The Blue Dragon Clan’s Very Suspicious Little Chick - Chapter 5

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 5

A short time later, in Aran’s Temporary Quarters beside the Potion Room.
The members of the Cheongryong Family stood with grave expressions, gazing down at the baby bird.
Cheong-un, who had rushed over in alarm at the unexpected accident, asked the Physician with anxious urgency.
“How is she?”
The Physician, who had been checking Aran’s pulse, broke into a smile.
“There is nothing to worry about, it seems, Master Cheong-un. From what I can observe, she simply suffered a fright, collapsed, and has fallen into sleep.”
“Nothing is broken, then? That tiny little head, or those frail legs……?”
Cheong-un’s eyes as he bent over the baby bird were genuinely anxious.
And for good reason—to him, everything about this small creature seemed as delicate as freshly drawn silk thread.
He was so afraid that the slightest pressure might break her that during the first week he had carried the baby bird tucked in the crook of his arm, moving even his arm muscles with careful restraint.
But the Physician merely shook his head lightly.
“I cannot be certain until she awakens, but judging by the absence of external trauma……”
Just then, Hui cut in urgently.
“Not a scratch? The baby was rolling around like a ball with the third one. You know how it is—the third one is hard as a stone dragon.”
Father and son of the Cheongryong line were clearly of one mind.
Cheong-un pressed further, exasperated.
“How in heaven did that Min whelp end up all the way in the Garden? The Medicinal Store is nowhere near the Nursery!”
“Well……”
In place of Min, who had been dragged away once more, Hui offered an explanation.
“You know how it is with a newborn dragon, Father. Min is especially healthy among them and overflowing with vitality. It’s a good thing in one sense, but……”
Aran could scarcely contain her indignation.
Not only had she stumbled trying to avoid a creature barely more than an infant, but now she was being blamed for it.
A healthy child was always the greatest blessing!
It was then, while Aran kept her eyes shut in embarrassment, that her eyelids began to flutter slightly.
“Are you coming around, young one?” asked the sharp-eyed Physician.
At the Physician’s notice, Cheong-un and Hui quickly bent their attention toward Aran.
“Are you alright, little one?” Cheong-un asked softly.
Aran opened her eyes slowly and replied in a small voice.
“Chirp……”
Hui, listening intently, offered his translation at once.
“Aran says she’s fine herself—she’s asking if Min is alright.”
Hui let out a long breath of relief and stroked Aran’s head.
Again.
Aran stifled a sigh.
Being a hundred-year-old Phoenix allowing a fifteen-year-old dragon to pet her head was humiliating beyond measure each time.
But until she could fly again, she had no choice but to depend on someone.
“Don’t worry about Min, Aran,” Hui continued, unaware of her inner turmoil.
He kept stroking her head as he spoke gently.
“Dragons are tough as stone from the moment they’re born. We were only concerned that you might be hurt.”
“Chirp-chirp?”
“Oh, our third one’s name is Min.”
Hui glanced toward his father before continuing his explanation.
“Min was born about a week before Aran, and dragons are naturally lively from the moment of birth—they can never stay still. It’s too early for him to understand properly yet, but I promise we’ll have him apologize later.”
Aran seized the moment and ventured the question she had been preparing.
“Chirp.”
At this, Hui tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Hmm?”
“Chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp?”
“Well, you see……”
This time, Hui looked toward his father with a slightly troubled expression.
“Father, is Aran asking what her own name is?”
“Oh dear……”
Cheong-un hesitated.
He felt a pang of guilt that though he had declared he would make her his youngest child, he had yet to give her a name.
“Surely not. Our Aran’s name is……”
Of course, he had considered names, but he had not yet settled on one with certainty.
Above all, it troubled her that she still hadn’t convinced Cheong-un to accept her.
Then Aran spoke again.
“Chirp.”
This made Hui even more flustered as she continued.
“Um… Father, but Aran wants you to call her by the name ‘Aran,’ not…”
Something flickered across Cheong-un’s eyes.
“Aran? The chick chose her own name?”
Aran shut her eyes tightly as she heard Cheong-un’s response.
‘Of course it sounds strange to him.’
‘What child in this world names themselves?’
‘Will my identity be exposed now…? Even if it is, I can’t lose this name……’
But then Cheong-un’s face brightened unexpectedly.
“Already thinking like that! Truly a phoenix!”
What?
While the phoenix he’d been hearing about stood bewildered, he continued with admiration.
“Phoenix chicks are slow in physical development but fast in language and intellectual growth, aren’t they? I’ve done all my homework beforehand!”
She let his prattle about being a mother pass without comment.
Aran retained memories from her past life—that was the only reason. By ordinary phoenix standards, such development was absolutely not possible.
But to Cheong-un, Aran appeared to be nothing more than a normal phoenix.
“Heavens, we have a prodigy in the Cheongryong Family!”
Cheong-un continued to marvel.
“You other phoenixes will have to work much harder now……!”
…What? All of a sudden?
Watching Hui and Aran, both bewildered, Cheong-un’s eyes grew moist.

“My dear……, will you promise me one thing?”

The day his wife had left returned to his mind.
Her final plea, spoken as she gripped his hand with her cold fingers.

“All the chicks that hatch from the nest from now on—raise them as our own. Don’t favor only the exceptional ones…… Treat every single one equally…… all as our children.”

His wife had been unusually clever. Perhaps she had known all along.
From the eggs she had laid in succession, despite her frail health, weak dragons might hatch, or a chick might be born resembling her cherished friend from the southern lands.
Had she known all of it?
“Little chirper, our clever one.”
To Cheong-un, this remarkable chick was like a parting gift his wife had left behind.
“From now on, your name is Aran Cheong.”
He gazed down at the chick with eyes blurred by tears.
“The character for ‘white’ with ‘bell,’ that will do nicely. You are as beautiful as a white bell, my chick.”
“Chirp.”
(Thank you.)
Aran answered from her heart to this man who freely gave her the Cheong family name.
“Chirp…….”
(I’m truly grateful……)
She wanted to keep this name, even if it meant straining herself.
The name her mother had given her. The name a god had called her beneath the gates of heaven.
Now that her body had shrunk and everyone had forgotten her, if she lost this name too, nothing would remain.
She wanted to hold onto this one thing.

***

A phoenix chick one month old who no longer needed to do nothing but sleep.
“Chirp……!”
(Good, focus……!)
Aran raised the edges of her short wings into sharp points and brought them to her temples on either side.
But before she could even attempt anything,
“Gasp!”
Instructor Seo-rim suddenly began bleeding from her nose.
Startled, Aran’s concentration shattered as she quickly asked,
“Chirp?”
(What, why are you upset? Did my sudden cry startle you?)
Her wings remained splayed outward, held stiffly against her eyes.
“Young Miss Aran.”
Seo-rim pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from her face, then clutched her chest as she spoke.
“Would it not be possible to give some warning before performing such lethally adorable actions? I fear this heart of mine shall give out from the shock….”
“Peep.”
(Well, a baby Phoenix can be a little cute, I suppose. Fragile thing.)
Aran clicked her tongue with exasperation, but Seo-rim would not relent.
“Why, why, how exactly can you spread your wings in such a heartbreakingly adorable manner? I simply must know!”
“Cheep.”
(There’s nothing to know.)
“Are you checking whether your wings have grown? Or perhaps exercising the flexibility of your joints?”
“Cheep-cheep.”
(You need not know.)
Aran could not help her cold tone.
What she was attempting now could not—must not—be explained to Seo-rim.
Though it seemed unlikely without even a human body yet, Aran was testing whether any Supernatural Ability remained to her.
She had reached the realm of Immortal Transcendence through sword cultivation, but the Cheongryong Family possessed a separate, ancient power passed down through its bloodline.
The Phoenix Clan’s Supernatural Ability: Phantasm.
What was so extraordinary about a mere illusion, one might ask?
“Chirp!”
(Foolish words!)
But Phantasm was no ordinary thing.
Aran’s illusions were truly magnificent.
In the thick of battle, she could plunge an opponent into hellfire itself, or drown them in suffocating seas.
She could render the wealthiest lord destitute, or grant the loneliest orphan an entire family.
And now.
Aran opened her eyes wide and cried out.
“Cheep-cheep-cheep-cheep-!”
(It’s not working at all—!)
The Cheongryong Family’s Oddly Suspicious Chirping One, Chapter 5
E-book Publication Date | 2026.08.05

Author | Ravioli
Publisher | Odd Eye
Submissions/Inquiries | [email protected]

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260722065.0005
List Price | Non-Commercial

ⓒ Ravioli 2026

This e-book is protected under copyright law.
This e-book is published under the author’s contract and may not be reproduced, distributed, shared, or transmitted in any form without written consent from both parties.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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