"Huh? Why did it get smaller?"
"Does it think shrinking makes it tastier to eat?"
"It's getting smaller and smaller..."
"Can something this tiny still swallow Lily Bai?"
......
Lily Bai was frozen stiff.
The Moonlit Flood-Dragon had turned into a baby.
Its whole body was snowy white, with two black dots at its brows and a pair of big glowing green eyes—absolutely adorable.
Right now, it was rubbing its cute little head all over her face, nuzzling back and forth...
"I... I mean..." Lily Bai stiffly moved her head away. "What are you doing?"
The Moonlit Flood-Dragon gazed at her with those big, adorable eyes, blinking sweetly.
It looked... so cute.
All its menace was gone.
Lily Bai grabbed it and tossed it aside, drawing her Heavenly Sword at it.
The Moonlit Flood-Dragon's eyes were especially clear and expressive.
After she tossed it, it first looked surprised, then aggrieved, and finally its eyes reddened, tears welling up as if it was about to cry.
Lily Bai: "..."
She swore she'd never seen it like this before...
"Hey... don't cry!" Lily Bai, soft-hearted, quickly put away her sword.
The Moonlit Flood-Dragon flew over and started nuzzling her again, crying as it rubbed its head against her.
Lily Bai was starting to wonder if she was its long-lost mom...
......
"There, there, don't cry..." Lily Bai's heart melted even more at its tears. She nervously reached out and patted its round little head. "So, um, I need the wood Soul Core from the Five-Element Earth-Soul Beast. Do you think... you could help me out?"
The Moonlit Flood-Dragon turned its head to look at the Five-Element Earth-Soul Beast.
The Five-Element Earth-Soul Beast stared wide-eyed: "What? Boss! Why? Why do I have to dig out my wood core for her? I don't want to!"
The Moonlit Flood-Dragon suddenly grew a bit bigger, baring two sharp teeth.
"Fine, fine! I'll give it to her, okay?" The Five-Element Earth-Soul Beast pouted miserably. "Just let me go first!"
Lily Bai loosened the net so it could move inside, but didn't let it out.
Reluctantly, the Five-Element Earth-Soul Beast channeled its power and spat out a faintly glowing green core from its mouth.
Lily Bai released it from the net, then carefully stowed both the net and the core into her Storage Pouch.
"It'll take me a thousand years to regrow my wood core!" The Five-Element Earth-Soul Beast grumbled. "Boss, for the next thousand years, my combat strength will be way down. You have to take good care of me!"
The Moonlit Flood-Dragon shrank back into baby form and nodded at it.
"But why are you helping her? What's so great about this annoying human? She doesn't even have scales—does she look better than me?"
The Moonlit Flood-Dragon ignored him and snuggled its head into Lily Bai's arms, wagging its tail.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Suddenly, a red blur floated down like flying catkins and solidified into a red-robed child, who reached out and grabbed the Moonlit Flood-Dragon.
It was Bones.
The red-robed child who healed Damian that day.
The Moonlit Flood-Dragon wasn't happy and turned to bite him.
But he just waved his hand, releasing a foul medicinal scent. The Moonlit Flood-Dragon struggled a few times, then its head drooped and it fell asleep.
"You?" Lily Bai called out.
"That's me!" Bones grinned wickedly at her. "Lucy Luan, it can't go with you yet! It still needs more raising!"
It was the second time Lily Bai had heard the name "Lucy Luan."
The first time was from Henry Xiao, Fourth Prince of Drake Abyss.
He said she looked like Lucy Luan.
Lily Bai said, "You've got the wrong person. I'm not Lucy Luan, I'm Lily Bai."
"Lily Bai... Right!" The red-robed child laughed. "Slip of the tongue! Slip of the tongue!"
"Who is Lucy Luan?" Lily Bai asked.
"Lucy Luan is—"
"Bones!" Suddenly, Damian Black, the Demon Emperor, appeared beside them.