Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 387: Taming the Dragon
With the Dragon Emperor's pride, he could tell her he didn't know if she took advantage of the young man while he was unconscious, and even if he woke up halfway through, he could continue to lower his standards and say that it was all over anyway...

But when asked to actually call him "master," she simply couldn't bring herself to say it. Even when she told herself it was just a joke to amuse him, it was stuck in her throat and wouldn't come out.

Looking at the little dragon girl's gritted teeth in the crook of his shoulder, Lu Xingzhou really wanted to laugh, but laughing aggravated his wound, and he hissed in pain as he convulsed.

Long Qinghuang glared at him: "So you think you can do that? You think you can be the master with such little skill? I didn't tell you to call me that, so you should be secretly happy."

Lu Xingzhou forced a smile: "I never said that's what I was asking for. What are you thinking? You're actually considering it?"

Long Qinghuang was stunned for a moment, her face flushed, and then her eyebrows shot up: "Lu, Xing, Zhou!"

Lu Xingzhou gently embraced her and whispered, "Without a nice, soft bed, I don't want to keep lying on this grass, it's so prickly and uncomfortable."

Since we've said we'll come back to explore this place again, there's no need to linger here in this exhausted state and seek out wildness. We should definitely go back first and come back again later.

Long Qinghuang also realized what was happening and pouted a little embarrassedly.

Since she went into a berserk state, she hasn't been fully conscious. Lu Xingzhou told him that he went into the mountain's interior mainly to isolate himself from the dragon soldiers, and secondly to find a way to break the berserk state. Did he really intend to stay inside forever and wait until he recovered before leaving? Actually, he could have been moved while he was unconscious.

Long Qinghuang, feeling quite embarrassed, propped herself up and helped Lu Xingzhou to his feet: "Then let's go out first."

How long have we been in here?

"You were unconscious for three or four hours."

"That's good, it wasn't just a cup of tea, otherwise who knows what your people would have done to me."

Long Qinghuang: "?"

As they left the mountain, they saw several dragons pacing anxiously outside. Upon seeing Long Qinghuang, they were overjoyed: "Your Majesty!"

Long Qinghuang asked, "How is the situation?"

"All the monks of the Holy Mountain have been captured. General Long Lie has discovered a lot of wealth and treasures on the Holy Mountain and is currently taking inventory. We await His Majesty's instructions on how to proceed with this matter."

When Long Qinghuang is angry, she wants to destroy the entire mountain. Her first reaction now is to ask Lu Xingzhou: "What do you think?"

"Trying to destroy the mountain, you little stupid dragon?"

Long Qinghuang: "..."

Dragon soldiers: "!!!"

Although the little dragon was angry, he didn't lash out. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Well, say it then."

That attitude... I don't know whether to call it anger or flirting.

Lu Xingzhou said, "There's no need. Even if we don't steal the dragon clan's energy, this place does have basic demonic power and can be considered a sacred cultivation ground. Why destroy it? More importantly, Buddhism has spread widely throughout the demon realm and has a good foundation for rule. You should continue with the previous strategy, replace the sacred mountain with your own people as high priests, and make Buddhism work for you and become your tool."

A smile appeared on Long Qinghuang's lips. The dragon soldiers stared at each other with wide eyes and fell silent.

This is what the Prime Minister should be saying.

Long Qinghuang seemed to have thought of this as well, and then asked, "What about the Demon Capital?"

This time, Long Lie and A Nuo rushed over, and Long Lie answered from afar: "Longxi defeated the Yalong Legion and captured all of them. The Prime Minister has been imprisoned."

Ah Nuo whispered, "There's no need to rush to show off, it's useless."

Long Lie: "...Now the news of the Prime Minister's collusion with the High Priest to rebel has spread far and wide. In particular, many letters of treason were found in the Prime Minister's home and were read aloud by the Great Qian envoy in public..."

Long Qinghuang secretly glanced at Lu Xingzhou: "How is the Great Qian envoy?"

Long Lie praised loudly, "Your Majesty's foresight is truly remarkable; the secret guards have already captured them and brought them back."

Lu Xingzhou: “?”

It turns out we overestimated this dragon queen. We thought that a queen wouldn't detain the delegation, but she actually did, and it was all arranged before this battle.

Long Qinghuang gritted her teeth: "Who told you to add the first half of the sentence? Do you really want to stay here and become a monk?"

Long Lie was silent for a moment, then sighed: "Actually, it's possible."

Long Qinghuang paused for a moment: "We'll discuss it later. We need someone who understands Buddhism here, and you might not be suitable."

"Yes."

"You all stay here and guard the mountain for now, and take inventory of the treasures and scriptures. Lu Xingzhou and I will return to the Demon Capital to take charge of the overall situation, and we will come back in a few days."

"Yes."

Long Qinghuang didn't know what to say. She was so embarrassed that she didn't dare to look at Lu Xingzhou's face. She turned her head and said, "Let's go."

A golden dragon soared through the sky, while Lu Xingzhou sat cross-legged on its back, his face grumpy.

Long Qinghuang flew silently for a long while before saying in a muffled voice, "Why are you so sour? I knew you wanted to run away. Is there a problem with planning ahead?"

"So I ran away?" Lu Xingzhou asked expressionlessly.

Not only did they not run away, but they bravely stood in front of him. This fact was too great; all strategic thinking had to kneel before it. Long Qinghuang obediently shut her mouth, and after a long while, she even muttered, "If I had known it would be like this, I shouldn't have kept them. It would have been better if they had left earlier..."

Lu Xingzhou was so angry he almost laughed: "I think you deserve a beating."

Long Qinghuang swayed awkwardly in the air: "You're the one who deserves a beating."

Even during the fierce battle, they deliberately protected him, keeping him firmly seated on the scales, but now they maliciously shook Lu Xingzhou, causing him to stagger from side to side.

Aside from acting childish when he loses face, he still retains a bit of wildness. The influence of witchcraft and living in the mountains for a long time have left some roots in him, making him quite wild.

But this wildness was so overtly displayed in her usual arrogant state that it was hard to tell, and even she herself didn't realize it.

Lu Xingzhou didn't realize that, with his injuries still unhealed, he couldn't withstand her swaying and almost rolled over. In a fit of anger, he grabbed his whip and snapped it.

Similarly, Lu Xingzhou's wildness had not faded; he still harbored a primal savagery within him.

If the whipping that stopped Long Qinghuang from charging at the dragon soldiers was a last resort, then this was a sign of malice. Long Qinghuang groaned as she was whipped, her primordial spirit trembled, and she swayed slightly before stopping, but remained silent.

It has to be said that the whip was effective, directly waking her up from her remaining wildness. She realized that her malicious shaking earlier was dangerous, and she didn't dare to move again.

"Are you still shaking it or not?"

“…I won’t shake it anymore.” Long Qinghuang admitted her mistake and answered while suppressing her shame.

Lu Xingzhou suddenly asked, "Can you shrink a little?"

Long Qinghuang remained silent.

"Snap!" Another lash.

Long Qinghuang could tell this time that his wild side had kicked in; he was addicted to smoking. Everyone knows that psychological sense of conquest, taming dragons... and an emperor who wields his whip over the world understands this mentality even more.

I also understand the sense of humiliation felt by the person who gets hit.

Because of this sense of shame, she almost killed Lu Xingzhou in a fit of rage when she first entered the secret realm... Now, thinking back on it, she felt extremely guilty and, with a bit of self-punishment, took his whip without uttering a sound, her body shrinking slightly.

Lu Xingzhou couldn't turn to face the dragon head to see her gaze, so he had no idea what Long Qinghuang was thinking at this moment. He was deeply suspicious that she might have some kind of inclination like Ye Tinglan, and that she had been awakened by being beaten.

"Slap," another slap: "Still too big."

Long Qinghuang continued to shrink, looking aggrieved, until Lu Xingzhou could ride on her and wield both of her dragon horns.

Even Lu Xingzhou himself was surprised. Could it really be true?

In previous experiences, when there was a significant difference in size, you wouldn't feel any sense of taming or riding a dragon. At that time, Long Qinghuang didn't care much about having a group of women sitting on his back, treating it like sitting on a bunch of fleas.

But the current straddling posture makes a very obvious psychological difference; a real dragon rider is no different from one who has been tamed.

If you imagine that she is her original form at this moment, what kind of mentality would that be...?

Especially when whipping someone...

Lu Xingzhou tried to grasp the dragon horns and leaned close to her ear: "You said before that you didn't make me call you master, and I was secretly happy about that... So you were planning to make me call you that?"

Long Qinghuang finally gritted her teeth and replied, "Lu Xingzhou, you haven't lost your wildness. I was just afraid of hurting you and didn't fight back. Don't push your luck."

Just that?

Lu Xingzhou felt that it wasn't entirely true.

Science shows that people with a strong desire to conquer and dominate also harbor a deep-seated longing to be conquered, but no one can actually achieve that.

She also said that you can tame a dragon as a mount, as long as you can do it.

Lu Xingzhou used to seem too much of a gentleman. Although she liked him, she could never submit to such a person.

When you act domineering, she takes it all for granted?

Driven by his wild nature, Lu Xingzhou grabbed the dragon's horn and raised his whip again: "Who should call out to whom?"

Long Qinghuang remained silent.

"Snap!" Another lash of the whip.

Long Qinghuang gritted her teeth and stammered for a long time before her voice finally softened: "I...I called you, okay? Stop hitting me..."

He said that, but ultimately didn't actually shout. Lu Xingzhou lashed out a few times, and the anger in his heart subsided. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he didn't press the matter further. Both remained silent, their postures of holding horns and riding dragons straight towards the Demon Capital.

In fact, Lu Xingzhou's guesses this time were all wrong.

Long Qinghuang doesn't have a masochistic mentality at all, not even as much as Ye Tinglan.

She was completely giving in to the young man and going along with his wishes. Anyway, he was so injured that he had no strength left, and the blows didn't hurt at all.

However, it was partly true. Long Qinghuang liked his previous gentlemanly demeanor, but she also hoped that he would have some masculine domineering qualities. Although she got slapped this time, she was more gratified, feeling that the little man had awakened.

A man should have this kind of spirit.

Including his desire to tame dragons... Whether he succeeds or not, having this ambition is always good... It's better than wanting to run away.

Xiao Kui was squatting in the Imperial Garden tending to the flowers planted by Lu Xingzhou when she suddenly felt something, her eyes widened and she looked up sharply.

They watched helplessly as Lu Xingzhou, holding His Majesty's dragon horn, rode on His Majesty's back and drove into the Rebellious Palace.

Looking at the outline of the Rebellious Palace from afar, Xiao Kui thought the name of the palace was truly brilliant.

Lu Xingzhou, who was actually injured, had been whipping himself all the way through the chaotic path. By the time he reached Longya, he was already too exhausted to continue and fell into a deep sleep as soon as he entered the Rebellious Palace.

Long Qinghuang shook her head, affectionately placed him on the bed, and gently wiped the sweat from his forehead.

After a moment of silence, she quietly pulled out the farewell letter from under his pillow, intending to tear it up, but then suddenly stopped.

Her fingertips brushed over his handwriting, her eyes filled with tenderness.

She could see Lu Xingzhou writing the letter through her divine sense, so she knew from beginning to end that he was going to run away.

But at this moment, this farewell letter became proof of his reckless devotion, and his most touching love letter.

Long Qinghuang gently stroked it for a long time, carefully storing the token in the ring, and whispered, "Xiao Kui."

Xiao Kui rushed in, and Long Qinghuang sighed, "Take good care of her, and inform me immediately when she wakes up."

Xiao Kui stammered, "Where...where do we go to inform His Majesty?"

"It's in the Dragon Court." Long Qinghuang stood up, her previously gentle face now filled with murderous intent: "I'm going to kill them."

(End of this chapter)