Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 228: Dragon Lords Fury

Flood Dragon Mo swam with the current of the flood water, and finally entered Guangdong Lake. Some fishing boats and small barges that were anchored beside the mouth of the small river tossed up and down in the waves. In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, this section of the surface of Guangdong lake had finally calmed down.

As soon as he entered Guangdong Lake, although his physical condition did not improve much, Mo Jiao had the feeling that he had returned home, and gained a clear boost to his mental and spiritual willpower.

The surrounding rain still did not stop, but it was much lighter than before. Just now, the flood dragon had brought a lot of water into the lake, causing huge waves to form and some boast along the coast to rise and fall violently.

At this moment, although the rain had not stopped, some fishermen living along the coast couldn’t help but come out, wearing straw raincoats and hats, to check on their boats.

The flood just now was indeed really strange, but boats were the basis for their survival, so they were naturally quite worried. After waiting for a while, and seeing that there was no other movement, most people braved the storm to go out and check on them. When they saw that most of the boats along the shore were fine, and their own boat had not capsized or been damaged, they breathed a sigh of relief, and went back inside.

Of course, some of the older individuals were panicking, as the sudden flood of Guangdong Lake years before was still vivid in their minds.¹ At that time, many houses had been destroyed, and even many people had been swept away by the flood and gone missing.

Ji Yuan and Li Baotian, the City God of Lishun Prefecture, stood at the banks of Guangdong Lake, looking out at the lake’s calm surface. The dragon in the water had already swum to the depths.

“Mr. Ji, do you know the origin of this Flood Dragon Mo Rong?”

City God Li glanced at the fishermen who had come out of their houses to check on their boats, then turned to Ji Yuan and asked a question.

Ji Yuan was currently calculating how long it would take for the Old dragon to arrive. Tongtian River was very far away from here, after all. A rough calculation showed that, with the speed of the Green Vine Sword, it would only take an hour to travel from Wan Province to the Capital Prefecture. As the Old Dragon was a True Dragon, he had mastered the art of flight, so he should be able to arrive before it got completely dark. However, that was only if the Old Dragon was home and able to come right away.

At the City God’s question, Ji Yuan looked at him and told the truth.

“This is my first time in Wan Province, and also my first time on the shores of Guangdong Lake. Naturally, I do not know the origin of this black dragon.”

In fact, the first time Ji Yuan had heard about Guangdong Lake was when the men in black had mentioned it when Wei Wuwei’s carriage was waylaid.² After that, he had only heard about it from rumors and written documents.

City God Li stroked his long beard and looked out at the lake. It was so vast that it was difficult to see the other side.

“About 40 years ago, when the silk weaving industry in Wan Province had not yet been fully established, a legend circulated all along the coast of Guangdong Lake about a being called the Flower King.”³

“Flower King?”

Ji Yuan looked at the surface of the lake, and thought that the black flood dragon was did not fit the description of “flower.”

“Yes, the so-called Flower King was a colorful poisonous toad that had been hiding in Guangdong Lake for at least a few hundred years. It was skilled in cultivation and was quite cunning. It even had some demons under its command. About a hundred years ago, it cautiously began to be active in the area, and occasionally secretly overturned fishing boats in the lake, devouring the fishermen that had fallen into the water.”

Ji Yuan frowned and looked at the City God, but before he could speak, City God Li could guess what he wanted to ask, and continued on.

“The gods of the three prefectures bordering Guangdong Lake would naturally not let it go. After several such incidents occurred in succession, the underworlds also reacted, and determined that it was a demon causing trouble. They finally traced it to Guangdong Lake. The demon even dared to use nightmare techniques to threaten the people in the nearby fishing villages, trying to force them to build temples and statues. It wanted to each the children who were sacrificed, and even called itself the Flower King!”

City God Li sneered.

Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes in thought. The idea of a cultivation king of sorts was actually extremely rare in Dazhen: on one hand, there were very few monsters that could become powerful, and even fewer that could reach that level; on the other hand, the title of King among monsters was quite heavy.

City God Li continued.

“Since Guangdong Lake has no Lake God, we, the gods of the territories along the lake, joined forces to wipe out the demons in Guangdong Lake. However, the monsters were cunning, the water at the center of Guangdong Lake was more than a thousand zhang deep, and the riverbed is dark and complex with many water caves. Several demons in the lake hid at the bottom. With the help of their water control techniques and their own spiritual powers, we couldn’t find them. After a month of fruitless efforts, we though the monsters had all escaped along the rivers. Until a little over forty years ago…”

The City God’s voice was inexplicably emotional, even somewhat sentimental.

“At the beginning of spring that year, thunderstorms occurred frequently around Guangdong Lake. On a rare day without wind or rain, a flood suddenly broke out. Several rivers connected to the lake backflowed, and Guangdong Lake overflowed to flood over 30 li in an instant. Many villages and towns along the lake were affected, and many people were swept away by the flood…

“The water level in Guangdong Lake was extremely high that month. It turned out that several demons in the lake took the opportunity to join forces to release water and flodo the lake. They wanted to eat a happy meal to replenish their essence and transform together. Even more hateful is that flood came quickly and left even faster. It receded in moments, and the monsters hid in the depths of Guangdong Lake again. It made us underworld gods so furious!”

Even now, when City God Li spoke of these matters, he still had irritation on his face.

“Just as we were about to lose face and ask the gods of the rivers for help, a flood dragon came along the river on a rainy day and rushed towards Guangdong Lake. This dragon left a message to the gods at the bank at the time time, calling himself Lord Mo, from outside Dazhen. He had informed the Dragon Lord that he wished to occupy Guangdong Lake to train his cultivation. Then the flood dragon entered the lake and fought with the demons in the lake under water. Within a few days that year, whirlpools appeared on Guangdong Lake, and no boats dared to set sail on the water. After the lake had calmed down, monsters such as the Flower King had become relics of the past.”

Ji Yuan nodded in understanding. However, it seemed that the black flood dragon had no intention of becoming the Lake God. He truly just lived in Guangdong Lake and cultivated there, but this time he had been met with a big disaster.

The man and the god did not leave the bank, but stood by the lake and waited quietly. The heavy rain still poured down around so it grew dark faster than usual today.

About half an hour after nightfall, the rain suddenly became heavier.

In the eyes of Ji Yuan and City God Li, the raindrops beating on the dark lake surface had clearly grown stronger.

“Crack… Boom…”

Lightning suddenly exploded in the sky and illuminated the earth. The thunder that had been silent all afternoon suddenly started up again in the night. This first strike of thunder in particular was enough to wake up some people who had gone to bed early.

“AROOOOAR!”

In addition to the sound of thunder, there was a faint sound of a dragon’s roar above the clouds in the sky. The power it contained swept all around, causing thunder ring out continuously.

‘The Old Dragon is here!”

”The Dragon Lord of the Tongtian River has arrived! ’

These two thoughts appeared in the hearts of Ji Yuan and City God Li respectively.

In just a few breaths, a dragon-shaped silhouette appeared in the rain like a burst of air, rushing straight towards Guangdong Lake with all the momentum of a dragon in the sky. Then, with an enormous boom, it blasted away the waves on the water surface and entered the depths of the lake.

This time, the Old Dragon did not come to greet Ji Yuan first, but instead went directly into Guangdong Lake.

Right as the lake surface was still churning with the waves after the dragon had entered the water, the Green Vine Sword flew back to Ji Yuan’s back, glowing with green light.

“The Dragon Lord is furious!”

The City God looked at Ji Yuan and murmured. Ji Yuan hummed his agreement and didn’t say anything else.

When the Green Vine Sword had delivered his message, although he did not have much mental power left to impart, it was enough for the Old Dragon to understand Flood Dragon Mo’s current situation. From Flood Dragon Mo’s previous attitude, and the City God’s tale just now, he could tell that the relationship between Flood Dragon Mo and the Old Dragon was unusual.

After more than half an hour, a current of water rose somewhere in the lake. A man in a long robe with an open front walked slowly to the shore, stepping on the waves. He bowed with cupped hands to Ji Yuan and the City God.

“Mr. Ji, City God Li.”

“Mr. Ying.”

“I greet the Dragon Lord!”

Here, the Old Dragon and Ji Yuan were relatively casual in their greetings, but the City God was obviously a lot more solemn.

“Boom…”

The thunder in the sky continued unabated and powerful as ever, illuminating the three beings’ faces. The Old Dragon’s expression was even more terrifying. He just walked over to Ji Yuan and the City God and stared out at the lake in silence.

“I don’t know what Flood Dragon Mo’s current state is. Does Mr. Ying have any solutions?”

Seeing that the Old Dragon wasn’t going to speak, and the City God didn’t seem to dare either, Ji Yuan took it upon himself to ask.

Hearing his friend’s question, the Old Dragon retracted his thoughts, shook his head, and turned to Ji Yuan.

“His dragon tendons were removed, and his whole body’s vitality was greatly damaged. Even his dragon pearl⁴ was destroyed. There was nothing I could do to save him. If Mr. Ji had not removed the evil nightmare that clung to him in time, I’m afraid not even his dragon soul would have been able to be saved.”

“Evil nightmare?”

City God Li frowned and asked. Ji Yuan was equally curious.

“Yes, this kind of trickery is evil and vicious, and it is extremely difficult to detect. When the evil nightmare attacked and entangled its target, it was as if Mo Rong was being beaten back into a beast, unable to even speak. It then dissipates and devours the vitality in his body. If Mo Rong died to the evil nightmare, his soul would become a new evil nightmare, and return to the caster!”

“Hiss…”

Ji Yuan couldn’t help but take a sharp breath. He had never even heard of such a vicious technique. Some part of him would rather he hadn’t found out.

“Crack…Boom…”

Lightning illuminated the earth again. The Old Dragon faced Ji Yuan with a terrifying and serious expression. He narrowed his gaze and looked at Ji Yuan’s pair of ancient, calm eyes. They had only exchanged this kind of look in that time when they had first met.

“Mr. Ji, you’re right. The fate of Dazhen cannot be broken. Not only can it not be broken, but it must rise. It would be best to be strong enough to lead the entire Eastern Cloud Continent. The general trend must be towards humanity’s prosperity, to use it to suppress evil; otherwise, we can only suffer under the wild revelry of demons!”

After looking at Ji Yuan for a moment, the Old Dragon raised his head and squinted to the northern sky.

“The ones who attacked Mo Rong were no ordinary individuals. They originally did not wish to allow him to escape back to Dazhen, but they underestimated Mo Rong’s ruthlessness. He managed to escape by destroying his own cultivation and exploding his dragon pearl… In the past few hundred years, chaos has brewed in the two barren continents. We thought it would not affect the Eastern Cloud Continent, as we were thousands of li apart…”

When the Old Dragon finished these words, he subconsciously glanced at City God Li, then bowed to Ji Yuan.

“I will be leaving Dazhen for a while. Mr. Ji, I must trouble you to stay here and look after Mo Rong. There are some things I don’t yet understand. Please allow me to go out for a while, and I will come back and discuss it with Mr. Ji in detail.”

After Mr. Ying finished speaking, he turned into a blurry silhouette of a dragon and flew away into the sky.

“Rooar!”

The dragon’s roar seemed to contain a chilling, murderous aura.

“Can the Dragon Lord track the culprits down?”

“I don’t know, but it’s bound to end up in a killing spree…”

Ji Yuan looked at the sky and suddenly understood why the Old Dragon never wanted a “seat of divinity” of his own.

After the True Dragon flew away, the heavy rain that had lasted until nightfall finally stopped.

1. Mentioned in ch. 49
2. See ch. 49
3. 花 (huā): flower/blossom/spendthrift/lustful person, 大王 (dàwáng): king/magnate/expert in something/robber baron –> “Expert in Extravagance”
4. Not always, but many Chinese dragons have a flaming pearl under their chin/in their claws, associated with spiritual energy, wisdom, power, immortality, etc.