Once Li Xiu’s scent was erased by Bai Wu, the young man became rather happy. When he stood near Xu Lan, the only scent he could smell was that of his own. With a broken heart he licked the slap mark but at the same time, he gleefully wagged his tail. Its robustness nonchalantly beat against the river’s surface causing white water sprays to form.

“It’s okay. We’ll search slowly. Surely we’ll be able to find it.” Bai Wu’s consolation enabled Xu Lan’s tensed up face to begin relaxing.

“Papa.” Bai Wu stopped licking. The young man’s dragon state was far from adorable. Instead, it brought about an innate augustness and grandeur. “You must stay by my side forever.”

Bai Wu place his head on Xu Lan’s shoulder and made that statement after stopping his act of licking.

“Mm… I will.” Xu Lan looked at those beautiful eyes and nodded.

‘Oh Bai Wu, you’re asking me to give you my life.’

It was not known whether the crack retreated because of Bai Wu’s power or whether its very basis for existing was challenged when it saw such a heart-warming spectacle. In any case, it gradually disappeared after a period of time.

Amidst the pricking of reeds, Xu Lan lay by the pond with Bai Wu to his side.

When everything calmed down, Xu Lan felt the incessant vibration of his cell phone in the pocket. The phone’s position made it seem as though it was poised to help Xu Lan take care of his manhood. His ‘member’ was rapidly filled with vigor as it sought to escape the trap of its confines. Xu Lan had been too busy lately and had no time to look after it, so much so that it was unable to differentiate a real massager from a fake one!

Xu Lan embarrassedly shifted himself to the side in hopes that the child would not have to see such a humiliating spectacle. Then he took out the cell phone to see which b*stard was calling him so tirelessly.

“Oh! Bai Wu!” The man exclaimed after gasping out of shock. Bai Wu cluelessly lifted his head to see what was going on and his little pale hands were placed on Xu Lan’s pants. Sensing light at the end of the tunnel, his ‘member’ believed that it was able to break free of all restraints. Almost immediately, it ached to reveal itself in its stiffened state.

“You, get your hand off me!”

“Is it unbearable? Didn’t Papa say that it was a natural reaction? Papa helped me in the exact same way last time. It won’t be unbearable for long. It’ll even become… very enjoyable.”

The young man awkwardly avoided eye contact. In the corner of his crescent-shaped eyes was the tear mole that shimmered brightly – it was exceptionally eye-catching.

“This… I’ll do it myself. Sit back down, I need to take this call.” After seeing how confused and ignorant the young man was, Xu Lan regretted that a busy schedule led to him having no time to send Bai Wu to school.

“Oh, okay.” Bai Wu intended to help Xu Lan with the ‘problem’ and became sad after being rejected. He squatted down and parted the reeds then sulkily poked at ants in the process of moving their nest.

Xu Lan took a deep breath before answering the call. Originally, he wanted to give that bloody Sun Fei a scolding but when he saw the number on the screen, he held back all those profanities.

“Lao Hu.”

“Xu Lan! Son-of-a-b*tch you finally answered! I’ve been calling you repeatedly since yesterday! What actually happened? How could Bai Wu be a dragon? Anyway, the point is, Bai Wu took you away, and now the station is like a traffic hub. One after another, hordes of people are rushing here just to ask your whereabouts! Do you know that the whole country is talking about how to locate you? Even the province has instructed us to drop our murder case. They want us to re-investigate only after Bai Wu is caught!”

Hu Cheng’s mortar-like voice nearly shattered Xu Lan’s eardrums. For the greater part of Xu Lan’s life, no news of such magnitude had ever turned into a manhunt!

“Eh, Lao Hu, are you positioning yourself in the forefront?” Xu Lan lifted the phone some distance away and proceeded to massage his ears.

“Xu Lan! I made this f*cking call to find out if you were still alive and to warn you to be careful! What do you take me for, huh? Everyone’s worried sick for you! Surely you have your reasons for making that choice. We’ll always welcome you with open arms if you return!” With increasing sincerity, Hu Cheng’s voice began slowing in pace.

“Return? Hasn’t the station been taken over? Will I still be able to continue with the case? Will things go back to the way like before with Bai Wu?” Xu Lan became emotional after hearing Hu Cheng’s words. It was likely that the call was made because Hu Cheng regarded Xu Lan as a friend.

“The experts said if you return, you can buy a house in the capital. If Bai Wu is unwilling to go to the research institutions, they would take samples in your home. They wouldn’t obstruct you. By then, perhaps you may be promoted…beep…beep…beep”

“Director General, the signal’s coming from the Qinglong Mountains.” Xiao Zhang remarked to Hu Cheng after seeing the red dot on the computer screen.

“Good. Call the experts. We’ll go there together.” A disappointed Hu Cheng sat back down on the chair, for he was certain that Xu Lan figured out what was happening.

Xu Lan hung up and came back to Bai Wu, who was still drawing circles on the ground. The scene led Xu Lan to smile. Without a doubt, Bai Wu was a child that never grew up. How could Xu Lan bear with the thought of handing Bai Wu over to a bunch of mad scientists?

“Bai Wu, I think we’re pretty famous now. But we can’t go out, do you know that? And we absolutely cannot let anyone see us, because they will lock me up and there will be more crazy people like Li Xiu, who will take my blood every day, and if I don’t behave, they will hit me. Do you understand?”

The man bent over and spouted all that nonsense knowing that Bai Wu had a soft spot in caring for him. As soon as Li Xiu’s name popped up, Bai Wu screamed and stood up suddenly, hitting Xu Lan’s nose.

“Oof…”

“Papa, are you okay? I… I didn’t mean to do it.” Bai Wu apologized while wiping the nosebleed.

“It’s okay. We can’t stay here. We have to head for the hills and find a place to sleep,” Xu Lan said as he massaged his nose.

To put it simply, it was retribution! Last time it was Xu Lan’s chin that Bai Wu knocked, then it was the nose, who knows which other body parts would Bai Wu knock next. Despite that, Bai Wu was too adorable. Xu Lan could not resist making him cry so he could comfort Bai Wu when he crept into Xu Lan’s chest.

“Mm. Okay.”

A vast mountain range was situated behind the river. With Bai Wu’s help, the both of them cautiously headed to the hills. The most dangerous places are usually the safest, therefore Xu Lan chose not to leave the Qinglong Mountains. Soon, police and scientists would flood the place. If the both of them could keep themselves hidden until the search is over, everyone might believe that they escaped to someplace else.

It was one of the reasons why Xu Lan did not immediately hang up even after he heard sounds that suggested he was being traced. The Qinglong Mountains stretched for hundreds of miles and extended across the whole of G City ¹ . There could not be a better place for them to go into hiding.

“Bai Wu.” The nosebleed stopped but a small amount of mucus-like blood remained on the jaw. Bai Wu was amused by the man’s condition that resembled the Evil Deity of Fire and Cloud ¹ . Blood stained almost everywhere, even down to the stubble of Xu Lan’s beard.

Bai Wu’s laughter stopped Xu Lan in his tracks. Smiles were a rarity as Bai Wu frequently cried but that bout of laughter was something Xu Lan had never seen before.

The young man’s face was bright and fair, his pupils were scarlet-red, a crescent-like smile graced his eyes and his eyebrows were thick, his nose was straight, and his lips, rosy. As perfect and exquisite as nature in its purest form, it was as if Bai Wu floated on a white cloud right out of an ancient scroll. The tear mole below his eye was somewhat replenished with an extra hint of charming maliciousness.