Chapter 216: Goodbye, Dragon King

"Alright, quickly take me to have a look! Lord Zhou!" After settling Gao Dichun, Chen Yi He again urged Zhou Ke.

He had a growing premonition that that person was the one he was looking for.

"Good. The horses are already ready." Zhou Ke said to Chen Yi He, as if he knew Chen Yi He would make this choice, having already prepared the horses downstairs of the Scripture Pavilion.

"I'll go with you." Gao Dichun said.

"That place is very dangerous; you should wait here?" Chen Yi He said to Gao Dichun.

"Hehe, we who wander the martial world—if we fear any danger, wouldn't we be unable to take a single step?" Gao Dichun laughed and retorted to Chen Yi He.

Chen Yi He had no choice but to follow Gao Dichun.

"Go!"

"Go!"

"Go go go!" Three horses rode side by side, racing toward the outside of the Imperial Palace.

Outside the Imperial Palace, Si Tu Qing and Ye Wuming were already waiting; seeing Zhou Ke bring people out, they also mounted their horses, forming a group of five that mightyly marched toward the northwest of the capital, for a moment, dust rose from the horses' hooves.

Within a quarter hour, Zhou Ke brought Chen Yi He and the others to the scene.

"Where is this?" Chen Yi He saw a pavilion about the same height as the Scripture Pavilion, but the pavilion was in disarray everywhere, with broken places and windows about to fall; the sign above the pavilion's gate had been shattered, making it impossible to tell what kind of place this was.

However, from the thin layer of gold plated on the pavilion's surface, one could see that before the incident, this pavilion was definitely a prosperous place.

"Eternal Joy Gate. Headquarters." Si Tu Qing coldly answered Chen Yi He.

"Eternal Joy Gate?" Chen Yi He was startled; he never expected to come to this place—initially he and the Dragon King were hunted all over by members of the Eternal Joy Gate, chased all the way to the Southern Border.

Although it was finally discovered that the mastermind was Zhang Gonggong of the Western Depot Embroidered Uniform Guard, their grudge with the Eternal Joy Gate was thus settled.

With the passage of time and Zhang Gonggong's emergence, the three words "Eternal Joy Gate" grew increasingly distant from Chen Yi He.

"You led troops into the capital; the most severely damaged was not the imperial clan of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but the Eternal Joy Gate—you have practically cut off its lifeline." Zhou Ke said to Chen Yi He.

"Your people died here?" Although the gate of the Eternal Joy Gate Pavilion was tightly shut, the bloody smell seeped through the thick floorboards, wafting into Chen Yi He's nostrils.

"Let's go in and have a look." Zhou Ke hadn't finished speaking when Si Tu Qing already pushed open the gate.

Indeed, besides the bloody smell assaulting the senses, there were corpses everywhere—on the ground, on tables, on beams…

"You say they were killed by a single blow, so why are they scattered like this?" Chen Yi He asked Zhou Ke; from the moment he stepped into the Eternal Joy Gate, Chen Yi He felt a chill, a cold chill, a bone‑piercing chill—this chill made him feel unfamiliar, yet deep down there was a faint sense of familiarity.

"Unfamiliar yet familiar—what is going on?" Chen Yi He muttered to himself. He bent down and looked at a corpse; the person lay in a pool of blood, throat slit, half of his body's blood drained away.

But his eyes were wide open; evidently, at the moment before, he had not realized he would die, and the shock of impending death had not yet ended when he died.

Chen Yi He, through his pupils, seemed to see the scene that person had seen just before death.

A grim reaper, wielding a great blade, struck down everything with a single blow.

"We have investigated; there is no one else here; we can basically confirm that person has left." Si Tu Qing's remark was as if addressed to Zhou Ke, as if to Chen Yi He.

"Is that so?" Zhou Ke asked softly.

"No, he hasn't left." Chen Yi He firmly denied, looking toward the roof and saying, "He is still here."

Everyone's gaze followed his line of sight to the roof.

Chen Yi He drew the Heavenly Mechanism Sword, then leapt up onto the pavilion's roof, climbed onto the roof beam, and with a "swish" crawled out.

"Quick, go out and have a look!" Ye Wuming shouted, being the first to rush out of the Eternal Joy Gate; the others followed.

"Look!" Si Tu Qing pointed at the roof and shouted.

The sunlight above was intense; Gao Dichun couldn't see clearly at first, his vision blurred for a moment; when he could see clearly, the whole person was stunned! "What is that?!"

"Who is he?" Zhou Ke raised one hand to shield his forehead and pointed with the other at the person standing opposite Chen Yi He.

Chen Yi He and that person, at this very moment, stood atop the roof of the Eternal Joy Gate Pavilion, a small roof, the two of them standing there, faintly seeming about to collapse.

"Tiger Mountain Dragon King!" Si Tu Qing replied. His tone of shock was more exaggerated than his expression; the usually composed him was no longer calm! "Wasn't he supposed to have died in the underground world of the Thousandfold Gate?"

After the Thousandfold Gate was besieged by heroes last year, all its secrets were laid bare before the world, including that underground world.

"Dragon... Dragon... King... Dragon King..." Gao Dichun was so shocked he knelt down, as if seeing a deity, he knelt devoutly on the ground, tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes!

"How could this be? You… you… you're still alive…" Gao Dichun was so excited he could hardly speak.

"Is he the son of Long Kui?" Zhou Ke asked Ye Wuming.

Ye Wuming frowned tightly, nodding affirmatively: "It's him, no mistake. The dragon saber on his back is an heirloom of the Dragon Clan; there's no doubt."

"The bloodline of the Dragon Clan still exists!"

"I just don't know which side he's on this time." Ye Wuming worried.

"So many brothers died under his blade?"

"There's no mistake—who could kill so many with a single blow?" Ye Wuming countered Zhou Ke.

"This situation doesn't look promising!" Zhou Ke also began to worry.

"My lord, this place isn't safe; let me take you back first." Si Tu Qing urged Zhou Ke.

"No need, how could I miss such a splendid battle?" Si Tu Qing waved his hand, said that, then placed his hands behind his back, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the two people atop the pavilion.

Chen Yi He and the Dragon King stood facing each other.

Letting the wind ruffle their clothes.

Chen Yi He's tears streamed down; before him, the Dragon King—was he still the same Dragon King as before? "Long time no see, Dragon King!"

He stood opposite Chen Yi He, yet so unfamiliar—he showed no expression, gave no response, his eyes rolled back, fixed on Chen Yi He, filled entirely with killing intent.

"Are you all right? Dragon King!!"