Chapter Forty-Four: A New Script

“Mr. Huang, if it’s not time for counseling… does that mean I can’t come at all?”

Gao Ying smiled as she spoke. “A counselor and the person they help shouldn’t share only a doctor–patient relationship. They should get to know each other more, spend time together, and, ideally, become friends who can talk about anything. That makes communication much easier.”

“Mr. Huang, I wonder if I might have the honor… of becoming your friend?”

“A friend…”

The Black Dragon muttered. As a homebody, he had never been keen on making friends. But if it was Gao Ying… he supposed it wasn’t impossible.

“All right… then from now on, we’re friends.”

He studied Gao Ying for a few moments, then agreed. Out of courtesy, he added, “Have you had lunch? Would you like some?”

The Black Dragon was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and he was always generous to friends. Considering it was lunchtime and Gao Ying might not have eaten, he took the initiative to invite her to share his wild beef.

“No, no, that’s not necessary.” Gao Ying glanced at the bloodied beef and waved her hands repeatedly. “Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Huang, but I can’t eat it raw.”

“That’s not a problem… I can breathe fire, remember? I could grill it for you with my dragon’s breath!”

The Black Dragon offered enthusiastically. “Consider it a barbecue invitation… How do you like your steak?”

“Really, there’s no need…”

Gao Ying was admittedly tempted. Roast meat by dragon’s breath—just the sound of it was extraordinary. But in the end, she shook her head.

“Imported wild beef is full of magical elements. My body can’t process them; I’d get food poisoning easily.”

“I see…” The Black Dragon was a bit disappointed. The idea had just come to him—to use his breath to grill meat and let Gao Ying try it out, see how it tasted… No, how his cooking tasted.

If it turned out well, maybe he could invite his parents next time.

After becoming the Black Dragon, he’d gained power and talents but hadn’t provided any real benefits for his parents. Huang Ze always felt guilty about that.

...

“Mr. Huang… Is your back feeling any better?”

Gao Ying knew he’d fought yesterday and lost several dragon scales, so she asked with concern.

“Much better,” the Black Dragon replied indifferently. “Just a scratch, really. I only lost a bit of skin—it’ll grow back in a few days.”

“Is that true?” Gao Ying frowned, clearly skeptical. “But yesterday I saw you fighting the Phoenix—your wounds were deep, you were covered in blood. And you call that a small injury?”

As the counselor recognized by the Black Dragon, Gao Ying had the privilege to replay and watch his battle with the Phoenix. Even knowing the outcome, she found it nerve-wracking and several times feared the Black Dragon might not survive.

“Of course it’s a small injury.” The Black Dragon sped up, swallowing the last of the beef in one gulp, then rolled onto his side to show Gao Ying his back. “See for yourself—it’s already scabbed over. I barely felt any pain at all.”

Of course, that was mostly because the pain nerves in a Black Dragon’s body had degenerated so much that their pain tolerance was nearly monstrous—famous for their fearlessness.

“Amazing!” Gao Ying cried out. She saw that the wounds had indeed scabbed over; aside from the missing scales, you’d never guess he’d been injured just yesterday.

She instinctively reached out, then stopped herself, and asked cautiously, “Mr. Huang, may I touch your wounds?”

“I wouldn’t advise it.” The Black Dragon was oblivious to her intentions and refused directly. “I don’t have to worry about infection, but without scales, the energy radiating from the wound is strong—you might get hurt if you touch it.”

“Oh… all right.” Gao Ying was clearly disappointed. She’d been hoping that if he agreed, it would mean he was easygoing, and then she could seize the moment to ask if she might ride on his back for a while—halfway to fulfilling the dream of becoming a dragon knight.

“I never imagined Mr. Huang’s body would heal so quickly,” she mused. “If that’s the case, we may have to advance our dragon naturalization plan.”

“Advance it?” The Black Dragon was curious. “You’ve already come up with a new plan?”

“That’s right.” Gao Ying seemed a little proud. “This morning, Dr. Ding led a new seminar and really appreciated my viewpoint. We decided to write a completely new script for the dragon’s integration.”

“After our initial discussion, here’s the basic idea: Mr. Huang, you’re a powerful Black Dragon cursed by an evil god. One day, unable to bear the agony of body and soul, you accidentally stray into our airspace…”

“And then you save me?” Huang Ze couldn’t help but interject. “No offense, but this script doesn’t seem very plausible.”

“Leaving aside whether our country could save a Black Dragon cursed by an evil god—even if we could, why should a dragon feel grateful for it?”

“You know, dragons are notorious for being ungrateful and fickle. Building the dragon’s character around a simple debt of gratitude just doesn’t hold up.”

“Mr. Huang, please let me finish,” Gao Ying said patiently, smiling. “In our script, at first we have no intention of helping the dragon. In fact, we use anti-air missiles against it.”

“You fired missiles at it?” The Black Dragon was momentarily stunned. “Wait… that dragon is me, right?”

“So you’re shooting me with missiles… Isn’t that a bit much? Why would you do that?”

“It’s like this,” Gao Ying explained. “Logically, we wouldn’t recognize the Black Dragon at first or know whether it was friend or foe. So when it crossed into our airspace, our first priority would be national security, and we’d have to respond.”

“Since the Black Dragon was delirious and ignored our repeated warnings, refusing to surrender, for the safety of the country we’d have to bring it down…”

…

The Black Dragon paused. Wasn’t that exactly what happened when he first returned?

Thinking it through, he began to understand Gao Ying’s new script. Only this way would make sense, and no one would suspect the Black Dragon was actually acting.

“So… you plan to film this storyline while my wounds are still fresh?”

Suddenly enlightened, the Black Dragon shook his head with a wry look. “Only if I’m really injured will it look convincing that the Black Dragon was captured while wounded…”

“Exactly!” Gao Ying nodded vigorously, then asked a little nervously, “Mr. Huang, would you be willing to go along with this storyline and help us bring it to life?”

…

The Black Dragon didn’t answer immediately, but instead looked at Gao Ying with interest. “Let me guess—this was your idea, wasn’t it?”

“…Yes.” Gao Ying hesitated for a moment, then nodded openly. “It was my suggestion. I know it’s a bit unfair to you, Mr. Huang, and it means you’ll have to make some sacrifices and endure some grievances.”

“So if you have any anger over this, Mr. Huang… you can take it out on me!”