Chapter 352: Chapter 352 : Five Years Later (4)

Zhang Mingrui’s pitiful sniffles filled the air.

"Mother, tell me what you saw," Zhang Fengxi said while rubbing his eldest son’s back to placate him, knowing very well that his mother never left the boys out of her sight whenever she came to visit.

Lady Song heaved an exasperated sigh. She usually doted on this tiger grandson of hers very much, but this time the little boy really went too far!

"They were playing with each other as usual. For some reason, Mingrui suddenly grabbed Junjie by his left horn and dragged him around."

"..."

Zhang Fengxi pulled his lips into a thin line.

"Zhang Mingrui," he said with a low voice heavy with disapproval. On his shoulder, Zhang Mingrui’s wail grew increasingly louder.

"Naturally, Junjie resisted. We all told Mingrui to stop, but Mingrui did not listen. And then, the left horn snapped into two. Good gracious."

Lady Song pressed a wet towel against her forehead before she glared at Zhang Mingrui’s back.

"Mingrui, why are you here? You are supposed to continue kneeling until sunset!"

"Wahhhhhhhh... Grandma, I sowwy... I didn’t mean it..."

"And Junjie suddenly went unconscious and contracted fever?" Zhang Fengxi asked. "That sounds absurd."

"No, Your Highness," all three beta dragons cried out in unison.

"Dragon children often fall sick when their horns are harmed in any way," Head Servant Zhou confirmed. "Dragon horns are no different from other limbs, they are indispensable parts of dragons’ bodies. Until the time when the dragon children are able to hide their horns away, they should pay a great deal of attention when playing with other children.

Especially with those from other clans."

Even if said children were their siblings.

Zhang Fengxi heaved an exasperated sigh.

"This has never happened before, so I understand that everyone’s in a state of panic. Nevertheless, I want everyone to stay calm," Zhang Fengxi spoke.

"Mingyu, Qingyun, and Head Servant Zhou, you all hail from the dragon clan. Surely Junjie is not the first dragon to have his horn accidentally snapped into two. What can be done in such a case?"

The three beta dragons exchanged glances, and then Head Servant Zhou cleared his throat and spoke, "Your Highness, this is not a big deal. When this kind of thing happens, usually the dragon parent just licks on the broken horn and reattaches it to the stump using his saliva. After a few days, the horn is as good as new."

"The dragon parent," Zhang Fengxi pointed out, his tone incredulous.

"Yes, the dragon parent," Head Servant Zhou confirmed.

The problem was rather that said dragon parent was still wallowing in a long, long slumber in the mausoleum!

"Can any of you not do it for Junjie?" Zhang Fengxi asked.

The three betas gasped before they bowed in unison.

"We do not dare!"

"It has to be the parent to prevent unwanted contamination!"

"The horns are very delicate and important for young dragons!"

Zhang Fengxi sighed.

Good grief.

He handed the crying Zhang Mingrui to Mingyu and took the feverish Xie Junjie into his arms.

"I will take care of it," he said. "Just use a dragon parent’s saliva to reattach the broken horn, right?"

"Yes."

"Yes, that’s right."

Zhang Fengxi marched toward the mausoleum with his youngest son in one hand and his broken horn in the other hand.

"Open."

The mausoleum door creaked open at his command, and a reddish shimmering barrier came into sight.

With a simple wave of his hand, Zhang Fengxi dissolved the barrier into wisps of crimson mist.

The father and son approached the circular bed at the center of the room, where Xie Jianyu lay amidst a sea of vibrant red orchids.

"Hello, Jianbao," he greeted his sleeping wife with a kiss. "Mingrui broke Junjie’s horn. I need your saliva to reattach his horn."

"..."

Maybe it was because he wasn’t a dragon, but this method of healing sounded more and more ridiculous the longer he thought about it.

The alpha lay his son on the bed next to Xie Jianyu. He then gripped Xie Jianyu’s jaw and opened it wide enough to stick his finger inside to collect some saliva.

"..."

In his sleep, Xie Jianyu seemed to be silently judging him for his perverse action.

"Don’t look at me like that," Zhang Fengxi said in embarrassment, never mind that Xie Jianyu’s eyes were not even open.

"I am not trying to molest you in sleep."

As Zhang Fengxi smeared Xie Jianyu’s saliva all over their youngest son’s broken horn, he could not help but marvel at the interesting aspects of his current life.

An hour ago, he was deep in a tactical meeting, busy devising plans to thrive in a war between two opposing realms. Now he was reattaching his son’s broken horn by using his wife’s saliva as adhesive.

Fatherhood had certainly added a lot more aspects to his life.

"Jianbao, the boys are growing up so quickly," he whispered. "Mingrui is getting naughtier and naughtier every time I see him. Junjie is the exact opposite, he is so similar to you."

Zhang Fengxi chuckled to himself.

"We all miss you greatly. Won’t you come back soon?"

After his horn had been safely reattached, Xie Junjie’s eyes flew open.

"Daddy?" he called out. "You are back."

Zhang Fengxi pressed his adorable dragon baby against his chest and rubbed their noses together.

"Baby Junjie, you have been really brave. Did it hurt very much?"

"No, it didn’t hurt," Xie Junjie shook his head. "I just felt dizzy and then sleepy."

Zhang Fengxi cuddled the little boy and pressed his lips against his son’s forehead.

The fever had already subsided, how miraculous.

Every clan, including the dragon clan, adhered to a strict set of rules regarding the upbringing of children. It was imperative that he equipped himself with a thorough understanding of these rules, lest Xie Jianshen might just attempt to use them against him and take Xie Junjie away for good.

"Daddy, I had a weird dream," Xie Junjie said as he leaned against Zhang Fengxi’s chest. "I dreamed about dark, dark waters. And then I got swept down by a waterfall."

"Oh, really? And then, what happened?" Zhang Fengxi asked while inspecting Xie Junjie’s left horn. He decided to tie a magical string around it just to make sure that it wouldn’t fall apart.

"Ummm..."

The little boy looked down and played with his tiny fingers.

"Then I was sucked into a black place."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay