Chapter 137: Following

Bang.

The jiao spirit was thrown onto the ground, and its powerful vitality kept it from dying even though half its body was severed.

Da Yu came to Yu Lin's side, looked at the jiao spirit on the ground, and said in a deep voice:

"Is this your attack against me?"

Yu Lin nodded. "Yes."

"Every grievance has a source, every debt a creditor; I leave it to you."

He patted Da Yu's shoulder, turned, and walked aside, quietly watching together with Si Shan Zhong and a few others.

Da Yu stepped forward, looking down at the jiao spirit, and met its half‑closed eyes:

"Why kill me? Just because I control the waters?"

The jiao spirit said nothing, merely closing its eyes as if it did not wish to speak to Da Yu.

Seeing it ignore him, Da Yu—already angry because it had tried to assassinate him—could no longer restrain himself and kicked directly at the jiao spirit's head.

But the jiao spirit's hide was rough and its flesh thick; Da Yu's few kicks barely even tickled it, and he sneered inwardly:

"Is that all?"

Only it soon could no longer smile.

Because the Dragon Lord, who had a qilin on his back for reasons unknown, returned; upon hearing what had just happened, he instantly became furious and gave the jiao spirit a cold smile:

"You like ambushes, huh?"

He immediately began casting a spell, pointing a finger at Da Yu.

In an instant, with Qi pouring in.

Da Yu felt his blood boiling, his muscles and bones crackling "snap" with explosive sound, and a surging power surged through his body.

He had thought Yu Lin was helping him, turned his head, and saw the Dragon Lord give him a faint smile:

"Hit, strike the one that's smoking!"

The jiao spirit suddenly flung its eyes open.

Because in its perception, the human aura before it was skyrocketing, instantly reaching a level that made its heart race.

Before it could comprehend what was happening, Da Yu's fist had already reached its face.

Bang!

"Uh........"

Bang bang!

"Sss.......... I....."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Stop hitting, stop hitting, I say........."

Bang...........

Da Yu's fists flew as densely as raindrops; when he finally stopped, fine sweat seeped from his forehead and he gasped heavily.

The jiao spirit, having taken so many blows, lost most of the scales on its face; its already severe injuries worsened, and if the Dragon Lord had not quietly saved its life moments ago, it would now have already departed this world.

Da Yu grabbed its head and, staring at it, asked, "Why kill me?"

The jiao spirit looked into his eyes, fear rising involuntarily, and forced a voice from its throat:

"Your Human Race tribe chief sent me to sabotage the dam; you ruined my task........"

"Hm? Which tribe?"

"Ze Yuan Clan."

"Ze Yuan Clan?" Da Yu recalled, but could find no memory of such a tribe; he turned his head toward Si Shan Zhong and the others, who wore equally puzzled expressions.

Could the jiao spirit be lying to him?

Seeing their disbelief, the jiao spirit added, "Their chief holds a Dragon Pearl, which is why I work for him."

"Spare my life, and I'll lead you to..........."

The jiao spirit's voice abruptly halted.

Its pupils suddenly contracted to thin slits, and dense black runes instantly appeared across its scale‑covered body.

Those runes crawled over its surface like living things, emitting a nauseating, decaying stench.

"What is this......" Da Yu instinctively released his grip and stepped back two paces.

Almost simultaneously, the jiao spirit's body began convulsing violently.

Its scales turned black and fell off at a visible speed, and flesh melted away like ice under a scorching sun.

"Save......" the jiao spirit forced out the last word, then its whole body "hissed" and turned into a pool of foul‑smelling black water.

The black water corroded the ground, spewing thin wisps of blue smoke, and within a moment seeped into the soil and vanished.

The Dragon Lord came to Da Yu's side, his gaze landing on a tiny, almost imperceptible gu worm: "Wugu Technique."

"When the gu worm dies, it must die too."

Yu Lin's voice rang in his mind: "Dragon Lord, when you were with Da Yu before, have you ever heard of the Ze Yuan Clan?"

The Dragon Lord replied, "No."

"After he forged the Nine Tripod Cauldrons, he died within a few years; the few of us mostly followed him to various places, so we rarely heard him speak of the past."

"I'll look for clues."

Hearing that, Yu Lin said nothing further.

Da Yu, like Emperor Shun, lived to a hundred years.

Emperor Yao outlived them, reaching over one hundred and ten years; he died twenty‑eight years after Emperor Shun's reign began.

That means Yu Lin can now meet both emperors.

Let's talk about it when the time comes.

Yu Lin pressed down the thoughts in his mind, looked up at the sky that was again clouding over, intending to brew another round of heavy rain.

"Wen Ming, are you going back, or staying to help them?"

Da Yu heard him call himself, and immediately said: "Stay!"

"Yu Lin, go back first; the dike has been repaired, we have enough here!"

"Hmm." Yu Lin nodded, didn't say more, just reminded to stay safe, then turned back toward the Esteemed Tribe.

Of course.

He let Wu Feng and Wu Jing stay.

Long Ye and the Qilin followed him back, intending to find out which tribe the Ze Yuan Clan belongs to.

After they left.

Da Yu led Si Shan Zhong and others into helping the Flood Dragon Clan, settling the clan's people in a mountain cave.

A warm bonfire was lit.

In the flickering firelight, the person in charge of counting spoke in a heavy tone:

"Thirteen missing, twenty-six dead...... Chief, what...... should we do?"

Yi Qi Chi stood before the neatly arranged corpses, his gaze fixed on the two at the very front—those were his parents.

His mother's hair still held the wooden hairpin he had carved himself last year, and his father's palms were full of calluses from years of labor.

His throat felt as if blocked, his eye sockets burning with pain.

But he is the chief, the backbone of the tribe.

Yi Qi Chi simply shut his eyes hard, forcing back that sour feeling.

"I understand." His voice was unnaturally calm:

"Settle the people well; we are still alive, alive......"

As he turned, his fists clenched until his knuckles whitened, nails digging deep into his palms.

Blood seeped out between his fingers, yet he felt no pain.

At the cave entrance, Da Yu gazed blankly at the darkening sky.

Yi Qi Chi walked up behind him, recalling the scene of Da Yu using self-expanding soil to control the water, and he dropped to his knees heavily.

"If you ever need to control water in the future, please bring me along."

Rain mixed with soil splashed up, wetting his lower garments.

Da Yu did not turn back, his silence pressing between them like a tangible weight.

After a long while, Da Yu finally spoke: "Are you not afraid of death?"

"Not afraid." Yi Qi Chi lifted his head, the fire in his eyes blazing brighter than the cave's bonfire:

"I fear more the death of my kin and my people!"

He truly isn't afraid of death; if he were, he wouldn't have jumped into the water to save his brother back then.

Da Yu still didn't speak.

Until a thunderclap sounded outside, and a violent downpour suddenly fell.

Da Yu finally turned around.

A bolt of lightning split the night sky, the blinding thunder-light casting his silhouette unusually tall.

In that instant, Yi Qi Chi vaguely saw the image of Emperor Shun—equally tall and resolute.

On this young body.

"Get up." Da Yu's voice low and powerful, as if it could pierce the rain: "The path of water control is perilous and long; not one person's strength can achieve it. If you truly wish to follow, you must prepare to contend with heaven and earth."

He reached out and lifted Yi Qi Chi: "From today on, your people are my people; this flood disaster, we will quell it together!"

"I have always believed that humanity can conquer heaven!"