Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

For the first time, the caged bird so clearly longed for the sky.

Chapter 314 Fish in the Pond

The autumn sunlight filtered through the thin clouds, becoming gentle and clear, less intense than summer, and more leisurely. At the aquarium entrance on the weekend, crowds thronged, mostly couples or families with children. Lu Mingfei and Frilian stood out from the crowd.

Lu Mingfei still looked listless, wearing an oversized hoodie with his hands in his pockets. Beside him, Frilian wore an elegant beige knitted dress with a light brown trench coat over it. Her long silver hair cascaded down to her waist, held back only slightly with a simple hairband.

The two followed the flow of people into the dimly lit aquarium. The first thing that caught their eye was a huge circular pool with clear water. Various koi and goldfish swayed their tails leisurely in it, red, gold and white, like clusters of flowing fireworks or clouds.

Lu Mingfei stopped, resting his elbows on the cold glass railing, his chin on his crossed arms, his gaze following a particularly plump red and white koi swimming by. He suddenly spoke out of the blue, his voice somewhat muffled in the noisy environment: "Frilian, do you think the fish in this pond feel happy?"

Frillie stood beside him, also gazing at the pool. Hearing this, she turned her head and said, "I'm not a fish, how would I know what a fish is thinking?"

Lu Mingfei tilted his head, not surprised by the answer, but he didn't give up. He turned his face, his eyes sparkling in the deep blue water: "Oh right, I almost forgot. Don't you know magic? Do you have the kind of magic that allows you to communicate with animals? Like in fairy tales."

Frillie glanced at Lu Mingfei's face, which held a mixture of curiosity and anticipation, then at the fish swimming leisurely in the water, oblivious to everything around them. She paused for a moment, searching through her vast memories and magical knowledge. Then, she gently raised one hand, her fingertips drawing several runes in the air with exquisite precision. A wisp of green light, like a tender bud in early spring, flashed and disappeared from her fingertip, quietly merging into the direction of the pool.

Extremely basic, perception-oriented nature magic is not true language communication, but rather an attempt to understand the most fundamental emotional fluctuations of living beings.

She frowned slightly, analyzing the chaotic, primal fragments of information emanating from the fish's simple stream of consciousness. There was no complex language, only instinctive responses to water temperature, current, light, and the sufficiency of food.

A few seconds later, she lowered her hand, looked at Lu Mingfei, and concluded, "They think it's good this way." She paused, searching for a more fitting word, "comfortable."

“It’s so comfortable,” Lu Mingfei repeated, a smile that was hard to tell whether it was envy or something else. “Sounds good. No need to worry about grades, no need to worry about the future, no need to worry about any other nonsense. Someone feeds you regularly every day, and you can swim around in such a beautiful pool. It’s really quite comfortable.”

He didn't delve deeper into the topic, straightened up, and said, "Let's go see some big stuff."

They left the circular pool and followed the indicated route deeper inside. The aquarium's interior was designed as winding tunnels and themed exhibition halls, the lighting growing increasingly dim, with only the colorful aquariums emitting a dreamlike glow.

The first exhibit we arrived at was the pinniped enclosure. This exhibit, designed to mimic the Arctic ice sheet environment, consisted of half land made of rocks and artificial ice, and the other half deep blue seawater. Several plump seals with spotted gray-black fur were lazily sunbathing on the ice, occasionally wriggling their smooth bodies and emitting contented purrs.

One of them was particularly active, like a huge, restless drop of water, swimming quickly along the edge of the pool before suddenly leaping onto the platform, splashing water and eliciting gasps and laughter from the children watching.

"These guys seem to know how to have fun better than fish," Lu Mingfei thought to himself.

In the next area lived even larger walruses, with their distinctive long tusks and rugged skin, resembling small, moving hills. Most of the time, they huddled together motionless, appearing steady and clumsy. But when the keepers appeared with buckets full of small fish, they immediately became lively, emitting horn-like calls and rushing over.

Further along, you'll find the sea lion enclosure. The atmosphere here is even more lively. Several sea lions dart through the water like black lightning bolts, incredibly fast and graceful. They chase and play with each other, nudge buoys with their noses, and one particularly clever one even claps for the tourists outside the glass wall, slapping its chest with its flippers, its wide-open mouth seemingly smiling, prompting a flurry of camera shutters.

Frillie watched quietly, her gaze following the sea lions' graceful swimming movements. Lu Mingfei focused on their expressions and interactions, occasionally amused by their comical antics.

“They seem very free,” Frillian said softly, “even though they are confined to this space.”

“Yes, after all, they are highly intelligent animals.” Lu Mingfei nodded. “They know how to play, how to make noise, and how to please their keepers to get food. Their lives are much richer than those fish that only eat and sleep.”

Leaving the bustling pinniped enclosure, they entered a more secluded area: the shark tank.

A massive acrylic tunnel runs through it, making you feel as if you're underwater. The light becomes a deeper blue, with unfathomable depths above and to the sides. Suddenly, a huge, spindle-shaped black shadow slowly sweeps overhead, carrying a silent sense of oppression.

It was a whale shark of astonishing size, its greyish-blue skin dotted with white spots like constellations in the deep night sky. It opened its enormous mouth, filtering plankton from the seawater, its movements slow and steady, seemingly oblivious to the tiny humans beneath its feet.

The surroundings became much quieter, and people looked up in unison, speechless with awe at the appearance of this ocean behemoth.

Lu Mingfei also held his breath, and after a while he muttered, "Damn, good heavens, this is huge." He moved closer to Frilian, needing to find something to lean on to counteract this instinctive awe stemming from her size.

Frillie's reaction was quite different. She looked up at the whale shark, her emerald eyes gleaming with an unusual light, filled with awe and scrutiny at witnessing a miraculous creation.

In her world, there were also enormous magical beasts or ancient creatures, but the colossal creature living so harmoniously and peacefully in the water still gave her a strong visual impact. She could feel the vast, gentle pulse of the surrounding water elements, subtly resonating with the breathing of this behemoth.

“It’s beautiful,” she finally whispered, using a compliment she didn’t use often. This beauty was different from the delicate beauty of flowers or the brilliance of gemstones; it stemmed from life itself, from the power that had evolved since time immemorial.

Besides whale sharks, there are other types of sharks in the tunnel.

They lingered in the shark tunnel for a long time, until the whale shark disappeared from sight again, before continuing on their way with a slight sense of disbelief.

Chapter 315 A Day at the Aquarium

Emerging from the whale shark aquarium, the light returned, revealing a small rest area with a few tables and chairs and a retro-style ice cream shop. The shop's sign featured a cute seal design, and its specialty was handmade ice cream.

Although it was autumn and the weather was getting cooler, the temperature inside the aquarium was pleasant. After walking quite a bit, seeing the colorful ice cream display case still made Lu Mingfei's mouth water. He looked at Frillie: "Want some ice cream?"

Frillie glanced at the smooth and delicate-looking desserts in the ice cream display case. "Eat."

The ice cream shop was run by a woman in her thirties, dressed in a stylish leather jacket, with short, neat hair, bright eyes, and a carefree smile. She was wiping the counter with a cloth, her movements efficient. Seeing Lu Mingfei and Frilian arrive, she greeted them warmly, "Welcome! Which flavor would you like? They're all freshly made today."

Lu Ming insisted on the vanilla chocolate duo, while Frilian chose the sea salt cheese flavor, which looked the prettiest.

When paying, the shop owner looked at Frillie's striking silver hair, which was still very noticeable even in the dim light, and at the way she carefully examined the ice cream as she took it. She smiled and praised her, "Little sister, your hair is so beautiful, like moonlight."

Frillie looked up and calmly replied, "Thank you," her tone natural; she was used to such compliments.

The two sat down on chairs in the rest area and slowly began to enjoy their ice cream.

Lu Mingfei scooped up a spoonful of ice cream sprinkled with vanilla seeds and chocolate chips with a wooden spoon and put it in his mouth. The cool, sweet, rich milky flavor and the slight bitterness of cocoa melted on his tongue, dispelling the slight heat from walking. He squinted his eyes contentedly, like a cat whose fur had been stroked.

Frillie's way of eating was much more refined. She carefully scraped off a thin layer of pale blue ice cream with a spoon, put it in her mouth, and savored it slowly. The slight saltiness of the sea salt perfectly balanced the sweetness of the cheese, bringing a refreshing taste like a sea breeze. She ate it in small bites, pausing for a few seconds between each spoonful, fully experiencing the changes in flavor and the cool sensation spreading in her mouth.

Eating ice cream in autumn might seem a bit out of place, but the process of enjoying it is itself a pleasure. The cool sensation slides down the esophagus into the stomach, bringing a slight shiver, yet strangely invigorating.

After finishing her work, the shop owner, seeing that there were no new customers for a while, leaned against the counter and watched the two of them leisurely eating their ice cream, finding it amusing. She struck up a conversation: "Eating ice cream in this cool weather, you really know how to enjoy yourself."

Lu Mingfei smiled sheepishly: "It's a bit hot walking around, and it looks so tempting."

“That’s great,” the older sister said cheerfully. “Eat whatever you want, no matter what season it is. Just like when I was young, I went to cross the desert in the middle of summer. Everyone said I was crazy, but I wanted to go, so I went.”

"Crossing the desert?" Lu Mingfei asked, intrigued. "That sounds cool."

“Yes,” the older sister said, her gaze drifting into the distance as she reminisced, “The Taklamakan Desert was much harsher back then. We followed a small, hastily assembled convoy, driving old but durable jeeps. During the day, the sun was so scorching it could bake you dry, and all you could see was endless yellow sand. Sometimes you would drive for hours, and the scenery around you would be exactly the same. You would start to doubt whether you were even moving forward. That feeling was both lonely and strange, as if the whole world consisted only of you and this sea of ​​sand.”

She picked up her cup, took a sip of water, and continued, "But at night, it's a completely different scene. There's no light pollution in the desert, the starry sky is frighteningly bright, and the Milky Way is like a glowing milk road, stretching across the velvety sky, feeling like you could reach out and touch it. It's really cold, though; even wrapped in a thick sleeping bag, you can still feel the chill seeping into your bones. We sat around the campfire, listening to the wind mixed with the calls of unknown animals, drinking scalding hot liquor, and it all felt incredibly real."

"Have you encountered any danger?" Lu Mingfei pressed.

"Of course. Once, the car got stuck in quicksand. Several of us dug for a long time, but the more we dug, the deeper we sank. At that time, we were really helpless. The water was running low, and the sun was so strong. Later, an experienced guide in our team told us to stuff the car's mats and even our clothes under the tires and try to get the car out little by little. After struggling for most of the day, we finally got the car out. At that time, everyone was exhausted and collapsed on the sand. Looking at each other's dusty and dirty faces, we couldn't help but burst into laughter."

"Looking back now, it was really tough, tiring, and dangerous, but for some reason, that memory is particularly vivid. Maybe sometimes you need to put yourself in such an extreme environment to feel more clearly that you are still alive."

Lu Mingfei listened intently, forgetting even as his ice cream melted. Frillie also stopped eating and listened quietly.

"That's really impressive," Lu Mingfei said sincerely.

"It's nothing special, just an experience," the older woman waved her hand, her smile carefree. "Now I'm just keeping this little shop, watching people come and go, listening to their stories, and it's quite nice. Everyone has their own way of living. Just like you're leisurely eating ice cream right now, the fish in the pond feel at ease, the desert has its vastness, and I have my own peace and quiet here."

After finishing their ice cream and resting enough, Lu Mingfei and Frilline said goodbye to the shop owner and continued their aquarium adventure.

Afterwards, they went to see the colorful tropical coral reef fish that resembled a moving garden, watched the adorable penguins tumbling in the water, and saw jellyfish of various shapes and sizes, like alien creatures, changing their mesmerizing colors under the lights.

Only when the closing music played did the two of them leave the aquarium with the lingering crowd. Outside, the autumn sun was already setting, painting the sky a warm orange-red, a stark contrast to the dreamy blue world inside.

On the way back, the two walked side by side in the rising evening breeze, neither speaking for a while. The city's hustle and bustle returned to their ears, carrying a real sense of everyday life.

“I’m quite happy today,” Lu Mingfei suddenly said, breaking the silence.

"Mmm," Frilian responded softly.

“The older sister’s story is quite interesting,” Lu Mingfei continued, “The desert, the starry sky, the stuck vehicle. It’s completely different from our daily lives. It feels like she lives a very passionate life.”

Frillie was silent for a moment before speaking: "Different environments shape different ways of life. Fish seek comfort, sea lions seek play, whale sharks are content with their size, and there are always some humans who are not satisfied with the status quo and yearn for exploration and challenges. This may be the reason why they can accumulate such diverse memories in their short lives."

Lu Mingfei was taken aback, not expecting Frillie to summarize from this perspective. He thought for a moment, then smiled: "You're right. Just like you, coming here from your world, isn't that also a kind of exploration and challenge?"

Frillie gazed at the city skyline outlined by the setting sun. She had learned to use mobile payments, gotten used to taking the subway, tasted the spiciness of hot pot, and understood the troubles that GPA brought to Lu Mingfei. This world, for her, was no longer just a foreign land, but a unique and profound stop on her long journey through life.

"So, do you feel comfortable here, like a fish in a pond, or like that older sister crossing the desert, feeling alive?" Lu Mingfei asked half-jokingly.

Frilian thought seriously for a moment, then shook her head: "I am not a fish, nor am I the shopkeeper. I am Frilian. I live here, experience, and accumulate new memories. This is who I am now."

Lu Mingfei gazed at her serene profile, bathed in the soft golden light of the setting sun. He suddenly realized that this thousand-year-old spirit beside him perhaps understood better than he did how to live in harmony with the world and with herself. She didn't need to deliberately pursue the tranquility of fish, nor did she need to imitate the passion of others; she simply observed, learned, and existed at her own pace.

"Let's go," Lu Mingfei stretched, feeling inexplicably lighter. "Let's go back. I want something hot to eat tonight."

"it is good."

Chapter 316 Candied Hawthorn

Lu Mingfei and Frillian left the aquarium and walked back along the slightly noisy street. Unlike the dreamy blue world inside the aquarium, the noise here was real, filled with car horns, pedestrians' chatter, and various sounds from the roadside shops.

After walking about two blocks, at a relatively busy intersection, a child's cheerful cry pierced through the surrounding noise: "Candied hawthorns—sweet and crispy candied hawthorns—"

Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw a little girl who looked about twelve or thirteen years old, with a neat ponytail, standing behind a simple cart. The cart was spotless, and the glass cover was filled with strings of bright red, glistening candied hawthorns, like a small tree laden with red fruit.

The little girl wore a clean school uniform jacket with a slightly oversized apron tied over it. Her face was slightly flushed from the autumn wind, but her eyes were bright and she was earnestly trying to sell her goods to passersby.

Lu Mingfei stopped in his tracks. That vibrant red color and the familiar hawker's cry were like a key, instantly unlocking the floodgates of his childhood memories, of the street corners of his hometown. He patted his pocket and looked at Frilian: "Want some candied hawthorns?"

Frillie nodded.

The two walked up to the cart. Seeing customers, the little girl immediately flashed a warm yet shy smile: "Brother and sister, would you like some candied hawthorns? They're all freshly made today, the hawthorns are so fresh!"

"Two skewers, please," Lu Mingfei said, taking out his wallet.

"Okay!" The little girl deftly took out the two largest and reddest skewers of candied hawthorn from the glass case and carefully handed them over, "Here you go, brother and sister."

Lu Mingfei took the money and paid. Just as he was about to turn and leave, the little girl looked at him and Frilian, who was waiting quietly beside him, blinked her big eyes, and suddenly added sweetly, "Brother, you and this pretty silver-haired sister look so good together!"

"Pfft—," Lu Mingfei nearly choked on his own saliva, his ears turning visibly red. He glanced at Frillie in a flustered manner, only to see her still wearing her ever-present calm expression, her emerald eyes fixed on the candied hawthorn in her hand, completely ignoring the little girl's words. He breathed a sigh of relief, coughing twice to cover his embarrassment: "Ahem, little sister, you, you have a good eye! Business must be booming, right?"

The little girl smiled shyly, "It's alright, I'm just helping my parents watch the stall for a while this weekend." She glanced at the not-too-sparse crowd on the street and muttered to herself, "It's just that there aren't many people around right now."

Lu Mingfei took a bite of the candied hawthorn in his hand. With a "crunch," the transparent sugar coating covering the hawthorn shattered between his teeth, making a crisp sound. The sweetness spread, followed by the just-right tartness of the hawthorn flesh, perfectly balancing the sweetness of the sugar. The familiar taste inexplicably lifted his mood. He looked at the sensible little girl in front of him, then at the still-plenty of candied hawthorns left in his hand, and then at the fact that it was still early. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

He ate a hawthorn in a few bites and mumbled to Frillie, "Well, we don't have anything else to do anyway, so let's help her sell them all so she can go home sooner?"

Frillie sipped her candied hawthorn, and when she heard Lu Mingfei's words, she looked up at the little girl, then at the remaining candied hawthorn on the cart, and nodded.

“Little sister,” Lu Mingfei leaned closer and said to the girl, “how about we help you sell them? The sooner we sell them all, the sooner you can go back and do your homework.”

The little girl's eyes widened in surprise, somewhat incredulous: "Really? Brother and sister, aren't you busy?"

"Not busy, not busy, I'm free on the weekend," Lu Mingfei waved his hand, then cleared his throat, wanting to try to hawk his wares, but when he opened his mouth, he found that he wasn't thick-skinned enough, and the word "candied hawthorn" got stuck in his throat, his voice as soft as a mosquito's hum.

Frillie, however, glanced at Lu Mingfei's embarrassed expression and then at the flow of people on the street. While Lu Mingfei was still trying to compose himself, Frillie took a small step forward, faced the street, and mimicked the little girl's tone, chanting, "Candied hawthorn—sweet and crispy candied hawthorn—"

Her voice sounded more like a statement than a hawking call, attracting many passersby. In particular, her rare silver hair and delicate, serene face, combined with the candied hawthorns that exuded the charm of Chinese street food, created a striking contrast that was incredibly appealing.

Several young people immediately gathered around out of curiosity.

Wow, this candied hawthorn looks delicious!

"Sister, your hair color is so beautiful!"

"Give me a skewer!"