Ch 65: The Malevolent Monster Just Wants To Farm

Ao Yue: ???

“Father, weren’t you too busy to see me for two months? How come you’re suddenly free now?” Ao Yue felt like an arrow had pierced her heart, and it hurt. But she didn’t dare say anything, let alone ask, and obediently followed behind the Dragon King.

Coincidentally, when Ao Yue arrived at the Shen Nong shop with the Dragon King, she saw a familiar face.

“Zi Qi?” Ao Yue asked in surprise, “What are you doing here?”

Zi Qi, of course, had become increasingly suspicious after his visit to the Dragon Palace, so he had come to test Jiang Lin. He had just arrived and hadn’t had time to ask anything when the Dragon King and Ao Yue appeared.

Zi Qi had never seen the Dragon King before, and seeing a handsome, refined young man next to Ao Yue, he immediately thought the worst and blurted out, “So soon, you’ve found another pretty boy?”

Ao Yue: “…”

Dragon King: “…”

Jiang Lin, noticing the tension, wisely kept his mouth shut.

The atmosphere fell into an awkward silence.

After a while, the Dragon King raised an eyebrow, laughing in anger. “Pretty boy? Do I look like…”

“Father!” Ao Yue interrupted in a panic before he could finish. “He…he’s my companion, but he didn’t recognize you. Please spare his life!”

She knew her father well. If she hadn’t spoken up, Zi Qi would likely be done for. Despite finding Zi Qi’s recent behavior odd, Ao Yue still felt responsible for protecting her companion.

Zi Qi: ?

Realizing who the Dragon King was, Zi Qi’s face turned pale, and he wished he could take back his words. The Dragon King’s temper was notoriously bad, and Zi Qi feared for his life.

As the Dragon King’s golden eyes bore into him, Zi Qi gritted his teeth and said, “It was my fault for not recognizing you, Dragon King. Please forgive my mistake.”

The Dragon King looked at him coldly. “You are indeed blind, and I am not known for being forgiving.”

Ao Yue, nervous, tried to intervene. “Father…”

“Want to plead for him?” The Dragon King shot a disappointed look at his daughter. “You’re blind too! Foolish girl!”

Ao Yue: ?

She pouted, “How am I blind?”

The Dragon King glared at Zi Qi. “Will you remove your disguise, or shall I strip it from you?”

Ao Yue was taken aback, and she turned to Zi Qi with suspicion.

Zi Qi knew his disguise had been seen through and dared not play any tricks in front of such a powerful figure. He obediently removed his disguise, revealing himself as a tall and handsome member of the Tu Su tribe, looking entirely different from the Zi Qi Ao Yue had known.

“This…” Ao Yue was stunned.

The Dragon King smacked her on the head. “How did I end up with such a foolish daughter? You’ve shared a bed with him so many times, and you didn’t even know what he looked like?”

Ao Yue clutched her head, too afraid to vent her anger at her father, so she glared at Zi Qi instead. She had already decided that once her father was done with him, she would kill this liar.

Facing the Dragon King’s overwhelming presence, Zi Qi struggled to stay calm. “Greetings, Dragon King. I am Zi Qi of the Tu Su tribe. Our tribe has some matters we wish to discuss with the East Sea region.”

The Dragon King scoffed. “Discuss? You think you’re worthy?”

With a wave of his hand, he knocked Zi Qi unconscious.

Ao Yue glanced at Zi Qi’s fallen form and, seeing that he was still alive, felt relieved and didn’t concern herself further.

The Dragon King then turned to Jiang Lin. “That letter—did you write it?”

Jiang Lin nodded, removing his own disguise and openly admitting, “I came to Sea City with a purpose. I believe the Dragon King has already guessed what that is.”

The Dragon King chuckled with interest, “You’re much smarter than that fool from the Tu Su tribe.” He glanced at Jiang Lin again and added, “And much better-looking too.”

Ao Yue eagerly nodded in agreement, “Yeah, exactly! You’re so good-looking, why would you wear a mask?”

As she spoke, she widened her eyes, staring at Jiang Lin’s face, feeling a bit of a crush coming on. She regretted blessing Jiang Lin and Zong Yu so quickly. After all, it’s much more satisfying to hold a beauty like him in her own arms!

Jiang Lin apologized, “Let me reintroduce myself—I’m Jiang from the Shen Nong tribe. I disguised myself because my family was worried and didn’t want me to use my real name or appearance outside.”

“Jiang?” The Dragon King pondered for a moment. “So, you’re the youngest son of the Shen Nong clan, the one who inherited the divine power of the God of Agriculture?”

He suddenly laughed, “No wonder you have so many mysterious things to offer.”

Jiang Lin smiled and said, “This place isn’t very suitable for conversation. I’ve prepared some snacks and tea in the inner room. Would Your Majesty like to move there?”

The Dragon King didn’t rush to leave, instead, his gaze shifted to Zong Yu. “Is this little guy with you?”

He seemed to have a good impression of Zong Yu—there weren’t many juniors who could take a beating as well as he could.

Jiang Lin glanced at Zong Yu. Had he met the Dragon King before? He hadn’t mentioned it. Jiang Lin nodded and said, “Zong Yu and I have been old friends for many years.”

Ao Yue muttered to the side, “What old friends? You two are clearly a couple.”

Jiang Lin: “…”

Zong Yu: “…”

The Dragon King, hearing this, wasn’t too surprised. He seriously looked at the two and remarked, “You do make a good match.”

Once inside the inner room, the Dragon King looked around and complained, “This place is way too small.”

He looked directly at Jiang Lin and asked bluntly, “You’ve opened a shop, written me a letter, and sent me gifts. So, what’s your purpose?”

In this world, it was clearly not common to beat around the bush. Jiang Lin replied directly, “I want to make a deal with Your Majesty.”

The Dragon King didn’t ask what the deal was but instead probed further, “Is it you personally making a deal with me, or is it a deal between the Shen Nong tribe and the East Sea region?”

Jiang Lin thought, No wonder he’s a ruler of his race. He glanced subtly at Ao Yue. This princess clearly hadn’t inherited her father’s intelligence.

The Dragon King noticed this glance and seemed to understand what Jiang Lin was thinking. With a tone of disdain, he said, “Why are you looking at her? Her brains don’t represent the average level of my children—she’s as dumb as a rock.”

Ao Yue: “…”

She pouted, “I might not be the smartest, but I haven’t embarrassed you with my fighting skills. I don’t want to be the next Dragon King, so why would I need to be that smart?”

Why would he insult me in front of a beautiful person?

The Dragon King’s lips curled slightly. “At least you’re self-aware.”

Ao Yue huffed quietly and shrank into her chair, choosing to stay silent.

Jiang Lin found this father-daughter dynamic amusing and quite novel. He then answered, “Ultimately, my goal is, of course, the latter. However…”

Both of them understood that matters involving two large tribes would not be simple.

The Dragon King asked, “Can you make decisions on this?”

Jiang Lin nodded, “I can handle this.”

The Dragon King said, “I’ll give you a year. In that year, the Shen Nong tribe can send people here, and your goods can be widely circulated in the sea region. If you want to make a deal, you’ll need to convince me with results.”

Jiang Lin smiled, “The results won’t disappoint you.”

“Hmm.” The Dragon King nodded slightly. “Then I’ll take my leave.”

He said only this one sentence, and the figure sitting on the chair suddenly faded away, disappearing within moments. His time was precious, and the fact that he had taken the time to meet with Jiang Lin was already a significant favor.

Ao Yue, seeing her father leave, immediately sat up straight and looked at Jiang Lin in disbelief. “Store owner, you sure are bold to dare to negotiate with my father.”

Jiang Lin smiled, “What’s there to be afraid of? The Dragon King doesn’t eat people.”

Ao Yue muttered, “But he does beat dragons, and it really hurts.” Her words hinted that she had been on the receiving end of that a few times. But she was thick-skinned, and only sighed lightly as she remarked.

She then looked at Jiang Lin with excitement, “So you’re the little prince of the Shen Nong tribe? I’ve heard of your tribe. Is it true that golden rice fields stretch as far as the eye can see? Are they really that beautiful and fun?”

Jiang Lin thought for a moment and said, “During the harvest, you could say the fields are covered with golden rice. But our Shen Nong tribe also has many other crops, beautiful flowers, delicious fruits throughout the year, and we’ve even started raising soft, fluffy sheep.”

“That must be so much fun!” Ao Yue said with a look of longing.

Jiang Lin smiled, “If you ever have the time, Princess, you can visit the Shen Nong tribe with me.”

“I’ll have time, I’ll have time!” Dragons certainly had plenty of time to spare.

Ao Yue generously said, “You can just call me by my name. From now on, we’re friends.”

“Since we’re friends, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask,” Jiang Lin said. “How did you meet that Zi Qi?”

“Zi Qi?” Ao Yue frowned. “One day, I ran into a thief with no sense of fear. Before I even had a chance to get angry, he jumped in front of me and helped me chase the thief away.”

So it was the classic damsel-in-distress scenario. Jiang Lin couldn’t help but be impressed by Zi Qi. In this era, his tactics were surprisingly advanced.

Unfortunately, it seemed like his efforts didn’t have the desired effect, as Ao Yue quickly added, “Actually, if he hadn’t jumped in, I would have already beaten that thief to a pulp.”

Jiang Lin couldn’t help but laugh.

He thought, Zi Qi’s tactics seemed to work well on Jiang, but with Ao Yue, they kept backfiring one after the other.

He said, “Princess, Zi Qi deceived you. What are your thoughts on that?”

Ao Yue waved her hand dismissively, anger flashing in her eyes. “When he wakes up, I’ll have a good talk with him. How dare he lie to me!”

Good, it seemed that the Dragon Princess’s infatuation was coming to an end.

Jiang Lin decided to be direct and said, “To be honest, this person is from the Tu Su tribe, and he’s my enemy. If you insist on protecting him here in the East Sea, I won’t seek retribution.” At least, not openly.

Ao Yue considered this for a moment, then said, “If you want to settle the score with him, you’ll have to wait until I’ve made it clear that we’re no longer together.”

After all, dragons protect their partners.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. “No, I need to go question him right now!”

With that, she stormed out, carrying the unconscious Zi Qi as she turned into a streak of light and disappeared.

Two days later, Ao Yue returned.

“I’ve made it clear to him, the matter is resolved, and we’re no longer involved,” Ao Yue said.

Jiang Lin was curious, “How did you resolve it?”

Ao Yue shrugged, “We had a fight.”

Jiang Lin: “…” Well, that was expected.

Ao Yue rubbed her waist angrily, “That man really was hiding his true strength the whole time we were together. He even managed to tear off two of my dragon scales.”

“And him?” Jiang Lin had a feeling that Ao Yue wouldn’t be the type to take a beating without fighting back.

“Him?” Ao Yue said smugly, “His worst mistake was fighting me in the East Sea. I hammered him so hard that he won’t be getting out of bed for at least a month.”