149 Being too Clever

"Father?" Xinglong asked as he stood up, "What's the matter?"

Laolong nostrils flared, and he breathed heavily, "That interfering bastard," he growled.

"Who?" Xinglong asked.

"Shanshe," barked Laolong, as his fists clenched and unclenched as if he could visualize having Elder Shanshe throat in between his hands at that moment.

"What did Elder Shanshe do now?" Xinglong asked his lips curling into a small smile.

Loalong glared at his son, seeing the small smile on his face, he ground his teeth.

"What is so damn funny?" he growled through gritted teeth.

Realizing that his father was in a full-blown tantrum, Xinglong small smile faded, while his father could be a bit emotional it wasn't usual for him to become this upset.

"Ahem, so what did Elder Shanshe do that made you this angry?" he asked calmly.

Laolong took a deep calming breath, trying to bring his rage under control. Walking further into the study, he turned around and closed the door behind him, before walking over to the unoccupied chair next to Ren.

"Activate the privacy ward," Laolong ordered.

Xinglong turned to the bookcase behind him, where a sizeable yellow crystal was sitting, inject his magic into the crystal he activated the privacy ward. Once the shield was raised, he returned his chair and sat down.

"Once Shanshe found out that the envoy was carrying a message from the Prophetess, he insisted being part of the meeting. Of course, Caoya, and Dalong❶ supported him. They got the rest of those old fools riled up as well, saying that I was trying to hoard the prophecy for the Shadow dragons."

Xinglong eyes narrowed as he heard what his father was saying, Elder Shanshe behavior wasn't normal, he was usually a lot more subtle than that. He must have thought that the prophecy was about the silver queen, Xinglong thought.

"So what happened?" Xinglong asked, his stomach clenching as he threw a warning look at Ren when he noticed Ren was about to say something.

"Well then all those old fools wanted to attend the meeting, but that cunning old fox convinced them that he would attend on their behalf and report back. Caoya and Dalong disagreed with Shanshe and insisted on being part of the delegation," Laolong chuckled as he recalled the expression on Shanshe face, that old dragon had looked as though he was suffering from constipation.

"Was the prophecy about the sil—"

"No! It was about Shaolin," Laolong interrupted Xinglong, glaring at him. What is wrong with this pup, he thought, blurting out about the silver queen in front of Ren.

"Ren already knows about the silver queen Father," Xinglong said.

"What!?"

Laolong eye bulged as his face turned such a deep shade of red that it was nearly purple.

"You told him about her?" he roared.

"Of course," Xinglong said matter-of-factly.

"Why for all the gods' sake would do that?"

"Because we need his help, and Ren is one of us."

At Xinglong statement, Laolong was left mute. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to organize his thoughts. Realizing that is was too late to change facts, he decided to calm down, and Xinglong was right Ren had always been a trusted ally, but he wished his son had spoken to him about it first before divulging their greatest secret.

Ren could see that Laolong was really disturbed about Xinglong telling him about the silver queen, removing his one black dagger from one of the two crossed bands on his hips, he quickly clashed palm, then holding out the small black dagger he allowed three drops of his blood to fall on the blade.

"Laolong, I vow to keep the existence of the silver queen secret,' vowed Ren, as he finished his vow a bright light flashed, binding him to his sacred promise.

Laolong felt the weight on his shoulders lift as he witnessed Ren's blood vow. Although he trusted Ren, it was the shadow dragons sacred duty to protect the new silver queen, and while he trusted Ren, he as the leader of the shadow dragons couldn't place personal feelings ahead of his sacred duty.

Giving Ren a small smile to show his gratitude for his vow, he turned back to Xinglong as Xinglong asked: "So the humans were here to tell us about the Shaolin prophecy?"

"Hmm," Laolong nodded his head.

"That actually works to our benefit," said Ren while cleaning his small black dagger with his handkerchief, before replacing the black blade back into its sheath.

Xinglong eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Ren, who was busy now cleaning his cut palm.

"Why?"

Ren looked up as his lips curled into a small cunning smile.

"Because you now have the perfect excuse to visit the Demon Realm."

Xinglong immediately caught on to what Ren was implying, chuckling he nodded his head at his blood sworn brother.

"Yes, it's perfect."

"What is perfect?" Laolong demanded as he scratched his head looking confused, not understanding what the two youngsters were talking about. What the hell did I miss, he thought.

Seeing the befuddled look on his father's face, Xinglong burst out laughing.

"Impudent brat," Laolong grumbled.

Xinglong stopped laughing at his father, but his face still glowed with amusement.

"What Ren is saying is that now we can leave the Dragon Realm without raising suspicions. My brothers, sisters, and I will be visiting our trusted ally to discuss what we are going to do regarding Shaolin."

Laolong grinned as he listened to Xinglong explanation. Oh, these two boys were so cunning.

Laolong burst into a roar of deep, loud, hearty laughter. Those old fools had outsmarted themselves, he thought. He had been racking his brain how he was going to explain the five hatchlings leaving the Dragon Realm, but they had just handed them the perfect excuse on a silver platter.

Laolong, Xinglong, and Ren finalized their plans, before leaving the study to have lunch. After eating a hearty meal, Ren left the Dragon realm right after lunch to return to the Demon Realm, while Laolong called a meeting with the Elders of the all dragon sects to discuss the Shaolin prophecy.

During the meeting, Laolong announced that he would be sending his hatchlings to arrange an alliance with the Demons to enter Shaolin together.

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➥ Notes

❶ Dalong: means big dragon – Elder of the red dragons sect.

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