Lu Mingfei, who had read Dragon Clan before slaying the dragon

"No comment!" Caesar said coldly.

"That's all right. As an old man, I'm not interested in the secrets of young people," the boss said. "It's just like what you said, Mr. Caesar, our transaction is over. If you still want to buy something from me, I welcome you warmly, because there aren't many customers as generous as you. But if you don't have anything else to do, please don't delay my business with other customers."

The boss took a sip of herbal tea and ordered the customer to leave with an expressionless face.

Caesar glanced coldly at the face of the old European man, as if he wanted to engrave his appearance in his mind. He did not give Percy any extra glances, turned around, lifted the cotton curtain, and left without saying a word.

"What a rare sight, a young man so proud to the extreme. His final glance seemed to tell me: In this world, as long as he sets his mind to it, there's nothing Caesar Gattuso can't do." The boss put down his teacup and said with a smile, "I'm beginning to understand why your Gattuso family chose him as your heir."

"The elders of the family are waiting for him to grow up. They don't mind giving Caesar too much confidence and pride. All proud birds will eventually fly back to their nests, no matter how rebellious they may have been," Percy said. "What I'm wondering now is where we made the mistake. How could he have seen through your painting?"

"No, I'm confident in my painting skills. The problem shouldn't be with my painting." The boss lowered his head and pondered. "His behavior is very unreasonable. It's as if he knew from the beginning that there were outlines on the back of the wedding dress. His spiritual power only amplifies hearing, not perspective. And what he just said about the Wanggongchang explosion was exactly what I was thinking, but he got ahead of me. Most importantly, why did he seem to know you were hiding there from the beginning?"

"I don't know. It's very confusing." Percy shook his head.

"Could it be that there's a 'prophet' hiding behind him?" The boss rubbed his chin. "That's impossible. Who could that be? It's unbelievable."

……

"Hey, long legs, what's up?" The potato chip girl was lying in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, her legs raised and swinging leisurely.

It was midday, the sun blazing overhead like a giant fireball, its searing rays piercing the clouds, cloaking the skyscrapers in a golden glow. Traffic churned back and forth on the elevated roads and ring roads, forming rivers of steel. Potato Chips and Long Legs had been living in a top-floor conference room in the heart of the CBD for the past few days. They'd hired someone to renovate the large room into a homey atmosphere, with snacks and drinks everywhere, but the conference room's core function remained intact.

"Not bad, let me see. The major magazines have done a great job promoting it. They've stopped all employee vacations, and all weekly magazines have been turned into special five-day issues." Jude Mai's gaze shifted from the leftmost screen to the far right. "The story has progressed from the two people's encounter to their acquaintance, and the market response has been very strong. The new theme of a dragon heroine and a human hero seems to be very popular. Tang Ben and Yan Kai have done a great job, blending their writing and art very well. They deserve credit for their work. Consider giving them a raise. Even I'm looking forward to the development of their storyline!"

Jude Mai sat cross-legged in her executive chair, her long legs curled up. Before her were three 42-inch Dalian screens. On the left were the recent sales figures for magazines they'd collaborated on, like Xiaoshuohui and Zhiyin Manke, the lines rising almost in leaps and bounds. On the right were the plot summaries and manga manuscripts given to her by Tang Ben and Yan Kai. The fiber optic data was pulsing rapidly, and countless emails were arriving in her inbox every minute and every second, a deluge of well wishes from readers to the two protagonists.

"You're still talking! It's all your fault for that lucky draw event! One email is worth ten dollars. Did our money just come from the wind? I really want you to experience how hard it is to make money!" The potato chip girl grabbed her messy hair with both hands. "How many emails have you sent?"

"I counted, and there are over five million signed emails. The physical postcards haven't been counted yet, so the real number will definitely be even higher... and it's only been a few days." Jude Mai laughed excitedly. "That's amazing! Looks like we're going to bleed a lot this time!"

"Don't talk about this anymore. My heart aches!" Potato Chip Girl clutched her chest as if she were having a heart attack. "Where are our four little white rabbits? How are they doing? Don't forget, we have to lead them all to the Dragon King before the deadline."

"Little White Rabbit Number One is the one who needs the least worrying. It seems that Chen Wenwen called him for help. He probably guessed that his old classmate was trapped and has been wandering around the BJ City subway for several days. He should be able to find the pattern soon and grab the key to enter Nibelungen." Jiude Mai was referring to Lu Mingfei.

The central screen in front of her displayed a city map. Five red dots, numbered from 1 to 5, were visible. The largest, number 5, remained stationary. Dot 1 was constantly in motion, moving along the city's various subway lines. That was Lu Mingfei. Dot 23, which occasionally moved in smaller areas, represented Chu Zihang and Old Tang. Dot 4... could appear in any corner of the city, its movements erratic and uncertain.

"Numbers one and four, the little white rabbits, are reassuring. Although they seem quite energetic, Lu Mingfei and Xia Mi are the two people who will definitely be together at the finish line." Jiude Mai stared at the map. "Numbers three and four are more worrying. Chu Zihang was told by Xia Mi to go to her house for dinner, and if he goes there, he'll undoubtedly be stood up. And that guy, Old Tang... is still in the internet cafe."

"What should I do?" Chip Girl casually tore open a bag of chips and stuffed a handful into her mouth. Mm, cucumber flavor. She rolled happily on the velvety Persian carpet.

"Don't worry, Chu Zihang will join the fight. You and I both know what kind of guy he is. Honestly, I've never seen such a stubborn kid." Jiude Mai waved her hand. "As for Old Tang... Sanwu has already gone. We should trust that girl. She's always been very capable in critical moments."

"It's not that I don't trust her, I just don't quite understand Lu Mingfei." The potato chip girl kept chewing. "He called his friend all the way here, such a huge help, but it seems that at the critical moment, he changed his mind and wanted to push Old Tang away from the battlefield. I really don't understand the young people nowadays, are their brains filled with mush? Does he think slaying a dragon is such fun? He's the one who makes a fuss, and we're the ones who suffer!"

Having said that, she tilted her head back and poured the remaining potato chips into her mouth, staring blankly at the ceiling, as if her spine had been bent by life.

"Hey!" Jiude Mai suddenly straightened up and pointed at the large screen in the middle in front of her with surprise, "There's movement!"

The potato chip girl also suddenly jumped up, staring at the big screen in front of Jude Mai in surprise. She clenched her hands and clapped her hands. "Finally... It seems that Little White Rabbit Number One has found the key to enter the Nibelungen. He really is the most worry-free person! Numbers Two and Three have also started to take action! That's right..."

"No!" Mai Jiude looked at the red dot on the screen that suddenly dimmed, her face changed, and she muttered to herself, "Why did the signal of Number One disappear..."

Her voice was hoarse and her face was ashen. She wished she could tear apart the jinx that had just praised Lu Mingfei for being so worry-free!

……

There was a violent storm outside, and the rain was washing down the city fiercely. BJ rarely had such heavy rain.

In the subway station beneath Oriental Plaza, Lu Mingfei descended from the blind spot of the ceiling surveillance camera and stood in front of the platform. He looked up at the subway timetable. It showed 11:57. The last train had left this station in thirty minutes. During the day, this place was bustling and bustling, with beautiful women in short skirts and handsome men in trendy outfits bustling about. But now, everything was silent, as if the last subway thirty minutes ago had taken away all the noise and popularity.

The faint chatter of patrolling security guards echoed overhead, seemingly far away, yet in the silence, it felt as if it were right next to you, like someone whispering a muffled message in your ear. The overhead lights began to dim, leaving only a few fluorescent tubes, which scattered their meager light to every corner of the vast subway station. The stars on the advertising posters, who had looked vibrant during the day, now seemed distorted in the dim light. Their faces were mostly hidden by the darkness and the music, their smiles seemingly cut in half by the dividing line between light and dark.

The remaining cool air from the central air conditioning lingered at the station entrance, a chill that seemed to seep into one's heart and lungs. The sounds of patrols in the corridor above had gradually faded, and the piercing sound of a rolling shutter door being lifted could be heard. It echoed in every corner, fading slightly after a few turns, but still lingering. It was as if someone had closed your only door countless times, leaving you alone in the darkness, further and further away from the world.

The last sound was also taken away, and the subway station was as quiet as a deserted mountain range.

Lu Mingfei stared at the timetable above him, silently reading it in his mind. He'd been buying subway tickets and swiping his card constantly these past few days, noting down to the second the time it took for each train to pass through each station. For the average person, it stands to reason that no subway trains should pass after the last one. But the subway runs in both directions. BJ Line 1 runs from Pingguoyuan to Sihui East, and there's actually a hidden station at the westernmost end called "Heishitou." Most people wouldn't go there, but the station staff would send some trains back late at night from the other terminal in case there weren't enough trains the next morning.

In other words, it is the place where the giant steel python rests late at night after running around all day.

Lu Mingfei looked up at the timetable. As it ticked to twelve o'clock, a bright white light pierced from the distance, followed by a rumbling sound. A subway train approached at an astonishing speed. Logically, this train shouldn't have any passengers, so it wouldn't slow down, let alone open the platform doors for anyone.

Suddenly, a blade was forcibly inserted into the gap of the platform curtain door. He used his arms to pry open the tightly closed curtain door. The red light at the station entrance flashed and the shrill alarm sounded.

As the long steel dragon was about to leave, Lu Mingfei squeezed into the corridor sideways through the gap half a person's width. He stepped on the edge of the platform, jumped, and silently stuck to the rear of the train, heading towards the endless darkness ahead.

Chapter 157 Lu Mingfei and the Monster Queen

The dead silence was gone. The huge friction sound between the train and the track squeezed the eardrum hard, and suddenly from extreme silence to extreme noise, it was as if there were a thousand bees flapping their wings at the same time in Lu Mingfei's brain, buzzing continuously.

The blade of Guan Shi Zheng Zong's sword pierced into the iron sheet. He was using the sword to support his body to prevent being suddenly thrown off the speeding train. The wind whistled in his ears, making a sharp sound. The speed was over 100 kilometers per hour. A normal person would definitely be crushed to pieces by the huge kinetic energy if thrown off.

But Lu Mingfei is not a normal person. His mind is full of thoughts about whether this train is heading to the mysterious country of the dead...

Suddenly a drop of water fell and splashed on Lu Mingfei's face.

He raised his head, and then there were more water droplets. It seemed like it was raining in the sky, or the city was already covered by heavy rain tonight, and the rain seemed to fall into his eyes from a point in the center of the sky... But this was a subway station, and there was a thick layer of rock above his head, more than 20 meters deep from the ground. Even if sulfuric acid was raining from the sky, it should not have penetrated this place.

Torrential rain washed over the tunnel and the train, icy drops lashing Lu Mingfei. The wind, also thick with chill, blew across his face and chest, threatening to tear his skin apart. The train vibrated monotonously over and over, a pattern he gradually grew accustomed to.

A piece of rubble fell from above his head, but Lu Mingfei narrowly avoided it. There was almost no light at the rear of the train. He was able to avoid it because of a special "sense of smell" he had developed through repeated missions, which allowed him to smell the impending danger.

The tunnel's rock formations seemed unable to withstand the erosion of the flowing water and were collapsing, sending more and more debris falling. Lu Mingfei rolled over and landed on top of the moving train. Guanshi Zhengzong penetrated deeper. He pulled hard vertically, then cut horizontally, and the metal sheet was lifted up to create a man-sized entrance and exit. He leaped and landed smoothly in the carriage.

The carriage was completely dark, enveloped in a thick darkness and deathly silence, making it even more eerie than an empty platform. The flashlight I carried with me came in handy, casting a pale, rusty light on the floor, seats, and handrails.

Lu Mingfei has ridden every subway line in the city over and over again in the past few days. He has boarded almost every train. These expensive steel beasts are maintained at regular times every day and are as bright and clean as new. No one has ever been so dilapidated... as if they have been abandoned for hundreds of years.

He walked step by step with a flashlight in hand towards the deeper part of the carriage, his footsteps making a creaking sound as they stepped on the old iron sheets. The deeper into the darkness he went, the worse the flashlight's lighting effect became, as if even the light was swallowed up. He seemed to have walked from modern times to ancient times, and time here was stirred into turbidity and nothingness.

Dry bones began to appear before his eyes, and there were more and more bones, some human bones and some animal bones. They would break if stepped on lightly. Lu Mingfei bent down and crushed a bit of dust from the dry bones. They had been weathered, and it looked like these creatures had been dead for at least a hundred years!

Were they all trapped in the Nibelungen, unable to find a way out, and so died here? Or...

Lu Mingfei's eyes flashed, as if a dark shadow flashed through the skull in front of him. It was too dark here and he couldn't see the trace clearly.

Lu Mingfei stood up and raised the aperture of his flashlight a few degrees. A twisting straight line appeared diagonally above him. He squinted his eyes. It was a station map for Line 1, with densely packed small characters marking each station name. However, the station map screen was dim, and there was no indication of which two stations the train was traveling between.

He slowly scanned the entire row of stations, and when his sight fixed on the last station, Lu Mingfei's pupils shrank.

BJ Metro Line 1 runs from Pingguoyuan to Sihui East. Many years ago, Sihui Station was called Bawangfen Station. At that time, Fuxingmen to Bawangfen was also called "Fuba Line", but it was soon renamed... At this time, the terminal station on the station map in front of Lu Mingfei is called "Bawangfen"!

But the name change happened at least thirty years ago!

Could it be that this subway is a ghost train that traveled from thirty years ago?

Suddenly, Lu Mingfei's pupils shrank to a point, and his body froze. In the reflection of the station's screen from the bright flashlight, he saw a faint golden light...

Not just one, not ten... but hundreds and thousands! Countless faint dots of dark gold shone through the white light... just like the pure surface of a lake concealing dense, faint golden rays, like pairs of prying eyes!

Lu Mingfei naturally moved the aperture of the flashlight upwards, lowered his head, and glanced downwards, but all he could see was pitch black.

But the iron roof panel should have a good reflective effect. Even if it is covered with rust and stains, it shouldn't be so dim... The light has been swallowed by something!

Lu Mingfei chose not to look directly at the creatures. He held the flashlight upward, glancing out the window of the train. A loud "dong dong" noise gradually grew stronger, like the beating of a drum in this silent, semi-enclosed space... It was Lu Mingfei's heartbeat.

Imagine you're wandering the empty carriage of a train, wondering what era this ghostly train hails from. You've already traveled a great distance, unaware that countless pairs of eyes are silently watching you from above. When the lights come on, those eyes flash an eerie golden light, and anyone's heart would race...

Even cardiac arrest!

Lu Mingfei suddenly understood how these creatures trapped under his feet died tragically!

It turned out that the dome of the train was full of monsters. They had dark golden eyes, hanging upside down above Lu Mingfei's head. They had been extinguished before, but now they were awakened by fresh flesh and blood, and opened their eyes in pairs in rows.

The bones in their bodies are as thin as fly legs, with extremely thin membranes sticking between the skeletons. They have claws on the tips of their wings, and the claws have five fingers like human hands. The nails are sharp like the blade of a Japanese sword. Their bodies shine with a beautiful bronze luster, and they look like a combination of giant bats and reptiles.

The breath of death wove patterns across their bodies, beautiful yet hideous. Lu Mingfei knew what kind of creatures they were; Caesar's Word Spirit was named after this monstrous creature. He also realized why he hadn't heard a single sound since he entered the train. It was because these creatures were experts in controlling sound...

Kamaitachi!

These monsters shouldn't exist in this world, but now they appeared right above Lu Mingfei's head. They filled a whole train, no, a whole nest! Lu Mingfei had broken into their lair!

The sickle-weasels above his head were glaring at him hungrily. Lu Mingfei held Guanshi Zhengzong tightly in his hands. He raised his head and looked into the eyes of those ugly bone birds. The eye sockets of those guys' skulls were flashing with longing gold. Lu Mingfei suddenly realized where the longing in their eyes came from... They were longing for him. He was the only living person here, with fresh blood flowing in his body. These monsters were vampires!

They wanted to use Lu Mingfei's flesh and blood as nutrients and turn him into part of the dry bones on the ground!

The bright knife flashed in his hand, and Lu Mingfei's eyes narrowed slightly. The sickle-tailed weasels seemed to hear the subtle sound of the blade cutting through the air, and they sensed the sharp danger below, and each of them was like a frightened bird.

They spread their bony wings like fans, baring their sharp teeth. One of them screamed first, and then hundreds of sickle-tailed beasts joined in. Thousands of bat-like shadows flashed in all directions, their wings whipping up gusts of blade-like wind. Their screams were shrill, like weeping and cheering.

Lu Mingfei's scalp tingled when he saw the scene of the sickle-tailed weasels crying together. Although one of these creatures could be killed with one blow, they were outnumbered. These guys swarmed over him. Even if each sickle-tailed weasel only bit him once, the blood in his body would not be enough for these guys to share. He would be sucked dry in minutes!

Just as Lu Mingfei took a deep breath and prepared to swing his knife, a huge object crashed onto the roof of the train, and the rock layer of the tunnel collapsed! A deep dent was smashed into the roof of the train, right at the place where Lu Mingfei had lifted the iron sheet when he entered the train.

Countless sickle-tailed beasts swarmed over, tearing at the iron sheet with their sharp claws and fangs, widening the entrance, now the size of a man, and revealing its massive skeleton. The remaining sickle-tailed beasts screamed, as if calling out to their friends. More and more dark shadows flew over, frantically flapping their wings, slowly lifting the behemoth that had landed on the roof of the train to the ground, like a giant throne.

"What the hell!"

Lu Mingfei was stunned. It turned out that they were not going to attack him. Although these giant bat-like creatures had not eaten for decades or even centuries and were extremely thirsty for blood, there was something far more important than sucking blood...

pilgrimage!

This huge commotion was not caused by Lu Mingfei at all, but the sickle-weasel group was welcoming their queen. Only those with the noblest bloodline were worthy of priority in enjoying tribute... and Lu Mingfei was the most sacred tribute!

The huge skeleton was sent to the ground in front of Lu Mingfei. Her body was so huge that when she spread her wings, the seats and armrests on both sides were squeezed and distorted. The silver bones formed her facial bones, and a breathtaking golden light shone in her two dark eye sockets.

This guy has nine skulls and nine slender cervical vertebrae, just like a long-necked dragon. She roared, and each head rang out a different sound, some as crisp as copper bells, some as low as a male voice, and some as shrill as evil spirits... The sickle-tailed weasels excitedly flapped their bone wings around the nine huge heads, but the golden light in the bone sockets remained on Lu Mingfei, and they screamed excitedly as if they were about to enjoy fresh food, just like vultures that had found rotten meat.

"Have you seen my two classmates, one boy and one girl? The boy is about my height and looks cocky; the girl should be wearing a white dress, white socks, and white shoes, dressed like a white lotus... But you probably haven't seen a white lotus before." Lu Mingfei looked at the sickle-weasel queen. He pointed to the pile of dead bones on the ground and said seriously, "You won't tell me they are hiding in this pile, will you?"

The nine heads of the Kamaitachi Queen tilted to both sides, and there was a gleam of doubt in the depths of the nine skulls wearing silver masks, like a child lost in thought.

"You're still tilting your head... Aren't you adorable when you act cute?" Lu Mingfei curled his lips. "I know you understand what I'm saying. I'm asking you seriously, so don't act dumb. If you see them, please point them in my direction. But if you eat them... we'll have to settle the score, right?"

This is why Lu Mingfei was so anxious to come here. If it was just Xia Mi's matter, he would prefer to solve it outside. After all, Nibelungen is their home ground. But Chen Wenwen and Zhao Menghua, two living people, were dragged into this country of the dead for no reason... They were like two fat sheep caught in a pack of wolves. Lu Mingfei was worried that the meat of the two guys with skinny arms and legs would not be enough for the wolves here to share!

The nine huge heads of the Kamaitachi Queen suddenly made sounds, using nine different tones, but expressing the same meaning.

She is laughing!

All the sickle-weasels were laughing around their queen, the laughter was overwhelming and piercing. Lu Mingfei couldn't understand the meaning of their laughter, but he could feel the sound gathering into a cold air wave, sweeping in from all directions.

"I understand. Is this your answer? Then I'll play you like an idiot?" Lu Mingfei restrained all his expressions, turned around, and made a starting move of the Manifestation Flow.

To catch a thief, you must first catch the leader. He planned to take down the huge and ugly monster first... As for the other small monsters, he would chop down as many as he could when the time came.

Suddenly, a rustling sound of electricity came from the rusty public address system, followed by a childish voice.

"The subway has arrived at the station, Black Stone... The subway has arrived at the station, Black Stone... Passengers who want to get off, please prepare..."

Lu Mingfei was stunned. This shabby car actually still had a voice announcement function? The announcer sounded like a childish brat?

The sickle-weasel queen seemed to be stimulated by the sound. She hissed and flew lightly towards Lu Mingfei. Her slender bony wings spread out to cover Lu Mingfei, forming a bony cage.

Her sharp hind claws flipped like blades, and the sharp teeth beneath the silver bony surface gently brushed Lu Mingfei's neck, as if telling the intimate whispers of a lover. She wrapped her body tightly around Lu Mingfei, encasing him in the giant cage she had woven, and soared into the air... like a hunter catching a trapped beast, or an angel embracing salvation.

……

Chu Zihang slowly opened his eyes, his eyelids heavy; he'd actually fallen asleep on the table. He'd probably been woken by the sound of rain outside, pounding against the window, accompanied by the dull rumble of thunder. It seemed like there had been a lot of rain this summer, too much, too much to be right, so much that he had a vague feeling something big was about to happen.

The computer screen was still on, with countless characters flashing rapidly on it. It was an analysis of earthquake data. Before going to bed, he had written four complex equations, trying to filter out the noise in the city using mathematical modeling methods. Three of them had failed, and one was still being calculated.

He looked around the room and saw that Finkel was gone.

Chapter 158 Who Wants to Murder Me?

In Chu Zihang's impression, Finger did nothing but eat and sleep all day long, just like a pig. If he was given a bed and endless junk food, he would probably live happily for the rest of his life.

What's more, it's stormy outside now. Chu Zihang couldn't figure out where Fingel could go, so he simply gave up thinking about it. After all, everyone has some secrets that they don't want to share with others... Isn't he the same?

His attention returned to the computer in front of him. The complex equation was still being analyzed, but it was nearing completion. He didn't want to waste even a little time. He knew he had a nickname in college: "Robot" because he was always as precise as a machine when it came to time management. Of course, it was also because of his expressionless expression.

But he felt that this state was pretty good, at least he didn't have to spend more time regretting.

During his brief free time, he opened a web page, entered a URL from memory, pressed the Enter key, and a page of old news refreshed on the screen.

July 4, 2004: Typhoon Dandelion, a mysterious incident.

The accompanying picture shows a battered Maybach sedan in the mud, with scattered ruts all over the wilderness. The Maybach's windshield is broken, and there are several big holes on the hood. The body of the car is mottled as if it had been splashed with sulfuric acid.

Chu Zihang has read this news many times, so many times that he can even memorize the entire report with his eyes closed like a middle school text.

He still kept newspapers from those days, snippets of news interviews, and police notices. He collected every bit of information related to that rainy night, wanting to crunch and chew every word, trying to piece together even the smallest clues... but to no avail. Even after joining Kassel Academy and learning about dragons in the world, he still couldn't come up with a reliable conclusion.

The events he was involved in seemed beyond the scope of any conscious understanding. If he had to explain it, it would probably be that there really were gods or demons in the world. Everything was so unrealistic... and yet so vivid.

Because he lost that important man.

It was a true loss, like the man had been erased from the world with an eraser, along with every trace of him. The Black Prince Group's boss quickly changed drivers and cars, as if the man and his battered Maybach had nothing to do with him. Not even a single offer of compensation or condolences was made. Neither his "new father" nor his mother ever mentioned the man. They were only concerned about whether Chu Zihang had any lasting effects, as if the missing man were a stranger with whom they had no connection. Even the police pretended the missing person didn't exist.

So Chu Zihang never mentioned this matter to anyone. He was afraid of hearing the word "no" from other people. He was afraid that everyone in the world would deny that such a man ever existed and tell him that all this was just his own imagination.

Some people say that a person will experience three deaths in his life.