Chapter 22: The Language of Dragons
"So, the language of dragons isn't too complicated," pondered Jiang Hong, "It doesn't describe too many objects or subjects."
Lu Xiu hummed in agreement. Jiang Hong's attention, now fully captivated by the language of dragons, overshadowed his interest in the museum's artifacts. He excitedly added, "Right! The dragon language isn't used for describing complex things. It's a language for understanding the world... Dragons haven't developed a complex civilization. That must be it."
Lu Xiu bluntly voiced Jiang Hong's thoughts: "In comparison to humans, the language of dragons is primitive."
Jiang Hong: "Well, it's not exactly like that..."
"Humans are the most advanced beings in the present world," Lu Xiu stated without hesitation, "That's beyond doubt."
Standing before an ancient Tang dynasty calligraphy, Jiang Hong said, "The dragon race hasn't developed advanced mathematics or fluid mechanics, nor technology, because you simply don't need it."
Lu Xiu: "Another reason is the rarity of dragons. It's rare to even have two or three dragons in a thousand years."
After the museum visitors dispersed, the two spoke without concern of being overheard.
"Are they that remarkable?" Jiang Hong always thought dragons were scarce but visible.
Lu Xiu didn't respond but gestured Jiang Hong to focus on the exhibits. Jiang Hong realized Lu Xiu was almost omniscient, able to answer anything about Western Zhou bronzes, Warring States swords, Tang dynasty glazed pottery... He knew their origins and even corrected several labels.
"Have you found the clue you were looking for?" asked Lu Xiu.
"Not yet..." Jiang Hong, tilting his head, scrutinized the inscription on a ding and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh? I have another question..."
Lu Xiu watched Jiang Hong's eyes through the reflection in the glass display case, expressionless.
"You learned the language of dragons," Jiang Hong asked curiously, "Was there another dragon who taught you?"
Lu Xiu: "No, it's a kind of 'Void Storage,' an ancient memory of the dragon language, hidden in mountains, rivers, earth, and sky. In the ten years after you sealed me, I gradually acquired these memories."
Jiang Hong: "Wow."
Lu Xiu: "Years later, I occasionally still hear another voice in my mind, from other dragons. Communication between dragons occurs on a higher dimension, like radio waves."
Jiang Hong asked, "So, are there other dragons in the world now?"
Lu Xiu replied, "In the true sense of dragons, not counting derivative species like Chiwen or Chao Feng, the only one I know of is Xiang Cheng, the principal."
Jiang Hong questioned, "Is he talking to you?"
Lu Xiu hummed again. Jiang Hong was curious about what Xiang Cheng was saying to Lu Xiu, but Lu Xiu said, "I can't tell you the specifics."
Jiang Hong responded somewhat sourly, "I don't want to know anyway."
Wait a minute, Jiang Hong suddenly thought, wasn't the principal said to be no longer in the real world? Where did he go? Can Lu Xiu still communicate with the principal? Right, they're both dragons, aren't they?
"Can you still..."
"Shh." Lu Xiu made a gesture, signaling Jiang Hong not to ask further.
Well, this matter wasn't really Jiang Hong's concern anyway. Purely out of curiosity, he always felt there was something very mysterious behind it, perhaps related to the earth's veins?
"Aren't you going to take a closer look?" Lu Xiu suggested, "I think the design of this tripod is quite nice."
Still curious, Jiang Hong hadn't figured it out yet and temporarily let it go, glancing at the bronze tripod in front of him, still distracted.
Lu Xiu was already at his limit of patience.
"Did you look inside it?" Lu Xiu reminded again.
Jiang Hong stretched his neck to look inside the tripod and suddenly exclaimed, "Wow!"
"It's this character!" Jiang Hong exclaimed, "Found it!"
Lu Xiu: "..."
Jiang Hong: "..."
The two exchanged looks, and Jiang Hong finally realized that Lu Xiu had known the origin of this character all along, merely hoping he would discover it through his own investigation.
Jiang Hong gave a sheepish smile, took a photo of the inscription on the tripod and its origin, planning to translate it later. They continued to stroll around the museum, but Lu Xiu didn't give any more hints, and they didn't find the same character again.
This could be interpreted to mean that, within the entire Shaanxi Museum, only this tripod bears this character.
In the afternoon, after leaving the museum, Jiang Hong organized his research findings and then sat in a café with Lu Xiu, eating shaved ice after lunch.
"Teach me more about the dragon language," Jiang Hong said, brimming with curiosity.
Lu Xiu replied, "A rough understanding is enough. Why learn so much?"
Jiang Hong said, "Once I learn it, we can converse in the dragon language, right?"
Lu Xiu responded, "You can speak to me in it if you like, but if I speak dragon language to you, can you handle the surge of spiritual energy?"
Despite saying this, Lu Xiu took out a piece of paper and began to teach Jiang Hong the grammar of the dragon language, scribbling down several symbols.
"Is this a language passed down through generations?" Jiang Hong inquired.
"No," Lu Xiu answered, "I created and reorganized it myself. Currently, only the principal and I use this language. I had some spare time and thought to transform it into a written form to preserve it."
"Now there are three of us," Jiang Hong said with interest.
"Hmm." Lu Xiu glanced at Jiang Hong, a fleeting look of embarrassment crossing his face before he averted his gaze.
Jiang Hong thought, 'A true scholar can even create a whole written system for a language!' He listened intently to Lu Xiu explaining the entire linguistic system he had developed, but halfway through, Lu Xiu made a gesture, lightly pressing his hand on the paper on the table.
Instantly, all the papers transformed into white butterflies, fluttering away and then vanishing into thin air.
Jiang Hong: "?"
Jiang Hong looked up to see a man and a woman approaching their table.
"Professor Lu," the man said, "You arrived quite early."
Lu Xiu signaled Jiang Hong not to greet them and said indifferently, "Sit down, order whatever you want to eat. Is there another one coming?"
Jiang Hong realized these must be the exorcist colleagues; Lu Xiu had mentioned a task that required assistance, and they had arranged to meet at this shaved ice shop.
"He just got off the plane," the woman said as she placed her bag aside, smiling, "He's on his way, wanted to drop by to see his younger brother, might be half an hour late."
"Let me introduce myself," the man said, "My name is Chen Shun, just call me Ah Shun, here's my business card."
"I'm Yang Feiyao," the woman introduced, "Really grateful that you could spare time from your busy schedule to help us."
"It's a task assigned by the school," Lu Xiu replied nonchalantly, "No need for thanks."
"And this is...?" The others noticed Jiang Hong, and both sides curiously sized each other up. Jiang Hong noted that the man named Chen Shun was tall and strong, resembling a fitness coach in his thirties, with a lean face, wearing a white polo shirt and casual shorts; the woman, Yang Feiyao, appeared to be in her twenties, wearing a dress and light makeup, looking very elegant and appropriate.
"He's my junior," Lu Xiu answered for Jiang Hong.
"All students of Principal Cao," Chen Shun said, taking out a stack of documents from his sports bag, "The task is like this..."
"I'm not interested in the details of the task," Lu Xiu cut him off flatly, "Nor will I interfere with any work of the Exorcism Committee. My mentor's instruction is to accompany you until the end of the task."
The two exorcists were visibly surprised. Despite Lu Xiu's distant words, he didn't come off as rude. Chen Shun could only respond with an awkward smile, "Okay, understood."
They exchanged a glance, and Chen Shun placed the documents on the table, saying to Yang Feiyao, "Let's go over the procedure ourselves. We can't wait for him."
Lu Xiu: "Should we avoid it?"
"No, no need," the two demon hunters quickly replied.
Chen Shun: "Feiyao, this is your first time in Xi'an, and you're not very familiar with the ley lines here. Tonight, it's best for us to focus on reconnaissance."
Yang Feiyao whispered, "The wanted criminal already has a clear location. He knows almost all the faces of the Xi'an Exorcism Committee. If you're recognized in the crowd, it could easily tip him off..."
Lu Xiu: "What do you want to eat tonight?"
Jiang Hong: "I want to have the hotpot from yesterday."
Jiang Hong was actually curious. It seemed they were going to apprehend someone, and Chen Shun had a dossier with information about a man.
Lu Xiu placed his hand on Jiang Hong's head and made a "spin" gesture, forcing him to turn and face himself. He placed one hand on the backrest of Jiang Hong's seat and gazed into his eyes, his lips moving slightly.
The two demon hunters sitting across from them paused in their actions and turned to look at them together.
"Wow, that move is so domineering CEO-like!" Jiang Hong thought. When Lu Xiu used the "Dragon's Gaze" on him, he actually felt a slight nervousness. What is he going to say to me?
Three seconds later, Lu Xiu said coldly:
"Having the same thing again, aren't you tired of it?"
Jiang Hong: "..."
"Then I want to have the buffet hotpot," Jiang Hong said happily.
"Sure," Lu Xiu said, "It's almost mealtime. Let's go. Once you two have discussed it, contact me."
Lu Xiu chose a buffet hotpot place with an average cost of 400 yuan per person. Jiang Hong realized that Lu Xiu's style was to make things clear without appearing to have done any planning at all.
"So where does your money come from?" Jiang Hong asked curiously. "Um, is that rude of me?" He lowered his voice and added, "Do dragons earn money too? Can you make it out of leaves?"
Lu Xiu: "I'm not a fox. Cao Bin gives me some Exorcism Committee cooperation tasks, like this one, and I receive compensation for it."
Jiang Hong understood and then saw Lu Xiu picking up a lot of seafood, including shrimp. He asked, "They're also aquatic creatures. Do you feel guilty about eating them?"
Lu Xiu: "Do you feel compassion when you eat a whole bucket of KFC?"
Jiang Hong: "Well... in the food chain, human diets are indeed more complex."
Jiang Hong was about to ask another question but felt he was being too talkative.
Lu Xiu: "Ask away." He was completely accustomed to living with someone who had a million questions.
Jiang Hong: "Am I too noisy? You probably don't talk much normally."
Lu Xiu: "In the month since we reunited, I've said more words than in the previous hundred years combined. What do you think?"
Jiang Hong burst into laughter, and Lu Xiu didn't mind; he had accepted it.
"What do you want to ask?" Lu Xiu began adding ingredients to the hotpot, looking at Jiang Hong with curiosity.
Jiang Hong had forgotten but was suddenly happy when he heard Lu Xiu define their relationship as "reunited" rather than "met."
He had never had a friend like Lu Xiu in his life. The sealing ceremony from a hundred and sixty years ago seemed to have formed a strange covenant between them, connecting their souls.
Lu Xiu casually poked the shrimp with his chopsticks, and the shell peeled off, with the meat popping out on its own.
Jiang Hong: "I remember even when we're off-campus, we're not supposed to casually use magic. It'll attract the Exorcism Committee's scrutiny. You actually used magic to peel shrimp?"
Lu Xiu: "The shrimp peeled its own shell. That's called self-awareness."
Jiang Hong: "Hahaha."
Jiang Hong ate the shrimp that Lu Xiu had magically peeled for him and found it incredibly convenient.
Jiang Hong shared today's investigation results with the interdimensional exploration group. Lu Xiu glanced at it and said, "Don't you want to wait for more results?"
Jiang Hong: "Let everyone think about it together."
A message from Lu Xiu also came in. Jiang Hong stretched his neck to look, and there was a location with Chen Shun's voice saying, "Professor Lu, it's here. Can you make it by 9 o'clock tonight? Our colleagues are waiting there, and Feiyao will lead him over."
Lu Xiu didn't respond, and he only settled the bill and scanned an electric scooter at 8:50.
"You're going to be late," Jiang Hong said. "We only have ten minutes left, and that location is 12 kilometers away."
"Come on, I'll take you," Lu Xiu said, turning back.
Jiang Hong: "???"
"This is an electric scooter," Jiang Hong said. "Are you going to race?"
Then, Lu Xiu rode the shared electric scooter and took off instantly.
"Wow!" Jiang Hong exclaimed. "Wait up!"
With a "buzz," Jiang Hong felt his surroundings blur. In an instant, he soared over the high-rises of the Drum Tower District. The city's lights were left far below as he clung onto Lu Xiu, utterly shocked. He used his limbs to secure himself.
The strong wind blew, and Jiang Hong turned his head to see the night scenery of Xi'an with its colorful lights. It looked like a grand dream. Lu Xiu carried him, flying over the Great Tang Night City. The streets flowed like ribbons on the earth.
"Do you think being born in this era," Jiang Hong asked again, "is the happiest thing?"
Lu Xiu turned slightly and asked, "What do you mean?"
Jiang Hong replied, "I don't know if the principal who traveled through time to the future made the future better than it is now."
"I don't know," Lu Xiu answered thoughtfully.
Jiang Hong suddenly realized that human lifespan and dragon lifespan were incomparable. Lu Xiu had already lived for one hundred and sixty years, so he should be able to live for hundreds or even thousands of years.
"It's such a pity," Jiang Hong said, "I can only live for eighty to a hundred years and won't see the distant future."
"So what?" Lu Xiu asked.
Jiang Hong asked, "How long can you live?"
Lu Xiu replied, "I don't know. Xiang Cheng said, if I don't do anything reckless, maybe over a thousand years. If I live a long time, it's possible to reach two or three thousand years or even tens of thousands of years."
Jiang Hong said, "So you're only sixteen in the dragon world."
Lu Xiu nodded, "Yes."
Jiang Hong realized another issue—his brief life might just be a small chapter in Lu Xiu's long life.
His life was so incredibly long. He met Jiang Hong when he was young, and when Jiang Hong left this world, they would each go their separate ways. Such a long time might indeed be quite boring.
"We've arrived," Lu Xiu landed.
Jiang Hong hoped no one had seen them on the way, but Lu Xiu didn't care if they were mistaken for a supernatural phenomenon. After all, the Exorcism Committee would handle any aftermath.
Jiang Hong looked at the majestic and splendid building in front of him and said, "Hot springs? This place is so luxurious."
The building had a blue and gilded plaque hanging outside — "Great Tang Night Palace."
Chapter 22: The Language of Dragons
"So, the language of dragons isn't too complicated," pondered Jiang Hong, "It doesn't describe too many objects or subjects."
Lu Xiu hummed in agreement. Jiang Hong's attention, now fully captivated by the language of dragons, overshadowed his interest in the museum's artifacts. He excitedly added, "Right! The dragon language isn't used for describing complex things. It's a language for understanding the world... Dragons haven't developed a complex civilization. That must be it."
Lu Xiu bluntly voiced Jiang Hong's thoughts: "In comparison to humans, the language of dragons is primitive."
Jiang Hong: "Well, it's not exactly like that..."
"Humans are the most advanced beings in the present world," Lu Xiu stated without hesitation, "That's beyond doubt."
Standing before an ancient Tang dynasty calligraphy, Jiang Hong said, "The dragon race hasn't developed advanced mathematics or fluid mechanics, nor technology, because you simply don't need it."
Lu Xiu: "Another reason is the rarity of dragons. It's rare to even have two or three dragons in a thousand years."
After the museum visitors dispersed, the two spoke without concern of being overheard.
"Are they that remarkable?" Jiang Hong always thought dragons were scarce but visible.
Lu Xiu didn't respond but gestured Jiang Hong to focus on the exhibits. Jiang Hong realized Lu Xiu was almost omniscient, able to answer anything about Western Zhou bronzes, Warring States swords, Tang dynasty glazed pottery... He knew their origins and even corrected several labels.
"Have you found the clue you were looking for?" asked Lu Xiu.
"Not yet..." Jiang Hong, tilting his head, scrutinized the inscription on a ding and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh? I have another question..."
Lu Xiu watched Jiang Hong's eyes through the reflection in the glass display case, expressionless.
"You learned the language of dragons," Jiang Hong asked curiously, "Was there another dragon who taught you?"
Lu Xiu: "No, it's a kind of 'Void Storage,' an ancient memory of the dragon language, hidden in mountains, rivers, earth, and sky. In the ten years after you sealed me, I gradually acquired these memories."
Jiang Hong: "Wow."
Lu Xiu: "Years later, I occasionally still hear another voice in my mind, from other dragons. Communication between dragons occurs on a higher dimension, like radio waves."
Jiang Hong asked, "So, are there other dragons in the world now?"
Lu Xiu replied, "In the true sense of dragons, not counting derivative species like Chiwen or Chao Feng, the only one I know of is Xiang Cheng, the principal."
Jiang Hong questioned, "Is he talking to you?"
Lu Xiu hummed again. Jiang Hong was curious about what Xiang Cheng was saying to Lu Xiu, but Lu Xiu said, "I can't tell you the specifics."
Jiang Hong responded somewhat sourly, "I don't want to know anyway."
Wait a minute, Jiang Hong suddenly thought, wasn't the principal said to be no longer in the real world? Where did he go? Can Lu Xiu still communicate with the principal? Right, they're both dragons, aren't they?
"Can you still..."
"Shh." Lu Xiu made a gesture, signaling Jiang Hong not to ask further.
Well, this matter wasn't really Jiang Hong's concern anyway. Purely out of curiosity, he always felt there was something very mysterious behind it, perhaps related to the earth's veins?
"Aren't you going to take a closer look?" Lu Xiu suggested, "I think the design of this tripod is quite nice."
Still curious, Jiang Hong hadn't figured it out yet and temporarily let it go, glancing at the bronze tripod in front of him, still distracted.
Lu Xiu was already at his limit of patience.
"Did you look inside it?" Lu Xiu reminded again.
Jiang Hong stretched his neck to look inside the tripod and suddenly exclaimed, "Wow!"
"It's this character!" Jiang Hong exclaimed, "Found it!"
Lu Xiu: "..."
Jiang Hong: "..."
The two exchanged looks, and Jiang Hong finally realized that Lu Xiu had known the origin of this character all along, merely hoping he would discover it through his own investigation.
Jiang Hong gave a sheepish smile, took a photo of the inscription on the tripod and its origin, planning to translate it later. They continued to stroll around the museum, but Lu Xiu didn't give any more hints, and they didn't find the same character again.
This could be interpreted to mean that, within the entire Shaanxi Museum, only this tripod bears this character.
In the afternoon, after leaving the museum, Jiang Hong organized his research findings and then sat in a café with Lu Xiu, eating shaved ice after lunch.
"Teach me more about the dragon language," Jiang Hong said, brimming with curiosity.
Lu Xiu replied, "A rough understanding is enough. Why learn so much?"
Jiang Hong said, "Once I learn it, we can converse in the dragon language, right?"
Lu Xiu responded, "You can speak to me in it if you like, but if I speak dragon language to you, can you handle the surge of spiritual energy?"
Despite saying this, Lu Xiu took out a piece of paper and began to teach Jiang Hong the grammar of the dragon language, scribbling down several symbols.
"Is this a language passed down through generations?" Jiang Hong inquired.
"No," Lu Xiu answered, "I created and reorganized it myself. Currently, only the principal and I use this language. I had some spare time and thought to transform it into a written form to preserve it."
"Now there are three of us," Jiang Hong said with interest.
"Hmm." Lu Xiu glanced at Jiang Hong, a fleeting look of embarrassment crossing his face before he averted his gaze.
Jiang Hong thought, 'A true scholar can even create a whole written system for a language!' He listened intently to Lu Xiu explaining the entire linguistic system he had developed, but halfway through, Lu Xiu made a gesture, lightly pressing his hand on the paper on the table.
Instantly, all the papers transformed into white butterflies, fluttering away and then vanishing into thin air.
Jiang Hong: "?"
Jiang Hong looked up to see a man and a woman approaching their table.
"Professor Lu," the man said, "You arrived quite early."
Lu Xiu signaled Jiang Hong not to greet them and said indifferently, "Sit down, order whatever you want to eat. Is there another one coming?"
Jiang Hong realized these must be the exorcist colleagues; Lu Xiu had mentioned a task that required assistance, and they had arranged to meet at this shaved ice shop.
"He just got off the plane," the woman said as she placed her bag aside, smiling, "He's on his way, wanted to drop by to see his younger brother, might be half an hour late."
"Let me introduce myself," the man said, "My name is Chen Shun, just call me Ah Shun, here's my business card."
"I'm Yang Feiyao," the woman introduced, "Really grateful that you could spare time from your busy schedule to help us."
"It's a task assigned by the school," Lu Xiu replied nonchalantly, "No need for thanks."
"And this is...?" The others noticed Jiang Hong, and both sides curiously sized each other up. Jiang Hong noted that the man named Chen Shun was tall and strong, resembling a fitness coach in his thirties, with a lean face, wearing a white polo shirt and casual shorts; the woman, Yang Feiyao, appeared to be in her twenties, wearing a dress and light makeup, looking very elegant and appropriate.
"He's my junior," Lu Xiu answered for Jiang Hong.
"All students of Principal Cao," Chen Shun said, taking out a stack of documents from his sports bag, "The task is like this..."
"I'm not interested in the details of the task," Lu Xiu cut him off flatly, "Nor will I interfere with any work of the Exorcism Committee. My mentor's instruction is to accompany you until the end of the task."
The two exorcists were visibly surprised. Despite Lu Xiu's distant words, he didn't come off as rude. Chen Shun could only respond with an awkward smile, "Okay, understood."
They exchanged a glance, and Chen Shun placed the documents on the table, saying to Yang Feiyao, "Let's go over the procedure ourselves. We can't wait for him."
Lu Xiu: "Should we avoid it?"
"No, no need," the two demon hunters quickly replied.
Chen Shun: "Feiyao, this is your first time in Xi'an, and you're not very familiar with the ley lines here. Tonight, it's best for us to focus on reconnaissance."
Yang Feiyao whispered, "The wanted criminal already has a clear location. He knows almost all the faces of the Xi'an Exorcism Committee. If you're recognized in the crowd, it could easily tip him off..."
Lu Xiu: "What do you want to eat tonight?"
Jiang Hong: "I want to have the hotpot from yesterday."
Jiang Hong was actually curious. It seemed they were going to apprehend someone, and Chen Shun had a dossier with information about a man.
Lu Xiu placed his hand on Jiang Hong's head and made a "spin" gesture, forcing him to turn and face himself. He placed one hand on the backrest of Jiang Hong's seat and gazed into his eyes, his lips moving slightly.
The two demon hunters sitting across from them paused in their actions and turned to look at them together.
"Wow, that move is so domineering CEO-like!" Jiang Hong thought. When Lu Xiu used the "Dragon's Gaze" on him, he actually felt a slight nervousness. What is he going to say to me?
Three seconds later, Lu Xiu said coldly:
"Having the same thing again, aren't you tired of it?"
Jiang Hong: "..."
"Then I want to have the buffet hotpot," Jiang Hong said happily.
"Sure," Lu Xiu said, "It's almost mealtime. Let's go. Once you two have discussed it, contact me."
Lu Xiu chose a buffet hotpot place with an average cost of 400 yuan per person. Jiang Hong realized that Lu Xiu's style was to make things clear without appearing to have done any planning at all.
"So where does your money come from?" Jiang Hong asked curiously. "Um, is that rude of me?" He lowered his voice and added, "Do dragons earn money too? Can you make it out of leaves?"
Lu Xiu: "I'm not a fox. Cao Bin gives me some Exorcism Committee cooperation tasks, like this one, and I receive compensation for it."
Jiang Hong understood and then saw Lu Xiu picking up a lot of seafood, including shrimp. He asked, "They're also aquatic creatures. Do you feel guilty about eating them?"
Lu Xiu: "Do you feel compassion when you eat a whole bucket of KFC?"
Jiang Hong: "Well... in the food chain, human diets are indeed more complex."
Jiang Hong was about to ask another question but felt he was being too talkative.
Lu Xiu: "Ask away." He was completely accustomed to living with someone who had a million questions.
Jiang Hong: "Am I too noisy? You probably don't talk much normally."
Lu Xiu: "In the month since we reunited, I've said more words than in the previous hundred years combined. What do you think?"
Jiang Hong burst into laughter, and Lu Xiu didn't mind; he had accepted it.
"What do you want to ask?" Lu Xiu began adding ingredients to the hotpot, looking at Jiang Hong with curiosity.
Jiang Hong had forgotten but was suddenly happy when he heard Lu Xiu define their relationship as "reunited" rather than "met."
He had never had a friend like Lu Xiu in his life. The sealing ceremony from a hundred and sixty years ago seemed to have formed a strange covenant between them, connecting their souls.
Lu Xiu casually poked the shrimp with his chopsticks, and the shell peeled off, with the meat popping out on its own.
Jiang Hong: "I remember even when we're off-campus, we're not supposed to casually use magic. It'll attract the Exorcism Committee's scrutiny. You actually used magic to peel shrimp?"
Lu Xiu: "The shrimp peeled its own shell. That's called self-awareness."
Jiang Hong: "Hahaha."
Jiang Hong ate the shrimp that Lu Xiu had magically peeled for him and found it incredibly convenient.
Jiang Hong shared today's investigation results with the interdimensional exploration group. Lu Xiu glanced at it and said, "Don't you want to wait for more results?"
Jiang Hong: "Let everyone think about it together."
A message from Lu Xiu also came in. Jiang Hong stretched his neck to look, and there was a location with Chen Shun's voice saying, "Professor Lu, it's here. Can you make it by 9 o'clock tonight? Our colleagues are waiting there, and Feiyao will lead him over."
Lu Xiu didn't respond, and he only settled the bill and scanned an electric scooter at 8:50.
"You're going to be late," Jiang Hong said. "We only have ten minutes left, and that location is 12 kilometers away."
"Come on, I'll take you," Lu Xiu said, turning back.
Jiang Hong: "???"
"This is an electric scooter," Jiang Hong said. "Are you going to race?"
Then, Lu Xiu rode the shared electric scooter and took off instantly.
"Wow!" Jiang Hong exclaimed. "Wait up!"
With a "buzz," Jiang Hong felt his surroundings blur. In an instant, he soared over the high-rises of the Drum Tower District. The city's lights were left far below as he clung onto Lu Xiu, utterly shocked. He used his limbs to secure himself.
The strong wind blew, and Jiang Hong turned his head to see the night scenery of Xi'an with its colorful lights. It looked like a grand dream. Lu Xiu carried him, flying over the Great Tang Night City. The streets flowed like ribbons on the earth.
"Do you think being born in this era," Jiang Hong asked again, "is the happiest thing?"
Lu Xiu turned slightly and asked, "What do you mean?"
Jiang Hong replied, "I don't know if the principal who traveled through time to the future made the future better than it is now."
"I don't know," Lu Xiu answered thoughtfully.
Jiang Hong suddenly realized that human lifespan and dragon lifespan were incomparable. Lu Xiu had already lived for one hundred and sixty years, so he should be able to live for hundreds or even thousands of years.
"It's such a pity," Jiang Hong said, "I can only live for eighty to a hundred years and won't see the distant future."
"So what?" Lu Xiu asked.
Jiang Hong asked, "How long can you live?"
Lu Xiu replied, "I don't know. Xiang Cheng said, if I don't do anything reckless, maybe over a thousand years. If I live a long time, it's possible to reach two or three thousand years or even tens of thousands of years."
Jiang Hong said, "So you're only sixteen in the dragon world."
Lu Xiu nodded, "Yes."
Jiang Hong realized another issue—his brief life might just be a small chapter in Lu Xiu's long life.
His life was so incredibly long. He met Jiang Hong when he was young, and when Jiang Hong left this world, they would each go their separate ways. Such a long time might indeed be quite boring.
"We've arrived," Lu Xiu landed.
Jiang Hong hoped no one had seen them on the way, but Lu Xiu didn't care if they were mistaken for a supernatural phenomenon. After all, the Exorcism Committee would handle any aftermath.
Jiang Hong looked at the majestic and splendid building in front of him and said, "Hot springs? This place is so luxurious."
The building had a blue and gilded plaque hanging outside — "Great Tang Night Palace."
