NOVPUB"The rescue I’m talking about isn’t about using strength, but about telling a benign lie," Lu Yun said.
"What do you mean?" Xu Zimei asked in confusion.
"Let me tell you a story,
Ever since the Black Dragon ruled this world tens of thousands of years ago, our lizard race has been deprived of freedom.
We can only live in this frog-in-a-well village for life, yearning for the more vast world outside.
Thousands of years ago, a member of the human race accidentally wandered into our little world. Curious about the outsider, we allowed him to secretly live in our village.
This human was very interesting—he had seen much and knew a lot, often telling us about the fascinating places and things outside.
Eventually, the man and a woman from our village fell in love.
The man wanted to take the woman to the outside world, to see the interesting things and places he had spoken of.
Unfortunately, without the Black Dragon’s permission, no one could leave here.
Since then, the man embarked on a path of slaying the dragon."
Lu Yun paused to take a deep breath and continued.
"Unfortunately, the Black Dragon was too powerful, and the man was no match, always returning gravely wounded.
However, the man had some tricks up his sleeve. He knew how to break the barriers of our small world and escape to the outside. The Black Dragon didn’t dare to pursue him.
So the battle went on for hundreds of years, with the man challenging the Black Dragon every now and then, always fleeing after being badly injured.
Until a thousand years ago, after he went to challenge the Black Dragon again, he never returned and never came back again.
The woman who had waited bitterly for the man’s return then locked herself up, washing her face with tears every day and praying for the man night and day."
"The woman you’re talking about is your sister Lu Qing?" Xu Zimei asked.
"Yes, that man claimed to be the Heavenly Venerate of Ragefire. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him," Lu Yun said.
"Heavenly Venerate of Ragefire," Xu Zimei said with interest and a smile. "This is getting interesting. How do you want me to help you?"
"It’s all because of the death of the Heavenly Venerate of Ragefire that my sister ended up like this," Lu Yun said.
"I want you to pretend to be a messenger of the Heavenly Venerate of Ragefire, telling her that the Heavenly Venerate of Ragefire isn’t actually dead but has been gravely wounded and has been in recovery."
"Is it that simple?" Xu Zimei smiled.
"Yes, after all, you are both of the human race. She will very likely believe what you say," Lu Yun nodded.
"Okay, considering that you saved me," Xu Zimei nodded and said.
"There’s no time to lose, let’s find her now while it’s dark," Lu Yun said directly.
"If we wait for daylight, we’ll be easily spotted."
Xu Zimei nodded and left the basement with Lu Yun, arriving at the courtyard.
The courtyard looked dilapidated, with many porcelain jars placed around the yards on both sides.
Wafting from within was the scent of fragrance, and upon closer inspection, Xu Zimei found that the jars were all filled with honey made from wisteria flowers.
"What are you doing with these?" Xu Zimei asked in confusion.
"The Black Dragon likes honey. It controls all our food, and we can only exchange honey for food with the Black Dragon Guards in the village," Lu Yun said helplessly.
"You are quite pitiful," Xu Zimei asked: "Haven’t you thought about resisting?"
"We’re used to it," Lu Yun replied: "Besides, what can we resist with? Even if we were to use the full strength of our clan, we would be no match for it."
The two of them had left the courtyard and walked onto the village streets by now.
The outside world had completely darkened, and red lanterns hung beside the road, casting a weak glow on the streets.
Lu Yun led Xu Zimei, carefully moving forward along the shadowy parts beside the road.
They had not walked long when the sound of footsteps came from around the corner of the street.
"Get down," Lu Yun quickly pulled Xu Zimei into the bushes by the side and they lay down.
They saw a group of soldiers dressed in green armor patrolling down the street, chatting and laughing.
After the Green Armored Soldiers had all left, Lu Yun breathed a sigh of relief and led Xu Zimei into another street.
"Are these the Black Dragon Guards?" Xu Zimei inquired.
"They wish they were. The Black Dragon Guards are the personal guards of the Black Dragon, related by blood.
They must defend every area of this small world. Because there aren’t many of them, each village only has two or three," said Lu Yun indignantly.
"These Green Armored Soldiers are actually our Green Lizard kin. They were granted false promises by the Black Dragon, forming an alliance to suppress us. 𝚗o𝚟pub.𝚌𝚘𝚖
This is also an important reason why our resistance has been unsuccessful, nothing but a bunch of traitors."
"I can understand," Xu Zimei smiled and said, "Either be oppressed by the Black Dragon or join the Black Dragon to oppress you. It’s just human nature."
As they spoke, they had already arrived in front of a courtyard.
This courtyard seemed to have been uninhabited for a long time, with wild grass having grown over in front of the gate.
Even the wooden gate was somewhat rotted, and the surrounding wall looked as if it might collapse at any moment.
"Your sister lives here?" Xu Zimei asked.
"Yes, this used to be the residence of the Heavenly Venerate of Ragefire. She refuses to stay anywhere else and won’t allow us to touch a brick or a tile here," said Lu Yun.
Taking advantage of the darkness, the two climbed over the courtyard wall and entered the inner house.
The weeds in the courtyard were even more lush, nearly one and a half meters high, reaching the front door of the inner house from across the yard.
Lu Yun walked forward and gently knocked on the door.
Regrettably, there was silence inside, with no response at all.
"Sister, open the door," Lu Yun whispered.
Still, there was no answer from inside.
"Sister, I’ve come to tell you news about the Heavenly Venerate of Ragefire," this time Lu Yun nodded at Xu Zimei, raising her voice a little.
No sooner had her words fallen than there was a "bang," and the room’s door was yanked open.
"What about Nu Lang?" A woman rushed out, asking anxiously.
Xu Zimei looked up and saw the woman wearing light blue gauze, barefaced, her complexion extremely wan.
Her face was sallow, but one could still vaguely see she had been quite beautiful.
With willow eyebrows and eyes like clear water, she had some of the delicate air of a Jiangnan woman.
"Sister, be careful," Lu Yun quickly supported the rushing-out woman, saying with concern.
"What about Nu Lang?" The woman looked at Lu Yun, her voice full of anticipation.
"You ask him. He is sent by Ragefire Brother to deliver a message to you," Lu Yun gestured towards Xu Zimei and said.
The woman in blue gauze turned her head and looked at Xu Zimei, saying, "Thank you for your trouble. Could you please tell me about Nu Lang."
"I am here by the order of Lord Ragefire to deliver a message, so you can rest assured. No need to be formal, Mrs. Lu Qing," Xu Zimei waved his hand and said.
"In that battle, the lord was seriously injured, more so than ever before, so he had no time to inform you.
This time, after nearly a thousand years of recuperation, he’s somewhat improved, and he promptly returned to Ragefire City to have us send you this message."
