Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 447 : A Punishment

Chapter 447: Chapter 447 : A Punishment

Qiao Wei and Zhang Fengxi exchanged looks upon hearing the ominous message. The paper flower went up in flame soon after, leaving only ashes behind.

"Something is wrong," Qiao Wei said, his face grim with the worst premonition. "I need to go up there and check."

"You are not going alone," Zhang Fengxi pointed out. "I am coming with you."

"But Fengxi..."

"Junjie will transform me when it’s urgent," Zhang Fengxi insisted.

"It’s way past Junjie’s bedtime," Qiao Wei reminded him.

"Either way, you cannot go alone," Zhang Fengxi insisted.

Qiao Wei heaved a sigh and grabbed Zhang Fengxi by his shoulders.

"Fengxi, he is my shizun. If he is willing to give me this message, it means that I am still in his good grace."

"Just because he is willing to talk to you, it doesn’t mean that you are not in danger. Unless my intuition deceives me, even he is in danger."

Qiao Wei narrowed his eyes at Zhang Fengxi.

"Sorry, Fengxi," he whispered.

Zhang Fengxi’s pupils dilated when he saw Qiao Wei’s grim expression.

"Wh...?"

With a flick of his wrists, Qiao Wei unleashed two golden ropes, slithering out of his sleeves like treacherous snakes. In a flash, they coiled around Zhang Fengxi’s small frame, effectively immobilizing him.

It was the Deity Binding Rope.

"Jianbao!!!" Zhang Fengxi roared. "Release me!"

"No."

Qiao Wei took Zhang Fengxi into his arms and pressed a kiss against the side of his head.

"I love you, but you need to leave. It is too dangerous for you. And for Junjie."

"Jianbao!!!"

Qiao Wei carefully tapped at several of Zhang Fengxi’s acupuncture points to silence him. Aware of the deadly stare the little boy shot him, Qiao Wei avoided looking into his eyes and hoisted him like a sack of potatoes outside of the house.

Standing beneath the open sky, Qiao Wei traced an intricate spell in the air. His brow furrowed in concentration as the Fuxi Palace sigil on his forehead pulsed with a vibrant golden light.

"Please," Qiao Wei whispered, his heart pounding hard against his ribcage as he waited nervously. "Please..."

A jagged tear of lightning ripped across the sky, momentarily illuminating a shimmering path arcing from the celestial heights to the mortal realm. From the heart of this divine highway, a tiny speck materialized, growing larger with each beat of a frantic heart.

It was none other than Wangshu, Xie Jianyu’s loyal steed. His excited neigh echoed through the night as he nearly trampled Qiao Wei in his haste.

"Neigh! Neigh!"

"Wangshu."

Tears streaming down his cheeks, Qiao Wei put his arms around Wangshu’s neck.

"I’ve missed you," he whispered as he ran his hands across his beloved mount’s coat. "Have you been well...?"

Qiao Wei pressed multiple kisses against Wangshu’s forehead before he hoisted Zhang Fengxi atop Wangshu’s body.

He then drew a sheet of paper from within his robes and, eyes glowing with power, inscribed a message across its surface using his spiritual power.

"Take my husband to Golden Dragon Palace," he said while caressing Wangshu’s cheeks. "And this letter. Give it to my elder brother."

Zhang Fengxi widened his eyes in terror.

"...!!!"

"Sorry, Fengxi," Qiao Wei apologized again. He pressed a gentle kiss against Zhang Fengxi’s forehead. "I can die again and again, but you must not. Mingrui and Junjie must not lose both their father and mother."

"Neigh, neigh!!!"

Qiao Wei gave Wangshu a light slap against his body.

"Go."

Against his will, Zhang Fengxi was thus dragged away from the Human Realm and returned forcefully to the Heavenly Realm.

It was good that Qiao Wei disabled Zhang Fengxi’s ability to speak, otherwise the latter might scream murder the entire trip to the Golden Dragon Palace.

In the Golden Dragon Palace, Xie Jianshen was sleeping peacefully in his husband’s arms when Head Eunuch Lu disturbed his peace.

"My deepest apologies, Your Majesty," the head eunuch threw himself on the marble floor outside the royal couple’s bed chamber and bowed as deep as possible. "There is... A horse waiting to see you outside."

Jiang Rufeng’s narrowed eyes drilled through the shimmering curtain, piercing the silhouette of the trembling eunuch hidden within.

"A horse, and you cannot handle it alone?" His tone was dripping with criticism, causing the head eunuch to flinch in terror.

"Um, the horse, uh, the horse is very persistent."

Jiang Rufeng was about to tell the head eunuch to leave when Xie Jianshen climbed off the bed wordlessly and draped his outer robe around his slender form.

"Jianshen, it’s in the middle of the night," Jiang Rufeng pulled at Xie Jianshen’s wrist with a frown. "Must you go out just to take a look at a horse?"

Xie Jianshen calmly pinned his husband with a stare.

"In my entire life, there has only been one person who sends a riderless horse my way. Who do you think it might be?"

"..."

"Let go."

Sure enough, it was Wangshu. The heavenly steed might be riderless, but he had a tied-up bundle across its back and a letter tightly clamped in his mouth.

Jiang Rufeng could not help but gape at the fierce little boy who emitted a murderous aura. If he did not know better, he might think that Wangshu captured a little Demon King who got lost in the Heavenly Realm.

Xie Jianshen took the letter from Wangshu and opened it, his eyes flitting across the lines like flames seeking tinder.

As he read the first letter from his dearest younger brother in five years, an unmistakable tenderness glistened in his eyes, a warmth that whispered of years apart and a reunion long-awaited.

But when he raised his gaze to meet Zhang Fengxi’s eyes, a cryptic glint sparked in the depth of his eyes.

Jiang Rufeng watched in awe as his wife, the Heavenly Emperor, grabbed Zhang Fengxi by his lapels with one rough pull and delivered a resounding slap across his cheek.

"Insolence!" He snapped. "Supreme General Zhang Fengxi, you are herewith sentenced to house arrest at Fuxi Palace for two weeks. You may not leave the Heavenly Realm unless you obtain specific permission from your Emperor."

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Author’s note :

Long time no see, beloved readers! (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤