Chapter 626
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Chapter 626: Only Me
"So lively here," Longque walked in a bustling neighborhood.
The master and disciple arrived at the largest city, abundant and densely populated.
On this day, which was a day of celebration, a grand ceremony was held.
The ceremony was costly and difficult to organize, even a whole country’s resources could not afford to hold it often. It attracted many people such as traders, tourists, and residents.
Bai Wei found it hard to judge the cultural level of this world as an outsider. Some areas were advanced like the end of the Warring States period or even the Han Dynasty, while others were still primitive like in tribal times.
Bai Wei wasn’t bothered with the specifics. To him, the city seemed to follow the system of the Shang Dynasty, using extraordinary powers to please the so-called ‘gods’ and gain status and power.
It may not have been wrong; at least in the past, it was effective.
This city was the richest and most magnificent that Bai Wei had explored, much like the city of Uruk in Sumerian culture.
Naturally, Bai Wei wasn’t impressed and didn’t come here for business or fun.
The upcoming harvest festival wouldn’t be easy to succeed.
The demands of the gods were growing, becoming harder to meet, and the decline of this place was inevitable.
Changing emotions are natural, stability and peace are just illusions. The only constant thing for people is change. To make it stable, you must conquer it, or at least make sure you can destroy it.
The dragon hidden in the city is the target of this hunt. It lives very long, and naturally it is very powerful and cunning. A dragon becomes an adult after living more than three hundred years, and an old dragon after eight hundred years.
So far, Longque has only killed two old dragons, one was an old mountain dragon, the other was an old storm dragon. Both were weakened by means before being killed with effort.
The information on this dragon, with a lifespan of over a thousand years, is all unknown. Direct confrontation would risk making enemies of the city’s believers, uncontrollable risks that could lead to unforeseeable consequences.
"Will it really come?" Longque asked uncertainly.
"Yes," Bai Wei affirmed. There is no better target than this ancient dragon of a thousand years.
"What will happen if it succeeds?"
"Everyone will die, you, me, and them, all of us," Bai Wei said nonchalantly.
"If we must die, I hope it will be in front of our master."
"Oh, little girl…" Bai Wei took a sip of his wine and casually said. I asked you to slay the dragon, but you are already thinking about where to bury the bodies.
"I’m sorry, master." She apologized softly, "But I really don’t want you to get hurt again."
"Slaying the dragon is your destiny, and mine is to fight it to the death." Bai Wei said.
"If master dies, what am I supposed to do all alone?" She felt sentimental and worried.
"When I’m gone, you can figure it out on your own." Bai Wei shook the empty wine jug.
He knew she was afraid, maybe not of dying herself, but of losing something.
The sky gradually darkened.
A grand national ceremony was about to begin.
Bai Wei stood up, then heard a roaring sound coming from the direction of the palace, where a magnificent palace was being torn apart. A pure white giant creature broke through the ground, a dragon that had lived for over a thousand years.
Its scales were pure white, with a snow-like appearance, more graceful and powerful than ordinary dragons. Nobody knew how it was born or what kind of natural power it embodied. Under the moonlight, it appeared ethereal and otherworldly.
But this beauty was soon shattered when a black shadow emerged from its body, rising up like another giant dragon entwining around the white dragon. The two creatures tussled in the air, causing tremors with each crash to the ground, destroying half of the city in their violent clash.
Each impact sent shockwaves through the city, causing widespread destruction and panic.
Amid the thick smoke, crimson lightning split the sky as the white dragon roared and fought against its shadow, as if trying to wrestle control from another head growing on its body. It battled fiercely against the invader.
Despite the continuous destruction of buildings and the ensuing terror, the shadow’s influence seemed limited.
The black shadow not only failed to dissipate but grew stronger, like a festering sore, tearing through the dragon’s body, draining its lifeblood, and becoming stronger.
Amidst thunder and the chaos of smoke and quakes, Bai Wei gazed at the white dragon with a mix of joy and awe.
"We arrived too late," said Bai Wei.
"Master… we need to retreat," Longque, for the first time, sounded unsure. "That is not an opponent we can defeat."
"Well, you should go now," Bai Wei took a step forward, disappearing into the chaotic crowd, thinking to himself, "The next steps are mine to take."
"Teacher! Teacher!" Longque called out anxiously, but she couldn’t catch up and found herself getting pushed further away in the crowd.
She pushed through the crowd, jumping up, but soon a bolt of red lightning struck down, prompting her to raise her sword to try to shatter the thunder.
Unable to shatter the thunder, she felt her body about to fall apart, flying backwards, retreating ten miles, embedding into the city wall, landing in a pile of weeds.
"Tea…cher…"
The red lightning shimmered on her body, making her head lower, briefly losing consciousness.
When she regained consciousness again, several hours had already passed.
The moon was still up high, casting a silver light over the world.
Longque ran through the ruins of the city, searching everywhere, but couldn’t find the familiar figure she was looking for.
She found the worn-out and misshapen dragon right in the center of the battlefield.
The white dragon was almost dying, covered in darkness that decayed its body, transforming it into a new dragon. A second head sprouted from its wound, the dark head dripping with blood. It emerged from the white dragon’s body, absorbing its life force and transforming like a parasitic creature breaking out of its host.
Longque witnessed the black dragon shedding its skin, with a familiar sword stuck in one of its eyes.
She bent down, wanting to roar, but before making a sound, she bit her arm, tearing flesh and letting blood flow.
Enduring immense pain and sorrow, she raised her sword, stepped forward, and swung it towards the black dragon.
Scales shattered.
The black dragon noticed the small enemy, stared at her, and then struck with its sharp claws.
A booming sound ripped through the earth, but its claws were shattered, blood flowing from the wounds, staining the figure below.
Longque bathed in dragon blood, whispered softly, "Not afraid… I’m not afraid at all."
She gripped the sword, gazing once again at the black dragon. Moonlight seemed to guide her way, shining in places she couldn’t see.
The sky seemed like it was going to rain, clouds gathering. Perhaps it was a sign of thunder causing a phenomenon, but she didn’t mind getting wet in the rain.
Her hand holding the sword was already very cold.
In a flash, her mind and body achieved almost perfect coordination. The boundary that had always been slightly off in the past was getting closer to her.
The past Longque couldn’t do it, because she was still tied by a thread. As long as she followed that person, she wouldn’t lose sight of her target. He was her master, her family, almost everything to her. No one treated her better. She wouldn’t treat herself as a sword, or something similar, but now she was stripping away the concept of being human.
Dragon slayer… will she become a dragon?
She wasn’t sure, but she could feel herself becoming a tool for some kind of power release. Only after losing her self-will could she unreservedly unleash that power to slay it.
She felt colder and colder, her blood boiling, her strength growing, but her heartbeat getting weaker.
Longque gradually relaxed her mind, giving herself a command. Her limbs and body started to disobey, or perhaps losing consciousness. She was emptying herself, to make room for everything belonging to the dragon.
"I’m not afraid…" she said again.
The heavy rain fell, the cold raindrops splashing down, washing away sins, the lightning illuminating the struggle between man and dragon in the pouring rain.
The lightning revealed her shadow twisted into a serpent shape, a forlorn pale silhouette lingering on the ground, the sword light shattering the remaining self.
Abandoning all external things, reaching a state of transcendence and selflessness, or perhaps killing the ego, becoming the essence of the dragon.
The rules of this world are such that the dragon embodies all power, isn’t she also a form of a dragon?
And so the dragon killed the dragon.
Longque devoured the dragon.
She twisted the black dragon’s neck, broke its bones, pierced its scales, and dug out its heart.
The battle ended, the fighting ended, and so did she.
Longque sat on the ground, watching blood flow like a river and rain fall heavily. She didn’t move a finger because she didn’t want to, and also because she couldn’t.
Her skin felt itchy, as if scales were growing, her teeth felt itchy, almost turning into fangs, her scalp and whole body were itchy, slowly tearing her shell and consuming herself, being chewed on by the concept called ‘dragon’.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps and a deep cough.
At the edge of losing control, she lifted her eyes and saw him not far away.
"Well done."
Scales fell off, the transformation stopped, she lifted her head from the rain, her face wet with raindrops or tears.
She looked at him for a long time, like a demon returning to the world.
Longque wanted to smile, then lightning flashed, illuminating the earth with a pale light.
Her gaze froze again, staring at the man, his shadow beside him snaked like a serpent, revealing dark eyes from the shadows.
"Only Dragon…"
"It’s me."
