Chapter 296: Mixed Race Child

Bai Rouyun also took out a wooden barrel full of water. The water itself was not steaming hot, but it was not cold either. It was enough to let the little girl clean herself before she put on the new dresses.

"Do you need any help to wash up and change your clothes?" Bai Rouyun's voice was soft and gentle. She understood that while the little dragon girl likely knew how to do these things herself, it was a special feeling when someone else was willing to spend the time to spoil another.

The little girl looked at Bai Rouyun with a longing in her eyes. Although these beautiful eyes were still full of confusion, the longing within made Bai Rouyun's heart ache, and she quickly reached out her hands to gently get the girl washed and dressed.

It was in the middle of the dark night, but the gentle flickering light from the campfire illuminated a picturesque scene in the middle of the wilderness.

The young girl was at first very hesitant and dared not truly enjoy the tenderness that Bai Rouyun showed her, but as the bath continued, she began to lower her guard and enjoy the gentle touch as her hair was being washed.

This was what it felt like to be cared for.

The young dragon girl was washed and cleaned, after which Bai Rouyun picked the blue dress that Xiao Jin had found earlier. The dress was a bit too big, as Xiao Jin was a very chubby little spirit and this girl was clearly malnourished, but it still looked very good on her, and Bai Rouyun's eyes shone in satisfaction.

"May I comb your hair and tie it up?"

Bai Rouyun asked gently as she looked at the beautiful white hair that was hanging behind the dragon girl's back. The hair was long and seemed to be important to the little girl, so she dared not touch it without permission.

However, the question made the little girl's eyes widen in disbelief as she touched her hair in confusion. After realizing that Bai Rouyun was not joking, a gleam of excitement and happiness flashed in her eyes, as she nodded her head happily.

To Bai Rouyun she resembled a chicken pecking for rice as the head bobbed up and down rapidly.

"Come here." Bai Rouyun's smile had not diminished throughout the entire process, and she felt a deep sense of satisfaction as she noticed how her small actions had made the previously horrified girl feel more at ease and even made her show her childishness.

As the sunlight broke through the horizon, Bai Rouyun finished the hairstyle for the little girl. Her hair was long and beautiful, but it was not suitable to make too elaborate hairstyles due to her age.

According to tradition, a young and unmarried girl had to keep a simple hairstyle, and when they came of age, they would have a ceremony where they would have their hair washed, combed, and given a hairpin.

This ceremony showed that the woman was of age and able to be married; however, Bai Rouyun had never experienced this ceremony herself.

In her past life, she was struggling to survive and no one was willing to give her a hairpin to celebrate. Even if she had met Xue Jingyu back then, he was not familiar with the importance of this ceremony to a woman, so it was quickly forgotten.

In her current life, she was not considered important in the Bai mansion, so the ceremony was quickly bypassed.

Even so, as a woman, Bai Rouyun understood how important one's hair was to a girl, so she had rolled the dragon girl's hair into two braided buns on top of her head.

These two buns were also adorned with a buyao hairpin each. A buyao was a hairpin with jewelry that would dangle with each step the little girl took, or with each move of her head.

The two buyaos that Bai Rouyun had picked seemed simple, but elegant. Although they were a bit too luxurious for everyday use, they were so uncomplicated that even children would be approved of when wearing them.

Bai Rouyun had purchased these two buyao hair pins for Xiao Jin to match with the dress that this little dragon girl was currently wearing. Xiao Jin was the spirit of a golden pill cauldron, and she loved jewelry and gems more than the average person.

As a person who spoiled her adopted children much more than many biological parents would, Bai Rouyun would often purchase these things for her when stretching her legs throughout her many years of cultivating.

Xiao Jin's private stash of jewelry and pretty dresses was much more numerous than Bai Rouyun's own, but even though this little spirit loved every one of these items, she was not greedy, and even willingly gave the two beautiful buyao hair pins to the dragon girl.

"Thank you." The dragon girl looked at the mirror that Bai Rouyun passed over, and her eyes were full of disbelief but also happiness as she could not help but touch the beautiful ornaments dangling from the braided buns. She had never felt this cared for and beautiful before.

"My name is Jiaojiao."

Bai Rouyun's smile increased as she reached out her hand to touch the coral-like horns again. "So sweet!"

Jiaojiao was clearly left alone to survive on her own, and Bai Rouyun could not help but feel very close to this young girl.

Jiaojiao was very young, and although she was clearly not purely human, she was not a beast either. Even if Bai Rouyun was new to the Wushi Continent, she had heard many things from Yun Mingshen, and she knew that many old opinions prevailed.

Jiaojiao was clearly abandoned since she was a mixed-race child.