The sky above the lake could no longer be said to be overcast; it was simply pitch black. Below, several increasingly massive tornadoes ravaged and danced across the surface of the lake, and the whipped up lake water viciously slammed in all directions. Even the trees surrounding the lake that seemed to be as steady as Mount Tai were swaying relentlessly under the astonishing force unleashed by these tornadoes. The lush branches and leaves continuously snapped, as if countless invisible hands wanted to break these newly born creatures at this moment.
I genuinely started to worry. Those trees were not only my kin but also my living embodiment — within their bodies resided a part of my true energy.
"It seems like our trees can't hold on much longer!" A few leaves floated down from above us. I tugged hard on the corner of his clothes, so deeply anxious that I unthinkingly blurted out the word "our."
But he didn't even glance back, saying firmly, "It's not so easy to destroy the trees I planted. Don't worry."
"Oh!" I was surprised for a moment, then patted my chest, exhaling softly. I knew well he never lied, so I always firmly believed in his words and never doubted them.
In reality, I also saw that although the situation was quite bad, apart from a few fallen leaves just now, there were no signs of damage to any of the trees. The sturdy trunks, amidst the increasingly violent tornadoes, unexpectedly exhibited incredible flexibility, bending and yielding to the external force, yet they always managed to straighten their bodies time and time again, unwavering.
My worries about them were indeed unnecessary.
However, even so, only half of the anxiety in my heart was eased — why did that huge thing that just rushed out of the lake fly into the sky and was nowhere to be seen?! Was it hiding behind the clouds?! Or had it already made its getaway long ago?!
Of course, I hoped for the latter possibility. Despite only catching a glimpse and seeing no details at all, that thing still filled me with an indescribable fear.
The wind still hadn't weakened, and the darker-than-ink clouds entrenched over the lake were gradually expanding, and soon the two of us would be caged under them.
He hadn't taken any action yet, just occasionally lifted his head, seemingly casually observing the strange sight in the sky.
Perhaps it was an illusion caused by nervousness, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the ever-expanding darkness in the sky wanted to swallow us up in one bite, causing my heart to suddenly become uncontrollably stuffy.
How long will this situation continue? What on earth is making mischief? When can we leave?
Before the string of questions in my mind could be vocalized, a world-shaking thunderclap split the air above us.
"Watch out!" he shouted and grabbed me, who was so scared that my two souls and six spirits had desperately fled[1], pushing me to the left rear.
At almost the same moment, a fiery red fireball plummeted from the sky, landing precisely where we had just been standing. Accompanied by a loud sound and golden light, the burning ball exploded and the once flat ground was instantly blasted open into a large crater, scattering mud, water, and residual sparks in all directions. Already in mid-air, I thought I was at a safe distance, but several flying clumps of dirt still managed to hit my foot.
"Ow, ow!" I screamed repeatedly, hastily shaking my leg. These humble clods turned out to be scorching hot, instantly turning my foot red, and hurt badly.
If just a few small clumps of dirt could inflict such injury, what if I had been directly hit by that fireball? Wouldn't I be a handful of ashes now?!
My heart trembled with fear.
On the opposite side, just a stone's throw away, several streaks of silvery-white lightning flashed by, edged with red and blue, mysterious and eye-catching.
"Two ignorant[2] fools dare to be presumptuous in my territory."
A deep and gloomy male voice reverberated through the tumultuous air, echoing from all directions into my ears, and I couldn't tell where it was coming from.
"Haha, come out! Hiding behind the clouds, are you shy?!"
He remained composed, a teasing smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
I didn't see him open his mouth; the voice emanated directly from his body, gentle yet resounding, rippling through the presently boundary-less expanse of sky and earth.
Roar!
Whatever was behind the clouds was definitely enraged.
A terrifying roar shook the earth.
My ears buzzed from the shock.
A huge claw covered in fine scales jutted out from the dark clouds. Atop it, the razor-sharp nails were slightly curved, emitting an eerie cold light that was so incredibly sharp that it had the potential to rip apart everything in sight.
Before my astonished gaze could shift away from this claw, the layers of dark clouds that had been tightly covering its owner swiftly moved aside, like two large doors simultaneously opening, in a remarkably synchronized motion.
I blinked foolishly, at a loss for words to describe the appearance of the…monster that emerged from behind the clouds, had surged out of the lake, and had terrifying long claws.
Not only its claws, but its entire body was covered in scales, a deep purple hue, each suffused with a faint light, exceptionally uniform. Its body shape was quite like those various-sized serpents slithering around Mount Fulong, long and sinuous, flexible and agile, but its size was really too huge. Even the longest and largest snake I had ever seen would be nothing more than a tiny worm compared to it. And its four peerlessly strong sharp claws were also something that serpents do not possess.
My eyes moved up along its torso...
Good gracious! What kind of head is that?!
Its long mouth, half open, revealed equally sharp teeth and a scarlet tongue inside. Its slightly raised nostrils were exhaling translucent gas like small bellows, while a pair of eyes, darker in color than the scales, slowly turned in the elongated eye sockets, and there were two bizarrely shaped horns growing on its bald head.
"What an ugly big fellow!" I blurted out, because my aesthetic sense told me that even the ugliest black beetle on Mount Fulong was prettier than it. What species was this thing exactly? It must have been the one who insolently insulted us earlier, and the deadly fireball must be thanks to it too. What a disgusting monster, so arrogant.
As soon as I finished speaking, its head suddenly turned towards me, its eyes stopped moving, and its eye sockets slightly closed, forming two purple lines.
I thought the monster probably heard my words, which wasn't good at all, so I quickly hid behind Zimiao. If the monster got angry and threw a fireball at me, I would be in trouble. I'm a tree and can't withstand being burned.
"The Dragon Clan of the East China Sea, adept in water and fire. You can cause flooding and spew fire. It seems you're closely related to the East China Sea." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and said this to the monster word by word.
"Humph!" The monster's face showed no expression. I only heard it give a muffled laugh and say, "It seems you know your stuff. But I advise you to mind your own business. What just happened was only a small warning. Take the silly girl beside you and get out of Daizhou City immediately, and I'll spare your lives!"
The monster's extremely rude attitude didn't offend him in the slightest. I, on the other hand, was infuriated by his use of "silly girl." In all these years, nobody had ever described me as silly. Even the most annoying Jiu Jue personally praised me for being smart. Who did this ugly monster who came out of nowhere think it was to insult me?!
I was about to flare up, but he stopped me with a meaningful glance.
"As a dragon, instead of staying in the sea to assist the Dragon King in governing the ocean and bringing rain to benefit the people, you come to the mortal world to cause trouble and harm lives. You're really reprehensible!" His calm demeanor remained the same, but his tone was no longer light. "If you repent, quietly come with me to the Heavenly Realm to accept your punishment!"
Alert and holding back my bellyful of anger, I stood at the back, waiting to see how he would deal with this despicable monster.
"Hahahaha." It laughed heartily for a long time, every scale on its body trembling. After laughing, it said disdainfully, "What if I refuse to repent?"
"Haha." He also laughed, "Then I'm afraid you won't be able to escape unscathed today."
"That old guy, Dragon King of the East China Sea, couldn't do anything to me with his Dragon Binding Lock, what makes you, this white-faced boy, think you can?!" Its eyes widened a bit, and its words were full of disdain and despice. "I'm afraid it's you who won't escape unscathed!"
"Dragon Binding Lock?!" His eyebrows raised slightly at the mention. "I've heard that there is an evil dragon imprisoned in the Ice Prison of the East China Sea Dragon Palace for six hundred years. But twenty years ago, this dragon actually escaped from the prison. The East China Sea has been searching everywhere for it for many years, but couldn't find its whereabouts. So you've been hiding in this remote and obscure Daizhou City."
"You seem to know quite a bit," it lowered its head, inspecting its own claws. "I don't care who you are, but you don't need to fantasize about capturing me and taking credit. You won't have that chance."
"Is that so?" He smiled coldly. "Well, we'll have to try to find out."
"Hehe..." A spine-chilling muffled laugh came out from Ugly's nostrils. Its previously narrowed purple pupils widened a bit, filled with contemptuous disregard: "Since you're so eager for death, just let me lend you a hand."
With that, it pressed its claw down, lowered its neck, and let out a deep and low roar from its throat. The sound wasn't loud, but the force behind it was immense, shaking the entire sky uncontrollably. The imminent[3] danger made one want to prostrate in fear.
The situation was tense, on the brink of conflict.
My heart tightened, knowing that a fierce battle was inevitable.
"You have an exaggerated opinion of your abilities," he whispered to himself, the ease in his words not diminishing in the slightest.
What a pity his unchanged expression and steady heartbeat[4] did not influence me behind him. The worry and fear in my heart skyrocketed. The thought of using Zimiao's hand to teach this monster a lesson out of vindictiveness just now vanished as soon as they both showed signs of aggression.
The lingering pain in my foot kept reminding me of how formidable Ugly's moves were, especially after hearing it mention something about a Dragon King and a lock that couldn't hold it. The "King" title in Dragon King should be given for an extremely powerful character, and if even a "King" couldn't control this chap, dealing with him would be far from easy.
If I had the choice at this moment, I would rather have him pull me away and strategically withdraw. It didn't matter even if that monster mocked us to death as cowardly good-for-nothings.
His safety was more important to me than anything else.
The enemy's aggressive momentum and incredibly powerful attacks could scare me momentarily, but only momentarily. They couldn't make me seriously take it as a big deal.
Only him...
Just the thought of him being injured made my heart hurt as if it had been hit by ten fireballs and burned to ashes.
"Let's go... Don't fight with it, okay?" I pleaded, seemingly unpromising as I tugged at his sleeve.
He turned to look at me. "Don't be afraid, I won't let it hurt you."
"I'm not..."
Before I could explain the facts, he suddenly pressed his finger against my glabella.
A bone-chilling cold sensation spread from my eyebrows to every part of my body, like plunging into icy lake waters in the dead of winter, freezing me to the core. It was ten times, a hundred times colder than the time I accidentally fell into the mountain stream during winter.
However, despite the coldness, it wasn't uncomfortable. Invisible forces permeated through every inch of my skin, gently flowing through my flesh and veins. My rapid breath became much smoother, and my body seemed lighter than ever before. Even the pain and scars on my foot gradually healed as this power surged through me.
What did he do to me?!
It was such a miraculous experience.
"The Fire Repelling Seal can protect you from any fire-related attacks," he withdrew his finger, lowering his voice as he chuckled, "I know you're afraid of its fireballs. Even though it won't have the chance to hurt you again, with this layer of protection, you'll feel more at ease. Just stay aside obediently. After I subdue this brute, we'll go home."
It turned out that he was casting a spell to protect me.
I thought he was fully focused on dealing with Ugly and hadn't noticed the injury on my foot.
Touching my ice-cold forehead, I looked at him foolishly. "Then... you be careful. That big fellow seems really powerful."
"Hehe, you're quite caring for that silly girl," came the mocking voice from across. "But relying on a mere Fire Repelling Seal to keep her safe, you're too naive."
However, after a while, I didn't hear any strange sounds that I imagined. Instead, I only felt a cool breeze, carrying a familiar scent, gently settling beside me.
"Hehe, what are you covering your eyes for?!"
A big hand, warm as ever, grabbed my trembling wrist gently, pulling it down.
Huh?!
He's back?!
I opened my eyes in great surprise, and as expected, there he stood before me, calm-faced with a gentle smile. He was completely unharmed.
"Thank heavens!! I was afraid that monster would hurt you." He was fine, so I naturally breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the fine beads of sweat from my forehead.
"Although it is powerful, it's not easy to hurt me," he replied, looking towards where the enemy was, his brows furrowing slightly. "Today, it seems I'll have to injure it."
After all this time of fighting, has he not really taken action yet?!
I couldn't help but be stunned.
"You can actually use the substitution technique in an instant. Which one of that bunch of old ba*tards in heaven are you an underling of?"
Ugly growled in frustration, raising its damp front paws.
It just attacked with confidence that it could take his life, but ended up capturing only a pool of faint mist.
"You've also lived for hundreds or even thousands of years, don't you think you are an old ba*tard?!" he calmly quipped, mocking Ugly with a slight smile. Then, he spoke sternly, "Evil Dragon, it's not too late to surrender now."
Hearing this, Ugly rolled its eyes, its massive body hovering in the air, moving up and down slightly, no longer as arrogant and unscrupulous as before. It was probably thoroughly shaken by the seemingly insignificant opponent before it.
After a long while, it, who had not said a word in response, seemed to have come to some conclusion. It looked down and sneered, "Hehe, surrender?! Impossible! You can't even hope to catch me."
What?
What other tricks does it want to play?
I was immediately anxious. This brute who doesn't know what's good for him clearly made a big mistake. Not only did he refuse to admit guilt but also argued as if he was in the right.
Footnotes:
[1] It's actually 三魂七魄 i.e. three souls and seven senses. Shaluo says 两魂六魄 which means two souls and six senses. She is basically stating how terrified she is in a humorous way. Something along the lines of a soul leaving the body in anime. Titbit: Three immortal souls and seven mortal forms in Taoism/Daoism contrast the spiritual and carnal side of humans. In fantasy genre, this three souls business is taken literally and a character may be shown losing one soul, which causes them to lose their memory, power, etc. and then they have to do a certain task or something has to happen for the character to regain it and become whole, returning back to their 'godhood.'
[2] 不知好歹: not to know what's good for one. The literal translation of this line is "Two fools who don't know what's good for them have the impertinence to be presumptuous in my territory."
[3] 蓄势待发: to wait for action after having accumulated power, energy etc.; ready to go; in this case, ready to unleash.
[4] 面不改色心不跳: the face does not change color, the heart does not jump. Meaning: remain calm; keep a poker face.
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