realized it had misunderstood. Besides, these two had almost started chewing on each other earlier, which was particularly irritating.
“I find this young brother quite pleasing to the eye, unlike you.”
The green dragon’s eyes darted around as it began to praise Mo Li.
It mentioned how, even in human form, Mo Li had an extraordinary aura, appearing very approachable.
It complimented the beauty of its fish-like scales and how it took good care of the small fish and shrimp in the mountain streams, noting that fish and dragons were one and the same, and the leap of the fish over the dragon gate was proof of its natural perfection.
At first, Meng Qi listened with pride, as if the green dragon were praising him. But when the green dragon mentioned scales, Meng Qi’s whiskers twitched, his eyes filled with suspicion, and he reached out to pull the black dragon into his embrace, glaring warningly at the Feihe Mountain dragon vein.
The green dragon: “…”
It shouldn’t have shown up at all, leaving this rat to prance around with the fish!
Was it afraid they’d never leave its home?
Author’s note:
The true form of the Feihe Mountain dragon vein is a marsh sparrow.
Its call is “jing jing,” and I couldn’t find a suitable onomatopoeia, so I just spelled it out.
——————
Meng Qi: You’re the Feihe Mountain dragon vein. Shouldn’t you be an immortal crane?
Sparrow: Your partner’s from Chicken Feather Mountain, so should they be a chicken?
Mo Li: ??? Took a hit for no reason.jpg
——————
Meng Qi and Mo Li gaze at each other from the shore and water, eyes entwined, their fingertips about to touch.
Sparrow: Oh my god, what are you planning to do in my house???
——————
Sparrow: Scared of cats? Impossible.
Sparrow: Cats could never catch the elusive me. My beak in a proud sky-pointing pose!
