Nouvelle d'horreur Azure Heart

Chapitre 9

"What is this for?" The crab leaned closer, looking at the crystal-clear bead.

"This is an inner core crystal that has been sealed with spiritual power for 500 years. Whether human or demon, if one consumes this bead, one can be reborn and increase one's cultivation..." the catfish sighed and said.

"That's amazing!" The carp and the blackfish stared wide-eyed.

“Yes, yes!” the fox nodded. “I’ve always dreamed of having one. If I had an Inner Core Crystal, I could be just like Ji You…”

"With this, I can become an immortal..." The river shrimp looked at the bead, its eyes shining.

Chi looked at the bead in his hand and blinked. "This... you're really giving it to me?"

"Take it... Although it won't free the dragon, it will definitely help it regenerate flesh and restore blood..." the catfish sighed.

Chi nodded and put the bead away.

"500 years..." Blackfish laughed, looking up at the sky, "Carp, when will we be able to have 500 years of cultivation?"

The carp laughed, looking up at the sky, "Heizi, we're doing just fine as we are..."

"Hmm! Hei Zi, we have each other, what use is this hundred-year cultivation!"

"Hmm! Carp, you truly are my good brother!"

"Heizi!"

"Carp!"

"Heizi!"

...

The river shrimp rolled its eyes, "You ignorant fish!"

"Hehe, speaking of not knowing value, I once..."

"Old Catfish! Don't change the subject!!!"

= =#

Chapter Fifteen

When the dragon woke up, it saw the dragon holding the inner core crystal and looking at it with bright eyes.

"What are you looking at?!" the dragon said irritably.

The dragon held out the crystal, saying, "This is for you."

The dragon glanced at it and said, "I don't want it."

"Why?"

The dragon rubbed its head against the water-suppressing sword and said, "There's no reason why. We're not related, so why would you give me something like this?"

Chi cautiously leaned closer. "I...I heard that those sorcerers want to reinforce the seal on the water-suppressing sword, so...although we haven't known each other for long, we are both dragons...so..."

The dragon, still unconvinced, said, "Don't be silly." It looked at the crystal in the dragon's hand, "Do you know what you're holding?"

"It has an inner core crystal with 500 years of spiritual power..." the dragon answered honestly.

The dragon nodded. "Do you know what it's for?"

"It can help you recover your blood and regenerate your tissues..." the dragon answered honestly.

“No,” the dragon sighed. “Using something like this to restore blood and regenerate flesh is a complete waste. It takes thousands of years to cultivate such a crystal. I don’t know where you got it, but something so precious shouldn’t be accepted or given away casually, understand?”

Chi looked at the crystal in his hand with an innocent expression.

"But……"

The dragon closed its eyes. "Take it back."

The dragon shook its head frantically, "No, I want it!"

The dragon opened its eyes and glared at it, "Did you even understand what I said?! This stuff can transform an ordinary person, and a demon can ascend to immortality. If you use it yourself, you'll also gain more power and become a little smarter, so people won't call you an 'idiot' every day!"

The dragon looked at it and firmly replied, "I don't care if I'm called an 'idiot,' I don't want to see you suffer!"

The dragon paused, then said, "...This is what I deserve..."

"No!" the dragon shouted. "You did nothing wrong. It was those two snake demons who broke the heavenly rules!"

The dragon remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking, "Idiot!"

The dragon looked at it in bewilderment, still holding the glittering crystal in its hand.

"...Where did you get this thing?" the dragon asked helplessly.

"The frogs in town gave it to me."

The dragon paused, then shouted, "It's that frog!!!"

...

"Ha-choo-"

The frog rubbed its nose, looked up at the well opening, and thought, "Hmm? Who's talking bad about me?"

"Frog, you just said you know that dragon, is that true?" the carp asked, driven by its gossipy nature.

The frog nodded. "I know it. It was once a water official, and I was hunted down by it for hundreds of years."

"Why are they chasing you?" the crab asked, puzzled.

"I'm a fairy, after all~" the frog chuckled. "It makes perfect sense for a mythical beast to catch a fairy."

"And then?" the carp asked again.

"Could it be that feelings developed during the chase?" the fox asked, its eyes gleaming.

The frog smacked it, then said, "Its magic power is about the same as mine, so it couldn't subdue me. Besides, the situation was chaotic at the time, and it quickly had other tasks to do. Later, I entered the path of immortality, and even then, it couldn't do anything to me."

"Wow, that's amazing..." the demons exclaimed in unison.

"Hmm... But thinking about it, it is a divine beast after all. If the situation hadn't been so chaotic back then, I might not be where I am today..." The frog strummed the three-stringed instrument in its hand and sighed.

"What kind of chaos is it?" Blackfish leaned closer and asked.

"Have you heard of the Monkey King?" the frog said solemnly. "Back then, he wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, and all the gods were caught up in it. It was also during that time that many demons were able to catch their breath. In fact, he's my idol! I even have a portrait of the Monkey King here. Would you like to pay your respects? It's a rare, autographed copy!"

= =|||

"No……"

"Don't like the Monkey King? I also have a photo album of Nezha, do you want to see it? He's the cutest boy in Heaven..." The frog got more and more excited as it spoke, "What, don't like boys? I also have the dog collar that Erlang Shen used, the coat that Samantabhadra wore, and the sunglasses that Virupaksha used..."

= =|||

"Uh... actually, in his spare time, the frog likes to follow celebrities..." the catfish explained quietly.

"We understand..." the demons replied.

"...Seriously? You don't like any of them? Your taste in handsome guys needs some work..." the frog said seriously. "Oh, speaking of which, that dragon is actually quite good-looking, but he's too fierce, tsk tsk, what a pity..."

"Hehe, speaking of being fierce, I once..."

"Old catfish..."

Before the demons could even utter their lines, the croaking of the frogs drowned out all the noise.

"Damn it!!! I hate it when someone changes the subject when I'm talking about handsome guys!!! You dead catfish, are you looking for trouble!!! Believe me or not, I'll throw you out and let you dry like a fish jerky! I knew I shouldn't have met you back then!!! As the saying goes, you can't judge a book by its cover, judging a person by their appearance is wrong, I was fooled by your face back then..."

Amid the frog's anger, the blackfish suddenly realized something.

"Huh? I was fooled by her face? Could it be..."

The carp also thought, "Could it be..."

The river shrimp dropped the Classic of Mountains and Seas from its hand. "No way..."

The fox's eyes widened. "Impossible..."

The crab, bewildered, asked, "What's wrong...?"

"Old Catfish! You're not a handsome guy, are you?!" The demons rushed forward and shouted in unison.

"Hehe, speaking of handsome guys, I once..."

"Old Catfish!!! Don't change the subject!!!"

= =###

Chapter Sixteen

That morning, the well was warm and cozy under the sun, and all the demons transformed into human form and lay at the bottom of the well basking in the sun.

"Speaking of which, what does the catfish's true form actually look like?" The carp glanced at the catfish that had transformed into the image of a wicked advisor not far away and sighed.

"You've been pestering us for so long and still won't let us see it~" Blackfish sighed.

"That makes it even more anticipated..." the fox said with longing.

"I wonder if I'll be a handsome guy when I grow up?" the crab pondered, resting its chubby cheeks on its hand.

The river shrimp beside him closed the Classic of Mountains and Seas in his hand. "Why waste so much time on nonsense? You'd be better off cultivating properly. The higher your cultivation level, the more beautiful your true form will be. You all know that!"

The carp and the blackfish spoke up seriously, "You're wrong, shrimp! Fairies should keep a low profile! Being beautiful is too dangerous!"

The fox rolled around complaining, "No matter what I turn into, Ji You GG ignores me... 55555... I don't want to cultivate anymore..."

The crab looked at the river shrimp and said, "I've only just cultivated myself into human form... I wonder how much longer it will take..."

The river shrimp stood up and pointed at the demons on the ground, "You unambitious..." Before it could finish its sentence, a red bean bun suddenly fell and hit it on the head.

"Ouch..." The river shrimp covered its head and squatted down. "Who hit me!" It looked up at the well and saw not only red bean buns, but also all kinds of fruits, chicken, duck and fish falling like rain.

"Wow... red bean buns..." Blackfish and carp immediately reached out to catch the buns.

"Wow... jujubes..." the crab exclaimed happily as it picked up the jujubes from the ground.

"Ugh... why aren't there any green rice dumplings..." the fox sighed.

The river shrimp frowned, cracked its right ring finger, and shouted, "Excrement!"

In an instant, it leaped out of the well.

Beside the well, Yinming was carrying a roast suckling pig, making a gesture as if to throw it.

"Miss He." He smiled and greeted her when he saw the river shrimp.