Stranger Danger

“I’m not joking, warrior. Will you seriously consider joining us?” Yu Longzi tried. He truly wanted Ye Qing to join Dragonrider Mountain.

“I’m not joking either.”

Ye Qing turned him down smilingly. “I am honored that you think of me so highly, but the mountain is too heavy, and my heart is too small. I simply don’t have it in me to bear it.”

“The mountain is heavy, but it is also lofty. If you are willing to lend your hand in prospering Dragonrider Mountain, Dragonrider Mountain is more than willing to lend you ours. You have my word that we will do everything in our power to spread your name and help you climb the very top.”

Ye Qing’s rejection only made Yu Longzi admire him more. There were countless people in the world who would do anything for fame and fortune. To that end, they could surrender even their closest and dearest. The opposite, however, was so rare that most thought they only existed in myths and fables.

“There is no need to make an important decision immediately. Why don’t you take a few days to mull it over first?”

“Hahahaha! Thank you, really, but I must say no.” Ye Qing laughed. “There’s a reason why they say it’s lonely at the top. Even if it wasn’t, how frustrating would it be if I climb to the top and forever wonder if I could not have done it through my and only my power? That too is a burden my petty heart is too small to bear!”

“The mountains are tall, the waters are long. If the fates are willing, perhaps we’ll meet again someday. So long, mountain lord!”

“Warrior!”

Yu Longzi wanted to say more, but the young man suddenly grew increasingly transparent and insubstantial almost like he was a mirage; a reflection. It wasn’t long before he was completely gone.

“What the…?”

Yu Longzi’s eyes widened. For a moment, he could not understand what was going on. Then, a wave of dizziness assaulted him, and he opened his eyes—wait, my eyes were closed?—and realized that he was still sitting on the floor, and the door to the private room was still closed. It was almost as if his conversation with the young man was nothing more but a dream.

“Was it really just a dream?”

Yu Longzi frowned. Did he really fall asleep? Was it really just a dream? If it was, then why did it feel so realistic?

“No, it can’t be!”

Yu Longzi immediately rejected the idea. At his level, meditation had long since replaced sleep. He would be fine even if he didn’t sleep for half a month straight.

Besides, he was in the middle of meditation just now. There was no way he would suddenly fall asleep all of a sudden.

Having realized the incongruity, Yu Longzi rose to his feet and walked over to the private room. A moment of hesitation later, he gave the door a tentative knock.

No one answered him.

Raising an eyebrow, Yu Longzi swung the door open and found no one inside. All he saw was the “Dragons Memoir” sitting snugly on a praying mat.

Yu Longzi picked up the book and let out a small sigh. The book was here, but the man was nowhere to be seen. This could only mean that he had taken his leave.

But how was this possible? He had been guarding the entrance this whole time. When did the young man take his leave, and how did he do it without alerting him in the slightest?

The strange dream he had must have been his handiwork as well.

At this, Yu Longzi hurriedly descended the stairs and left the Dragon Hoard Hall.

“My lord!”

At the main entrance, Zhao Yuanlong greeted Yu Longzi with a salute.

“Have you seen him, Yuanrong?” Yu Longzi asked.

“I thought he’s cultivating inside the private room?” Zhao Yuanrong looked confused.

“I guess you didn’t notice either.” Yu Longzi sighed again.

“What happened, my lord?” Zhao Yuanrong asked.

“He’s gone,” Yu Longzi replied simply.

“He’s… gone?” Zhao Yuanrong repeated dumbly before realization struck him. “You mean he left?”

Before Yu Longzi could answer, Zhao Yuanrong raised his voice, “That’s impossible! I’ve been guarding the entrance this whole time. If he really left, there is no way… I wouldn’t…. Notice…”

But the more he talked, the quieter and meeker his voice became. It was because he was recalling everything he had seen from the young man and coming to the realization that it was perfectly within his power to slip away unnoticed.

“Did he take the ‘Dragons Memoir’?!”

It was at this moment Zhao Yuanrong their treasure. If the young man had stolen the travel notes, then they would be in deep trouble to put it mildly.

“No. The book is safe,” Yu Longzi answered.

“Thank goodness.” Zhao Yuanrong let out a sigh of relief. Then, he noticed an odd expression on Yu Longzi’s face. “We didn’t lose the ‘Dragons Memoir’, and that guy is finally gone, so why do you look unhappy, my lord?”

“I’m not unhappy. I’m just… feeling regretful, is all,” Yu Longzi replied.

“I don’t understand, my lord.”

“I invited him to join us.” Yu Longzi looked at the clouds floating above their heads as he explained in an indifferent tone, “I offered him my seat and everything Dragonrider Mountain has to offer.”

The first half of Yu Longzi’s sentence already surprised Zhao Yuanrong, but the second half stunned him so much that his mouth turned into an O shape.

Understanding quickly replaced his shock though. Most people didn’t know Yu Longzi’s desire, but he did. He wasn’t just the hallmaster of the Hidden Dragon Hall, but also Yu Longzi’s junior brother. He knew exactly what his junior brother was obsessed with.

Yu Longzi would do anything to rejuvenate Dragonrider Mountain, even if it entailed surrendering everything he had.

“Unfortunately, he turned me down!” Yu Longzi did not notice Zhao Yuanrong’s expression and so continued without thought.

“W-what? He turned you down?” Zhao Yuanrong could not believe this. “But why?” Dragonrider Mountain was far below its prime be it in terms of fame or power, but it still possessed centuries of history and accumulated wealth. For most people, it might as well be the staircase to the heavens. Who could possibly reject such a tempting offer? At the very least, he did not believe he could’ve rejected it.

But the young man did, and it both shocked and confounded him to no end.

“I know, right? I thought he would accept my offer as well, but not only did he reject me, he did it without any hesitation whatsoever and left no room for misinterpretation.”

Yu Longzi sighed. “Since ancient times, people have pursued fame and fortune like no other. Not even immortality held as much allure as these two. That is why there are so, so few people who truly view fame and fortune like air in this world.”

“In terms of heart alone, he has already surpassed most people. A man like him will surely go far.”

A pause later, Yu Longzi continued in a wistful tone, “Had he chosen to remain with us, it is but a matter of time before Dragonrider Mountain rises to the top. What a shame. What a shame…”

“He just left. We can still catch up to him if we give chase now!” Zhao Yuanrong blurted. “Just give us the—”

“It’s fine.”

Yu Longzi interrupted Zhao Yuanrong before he could finish. “You can take a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. If we try to force him to change his mind, we will only earn his distrust and loathing, not to mention that one-sided affairs usually end poorly.”

“Besides, Dragonrider Mountain may have waned, but we haven’t fallen so low that we need to beg someone to save us, have we? We can lose a valuable person, but we must never lose our backbone.”

“A man without a backbone might as well be dead, and a sect is no exception.”

……

“Man, why did I turn him down? I can’t believe I let my impulse get the better of me!”

On a hill not far away from Dragonrider Mountain, Ye Qing was sitting on the ground and hitting himself in the head, grumbling.

When he turned down Yu Longzi in the dream, he had felt like a boss through and through. But now, reality had caught up to him and infected him with a condition called regret.

No wonder people said that a person on the stage and off the stage are two different people.

Although Dragonrider Mountain was a waning sect, they still possessed an immense amount of accumulated wealth and power. It was also guarded by powerful warriors such as Yu Longzi. Had he agreed to become the new mountain lord, Dragonrider Mountain would’ve been a great help to him. He would be so much closer to his revenge and other goals.

Unfortunately, he allowed his emotion to get the better of himself and rejected it.

After that, well, there was no after that.

You can’t take back the words you say. Once you start something, you better finish it even if you’re weeping on the inside.

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