492 The Clear and Intense Cry of the Dragon

Night at New North Bridge was similar to the summer nights of other places inthe capital, brimming with the stifling heat of summer. The grass was litteredwith people endlessly fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans. Many people usedthe hand not holding the fan to carry a bag of ice. Chen Changsheng waited fora very long time until an ideal chance came for him to go from the tree to thewell and jump in. It was still that familiar feeling of falling, that icy chill that bored intothe bones. None of the torrid summer heat above could be found in thisunderground space. The thick mantle of snow on the ground signified that thisplace would always be the cruel winter. As he watched the Black Dragon slowly float over like a moving mountain range,although he had seen this sight many times before, he still found it impossibleto control his emotions, feeling almost scared witless. The Black Dragon floated in the space in front, gazing at him from high up.The emotion revealed in its dragon eyes was one of cold indifference. Only hecould clearly tell that the deepest depths of those eyes concealed a hint ofimpatience and complaint. After returning to the capital from Xunyang City, he had only come to see theBlack Dragon once. It was just that pressure placed on the Orthodox Academyrecently had been far too great and he had been far too busy. He had trulyfound it impossible to tear himself away. The wound between the brows of the Black Dragon should have slowly gottenbetter. At least, he couldn't see any problems on the surface. Chen Changsheng took out the food such as roast lamb and chicken that he hadprepared as usual, also cleaning up the trash on the floor. Just as he wasprepared to speak, a sudden chilly wind blew into his face. It was the Black Dragon's dragon breath, containing a frightening might andcold. The most powerful soul could be dispersed by this icy dragon breath. The dragon breath of the Golden Dragon could melt metal. Chen Changsheng hadnever seen it before, but he could be very sure now that its peer the BlackFrost Dragon's dragon breath could definitely freeze metal into bits, becausehe was currently frozen to a halt, the cold piercing into his bones and hisbody in incomparable pain. After some time, he was finally able to breakthrough the ice with great difficulty. Fear still lingering in his heart, hesaid, "In the future, don't joke around like this anymore." He didn't know that his body had once been bathed in the true blood of theBlack Dragon, or else that dragon breath would have simply frozen him to death.Then it would no longer be a joke. A hint of happiness and content flashed across the Black Dragon's massive eyesand the cavernous space echoed with the sounds of 'zhizhi' as it laughed. Chen Changsheng was already used to the strange laughter of the Black Dragon.He told it what had happened recently to the Orthodox Academy, which could alsobe considered an explanation for his lack of visits. The Black Dragon slowly descended to the ground before him, blocking out theradiance of the several thousand Night Pearls studding the ceiling of theunderground space. Chen Changsheng stood in its shadow, staring at it for a long time. He firmlyresolved that he must get an answer today. Back then when he had endangered his life and attempted IntrospectiveMeditation for the first time, he was just about to die, but when he finallywoke up, he was lying on his bed in the Orthodox Academy, and he wasn't evenwounded. On the contrary, he had obtained an unimaginably tough body, strengthand speed. He knew that this was definitely related to the Black Dragon. Later on, he hadasked several times, but the Black Dragon had always avoided answering hisquestion. Hearing his question, or maybe sensing his resolve today, the BlackDragon did not act as it had done before, using disregard to humiliate him, orusing its dragon breath to humiliate him. Instead, it fell into a long silence. "Are you sure you wish to know the answer?" the Black Dragon said in humantongue. This was not the first time Chen Changsheng had heard the Black Dragon speakin human tongue. During the first time, he had not understood why the BlackDragon's voice was similar to that of an irritable and easily angered younggirl. He later on realized that although the Black Dragon had been locked inthis underground space by Wang Zhice for several centuries, when relative tothe long lives of the Dragon Race, it was truthfully still in its youth. Itcould not be called a child dragon, but it should be… A young maiden dragon? Chen Changsheng replied, "I wish to know the answer." After another long silence, the Black Dragon described the circumstances backthen. Only then did Chen Changsheng realize that he had originally been so fortunate. After a long silence, he looked at the Black Dragon and asked, "How should Ithank Your Honor?" After the journey in the Garden of Zhou, he very rarely addressed the BlackDragon respectfully. However, his mindset was somewhat restless, filled with alingering fear and gratitude to the Black Dragon, so he respectfully addressedit with 'Your Honor'. Yet the Black Dragon clearly did not wish to hear these words. A tinge ofvexation appeared in the depths of its massive eyes. And then the Black Dragon thought of something and the vexation turned intoanger. If Chen Changsheng were more sensitive in certain aspects, perhaps he wouldhave been able to see a little shame. All the meanings in the depths of the Black Dragon's eyes ultimatelytransformed into a fiendish intent. You obtained my first blood and then actually asked me how to thank me! The world of the underground space instantly became incomparably frigid. Themantle of snow on the ground was jolted into the air and snowflakes began tofloat down from the sky. Everywhere was a dense white. A dragon cry fell directly in Chen Changsheng's sea of consciousness. It was her voice, this time in dragon tongue. Her voice was very soft, very clear. Her emotions were very chilly, very intense. Chen Changsheng was almost shocked into unconsciousness. When he turned histhoughts to that dragon cry he had just heard, he realized that it was theBlack Dragon's words to him. Dragon language was this world's most complex and also simplest language. Asingle dragon cry was one syllable, but within it were countless tones. Itcould mean one thing, or it could be an entire essay. When Chen Changsheng was small and studying that very last scroll, he hadtouched upon the Dragon language. After coming to the capital, he had alsolearned some from the Black Dragon, but he still was not able to completelyunderstand this dragon cry. He could vaguely understand a few parts of the Black Dragon's cry. "Blood…you…I…pact…oath…heartless…shame…sin…die…warehouse…water…fat…next…" What did this mean? He was somewhat at a loss. The word 'heartless' hadespecially resonated in his mind, making him doubt if he had really heard itcorrectly, if he had really been learning the Dragon language. "Just what does Your Honor want me to do?" He patted the snow and ice off his body, walked up to the Black Dragon, andraised his head. The Black Dragon towered over him, a smear of sadness and grievance graduallyappearing in its emotionless eyes. Perhaps because it didn't want Chen Changsheng to see or because it truly wasrather tired, it closed its eyes. With this action, the snowstorm in theunderground space also ceased. Chen Changsheng looked at it and said, "Thank you." He spoke very sincerely, but the Black Dragon did not open its eyes. Just likeit had said in the Garden of Zhou and the snowy mountain range, it believedthat when he said these two words, he had not been mindful. In truth, Chen Changsheng had seen the sadness and grievance in the BlackDragon's eyes before it closed them. He had not connected it to himself, but was rather thinking that if it wereexchanged for a human or demi-human, then this Black Dragon would most likelybe a young maiden like Luoluo. If a young maiden were deceived by a human expert and then imprisoned in thisunderground space for several centuries, they would definitely feel a sense ofgrievance and sadness. Chen Changsheng believed he understood why the Black Dragon had displayed suchanger a few moments ago. Yes, the Black Dragon had saved his life, even bestowed upon him a better one.On the other hand, it had been imprisoned in this underground space the entiretime. He had once promised it that if possible, he would think of a way torescue it. But half a year had gone, and what had he done? Had he even thoughtabout this matter? He had even dared to ask just now if there was any way hecould thank it… He lowered his head and walked past the Black Dragon's body, walking off intothe darkness until he gradually disappeared. Chen Changsheng was currently filled with guilt. The Black Dragon had not opened its eyes, but it knew what he was doing.However, it didn't know what he was thinking. There was silence, with only the gradually fading sounds of footsteps. TheBlack Dragon's closed eyes seemed to quiver, ice rustling down. It seemed as ifit wished to open its eyes, but it ultimately chose not to. She somewhat callously thought, humans are truly all shameless and incapable.Upon encountering an unresolvable problem or some unbearable kindness, theywill think about avoiding it or else engage in vicious quarrel. In the end, you are still a human. Then if you want to leave, leave. My appetite today is no good, I don't want to eat a human. But when you come next time and still only dare to say thank you and not evenbring the dishes of the Orthodox Academy's cafeteria to let me try, I willdefinitely swallow you whole. Yes, when Chen Changsheng had been narrating the recent events of the OrthodoxAcademy, he had not forgotten to mention that Tang Thirty-Six had made ClearLake Restaurant into the Orthodox Academy's cafeteria. When she heard the word 'blue lobster', she recalled how when she was verysmall and followed her father journeying west for fun, whenever she got boredon their journey on the seabed, she randomly grabbed a few blue lobsters andchewed them as snacks. Later on, when she arrived in the human world, sherealized that some of the humans in the south also enjoyed eating similarfoods. Apparently, they were called betel nuts? The Black Dragon abruptly awoke from her trance, thinking, have I beenimprisoned too long? How could it be so easy for me to wander off? A momentago, I was preparing to reprimand heartless youths, so then how did I suddenlystart thinking about snacks? Then she heard from far behind her a pounding noise, causing her to slowlyopen her eyes. She was a Black Frost Dragon. The chill within her eyes could cause the entireworld to tremble in fear. For some reason, there was an extra tinge of warmthwithin them. The pounding sound came from a distant place. This was because the BlackDragon's body was enormous, like a mountain range. At the moment, Chen Changsheng was right in front of that absolutely colossalwall, attempting to open up the chains that imprisoned the Black Dragon. Miraculously, these two chains were not very thick, at least when compared tothe Black Dragon's body, yet the Black Dragon was unable to get rid of them. Chen Changsheng had tried before, so he knew that he even the Stainless Swordassessed by the Pavilion of Divination as being incomparably sharp wasincapable of cutting apart these chains. This was because the edge of the Stainless Sword could not actually touch thechains. The outer surface of the chains was covered in an invisible anduntouchable, yet very real, wrapping of Qi. The pounding coming from the direction of the wall was the sound of himpounding against the thick layer of ice where the chains attached to the wall. The chains and formations imprisoning the Black Frost Dragon were certainlynot something he could currently break, but just as the journey of ten thousandli begins with a single step, he still had to take that first step. The first step was research.