Chapter Ninety-Four: The Boss

Held in the bear-creature’s massive paw, Long Yun gradually accepted his fate. In all his years, this was the first time he had suffered such humiliation, yet there was nothing at all he could do.

The scenery on both sides kept streaming backward. Long Yun did not know how long had passed before he was suddenly hurled to the ground. He rolled awkwardly twice, then struggled back to his feet.

He looked around. A delicate fragrance drifted into his nose, and before him stretched a vast forest of pink peach blossoms, boundless as the eye could see.

What a sacred haven of peach blossoms! Long Yun could not help admiring it in secret. Even now, in this life-or-death situation, he could not summon even a trace of fear.

To perish here would be a kind of enjoyment.

Long Yun gave a silent nod, his gaze turning resolute. The bear-creature stood beside him now, staring toward a thatched hut deep within the peach grove, its eyes filled with reverence.

As the bear-creature arrived, many demonic beasts began emerging from around the hut. There were more than a hundred of them, and what astonished Long Yun was that every single one of these beasts was at the innate level.

Among them were a few whose cultivation he could not even begin to gauge. He could not help but feel a chill. It seemed that Black Wolf Ravine truly was brimming with experts.

"Boss, I brought you a human to play with!" the bear-creature said cautiously, as though it were deeply afraid of this boss.

Long Yun had long imagined what the Wolf King of Black Wolf Ravine might look like. Perhaps he would appear human, or perhaps like this bear-creature, with a bear's head and a human body. Or perhaps he would still keep the most primitive form of a wolf.

As the thought crossed his mind, a voice came from the thatched hut. "Bear-creature, the human you brought last time wasn't fun at all. How do you even do your job? And now what kind of thing have you brought me? Still, I suppose you can't get your hands on anything very good."

The voice was lilting and pleasant, crisp as an oriole in a quiet valley, and it stirred a strangely refreshing feeling in the listener.

Long Yun could not help grinding his teeth inwardly. Damn it, so I am just some toy to be played with? This woman is truly ruthless. You really cannot judge a person by appearance. Her voice is so lovely, yet I never expected her heart to be so venomous.

At the thought, a prickle ran down Long Yun's spine. From her words, it seemed the bear-creature had already brought a human here before, and that person may well have been tortured to death by her.

Long Yun felt his scalp go numb. If she killed him outright, that would be one thing. Eighteen years later, he could still be a hero again. But if she intended to torment him to death, that would be a tremendous humiliation.

Within Long Yun flowed the bloodline of the Dragon God, the supreme bloodline above all life in this world, possessing absolute authority and control. Such power would not tolerate any desecration by others.

The bear-creature gave a few foolish laughs and scratched its head. "Boss, this one is actually very amusing. This is the first human I’ve ever seen who's this fun. You’ll definitely like him!"

"Old Bear, don’t lie to the boss. This brat looks dull and foolish. What could be fun about him? The boss probably won’t even look at him twice before throwing him out!" A winged tiger nearby opened its bloody maw and said contemptuously.

Long Yun shut his eyes tightly and covered his ears with his hands. He was a human being, yet now he was being humiliated by this pack of demonic beasts. Fate had truly played him cruelly. Thinking of this, he could no longer bear it. He could only choose not to hear these words.

"Winged Tiger, let me tell you this: the last human I brought was killed by your hand, wasn’t he? Heh, if the boss finds out you ate him, you’ll definitely have to answer for it. Don’t forget, the boss never harms human lives!" the bear-creature retorted, unable to remain silent under the winged tiger’s provocation.

Although Long Yun had covered his ears, the bear-creature’s voice was like spring thunder bursting overhead, and he still heard it. Involuntarily, his impression of this boss improved a little.

From the bear-creature’s words, those humans did not seem to have been toyed to death by this mysterious boss. Moreover, this boss did not appear to like taking human lives.

Just then, the voice from the thatched hut sounded again.

"Bring him in! But I warn you, if this human is not as amusing as you say, I will never let you off!" said the woman’s voice.

The bear-creature nodded in acknowledgment, seized Long Yun’s collar once more, and with a violent motion hurled him outward, directly toward the small wooden door of the hut.

Long Yun only felt as though he were soaring through the clouds. His body flew toward that little wooden door, and he could not help cursing the bear-creature to the marrow of his bones.

Whoosh.

A scorching force appeared beneath Long Yun, forming a crimson lotus that caught his falling body and carried him into the hut.

Long Yun was astonished. What formidable control. The lotus beneath his feet radiated waves of searing heat, like some unknown flame, yet in the hands of its caster it did not harm him in the slightest.

To shape true energy into such a lifelike lotus was truly admirable. Such mastery over true energy was far beyond anything he could hope to reach.

The fire lotus carried Long Yun into the hut. From the outside, the hut looked somewhat old and worn, but the moment he stepped inside, he felt a warm current embrace him.

The entire interior was woven from peach branches, and somehow those peach blossoms, by means unknown to him, had been made to survive.

Even the only bed in the room was covered by peach branches, their tendrils drooping down in layers.

Upon that embroidered bed sat a young maiden, resting her cheeks in her hands and gazing at Long Yun. Her bright eyes blinked softly, like sparkling gems, while her long hair cascaded from her shoulders like a waterfall.

Her slender waist was concealed beneath a scarlet dress, and her jade feet were left bare in the air. Framed by the peach blossoms at the bedside, she looked like a flawless work of art.

At the sight of her, Long Yun’s whole body jolted. He stood rooted there as though struck by lightning, and the words burst from him in disbelief.

"Senior sister..."

The young maiden before him was actually the white-clad woman, Yan Ruoqing, whom he and another had once accompanied from the underground world beneath Mount Biqu, traveling with the river of the earth’s core into the barren village where they had lived for a month.

Though Yan Ruoqing had always covered her face with a veil when she was with Long Yun, such a beautiful visage, once seen even briefly, had still been deeply etched into his memory.

The girl before him was identical to the face engraved in Long Yun’s mind, not even the slightest different. There could not be two such similar people in this world, and so Long Yun had cried out in shock.

Moreover, he felt the same sense of familiarity from her aura as well, just as he had the very first time he saw Yan Ruoqing. Such feelings could not be faked, and so Long Yun had called out the moment he spoke.

"Hm?" The girl blinked in surprise at Long Yun’s words and asked, "How do you know my surname is Yan? Do you know me?"

Long Yun was overjoyed. He had never expected to meet Yan Ruoqing here. But in the next instant, he grew wary again.

Impossible. Yan Ruoqing was an outstanding disciple of the Phoenix Pavilion, and seemed to hold an extremely high status within the sect. How could she come to a place like this?

Who, then, was this woman? From the way she questioned him, it seemed she truly did bear the surname Yan as well. But if she was not Yan Ruoqing, how could there be anyone in this world with such an identical face?

Yes—if she truly was also surnamed Yan, could she be Yan Ruoqing’s twin sister?

Thinking of this, Long Yun probed carefully. "You’re not Senior Sister Yan? I’m Long Yun! Have you forgotten everything that happened in the barren village?"

The beautiful girl surnamed Yan showed a trace of confusion at his words. Then she giggled sweetly. "Hee hee, you really are clever. No wonder the bear-creature said you were interesting. You must have heard my name from the bear-creature and feared I would be unfavorable to you, so that’s why you said that!"

With that, she pointed at Long Yun and laughed again in amusement.

That laugh made Long Yun finally realize the truth. She was indeed not Yan Ruoqing. He had spent so long with Yan Ruoqing that he knew her temperament well. She would never laugh so brightly and freely.

At this thought, an indescribable sense of loss welled up in his heart.