Chapter 221: Ancient Dragon Lure Plan

At that moment, the herbivorous dragon hatchling suddenly stopped eating, warily raising its still-young head to look around.

Damn it!

In an instant, the man who suspected his presence had been exposed froze completely, not daring to move again.

After a while, finding nothing wrong, the herbivorous dragon hatchling was just about to lower its head again when it suddenly turned pale and let out a terrified cry.

And at that very instant, the herd of herbivorous dragons in the distance panicked as well.

Before it could react, a deep, majestic dragon roar sounded, carrying within it a thick, suffocating pressure.

In an instant, the entire panicked herd of herbivorous dragons fell silent—no! Not just the herbivorous dragons, every dragon and beast in this entire region knelt trembling on the ground in terror, no longer moving.

Even the kings among the great beasts could not produce such terrifying majesty.

Clearly, an existence of overwhelming power, standing above the entire ecosystem, had descended!

This abnormal situation instantly changed the expression of the man still lying prone in the grass on the ground.

At this moment, he could no longer care about that delicious herbivorous dragon. In the blink of an eye, he hurled his most precious spear behind him and growled in a low voice, "Hide!!"

The next moment, the muscles all over his body began to swell with blood. He abandoned concealment entirely, leaping up from the grass, and his long legs began to race across the ground at great speed.

In an instant, in this dead silence where no creature dared to stand, a tiny, monkey-like figure sprinting across the ground stood out so conspicuously.

In no time, it caught the attention of the descended existence.

Accompanied by a gaze as if it were burning, solid and tangible.

"ROAR!!"

A tremendous bellow erupted, terrifying countless dragon-beasts beyond measure. The timid among them were so frightened that their four limbs kicked out stiffly and they toppled straight to the ground—clearly scared to death!

Amid the dragon roar, the descended existence beat its massive dragon wings and gave chase toward the man on the ground.

In less than a minute, an explosion rang out, and a scream was cut short.

It was all over.

Then, with another mighty, majestic dragon roar, this terrifying existence once again spread its dragon wings and flew off into the distance, leaving behind only a herd of dragons and beasts trembling in their four limbs, cowed into submission.

And in a hidden thicket, a pair of tear-blurred child-eyes watched that ancient dragon—its entire body crimson red, wreathed in what looked like burning dust—fly away.

Throughout the entire ordeal, no matter how terrified or tearful he was, he still clutched with one hand the spear his elder had left him as his final possession, while carefully covering his mouth with the other, not letting even the slightest sob escape, fearing that the terrifying ancient dragon might return and waste the chance his elder had bought for him.

Once he was completely safe, the child who had lost his elder in a single day began carefully evading various powerful dragon-beasts. After a series of harrowing, perilous experiences, he finally arrived at the entrance of a dark underground cave.

After some careful observation and exchange of secret signals, he successfully returned to his temporarily safe underground dwelling.

This is the two hundred and ninety-first day after the great Da Qin Dynasty, the once-mighty Dragon-People Empire, was destroyed by the ancient dragons.

All the prosperity of the past was gone. Under the wrathful vengeance of the ancient dragons, no one dared any longer to inhabit the grand, magnificent cities humanity had once built.

Because those ancient dragons specifically targeted these conspicuous architectural complexes on the land for their attacks.

Countless humans, facing ancient dragons that possessed high mobility and high intelligence like natural disasters, were as fragile as newborn infants, utterly powerless to fight back.

Thus, humanity began to abandon everything on the surface and chose a life underground like giant rats, living in constant fear and anxiety, dreading that the ancient dragons might come searching for them.

Yet even so, they could not escape the ever-cleverer ancient dragons. After countless pursuits, the ancient dragons discovered that vast numbers of buildings stood empty, and once again turned their gaze underground, beginning to search for humanity inch by inch across the land.

It seemed there was something within humanity that extremely attracted the ancient dragons—so much so that even when humans hid in underground places, caves, and other extremely concealed locations, the ancient dragons still pursued them relentlessly.

Humanity's situation grew ever more perilous.

……

At the same time, in a certain valley cottage on a day with gentle breeze and bright sunshine.

"Shwa~ shwa~"

The sound of pages turning continuously rang out.

After a while, the sound finally stopped.

At the wooden table inside the cottage, a young woman whose charm still lingered gazed at the countless papers spread across the table.

"Sigh~~"

After a long pause, she finally let out a soft sigh.

"So this is the current state of humanity? It seems we truly did get our hands on an extraordinary treasure back then."

The woman's sighing voice drifted gently through the quiet wooden cottage, clear and serene like mountain spring water.

She blinked her beautiful eyes, deep as an autumn pool, looked toward the young man who had braved countless dangers to deliver word of humanity's current plight from the perilous wilderness, and gave a slight nod of thanks:

"Ziyu, thank you for taking the trouble to bring this information."

At these words, the young man's face flushed red. He waved his hand somewhat at a loss, stammering hurriedly: "N-no trouble at all. It's all thanks to Your Majesty the Empress's latest research that I can move safely through the wilderness."

At this, the woman—Zhou Qingqing—shook her head noncommittally and said nothing more.

She looked back at the table before her, which was covered with all manner of papers and books, some scattered, some bound. She pondered for a moment before standing, as if talking to herself yet also explaining to someone, and said: "Since it was we who took that treasure, we must ultimately shoulder this heavy responsibility. If we keep delaying like this, humanity may truly be wiped out."

At this, the light in her eyes dimmed as well. She could not bear to watch the realm her late husband had built fall to such a state. After a pause, she continued: "Those ancient dragons want their treasure back, don't they? Then let us use that treasure's aura to lure them completely out of the Da Qin region, so that the people here can catch a breath."

Moreover, my research still lacks some true… ancient dragon shell-sheddings. Only with those as a medicinal primer can I fully unleash the power of this treasure. But the ancient dragon shell-sheddings within Da Qin have long since been searched through by us in the past; none can possibly remain now. It seems it is time for us to leave Da Qin."

Thinking of this, she also recalled the good news that had just arrived—the big thing had finally been built.

With that thought, she stood and spoke again:

"Xiao Hu, let's go. Gather the brothers."

"Yes! My Lady!"

As her words fell, within the wooden cottage that should have held only three people, a fourth voice—deep and resonant—suddenly rang out.

In an instant, this abruptly appearing voice caused the young messenger named Ziyu to sharply contract his pupils, because beneath that voice, a burly man slowly materialized by the window inside the cottage!

Judging by his behavior and the traces left behind, it was clear he had been standing there for a very long time—yet Ziyu had not noticed him at all!

One must remember this was the most conspicuous spot by the window inside the cottage, and he was an elite soldier who frequently roamed the extremely dangerous wilderness, his vigilance always at its peak!

Yet even so, he still could not fathom how this man had concealed himself there.

From this, one could tell just how extraordinarily skilled this suddenly appearing man was at concealment!

(End of this chapter)