Escape

The night hung low.

The streetlights swayed in the wind, then steadied. Tang Wulin walked behind Xie Xie, the rabbit ears hanging from Xie Xie's pocket and lightly tapping against the outside of his knee with each step. The street was empty, tree shadows joining together on both sides. Occasionally, wind slipped through the branches and cast scattered flickers across the pavement.

A tall black silhouette stood in the shadows at the mouth of an alley to their left.

Tang Wulin saw it. He did not stop walking, but his gaze locked onto that direction. The figure neither moved nor left, merely standing in the darkness like a hunter stalking prey.

After a few more steps, the person walked out of the alley. Streetlight washed over him piece by piece—first his shoulders, then his chest. A hood covered most of his face, leaving only a pale, bloodless chin exposed.

"Wu Changkong's disciple?" The voice was low, carrying along the walls beside the street.

Tang Wulin stopped. So did Xie Xie.

He looked at Tang Wulin's back, a sound just leaving his mouth before it could take shape.

"Run!" Tang Wulin shouted. Almost instantly, the Golden Dragon Spear flew from his hand like a shooting star.

Xie Xie had already taken a step as he turned.

A ring of dark-red ripples spread from the man's palm, racing forward along the ground. Wherever it passed, the streetlights dimmed. Xie Xie slowed, his body swaying as his knees buckled and he fell sideways onto the ground. The rabbit slipped from his pocket and landed beside his hand, its ears askew.

A faint layer of golden light lit across Tang Wulin's skin as the Golden Dragon Tyrant Body activated. When the dark-red ripples struck him, he felt as though something had slapped heavily against his chest. Weakness seeped in through his skin, sank beneath it, and dragged downward. The Golden Dragon Tyrant Body was still active, but its effect was negligible.

Gu Yue stood behind him. Silver-violet light rose around her, forming a small halo that covered all three of them.

When the dark-red ripples struck the barrier, they were like water hitting a wall, sliding around its edges. A ring of dark-red marks remained on the ground around her feet before slowly fading.

The man tilted his head, his gaze passing over Tang Wulin and landing behind him. "You can actually block my Mass Weakening?" There was a trace of surprise in his voice.

Gu Yue did not answer. She raised her right hand and spread her fingers. Silver-violet light gathered tighter and tighter between them, and the light within that small patch of her palm began to distort, as though something in her grasp was swallowing it. Her fingers closed. Tang Wulin's vision was torn apart and stitched back together. When it steadied, he was already standing on another street.

Xie Xie lay beside him, breathing evenly.

The man chased after them.

He ran more than a dozen steps in the direction Gu Yue had vanished, moving swiftly as the hem of his dark-red robe fluttered in the wind and its ribbons streamed straight behind him.

Then—

He stopped and turned his head toward the end of the street, sensing something. Another aura was approaching. It was stronger, slower, as though someone was rushing this way with even greater urgency. He knew very well that if he faced that unknown monster, he would die horribly.

He glanced toward where Tang Wulin had disappeared. "They're all that bastard's disciples. Whoever I kill is the same."

He turned and chased after Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin crouched and rolled Xie Xie halfway over so he lay face-up. The rabbit had fallen beside his knee, so Tang Wulin bent down, picked it up, and tucked it back into Xie Xie's pocket. When he stood, he saw the dark-red figure at the far end of the street had already turned toward them.

The distance was still considerable, but he was moving. Every step he took shortened it.

Dragon wings spread from Tang Wulin's back.

Golden light flashed across the wings. He slid backward, his soles scraping a shallow trail across the ground, then swiftly picked up Xie Xie.

The night wind poured beneath his wings, filling the membranes. The dark-red blood arrow had already caught up, flying low along the ground and leaving a scorched mark wherever it passed. He twisted aside, and it grazed his sleeve, charring and curling the edge.

The second blood arrow arrived, faster than the first. The Golden Dragon Tyrant Body lit up around his shoulder, and dark-golden light barely intercepted it. The blood arrow burst into a dark-red mist three inches before his shoulder. A rusty smell rushed into his nostrils, and the air grew hot.

The third arrow sliced in from the side at an incredibly strange angle.

When his wing met it, the blood arrow struck the wing membrane with a brief sizzling sound, leaving a shallow scorch mark with curled edges. The impact forced him half a step sideways. Air swept past him, taking some of his warmth with it.

He had barely regained his balance when the fourth arrived. It came from directly ahead. He had no time to fully gather the Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and the blood arrow slammed into the spot beneath his collarbone. His balance was knocked aside, and he staggered back two steps before steadying himself. His school uniform tore at the shoulder, revealing golden light beneath—the Trunk Bone had blocked it for him.

Even without injury, the immense impact instantly cut off his breath, as though something had clogged his chest before he could breathe again. He panted, the flapping of his dragon wings slowing. Each beat grew more strenuous.

The fifth blood arrow was still gathering. He could see the dark-red light at the black-clad man's fingertips slowly growing larger.

"What do I do?" Tang Wulin panted, the edges of his vision beginning to darken. He could hear his own heartbeat, thundering beneath his eardrums.

The Golden Dragon King's voice suddenly rang through his mind. "It is time. Let us see the strength of this branch master of the Spirit Pagoda."

A dark-golden glow lit up in the depths of the Sea of Spirit. The sealed body was stripped from the formation, spun half a turn in midair, and landed on the ground.

Armor covered his entire body, filling every gap between its plates. Dark-golden light seeped from the armor's surface for an instant before withdrawing.

Because of the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, he now possessed the right to wield the Golden Dragon Spear as well.

His right hand grasped at empty air. The Golden Dragon Spear tore through space and formed in his hand, its tip aimed at the black-clad man. The dark-red light at the man's fingertips had only just taken shape when he saw the golden-armored figure rise from behind Tang Wulin. His movement paused for a beat.

"Reinforcements?" Confusion colored his voice, but the blood arrow had already left his hand.

The golden-armored figure raised his left hand in a loose grasp. The blood arrow stopped three inches from him, trembling in midair before shattering into dark-red dust.

He swung his right hand. The Golden Dragon Spear carved a shallow trench through the ground, and golden radiance rose from its blade, plowing a line across the pavement. It split the road open in a deep gash as it surged toward the black-clad man's feet.

The black-clad man stepped back. The blood mist around him suddenly contracted—not by his own will, but under the pressure of an outside force, as if an invisible hand had clenched around it.

It tightened and tightened. Fine creaking sounds came from the shrinking blood mist, like something compressed too tightly and about to shatter. He moved his arm and found that he could not lift it. His hand remained in its previous posture, his foot frozen in the arc of its earlier step, as though he had been pinned from all sides.

He tried to break free. His shoulders strained, his neck twisted, and the veins in his neck bulged before subsiding, but the restraint did not move in the slightest.

Tang Wulin stood behind the golden-armored figure, the blood and qi within his body draining even faster than before.

"Kill him," Tang Wulin said. His voice was softer than he had expected, as if squeezed from deep in his throat.

The Golden Dragon King answered immediately. "No. Let him go."

"What?" Tang Wulin frowned deeply.

"Your blood and qi are already depleted. The Silver Dragon and her people will arrive soon. He can no longer move. Killing him will not benefit you—or us—in the slightest, whether in terms of identity or circumstance."

Tang Wulin fell silent for a moment, the light in his eyes dimming.

He closed his eyes and released that breath, his body falling backward. His back struck the ground with a jolt, and his consciousness sank into the dark-golden light.

The golden-armored figure released his grasp, dissolving into threads of light together with the Golden Dragon Spear.

When Gu Yue landed at the end of the street, she saw Tang Wulin lying on his back. Xie Xie was slumped sideways not far away, breathing steadily.

She hurried over and crouched down. Her fingers paused beneath Tang Wulin's nose for an instant, confirming he was breathing before she lowered her hand. She watched him for a while, tucked her windblown hair behind her ear, then gently pulled him up and let him lean against her shoulder.

Bi Ji crouched beside Tang Wulin and carefully sensed above his wrist with her fingertips. "He's fine. His Soul Power is exhausted. He isn't injured."

Gu Yue said nothing. Her hand fell onto his school uniform, her fingers pausing when they touched the fabric.

"Your Majesty, I think now is..."

Before Bi Ji could finish, Gu Yue cut her off, her voice devoid of warmth.

"I naturally know what I should and should not do." Gu Yue knew that even if the Golden Dragon King had not lost control, he would surely still be bound by layer upon layer of shackles. Forcing them apart now held little meaning for her.

It would be better to first investigate the limits of the human world and see just what level they had reached.

"Then this subordinate shall take her leave first." Bi Ji knelt on one knee.

Gu Yue said nothing more, silently allowing her to disappear from sight.

The streetlights remained lit, shining over the three of them.

She glanced aside. Xie Xie's school uniform had folded up where he lay, exposing a strip of his waist. She reached out and smoothed the hem down.

Then she pulled him out of Tang Wulin's arms. Not that she tossed him aside.

The ground was too hard and uncomfortable. That was her reason, so she claimed most of Tang Wulin for herself and left Xie Xie with only one arm.

Sea of Spirit.

"Why didn't you let me kill him?" Even Tang Wulin himself had not realized how wrong his emotions were at that moment.

"Kill him?" The Golden Dragon King's voice paused slightly, as though weighing the words in his mouth. He leaned against the throne, one hand supporting his chin, his crimson eyes half-lidded. His tone carried an unhurried undertone. "Kid, I know you hate them to the bone. But have you considered why the Holy Spirit Cult sent only such a minor figure to monitor Wu Changkong in East Sea?"

Tang Wulin stood where he was. His breathing had calmed, but the breath in his chest had not fully loosened. After a moment of silence, he said, "...Because they're afraid?"

"Afraid?" The Golden Dragon King turned to look at him, something between mockery and patience in his gaze. "With their power, background, and foundation, would the Holy Spirit Cult fear such a thing? Who do you think they truly fear—Wu Changkong, Long Bing, or you children who have not even gathered all your soul rings?"

Tang Wulin did not respond.

The Golden Dragon King continued, "Yun Ming. Master of the Sea God Pavilion. So long as he remains at Shrek for even one day, the Holy Spirit Cult will not dare make any major moves within Eastsea City. They fear him, not you, nor that blue-haired teacher of yours."

He paused, and the light in his pupils dimmed, as though something were sinking deeper. "But—if we killed that observer today, the Holy Spirit Cult would lose its eyes in East Sea. What do you think they would do?"

Tang Wulin's back tightened slightly.

The Golden Dragon King looked at him. His tone did not grow harsher, but every word landed firmly. "In war, if there is a region you cannot observe, cannot win over, yet have the power to destroy—would you simply leave it alone?"

He was not asking Tang Wulin. He sounded as though he were recounting something that had already happened, something he had seen with his own eyes.

Tang Wulin's breathing paused. He said nothing, merely standing there with his gaze lowered toward the floor ahead, as though turning that consequence over and over in his mind. He truly had no confidence that he could completely prevent war from breaking out.

The Golden Dragon King's voice lowered. "The safety of one's people is the foundation of all development. Whether you hate them or not, that will not change. Just like the soul beasts now on the verge of extinction—they do not lack powerful beings. But if war truly begins, their people will gain nothing from it."

Tang Wulin stood in the middle of the great hall. Only after a long while did he speak. "...I understand."

"You still have much to learn. Even counting your previous life, you are still only a twenty-something... child."