"There’s one more thing," Deng Wu said with a smile on his face, as if he was saving the best for last.
"There’s something called the Dragon Clan," he began, and Yan Xiaobao suddenly recalled the name from the day before. "This group appears once a year, and each year they demand taxes. In return, they ensure that no magical beasts will leave their caves. The Dragon Army is much stronger than the City Lord and his elders. People are happy to pay taxes, but whenever they’re here, they inevitably take whatever they desire on their way back, including killing former masters without hesitation. If they fancy a beautiful woman, she will be taken, forced to leave her parents behind."
Hearing this suddenly made Yan Xiaobao understand the pervasive fear surrounding the Dragon Army. He nodded slowly, just as Deng Wu raised his hand and gestured mid-air, seemingly about to say something.
"This year, I heard they don’t require any grain, and the City Lord has managed to propose a plan that even ensures women won’t be endangered," Deng Wu said with an unapologetically smug smile. Yan Xiaobao couldn’t help but smirk himself. It seemed Sun was a coveted item by the Dragon Army.
"Tell me this kind of thing sooner!" Yan Xiaobao exclaimed with a laugh, sitting down cross-legged, already pondering their next steps.
Over the following days, Hui Yue meticulously examined the City Lord’s mansion, but no matter how thoroughly he searched, nothing seemed to reveal itself.
As the guest of an elder, everything within Yan Xiaobao’s reach was open to them. Yet, despite scrutinizing every twisted crack and corner, he found nothing related to Sun.
Yan Xiaobao’s explorations uncovered few secrets, and within days, the City Lord’s entire mansion had been combed through—from the tallest tower to the lowest cellar.
While Yan Xiaobao busied himself searching the mansion, Deng Wu was mingling with the town’s female population. Despite Yan Xiaobao’s favorable standing in the city, Deng Wu was nothing more than a retainer—a servant to the boy with white hair. Though Lord Liu Wei and his elders thought Deng Wu was strong, he paled in comparison to his master. Spending time on befriending him seemed wasteful.
On the first day Wang Julong and Deng Wu left the mansion, their followers soon gave up, but after several days, they managed to trail him to a farmhouse.
In this region, Deng Wu was more popular than Yan Xiaobao, and even more celebrated than the City Lord, as he flirted with all the girls and generously shared meat with anyone interested.
It must be said that Deng Wu owned more than one storage ring filled with provisions suitable for long journeys, and his heart truly didn’t regret sharing with the common folk. Somehow, though, the pretty girls always ended up getting more than the rest.
Spending his days with the town’s youth, he gathered plenty of information to share with Yan Xiaobao and the others.
"The Dragon Army will arrive in a few weeks. That’s probably why they’re so worried about you being part of it," Deng Wu said, lounging in the courtyard, resting his body after a full day in town.
Hearing this, the previously frustrated Yan Xiaobao’s face broke into a smile. After repeatedly searching the site without any leads, Deng Wu’s causal remark sparked an idea in him.
"Since I can’t find Sun, I suggest we leave immediately. The only entrance and exit from Cave’s End is through the so-called tunnel. While we haven’t found Sun, it’s very likely she’ll be traded to the Dragon Army. All we can do is evade the army and rescue her for her friends."
"You’re suggesting we should confront people far stronger than us?" Wang Julong asked bluntly. But seeing the smile on Yan Xiaobao’s face, she sighed deeply and nodded. It was clear Yan Xiaobao hoped to fight the Dragon Army to test their strength.
"We’ll stay here for a few days," Yan Xiaobao said with childlike excitement. "While I haven’t located Sun yet, I’ll find her, and if I do, we’ll stick to the earlier plan to get her out. If I don’t find her, then we’ll proceed with the second plan—to ambush the Dragon Army and rescue her." Yan Xiaobao spoke with determination, and anyone looking at him knew he had already decided on the second option.
Even though the Slaughter Aura within him was usually subdued by serene clouds, the excitement of an impending battle stirred once again, igniting a faint murderous intent in his blue eyes with a slight crimson tint.
Seeing Yan Xiaobao so eager for a fight made his friends laugh, even Wang Julong rarely broke into a smile.
To dismiss his friends, Yan Xiaobao left the courtyard once again to inspect the mansion, but once again found no trace of Sun.
Returning to the courtyard, Yan Xiaobao shrugged. He didn’t mind; after all, facing the Dragon Army was far more intriguing.
Hui Yue gathered all their belongings, expressed gratitude for Liu Wei’s generous hospitality, and their group set off on their journey again, led by Deng Wu, who had received directions from his female friends in town.
Leaving the city, they noticed fields and farmhouses dotting the land, much like the territory they’d crossed when entering from the other side of the city. freёweɓnovel_com
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on freew(e)bnove(l).𝓬𝓸𝓶