The place Leng Jing was headed was quite far from Donghua Mountain, a region to the east called Great Lake Village. By the time he flew near the vicinity with his bundle on his back, he felt his body growing increasingly heavy. Eventually, he could only hover a few yards above the ground, drifting along just as he had back in the Sea of Verdant Waves.
Floating in mid-air, Leng Jing’s speed was no longer as swift as before. He looked up at his surroundings and found the sky over Great Lake Village to be a murky gray, half-lit and half-shadowed, thick with dense, oppressive clouds. The environment of Great Lake Village certainly lived up to its name; surrounding a vast, boundless lake were densely packed villages and rolling mountains. Geographically speaking, nestled between mountains and water, it should have been a beautiful place. Yet, for some reason, Leng Jing felt a deathly, stifling aura here. This was especially true of that dark, deep lake; its bottom was invisible, and beneath the ripples, a massive, hazy shadow seemed to lurk.
However, this lake was truly enormous! It was the largest lake the "Ugly Little Snake" had ever seen. According to the locals, it was called Great Dragon Lake.
To avoid causing a commotion, Leng Jing transformed into his human shape and began searching for the address his senior brothers had given him. His master’s friend was named Daoist Master Hui, who reportedly lived in a small temple on Crouching Dragon Mountain, right by the lakeshore town of Binhu.
But when Leng Jing arrived at Crouching Dragon Mountain, he discovered that it happened to be the day of a triennial festival. The mountain was bustling with activity. For a moment, he forgot about delivering the tea and followed the crowds to enjoy the festivities. Along the mountain path were all sorts of stalls—snacks, monkey shows, trinkets, and storytellers...
Leng Jing enjoyed lively gatherings, so he followed the path upward. He heard that a stage had been set up at the Mountain God Temple on the summit for a grand opera performance. This was naturally the highlight of the fair, so Leng Jing went to join the excitement. From the mountain path, one could look down at the scenery of Great Dragon Lake; the water shimmered with light, offering a vast and open view.
By now, twilight was approaching, and it seemed the fair would last through the night. Leng Jing sat down at a small stall on the path and ordered a bowl of dough slices. After a few bites, a little girl about four or five years old, wearing a silver-green padded jacket and her hair in two buns, stopped beside him. She stared at Leng Jing without blinking.
Baffled by her gaze, Leng Jing finally spoke. "Is something the matter? Where is your family?"
The little girl spat out the candy in her mouth and said in a milky voice, "Big brother, everyone here will die today. Only the person sitting in your spot will not die."
Utterly confused, Leng Jing asked, "What did you say?"
The little girl pointed toward the lake at the foot of the mountain. Leng Jing turned to look, seeing the lake's light fading as the sky darkened, a vast expanse showing nothing unusual.
When Leng Jing turned back, the little girl had already been grabbed by her family. They scolded her, "Xiao Yu! Running off again! See if I don't deal with you when we get home!" They pulled her away, but she kept looking back at Leng Jing, her large eyes blinking at him.
***
Back at Donghua Mountain, Layman Purple Spirit finally emerged from his secluded meditation. When he asked where the little white dragon had gone, Tiger Senior Brother said Leng Jing had gone to deliver tea, then handed him Daoist Master Hui’s letter.
Upon taking the letter, Layman Purple Spirit was shocked. "Daoist Master Hui passed away ten years ago. How could he have sent me a letter?"
When he checked the signature, the date was indeed from ten years ago. Some error must have occurred for the letter to be sent out only now.
"It looks like the little white dragon made the trip for nothing," Tiger Senior Brother said, scratching his head.
Layman Purple Spirit frowned and performed a divination, but he could not calculate Leng Jing’s fate.
Within the Three Realms, he believed there was no destiny he could not divine. He could even calculate a thing or two about the Great Tribulation of the Underworld Emperor. Yet, with this little white dragon, he simply could not grasp his future path.
In the Three Realms, there were only two types of people whose fates he could not calculate: those who had reached Final Extinction, and those whose lives transcended the Mandate of Heaven.
*I hope the little white dragon is not fated for death... but if he is the second type...*
*Then, will it be a catastrophe?*
Worried, Layman Purple Spirit turned his wheelchair and went to the kitchen, finding Leng Qingqing, who was currently cooking noodles.
"Young Master Leng, may I ask where you found Leng Jing?" he inquired.
"Huh?" Leng Qingqing looked up in confusion, tilted his head, and thought for a moment. "Xiao Jing is the son I gave birth to."
"...Are you certain?" Layman Purple Spirit asked again.
Leng Qingqing nodded earnestly. "Mhm, mhm. I gave birth to Xiao Jing after I got drunk. Before that, I ate so many mountain fruits; my stomach was stuffed to bursting. But after I gave birth to Xiao Jing, the bloating went away. It must be because laying an egg emptied out everything in my belly..." Before he could finish his rambling, Layman Purple Spirit turned pale and hurried out of the kitchen. He truly could not stomach such nauseating talk.
***
As for Leng Jing, after meeting the strange little girl, he finished his dough slices and even ordered a few skewers of fried tofu, feeling quite content on his own.
After eating, Leng Jing noticed a stall selling small accessories. One vendor had spread a red cloth on the ground, selling jade pendants. Leng Jing picked out a pair of emerald hairpins, intending to give them to his snake-dad as a travel souvenir. Just as he paid the bill, a commotion suddenly broke out in the crowd.
"Look at Great Dragon Lake! What is that?" someone shouted, pointing at the water below.
The twilight glow spilled over the lake, which should have been a beautiful sight, but now everyone’s eyes were fixed on the water. A massive black shadow had appeared beneath the surface in the center of the lake. This shadow was roughly oval, and from a distance, it looked hundreds of yards wide. Even the reflections of the surrounding mountains were not as grand as this shadow.
What was it? A monster? But it was too enormous! Even the stone statue monster in the Sea of Verdant Waves didn't have this kind of volume. Leng Jing realized he might have been caught up in something extraordinary.
"What is that!"
"Waaaah!"
"The Dragon God has manifested!"
The mountain immediately fell into chaos. Some people ran back in terror, some knelt toward the lake in worship, and others screamed.
At that moment, a low, resonant sound echoed from the center of the lake, making ears ache and heads throb. Amidst this sound, the water in the center of the lake churned, and the massive black shadow finally surfaced!
Accompanied by crashing waves, the shadow rose. Finally, its true form was revealed!
It was an unimaginably massive dragon head! It was colossal, as large as several mountains. The dragon's features were terrifying—ferocious and violent, encrusted with lake-bottom shells and rocks. It looked as though it had spent an eternity beneath the waters.
Only the head had emerged. Leng Jing suddenly understood how the Prince must have felt seeing his true form.
*Is this karma? No, my true form is much better looking than this giant head...*
The giant dragon head rolled its gray, lizard-like eyes and slowly opened its maw full of fangs. Because it was so large, even the dark red folds inside its mouth were visible from the mountain. A stench of decay spread as the head emerged, and the crowd fell into a panic, fleeing wildly.
Before the terrified people could react further, the giant dragon head suddenly spat a beam of intense light from its mouth, striking directly toward the fair. Leng Jing dodged quickly; thanks to his speed, he reached the summit in one breath. But when he looked back, he saw that the beam of light had leveled half the mountain behind him.
"Big brother, this way!" a voice called from the summit. He looked up to see the strange girl named Xiao Yu. She stood on a rock ahead of him, waving.
Leng Jing leaped onto the rock, and the girl grabbed him, leading him down the mountain at high speed. The roar of the giant dragon head shook the earth as if it were right behind them, but the girl pulled him along, nimbly distancing them from Mount Dalong. They ran dozens of miles in a single breath—a speed no mortal could possess, let alone a five or six-year-old girl.
Only then did the girl stop, leaning on her knees to catch her breath. She straightened up and asked Leng Jing, "Big brother, you're an adolescent dragon, aren't you?"
"Who are you exactly? And what was that dragon head?" Leng Jing countered.
"Me?" The girl rested her chin on her hand, thinking. "I was originally a small fish. I cultivated for many years to take human form. Later, to escape disaster, I turned into this to pose as a mortal child and hide among humans. As for that dragon head, that was once the Dragon Emperor of the Heavens. Look, this is what he used to look like." As she spoke, she traced a circle of light in the air, which gradually formed an image. It was a man with white hair, proud and peerlessly beautiful. This phantom was the original form of the giant dragon head.
"How did he become a monster?" Leng Jing asked.
The girl wore a mysterious expression and pressed a finger to her lips. "Little dragon, anyone who knows this secret will meet with great misfortune! This is the most classified secret of the Three Realms! If you want me to tell you, it will cost you a trade!"
"What are your terms?"
"I want you to help me leave this place. My power is insufficient; I cannot ride the clouds. You must take me away from here," Xiao Yu said with some urgency.
"Fine, I agree. Tell me first," Leng Jing said.
Xiao Yu nodded and began. "The dragon race is divided into Sky Dragons, Earth Dragons, and Grass Dragons. The dragons of the Heavens are the highest among them, and the monster in Great Dragon Lake was once the Dragon Emperor of the Sky Dragons. The head of the Earth Dragons is the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, while Grass Dragons are wild, low-tier mixed dragons and flood dragons.
"The Sky Dragons are the guardians of the Heavens, the leaders of the Four Symbols, possessing supreme nobility. But decades ago, a change occurred in the Heavens."
"What kind of change?" Leng Jing asked curiously.
Xiao Yu’s eyes filled with fear. "A ring-shaped zone suddenly appeared in the center of the Heavens for unknown reasons. The Heavens were thus divided into an Outer Ring and an Inner Ring. The Inner Ring was sealed and inaccessible, but terrible things happened in the Outer Ring! The celestial beings who happened to be trapped in the Outer Ring began to show symptoms of mutation. Some died horribly on the spot, while others turned into giant monsters! The immortals who weren't infected tried to stop it, but it was futile. They could only seal off the Heavens. However, during the sealing, some infected celestials still leaked out, and some even landed in the mortal realm, causing disasters."
Leng Jing was stunned. Thinking carefully, were the Immortal Hua Yun who turned to stone in the Sea of Verdant Waves, the spiral monster in Qingzhou, and this giant dragon head all celestial beings infected by this strange plague?
He then said, "But one thing—though these celestials turned into monsters, they also gained immense energy. If they landed in the mortal realm, such destructive power should have caused the world to collapse long ago."
"You are very clever, little dragon. Fine, I'll tell you. Perhaps it is the will of fate, but when these monsters land in the mortal realm, they are simultaneously bound by strange barriers. That is to say, their destruction is limited to a fixed circle, and they cannot escape it. But the places chosen as these 'Bound Domains' are also eternally sealed off, which is why I have never been able to leave. But you are different. You have the bloodline of the Primordial Dragon God; you can transcend the barriers. Help me! I really don't want to stay in this terrifying place anymore!" Xiao Yu tugged at his sleeve, pleading.
Leng Jing looked down at her. "According to you, these places chosen as Bound Domains don't actually exist in the eyes of the outside world. Or rather, these places exist in the cracks of time and space. But for me, I can constantly approach or even enter these places, and even those around me can enter the barriers because of me and see these incredible sights."
Xiao Yu looked up and nodded. "That is exactly it."
Leng Jing continued, "The Sea of Verdant Waves where I used to live became a Bound Domain because of Immortal Hua Yun, but the people around me eventually escaped. The city of Qingzhou had just become a Bound Domain, but because I went there, my friends and family were able to peer inside. Now I have wandered into Great Lake Village, so you can follow me out, right?"
Xiao Yu nodded eagerly. "Take me out quickly! The further from here, the better!"
"But I have one question. These so-called Bound Domains appear after a monster shows up. But looking at that dragon head, it seems it has been submerged in the lake for a long time, meaning a Bound Domain was formed here long ago. Why did the people here never notice anything strange? And looking at the situation here, it seems time hasn't moved forward since twilight. And look over there..." Leng Jing pointed to the mountain peak destroyed by the dragon head. Miraculously, it was restoring itself bit by bit, returning to its original state.
Leng Jing said, "Actually, time here is distorted, isn't it? Every day, the same events repeat, and even the people here are bound. Since that's the case, living beings repeat the same actions and memories every day, never knowing the truth, forever stuck in the disastrous moment of being killed and destroyed. Even that monster cannot escape the shackles of time. Therefore, the only ones who can maintain their memory in this environment are anomalies like me. And you—I don't think you are a simple fish immortal."
Xiao Yu’s entire body went stiff, and her voice became shrill and piercing. "I didn't expect you to figure that out! Take me out now! Or I won't tell you the way out!"
Leng Jing replied, "The way out is simply to leave. As long as I wish it, I can leave just by walking away."
"Shut up! You bastard boy!!" Having lost her leverage, Xiao Yu became frantic and enraged. "I will leave this place!" She lunged at Leng Jing.
Leng Jing dodged her. "It's useless to grab me now. Your true body isn't even here; it's impossible for you to leave with me."
Xiao Yu shrieked. The little girl's body floated into the air, and a wisp of green smoke billowed from her mouth, quickly dispersing. After Xiao Yu’s soul left, a new change occurred in Great Dragon Lake. The dragon head sank, and gradually, a rotting, giant fish head emerged. This was Xiao Yu’s true form!
The fish head rose from the lake, its massive size darkening the sky. Only then did Leng Jing see the true face of the monster in Great Dragon Lake. It turned out the giant fish head and the dragon head were joined together—the upper half was a fish, and the lower half was a dragon. It was a grotesque sight.
The behemoth flew toward Leng Jing, seemingly wanting to swallow him whole.
Seeing this, Leng Jing paused for a moment before immediately transforming into his white dragon form and soaring. Unfortunately, the gravity here was too strong, and his speed was much slower. Seeing the behemoth about to crush him, Leng Jing had to use evasive maneuvers to circle it. Many long, flying, flesh-colored worms emerged from the fish's mouth, dancing through the air and adding to the horrific atmosphere.
Leng Jing’s path of retreat was blocked by these flesh-worms. As they were about to bite into him, the "Ugly Little Snake" grew fierce. He stopped running, hovered in mid-air, and roared at the monster. Following Leng Jing’s roar, thick, heavy clouds gathered in the sky, and soon, explosive thunder began to fall.
The lightning grew in intensity until it covered the entirety of Great Lake Village. In an instant, only dazzling flashes and thunder were visible, and only Leng Jing’s wild dragon roar could be heard. The flesh-worms were turned to ash in the lightning array, and the monster was continuously struck by bolts, looking like a fireball emitting violent electric light. This high-density, powerful lightning strike lasted for half an hour before it finally ceased. When the thunder stopped, Great Lake Village and Great Dragon Lake were gone! The hills were leveled, and the lake water had evaporated under the high heat. The behemoth in the air had been struck down into the dry lake bed, now a charred mass.
Two wisps of green smoke drifted from the monster's body, eventually coalescing into two nearly transparent shadows: one was a young maiden, and the other was a handsome white-haired youth—the Dragon Emperor Xiao Yu had shown Leng Jing.
The two flew over hand-in-hand. The girl sighed and said to the Dragon Emperor, "Master, we are finally free."
The Dragon Emperor’s expression was cold. "Xiao Yu, if you hadn't clung to me back then, how would the two of us have ended up fused together like this?"
The girl explained, "To be with Master, I was willing!!"
The Dragon Emperor shook off her hand and floated before Leng Jing. "Anomalous Dragon, I have finally seen you hatch. It was I who personally released you from the Primordial Seal in the Forbidden Lands, hoping you could save the Heavens. I hope you can fulfill this wish for me."
Leng Jing transformed back into human form and said indifferently, "It was my father who found me and hatched me. I have no obligation to risk my life for you."
The Dragon Emperor gave a cold smile. "The plague of the Heavens will eventually spread to the Three Realms. When that time comes, neither you nor your adoptive father will escape. Anomalous Dragon, take care of yourself; do not end up like me." Having said that, he gradually dissipated into nothingness.
The girl burst out laughing. Her previous professions of love were gone, replaced by overwhelming joy. "Haha, hahaha! I'm finally separated from that rotten dragon head! Hahahaha!"
Leng Jing snorted coldly. "Don't you know that his end is your end?"
"What did you say! I won't die! I'm finally free! I'm going to find my happiness! I'm going to find Brother Heavenly Lord, I'm going to find..." The girl argued stubbornly, but she could not resist the fate of vanishing. Her shouting grew quieter and quieter until she disappeared completely.
With the death of the monster, time in Great Lake Village returned to normal, but only scorched earth remained. Leng Jing looked up at the sky and couldn't help but wonder: one day, if that murky color spread across the world, where would there be a place for him and his father?
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
大湖乡 | Great Lake Village | The location of the chapter's events.
大龙湖 | Great Dragon Lake | The lake where the monster was trapped.
卧龙山 | Crouching Dragon Mountain | The mountain where the fair takes place.
回道长 | Daoist Master Hui | The deceased friend of Zi Ling Jushi.
面叶子 | Dough slices | A type of noodle soup made with flat pieces of dough.
天界变故 | Celestial Change | The "plague" or event that caused the mutation of gods.
龙帝 | Dragon Emperor | The former ruler of the Sky Dragons.
束缚之地 | Bound Domain | Pockets of space-time where mutated celestials are trapped.
异龙 | Anomalous Dragon | A term used for Leng Jing, implying he is a unique or variant dragon.
太古封印 | Primordial Seal | The ancient seal Leng Jing was originally kept in.
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