Chapter 173 She is taking revenge on them

Achan's figure appeared in the darkness. She walked towards Zhou Ning, while Bai Xiuming followed slowly behind her with his hands in his pockets.

When she walked up to Zhou Ning, her lips were deathly pale and her face was even more unsightly.

Ah Chan crouched down to look her in the eye: "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright." Zhou Ning blinked, her weak voice tinged with joy. "Thank you for coming."

Suffering day after day in the village, she was almost in despair. She never imagined that she would actually see that sliver of hope.

"You're welcome. They're just disgusting enough that I don't want them to have an easy time either."

Achan looked up at the dense red threads wrapped around the dragon's body and asked, "Is it because of these red threads and those four stone tablets that you can't return to your body?"

“Yes,” Zhou Ning told her, “These red threads are soaked in the blood of the villagers down the mountain, every single one of them. If there is a newborn child, they will tie the red thread that belongs to that child.”

Achan frowned but did not interrupt her.

Zhou Ning looked at the stone tablets not far away and continued, "These stone tablets are also covered with their blood, and they have to be repainted many times every year. They used the villagers to set up an array to trap my soul in this body."

She used to be innocent and naive, but after living in Bailong Village for ten years and spending every day and night with them, she has learned everything she needs to know.

She knew that Xia Xun's ancestors were not ordinary people, but they had fallen on hard times and moved to this village.

After a so-called sacrificial ceremony, she was imprisoned in an underground palace. Under the ladder, she overheard him and the village chief saying that the reason she was trapped was because of his ancestors.

He said that his ancestors had developed a special formation for targeting dragons, and later generations used their knowledge to complete the formation. By the time of his great-grandfather, he was obsessed with using the formation to capture a dragon and change his fate, so he went everywhere to search for the dragon's tracks. In the end, he finally found the dragon, but was swept by its tail and seriously injured.

Unexpectedly, he was the one who fulfilled this wish in the end, and he did not fail his ancestors.

By then, Zhou Ning no longer felt angry when she heard their words; she only felt mockery. How could she have thought Xia Xun was a kind child back then?

"If we destroy the stone tablet and sever the red thread, the formation can be broken, right?" Achan's voice brought Zhou Ning back from his reverie.

“Yes.” Zhou Ning nodded hurriedly, “But these red lines can’t be cut with scissors, and the stone tablet seems to be rooted in the ground.”

Achan got up, walked to a stone tablet, raised her hand and tried to push it, but it didn't budge.

Her gaze shifted downwards, and the red thread on the dragon's body was divided into four parts. One of the bundles was pressed under the stone tablet, taut and made of what appeared to be ordinary cotton thread, but thicker.

Ah Chan searched her body for a while and finally found only the reverse scale. She thought it was sturdy enough, so she tested it with the scale.

She slashed down with the dragon scales, and as soon as the scales touched the red thread, they made a piercing screeching sound. After a while, she removed the dragon scales, and the red thread was undamaged.

"It's really sturdy."

Zhou Ning turned his head to look in A Chan's direction, watching her busy in front of the stone tablet. His tense emotions suddenly relaxed.

In her vision, Achan still appeared as a human, but behind her were eight tails. Although they were just phantoms, Zhou Ning recognized them as fox tails.

At this moment, those tails were wagging happily. Clearly, Achan was not troubled by the formation; on the contrary, she became even more interested.

After trying, Achan didn't continue to make things difficult for herself. Instead, she turned around and waved, "Bai Xiuming, come here quickly."

He looked like he was about to show him something good.

Bai Xiuming strode over to A Chan's side. Before he could make a move, A Chan grabbed his right hand and touched the back of his hand with her other hand. She looked up at him with a fawning smile and said, "Lord Bai, the time to test you has come."

Although other methods could probably break this formation, they would take time to research. Now that there is the simplest and most brainless method, of course we should use it.

Ah Chan was secretly pleased; the most thorough preparation she had made today was Bai Xiuming.

After being taken advantage of for a while, Bai Xiuming finally bent down and grasped Achan's hand holding the Reverse Scale. As Achan's hand moved, the scale once again slid across the red line, making a constant cracking sound, until finally, the force resisting the scale completely disappeared.

In the blink of an eye, all the red lines suppressing the stone tablet broke. Then, Bai Xiuming's left hand grasped her other hand and pushed it towards the stone tablet.

The stone tablet, which had been perfectly still, suddenly developed a crack after her fingers touched it. The crack extended downwards, branching out and spreading out in countless fissures that covered the stone tablet.

Finally, the character "镇" (zhen, meaning "town") on the stone tablet flickered twice before fading completely.

The next moment, the stone tablet cracked and shattered into countless pieces, with several pieces rolling down to Achan's feet and turning into stones that could be seen everywhere.

Achan was very satisfied with the result. Her eyebrows curved into a smile. Suddenly, she heard Bai Xiuming ask in her ear, "Is it easy for me to use?"

“It’s so easy to use.” Achan answered without hesitation. She turned her head and whispered in Bai Xiuming’s ear, “Lord Bai, you are so amazing.”

"Verbal praise is not enough."

Bai Xiuming lowered his eyes to look at the delicate face so close to his, and the slightly upturned red lips. His eyes darkened, and he decided to treat himself.

The moment their noses touched, Achan quickly raised her hand, pressed her fingers to his lips, and glanced at Zhou Ning. Seeing that he didn't seem to notice their actions, she whispered, "Don't do anything reckless. Xiaolong isn't an adult yet."

Bai Xiuming grabbed her hand and squeezed it, his tone displeased: "She might be older than your grandfather."

"That won't work either."

As the two were talking, Zhou Ning, who was sitting next to the dragon, suddenly went limp and fell to the ground without a sound. At the same time, the dragon's body, which had been coiled together, suddenly undulated slightly, and then the dragon opened its eyes.

Her eyes were grayish-white, as if covered by a membrane, preventing her from observing the outside world through them.

With only one corner of the formation broken, Zhou Ning successfully returned to his body.

At this moment, all she could see was darkness, yet it made her feel exceptionally at ease. Even the continuous pain emanating from her body made her happy.

She returned to her body.

She stretched out her body, her four paws supporting her on the ground, her head tilted back and her tail swishing. With her body covered in mottled patches and missing most of her dragon scales, she was hardly majestic.

Achan could sense her joy at that moment.

Achan was pulled to her feet by Bai Xiuming. After the little dragon twisted and turned and got used to her body, she spoke up: "So, are we leaving here now?"

Xiaolong turned her head toward the direction of the sound. She couldn't see it, but she could sense that Achan was standing there through her divine sense. As for the other person, she couldn't sense him.

Having been trapped in Zhou Ning's body for more than ten years, her soul was gradually weakening. However, after her soul merged with her body, she discovered that her divine sense was several times stronger than before.

Now her consciousness can leave her body, allowing her to sense the slightest movement around her. Although not as effective as her eyesight, it's not so bad that she can't determine her direction.

After the initial joy, she remembered to answer Achan's question, saying, "I don't want to leave like this."

Despite being a massive dragon, her voice was as crisp and clear as a little girl's. Just as Achan said, she was not yet an adult; to the dragon race, she was still a cub.

"If you don't want to leave, then what do you want to do to them?" Achan asked with great interest.

Xiao Long fell silent for a while before speaking, his voice somewhat dejected: "They used to treat me very well."

Ah Chan recalled what she saw in her dream and nodded. In the first half of that dream, the villagers of Bailong Village were indeed not bad people.

They were friendly and hospitable, and even now, if outsiders were to judge them, they would still be considered good people.

But people are complex; they have many facets. And human nature can never withstand the test.

“I will give them a chance.” Xiaolong lay back on the ground. “They saved me before. I will give them a chance to choose. If anyone makes a different choice after the same experience, I will let them go.”

"Through entering a dream?" Achan asked.

Xiaolong probably has a talent for this; she can make people dream with just a single scale. Now that she's free, controlling the dreams of the villagers of Bailong Village should be a piece of cake.

“Hmm.” The dragon head nodded. “If they make the same decision as before, they will come to this temple and stand before me; otherwise, they will not stay in the village.”

Achan was very interested in the test proposed by Xiaolong. She wanted to know how many people would stay in the village, or if none of them would.

She said enthusiastically, "Let's start now, and I can wait with you to see the results."

"good."

Xiaolong closed his eyes. At that moment, the rain above Bailong Village suddenly intensified, and the raindrops pounded on the muddy, uneven ground, creating bubbles.

The bubble burst, and a wisp of water mist drifted out.

Before long, the entire Bailong Village was shrouded in white mist.

At this moment, the village was quiet, and the villagers were fast asleep at home. The sound of rain outside did not wake them, but instead accompanied them into their sweet dreams.

Water vapor seeped into the room through the cracks in the doors and windows, and then entered their nasal cavities with their breath.

The villagers had a dream, though they didn't yet know that they all had the same dream: a wounded dragon fell from the mountain behind the village.

That was the first time they had ever seen a living dragon, not in legends or stories.

Encouraged by the village chief, they took out their family's grain and the herbs they had painstakingly picked from the mountain, which they had originally intended to sell for money, to save the dragon.

Soon after, the dragon recovered and was ready to leave the village.

Before leaving, she said she wanted to leave a water source for the water-scarce village, so that the villagers would have an inexhaustible supply of water and would not die of thirst even in drought. This news made the whole village excited.

Then, Xia found the village chief, who said he could let Bailong stay in the village forever.

He said that dragons are very powerful, and even the scales that fall from their bodies are extremely precious treasures.

With the dragon staying in their village, no demons or monsters dared to approach. With her there, the area around their village would enjoy favorable weather and abundant harvests year after year, and they would no longer have to worry about water or food shortages.

Dragons have such long lifespans; they only stayed in the village for a short time. They saved her, so it's not unreasonable for her to give them some insignificant reward.

And it's just to keep her here, not to hurt her.

The village chief, who had been overjoyed about the water eye just moments before, hesitated. He couldn't make a decision immediately, so he consulted with several respected elders in the village.

The elders were also unable to make a decision.

Eventually, the whole village knew the news.

They listened to Xia Xun in silence, no one uttering a sound at first, until someone in the crowd shouted, "Leave Bai Long here."

Then more and more people began to agree, believing that as long as Bai Long was spared, they could gain even more. Xia Xun was right; they had saved Bai Long, and trapping her for a short time was their way of repaying her.

They didn't do it on purpose; life was just too hard for them.

They will release her soon, in just a few years... a few decades. When they are all gone, the next generation will release the white dragon.

Xia Xun said that as long as their blood is used to dye the cotton thread red and wrap it around the white dragon, the white dragon will form a bond with everyone in the village and stay for them.

He didn't tell them how he would keep the white dragon.

But on that day, everyone in the village cut their palms, collected their blood in bowls, and handed them to Xia Xun.

The dream ended, and the scene in the dream froze, faded, and then collapsed.

Everyone made the exact same choice as before, even the children born later who didn't experience the initial scene, donated their blood in their dreams, just like their choices in reality.

The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier. The villagers, who had been sleeping soundly, became like unconscious zombies. They got out of bed barefoot and walked up the back mountain in the pouring rain, heading towards the White Dragon Temple.

Everyone in the village, young and old, was included.

Bai Xiuming led A Chan out of the underground palace, and Xiao Long broke open the entrance to the underground palace and crawled out as well.

Achan sat on a prayer mat in front of the main hall, waiting. Outside the temple, Xia Xun stood there with a blank stare.

Achan glanced at him once and then looked away. He was just an ordinary person with wicked intentions.

After a short while, more and more people came into her view.

There was the old man who made the dough dragon that she had seen during the day, the old lady who had spoken to her, the boy she had seen playing by the river, and the village chief's family.

Xiao Long's big head rested next to A Chan, and she said sadly, "Everyone is here."

They bound her with red threads stained with their own blood, but this also connected them to her.

When she returned to her body, she was able to sense them and even control them.

When they tried to trap a dragon, they probably didn't realize that the moment the dragon broke free, they would no longer be the ones holding the shackles.

Looking at the crowded village, Achan stood up from the prayer mat, dusted off her skirt, and thought, "Despicable people never disappoint me."

Achan didn't ask Xiaolong how he would treat them, but simply patted her big head and said, "I'm leaving here when it's light. Will the rain stop then?"

Xiao Long nodded: "It will stop. Tomorrow will definitely be a good day."

Achan's lips curved into a smile, and she handed over the reverse scale she had been holding: "Your scale."

Xiao Long blinked, his tone full of solemnity: "This is my Achilles' heel. If you ever need me in the future, you can use it to find me, and I can do anything for you."

Achan touched her still-growing dragon horns and said, "Alright, I'll come find you, but only after you've grown up."

Little Dragon moved its big head and gently rubbed against Achan's palm.

She said, "Goodbye, Ah Chan."

"goodbye."

Achan and Bai Xiuming passed by the dense crowd, the White Dragon Temple receding further and further away from them, until finally, the temple completely merged with the darkness.

The next morning, the sun shone brightly and the sky was a clear blue; the heavy rain of the previous night had washed the sky clean.

It was already dawn when the caravan left the village. Just like when they were welcomed into the village, Zhou Huai personally saw them off again. Besides him, there were several teenagers who surrounded the caravan and told Lie Xian to bring more sweets from the capital next time they came.

As the carriage drove away from the village, Achan leaned out and looked back, seeing them standing behind the stone tablet inscribed with "White Dragon Village," gazing in the direction of the convoy.

Behind them, wisps of smoke rose from the houses as the villagers welcomed a new day.

After seeing the caravan off, Zhou Huai returned home. Wu Shi brought the prepared food to the table, and the family sat around it. They waited for the village chief to start eating before they began to eat themselves.

At the dinner table, the village chief asked Zhou Huai, "It's been raining for most of the night, hasn't it?"

Zhou Huai nodded: "Yes, the rain was very heavy this time, and the cowshed was flooded."

The village chief, however, smiled broadly and said repeatedly, "Good, good, with such good rainfall, this year's harvest will definitely be good."

Zhou Huai also laughed: "There are many more people from other villages coming to buy offerings this time. After the White Dragon Festival, we can buy more land."

The Zhou family used to barely make ends meet, but now they have meat on every meal and even have extra money to buy land.

"Thanks to the White Dragon!" the village chief exclaimed.

If he hadn't believed Xia Xun's words back then and forcibly kept Bai Long, he wouldn't have the good life he has today.

Just then, the sky suddenly darkened, and a series of thunderous roars echoed above White Dragon Village.

The sound was so familiar that almost all the villagers came out of their homes and looked up at the sky.

Amidst the rolling dark clouds, a dragon is weaving and coiling through the clouds.

Upon seeing this, the village chief's expression changed drastically. He grabbed Zhou Huai's hand, his words slurred, "Quick, go quickly..."

Before he could finish speaking, a flame suddenly ignited beneath his feet.

Not only him, but everyone in the village who had swallowed dragon blood was on fire.

The flames burned his body, and he could not extinguish them no matter what he tried.

Some jumped into the river, some rolled on the ground, some screamed, and some begged for mercy. In an instant, the peaceful and tranquil Bailong Village was transformed into a living hell.

Amidst wails and screams, the dragon from the sky descended upon the Zhou family's gate.

A huge dragon head peered over the top of the courtyard wall. The village chief, looking at the familiar dragon head, pleaded in a trembling voice, enduring the excruciating pain, "Ningning, please, please forgive us for how good we've been to you all these years... let us go."

Xiaolong tilted her head, opened her mouth, and said in a voice as clear and crisp as it had been ten years ago: "Sure."

Before the village chief could even rejoice, she said in a very familiar tone, "The fire will be extinguished tomorrow. You just need to hold on a little longer. It's just a small fire; it will go out soon enough."

The village chief suddenly remembered that every time Zhou Ning was unwilling to cooperate during the White Dragon Festival in the past, he would advise her to be patient and just bear with it.

She was taking revenge on them.