After The Abyss Dragon Woke Up
chapter-20-2-30041322

As if A God Descended (2)

The insect took a deep breath and said, "Two days ago, when you were playing games, I saw a bird parked on the window sill outside. I thought it was just an ordinary bird, but the smell was wrong, so I spied on it."

Shi An looked at the magic insect through the gap between the pillow and his face.

"Then I found that it was completely pitch-black. Although it looked like a crow, it was three times the size of an ordinary crow, with green eyes and strong barbs that could pierce through solid bedrock.”

Shi An's eyes widened slightly.

"You mean…"

The insect nodded deeply.

"Yes, the ash crow was not eliminated thoroughly by the group of people in the management bureau. These wiley, sly creatures probably could sense that something was wrong, so they moved their nests ahead of time. They aren’t strong by themselves, so I guess they haven’t been noticed yet."

Before it could finish speaking, Shi An jumped up.

A pair of dark eyes sparkled in the dim room.

"Let’s go!"

The insect was caught off guard, got flipped over by Shi An's sudden movement, fell under the bed, and rolled a few times on the ground.

It turned its back to the sky and began to reconsider its life choices*.

Didn’t this trend look familiar?

It always gets flipped over like this.

Shi An bent down and stuck his head under the bed.

"Are you alright?"

The insect flailed, kicking its six legs in the air, trying to turn itself over.

"Never been better, let's head out quickly."

When you have a new bed, you can finally sleep soundly!

I’m begging you!

Shi An put the insect in his pocket and sneaked out of the hospital in the dead of night.

The Ability Academy was very large. In addition to the dorms and classrooms, there were more unexplored areas. The huge campus was lush with green forests, vertical cliffs, and deep blue lakes. This scenery hardly even looked like a school campus.

Shi An's foot hurt when he walked.

He looked at the brightening horizon and asked wearily, "How much longer?"

"Almost there!"

The insect replied cheerfully, "Judging by the magic tracker I left on that ash crow, we just need to climb over the mountain in front of me."

Shi An whined, "I really want to fly."

Insect: "…"

It recalled the last time it was carried by Shi An “flying” and couldn't help shivering subconsciously.

I don't want to, please and thank you very, very much.

"Don't worry, it's really close," the insect comforted.

"Don't you want to find the ash crows’ nest and use their gold and silver to make a new bed?"

"… I do." Shi An replied reluctantly.

He sighed, braced himself, and walked in the direction indicated by the insect.

Before he could climb down the mountain, he felt a sudden wave of magic power rush over his head.

Not monster magic, but human magic?

Shi An blinked suspiciously.

He hid behind the conveniently-located boulder in front of him and stood on tiptoe to look in the direction of the wave.

In the air, a group of black ash crows circled, screeching and diving towards the bottom of the valley.

Three humans at the bottom of the valley were barely visible through the mass of ash crows. They seemed to be students from the Ability Academy, and they struggled to resist the ash crow attack.

Shi An looked around.

He saw a huge tree on higher ground not far away, and among the dense branches and leaves on the tree, there was an ash crow's nest.

Although it was far away, Shi An could still clearly see the brilliant reflection of the rising sun on the shiny treasures.

"!"

Shi An immediately became excited, as his whole body was suddenly energized.

"My liege, what are you going to do?" the insect asked in a low voice.

"Rush in, of course!"

The insect tried to reason with him.

"Wait, there are other humans below and the ash crows are in their attack state. Your old injury is not healed yet—"

"Burn them to death! The treasure is mine!"

Insect: "…"

Please don't say such horrible words with such a cute face, thank you.

A dragon fixated on the idea of treasures did not listen to others.

The insect felt like he had exhausted his life's worth of words.

"It's no good for you to rush in now. Although Mu Heng is no longer in the school, the risk has not been completely eliminated—"

Shi An stood there, staring intently at the ash crow's nest.

The insect continued bitterly, "In my opinion, you'd better not reveal your identity. You might as well take the opportunity to sneak into their nest, take the treasure, and leave before they notice.”

Shi An turned to look at it with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I think what you said is right."

The insect was stunned.

It really didn't expect that Shi An would really listen to it.

Is this what it felt like to be recognized?

"But…" Shi An continued.

Insect: "?"

Shi An innocently pointed behind the insect.

"I think it might be too late."

Insect: "…"

It slowly turned its head and looked behind it.

On the rock not far behind them, many, many ash crows had landed. They were like a black carpet, covering the rock wall with plush, shiny feathers, and pairs and pairs of green eyes silently stared at them.

Insect: Holy fuck.

Ash crows were very ancient creatures that existed on the mainland before Shi An fell asleep.

Their most significant characteristic was that they did not know fear.

In the face of an enemy who might threaten their nest, the ash crows would attack brazenly to defend their treasure.

Shi An appreciated this trait very much.

But that did not prevent him from bullying the weak and robbing ash crow nests in his heyday.

He smiled brightly at the ash crows.

"Sup!"

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TL Notes:

*In the original, this was a(n admittedly hilarious) pun on the Chinese way of saying to reconsider one’s human-life choices. The author replaced human with bug, so the direct translation would be something to the effect of, “The insect reconsidered its bug-life choices”.