Chapter 81 - 'Extorting a Confession by Torture!'

“Is that a water dragon? Oh my god, is it really a water dragon?! The person sitting on its head is Li Muyang and he is not dead yet…”

“The monster has eaten Li Muyang and it is now coming to eat us…”

“Run! The monster is coming!!! What kind of monster is that? We will all be eaten by it!!!”

…

On the ship, everyone looked up at the towering dragon circling above the river.

It looked like a high mountain in the middle of the river or a black cloud that blocked their view.

It seemed so majestic and yet so ugly.

The scales on its body formed an indestructible armor and on the armor, the raised lumps of black fragments were like barbs.

These dense ribbon-like black lines covered the entire body of the dragon, making it appear a little comical and silly.

However, when the dragon opened its enormous mouth, stinky saliva oozed out. It seemed as if the dragon could suck in the whole ship, including all the people, as long as it exerted a little strength.

People on the ship could only see the parts of the dragon that were exposed. Its long tail was still hidden in the river to support this huge body.

Even so, the scene was enough to strike fear in everyone’s hearts

“My life is over.” Zhang Linpu said in despair. It was the first time these university students had seen such an enormous dragon, which appeared to be a million times more terrifying than Cui Zhaoren, who suddenly came at Li Muyang to slaughter him. No matter how ferocious a man was, he might be reasoned with. However, no one could get a beast to listen to reason, right? Therefore, he continued in a frightened voice. “It’s over. Everything is over. We’re doomed this time. This beast will eat all the people on the ship!”

“How can it be like this? How can it be like this?” Chen Tao, the manager of the ship, asked, puzzled. He had taken this waterway with his team many times. Along this waterway, they had encountered bandits, river snakes, all sorts of poisonous bugs and man-eating fish. However, they had never seen a dragon with such a massive size. “When I set off, I checked the almanac beforehand. It said that it would be an extremely lucky trip! Who the hell made up that bullshit?!”

“Young master, it is an Alligator Dragon that is crossing the river… Judging by its size and the black lines on its body, I suppose that it must have lived for thousands of years…” Su Rong, the Military Advisor, said with a worried face, “This cruel and aggressive monster is extremely fast and can travel thousands of miles in the water within a day. However, it has always hidden in the abysmal area of the sea of death, so it is rarely seen. How could it appear in Cock-Crow Lake this time?”

“It doesn’t matter why it showed up here,” Cui Zhaoren said, while holding his long sword upside down. With the other hand, he took out a silk handkerchief from his pocket, gently wiping away the bloodstains at the corners of his mouth. His sudden sword attack failed to kill Li Muyang, which surprised him a lot. Then, the Alligator Dragon rescued Li Muyang, who had fallen into the river, which surprised him even more. “It’s merely a bogus dragon, not a real one at all. Let it go if it doesn’t provoke us. But if it is bold enough to attack us, kill it right away.”

“Then, let’s just wait and see what will happen next.” Su Rong said in a low voice. “If they don’t come over, let the ship pass by through the left branch of the river. However, we must round up and hunt them if they head in our direction.”

“What a pity!” Cui Zhaoren said with regret, but he focused his eyes on Li Muyang, who was seated on the head of the Alligator Dragon.

The Alligator Dragon was so massive that Li Muyang only appeared to be a small black dot on the body of the dragon.

Thus, ordinary persons could only see his rough outline and blurred shadow.

However, Cui Zhaoren was never someone ordinary. He could even see the dragon breathing deeply and the remaining wisps of flesh between its teeth.

Therefore, he could see Li Muyang’s every expression and action.

With his eyes tightly closed, Li Muyang was still in a coma.

Li Muyang looked quiet and peaceful as if he had not been sent flying by his sword. It was more like he had entered into a deep sleep.

Li Muyang’s body was wrapped in a mass of weeds, just like a baby under the protection of those waterweeds.

The blazing sun was baking the large surface area of the river.

Under the golden light, Li Muyang’s cheeks seemed to have turned light yellow and was almost transparent.

Everyone was waiting for the Alligator Dragon’s next move, or they were waiting to see if Li Muyang would wake up.

Li Muyang could not take the fierce force of the Dujie Sword. When his fist and the sword of Cui Zhaoren collided, the force of the blast knocked Li Muyang out on the spot.

The moment he fell into the river, Li Muyang was revived by the river waters.

However, when he wanted to open his eyes, he found that his body was not under his control at all.

In a marvelous state, Li Muyang felt as if he had entered another world.

In that world, there were wild deserts, burning cities with raging flames, dragon cries that resounded through the sky and strong humans whose swords could cut off river flows and cleave mountains.

All of them were fighting and roaring. Besides, there were the furious flames of the Dragon Breath that had spread all over the Divine Land.

The ground was burning and the human race was dying.

A huge black dragon, which could soar up into the sky and dive deep into the netherworld, appeared out of nowhere. It seemed as if it could fill up the entire sky. It was huge and strong. With its black and cold eyes, the dragon was watching the tragedy happening with disdain and pride.

“Foolish humans.” A voice that resounded through the starry sky came out of his mouth.

Right after those strong humans discovered its existence, they turned to charge at the black dragon with long swords and powerful divine artifacts in their hands.

Everyone had one same ultimate goal: slay the dragon.

…

Suddenly, the scene changed.

Li Muyang spotted the black dragon again and it was rushing toward him!

It did not slow down a bit even when it flew in front of him. Instead, it flew straight into his body.

BOOM!

Li Muyang’s chest started to throb painfully. He felt as if a knife was cutting him from the middle.

When the giant black dragon disappeared, Li Muyang saw his ink-dark eyes.

He could see his own eyes.

It was as if there was another him standing on the opposite side and both of them could see each other’s eyes.

Li Muyang felt that the black dragon had entered his body and they became one.

…

Li Muyang witnessed all this clearly, but he could not tell whether he was in a dream or reality.

If it were real, this would be a world that he had never known.

The giant dragon soaring in the sky, the city destroyed by the Dragon Breath and these strong humans who could cut off the river flows and cleave the mountains with their swords and fists, had all of these ever existed?

But if it was a dream, how could the dream be so real?

He could clearly see the eyes of the black dragon and he was also fully aware of the pain in his heart.

The aching feeling of being torn apart disappeared in a flash, but why did he feel such a deep sense of grief that seeped through to his bones?

He was a gigantic dragon, but why did he feel the desolate pain of being betrayed by the entire world?

Li Muyang was struggling desperately.

He wanted to open his eyes and break away from this absurd world.

He wanted to go back to the ship and return to his parents and his sister, Li Sinian.

That was his life.

And that was the reality.

He felt warm as if he was bathed in sunshine.

“Puff and blow…”

Something was breathing heavily in his ears.

“What is it? Where am I?” Li Muyang wondered in his heart.

He suddenly opened his eyes, but the rays of light clustering around stung his eyes.

He closed his eyes again and only after he gradually adapted to the intense light, was he able to open his eyes again.

Hurriedly, he stretched out to touch his crotch. “Thank goodness! The heavy gold coins are still here,” Li Muyang exclaimed happily in his heart.

He felt relieved again.

“Well, why am I lying on such a high stone?” Li Muyang thought in his heart.

He then pulled away those waterweeds wrapped around his body and threw them away casually.

“It was too terrifying! Cui Zhaoren’s strength is simply too astonishing!” He thought.

“It seemed as if his powerful sword stick could split a mountain in half!”

Li Muyang still remembered what had happened before. Cui Zhaoren had suddenly attacked him with his sword and he in turn launched his Shattering Fist, which he had been preparing for a long time.

However, he did not know what happened next.

“Gee, is that… is that a ship below?” Li Muyang cried out.

When he found that the stone under him was still moving, he suddenly sat up straight.

Then, his body trembled and he was so scared that he felt as if he was going to wet his pants.

He was not lying on a large stone of a mountain at all! It was an enormous head of the monster!

What was even more frightening was that the monster was so enormous that its head lifted Li Muyang up to midair!

No wonder he felt that the sunshine was so strong just now and that was why everything he saw around him looked so small.

It was because he was in the wind that was closer to the sun and was in the clouds, which were as high as the peaks.

“I am done. I am finished. I am going to die!” Li Muyang sat there with a frightened face. How he wished that he could shout at the top of his voice to chase away his fears! However, he was afraid that his shouts would alarm the monster under his butt.

“Those damned henchmen of the Department of Supervision…” Li Muyang cursed in his heart. “The rumors are true. They really can do any evil things. I heard that they brutally torture people in all kinds of ways to get some secret information or to extort confessions. Malicious henchmen! They are so vicious and simply have no humanity! They are a bunch of evil henchmen and a group of ruthless beasts!”

“Motherfucker! To prove that I have committed the crime of colluding with the enemy and force me to confess the sin, they threw me onto the head of a monster!”

Li Muyang was very sad and angry. Also, he felt wronged.

“Help me! Help me!” Li Muyang shouted loud. Meanwhile, he waved desperately, trying to let Cui Zhaoren, who was on the ship, see him.

However, no one on the ship responded to his calls for help.

“I am willing to confess…” Li Muyang said, his eyes red. He knew that once he confessed, there would be only one road open to him, the way to extinction. He would be parted forever from his parents and relatives.

However, he would rather go through the trial of the Empire than die in the mouth of the monster.

In Li Muyang’s eyes, the Department of Supervision of the Empire was the most vicious place in the world.

Therefore, he believed that his parents and other family members would not think that he had conspired with the enemy and betrayed his country. Because of this, he firmly believed that one day, the sins of the Department of Supervision would be made known to the public.

At that time, the world would prove his innocence.

“I am willing to confess…” Tears poured down Li Muyang’s face.