Stranger Danger

There was a great hall at the peak of Dragonrider Mountain. They called it the Dragonslaying Hall.

Right now, five people—four men and one woman—were seated inside the Dragonslaying Hall.

The leader—an old man with the face of a child, the hair of a crane, and a simple yet elegant attire that made him look like the model of a Taoist or celestial—was sitting at the head seat of the table. Everyone else was seated to his left and right.

He was the mountain lord of Dragonrider Mountain, and his monastic name was Yu Longzi (Son of Jade Dragon).

“Are the offerings ready, Hualong?” Yu Longzi asked.

“It is ready.”

Hualong was a big man over two meters tall. His exposed skin was covered by a layer of golden scale armor that was shaped like fish scales[1], and there were big bulges on the left and right side of his forehead. His presence was vast and domineering, and he gave off a tremendous amount of pressure even though he was simply sitting at his seat.

He was the hallmaster of the Dragonmorph Hall, Yue Hualong.

Yu Longzi and looked at another person. “How is the preparation for the welcome ceremony, Chaoyu?”

A handsome man wearing a blue wide-sleeved robe rose to his feet and answered, “Everything is ready, my lord. You have nothing to worry about.”

The speaker’s name was Yun Chaoyu, and he was the hallmaster of the Flying Dragon Hall.

“Elder Yuan, Ningxin, the two of you shall assist as needed. Today is the day we pray to our ancestor and welcome a new year. I require your utmost attention to ensure that everything must go smoothly.” Yu Longzi looked at the remaining two people.

An old man whose eyes were tightly shut for some reason answered slowly, “Do not worry, my lord. With Hualong and Chaoyu at the helm, I don’t believe that anything can go wrong with this year’s ceremony.”

The old man’s name was Zhao Yuanrong. He was the hallmaster of the Hidden Dragon Hall.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Yu Longzi nodded before issuing a couple more instructions to the group.

It was at this moment Yu Longzi recalled something and looked at the white-robed woman who hadn’t said a word since the beginning. He asked, “Ningxin, how is Innocent[2]?”

“Her mind is severely damaged. It would be difficult to nurse her back to full health,” the white-robed woman replied, her voice as icy as her own aura.

The woman’s name was Yu Ningxin, and she was the hallmaster of the Dragon Subjugating Hall.

“Will she ever wake up?” Yu Longzi asked another question.

“I doubt it.” Yu Ningxin shook her head. “According to Han Shuang, her mind was injured because her attacker scoured her soul. Even if she awakens, she would be mentally disabled.”

“That monster! Not only did he steal our opportunity, he even murdered our disciples and injured our hallmaster such that she is beyond recovery! Truly despicable!”

Yue Hualong slammed his hand on the stone table and left behind a clear palm print. “Have we found anything about that man yet, Ningxin?”

Yu Ningxin shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Haven’t your disciple met that man face to face? How is it possible that we haven’t found anything if that’s true?” Yue Hualong pressed, “Your disciple isn’t hiding anything, isn’t she?”

“What do you mean by that, Hallmaster Yue? Are you suspecting my disciple of collusion?” Yu Ningxin raised an eyebrow, and the temperature within the hall instantly nosedived.

“Of course not! She’s just an insignificant disciple. She would never dare to do such a thing!” Yue Hualong replied meaningfully.

“So, you’re suspecting me.” Yu Ningxin narrowed her eyes coldly.

“What do you think?” Yue Hualong sneered. “Practically everyone who went to the Celestial Spring this time was dead. Even Innocent was injured past the point of recovery. However, your disciple is completely unharmed. Don’t you think this deserves looking into?”

“Everyone here knows you hate getting involved in trivial matters like this, but when we were discussing who we should assign to search for this man, you did a one-eighty and insisted on taking charge. Why is that?”

“Your disciple clearly saw that man’s face. If it was me in charge, his head would be sitting on this table already. However, you failed to come up with a single clue even though it’s been more than ten days. How are you going to explain this?”

“Are you done?” Yu Ningxin asked in an icy voice.

He wasn’t. Yue Hualong said harshly, “Everyone knows that you and Innocent do not see eye-to-eye with one another. It’s obvious that you colluded with an outsider to take out Innocent! That would explain why that man left your disciple and only your disciple alive, and why you haven’t found a damn thing even though it’s been nearly two weeks! The two of you were in cahoots from the beginning!”

“Hualong! You should be careful about what you say!” Yun Chaoyu spoke up with a frown.

“Hmph! Am I wrong? If I was, then how do you explain this bullshit?” Yue Hualong glared at Yu Ningxin. “What do you have to say for yourself, Yu Ningxin?”

“Are you done?” Yu Ningxin repeated as she slowly rose to her feet. While staring straight into Yue Hualong’s eyes, she said, “If you’re done, then you can die.”

As soon as she finished, the cold air in the hall abruptly condensed into an ice dragon. It descended right on top of Yue Hualong.

“Hahaha! See? I knew you were a traitor! You think a traitor like you can kill me?!”

Yue Hualong laughed as the golden scales on his right arm flashed brightly, and his right hand took the shape of a claw. Then, he reached out to grab the ice dragon with his bare hands.

“Enough!”

It was at this moment Yu Longzi intervened with a rebuke. His was high-pitched, loud, and resounding like that of a dragon.

A muffled groan escaped Yu Ningxin and Yue Hualong’s lips, and both the ice dragon and the draconic claw abruptly crumbled into nothing.

“Are you done fooling around?”

Yu Longzi stared at both hallmasters for a moment before declaring, “If you’re done, then sit.”

Yu Ningxin and Yue Hualong exchanged a glance with each other. Then, they took their seats without a word.

“We haven’t even found the man who killed our disciples and wounded our elder, and you’re going to start a civil war and tear our sect asunder? Are you two stupid?”

Yu Longzi rebuked both hallmasters mercilessly before looking at Hualong. “Hualong, I know you and Innocent share a deep bond with each other, and everyone here is saddened by what happened to her. However, it is folly to run amok over pure conjecture.”

“Innocent is no weakling. The fact that the murderer was able to defeat her with ease proved that his strength is not to be underestimated, and he is no one to be trifled with. It makes sense that Ningxin could not locate him quickly.”

“In any case, I will not hear this either of you again, or you will be punished by our laws. Do you understand?”

“Yes, my lord.”

Everyone in the hall answered respectfully.

“What do we do then?” Yue Hualong asked with an unhappy grunt.

“We keep searching, of course,” Yu Longzi declared without hesitation. “This murderer has intercepted our opportunity, killed our disciples, harmed our elder, stole our treasures and humiliated us. Their crimes are unforgivable.”

“One way or another, we will find him and imprison him at the bottom of the Dragonslaying Tower so he may suffer the eating of a million insects and the burn of our most poisonous fire!”

“As you command, my lord.” The four hallmasters rose to their feet and saluted him.

“Anyway, it looks like it’s time. Open the gates and prepare to welcome the challengers!” Yu Longzi declared seriously with a wave of his hand.

It was at this moment a loud noise ripped through the clouds and shook their mountain like a thunderclap. When it subsided a little, a crisp, young voice rang clearly in everyone’s ears:

“Joyless Ye has come to pay Dragonrider Mountain a visit as promised.”

“Who is that? How dare they!”

The hallmasters’ shock quickly morphed into rage. It was very common for a sect to receive visitors, but custom dictated that the visitor must first pay the host a visitation letter before anything. If the host accepted the request to visit, then they could enter the sect. If not, then they must take their leave. This was the rules of etiquette that had been practiced since time immemorial.

An announcement like this without a visitation letter usually only meant two things. Either the visitor was here to challenge their authority, or they were here to seek revenge. Obviously, neither scenario was welcomed considering the occasion.

“Joyless Ye? Has anyone heard of this man before?” Yu Longzi asked with a deep frown. He could tell from the announcer’s voice that they were quite powerful, but he had never heard of such a moniker before.

“We have not, much less earned the grudge of such a man,” Yun Chaoyu answered after a moment.

“In that case, why did he choose this time of all times to pay us a visit? What is he trying to do?” Yu Longzi pondered.

“Who cares? He’s entering the mountain without issuing us a visitation letter first. It is clear he thinks that our sect is beneath him, the audacity! I’ll head down and deal with that bastard right now!”

Yue Hualong was quite angry to say the least. He had been enduring a bellyful of fire since over a week ago, and now a punching bag was kindly delivering himself to their doorsteps. Of course he was going to make good use of him.

“Patience. It is clear that this man is quite strong. Let’s figure out his identity and background before we try anything,” Zhao Yuanrong suggested.

“Very well.” Yu Longzi nodded in agreement before lowering his palm. The clouds above the mountain churned, and a draconic roar filled heaven and earth.

1. Doesn’t that mean that his skin isn’t exposed? Eh whatever. ☜

2. If you remember, it’s the psychopathic bitch who kidnapped Giggle. ☜

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