Chapter 17: Swallowing the Dragon

The Dark Moon City had four large clans: Yuan, Zhao, Huang, and Yu.

Not only were the major incomes in the city, but also the mines and herb fields outside of the city were all jointly held by the four clans.

Even the Mayoralso translated to Mayoress for female city leaders, like Yan Lianyao. of the City was nominated by one of the four clans.

The Zhao Clan and the Huang Clan have been in charge of the authority in the Dark Moon City for the past hundred or so years.

Among the four major clans, the Huang Clan controled the majority of the mines and quarries, which produced valuable metals like gold and silver.

The Yu Family was in charge of the vast amounts of herb fields, producing raw medical materials.

As for the Zhao Clan and Yuan Clan, their main source of income was from within the City. Most of the rent collected from shops was given to the Yuan Clan.

And the Zhao Clan owned many of those shops in the city like bars and banks.

The hard-earned money that the Huang and the Yu Clan got were all from outside of the city, doing much of the hard labor.

The Yuan and Zhao Clan, on the other hand, got more profit in much of a comfortable way.

Furthermore, even a percentage of the annual income from the mines and herbs fields outside of the city had to be given to the Yuan and Zhao clans as a fee.

The so-called “battle of the three realms between the four clans” was simply a way to redistribute the proportion of mines, quarries, herb fields, and forests of the Dark Moon City.

As for those properties in the city that were under Yuan and Zhao Clans’ control, the Huang and Yu Clans could hardly ever touch.

…

In the East City, deep inside a mansion that belonged to the Yuan Clan, the father, and daughter of the Lin Clan were each soaked in a large wooden barrel.

A disgusting dark green liquid filled the barrels, and there were some dead poisonous insects that could be seen floating on the surface.

Those insects quickly hardened as they floated up and all died of poisoning.

With the “Red Shelled Pill” intruding most of his organs, Lin Hanyu was barely alive. He looked down at his chest, feeling that countless insects were gathering around his Middle Core, sucking out the poison from the pill.

With the toxin slowly getting out, his consciousness gradually became back, but his anger lingered.

On the other side of the room, Lin Zhuyun was also suffering from the horrible smell of the liquid that she was soaked in. She tightly shut her eyes in pain as the insects were all over her body as well.

Both of them never imagined that they would be beaten down so hard from the trip to the Yu Clan. Not only did they not get what they wanted, but also almost lost their lives.

“Yu Yuan!”

The two of them screamed in their thoughts.

“If it is not because of me who saved you from Yu Yuan and figured out the antidote, you perhaps are dead by now.” Yuan Lianyao appeared in the room like a ghost.

The moonlight came down from the sky like a waterfall.

Under the bright moonlight, her tight silver-white robe and graceful body shape made her more like a mermaid.

“Giggle~ Granted, this method of detoxification is a bit weird, but it still works fine.” Yuan Lianyao’s glancing looks made both of them feel very uncomfortable, “This is the Dark Moon City. I hope that the Lin Clan can watch out a bit next time!”

“The master of the Cold Shadows Sect is just outside of the city! If she knows that my little girl has suffered from such poison, she will turn the city upside down!”

Lin Hanyu knew that the woman in front of him was not an easy one to scare, so he brought out the Cold Shadows Sect to argue.

“Oh, now you mentioned. I almost forgot to tell you that.” Yuan Lianyao twitched her lips and said with a wry smile, “My guards outside of the city found a cave that left signs of a fight.” That master that you are talking about is probably dead. No one could even find her bones.”

“What?”

The father and daughter yelled simultaneously.

“To be honest, I feel like there is someone much more powerful behind Yu Yuan than you two can ever imagine.” Yuan Lianyao’s expression was serious, “After the two of you recovered, I suggest for you to leave the city immediately. Go think it through with your clan and the sect. Don’t just come back like an idiot and still leave me responsible for explaining to the Lin Clan and Cold Shadows Sect what was going on.”

With that being said, Lady Mayoress left just like the way she came under the confused looks of the father and daughter.

…

Downtown, in the backyard of the Hall of Treasures.

The bold (fat)-looking Zhao Dongsheng wore seven exaggerated large luxurious rings on his thick fingers. Every ring was decorated with various types of fancy gold, silver, and jade.

An iron ruler, a jade plaque, and a pair of shears were placed on the marble countertop in front of him.

The three objects presented were all of the rare treasures, each releasing touch of unusual spiritual light.

“Black Dragon Shears. The one and only Black Dragon Shears! The grade wasn’t high, just a simple grade three weapon!”

Zhao Dongsheng slowly touched the solid black shears. A black-light with the shape of a dragon seemed to be alive inside the shears, “Grade three spiritual weapon. It’s not the best, but still decent in the Dark Moon City. I know quite a few people who are willing to buy it for a good price. But last time I checked, you are not among one of them.”

With a smile on his face, he looked at the visitor that came, “Frankly, the only reason that I let you in this room was that I heard a lot about you recently. Especially what you have done.”

While he was talking, his round body lazily lied on the recliner. He did not bother to introduce the jade or the ruler, “If I’m not wrong, you came here for the Black Dragon Shears, right?”

“You guessed it.”

Yu Yuan stood straight in front of the Zhao Clan’s leader of the younger generation, “I have learned that this pair of shears from your clan is perfect for my aunt. So, I am here today to ask about just that. As for the other two, I have no interest at the moment.”

Teehee!

Qin An, the nominal manager for the Hall of Treasures, giggled at what seemed to him as the most ridiculous words he had ever heard. Standing next to Zhao Dongsheng, the lean Qin An presented to be much of a contrary. He said, “Young master of the Yu Clan, I must remind you that when this pair of shears arrived at our hall, your aunt, Yu Li, came here at once.”

“I still can remember her longing face as she left our hall. Do you know why the shears are still here?”

Before Yu Yuan could give an answer, Qin An said, “Because she can’t afford the price!”

Zhao Dongsheng’s recliner rocked back and forth with more of an exaggerated magnitude, “My Hall of Treasures is not a charity. If you don’t have enough spirit stones, just turn around and walk away. Stop wasting my time.”

He casually raised his thick arms, signifying Qin An to see the visitor off.

He met that man already, and his curiosity had been satisfied.

In his eyes, the young master of the Yu Clan was indeed a unique kid.

However, their Hall of Treasures was a place of business. It was formed to make a profit, so no matter how clever their customer was, as long as one came in empty-handed, Zhao Dongsheng had no interest to patiently serve.

Yu Yuan came in here without a single cloth bag or any container for spirit stones. He had no intent to purchase anything.

Coming to the Hall of Treasures empty-handed was a disrespect to him as well as the Zhao Clan!

“I heard that your daughter Zhao Yafu’s realm halted at the Contained Spirit Realm.” Yu Yuan took a step forward and stared directly into Zhao Dongsheng’s small eyes, “Miss Zhao is one year younger than me. For a normal cultivator, it is not a bad achievement. But you know that she passes through Meridian Breakthrough and Contained Spirit with incredible speed, and, just like my fiance, her chance of stepping into the Yellow Room Realm early is high.”

Creak!

The rocking chair slowly stopped.

The manager Qin An said coldly, “What do you have to do with our young lady’s cultivation?”

Zhao Dongsheng’s soybean-sized eyes also burst with cold light, and a thick mountain-like spiritual power suddenly covered up Yu Yuan.

Suddenly, Yu Yuan’s back was forced to bend slightly forward under the strong force.

Zhao Dongsheng slowly came down from the chair. After he stood up, Yu Yuan found that Zhao Dongsheng was even taller than him. With the large meaty body coming closer, Yu Yuan felt a strong sense of oppression.

“My daughter’s level of cultivation is none of your business.” He spoke with a low and threatening voice.

As the words came out of his mouth, they were like rocks that piled on Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan groaned painfully. His knees started to bend under the pressure, and just before he was about to fall on to the ground, he suddenly said, “Uncle Zhao, have you ever heard about ‘raising dragons’ from the Yinlong Lake?”

The immense pressure instantly went away.

Yu Yuan took a breath and stood up straight again, “Even though I have not come with spirit stones, but I am here with sincerity. I know what you need the most right now.”

“Yinlong Lake? Raising dragons? What are you talking about?” Qin An was confused.

“You go stay in the front yard and make sure no one comes in, including you!” Zhao Dongsheng’s face was red, and his fat hands clenched into a large fist. “You come with me!” He walked straight into the backyard room.[1]

Without talking about looking at the seemingly expansive Black Dragon Shears on the marble countertop, along with the other two treasures, Yu Yuan followed him into the room.

“How do you know about Yinlong Lake?!”

When they settled in the room, Zhao Dongsheng appeared agitated and restless. The room was decorated with expansive landscape paintings and delicate wooden furniture. As he talked, every object in the room seemed to be glowing with light.

With just a glance, Yu Yuan knew that the walls were covered in a secret formation that isolated the sound and detected one’s spiritual realm.

Anyone who hadn’t reached the Yin God Realm would not be able to use their spiritual powers to eavesdrop on the conversations inside.

“I just want to know if Yinlong Lake gave Zhao Clan permission to raise the dragon spirit in your daughter’s body?” Instead of answering, Yu Yuan asked him another question. “This is very important!”

Zhao Dongsheng’s expression changed. “How much do you know?”

“Uncle Zhao, please answer my question first!” Yu Yuan completely calmed down. He could tell that he was right, and because of his daughter’s troubles, the new leader of the Zhao Clan was messed up in his thoughts already.

Zhao Dongsheng paused for a long time and nodded.

“Ah, so they permitted.” Yu Yuan smiled, “So it looks like the real power behind the Zhao Clan is the Yinlong Lake.”

“You can think of it that way.” Zhao Dongsheng decided not to hid from him anymore. “Since you know the Yinlong Lake and ‘raising dragons’, then you must know my daughter’s troubles. How dare you still talk about it in front of my face!”

Zhao Dongsheng crossed his arms across his chest, and the sense of danger in the room spiked straight up. “Well then if you cannot give me a satisfying explanation, I’m afraid you will not be able to leave this room alive.”

“The real body of the dragon is not here, but that young dragon’s spirit that was being raised inside your daughter died.” Yu Yuan smiled confidently. “You know, your daughter knows, but Yinlong Lake may not know yet. If the people from Yinlong Lake know that the young dragon died outside, they will sacrifice your daughter to save the dragon with its soul and restored blood.”

Zhao Dongsheng looked the same as usual, motioning Yu Yuan to continue.

“You, or rather the Zhao Clan, not only want to avoid sacrificing Zhao Yafu but also want to carry out the ‘swallowing the dragon’ plan. Is that true?”

“So what?” Zhao Dongsheng laughed.

No matter how clever Yu Yuan was, he had already made up his mind to kill Yu Yuan here.

“If Zhao Clan wants to implement that plan, you can not let anyone know about this. If somehow Yinlong Lake gets the news, everyone in the Zhao Clan is dead!

“Yeah, just a simple plan to swallow the dragon, isn’t it?” Yu Yuan chuckled. “Uncle Zhao, trust me. I have just what you need!”