Coiling Dragon_Book 1 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  Linley was stunned.

  This Dixie was actually speaking to him?

  Dixie’s coldness and aloofness was legendary at the Ernst Institute. Most people would feel themselves to be under enormous pressure next to Dixie, especially when his cold, clear eyes fell upon them. That sort of psychological pressure was enough to cause some to break under the strain.

  “Oh. Thanks.” Linley replied.

  Dixie barely nodded, and then escorted his sister Delia to the school gates.

  Austoni looked carefully at Linley, sighing in amazement, “Linley, I must say, you really are a genius, a super genius! A fifteen-year-old youngster who is a genius amongst the geniuses at the number one magus academy in the entire Yulan continent, and also someone who has reached an incredibly high level in the art of stonesculpting.”

  “For you to be able to accomplish all this is a miracle.”

  “Putting aside the fact that you are a genius magus, even in the world of artists, in this day and age, most sculptors who qualify to be invited by us to open a private booth in the Hall of Experts are at least forty years old. You are the youngest one. Even in our entire history, there are only two unparalleled geniuses who are a match for you. But the difference is… not only are you a genius sculptor, you’re also a genius magus. Wow… what a genius.”

  Austoni’s words of praise caused Linley to be embarrassed and not know what to say.

  “Austoni, stop wasting time. Hurry up and finish. We four bros are going to go out and have some fun.” Yale urged.

  Only now did Austoni seem to come to himself. He hurriedly pulled over a stack of documents and withdrew a silver magicrystal card. Smiling, he presented it to Linley. “Linley, this silver magicrystal card was specially designed by the Golden Bank of the Four Empires. It shows that you are one of our expert sculptors. In the future, any and all proceeds from sales of your art will be directly transferred by us into the balance for this card.”

  “Right now, this silver magicrystal card doesn’t have an owner imprinted. Use your fingerprint to bind it to you. In the future, only you can use it.” Austoni respectfully handed the magicrystal card to Linley, then said in an eager voice, “Linley, might I ask if you brought any sculptures for us this time?”

  Linley nodded his head slightly. “I have. Three in total.”

  Austoni’s smile immediately became even more radiant.

  Night time. Within the Jadewater Paradise. Linley, George, and two courtesans were there by themselves, drinking while talking and laughing. By now, Reynolds and Yale had long since retired to their rooms with their courtesans.

  “Jeeze, those two, Boss Yale and fourth bro…” Linley drank a cup of wine as he spoke to George, who was in the middle of laughing and chatting with his girl. “Second bro, my head is getting a bit dizzy. I’m going to go out to cool off a bit.”

  “Sure.” George replied, then continued to chat with his companion.

  Heading downstairs, Linley directly left the Jadewater Paradise. Upon departing the lively premises, Linley suddenly felt a cold, refreshing night wind blow past him, helping him clear his mind. Compared to the Jadewater Paradise, the outside was much calmer and more tranquil. Linley began to take a casual walk around the streets of Fenlai City.

  The cool night breeze was very refreshing.

  There were some noble estates lining the streets, but compared to the Greenleaf Road, the estates on this street, Dry Street, were clearly on a lower level. And on the balcony of one two-story estate in particular, Alice was standing, enjoying the night breeze.

  Staring up at the bright moon in the empty sky, Alice couldn’t help but think about Linley, who had saved her life.

  At that moment, when she had fallen into despair, he had descended from the heavens and vanquished that Bloodthirsty Warpig and saved her life. That action had shaken her deeply. It could be said that that event had left a deep impression on her soul.

  “Big brother Linley is a bit taciturn, but when he gets into discussing magic, he’s rather handsome.” A faint smile appeared on Alice’s face as she reminisced.

  Suddenly, Alice saw a figure walking on the streets below. His frame seemed very familiar. Taking a closer look, she immediately recognized him, and a smile lit her face up. She hurriedly waved while shouting, “Big brother Linley, big brother Linley!”

  Linley, who was walking on the street while enjoying the cool night, looked up suspiciously as he heard someone calling his name.

  A distant balcony, a shadowy form dressed in violet, the bright moon illuminating it from behind. The violet clothes fluttered in the night breeze, and under the glow of the moon, seemed to radiate. Long hair fluttering alongside the violet clothes. Suddenly, Linley seemed to smell Alice’s fragrance.

  That fragrance, was so mesmerizing…

  “Alice…” Linley couldn’t help but walk towards that balcony.

  Part IV

  The Dragonblood Warrior

  44

  Coming Home

  The walls around Alice’s manor were not too high, only around two meters high. Walking to the walls, with a single jump, Linley leapt on top of the walls. Then, with a single leap, he descended in front of Alice, as though he had flown to her.

  “Quick, lie down.” Alice urgently tugged at Linley.

  Suspicious, Linley obediently sat down.

  “Shhh.” Alice cautiously looked around before finally letting out her breath as she turned to Linley. “Good thing everyone’s asleep. If someone saw something, then I would be in for a lot of trouble.”

  Linley suddenly understood.

  “Let’s sit down. If we talk while sitting down, the wall will prevent anyone from seeing us.” Alice smiled delightedly, like a sly little fox. She casually wiped down the floor with a nearby cloth, then sat down alongside Linley.

  Linley was also very delighted to be able to run into Alice again.

  “Big brother Linley, what are you doing out here on the streets so late at night? Right, didn’t you say you were a student at the Ernst Institute? What are you doing here in Fenlai City?” In one breath, Alice asked several questions.

  Why was he in Fenlai City?

  Linley felt rather awkward. After all, he couldn’t say that he had come here to visit the Jadewater Paradise with three friends, could he?

  “I came with a few close friends to have fun in the city. At night time, I thought it was really stuffy inside, so I came out for a stroll.” Linley could only give this rather unclear answer.

  Alice nodded.

  “Alice, what are you doing up awake so late at night?” Linley asked.

  Alice chewed her lower lips helplessly. “I fell asleep really early, but just as I was enjoying my rest, I got woken up out of a beautiful dream by my father, who drank too much and was totally smashed. You don’t know how excessive my father is. He goes gambling and drinking every day. After getting drunk, he causes trouble at home. I’m so annoyed!”

  “To have a father like this, all I can say is that I’m unlucky. How about you, Linley? What’s your father like?” Alice was looking at Linley, who was seated across from her.

  “My father?” Linley couldn’t help but think about his own father. “My father doesn’t gamble. Although he does drink, he doesn’t get drunk. But my father is extremely strict. He’s been like that since I was young.”

  Alice sighed with jealousy. “Big brother Linley, you are so lucky. Unlike me.”

  Under the moonlight, a young man and a young woman were chatting happily on a balcony. From the topic of fathers, they switched to education, then to their schools, and then to each other’s friends. Finally, they started talking about things they did with their friends…

  Linley was very happy while chatting with her. The more they chatted, the more Linley began to understand what Alice’s life was like.

  Slowly, the night wore on, and the first rays of light began to peek out from the east. The entire earth began to be filled up with the fresh morning air
. But Linley and Alice, both happily immersed in conversation, didn’t notice the passage of time at all. Only when the sky was bright did the two of them realize how much time had passed.

  “Oh, it’s day already.” Only now did Linley notice the time.

  Alice finally realized as well. “I’m so embarrassed, big brother Linley. I’ve forced you to keep me company all night.”

  Suddenly, Linley and Alice stopped talking. They felt a bit awkward.

  “Right. Time for me to go.” Linley could feel that the atmosphere was a bit strange. He couldn’t help but suddenly feel nervous, and so he immediately stood up.

  “Big brother Linley, in the future, will you come back to Fenlai City?” Alice asked.

  “I will, as long as I have free time.” Gripping the railings with his hands, Linley somersaulted over, landing on the wall, then with a leap, jumped down to the street below, almost ten meters away from the wall.

  Linley didn’t look back, just casually, weakly waving goodbye.

  Alice watched as Linley departed. Only after he disappeared into the streets did she rather forlornly return to her own room.

  The summer sun in August was like a huge ball of flame, baking the land. After having lunch with his three bros, Linley headed directly towards his hometown, the town of Wushan. He carried his backpack, with over 70,000 gold coins’ worth of magicite cores, with him.

  “Squeak squeak.” On Linley’s back, Bebe began to squeak excitedly as well.

  Linley glanced at Bebe, then began laughing as well. He mentally said, “Bebe, you’re excited to be going back to the town of Wushan as well, eh? Right, I’ve never asked you before, but how and why did you appear in my family’s courtyard, back then?”

  “I dunno either.” Bebe helplessly shook his little head. “As far back as I can remember, I was there in your family’s back courtyard. I don’t know who my parents are either. But I do remember one thing; a voice, which seemed to say, ‘Stay here, don’t run around.’”

  “Stay here, don’t run around?” Linley heart throbbed.

  Could that voice have been that of Bebe’s father or mother?

  “At the beginning, I just ate rocks. I obeyed that voice, so I didn’t leave your family’s courtyard. But then, boss, you found me and fed me a wild hare. In the whole wide world, there isn’t anybody who treats me better than you, boss. I don’t want to ever leave ya, boss.” Bebe wrinkled his little nose.

  Linley, too, reminisced about what had happened before.

  Back then, Bebe really did hesitate for a while at the entrance to the town of Wushan, but in the end, upon seeing that Linley really was going to leave, Bebe had made the decision to bite Linley and initiate their soul-binding contract.

  “Alright, Bebe, we’ll always be together, okay?” Linley lovingly stroked Bebe’s little head, and Bebe, comforted, closed his little eyes happily.

  Linley didn’t walk too fast, traveling around twenty kilometers per hour. By the time he arrived at the borders of the town of Wushan, it was already night. As he made his way into town, he heard a familiar voice…

  “All of you, straighten up and tighten up those waists! Don’t bend! If anyone’s buttocks touches those branches and gets stained by the dye, they’ll be considered to have broken the rules. Double training for them!” Hillman’s voice could be heard from far away.

  Linley stared towards him.

  On that familiar, empty field on the east side of the town of Wushan, next to a row of trees, a group of kids from age six to sixteen were standing in three divisions. Under the strict supervision of Hillman and the other two, they were engaged in tough training. Sweat had totally drenched all of the children’s clothes.

  “Back in the day, I did this training as well.” Seeing this, Linley felt very moved.

  “Linley?” Hillman saw Linley from far off. After giving some instructions to Roger and Lorry, he immediately ran over towards Linley, immediately giving him a big bear hug.

  “Uncle Hillman, long time no see!” Linley was very happy as well.

  “Haha, let’s go! Let’s go home first. Lord Hogg will be so happy to see you.” Hillman chortled as he spoke, and then led Linley into the town of Wushan proper.

  “Young master Linley.” Roger and Lorry greeted Linley warmly from afar.

  “Uncle Roger, Uncle Lorry.” Linley also waved at them happily, and then followed Hillman towards his own manor.

  “Linley, you brought a backpack with you? It seems heavy. What’s inside?” Hillman noticed the backpack on Linley’s back, and asked with a laugh.

  Linley smiled mysteriously. “A present, a present for my father!”

  Within the Baruch clan manor, Hogg was reclining in a chair, carefully reading an exceedingly thick book.

  “Lord Hogg, dinner is prepared,” a female servant said respectfully.

  Ever since Housekeeper Hiri had gone off to accompany Wharton to the O’Brien Empire, the Baruch clan no longer had any servants in their employ. But Hogg was the clan leader of the clan of the Dragonblood Warriors. He couldn’t do all the servant’s work himself, right? So he had forced himself to hire a female servant.

  “Oh.” Hogg closed his book and glanced at the female servant. In his heart, he sighed, “Fortunately, now that these other nobles know that my son is a genius magus at the Ernst Institute, they are willing to loan me money again. Otherwise, life would be even tougher.”

  Based on the low taxation rate in the town of Wushan, Hogg was only able to just barely pay his bodyguard’s salary and also pay his yearly tithe to the kingdom. Hogg felt unhappy just thinking about it. By the time the clan had fallen into his hands, virtually everything of value had already been sold off.

  Fortunately…

  He, Hogg, had two sons, two wonderful sons.

  “Linley is already a magus of the fifth rank. He will graduate soon. By then, I can hand the position of clan leader to him, and I’ll be able to do some things I have always wanted to do.”

  Hogg stood up, preparing to head towards the dining room, when suddenly…

  “Lord Hogg, Lord Hogg!” Hillman’s voice rang out from afar.

  Hogg looked questioningly towards the main gate. In a short period of time, Hillman ran in, and right beside Hillman was a tall, sturdily-built young fellow.

  Upon seeing the young fellow, a smile blossomed on Hogg’s face. Laughing loudly, he advanced. “Linley, you are back. Haha, this is wonderful. This is an enormous surprise!”

  “Agatha, please prepare a more sumptuous dinner.” Hogg intimately patted Linley on the shoulders. “Nice, kid. You are almost as tall as me now. Oh, right. I thought you were usually only allowed to come back at the end of each year. This time...?”

  Linley smiled secretly. “Father, I’ll tell you later, during dinner.”

  “So mysterious?” Hogg intentionally frowned at Linley.

  Hillman, next to them, laughed, “Lord Hogg, Linley wouldn’t tell me either, but he’s prepared a mysterious gift for you. I asked him what, but he refused to say.”

  “Uncle Hillman!” Linley frowned at Hillman.

  “Alright, I’ll be quiet, I’ll be quiet.” Hillman laughed loudly.

  Darkness fell upon the world, blanketing the earth in shadow, but the Baruch clan manor’s dining room was brightly lit with many lanterns. After finishing dinner, the serving girl Agatha cleared the table, leaving only Linley and Hogg in the room. Only now did Linley place the backpack in front of his father.

  “This is?” Hogg stared suspiciously at Linley.

  “We’ll open it in a bit.” Linley stood up and closed the door to the room. Hogg couldn’t help but chuckle. “As secretive as all that? You even went to close the door.”

  Linley sat down confidently. “Father, you can open the backpack now.”

  “Hrmph, let me see just what you have in here.” Hogg curiously opened the backpack, but much to his surprise, there was another sack inside the backpack. The mouth to the large sack was closed tightly, an
d it was bulging with the magicite cores that were hidden within it.

  Rubbing his hands against the sack, Hogg said suspiciously, “What a large sack. It doesn’t feel like gold inside. Can it be pebbles?” Hogg didn’t understand what was going on. As he spoke, he opened the sack.

  As soon as the sack opened…

  Gaudy, beautiful, multicolored magicite cores all gleamed with rainbow light. Hogg couldn’t help but feel dazed upon seeing them. This sack was filled to the brim with magicite cores. In all his life, Hogg had never seen so many.

  “These are magicite cores?” Hogg’s eyes were round, and he stared at Linley in astonishment. And then, he slowly swallowed. Hogg had seen magicite cores before, but he had never seen so many in one place. So many magicite cores in one sack really did have the capacity to astonish its viewers.

  Linley nodded. “Right. This bag is filled almost exclusively with magicite cores. There’s a very small number of magestones inside as well. Based on what I read, these magicite cores should be worth a total of around 70,000 gold coins.”

  “Seventy thousand gold coins?” Hogg felt his heart pump frantically.

  All these years, Hogg had been suffering from the restrictions of money. By now, even if one just wanted Hogg to produce 500 gold coins, Hogg would probably have to go borrow money. One could imagine how dire their straits were.

  Seventy thousand gold coins!

  What sort of wealth was this? 70,000 gold pieces could definitely keep the entire Baruch clan fed for over a hundred years.

  “Of course, 70,000 is just the book estimate, and these prices were old prices. I expect that this will be enough to reach 80,000 gold pieces,” Liney said honestly.

  Staring at the gaudy magicite cores, Hogg felt as though he were living in a dream. His entire body was floating.