The Cautious Dragon Beast and His Cautious Supervisor

Bai Xiaodu looked around and gestured with a tilt of his head.

“There are too many people here...”

He lowered his voice, leaning forward with an air of mystery.

“Supervisor, this prayer technique is an ancestral secret of mine. Now that I see it can finally be of use to the gold dragon, I'm more than willing to offer it up. So... as you know, if this truly helps him complete his research, I would love to have the honor of witnessing his glory in person.”

The supervisor sized him up, noting Bai Xiaodu's rather scrawny frame beneath the black robe.

He was clearly malnourished. The kid had most likely come from a dirt-poor background and had hit the jackpot just to get the chance to become a monk.

Once people like this got a taste of a better environment, they would go absolutely mad trying to climb the social ladder.

And Bai Xiaodu's intentions were easy to read.

He simply had some minor, somewhat useful spell in his possession and hoped to use it to get some face-time with the gold dragon.

Though sneering inwardly, the supervisor kept his face perfectly composed, his tone even growing a bit warmer as he put on a show of pleasant surprise.

“Excellent, excellent! It is rare to see someone take the Dragon God's teachings so deeply to heart and be willing to contribute to our grand cause. Your devotion is truly commendable. Tell you what—come with me, and we can discuss the details in my office. Countless fragments of knowledge gather to form the wisdom of the Dragon God, and every contribution of new knowledge receives its rightful reward. Rest assured, if this is truly useful, the gold dragon will definitely not treat you poorly.”

Bai Xiaodu put on an expression of sheer ecstasy and immediately bowed deeply.

“Thank you, Supervisor! I will do my absolute best and dedicate myself entirely! I am willing to lay down my life to repay your appreciation, to add brick and mortar to our great cause of knowledge and wisdom, and to fight to the very end for the glory of the Dragon God! Loyalty! Devotion!”

The stream of buzzwords left the surrounding monks utterly dumbfounded, staring blankly at the two's performance.

It wasn't until the two left for the office and the furious lackey monk stood straight, shouting and cursing, that the other monks snapped out of it, shrinking back and lowering their heads.

They were called members of this library, but in reality, they were just people who had been kidnapped and turned into slaves for the dragon beast to slaughter at whim.

They were nothing more than flesh-and-blood chanting machines, having lost all sense of self.

...

The supervisor's office was on the third floor. It would take about ten minutes to walk there from the circular chanting hall.

Following behind, Bai Xiaodu squinted as he examined his surroundings.

It was books and nothing but books, though there was an interesting detail: the higher up they went, the fewer books there were.

That dragon beast... probably didn't read much.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have kidnapped such a large group of people just to praise the Dragon God on its behalf.

Along the way, he took the opportunity to ask Lingxin about Secret Realms.

Every Pathway had its own unique Secret Realms, most of which were miniatures of certain historical events.

They manifested because the emotions and thoughts at the time were so intense that they were recorded by some unknown phenomenon, appearing in reality as dungeon-like instances.

Depending on the style of the Pathway, the methods to clear a Secret Realm varied wildly—combat, puzzles, survival, exploration, and even parkour were all possible.

The original Secret Realm of the Ashes Library was a mixed combat and puzzle 【Knowledge】 Secret Realm.

Thus, the hymns praising the Dragon God that Bai Xiaodu had encountered were real.

In other words, these scriptures were another form of prayer technique.

The master of the library was praying to the Dragon God to bolster his power, making it easier to swiftly kill his opponent during the upcoming ascension ceremony.

That dragon beast was truly cautious.

Its physical strength was already leagues above a human's, yet it still made these kinds of contingency plans.

It could only be said that, as expected of a gold-lineage dragon beast, it was naturally a bit smarter than its peers.

As Bai Xiaodu's mind wandered, the supervisor led the way, starting with casual small talk before subtly probing into his background.

Alert, Bai Xiaodu carefully deflected, spinning a tale of losing his mother at three, his father at ten, and having all his relatives dead.

He didn't care anyway, since he truly didn't have any family in this life.

This tragic backstory had the supervisor shaking his head in pity.

“Sigh, what a miserable life you've had, child... Tell you what, I'll apply for an extra meal subsidy for you from now on. Eat more meat, look how skinny you are. By the way, child, the gold dragon has been busy preparing for the ceremony these past few days and hasn't had the energy to inspect the domain's defenses. The monks aren't much in terms of combat power either, and some of those human rats might have snuck in. Since your observation skills are so sharp, have you noticed anyone acting strangely?”

Hearing this, Bai Xiaodu answered without a moment's hesitation.

“Supervisor, you've asked the right person. Actually, I noticed it a long time ago. That monk responsible for taking notes definitely has major issues.”

“Oh? How so?”

“When he was addressing us downstairs, I was seriously reciting the hymns, yet he rushed over to drive me away, intentionally interrupting my prayers. And just now—think about it, why would I dare lie to you when I have a secret technique that can help the gold dragon? Yet he repeatedly tried to stop me. It's incredibly suspicious.”

The supervisor gasped in realization, nodding repeatedly.

“Makes sense, makes sense. I'll look into his background later. I thought he was just abusing his minor authority a bit, but to think he might actually be colluding with traitors.”

By then, they had arrived at the office door.

The supervisor turned around and said slowly, “Child, it's not that I don't trust you, but the ascension ceremony is of utmost importance. No one in the library can afford the slightest lapse. My responsibilities are incredibly heavy. Therefore, whenever anyone is alone in a room with me, they must be weakened by my spells to prevent any assassination attempts that might disrupt the gold dragon's plans. Can you understand?”

Bai Xiaodu nodded solemnly.

Quite pleased, the supervisor quickly chanted a few obscure, difficult syllables.

The spell characters quickly materialized in the air, forming dozens of tiny chains that shot toward Bai Xiaodu from all directions.

His body stiffened. By the time his conscious mind recovered, Bai Xiaodu found a new debuff added to his status bar.

Its effect was simple and brutal: his equipment slots were locked and unusable.

Bai Xiaodu clicked his tongue inwardly. This skill was indeed impressive.

In a 1v1 fight of the same level, even if you had the upper hand, suddenly losing access to your weapons would put you in a tough spot.

Once he confirmed Bai Xiaodu was debuffed, the supervisor seemed to relax completely, his entire demeanor shifting.

He opened the office door, and Bai Xiaodu followed him inside.

The supervisor sat loftily in a leather chair, while Bai Xiaodu was forced to sit on a low stool in front of the desk, looking like a prisoner under interrogation.

Then, the supervisor...

actually pulled a pair of iron handcuffs out of his drawer?!

His expression hidden beneath his hood, the supervisor said to Bai Xiaodu with a chuckle,

“Child, this is... unavoidable. The ascension ceremony is more important than anything. I must repeatedly verify that your identity is trustworthy and loyal. Until then, I'll have to trouble you to wear these handcuffs. As a lamb of the Dragon God and a devout believer filled with faith, I trust you won't shrink back because of such a minor difficulty, right?”

The muscles on Bai Xiaodu's face twitched uncontrollably beneath his black robe.

He was usually the one manipulating and gaslighting others, but today, an NPC in a Secret Realm was actually trying to pull this on him?

This was outrageous!

In a fit of rage, Bai Xiaodu...

stayed enraged for a split second.

Then, he obediently held out his hands, letting the supervisor lock the handcuffs onto him.

Bai Xiaodu tried to move his hands and found they were quite sturdy; at the very least, a normal person's strength wouldn't be enough to break them.

Having confirmed that Bai Xiaodu was both debuffed and handcuffed, the supervisor's relaxed attitude shifted once more.

He became... arrogant.

Leaning back, he propped his feet up on the desk, pointing his large feet right at Bai Xiaodu.

This sight... and the smell, was rather disgusting.

Unable to stand it, Bai Xiaodu quickly spoke up.

“Supervisor, we should discuss the advanced prayer technique as soon as possible. I'm sure its effects will satisfy you, and it would be best to present it to the gold dragon quickly.”

The supervisor let out a cold snort, a sneer escaping his nose.

“I certainly hope so.”

“If you have any brains left, I suggest you write down the spell you learned stroke by stroke right now, and tell me every single detail of its application.”

“What do you mean by that?”

The supervisor burst into laughter, shaking his head.

“What do I mean? You fool! What do you think!”

“A lowly peasant like you, a lowborn half-breed slave, actually thinks you can gain an audience with the gold dragon just with some minor spell?!

“I don't have the time to waste on you. Write down everything you know right now, or you can go discuss your devotion and desires in the fertilizer pit of the pig farm!”