Heilong-kou (Black Dragon-Mouth/Pass)
Heilong-cheng (Black Dragon-City)
Censorate (Supervisory Court)
Yuling City (Jade City)
Jingui Town (Golden Turtle Town)
Xuanwu City (Black tortoise City)
…
Qing Yuan rolled up his sleeves and jumped in to give a hands-on lesson:
"You guys can do it like this! Take the spicy fruit, cut it into chunks, and mix it into the mash—steam it into cakes. As for the sour fruit, juice it and mix it with sweet fruit juice—that makes a sweet and sour drink. You can also roast the spicy fruits, mix the sweet and sour ones into the mash, and steam them together. See? If the fruits taste bad alone, just mix them up! That way, you'll have a lot more flavor combinations!"
The merchant caravans were stunned—how could it be that easy? And to think they'd been suffering through every meal for days.
They'd either been eating sour food day in, day out, or spicy food nonstop, or slurping bland, gluey mush.
They took a bite of the dishes Young Lord Qing Yuan prepared—and sure enough, they were way better than what they'd been eating.
Wiping his hands clean, Qing Yuan added, "And another thing—why haven't you gone to buy seasonings from the others?"
The merchants looked at each other awkwardly. "Those are their secret spice blends. Why would they sell them to us?"
Qing Yuan was speechless. "You call yourselves merchants? How would you know they won't sell it if you never even asked?"
After another round of stern scolding, Qing Yuan left with a sigh, hands clasped behind his back.
Not only did I not get to eat anything here—I had to teach them how to cook… When will the Qiongluan Clan finally rise?
Up ahead, a crowd had gathered, their cheers echoing through the festival. Qing Yuan quickly ran over.
It was a circus act!
His eldest aunt had once told him stories of her time in the human world—circus tricks, traveling troupes, acrobats.
But… why did the performer look so familiar?
A little tiger leaped smoothly through a ring of fire to wild applause. It puffed out its chest proudly, showing no shame in putting on a show for the crowd.
Yin Jixue, watching from afar, had a headache.
Originally, the plan was to catch a few low-level spirit beasts to do performances, and then release them afterward.
But once this idea was implemented, the little tiger loved it—and refused to leave.
Any attempt to carry it away would trigger pitiful cries—yes, actual whimpering sounds, from a tiger.
Yin Jixue had no choice. The little tiger had grown chubbier, and its belly now practically dragged on the ground. She could barely lift it with one hand—it had to weigh at least forty jin.
She worried that if it ever turned into a little boy, it would still have that huge belly. Not a good look.
So she decided to let it use the circus as a form of weight loss. All the props were handed over for the little tiger to play with, and a new set was commissioned for official use.
But of course, the tiger didn't want to play alone. It insisted that Yin Jixue watch, and preferably clap and cheer too.
Yin Jixue was too busy organizing the festival, so she assigned maids and soldiers to take turns watching it perform.
But the maids had dance rehearsals, and the soldiers had patrols. And the study hall definitely couldn't house flaming hoops.
So Lou Zhao simply dumped the tiger into the festival grounds. Do you like performing? Fine—perform for the whole city. Wait till your dad gets here and spanks your furry butt.
The naive little tiger had no clue what a trap it had fallen into. It was thrilled—tons of demons clapped for it, and a bunch of spirit beast "little brothers" followed its every command. It was having the time of its life.
Qing Yuan stood there, conflicted. That tiger was supposed to be his age. Why is he having so much fun up there?
I should've brought him along!
But he was quickly distracted by another part of the festival.
A mini amusement park had been built here, far more exciting than the unfinished one at Black Dragon Port.
His first pick: was the Spinning Beast Ride.
These metal "beasts" were mounted on thick iron poles, each about the width of a child's arm, anchored from top to bottom. Kids could grip the pole for balance while they rode.
There were four types of beasts, three of each kind—Qing Yuan decided to try every single one.
Once he got back to the Qiongluan Clan, he'd tell his siblings proudly: I've ridden beasts too!
After finishing the ride, he moved on to the mini roller coaster, which was already filled with screaming demons.
It only reached three meters high and didn't even have seat belts—not because of poor craftsmanship, but because that height couldn't hurt a demon anyway.
It ran on a single rail, tightly hugging the track. Even if it tipped over, no one would get injured. The whole point was the thrill.
Qing Yuan was a bit disappointed that there were no crashes—but it was still fun.
He'd imagined the cart flipping midair, tossing the rider into the sky, and then landing perfectly back in place. Now that would've been exciting.
Next door was the bumper car arena, currently filled with kids, all doing their own thing.
Qing Yuan picked a black bumper car and immediately began crashing into everyone.
Several kids weren't ready and got launched from their cars.
Qing Yuan burst into loud laughter.
One of those flying kids was none other than Lian Ze.
Just moments ago, he'd been nagging Yan Ye about unfinished homework. Annoyed, Yan Ye had just turned his head when something shot past his field of vision.
Lian Ze had been knocked clean out of his car but wasn't hurt—he got up giggling and dusted off his knees.
"That was so fun!"
Meanwhile, Qing Yuan had already swerved toward a new target.
Most of the kids in the arena were from the preschool class. Their parents were vendors at the festival, and since kids under fifteen didn't need tickets, they came straight here after school.
They'd arrived a bit earlier than Qing Yuan.
Lian Ze jogged back over to Yan Ye, who was scanning the crowd.
Soon enough, Yan Ye locked onto his target.
Qing Yuan was still gleefully bumping into other kids. After Lian Ze's crash, the others were now on high alert.
Qing Yuan, full of swagger, knocked two more kids aside. Just as he was about to gloat—
Boom!
He got launched right out of his car.
"Who sneak-attacked me?!"
He got up, dusting himself off—only to see Yan Ye driving straight toward him.
Before he could even get back in his car, Yan Ye was chasing him around the arena.
"No fair! I wasn't even in the car yet! Wait till I'm ready and let's duel properly!"
Yan Ye ignored him completely, relentlessly pursuing him in his little bumper car. Every time Qing Yuan slowed down, bam—he'd get rammed again.
"I give up! Stop hitting me—I'm not playing anymore!" Qing Yuan cried out, face crumpled in surrender.
The other kids began cheering and joined in the fun, surrounding him. Just moments ago, Qing Yuan had been bullying them—now he was the one getting clobbered by a pack of children.
He fled the bumper car arena, still a little shaken. That kid was scary… No wonder the Black Dragon Clan is a battle-born race.
Lian Ze jogged up to Yan Ye, cheeks flushed. "Thank you."
Yan Ye turned his head haughtily. "I didn't do it for you."
But Lian Ze's soft voice came again: "I also wanted to help you with your homework today…"
"…You're welcome," Yan Ye muttered.
Lian Ze beamed like a flower in bloom.
Brother Yan Ye may look fierce on the outside, but he's a good guy. He stood up for me when I was getting bullied.