thefictionvixens Chapter 851 Magic Weapon
Chapter 851 Magic Weapon
Long Tian walked to Long Jiao's side, raised his hand and gently tapped her forehead, the touch as light as brushing a feather. His tone carried a hint of helpless indulgence, but his eyes held an unwavering determination: "No. Our mission has a time limit; we can't afford to delay. Look," he pointed to the sun on the horizon outside the window, the red sun already setting in the west, dyeing the clouds a molten gold, "the remaining days are getting shorter and shorter. We still need to find Long Shishen's whereabouts. That guy took the Dragon Clan's most precious treasure, the 'Sea-Stabilizing Pearl,' with him when he defected. That pearl is related to the tides of the four seas. If we can't find it, not only will the clan be in turmoil, but the waters of the three realms may also be thrown into chaos, leading to frequent tsunamis and widespread devastation. This is the most important thing right now; we can't let playing around ruin our important mission."
Long Jiao's shoulders slumped with a "thud," like a punctured balloon, and her once bright eyes instantly welled up with tears. The words of pleading she wanted to say stuck in her throat, like a piece of candy that wouldn't dissolve, swirling around in her mouth, but ultimately she couldn't utter a single word. How could she not know that finding Long Shishen was crucial to the future of the dragon clan? It was crucial to the heavy burden her brother carried? Although she had been having a blast in the mortal realm these past few days—making sugar figurines, listening to storytelling, chasing flower girls halfway down the street—she had always kept the important matter in mind. Occasionally, she would dream of Long Shishen's icy eyes at night, waking up with a start.
Moreover, she knew better than anyone how awkward Long Tian's position was within the clan—born from a collateral branch, he had been ostracized by the main branch's disciples since childhood, receiving pitifully few cultivation resources and being largely disregarded by the elders. The fact that he was given the mission to investigate the Dragon Slayer was only because his father had bravely faced the pressure of being deemed "unfit for the task" and had fought for it at the Dragon Clan Assembly. If he failed the mission, forget about being promoted to Guardian Dragon; he might not even have a place in the Dragon Palace, and his father would be the subject of gossip and criticism within the clan.
If she didn't help her brother stabilize the situation, how could he gain a foothold in the clan and become a capable leader? Long Jiao took a deep breath, blinked hard, and forcefully suppressed the lingering affection that was about to overflow, carefully folding up scattered candy wrappers and tidying them up in her pocket. She looked up at Long Tian, the moisture in her eyes dissipating, replaced by a maturity beyond her years. Her voice was soft, but earnest: "Brother, I'll listen to you. Let's go. After we find Long Shishen, retrieve the Dinghai Pearl, and complete the mission, maybe... maybe the elders will be happy and give us a few days off. Then we can come back, eat the osmanthus cake from that shop in the south of the city, and watch the shadow puppet show by the old artist at the street corner, okay?"
Long Tian had expected his younger sister to cry and plead a few more times, and he had prepared a whole host of persuasive words in his mind, from clan rules to responsibilities, from the importance of the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl to the safety of the Three Realms. He hadn't expected her to understand so quickly. A hint of relief flashed in his eyes. He reached out and ruffled her hair, smoothing the stray strands from her forehead as he had done when they were children. His fingertips touched the silk flower tucked in her hair—the same one she had pestered him to buy at the market yesterday, a delicate pink that still carried the warmth of the sun. "Alright," he replied, his voice softening, "we should set off. Pack your things, and we'll be on our way."
Long Jiao nodded and turned to rummage through the small bundle she had embroidered with lotus blossoms. Her mother had sewn it for her before she left; it was made of light green satin with gold thread embroidered along the edges. Now, she spread it out on the table and carefully stuffed in the little trinkets she couldn't bear to part with: a string of dyed beaded flowers, which she had pestered a peddler at the temple fair to buy; a small string of red, green, and blue beads that reflected a faint light when shaken; half a sesame brittle, wrapped tightly in oil paper, the aroma of roasted sesame wafting through the air; and her beloved glass bracelet, pale purple, seemingly shrouded in mist, which she carefully slipped onto her wrist, afraid of breaking it while walking.
Although she still felt a pang of reluctance, like being gently scratched by a cat's paw—itchy and sore—she knew that completing the mission with her brother and retrieving the Dinghai Pearl was the most important thing right now. She picked up her bundle, slung it over her shoulder, and looked up at Long Tianyang with a smile, though that smile still held a hint of longing for the simple pleasures of life.
Long Jiao nodded vigorously, her joy instantly replaced by solemnity—she knew better than anyone that finding the Dragon Slayer was a matter of life and death for the entire dragon race, and this mission was always the top priority. Her earlier playful mood in the mortal realm was completely suppressed, her heart heavy with an inescapable sense of responsibility.
The brother and sister were enveloped in a faint golden light, their forms vanishing as they transformed into two streaks of light, weaving through the thick clouds. The human world below gradually shrank into blurry specks of light, leaving only the rolling mountains and the vast, surging sea of clouds. Yet, the signature, bloodthirsty aura of Dragon Slayer remained nowhere to be seen, as if he had never existed in this world at all.
Long Jiao couldn't help but frown, her dragon whiskers trembling slightly. She looked at Long Tian beside her and said, "Brother, we've already swept across the East Sea, the Southern Ridge, and even the ice plains of the far north. How come we can't even detect the aura of Long Shishen? This vast world is boundless. Where are we supposed to look?" She remembered that when Long Shishen betrayed the Dragon Clan, he was severely injured by her father with his life-bound dragon essence, damaging his soul. His aura should have carried a trace of incomplete violence and the chaos of his dragon essence dissipating. But now, after sweeping across the land, there wasn't even the slightest similar fluctuation. It was as if a stone had sunk into the sea.
Long Tian gazed at the churning clouds in the distance, where flashes of lightning occasionally pierced the depths. His expression was as deep and unfathomable as a still pool. "The original plan was to find Long Si first. He was Long Shishen's closest attendant back then, inseparable from him. He must know Long Shishen's hiding place. We could capture him and force him to hand over the man. But the elders we sent to investigate a few days ago reported back that Long Si has long since disappeared. Even his hidden cave in the mortal realm is empty. Clearly, Long Shishen hid him beforehand, cutting off this lead."
He paused, a hint of helplessness in his voice, and traced a dragon pattern in the air with his fingertip: "It seems we have no choice but to use that treasure."
Long Jiao's eyes lit up, and she instantly perked up, her tail unconsciously swishing in the clouds: "Brother, you have another way? What kind of treasure is it? If you have a way, why didn't you use it from the beginning?"
Long Tian turned to look at his sister, his eyes filled with complex emotions, a hint of hesitation, yet also a hint of determination: "You don't know this, but that treasure is called the 'Dragon Tracing Mirror,' a divine artifact left behind by the ancient dragon race. It can reflect past traces related to the target. No matter how deeply the target hides, as long as they have left a trace in this world, they can be captured by the mirror's light."