Slow and heavy footsteps sounded, and the person in the dark finally emerged.
A man in white with splashes of ink-like patterns on his clothes. There was a crooked golden dragon embroidered under the hem of his robe, and at the dragon's claw, there seemed to be a character "Wan" in ink.
Suddenly, a new scene popped up from the depths of memory.
She, with a human upper body and a dragon's tail, was imitating the gentle ladies in the storybooks, embroidering characters.
But she had only been born for a hundred years at that time, like a young child in the human world. She couldn't even draw, let alone embroider.
Yet she still mumbled to herself, "I'll embroider the dragon on your clothes to protect you, a little demon, for a lifetime."
As soon as she finished speaking, she pricked her finger with the embroidery needle.
Who would have thought that a tiny embroidery needle could pierce the fingertip of a dragon? A drop of dragon's blood dripped onto the dragon's claw on the clothes.
Her bright and watery eyes immediately welled up with tears. "I'm not afraid of pain. It's just that the wind got into my eyes!"
But every one of her actions showed that she was afraid of pain. She pinched her fingertip aggrievedly, and the tears in her eyes were about to overflow.
Even the sky above her head was gathering dark clouds, as if they were pressing down on her.
"Yes, yes, yes. I know the Dragon Lady is not afraid of pain." The young man smiled as he sucked on her fingertip. The wetness seemed to tickle her. "I've seen humans treat wounds like this before."
"Really?"
She was half - believing. The pain in her fingertip was just a momentary thing, and the tears in her eyes gradually receded.
But she didn't dare to touch the embroidery needle anymore. "Such a simple thing. Why should I do it myself! You do it. I'll teach you from the side."
The young man smiled faintly, his tone tinged with indulgence. "Okay."
So, she only embroidered one dragon's claw, and the rest was done by the young man.
Because her drawing was crooked, the final golden dragon on the robe was also slightly distorted.
"Although there are no more demons in the world, the future is uncertain! If there are any demons again, when they see my dragon form on your clothes, they won't dare to do anything to you!"
She stood with her hands behind her back, looking down on the "world", which was actually just a small lake. "Little demon, you can rest assured!"
"My name is Qing Yu."
The young man reminded her as usual, only to see the Dragon Lady pouting in dissatisfaction. "Got it, got it! I don't even have a name, but you, a little demon, actually do!"
There was a hint of envy in her words, but she quickly concealed it.
She was the unique golden dragon in the world. How could she envy a little demon!
Qing Yu stood behind her. "If the Dragon Lady doesn't mind, I can give you a name."
"Of course I mind!"
She pursed her lips and refused. "My name can't be given by you, a little demon. It should be given by my parents, just like yours..."
There was a hint of loneliness in her tone. Her parents were no longer in this world.
The spiritual energy in this world was weak, and all the gods had gone to the upper realm.
But she used to be just a dead egg, so she naturally couldn't be taken to the upper realm to share the spiritual energy. Thus, she was abandoned in this small lake.
The only thing to be thankful for was that her parents seemed to have held some hope and left some spiritual energy for her.
Or perhaps because there were no other gods to share the spiritual energy in this world, she enjoyed it all by herself and was slowly hatched.
While Qing Yu and his parents had always lived in the lake, free and carefree.
But just before her arrival, his parents had passed away naturally.
Leaving Qing Yu alone.
On the day the Dragon Lady was hatched, the spiritual energy overflowed.
Qing Yu also got a chance from this and transformed into a human form, and his lifespan was extended.
After that, he had always accompanied the Dragon Lady. She grew up slowly and finally transformed into a human form after a hundred years.
"Dragon Lady?"
Qing Yu was used to the Dragon Lady being strong and willful. He rarely saw her truly sad and lonely.
She sniffed, worried that the tears in her eyes would flow out and be seen by the little demon.
She simply transformed into her dragon form and closed her huge golden eyes. "It's okay. I just miss them."
Since her birth, the spiritual energy in the world had become thinner and thinner. If she didn't have spiritual energy to cultivate her spiritual power, she might never be able to go to the upper realm.
There was also a hint of nostalgia in Qing Yu's eyes. "I miss them too."
"Little demon!" The huge dragon body curled up slightly, which was a sign of insecurity. "You give me a name."
"My mother's surname is Yu. I think it's the most beautiful surname!"
Hesitation flashed across Qing Yu's eyes. "The Dragon Lady and I met in the evening when the sun was setting."
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "What do you think of Yu Wan?"
"Yu Wan?"
She repeated after him, and her dragon's tail swayed leisurely, as if she was extremely satisfied.
But there was still a hint of compromise in her words. "It sounds ordinary. If there's a better one in the future, we'll change it."
The dragon's tail swayed vigorously, splashing water.
"Lady Yu Wan."
Having been with her for a hundred years, Qing Yu knew that she was very happy.
When she was happy, her dragon body transformed back into a human form. She bounced around. "Yu Wan? From now on, I'm Lady Yu Wan!"
The young man was in white. When she was embroidering the dragon just now, a drop of bright dragon's blood had dripped on the dragon's claw and was hard to wash off.
She couldn't hide her thoughts. Overcoming her fear, she embroidered the black character "Wan" herself to cover the dragon's blood. "With my name on it, it's even more majestic!"
Behind her, the young man had a faint smile on his lips, sharing this moment of joy with her.
There was a little thought hidden in his heart. "I give you my name as your surname. May Qing Yu and Yu Wan accompany each other for generations to come."
"A Wan, long time no see."
The man had changed a little compared to the memory. His body was more upright and strong, and there was tenderness in his eyes.
But the curve of his lips was exactly the same as before. There was a golden scale in his palm. "This belongs to you. I'm glad we meet again."
"Qing Yu?"
"It's me."
He took a light step forward, as if he wanted to embrace Ning Yuwan in his arms to express his joy.
But Ning Yuwan just took a step back. "You're in a human body!"
Qing Yu stopped and smiled faintly. "Lady Yu Wan is still as smart as before."
The scale in his palm seemed to respond to his words, shining golden light, which also caught Ning Yuwan's attention.
"A thousand years ago, a demon cultivator emerged in the human world and separated us maliciously. You were seriously injured and fell into a deep sleep. I was also dying, so I had to be reincarnated in the human world."
He lowered his eyes and looked at the dragon scale. "It's a pity that I didn't remember you in all my reincarnations in these thousand years. Until recently, when a disaster struck, the dragon scale protected my heart and saved my life at a critical moment, and I was able to regain my memory."
Qing Yu laughed softly, and there was a lingering sigh in his laughter. "I hope it's not too late."
What he said was exactly the same as Ning Yuwan's memory, except...
She couldn't remember the incident when the demon cultivator injured her.
It seemed that this part of the memory was lost because of the serious injury.
There was a faint pain in the center of her forehead. Only the tip of her tail seemed to be instinctively afraid of the scene at that time and became hotter.
Seeing Ning Yuwan frowning, Qing Yu seemed to remember that she used to look like this when she was afraid of pain.
He slowly raised his hand, wanting to smooth out her frown.
But unexpectedly, she still stepped back and strongly resisted his approach.
"A Wan?"
"It's okay."
Ning Yuwan couldn't explain her own thoughts. She remembered their closeness in the past and Qing Yu's hundred - year companionship when they were young.
But her body, or rather her heart, was resisting Qing Yu's approach.
There was no other reason. It was just her inner will...