Chapter 25 - Peace Branch
Seeing that it was Fu Li who had opened the door, Zhang Ke put his all into signaling him with his eyes, so as to prevent him from entering at this moment. Benefactor Fu Li had not only saved his life but had even given him the yao-beating whip; he should not be dragged into this complicated and messy fight when the current situation was of mutual hostility.
However, Fu Li didn’t seem to have understood why the corner of his eyes was twitching. He directly pushed open the door and walked in. On top of that, he ignored the several azure dragons who were continuously emanating Dragon Might and spoke to Zhang Ke, “I came to retrieve my application form.”
“Wh-What application form?” The moment Zhang Ke opened his mouth, he felt the gazes of every living creature in the room landing on him.
“Your bureau’s recruitment application form,” Fu Li wanted to get closer to the office table. Seeing that an old dragon was blocking his way, he said, “Grandpa, shift a little to the side, you’re blocking my way.” Chu Yu, who had followed Fu Li in, shrank his neck back and did his best to conceal himself behind Xu Yuan. In a soft voice, he said, “Benefactor, come over here.”
Although he didn’t know how high his benefactor’s cultivation was, it wouldn’t be at all wise to take on four dragons with one of him.
Qing Yuan looked up and silently glanced at Fu Li without moving. Fu Li looked at him with a lowered head as he waited for Qing Yuan to shift his chair.
Qing Yuan didn’t move. Neither did Fu Li. Their eyes met – it was a silent confrontation.
All of a sudden, Zhuang Qing extended an arm from his position at the side. With exceptional speed, he pulled Fu Li behind him. The palm of his other hand stretched out, receiving the Northern Icy Palm that Qing Yuan had suddenly attacked them with. Faint blue light radiated from the ice at the point at which their palms met.
Sh*t!
Zhang Ke nearly broke out into cold sweat from the fright. The azure dragon clan was also too treacherous in the way they made a move the instant there was a disagreement. There was practically no leeway for others to defend.
“Elder Qing Yuan’s habit hasn’t changed even after many years,” Zhuang Qing stood protectively in front of Fu Li, not yielding the slightest bit. “It’s admirable.”
“I was educating the rude younger generation on some of the rules, yet you want to protect him?” Seeing that his strike hadn’t hit the mark, Qing Yuan withdrew his hand. “Your management bureau really doesn’t have any capable people, even recruiting this sort of little yao to be protected. It looks like you haven’t had it easy after leaving our dragon clan.”
F*ck, this shot was a little too big. Zhang Ke cursed darkly in his heart and turned to look at Chu Yu, Lin Gui, and the aquatic yao cultivators. Their expressions didn’t seem particularly great either.
“No matter whether they are human or yao, as long as they live on this earth, I will protect them,” Zhuang Qing looked at the few azure dragons who displayed casual stances, but in fact was on guard. “I never belonged to the dragon clan, so there is no need to say things like ‘leaving the dragon clan’. The dragon clan’s lineage is an honorable one. I, Zhuang Qing, will not claim to have such connections.”
Fu Li revealed a slightly sympathetic look from where he was standing behind Zhuang Qing, very tightly protected. It appeared that this mixed-blood dragon had not only been bullied by his fellow clanmates in his early years but had also been bullied quite severely.
“How can Dragon Lord Zhuang Qing say such a thing? Your bloodline may not be pure, but you are still considered a part of our dragon race,” Qing Yan smiled. “According to reason, you are the only descendant of the golden dragon clan. I shouldn’t be saying so much, but you are now the only remaining member of the golden dragon clan. I’m from the same generation as you, and the only thing I have more than you is an extra thousand years of age. As a result, I can only educate you on seniority in the dragon race on behalf of the elders of the golden dragon clan.”
“Among the seven dragon colors, the golden dragon has seniority. You’re an azure dragon, how do you have the qualifications to teach a golden dragon the rules?” Fu Li stretched out his head from behind Zhuang Qing, looking entirely like a little yao who spoke freely and without any qualms after obtaining the support of Zhuang Qing. “Golden-Red-Purple-White-Black-Blue-Azure. You guys are ranked last. Isn’t it a joke for someone ranked last in the cla.s.s to be teaching the top student how to solve problems?”
Everyone in the room was astounded. Why hadn’t they heard of such a ranking in the dragon clan? The human cultivators stole looks at the only aquatic yao cultivator in the room, Lin Gui. Lin Gui shook his head slightly; he wasn’t clear on the levels of seniority in the dragon clan.
“Rubbish!” A younger azure dragon responded with fury. “In the entire dragon clan, my azure dragon clan has the most heirs. Most of China’s drainage system is under my azure dragon clan’s control, yet you claim that my azure dragon clan is right at the bottom?!”
Fu Li was somewhat unconvinced. He tugged on the back of Zhuang Qing’s shirt. “Are his words true?”
Zhuang Qing nodded wordlessly.
Fu Li, “That would truly be a case of ‘eastern river for three millennium, western river for three millennium’. A few thousand years ago, your golden dragon clan was the most well-regarded, most powerful, and was worshiped by emperors for many generations. King Ganglie told us that ‘monarchs change like water, but the golden dragons are as unshakable as iron’. With such good cards in your clan’s hands, how did things turn out this way?”
Zhuang Qing, “…”
Was this the right time to look down on their golden dragon clan’s low birth rate?
The two younger azure dragons were in a towering rage, but Qing Yuan and Qing Yan revealed somewhat grave expressions. The golden dragon clan had indeed been the most ill.u.s.trious several thousand years ago.
However, a great calamity had occurred at the seabed more than two thousand years ago, resulting in the burial of many members of the dragon race at the bottom of the ocean. The weakest azure dragon clan had the greatest survival rate. 1900 years ago, the azure dragon clan also suffered a huge attack, leading to the pa.s.sing of many of their elders. The only surviving elder had hidden in the dragon palace for the past few years, never once seeing visitors. Because of their high survival rates, n.o.body had used this incident to mock them.
In the past few years, the azure dragon clan had relied on their numbers to gain influence and was already gradually seizing the right to speak among the dragon clans. Few cultivators this day knew that the azure dragons were once ranked at the bottom of the dragon clan. Yaoguai with this knowledge also shunned the world and would not be interested in others’ business.
This little yao Zhuang Qing was protecting actually knew of such dated affairs, who exactly was he?
They were not afraid of offending this kind of little yao. What they feared was offending the elder of the little one – a great yao who shunned the world. An ancestral rule had been pa.s.sed down in the azure dragon clan two thousand years ago, warning against rashly provoking yaoguai who appeared ordinary yet had immense courage.
Qing Yan smiled and cupped his hands at Fu Li. “I’m not sure which senior this daoyou studies under? As a younger generation, it is only right for this humble one to pay respects.”
Fu Li ignored this azure dragon who appeared rather good looking when he smiled, and shrank his head behind Zhuang Qing once again. His att.i.tude made it clear that he would handle the meaningless chatting, while Zhuang Qing would handle the fighting.
“Step back a bit,” Zhuang Qing noticed that the four azure dragons were already standing at all four directions. He transmitted his voice to Fu Li, “I will lure them out of the bureau later, you stay with Chu Yu. Chu Yu has the protection of the Fate of Dao; cultivators won’t dare to take his life.”
“No, isn’t the society of today a lawful one? Why must fights break out the moment there is a disagreement?” Fu Li asked. “Is it considered illegal for an ordinary yao like me to fight?”
“You’re still in the leisurely mood to say that to me at this juncture? Quickly hide somewhere. For every day you have proof of being a moral yao, our management bureau will protect you for that day,” Zhuang Qing easily picked Fu Li up and flung him over to Chu Yu’s side. Turning, he spoke to the four azure dragons, “This isn’t a place for conversation, how about switching to another place?”
Qing Yuan didn’t speak and only looked at Qing Yan.
With a smile like the spring wind, Qing Yan turned and shot a glance at Fu Li who was standing beside Chu Yu. Raising a hand, he made a ‘please’ gesture. “Dragon Lord Zhuang Qing, please.”
At four o’clock in the afternoon, pa.s.sersby had to find areas to avoid a thunderstorm. At one market crammed with many people hiding from the rain, everyone was spiritedly discussing the recent weather.
“Who knows what’s been going on lately? Thunder and hailstones are occurring at the drop of a hat.”
“The weather forecast hasn’t been accurate even once.”
“Who knows? Some dragon lord might be fighting, and we have to join in the suffering as well.”
“If dragons really exist, shouldn’t we quickly make a wish? Our wishes might really come true.”
A pretty woman in a red skirt and thin heels was slowly walking in the rain, holding up a traditional umbrella with a picture of a court lady on it. Despite the heavy rain, even the back of her shoes was not dampened. The man walking beside her was wearing a black t-shirt. Even his umbrella – a black and grey checkered cloth umbrella – lacked any sense of aesthetics. Both people seemed to have come from two separate worlds, yet the image of them standing together didn’t seem very out-of-the-ordinary.
“The rain is a bit heavy,” Chao Yun stretched out a hand, catching a few droplets of rain. The sparkling, translucent droplets of rain slid down her fingers before she flung them off. “An expert seems to have erected a barrier up there.”
On certain occasions when cultivators wanted to resolve issues using force yet feared being discovered by ordinary humans, they would erect a barrier and fight in the sky.
“En,” Ning Xuan glanced up. Suddenly, his footsteps came to a halt and he glanced around their surroundings. “I seem to have sensed something.”
“What?” Chao Yun was somewhat interested.
Ning Xuan didn’t answer her. Turning, he walked towards a tiny neighborhood. After a moment of hesitation, Chao Yun followed after him.
There was no trace of human qi in the chilly house. A cat lay on the sofa in the living room. Seeing them enter, it let out a cry.
“Hush,” Chao Yun spoke to the cat. “We’re from the cultivation management bureau; we mean no harm.”
Although this cat couldn’t transform into its human form, it had already cultivated divine consciousness and was even aware of the management bureau’s existence. It could not be considered an ordinary animal. Sure enough, after she uttered this statement, the cat stopped calling out and merely opened its round eyes, monitoring their every movement.
“Found it,” Ning Xuan picked up an object the size of a fingernail from the bottom of the table. Appearance-wise, it looked like trash that had been casually dropped onto the floor.
“What is this?” Chao Yun could smell a mysterious scent from the fingernail-like object. The scent appeared to be capable of soothing one’s mind as well as cleansing one of despondent qi.
However, the object very quickly dispersed into nothingness in Ning Xuan’s hand. In the end, not even a speck of ash remained.
“I once heard of a rumor. Someone mastered the Art of Slaughtering Dragons and eliminated evil dragons in the western sea. The dragon horns obtained from them were then used to create incense that could ward off calamities and illness, but would disperse when in contact with metal,” Ning Xuan’s original form was an ancient famed sword, so such things would swiftly disappear when in his hands. “This sort of thing was originally called the Dragon Horn Fragrance. But for some reason – perhaps it was to prevent incurring the dissatisfaction of the dragon clan – its name was later changed to Peace Branch.”
“Grinding dragon horns to create incense?” Chao Yun felt that such a thing was a little absurd. How st.u.r.dy was a dragon horn? How could someone be capable of grinding it into powder?
“There is another saying – burning incense that was created from a base of dragon horns and scales can illuminate the road to life for souls of the deceased who have yet to be reincarnated, as well as bless the departed spirit for a peaceful next life. That’s why it’s called the Peace Branch.”
Chao Yun was struck dumb by this sort of saying. Only after a long while did she ask, “How did you get to know of such secret matters?”
“I read it in a novel on cultivating to immortality,” Ning Xuan clapped his hands. With his solemn face, he didn’t seem at all like someone addicted to novels. “The scent of this thing is quite special though. For all we know, this might be a Peace Branch.”
Chao Yun sneered. She just knew all this was nonsense.
Aware that Chao Yun was mocking him for indulging in his fantasies, Ning Xuan coughed dryly. “Let’s bring this cat to the Yao Union to be registered, in case he’s mistaken as an evil yao and brought away.”