Chapter 937: Binding the Dragon with a Mountain
Falling through the clouds were Bie Yanghong and Wu Qiongbi.
The dust of eighty thousand miles of travel was swept away by the high-altitude gale winds, yet it could not sweep away the heaviness and solemnity in their eyes.
After leaving the Holy Maiden Peak, they had rested briefly, not waiting for their injuries to fully heal before rushing to White Emperor City.
Even as Divine Domain powerhouses, they had paid a considerable price for this, their faces somewhat pale and showing great fatigue.
Standing on the green mountain, Bie Yanghong surveyed the surroundings. His eyes sharpened slightly, and he could clearly see the movements for dozens of miles.
Across the river, White Emperor City was somewhat chaotic. They must have sensed their arrival, as the demon race was urgently mobilizing troops and experts.
Bie Yanghong raised his right hand and loosened his fingers.
Several deep blue ice crystals, carrying boundless chill, rose from his palm. Stirred by the mountain wind, they did not follow the wind's direction.
Those ice crystals, as light as nothing, drifted toward a spot behind the mountain.
Bie Yanghong and Wu Qiongbi followed behind.
Before long, they saw a towering tree over a thousand zhang tall, its crown piercing through the clouds into an unknown height.
The tree was extremely thick. Facing it, it looked like a city wall. At its base was a cave, and inside the cave, a house had been built.
A black-clad girl sat on a stone stool in the room, propping up her chin, looking somewhat melancholy.
Those deep blue ice crystals, as if seeing kin, transformed into several streaks of light and shot toward the black-clad girl.
The black-clad girl sensed this and looked up.
Those deep blue ice crystals drilled into the red mole between her eyebrows and vanished.
The black-clad girl looked at Bie Yanghong and Wu Qiongbi, who appeared afterward, a wary expression appearing on her cold, beautiful little face.
She was a proud and powerful dragon, but she could clearly sense that both of these human experts had the ability to harm her.
Bie Yanghong's gaze moved downward, landing on the black-clad girl's feet. Looking at the iron chain, he frowned slightly.
Seeing the black-clad girl, Wu Qiongbi's expression turned extremely ugly. In her mind, even if Bie Tianxin's death had nothing to do with her, he had ultimately died under her dragon breath. She prepared to step forward and vent her anger, but Bie Yanghong stopped her with a stern look.
"Miss Zhusha, I will find a way to rescue you," Bie Yanghong said to the black-clad girl.
This black-clad girl was naturally the legendary being from beneath the North New Bridge, the guardian of the current Pope, Chen Changsheng.
She had many names. Chen Changsheng liked to call her Zhizhi, but mainland experts of Bie Yanghong's generation still habitually used the name Wang Zhice had given her back then—Zhusha.
Seeing the iron chain at the black-clad girl's feet, Bie Yanghong confirmed that his son's death had nothing to do with her, because she could not leave this green mountain.
Since that was the case, he naturally had to find a way to take her away.
Zhizhi had already guessed the identities of Bie Yanghong and Wu Qiongbi.
This was because Bie Yanghong's little red flower was too famous, and Wu Qiongbi's fly whisk and her equally ugly expression were also quite well-known.
She had been trapped on this cliff for some time and had vaguely guessed something. The day before yesterday, she had even sensed the death of a Divine Domain powerhouse, but she did not know exactly what had happened, nor why these two mainland experts had suddenly appeared here.
Hearing Bie Yanghong's words, she thought for a moment and said, "Then thank you, but it seems a bit difficult."
Bie Yanghong's gaze continued downward, from her ankle deep into the cliff, his expression slightly shifting.
That iron chain appeared to be fastened to a stone eye on the ground, but his eyesight was extraordinary. With just one glance, he saw that the stone eye was actually the topmost part of a stone embryo, and that stone embryo was buried deep at the bottom of the cliff. In other words, this iron chain connected to the entire mountain.
To take the little black dragon away, he would either have to shatter this cliff along with the extremely hard stone embryo inside, or sever the connection between the iron chain and the stone embryo.
The former was not feasible. Although he might be able to do it by unleashing his full cultivation realm, the commotion would be too great, and it would consume a lot of starlight essence, greatly affecting the real battle to come. As for the latter... the connection between the iron chain and the stone embryo clearly had some problem, as if there were an invisible lock.
Bie Yanghong's expression grew serious. "Tiger Cage?"
Zhizhi said, "I don't know what it's called, but that name sounds right."
Bie Yanghong knew it must be correct. The thing locking the iron chain to the stone embryo in the cliff was undoubtedly the legendary demon race forbidden artifact, the Tiger Cage.
This was a forbidden artifact used by the White Emperor clan to punish traitors. The White Emperor clan was born with divine strength, but they could never break free from the Tiger Cage. It was most suitable for imprisoning the little black dragon.
Even for a powerhouse of Bie Yanghong's level, breaking the Tiger Cage was extremely difficult.
However, since it was a forbidden artifact, there must be a key, and that key was now naturally in Madam Mu's hands.
"After I kill her, I'll come to release you," Bie Yanghong said.
Zhizhi said, "Then I truly thank you."
Bie Yanghong suddenly sensed something and turned to look at the sea of clouds beyond the cliff.
Wind came from the sea, stirring the sea of clouds into waves, shaking it restlessly, creating many cracks.
Looking at a patch of meadow appearing in one of those cracks, and the two women on that meadow, Bie Yanghong felt that the saltiness and moisture in the wind had suddenly intensified countless times.
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...
Looking at the somewhat similar features of Madam Mu and Mu Jiushi, Bie Yanghong was silent for a moment, then cupped his hands in greeting.
Madam Mu calmly returned the gesture.
Wu Qiongbi naturally did not bow to her, nor did she speak. She just stared at Mu Jiushi, her gaze extremely venomous, like poisonous fire from deep underground.
No matter how extraordinary Mu Jiushi's family background or how proud her heart, being stared at like this by a Divine Domain powerhouse, and thinking about the matter of Bie Tianxin, she felt guilty. Her body and mind grew cold with fear, and she moved her steps to hide behind Madam Mu.
Bie Yanghong looked at Madam Mu and asked, "Empress, do you intend to protect her?"
Madam Mu said, "This is White Emperor City, and she is my sister. Do you think I would let you touch her?"
Wu Qiongbi pointed at White Emperor City across the sea of clouds and shouted, "Do you think those fools of the demon race can stop my husband and me?!"
Her voice was exceptionally shrill, like two swords constantly grinding against each other.
In comparison, Bie Yanghong's voice was still as warm and gentle, but even more resolute: "The White Emperor is in seclusion. You are alone."
Madam Mu said calmly, "So that's why you rushed here in the shortest time, ignoring your worsening injuries."
Bie Yanghong said, "Yes, I want to ensure that no one arrives faster than us."
Madam Mu's expression remained unchanged as she said, "Do you think that as long as the Western Continent cannot come to aid in time, I will be forced into a situation of one against two?"
Bie Yanghong said, "Correct. This is not a fair contest, but a parent's revenge."
Madam Mu smiled and said, "Then have you considered that my husband, though in seclusion, is by no means cut off from the world? If I were truly about to die, would he still not act? And even if the two of you join forces, are you certain you can defeat me?"
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(My mother has been hospitalized again. In the coming days, it will probably be like the previous half year—I'll write when I have time, and when I don't, I'll let everyone know. Just a heads-up.)