It was almost dawn when Yao Yuelong fled the guest courtyard. She felt as if her entire body was floating, completely drained of strength. Her steps were unsteady. After leaving the courtyard, she glanced back at Sun Zhe's room, her eyes full of playful resentnt.
They're so swollen... I don't know how I'll manage the ceremony today.
Sigh, what a little torntor.
「In the guest room.」
Sun Zhe sat cross-legged on the bed, seemingly deep in ditation. After learning how to control his Divine Sense, he began to master the Dragon Taming Heart thod taught by Yao Yuelong. As ti passed, the Dragon Qi in his body gradually stabilized, and his appearance returned to normal.
By the ti the sky was fully bright, Sun Zhe had finished his cultivation. After a quick wash, he left his room and found the Chen siblings. Upon learning that Sun Zhe was about to enter the Dragon Prison Abyss, Chen Ruoyi was filled with worry, repeatedly urging him to return safely.
Afterward, Sun Zhe went to Su Chunming's room, where he found Su Ai and two other mbers of the herb-gathering team. Su Chunming was awake and sitting on the edge of the bed, discussing sothing with them. Seeing Sun Zhe enter, Su Chunming hastily rose to greet him, clasping his fists in gratitude.
"Divine Doctor Sun, words cannot express my gratitude. I will forever rember that you saved my life."
Sun Zhe quickly made a gesture to stop him. "There's no need for such formality, Elder Su. Please, sit."
Su Chunming sat back down on the bed and looked at Sun Zhe. "I heard from Su Ai that you plan to go to the Dragon Prison Abyss today to find Nanzhi?"
Sun Zhe nodded. "I'll be departing shortly."
Su Chunming sighed, his face full of guilt. "I bla my own incompetence for letting that girl, Nanzhi, venture into such a dangerous place. I must trouble you, Divine Doctor Sun."
"Please focus on your recovery, Elder Su. I will definitely bring Nanzhi back."
After leaving Su Chunming, Sun Zhe went directly to find Yao Xiong and asked him to lead the way to the Dragon Prison Abyss. The entrance was located behind Dragon Taming Village. It was a canyon that, from afar, looked as if a deity had carved a great chasm into the sheer cliff face with an axe. Its depth was unknown, as was its end.
According to Yao Xiong, the Dragon Taming Race regarded the Dragon Prison Abyss as forbidden ground. Anyone wishing to enter, including the Priest, first had to consult the ancestors through divination to determine the ons. If the reading was dire, entry was forbidden. Even with a propitious on, entering was a journey of life and death. Throughout history, few who entered had ever erged in one piece.
"So, Guardian Spirit Immortal, are you absolutely set on entering the Dragon Prison Abyss?"
Sun Zhe nodded. "I must go."
A sense of helplessness washed over Yao Xiong. "When I was just a boy, my grandfather told that Liu Bowen and Yao Guangxiao locked a young Flood Dragon in there long ago. After so many years, that young Flood Dragon has probably beco incredibly powerful by now."
Sun Zhe listened to Yao Xiong's words but didn't take them entirely to heart. He certainly believed the Dragon Prison Abyss was fraught with danger, but as for there truly being a dragon inside... he decided to remain skeptical until he saw it with his own eyes.
Monts later, upon reaching the entrance to the Dragon Prison Abyss, Sun Zhe imdiately spotted Yao Yuelong's graceful figure. A wide, open space lay before the entrance, in the center of which stood an altar built of bluestone. Yao Yuelong and four elders of the Dragon Taming Race were sitting cross-legged upon it. The five of them sat in a pentagonal formation, corresponding to the five elents—tal, wood, water, fire, and earth—which also encompassed the Four Symbols and the Two Principles.
Several clansn bustled about, slaughtering poultry and livestock. They collected the blood in a large wooden barrel and then poured it onto the altar. The altar was carved with a network of intersecting grooves that ford a complex and profound pattern. The fresh blood flowed along these grooves, soon covering the entire surface.
Sun Zhe walked to the foot of the altar. After observing for a mont, he quietly asked Yao Xiong, "Do you really have to make it such a grand affair?"
Yao Xiong replied solemnly, "It's absolutely necessary. We are consulting the ancestors." He then added, "By the way, Guardian Spirit Immortal, before you go in, I'd like to tell you a few things about the Dragon Prison Abyss. Although I've never been inside myself, I've heard so stories from the elders about what it's like. I hope it might be helpful."
Sun Zhe nodded. "Thank you, I appreciate it."
As they spoke, Yao Yuelong suddenly rose and walked to the center of the altar while the other four elders descended. Then, to Sun Zhe's confusion, Yao Yuelong took a white, dragon-faced mask from her waist and put it on. As a clansman below the altar began to beat a drum, she began to dance gracefully in the center. Her long, soft white sleeves flowed like clouds erging from a mountain peak, and her movents were so enchanting she seed like a fairy stepping out of a painting.
Sun Zhe watched quietly from below, his gaze gradually becoming srized as he couldn't help but recall the previous night's madness.
Just then, the blood in the altar's grooves ignited, bursting into eerie red flas. Yao Yuelong continued her dance within the fire, seemingly unaffected.
"Guardian Spirit Immortal, you should go up now," an elder said softly, approaching Sun Zhe's side.
Hearing this, Sun Zhe tore his gaze away and pointed at his own nose. "Do I have to dance too?"
"That won't be necessary. You only need to go up and stand in the center. The ons will be revealed shortly."
"Oh... alright."
Sun Zhe then leaped onto the altar and slowly walked to the center. Only then did he realize that the red flas were not real fire, but a form of emitted True Qi. Once he was standing still, Yao Yuelong began to dance around him, her form as ethereal as smoke, like a white phantom.
Watching the captivating figure before him, Sun Zhe felt completely dazzled and his mind began to wander. Especially when Yao Yuelong drew close, twisting her waist and lifting a leg, it felt like she was about to steal his very soul. Sun Zhe couldn't bear it any longer. As she drew near again, he stealthily reached out when no one was looking and gave her shapely bottom a pinch.
A captivating, delicate moan escaped from beneath the dragon-faced mask.
"Stop it. Be serious."
"Oh, right." Sun Zhe quickly withdrew his wandering hand.
A mont later, Yao Yuelong stopped dancing and stood beside him. Her gaze peered through the holes in her mask, quietly observing the blood flowing in the altar's grooves. After the red True Qi vanished, she stared at the strange pattern the blood had ford. Her expression grew grave, and she suddenly said, "A dire on."
"Huh?" Sun Zhe was stunned for a second, his gaze instinctively drifting toward her collar. "What kind of on? The kind you wear?"
Yao Yuelong clenched her fists in exasperation, patiently reining in her temper. "I really don't know what goes on in that head of yours all day. It is a dire on, a type of divination."
"Ah, sorry, sorry. You said 'dire on' so suddenly, it didn't register," Sun Zhe chuckled awkwardly.
Yao Yuelong sighed silently. "A dire on ans the ancestors forbid you from entering the Dragon Prison Abyss."
Hearing this, Sun Zhe frowned. "Did Nanzhi also get a dire on when she went in?"
Yao Yuelong said, "She received a propitious on. She may encounter danger, but she will ultimately turn misfortune into good fortune."
Sun Zhe was quiet for a mont before saying, "Even if it's a dire on, I have to go in and find her. Can't you think of a way?"
Yao Yuelong shook her head gently, her tone leaving no room for argunt. "I cannot gamble with your life. Moreover, the will of the ancestors must not be defied."
Gritting his teeth, Sun Zhe's True Qi suddenly erupted from his body. A pair of black-and-white feathered wings unfurled from his back, and he shot directly toward the entrance ahead.
"Sun Zhe!"
Yao Yuelong cried out. With a flick of her wrist, a silk sash flew from her sleeve, instantly wrapping around Sun Zhe and stopping him in mid-air.
User Comments
0 comments from readers