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Capítulo 12

I shook my head instinctively. I was already in a bind. I had made my feelings clear to my mother, to Liu Yi, and to Jingyangzi, and there was no going back.

Then let's become a human who will never die!

"It's ridiculous to treat your life like a game for a man," the Mermaid concluded.

Being half dragon and half human is already a ridiculous thing, but my dragons have never thought about this issue.

So I went up to the Dragon-Slaying Platform.

Later generations imagined this process as both romantic and tragic, but it's not like that at all. Have you ever seen a cook scale a fish? The process of scaling a dragon is basically similar, the only difference being that the fish struggles on the cutting board, while I don't even have the chance to struggle.

Neither my father nor my mother attended this once-in-a-lifetime event, but some of my siblings witnessed the entire process.

Both the person being tortured and the person carrying out the torture wore strange, ambiguous expressions. My frail body was exposed to the aquatic creatures without any cover. I had grown accustomed to human masks and no longer wished to show my original body to others.

After the torture was over, the aquatic creatures used a special giant clam to bring me to the surface. My body felt heavy and weak. From then on, I would forever exist as the Princess of Dongting Lake, and there would be no change.

I slowly walked towards the Qiantang River, a distance that used to be reached in an instant, but now felt as far away as the ends of the earth.

Fortunately, I don't need to eat, which reduces a lot of trouble. I am still different because I am immortal.

However, every journey eventually comes to an end. Although I walked slowly, this road has finally come to an end.

Later generations said that from then on, I lived happily with the scholar Liu Yi. But they forgot that I was immortal, while Liu Yi only had a short lifespan of a few decades.

But who cares about that?

As long as they know they can live happily together, who cares about the mundane details of daily life?

---janeadam

Reply [24]: I always held that sword in my hand. After arriving in Qiantang, it was the only decoration in my house.

Whether he's happy or not, I don't know. I'm becoming numb, just like my kind, but Liu Yi is definitely not happy. Even if he was happy at the beginning, he won't feel happy later.

In his eyes, I was not a dragon named Naga, but the Dongting Princess of Chang'an.

However, as he grew older day by day, I, the princess, remained as beautiful as ever, unchanged in the slightest. I believe that he tried his best to endure at the beginning, but everyone's patience has a limit. When patience exceeds the limit, it will burst forth and one can no longer endure it.

After his temples turned gray, he began to frequent brothels and pleasure quarters, returning home every few days, and when he did return, he was always drunk.

We moved several times, from Qiantang to Kuaiji, then from Kuaiji to Jinhua, then Quanzhou, Fuzhou, and finally to Guangzhou. It's not far from the South China Sea now.

I moved to avoid people noticing my unusual behavior, or perhaps it's because I still miss the South China Sea!

Wherever he went, he would seek out places for eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring, making it almost impossible for him to talk to me anymore.

I watched as wrinkles slowly appeared on his face and his body began to hunch. The original scholar in plain clothes was gone forever. It turns out that time is such a terrible thing.

I would sometimes go looking for him, in gambling dens, in restaurants. People's names for him changed: "Liu Yi, your young wife has come looking for you." "Liu Yi, your daughter has come looking for you." "Liu Yi, your granddaughter has come looking for you."

Whenever this happens, he looks at me with hatred, as if he wants to say something but hesitates. I know what he wants to say, but I won't bring it up first until he says it.

Finally, one day, at the back door of the gambling den, I helped up the unconscious Liu Yi. He looked at me with bleary eyes and then let out a terrifying scream.

He shoved me away, his fingers trembling, yet still stubbornly pointing at my face, "Who are you? Why do you never grow old?"

I remained silent. Who am I? And how would I know?

I am the dragon named Naga, and also the princess who died.

He said, “Go away! Don’t let me see you again, don’t let me see your face that never ages. I used to think you were the Princess of Dongting Lake, but now I know you’re not her at all. What kind of monster are you? You told me you’re already a human, but are there any people in this world who don’t age? What kind of monster are you? Why is it that as I slowly grow old, I can always see your unchanging face? I’m scared, I’m really scared. Go away! I don’t want to see you again, never.”

He rattled off his words in one breath, and I stared at him blankly. These were the words he had wanted to say for a long time, but he had only just said them now.

That handsome young scholar is now a frail old man, and what about me?

The story that the Dragon Girl and Liu Yi lived happily ever after is just a lie.

Maybe I should leave!

I headed towards the South China Sea, taking the opposite route from decades ago. The South China Sea isn't far from here; I'll probably arrive soon.

Purple energy followed me in the sky; it was sword energy, and also dragon energy.

The sword in my arms is eager to be used; it will suddenly unsheathe itself in the middle of the night, as if wanting to fly into the sky. Unfortunately, like me, it is no longer a dragon.

I slowly approached the South China Sea, where the weather was unusually hot. Along the way, I heard from the locals that a fire dragon was causing trouble in the South China Sea, and that most of the seawater had dried up.

The purple aura intensified daily, and I sensed his presence. Was he that fire dragon? Had he come for revenge?

I quickened my pace. On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the Double Ninth Festival, a day when the yang energy is at its peak, I arrived at the shore of the South China Sea, but I did not see a single drop of seawater.

My South China Sea, once a vast expanse of blue water with turbulent waves, once a land of immense wealth due to its abundant pearl production, is now nothing but a parched wasteland.

Tens of millions of fish and shrimp lay helplessly on the cracked earth, their bodies shrunken from lack of water.

Ahead lay an endless expanse of sand, an endless expanse of corpses. I stood silently, feeling no sorrow. He once said: "When the sea turns into mulberry fields, you will regret it."

Lovers in the world like to say that their hearts will never change even if the sea turns into mulberry fields. He never said such a thing, but he did indeed turn the sea into mulberry fields.

I stood there blankly on the shore of what was once the South China Sea, simply because of a momentary lapse of judgment, or perhaps it was fate acting on my behalf.

Zi Yun arrived gracefully, dressed in purple robes, with purple aura rising from his brows, and the purple sword still adorning his waist.

He said, "You've finally arrived, not too late, and you've witnessed such a magnificent sight. The deepest part is where the Dragon Palace is located, and I preserved the seawater there to wait for you."

I turned my head to look at him. He stood with his hands clasped, seemingly smug, but there was no trace of smugness in his eyes. His eyes had almost turned purple. This was his true face, a face that even a human skin mask could not conceal.

But I am different; I am already alone.

---janeadam