thefictionvixens Chapter 889 Withdrawal
Chapter 889 Withdrawal
Long Tian practically fled the cave, hurrying back to Long Jiao's residence. His sister was guarding the defensive formation, her fingertips forming hand seals, slowly calming the chaotic spiritual energy. He grabbed her wrist, recounting everything that had just happened, not even missing the luster of the Ancestral Dragon's scales and the starry river in its pupils when it appeared. His voice still carried lingering fear: "Sister, I think this is too risky! Although the Ancestral Dragon is of noble status, he has been lying low among the dragon clan for so many years, and his thoughts are unfathomable. If we rashly agree, we might get burned and be used as pawns!" His brows were furrowed, his heart filled with worries, and his palms were sweating.
Long Jiao fell into deep thought, her fingertips tapping lightly on the cold stone table. After a while, she raised her head, the confusion in her eyes fading, leaving only clear and resolute eyes: "Brother, have you thought about it? Why did the Ancestral Dragon specifically seek us out? Those old fogies in the clan are hopelessly conservative, clinging to their titles and waiting to die. Only we still hold some real power, and our personal guards are all brave and courageous men. If he can truly lead the Dragon Clan to revival, then us acting as his inside agents might not be a bad thing." Her gaze was sharp as a knife. "Besides, he is the Ancestral Dragon, the root of the Dragon Clan. Even if he has other intentions, he wouldn't destroy the foundation of the Dragon Clan. Let's take a gamble; perhaps this is the Dragon Clan's only turning point, and also our chance."
Looking at the light dancing in his sister's eyes, and recalling the domineering aura of the Ancestral Dragon, as well as the suffocating rules of the clan, Long Tian's heart began to tip. After a long while, he nodded heavily, his voice filled with a resolute determination: "Alright, I'll listen to you! But we must be careful. We can't listen to him completely. We must not hand over military power, and we must not touch the elderly, weak, women, or children of the clan."
Long Jiao nodded in agreement, drawing a simple array diagram on the stone table with her fingertips: "I will plant spies within the clan, so that we can immediately take control of the situation should he make any unusual moves."
The brother and sister exchanged a glance, both seeing a do-or-die determination in each other's eyes. After all, Long Shishen's identity was undeniable, and this might be their only chance to tear open the corrupt veil within their clan. Even if it meant facing mountains of knives and seas of fire, they had to brave it.
The next morning, Long Tian and Long Jiao came to Long Shishen together, their postures as upright as pine trees, and said in unison, "We agree to be inside agents. But we have conditions—after the mission is accomplished, the primary goal must be the revival of the Dragon Clan. We can eliminate the parasites, but we must not indiscriminately kill innocent people, especially women, children, the elderly and weak."
Long Shishen slowly opened his eyes, a satisfied gleam flashing in his golden pupils, like a spark igniting a prairie fire: "Naturally. What I want is a powerful dragon race that can soar through the heavens and awe all races, not a scorched earth and vengeful spirits."
The moment the three parties reached a consensus, the air inside the cave seemed to freeze, carrying the heavy weight of an impending storm. The ancient runes on the stone walls faintly glowed, as if witnessing this historic moment. A storm concerning the future of the dragon race was quietly brewing in a corner unknown to anyone, waiting only for the opportune moment to sweep across the heavens and the earth.
Dragon Slayer's gaze fell upon Long Tian, his golden vertical pupils swirling in the mist, revealing not a trace of emotion. Deep within this misty forest, miasma swirled like a veil, obscuring the tips of towering ancient trees, yet it could not conceal the dragon's might emanating from him—a pressure originating from the depths of his bloodline, causing the surrounding demonic plants to subconsciously tuck their branches and leaves.
Although Long Tian's strength was far inferior to his, he was currently the backbone of this group of demons. During the previous human attack, it was he who led the demons in a desperate retreat, barely managing to hold onto this last stronghold. Ultimately, he had to make the decisions on many matters.
"Tell me, what are your plans for the next step?" Long Shishen's voice was not loud, but it was like thunder rolling across the ground, causing ripples to spread through the mist.
Long Jiao stood to the side, her tail tip unconsciously sweeping across the pebbles on the ground, her claws carving deep marks into a piece of bluestone. She truly hadn't expected that this ancestor, who only existed in the legends of the clan elders, would be so powerful—that attack just now, a mere casual swing of her claws, had sent the white-robed human swordsman flying, coughing up blood and crashing into three ancient trees. That power still lingered in her mind, making her breath catch in her throat.
Looking at Long Shishen's profile covered in dark gold scales, she couldn't help but feel uneasy: Was it right or wrong for her to go against the majority and advocate for joining forces with this suddenly appearing ancestor? Would his power also mean that he was difficult to control?
Long Tian had no time to ponder these matters. He took a step forward, his animal hide armor still stained with undried blood—scars inflicted by human talismans while protecting the fox cubs. "Senior, we don't have time to think about anything else right now," he said urgently, his tail trembling slightly with anxiety. "The immediate problem is that we're trapped in this Misty Forest, surrounded by human cultivators, each wielding magical artifacts, having laid a trap. They know we demon cultivators aren't skilled in formations, and they're waiting for us to exhaust ourselves before breaking out so they can wipe us all out! Tell me, how do we break through?"
After listening, Long Shishen chuckled softly. The laughter wasn't like a dragon's roar, but rather like ancient rocks clashing, rough yet carrying an undeniable majesty: "I thought it was something momentous, but it's just this little trouble." He raised his paw and pointed to the edge of the forest, where faint spiritual light flickered—the aura of human magical artifacts. "These few humans can't stop me. If you want to get out, I'll take you."
As soon as he finished speaking, a rustling sound came from the side. The monkey demon, whose hind leg had been pierced by a human arrow, limped over, leaning on a broken ancient tree branch. Its fur was matted with blood, and its left eye was swollen; it had clearly just crawled out of a pile of corpses.
"Dragon... Senior Dragon!" The monkey demon looked at Dragon Slayer and knelt down with a "plop," its front paws gripping the soil tightly. Its voice was choked with sobs. "We little demons lost most of our brothers trying to help you fight off the humans! In that surprise attack just now, they burned down our monkey clan's caves with fire talismans, and the cubs... all the cubs are gone!"
It raised its head, blood and tears streaming down its face: "We've sacrificed so much, you can't just leave us like this! Please have mercy and take us with you! If we stay here, once the mist clears, we'll be captured by humans sooner or later, skinned alive, and our inner cores will be used to make magical artifacts!"
Long Shishen glanced at it, his eyes devoid of emotion. These little demons were weak, the strongest of whom had only just transformed into human form; they were of no use to him, and keeping them around would only be a burden. But then he thought back to the human attack earlier, when these little creatures had indeed fought desperately—a fox spirit had used illusions to lure away the cultivators, a wild rabbit demon had risked its life to dig a pit to trip the horses, and even the most timid hedgehog had raised its quills and bitten a cultivator's ankle tightly.