Jiang Huai carried Ao Yao and ran toward the deepest part.
The surroundings were all yellow, an indistinguishable earthy yellow. The color surged from all directions, pressing down from above, rising from below, seeping through every direction, every angle, every crack, dyeing heaven and earth into a single hue.
Jiang Huai found a safe spot and stopped.
He looked around, seeing only an endless expanse of yellow, no boundary, no path behind.
“Why aren’t you getting off me?” he asked in confusion.
Looking down, Ao Yao was clinging tightly to Jiang Huai.
Her two short legs were wrapped around his waist, trembling, her body shaking uncontrollably.
Her calves were taut, toes curled, knees slightly turned inward, shrinking into a ball, shivering.
Her face was buried in his chest, expression hidden, no answer to Jiang Huai. She just kept trembling.
Jiang Huai noticed something odd about his sword.
He looked down. The Azure Dragon Short Sword was different too, having undergone a slight change.
The blade shimmered with an unusual luster.
He reached out and touched it.
The moment his fingertip met the blade, the sensation felt familiar.
He thought it strange, cleared his throat twice, and didn’t dwell on it.
The Dragon Race indeed had many talents.
Then he reached for the sword sheath at his waist.
“You’re still looking!”
Ao Yao suddenly lifted her head. Her small face was flushed bright red, the blush spreading from her cheeks to her ears and neck, even the skin beneath her collar showing a faint pink.
She shouted angrily, her voice sharp and crisp:
“Bastard! Lecher!”
She broke free from his arms and stood on the ground, her legs still shaking.
She snatched the short sword away, gripping it tightly, panting, but in somewhat better condition, her small face seeming healthier.
“If my Honored Master finds out… I’ll have your skin flayed!”
“You know who my Honored Master is, don’t you? I know this short sword is specially for me…”
She rambled, her voice urgent and embarrassed. Her big, green eyes shimmered with moisture, impossible to tell if it was tears or something else:
“A lecher like you…”
She couldn’t finish. She just hugged the short sword to her chest, hunched her shoulders, lowered her head, looking both fierce and pitiful.
Jiang Huai asked cautiously:
“Should I sheathe the sword?”
Ao Yao choked.
She muttered, voice small and soft:
“Are you stupid? How can we sheathe it now?”
“Don’t sheathe it for now.”
She paused, buried her face in her knees, and said in a muffled voice:
“I can’t take it.”
After a long while, she finally recovered, stood steady, took a deep breath, and then snatched back the sword sheath.
The short sword hummed softly in her hand, as if it had found its master and finally settled down.
She carefully sheathed the sword.
The movement was very slow, very gentle, carrying a ceremonial solemnity and care.
The blade slid into the sheath inch by inch. With each inch, her brow relaxed a little, her breathing steadied a little.
Until with a “click,” the guard and the sheath mouth locked together perfectly. Her whole body relaxed, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted.
Then she reluctantly handed it back to Jiang Huai.
“Actually, I shouldn’t draw the sword too often.”
“Try not to draw it, okay? And my Honored Master also…”
She muttered, looking away, not daring to meet his eyes. Her green dragon pupils revealed an indescribable expression.
“What happens if you draw it too much?” Jiang Huai asked curiously, taking the short sword from her hand.
Ao Yao cleared her throat twice, shaking her head:
“You don’t need to ask about that.”
She said no more, turned and walked ahead, as if unwilling to answer the question. She bounced along, quite lively and cute.
Jiang Huai had no choice but to follow. ‘I must find Cang Jing… Otherwise, how would I explain to the Yellow Dragon Clan?’
The two walked on, extremely vigilant, looking left and right, afraid that another Yellow Dragon would appear.
The surrounding yellow grew thicker, the Earth Element Power heavier.
A stifling aura filled the air, making the breaths of Jiang Huai and Ao Yao heavier and heavier.
They didn’t dare speak, didn’t dare step heavily, didn’t even dare breathe loudly. They pressed against the wall, moving forward step by step.
Until they saw a figure: Cang Jing.
She was sitting cross-legged on a protruding stone platform.
The platform was not high but very wide, as if it were part of the earth growing from deep below.
She sat there, her expression pained, her body trembling.
Her brows were tightly knit, her lips pressed together. Fine beads of sweat formed on her forehead, sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto her knees.
Tears flowed endlessly.
Not loud crying, but silent tears.
Those tears spilled from the corners of her tightly shut eyes, slid along the curve of her cheeks, gathered at her chin, and fell drop by drop onto her folded hands.
The short shirt on her body had burst apart.
The fabric was torn into pieces, scattered around the stone platform, revealing her finely toned back.
It was a back unique to the Yellow Dragon Clan—broad shoulders without being wide, spine straight as a pine, the groove of the spine extending from the nape to the waist, the muscles on either side flowing and powerful, like a sketch drawn in the simplest strokes.
Not an ounce of excess fat, not a trace of redundancy—only the pure sense of power tempered by countless refinements, belonging to a Body Cultivator.
But at that moment, that back was trembling.
This Saintess of the Yellow Dragon Clan, a Prodigy who had undergone countless trials, was crying under this pressure—that showed just what kind of pain this was.
Jiang Huai stopped, his expression complicated.
He looked at Cang Jing’s back, then at Ao Yao beside him, and suddenly sighed:
“You really are the Gambling Saint. I can’t beat you at this.”
“It looks like I’ll have to marry a Dragon Lady from the Azure Dragon Clan.”
Ao Yao viciously kicked Jiang Huai in the calf, grinding her teeth.
“Lecher!” she shouted. “Don’t you dare defile our Azure Dragon Clan!”
“Our Azure Dragon Clan won’t like a lecher like you. From now on, I’m going to write ‘Jiang Huai forbidden to enter’ at the entrance of the Azure Dragon Clan.”
She finished, turned her face away, and crossed her arms.
Jiang Huai rubbed the kicked spot and didn’t argue.
He just looked at that trembling back, slowly walked forward, emotions tangled.
‘What are these sisters doing? Was Cang Ling doing the same thing before she disappeared?’
“Cang Jing,” Jiang Huai called softly.
On the stone platform, Cang Jing suddenly opened her eyes, using all her strength to twist her neck and look at Jiang Huai. Her eyes showed confusion and bewilderment:
“You… how are you here?”
She seemed unable to comprehend why Jiang Huai was here.
Jiang Huai walked to her side, reached out his hand, and said softly:
“Come down.”
Cang Jing stared at this hand, gritting her teeth. Tears streamed across her resolute, beautiful face, carrying a certain fragility and stubbornness.
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