Dragon Tamer

After the three young swordswomen left, Yun Zhonghe’s eyes fixated on Wu Feng.

After a long while, Yun Zhonghe finally said with a serious face, “Uncle Master, I want to go too!”

“Your cultivation base is too shallow. Going would only bring shame to our Yaoshan Sword Sect. I’ll ask Hao Ye later to see if he is willing to go,” Wu Feng replied.

“Uncle Master, I must go. If you don’t let me witness the schools of others, how can I improve? You are the one who said that staying within one’s comfort zone in cultivation will only lead to regression,” Yun Zhonghe declared resolutely.

“Then ask your little uncle master. Whether this can be facilitated also depends on the face of the Zhu Gate. Didn’t you notice that after Zhu Minglang expressed a wish to learn from the Miao Mountain Sword Sect, Wen Mengru became interested?” Wu Feng said.

“Little uncle master…” Yun Zhonghe walked over, shedding his previous aloof and arrogant demeanor from the Mechanism City, pleading pitifully.

“Considering that you gave me a dragon gallbladder, I’ll take you along,” Zhu Minglang said.

“Thank you, little uncle master, thank you!” Yun Zhonghe hastily expressed his gratitude.

“Senior brother, where are you going?” Zhu Minglang asked.

“I’m packing up too. The beauties of the Miao Mountain Sword Sect are like clouds… Ahem, the strong practitioners of the Miao Mountain Sword Sect are like clouds. I’m almost forty, and I want to experience the swordsmanship of their strong practitioners,” Wu Feng explained.

Although this visit was proceeding through official channels, it was going smoother than anticipated.

It seemed that the Miao Mountain Sword Sect had also been looking forward to exchanging and learning with the Yaoshan Sword Sect for a while but, because of their system where women are held in higher regard than men, they would absolutely not take the initiative to propose it.

Going with the current, there was no need to fight their way up as they had the last time.

Soon, the Miao Mountain Sword Sect sent their response.

They would be returning to Sect Forest in a few days, and the people from Yaoshan Sword Sect could travel with them.

Zhu Minglang had not planned to stay in the Imperial City for too long, and with Li Yunzi’s illness indeed being quite severe, the sooner they could get the Ancient Divine Lamp Energy Stone, the better, to avoid any real threat to her life.

After having Fang Niannian make some major purchases in the Imperial City, Zhu Minglang and a few others from the Zhu Gate said their farewells and prepared to depart.

The country where Miao Mountain is located lies on the western side of the entire Supreme Court Courtyard Continent, in the opposite direction to Li Chuan Continent, and the journey is indeed very long. Even with dragon beasts taking turns traveling, it would take close to a month.

The night before departure.

Zhu Minglang was considering the travel arrangements for the journey.

Traveling directly by air would be cold and windy, which would be bad for Li Yunzi’s health. Moreover, with towering mountains, foggy shrouds, and low-hanging clouds en route, flying the whole way would be foolish. They could easily enter cloud-bound mazes, wasting a great deal of time and possibly getting completely lost.

Traveling by land might be much slower, but as long as they followed the roads of nations and cities, they wouldn’t get lost. Additionally, with dragon beasts and carriages on land, the journey wouldn’t be too bumpy or exhausting, which would be much more comfortable for someone with injuries.

The autumn night was cool, and Zhu Minglang noticed a light on in a small building.

He climbed up the stairs and saw a woman under the lamp’s glow, carefully replacing the soil for a withering orchid.

“Yunzi, you’re awake?” Zhu Minglang said joyfully.

She had been asleep for nearly two days, and Zhu Minglang was really worried that she might never wake up again. Every time he saw her pale face, his heart was filled with unease.

Today, at last, she had awakened.

The woman looked at Zhu Minglang, her enchanting eyes revealing a hint of nervousness and unease.

She straightened her posture a bit but almost knocked over the orchid pot. Zhu Minglang, with his quick reflexes, steadied the pot, preventing the soil from spilling out.

Zhu Minglang noticed that Li Yunzi wasn’t speaking and felt puzzled.

But soon, Zhu Minglang realized something, staring at the delicate and slightly timid woman who was now looking down.

Why were her eyes avoiding his?

Li Yunzi would never…

“Are you Miss Xinghua?” Zhu Minglang, though reluctant to believe, asked her, seeing that the woman’s demeanor was distinctly different from Li Yunzi’s.

“Mm,” the woman nodded, steadying the orchid pot before her gaze slowly lifted to meet Zhu Minglang’s.

Her eyes, profound and dreamy, though equally beautiful, gave Zhu Minglang a feeling of being seen through.

It was as if her gaze could penetrate his surface and see right into his inner world, as if his thoughts were transparent to her.

Her gaze had flitted away just now, as if she were simply unwilling to probe into the hearts of others.

He didn’t know why.

When Nan Lingsha had mentioned the Prophet earlier, Zhu Minglang had thought of those old fortune-tellers on the streets.

But after meeting those eyes, Zhu Minglang began to believe what the Prophet had said.

“We’re leaving the Imperial City tomorrow, and I had prepared some Dragon Beast Carriages for Yunzhi…” Zhu Minglang said.

“She won’t wake up for a while, but you don’t have to worry too much, she just needs some rest,” the woman said softly.

“That’s good then, the lady also looks quite weak, you should get some rest as well. It’s late at night, so I won’t disturb you any longer,” Zhu Minglang said, bowing respectfully.

“From now on, the one who stays awake will probably be me,” the woman said in a soft and delicate voice.

“Oh, okay, sure,” Zhu Minglang replied, not quite knowing how to respond at the moment.

“When we leave tomorrow, can we exit the city from the northern side of the Imperial City?” Li Xinghua asked.

“Yes,” Zhu Minglang nodded.

Zhu Minglang didn’t sleep at all that night.

His gaze wandered unintentionally toward the small building next to him, where he saw that the lights were still on.

He fell asleep in a daze and the next day was woken up by the sound of Fang Niannian and Mr. Jinli arguing in the courtyard. Instinctively, Zhu Minglang looked towards the small building and saw that its windows were already open.

The morning light spilled in through the window, where a delicate orchid on the windowsill was slowly blooming its full petals, embracing the vitality of the morning.

Had she kept the lamp burning well into the night just to save this tiny orchid?

Yet she was going to leave this place today.

Zhu Minglang’s courtyard normally didn’t have many maidservants, and the potted plants and other landscaping elements would usually wither away not long after being brought in, then be discarded and replaced with new ones.

Rarely did anyone take care of them.

Zhu Minglang washed up, dressed neatly, and walked into the courtyard.

Under the shade of the awning outside the courtyard, stood two stunningly graceful and curvaceous beauties, conversing with gentle elegance. The soft, tender sound of their voices was a high-quality auditory pleasure.

Zhu Minglang approached them and for a moment couldn’t tell who was who, so he just put on a smile and greeted them both.

Zhu Minglang had specifically observed their complexions.

He wanted to judge from their complexions which one was Li Beauty and which one was Nan Beauty, but it seemed Li Xinghua’s soul had not been damaged. Her awakening also infused her body with a healthy vitality, and her complexion looked much better than when she was unconscious.

If he hadn’t known they were two different people, Zhu Minglang would have thought Li Yunzi had recovered.

Moreover, Fang Niannian’s earlier deduction seems to have been correct.

Li Xinghua’s relationship with her sister appeared to be much better. It was evident from their intimate conversation as they stood there.

“Zhu Minglang, you mustn’t do anything over the line, okay? This is Miss Xinghua, she’s absolutely pure with you!” Nan Yuso specifically cautioned.

“Yuso, don’t be rude,” Li Xinghua frowned slightly.

“It’s okay, we’re going to be family from now on, so there’s no need to be so formal. Just say whatever you want,” Zhu Minglang laughed, not minding Nan Yuso’s deliberate provocation at all.

The sister-in-law has always been so mischievous.

“Mr. Zhu, just now I discussed with Yuso about the Ancestral Dragon Ruins. There should be Ancient Divine Lamp Energy Stones in the ruins. Also, since you all are Dragon Shepherds, there are many spirit wells in the ruins that could be beneficial for your cultivation. So, if we come across the Ancestral Dragon Ruins on our way, we might as well take a look,” Li Xinghua proposed gently.

“But we don’t have any clues, it’ll be hard to find the entrance to the Ancestral Dragon Ruins,” Zhu Minglang said.

“Miss Xinghua can search by observing the stars.”

“Everything withers and prospers, and as the seas change into mulberry fields, the glimmer and arrangements of stars also subtly transform due to some ancient decay,” Li Xinghua explained.

Zhu Minglang listened to Li Xinghua and then remembered that last night she was not only tending to the orchid, but she also seemed to often appear at the window, gazing at the starry sky.

Was she observing the stars, searching for the Ancient Divine Lamp Energy Stone?