Chapter 364: The Reincarnated Dragon Lord

Tiny specks of light drifted in the water, the rustling sound of flowing water filling the entire cave.

Long Pingjiang surfaced and looked around.

The underground river branched into countless tributaries, with numerous openings hidden all around, like a spider's nest.

"Are you sure this is the right path? I swear I've been here before."

Long Pinghe flatly denied: "Big brother, you're mistaken. Underground rivers all look the same."

Long Pingjiang didn't believe him.

He had encountered the same fork more than twice in his memory.

He casually grabbed a shimmering little fish and pressed it against the rock wall to reflect light; after searching for a while, he suddenly spotted an arrow-shaped mark half an inch deep and two feet long!

A few glowing blue fish swam past Long Pingjiang, casting a bluish tint on his face.

Long Pingjiang gazed slowly at Long Pinghe.

Even after seeing the arrow, Long Pinghe still insisted: "Maybe it was carved by someone long ago..."

Then came a string of meaningless Confucian phrases about how dragon folk never get lost.

Long Pingjiang let out a long sigh.

Blaming each other was useless—they were already lost in the labyrinthine underground river system.

This place was pitch-dark, with no reference points to distinguish north, south, east, or west; the water level was high, leaving less than half a foot of air space. Fortunately, dragon folk could breathe underwater.

Long Pinghe stuck out his neck: "I really followed that fish in here—it must have taken one of these paths."

Long Pingjiang suppressed the urge to forge a peerless divine weapon from his younger brother's mouth and rubbed his temples.

"Let's get out first, fill our stomachs—those baskets of crabs barely scratched the surface."

They had been in the depths of the Great Marsh for over half a month and had found no trace of the reincarnated Dragon Lord—there was no rush.

First, eat.

The underground river entrance is right here; the other side must come and go.

Since the True Dragon vanished, all the strange creatures born from its divine essence were driven out of the Long Gong by the Jiao Dragons, forced to wander.

The Jiao Dragons alone seized the Long Gong, inhaling and exhaling the Dragon Pearl, inheriting most of the True Dragon's legacy, attempting to control the entire Great Marsh.

They had assumed that with a new emperor came new ministers, and the Great Marsh would now have a new master.

Who knew that this summer, things suddenly took a turn?

Walls don't keep secrets, let alone the massive commotion caused by the Jiao Dragon summoning the Four Pillars of the Demon Court.

A dead camel is still bigger than a horse; many True Dragon-descended strange creatures united into a formidable force, each with their own intelligence networks, and after careful inquiry, they finally learned the reason.

It was to kill the thief!

But whether the thief was human or demon was unknown, and its exact location was unknown.

They only said it was in the south, possibly on land.

It was suspicious.

The Jiao Dragon, long inactive, was the strongest of the former Demon Court's Four Pillars, aided by loyal enforcers, and had fully absorbed the True Dragon's legacy—its eventual transformation into a True Dragon was certain. Yet suddenly it acted so dramatically; anyone would speculate.

The Jiao Dragon, determined to become the second Dragon Lord, acted with such gravity only because this new "thief" threatened its plans.

In all the world, perhaps only the Great Shun could affect the current Jiao Dragon.

But if it truly were the Great Shun, the Jiao Dragon would never dare shout "kill the thief."

The more one thought about it, the more it warranted deep consideration.

The clan elders performed a shamanic ritual, communed with heaven, and declared that a reincarnated Dragon Lord had appeared on the southern shore—hence the Jiao Dragon's massive mobilization.

No one doubted it.

It made perfect sense.

Even dragon folk who thought reincarnation was nonsense, with no evidence whatsoever, clung to it like a final lifeline.

They had wandered long enough; even the slimmest chance, they would fight for.

The elders immediately dispatched many dragon folk to find the reincarnated Dragon Lord before the Jiao Dragon did, restoring their former glory.

Brothers Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe were among those dragon folk.

Yesterday, they failed to catch the strange fish,

when he suddenly had a bold idea.

Could the master of the strange fish

be connected to the reincarnated Dragon Lord?

The elders gave no clues about the reincarnated body; the two brothers were no better than flies without a head, forced to search desperately based on the Dragon Lord's past traits.

Using blood essence to awaken aquatic beasts into dragon-affiliated strange creatures was precisely the former Jianghuai Dragon Lord's signature trick!

Hence today's pursuit of the strange fish.

Long Pinghe had personally seen the strange fish enter the crack, but inside it was a maze; by the time he brought his big brother Long Pingjiang in, they wandered for a while, turned countless corners, and got completely lost.

Long Pingjiang refused to let Long Pinghe lead again; he marked their path and chose a cave entrance to proceed.

Three hours later.

Long Pinghe touched the rock wall, gazed at the completely different terrain around him, and secretly chuckled.

Big brother leading? Just as unreliable.

Long Pingjiang's face turned black; they had circled three times, not only failing to escape, but sinking deeper.

Long Pinghe took two deep breaths, tensed his expression: "Big brother, what now? If we don't get out soon, dawn's coming."

"It's your fault for leading so badly!"

Long Pingjiang glared fiercely.

He examined each pitch-black cave entrance, utterly unsure which path led out.

With no exit found, the only option was...

"Up!"

"Should've done that sooner."

Long Pinghe clenched his fists and smashed a punch into the rock wall.

BOOM!

Cracks spread like a spiderweb.

Large chunks of rock fell into the water, startling schools of small fish.

The rock layers of underground rivers near Jianghuai were generally shallow; even if not, two hundred meters of rock could be broken through by their strength.

No matter how complex the underground river, it couldn't trap dragon folk.

The only concern: water nurtures all things; where there's water, there are people.

Who knew what lay above?

What if they broke through and found themselves facing the Great Shun's government office, alerting some county magistrate or commandant? That would be a huge problem.

All other factions, compared to the Great Shun, were minor powers.

Even if they could hide in the Great Marsh and survive by its natural defenses, they'd still be in deep trouble.

Long Pingjiang watched as Long Pinghe rapidly dug the hole, silently praying the Dragon Lord would protect them—above lay farmland, or perhaps an uninhabited forest.

Long Pingjiang's prayer seemed to work.

When Long Pinghe broke through nearly thirty meters of rock, pushed aside the soil, and stuck his head out, the area above was barren—cut rice stalks poked his face, painfully.

The two were lucky; directly above them lay a wide, harvested rice field.

A faint glow appeared in the east; dawn was near.

Two enormous "giants" had no time to bury the hole; they sprinted across the field and vanished in an instant.

A farmer rising early to harvest vegetables paused, shoulder burdened with an empty basket, rubbed his eyes at the morning mist nearby, and laughed.

"Early morning hallucination."

After a long while,

"Huh? Why did Old Li's family dig a well in their own field? Should've said something—I could've borrowed some water."

Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe did good deeds without leaving their names.

The two dashed through dense forest, sensing the moisture in the air, racing eastward for over ten miles until they reached the vast Great Marsh.

Many fishermen returned with baskets; the two dodged them and slipped into the Great Marsh through the reed beds.

Water rippled, reeds brushed the river.

When the water rose above their heads, the two finally exhaled in relief.

"Big brother, what now?"

Long Pingjiang thought for a moment.

"Wait at the entrance of the underground river!"

Free to read.