94 Slaying the Dragon
There stood a lone figure, with frosty brows and cold eyes, a solitary figure.
"Waaah—"
Although it was night, the Huang family members were wide awake, huddled together, shivering. Honghua, holding Xingyue in her arms, was somewhat better off, managing to stay awake. She heard noises outside and initially thought someone was crying.
But as the "crying" grew louder and eventually turned into a violent crashing sound, she belatedly realized that it was not a sound a human could make, but rather a gale.
The relentless gale seemed to tear everything on the ground apart, swirling everything that could move into the air before slamming it down again. The only sound in the world seemed to be its fury, making ears ring and even the ground beneath one's feet tremble slightly.
Uncle Huang and Aunt Huang held her tightly, occasionally letting out a fearful sob, then they held her even tighter, as if afraid that their daughter would be blown away like a leaf. But as another thunderbolt cleaved the sky, Honghua broke free from her parents' embrace and went straight to the nailed-together window.
"Red flower!" Aunt Huang exclaimed in shock, fearing that her daughter would "lose her soul" again.
Honghua seemed oblivious to her parents' calls. Through the crack in the window, she saw the collapsed beams of the Ying family's house being whipped high by the wind, and the ashes from the fire drifting everywhere, turning everything into a hazy gray.
She thought about many things, including Ding Lao, Lu Ping, Prince Cheng Duan, and Doctor Ying, whose face was half-hidden in the shadows when she asked him what he was doing in the back mountain that day.
It is neither a demon nor a ghost.
At the time, she was so terrified that she subconsciously ignored many details. But this time, the monster specifically searched for something in Doctor Ying's parents' graves, which suddenly struck a chord in her mind.
Ying Jianhua disappeared for several days after following Du Zhijin; Prince Chengduan died suddenly; a city-wide manhunt for "Doctor Mo" was launched; Ding Lao disappeared in the back mountain after promising a reward; Ying Jianhua appeared in the back mountain to stop her from entering; Lu Ping visited for the second time; Ding Lao's scheming for money led to a fire at the Ying family's residence...
After removing the distractions, a series of clues surfaced, clearly pointing to one point.
After Sister Mu left, Honghua studied with Ying Jianhua for a few days. One can tell a person's character from their writings, and Honghua thought that Doctor Ying was not the kind of person who would let a grudge go unpunished. On the contrary, she always felt that he was suppressing something.
He once told her that some prescriptions may seem harmless, but if left untouched for too long, they can become highly toxic.
Could Dr. Ying have become highly poisonous due to years of grief?
She suddenly shivered.
————
Dark clouds surged, and a dark blue-black dragon, reeking of blood, leaped out of the clouds. Its scales gleamed coldly in the moonlight, like the armor of a hundred thousand soldiers. With a twist of its neck, its thick tail swept down with immense force, shattering trees and turning countless branches and rocks into sharp projectiles, raining down on the two people on the earthen slope.
Du Zhijin didn't dodge at all; her massive sword energy slashed straight down, instantly neutralizing the evil dragon's attack. The monster in the air was a fraction of a second too late. Taking advantage of the moment, she flicked her sword, pure white sword energy slicing through the rain and clouds, leaving a long shadow as it pierced the beast's eyes.
Most monsters are terrified of losing their sight.
As expected, the evil dragon was enraged and spewed out a cloud of black gas, which began to spread in an endless mist. Ying Jianhua immediately sprinkled out a packet of powder, a stimulant he had prepared overnight.
Thick fog rolled in, and the surrounding environment gradually changed, transforming from a loess slope into Tiger's Blood Pool. Lightning flashed, illuminating this night destined to be unsettling. A cold wind howled, and a dragon emerged from the water, causing the pool to erupt with towering waves, making the two people on the shore appear especially small in comparison.
"It's just an illusion, don't be afraid," Du Zhijin instructed, lightly touching the slippery cliff face with his toes. His longsword rang out with a "clang," the blade slicing into the gaps in the dragon's scales, clashing against the hard armor. Sparks flew and a metallic clang filled the air. The dragon, in pain, let out a roar that shook the pool, spewing a chilling breath from its gaping maw. Wherever it passed, a thin layer of ice instantly formed on the cliff face and rocks.
In an instant, lightning flashed and thunder roared, swords clashed and shadows flashed. Ying Jianhua dared not utter a sound, lest she distract him. But gradually, he realized that Du Zhijin was actually quite adept at handling the situation, not at a disadvantage even with only the Zuilan sword, and was even stronger than she had been in Wanze City at that time.
As she pondered, the evil dragon's attack missed its mark. Du Zhijin spun and landed, the instant her feet touched the ground, she swung her sword tip towards the dragon's eye. She used the same tactic again. The dragon jerked its head away, but the attack, instead of striking, landed on its torso, leaving a deep mark. Enraged, it lashed out, its claws slashing towards Du Zhijin's neck, only to be violently flung away in the next instant, leaving her unharmed.
The pool water was churned up like boiling water, with giant waves crashing against the shore, and the splashing water droplets freezing into ice in mid-air. Seizing the opportunity when the dragon swung its tail, she suddenly pounced on its back, locking her legs tightly around it, and thrust her long sword downwards with her right hand.
The blade sank half an inch in, and hot, blood gushed out, splattering all over her face, but she seemed oblivious.
The evil dragon crashed to the ground with a loud thud, kicking up a cloud of dust. Its scales were no longer as shiny as before, and its body was covered in wounds and blood, looking weak and frail.
Du Zhijin muttered incantations, and in an instant, Zuilan transformed into a beam of white light and entered the array eye where Yingjianhua was located. Afterwards, he saw five beams of light of different colors rise from various places, then converge in front of him, forming a beam of golden light.
The beam of light slowly transformed into chains, binding the evil dragon from bottom to top, rendering it immobile. It still tried to struggle in its death throes, but any movement was immediately stopped by the chains, until its massive body collapsed completely, motionless.
Ying Jianhua stood rooted to the spot, the beast's head, its eyes wide open in death, right before him, and he could even smell a stench of blood. Even though it wasn't the first time he had witnessed Du Zhijin exorcising a demon, he couldn't help but take a half-step back, his face turning deathly pale.
This was the first time he had personally witnessed Du Zhijin take action after he regained his demon form.
Calm, decisive, and utterly swift. In her palm, Zui Lan was not like a heavy iron object, but rather like a vanguard obeying orders amidst a vast army. With a flick of her fingertips, she possessed the power to cleave through waves and cleave through the wind, leaving nothing in her path.
If the Flame Demon and the Evil Flood Dragon were equally powerful demons, she nearly lost her life in the battle with the Flame Demon back then, but now she can subdue the Evil Flood Dragon unscathed. Such a difference is so great that even describing it as a "leap forward" would be an understatement.
Du Zhijin was clearly unaware that so many thoughts had flashed through his mind in the blink of an eye. Although the evil dragon had been slain, she dared not let her guard down, still gripping the hilt of Zui Lan's sword, her fingertips pressed against the cold blade, ready to fight again at any moment.
The aftershocks had not yet subsided, and the wind howled fiercely. The illusion behind her collapsed, like shattered glass. The shimmering water and ice crystals refracted a dazzling light, but the precarious splendor vanished in an instant, revealing the dark, waning night sky. And in the center of the riotous light, a figure with frosty eyebrows and cold eyes stood, his clothes fluttering in the wind, like a solitary bamboo in the snowstorm, a solitary and serene figure.
He felt a sudden, inexplicable clench in his chest, followed by a rapid, trembling drumbeat.
The tip of the Drunken Mist Sword was still dripping with the blood of another demon beast, the blood hot and pungent, the corpse of the evil dragon still warm, yet he inappropriately became tempted.
Look, this is the person he admires.
Du Zhijin, the leader of the Dangxian Mountain Swordsmanship.
————
Although the evil dragon was dead, the matter was far from over. Du Zhijin knew all too well what kind of trouble the demon's core would bring to this small village, and the villagers of Wuling Village absolutely could not withstand another "red eye disease." He simply put it away and would hand it over to the True Immortals when he returned to Dengxian Mountain.
In addition, as the evil dragon died, the mist it had created gradually dissipated, but this did not mean that the villagers were freed from the mist's control. On the contrary, they completely lost consciousness.
Fortunately, Du Zhijin's spiritual power could cure this kind of unconsciousness. In addition, there were still many people with conjunctivitis who had not been cured. The two of them went to treat patients together, going from house to house to save people.
Upon reaching the Huang family's residence, Ying Jianhua paused, unsure whether he should appear before Honghua. Since the past was over, and he had decided to live with her on Dengxian Mountain from now on, there was no need for the world to know he was still alive...
However, before he could make a decision, Du Zhijin, who was looking excited, pulled him into the house: "Come on, Amo, let's give Honghua a surprise!"
surprise?
Ying Jianhua recalled how timid Honghua had been, sometimes big and sometimes small, and secretly sighed, hoping it might have been frightened.
After all, the idea of someone dying and coming back to life is rarely even written in traditional storybooks.
Sure enough, Honghua's first reaction upon seeing him was disbelief. She not only circled him many times, sniffing him from all angles like a puppy, but also nervously looked at his feet to check for any shadow.
Du Zhijin laughed and said, "What are you thinking? Amo isn't a ghost."
"It might not be a ghost, it could be a demon." She swallowed her words, looked at Sister Mu with great hesitation, and then at Doctor Ying, as if she were considering a major decision.
Ying Jianhua assumed she was just too shocked to admit she wasn't dead. She patted her head to comfort her before heading towards the unconscious Uncle Huang and Aunt Huang. Du Zhijin had explained to him that Honghua had a special constitution, making her excellent material for cultivation and able to resist the invasion of the mist. But Aunt Huang and her husband were different; they were ordinary people who had spent a long time with Honghua and were thus implicated, hence their most severe "illness." Having been neighbors with the couple before, he was now even more focused on saving them.
Only Honghua and Du Zhijin remained outside. Seeing her hesitant expression, Du Zhijin asked, "What's wrong? Is there something you want to say?"
"I..." she stammered, refusing to speak. After a long while, as if she had made a great decision, she gritted her teeth and gestured for them to move away, so that they could talk privately.
Du Zhijin glanced at Ying Jianhua, who nodded slightly to indicate that it was alright.
However, the closer their interactions became, the deeper Honghua's guilt grew.
What she's about to say could very well lead to their breakup! But what if, what if her sister is kept in the dark? Although Dr. Ying is very kind to her, hiding her true identity is wrong!
"What are you thinking about?" Du Zhijin chuckled.
Qiaoqiao's wrinkled, smiling face truly shows that "her emotions are written all over her face."
Honghua clenched and unclenched her fists repeatedly until she finally mustered the courage to say to her, "Sister... Doctor Ying might be a demon."
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