Yan Yuan lowered his face, "What are you talking about?"
Hua Niang sobbed, her weak shoulders trembling, "It's time for A'Long..."
Yan Yuan gritted his teeth, "Tell me clearly. What do you mean it's time?"
The prison was quiet. The child stopped crying after a while, opening his turquoise eyes similar to Xuan Long's and lying obediently in Hua Niang's arms, babbling under his breath as if he wanted to speak.
Clueless and ignorant, he had no idea that he was going to lose the person closest to him.
“A'Long can't do it anymore..."
The man in his arms was cold. Yan Yuan could feel the coldness through his clothes, and his hands and body were stained with Xuan Long's blood...
But he did not believe Hua Niang's words.
"You must not lie to me!"
"Wasn't the child born in good health! He is a dragon with ten thousand years of Tao, how could he die?!?!"
Hua Niang was about to speak when the breath of the man in Yan Yuan's arms changed slightly. Xuan Long had woken up.
He opened his eyes slowly and Yan Yuan called out, “A'Po..."
Xuan Long's vision turned from blurred to clear, and when he saw the tiny white blob in Hua Niang's arms, he knew it was his child and spoke with great effort, "Let me see..."
Hua Niang cried as she approached Xuan Long and handed the child over. Only when he was closer did Xuan Long see the child's face, and when he saw that he had the same dragon's horns and eyes as himself, he felt a little sad.
How would he be accepted in the world?
Apart from the sadness, there was also much, much joy that this little creature had been in his belly for so long and that they had finally met.
Unfortunately, the meeting was a farewell.
"My son..." Xuan Long couldn't help himself and reached out his hand to touch the child's little dragon horns and snow-white face, yet his fingertips were about to touch when they stopped in mid-air.
His hands were too dirty, all stained with blood, so it was better to forget about it, so as not to dirty him.
Hua Niang broke into tears, “A'Long..."
Xuan Long ultimately did not touch the child, but raised his arm with difficulty and placed his palm over the child's head, closing his eyes for a moment before a wave of green light flowing like water appeared in his palm and trickled into the child's brow.
The child's forehead glowed with a dark green divine mark, and Xuan Long's breathing became heavier to the naked eye as cold sweat rolled down his cheeks and onto his thin jaw, falling onto his blood-red prison clothes.
Hua Niang's eyes widened as she shook her head in disbelief, “A'Long... Don't! A'Long..."
He was burning what little soul power he had left to condense an inner elixir for the child and transferring the soul power that had been converted into spiritual power into the child's body.
He was afraid that the child would be bullied on Earth in the future and wanted to give the child the power to defend itself.
But the price... the price is...
Hua Niang dared not think about it any further, she freed one hand and grabbed Xuan Long's wrist: “A'Long... don't... I beg you, don't... "
Xuan Long: “I want to... this is the last thing I can do for my child... "
Yan Yuan frowned intensely and asked Hua Niang, "What is he doing?"
Hua Niang did not say anything and kept crying.
Yan Yuan was sure from their conversation that this was definitely not good, and he grabbed Xuan Long's hand forcing him to withdraw it, "What are you trying to do?!"
The divine lines on the child's forehead faded away, and it was as bright as ever. The green light in Xuan Long's palm disappeared with it, and his right hand hung down feebly.
The inner elixir had been formed and a lot of spiritual energy had been transferred, enough for him to use.
He leaned weakly in Yan Yuan's arms, very sleepy.
"Not doing... not doing anything."
Yan Yuan's eyes were dark: "Not doing anything, why do you always say such inexplicable things?"
"You honestly and clearly explain what you are hiding from me, why Hua Niang said you are dying. You better not play tricks, otherwise I will not let you go."
Xuan Long's turquoise eyes were half dozed: “A'Yuan..."
Yan Yuan looked at him, "What?"
Xuan Long: "My son, he doesn't have a name yet."
Although he had a nickname, he still needed a real name.
Yan Yuan: "You want me to give him a name?"
"Yes." Xuan Long's eyes closed and his voice became softer and softer.
Yan Yuan: "No, it is not yet clear whether this child is mine or not, you are entangled with so many men, how do I know whose bloodline he is?"
"Let's talk about this later, you should hurry and ask Hua Niang to treat you, if you delay, it will be you who suffers."
Xuan Long coughed twice and coughed out a large mouthful of blood, but did not have the strength to lift a hand to wipe it: “... You are not even willing to name him."
At this point, Yan Yuan panicked and fumbled, raising his hands to wipe the blood from Xuan Long's lips, but his hands were already stained with blood, and the more he wiped, the less clean they became.
Yan Yuan looked up and hysterically yelled at Hua Niang, "What are you still doing?! Hurry up and treat him!!"
Hua Niang trembled with fear and cried even harder.
Yan Yuan's eyes were red and frightening: "If you don't do something, I will immediately send someone to bring your daughter here."
Hua Niang choked back a sob, "He's dying! It's useless even if you capture both me and my daughter... It's too late, everything is too late..."
“A'Long's inner elixir is long gone, his life is as fragile as a human’s. He was carrying a child and you were always beating him, torturing him, and cutting his flesh and blood to save your Empress. Now he's finally dying, are you're satisfied... are you're satisfied..."
Yan Yuan didn't react: "The inner elixir is gone?"
Now that the end of Xuan Long's life was near, Hua Niang was no longer afraid of what Yan Yuan would do to Xuan Long and cried, "To save you! To save you, A'Long dispersed his ten thousand years of Tao and used his inner elixir on you. Since then, his life span has been the same as a mortal..."
"But he was also pregnant with a child who needed to be nurtured by the power of his soul. He would have had three years to live, but it was you who tortured him little by little into this state, it was you..."
Yan Yuan interrupted in a stern voice: "Impossible, he never told me that!!"
Hua Niang's eyes were blurred with tears, "What could you have done if he had told you? You never felt even the slightest bit of pain for him, you only treated him like an animal, asking him for what you wanted, not caring whether he was in pain or not, whether he was afraid or not..."
"You human beings are wolf-hearted and dog-lunged, You human beings are wolf-hearted and dog-lunged..."
Yan Yuan had a sharp pain in his head, "Shut up!!!"
Hua Niang was silenced by his yelling and her sobs decreased.
Yan Yuan looked down and asked the man in his arms, "Is what she said true?"
"You gave me your inner elixir a long time ago?"
"She lied to me, didn't she? You're not going to die, are you?"
"You said you would stay with me through this life, you never go back on your word, and this time you won't either, or else, or else I will..."
He always threatened him, once with Hu Le, then the children, and now? If he really wants to leave, what else can he do to keep him?
Xuan Long did not reply, his eyes drifting to the air: "… A'Yuan."
"Choose it now..."
Yan Yuan hugged him tightly: "I said I won't choose it. Such an important matter as choosing a name should be decided only after a good search of the classics, how can we be so hasty?"
"Listen to me, when you are well, I will think about it together with you."
Xuan Long: "If you don't want to... then... forget it."
"How can I forget it?" Yan Yuan hissed. "When did you become so indecisive? What is said is said, you cannot change it at will."
It was clear that Yan Yuan is petty and that he is indecisive. Xuan Long no longer had the strength to say too much to him, so he could only choose something important to say.
He grabbed Yan Yuan's sleeve: "For the sake of the former... relationship, promise me one thing... please."
Yan Yuan: "No promises!"
"I don’t promise, I won't promise you a single thing!"
"Unless you live well... anything is negotiable, otherwise nothing is promised!"
Xuan Long's lips quivered, "Spare Hua Niang... and Ying'er..."
"The child... raise and nurture... he’s yours, it's your bloodline... For the sake of being your bloodline, you should not treat him harshly..."
"I beg you..."
"I will not raise it. You gave birth to the child, it is up to you to raise it, why are you throwing it to me?" Yan Yuan raised his hand and patted Xuan Long's face. “Stay awake, no sleeping! No sleeping..."
The breath that Xuan Long exhaled was light and heavy: "I have something... for you, to exchange with you."
Yan Yuan: " I don't want anything!"
"You want..." Xuan Long smiled in a rare manner. He slowly raised his right hand and placed his devastated hand over the location of his heart, sharp claws formed at his nails, and before Yan Yuan could react, he aimed at his heart and stabbed in.
There was a ‘psh' and Yan Yuan froze.
“A'Po..."
Xuan Long exerted the last of his soul power and turned it into spiritual power, his right hand went into his heart all at once, turning it, and Yan Yuan could even hear that tiny sound of blood and flesh tearing.
The intact heart was still beating vividly in Xuan Long's hand as he pulled it out, leaving a bloody hole where his heart had been, and thick blood spurted onto Yan Yuan's face.
His eyes widened and he called out breathlessly.
“A'Po... A'Po..."
Blood gushed out rapidly from Xuan Long's heart. Yan Yuan had never seen so much blood in his life... Perhaps he had seen it, but not from Xuan Long.
People will die the moment they lose their hearts, and so will demons, but Xuan Long burned the power of his soul and his body was able to live temporarily in the world, sustaining him as he finished what he had to say.
"Take it..."
"Haven't you wanted it for a long time... Inner elixir is good… but not as good as a dragon heart."
"Go and save him..."
Xuan Long held the bloody heart and waited for Yan Yuan to pick it up. His eyes were closed and he didn't have the strength to look at the world again.
"I know... between you and me, there is no love."
"You have never loved me... I... I know that."
"Then... for the sake of this heart... spare Hua Niang, spare the children... and give them a way to live..."
"Okay..."
Yan Yuan shook his head, the sharp pain in his brain intensified, and his eyes were so wide that they almost split open: "No... no..."
Something warm suddenly hit his cheek, and Xuan Long's hand dropped weakly as the heart in his hand rolled to the ground, sticking to the sludge.
"It only just snowed... how come it's raining again..."
Yan Yuan raised his hand to cover Xuan Long's heart, but the heart was torn out, so how could he stop the blood: “A'Po..."