Su…Tian…
That was the sound of grass being pushed aside, accompanied by the laughter of a young boy and girl.
The dark clouds churned overhead but were gradually dispersing.
Everything before him seemed veiled in a thin mist, filtered through a lens named illusion.
“He” followed the children beside him, plunging into a patch of reeds.
There, “he” saw “it.”
It was not a god, nor even a divine beast.
It was merely a long, sprawling, massive and twisted creature lying prostrate in the mud.
Its surface was covered in rough blood clots, emitting an ominous glimmer in the dim light.
It had no limbs, only a thick tail covered in bony spikes, firmly embedded in the silt, supporting its mountain-like, heavy body.
Its head hung low, its full form hidden.
“It” was dead, or rather, dying.
“Look… it really is a dragon…”
A child said trembling, but there was little joy in the voice.
The children gathered around.
Some poked its body with branches, others reached out to touch its surface.
“Is it really a dragon? It doesn’t look like the ones in books.”
“Why isn’t it moving? Is it dying?”
Only “he” did not judge.
Standing in place, “he” stared at its head.
At some moment, it shifted slightly.
“He” thought it was an illusion.
“He” could not see its true face, but “he” could feel it—the dragon’s eyes were fixed on him at that moment.
It let out an indescribable sound.
Not as majestic as the books said, not as awe-inspiring as the storytellers described.
Only a kind of… chaos.
The children around him fled, filled with fear.
“He” wanted to flee too, but a sense of fascination kept him rooted, still gazing at this twisted, colossal existence.
Like a scorching wind on a summer day.
The enormous head drew closer, its breath brushing against “his” cheek.
“He” could not understand what it was trying to say, until the massive head tilted to one side, and a huge fissure split open its belly.
Deep within that abyssal crack, something slowly rose.
It was a fruit.
A crimson fruit, as if made from its very blood and essence, carrying an extremely ominous aura, yet also radiating a strange brilliance that soothed the soul and inspired hunger.
It seemed to be calling to “him.”
“His” fingers trembled uncontrollably, reaching into that abyssal belly, touching the fruit.
The fruit was cold and smooth to the touch, completely different from the scorching sensation “he” had imagined, and not at all like the sticky feel of flesh and blood.
He took it out, hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth and swallowed the fruit.
In an instant, a torrent of information beyond his imagination, accompanied by sweet juice, crashed through the dam of his consciousness.
He saw countless twisted cities.
He saw crying infants.
He saw people roaring in the sky.
Then, everything fell silent.
When “he” lifted his head again, he found that the enormous, dark red body was already encircled by a blazing line of fire.
“Burn it! Burn it quickly! That’s not a dragon at all!”
“Burn it! You’ve all been deceived!”
Flames shot into the sky, licking at the already rotting corpse.
The “dragon” did not struggle.
It only used its eyes, one last time, to gaze deeply at “him.”
“What are you doing?! This is blasphemy! Blasphemy!”
The fire devoured everything.
The reeds turned to ash.
In the end, nothing remained, as if this “dragon” had never existed.
Knock knock knock…
The knocking woke him from his dream.
He opened his eyes, staring at the renovated ceiling, then dazedly at the chandelier above.
Slowly, he propped up his already somewhat aged and decaying body.
“Old Hu! Village Chief Hu! Stop napping! The dragon statue is finished. We’re waiting for you to come confirm it!”
“What? The dragon statue is finished?!”
The old man known as Old Hu let out a joyful yet shocked voice.
He hastily turned off the fan beside his bed, threw on an already patched-up coat several times over, and hurried out the door.
A short while later, surrounded by several respected elders in the village, Village Chief Hu entered a newly built temple in the southwestern corner of the village.
Just like the village’s name, “Fallen Dragon Village,” the entire temple was filled with dragon elements.
For example, there was a dragon-shaped weather vane on the roof, murals inside depicting divine dragons riding clouds and mists, and some statues that already looked quite aged.
However, those were not the purpose of Village Chief Hu’s visit.
Led by several temple staff, Village Chief Hu and the other nine elders eventually entered the main hall.
There, a blood-red dragon statue was on display.
It was a “dragon,” coiled on a stone platform.
Its body was covered with countless dark red scales.
Each scale’s edge glistened with oil, varying in size, arranged tightly like overlapping fish scales, but much larger—the largest being as big as an adult’s palm.
Beneath the scales was unadorned animal muscle tissue, showing a mix of deep red and grayish-white.
The direction of muscle fibers was clearly visible, and the surface was covered with a layer of transparent gel-like substance, faintly reflecting light.
Without a doubt, this was a dragon statue built from real animal flesh and blood, carrying an extremely strong sense of blasphemy.
So much so that several elders beside Village Chief Hu couldn’t help but gasp in shock.
But Village Chief Hu himself showed no fear in his eyes—only satisfaction and obsession, as if he had fantasized about this scene countless times in his mind.
“Old Hu, as per your request, all the scales on this dragon statue are made from real fish scales. Finding fish scales this big wasn’t easy.”
“And its body is pieced together from real animal flesh. That took a lot of work. Just removing the stench and preserving it was a huge project.”
“Well done… very well done!”
Village Chief Hu’s somewhat dull and weathered eyes sparkled with joy.
His calloused hand gently brushed over the surface, feeling the extremely realistic texture.
“Old Li, go withdraw some more money later and send it to the statue builders. Consider it an extra reward for a perfect completion.”
“Alright, but let me say this upfront—though the statue looks very lifelike, if it’s exposed to the air for too long, it won’t hold up for many days. It might start rotting soon. After the Dragon Summoning Ritual ends, we’ll need to put it in a cold storage immediately, or else…”
“Enough… this amount of time is enough…”
Village Chief Hu said in a low voice, with a slight tremor.
Then he looked at the dragon statue’s eyes.
They were blank.
He had deliberately instructed that the statue should not be given eyes.
This final step must be completed by him personally…
Only then could the Dragon Lord be reborn…
Only then could the Dragon Lord be reborn…
As long as the Dragon Lord returned, all suffering, all calamities, all so-called anomalies in the world would dissipate…
Meanwhile, on Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng’s side, they were also trying to inquire about information related to the “dragon” from the villagers of Fallen Dragon Village.
But things didn’t seem to be going well.
“Um, excuse me, we’d like to ask about the Fallen Dragon Incident from before…”
“Huh? Sorry, I think my fish is about to drown. I need to go check if it’s still alive.”
“Um, about the Fallen Dragon…”
“What? Deaf? I’m not deaf at all. Go away, don’t bother me while I’m resting.”
“Hello, about this ‘dragon’ in your village…”
“Dragon? Oh~ You must be talking about the Jiaolong 12 phone I replaced a while ago, right? Hey! I wonder where everyone puts their old phones after they upgrade.”
After asking around, Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng had barely learned anything.
The few they did manage to talk to only told them things they already knew.
With no other option, they found a stone bench in the village to rest and think about what to do next.
“These people… they seem to be deliberately playing dumb and dodging the questions. What are they hiding?”
Li Meng puffed out her cheeks in thought, her eyes watching the occasional passersby on the street.
“Maybe it’s because that dragon-shaped hat you’re wearing is too scary.”
Qiu Qiqian teased, her fingers flicking the plush hat Li Meng was wearing—a little thing Li Meng had bought at another shop earlier.
“Not at all! It’s obviously super cute~”
“Alright, alright, it’s cute.”
Qiu Qiqian said with a hint of helplessness and indulgence.
“So, next, should we consider going to see the village chief? He should know a lot. If you show him the Association’s badge, he’ll probably cooperate.”
“Hmm… Xiao Qian is right. Let’s go find him later!”
Rumble—
Thunder sounded in the sky again, causing the villagers to stop and look up.
“Wasn’t there thunder just now?”
“The Dragon Lord! The Dragon Lord has revealed his presence!”
“I remember the weather forecast said it wouldn’t rain today.”
For a moment, opinions were divided.
Li Meng naturally looked up as well, gazing at the overcast sky.
Then—
Plop…
A raindrop landed on the tip of her nose, and the tiny splash made her blink.
Whoosh…
Without warning, in an instant, a torrential downpour began.
“Whoa! Heavy rain!”
With no cover overhead, Li Meng and Qiu Qiqian hurriedly ran under the eaves of a house to take shelter.
“Let’s take shelter there for now.”
The heavy rain continued, accompanied by howling winds.
The once-bustling street was instantly empty, with everyone ducking into the nearest shelter.
There were other people under the eaves where Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng stood, but it seemed that the Nether Breath continuously emanating from Qiu Qiqian made some people instinctively uncomfortable.
After a few minutes, only the two of them remained under that roof.
Although it was chilly outside due to the rain and strong wind, the atmosphere under the eaves was just a little… subtle.
Strands of wet hair clung to her ears and collarbone.
A few tiny drops of water still hung on her eyelashes.
Residual rainwater slid down her forehead, dripped into her collar, and then slowly traced down the curves of her body…
Qiu Qiqian had always liked to wear her trench coat, but today, when she went out, she only had a white blouse on top.
Now soaked by the rain, the semi-transparent fabric faintly revealed the flesh-colored underwear beneath, looking incredibly alluring.
Li Meng occasionally glanced at Qiu Qiqian.
When she vaguely saw Qiu Qiqian’s proud fullness through the wet shirt, she unconsciously stared a little longer, subconsciously recalling a section about… mmm… kneading dough mentioned in the “Methods Compendium” that Isana had sent before.
However, she didn’t realize that she herself was also a sight for someone’s eyes.
Her naturally beautiful gray hair, soaked by the rain, looked especially striking.
Although her white jacket wasn’t as thin as Qiu Qiqian’s blouse, once wet, it clung to Li Meng’s body, highlighting every curve.
When Qiu Qiqian looked at Li Meng, she inevitably met her gaze.
In the curtain of rain, it looked especially… affectionate.
“What are you looking at, Xiao Qian? Is there something… strange about me?”
“Nothing… nothing…”
Qiu Qiqian dared not look too long, afraid that if she couldn’t control herself and made a move, Li Meng would easily overpower her…
After that, the silent two of them blushed and looked in opposite directions, their fingertips fidgeting with the hem of their clothes.
Until Qiu Qiqian broke the silence.
“How about… we take shelter in my Inner World for a while?”
“Mmm…”
Li Meng nodded softly in agreement.
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