"Xiaoyao City colluded with the Dragon Clan?" Gu Fuyou furrowed her brows. "What... Qilin Marrow... me?"
These words were completely baffling. She understood each individual word, but when they were put together, she couldn't comprehend it. "When did Xiaoyao City collude with the Dragon Clan? This is baseless. What do you mean by dividing the world? Uncle Lu, you know about Xiaoyao City."
Lu Yandong shook his head. "I know, but you are confused."
The corners of Gu Fuyou's mouth sank, and her eyes looked empty and lost. Initially, she thought she had misunderstood something, thinking that when Lu Yandong mentioned offering her, he was referring to her contact with Zhong Michu.
However, upon further thought, it didn't make sense.
Zhong Michu's connection to the dragons should be known by few, and he grew up in Jingdu Mountain with only a trace of dragon blood.
Lu Yandong must have misunderstood something.
He randomly brought up Qilin Marrow, implying that she was the Qilin Marrow.
Xiaoyao City was using her in a trade with the Dragon Clan.
That seemed to be the meaning behind his words.
However, Gu Fuyou felt even more dumbfounded. It was like a massive joke. It was as if a worthless stone had been sitting beside her for over twenty years, and everyone who saw it would say it was just a piece of rock.
But suddenly, one day, someone came and held it up, saying, "Look, this is an invaluable treasure." Could anything be more absurd?
But even though Gu Fuyou found it difficult to accept, she couldn't help but delve deeper into her thoughts.
Her mind raced, and suddenly she remembered the insignificant details from the past that she had overlooked.
It was like grasping onto a thread, connecting all the scattered pieces.
While she couldn't believe it, the more she thought, the more it confirmed that she was the Qilin Marrow.
Gu Fuyou's face stiffened. "I... am the Qilin Marrow?"
Lu Yandong silently looked at her, tacitly confirming it.
Gu Fuyou took two steps back, barely stabilizing herself. She reached into her pocket, pulled out Ah'Fu's front paw, pressed it against the pad of flesh, and opened a small wound with her thumb. A drop of crimson blood emerged.
The blood looked like a red agate bead, seemingly normal.
Gu Fuyou also took out the sword embryo from her storage pouch.
Lu Yandong's subordinates immediately became vigilant, as if they were ready to pounce and subdue her if she made any sudden moves.
Lu Yandong raised his hand, signaling them not to act rashly.
Gu Fuyou glanced around and wiped the blood from her finger onto the sword embryo.
She infused it with her spiritual power, and the sword embryo immediately emitted a radiant light.
Gu Fuyou's expression froze. It wasn't an illusion. The sword had emitted unusual light twice before when she used it.
Once in the ice cave in Xianluo, she thought it was because Zhong Michu had transferred her spiritual power to her.
Another time in the underground cave, she couldn't figure out the reason and, coupled with Amon's death, she didn't dare dwell on the matter too much.
No matter how incapable she was, she would never have imagined that she possessed the Qilin Marrow.
It was too absurd.
Gu Fuyou couldn't help but burst into laughter at this revelation.
Heavens, you have truly favored me.
With this puzzle solved, everything else fell into place.
Gu Fuyou seemed to mutter to herself, saying, "So that's why the Zuo family has been fixated on Zuo Tianyi's death. All their marriage proposals and attacks on the city were just a ruse. They wanted me."
Gu Fuyou felt like she had been thrown into an abyss, surrounded by darkness, and her whole body was in a weightless state. "They want to capture me, so they attacked the Xuanmiao Sect and Xiaoyao City. They even spread lies like Xiaoyao City colluding with the Dragon Clan, making you stand on their side... No, that's not right..."
Gu Fuyou's eyes turned bloodshot, fixedly staring at Lu Yandong. "They not only want to unify the Southern Continent, but they also want the Qilin Marrow. They can openly take action and afterward claim it was for the sake of the human clan, to prevent the Qilin Marrow from falling into the hands of the Dragon Clan. Instead of condemning them, you will even help them.!"
Lu Yandong crossed his arms and looked directly into Gu Fuyou's eyes.
He said in a deep voice, "You are right! To prevent the Qilin Marrow from falling into the hands of the Dragon Clan, we would even form a united front with the Xuling Sect. This is no longer just a matter concerning a city and a sect; it concerns the whole world. We cannot gamble the prosperity of the entire human clan on the life and death of a single city and sect. Since Gu Wanpeng wants to betray the human clan, then he cannot blame the Three Continents for betraying him!"
Gu Fuyou shouted, "My father wouldn't do that! Xiaoyao City did not collude with the Dragon Clan. It's just a fabricated lie that the Xuling Sect concocted to attack Xiaoyao City. Uncle Lu, you have known my father for so many years. Don't you understand him? He has always acted openly and honestly! My father doesn't even know that I am the Qilin Marrow, and I didn't know either. If we had known, I would have used it against the Zuo family within Xiaoyao City..."
Suddenly, a voice came from behind her, "You can argue as much as you want.!"
Gu Fuyou abruptly turned around and saw Zuo Yuezhi leading a group of people.
When Lu Yandong saw him, he snorted coldly and turned his gaze away, seemingly reluctant to see him.
A middle-aged man in a blue robe approached Lu Yandong, and as he passed by Gu Fuyou, Dongli and Liu Guizhen warily stepped back, protecting Gu Fuyou.
The middle-aged man glanced at Gu Fuyou and went straight up the steps.
Lu Yandong greeted him with a bow and called him "Elder."
Gu Fuyou now understood that this person was an elder from the Biluo Sect. The Xuling Sect and the Biluo Sect had already had contact, and they had arrived in Gu Valley City ahead of them.
Lu Yandong had probably been hosting these people.
Now that Gu Fuyou knew what the Xuling Sect wanted, she felt a surge of confidence.
She coldly looked at Zuo Yuezhi and said, "When you want to accuse someone, you can always find a way."
Zuo Yuezhi smiled. "Whether you want to accuse us or not, Xiaoyao City understands it in their hearts. If you didn't collude with the Dragon Clan, how could the beast tide have suddenly appeared on Jingdu Mountain? Everyone knows that only the Dragon Clan can incite a beast tide! If it weren't for an arrow from the heavens, how could you youngsters escape from the hands of a Daoist cultivator at the Nascent Soul? Someone was secretly protecting you! According to my friend from the Biluo Sect, a high-ranking general from the Eastern Sea Dragon Clan recently arrived in the Eastern Province. The Dragon Clan, which rarely leaves the Four Seas, why would they come at this critical moment? It's for the sake of meeting you, the Qilin Marrow!"
Saying so, Zuo Yuezhi took out an arrow, and the arrowhead was made of golden dragon teeth, reflecting a peculiar luster in the sunlight.
Zuo Yuezhi spoke with profound meaning, "This is the arrow shot on Jingdu Mountain. It's adorned with the golden dragon teeth, a precious treasure from a dragon's body that an ordinary person cannot obtain."
Implying that the person who shot this arrow secretly assisted them was either a member of the Dragon Clan or someone related to them.
Lu Yandong and the Biluo Sect's elder showed no surprise; it seemed they had already seen this arrow before.
If the Xuling Sect couldn't present enough evidence to prove Xiaoyao City's collusion with the Dragon Clan, Lu Yandong couldn't be so certain.
Gu Fuyou was stunned.
Although she had seen the arrow on Jingdu Mountain, she didn't understand what had happened. The beast tide was caused by Zhong Michu.
As for the arrival of the Dragon Clan in the Eastern Province, Gu Fuyou was unsure, but she instinctively felt it might be related to Zhong Michu's intention to leave the sect and go to the Xujimo Peak.
Zhong Michu's background was entangled and complicated, a mess that couldn't be easily explained.
Now, with these two matters coincidentally coming together, Gu Fuyou couldn't find the right words to explain.
She was unjustly accused.
If she wanted to clarify, she would have to reveal Zhong Michu's identity.
But if they knew about Zhong Michu's identity, would they kill her to eliminate any future troubles? Even if she explained the cause and effect, would they believe her?
But if she didn't explain clearly, the injustice suffered by Xiaoyao City wouldn't be resolved, and the Three Continents would undoubtedly stand with the Zuo family.
Naturally, the Zuo family, under the pretext of controlling the Qilin Marrow, and secretly for the unification of the Southern Continent, would turn a blind eye to their actions because the life and death of a city and sect couldn't compare to the prosperity of the entire human clan.
Gu Fuyou was caught in chaos. She shook her head and said, "No, it's not true..."
Suddenly, a scorching and bloody wind swept over from behind her, and someone shouted, "Chongyu, stop!"
Gu Fuyou turned her head and saw a ferocious spiritual beast, pitch black all over, walking on flames, being dragged by someone holding its tail.
The spiritual beast rushed to her and opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, with saliva dripping from its lips, melting the green bricks into magma when it landed.
Gu Fuyou's heart felt like it had plummeted from high up, and a chill ran down her spine.
This was the Huoyunjiao.
Wasn't it attacking Xiaoyao City with the Zuo family? How could it be here? If it was here, did it mean...
Zuo Yuezhi's face changed, and he rebuked, "Chongyu, step back!"
He brought the Huoyunjiao here, firstly as a fighting force and secondly for tracking purposes.
Many tracking spiritual beasts and talismans were not as effective as the Huoyunjiao.
Once it remembered a scent, whether in the sky, water, or land, even thousands of miles apart, it could track it.
This time, it was used to sniff out Gu Fuyou's scent.
Even if they lost track of her, it wouldn't be as chaotic as before, searching aimlessly like a headless fly.
Although capturing Gu Fuyou this time was almost a certainty, unexpected events could always occur.
Learning from the previous incident at the Xuanmiao Sect, they couldn't be too cautious when it came to the Qilin Marrow.
But they never expected such a twist. The Huoyunjiao simply didn't listen to Zuo Yuezhi's command.
Judging from its appearance, it was attracted by the scent on Gu Fuyou and couldn't control its instinct—appetite.
The Huoyunjiao had a high cultivation base, and before Zuo Yuezhi could stop it, it opened its bloody mouth, about to swallow half of Gu Fuyou's body.
In an instant, a white mist filled Gu Fuyou's pouch.
Accompanied by a dragon's roar, a white figure flew out, growing larger as it spiraled upward, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a pillar, with the white dragon coiling around her.
The Huoyunjiao bit onto the white dragon's body.
The white dragon let out a roar and turned its head, biting the Huoyunjiao's neck, carrying it as it soared into the sky, dragging it away from Gu Fuyou's side.
The first reaction of everyone was, look, there really is a dragon.
Then they thought, how could the dragon come out of Gu Fuyou?
After that, everyone's expressions froze.
Lu Yandong said, "How... how can it be a white dragon?"
Zuo Yuezhi's face turned pale.
He guessed that this dragon might be the divine dragon that carried Gu Fuyou during the canyon race.
He turned to the person next to him and asked, "Is this the same dragon you saw before?"
"Yes, it looks... somewhat similar..." This person saw that the guardian's expression was not good, and hesitated in his words, "The one we saw before didn't have horns, but this one..."
This dragon's horns were already about a finger's length.
Zuo Yuezhi raised his hand and slapped, "Why didn't you say it was a white dragon?"
This person wanted to defend himself, but he realized that Zuo Yuezhi never asked in the first place.
Those people were too focused on arguing whether it was a divine dragon or a giant worm, completely overlooking the color.
Lu Zhang saw that Lu Yandong showed a hint of panic and was very puzzled.
He asked, "Father, what's wrong with the white dragon?"
Lu Yandong said, "Only the royal family of the Five-Clawed Divine Dragon is the White Dragon. The Dragon Clan's belief and loyalty to the royal bloodline is incomparable to the human clan. In the past, the Four Seas had two royal families, the Golden Dragon and the Divine Dragon, who selected one king to lead the entire clan. But now, the Golden Dragon royal family has been wiped out, and the Divine Dragon royal family has been leading all the dragon clans. Now that the royal bloodline has withered, only the White Dragon lineage remains. The current Dragon King is Emperor Jun, and his son is Emperor Wujian. There are rumors that Emperor Wujian died more than ninety years ago, and Emperor Jun was enraged, which caused the raging waves in the Eastern Sea. This white dragon, this white dragon..."
Lu Yandong muttered, "It's either a descendant of Emperor Jun or Emperor Wujian. If it dies in our Eastern Province, with the only two remaining royal bloodlines gone, how can they let it go?"
Lu Yandong's worry was that this white dragon was sent by Emperor Jun to make contact with Gu Fuyou.
If that were the case, if it didn't return with a complete tail and whiskers, Emperor Jun would investigate and likely find out who did it.
At that time, these culprits would have no way to escape punishment.
Lu Yandong was speaking with Lu Zhang.
The white dragon let out a painful and long roar, as the Huoyunjiao had scraped off its scales with its sharp claws.
Although both sides had similar body sizes, everyone could sense that the Huoyunjiao's cultivation level was much higher than that of the white dragon.
Several people lurking outside the City Lord's Mansion saw the two beasts entangled in a fierce battle in the sky.
Xiao Qian asked, "Mr. Accountant, look, doesn't it resemble His Majesty?"
The accountant stroked his beard and said, "I'm afraid it's His Highness's bloodline."
The Vice President saw the shiny crystal falling from the sky and realized it was a dragon scale.
He blushed and cursed, "Oh damn, fucking motherfucker, the dragon is playing with shrimps in shallow waters. You two are still chatting. If you delay any longer, the young lady will be completely scraped clean. Quickly, call the brothers and go to the City Lord's Mansion to rescue her!"
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Translator's note: Sigh... No comment, it just my heart felt cold.
(Note: Huoyunjiao is a fiery cloud serpent).
To Be Continued...