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

Lu Mingfei spoke passionately, as if he was giving a crazy speech, and a blood-red folding knife appeared in his hand. It was Ange's personal weapon, and the blade had a blood-red luster.

He used Guanshi Zhengzong to hold Jörmungandr firmly in place, and the blade carrying the poisonous Philosopher's Stone stabbed the girl's heart without mercy!

"I hope you're ready... ready for a lasting farewell!"

With a crisp sound, the tip of the folding knife stopped at the back of Jörmungandr, unable to get any closer.

Because a hand was against it.

The folding knife pierced the scales on Chu Zihang's palm, and hot blood rolled down from the blade. The black blood fell on the ground, etching a terrifying pit. Chu Zihang looked up, and the scales on his face cracked, revealing his expressionless face. Tears of blood rolled silently from his dim pupils, seeming hotter than blood itself.

He wasn't crying, but his consciousness was nearly consumed by ashes, his flesh and blood disintegrating. It wasn't just his eyes; every orifice of his body was bleeding... Blood dripped from his eye sockets, leaving a long trail on his forehead, like a tear mark.

This was an action beyond his consciousness. He had lost control of his body, but his soul and instinct seemed to be telling him... he didn't want to lose that girl.

Lu Mingfei's words echoed faintly in his mind: "For people like us, life is already bitter and tiring. If you close your eyes and open them again, and see an angelic girl, that is the candy God has given you... For such a little sweetness, you can even betray God."

Chu Zihang tried his best to open his eyes, but he was already very tired. He could only squint a little even with all his strength, and his vision was blurred by the red tears and blood. But before he completely lost consciousness, he wanted to see clearly, to see that figure clearly.

His body leaned forward, and the blurry shadow gradually became clear. The familiar face, pure and flawless, slowly approached him, and the falling and burning rust cast a layer of warm light on the face.

It was like the stars falling, the long night was about to end, and an angel wrapped in a gentle sunlight leaned over... as if to kiss his lips.

The corners of his split mouth twitched slightly, as if he was smiling silently.

"After so many years of being awkward, you are finally being willful and honest for once, and living for yourself. Congratulations, senior brother, I am happy for you!" Lu Mingfei looked at the shaky Chu Zihang and clapped his hands gently.

He sheathed his folding knife and pulled Guanshi Zhengzong out of Jörmungandr's body. His face was no longer mad, but instead smiled sincerely, a smile filled with deep relief, like an old father who had been worried sick and finally saw his child get married.

But now Chu Zihang could neither hear nor see. The dragon-like transformation brought on by the blood rush quickly faded from his body. His bulging muscles calmed down, and his bone spurs, scales, protrusions, and claws all retracted into his body. Blood seeped from every pore of his body, staining his entire body red. The golden color in his pupils dissipated and then closed heavily. He fell powerlessly facefirst onto the cracked earth.

But there was no sound of falling to the ground, because his broken body fell into a soft embrace.

Those formidable wings slowly folded up, clinging to her back, disappearing beneath the skin. Her scarred body healed at a rapid pace, the new skin as delicate as a baby's. Jörmungandr was naked—no, rather, Shami. Her skin seemed to flow with a glow. Every curve was youthful and beautiful, clean and pure, evoking no evil thoughts.

She glanced at Chu Zihang's bulging pockets and pulled out a deflated balloon, which had been there the entire time. Winnie the Pooh's face was shattered, likely from the effects of the battle, just like the boy's. Her soft fingertips gently caressed the wrinkles on the bear's face, as if trying to soothe someone's uneasiness.

She took a deep breath, carefully folded the balloon, and clenched it in her palm. She gently held the boy's blood-stained face in her arms, like a mother cradling a tired child. She pressed her face against Chu Zihang's head, one hand gently stroking his hair, her clean fingertips warm and soft.

"I lost." The girl's voice was soft, but it seemed as if she was announcing to the whole world.

"Xia Mi didn't lose...it was Jörmungandr who lost." Lu Mingfei's voice was slightly hoarse. Looking at the man and woman hugging each other in the dilapidated ruins, he smiled...but his face was already in tears.

……

"The boss's email arrived. It's almost the end of the story." The potato chip girl picked up a cup of iced American coffee, took a sip, and smacked her lips slightly. "Why is my coffee so sweet today? I don't remember asking for sugar cubes?"

"Maybe this wave of dog food is creamy, so sweet." Jude Mai smiled, "What did the boss say?"

"So annoying, so annoying! I really don't like this kind of family-friendly ending. It's not grand, not poignant, and it's cloying and awkward. A war without deaths is as disgusting as a piece of music without a climax... I really regret it! I want to change my mind." The potato chip girl imitated her childish voice, "Those are the boss's exact words."

"It's no use regretting now. Haven't you heard the saying, 'Money spent is like water poured out, it flows into the sea and never returns.'" Jiude Mai slapped the thick stack of bills on the table. "The money's paid, the favor's sold, and the ending has been finalized, both in the story and in reality. Isn't this great? The dragon slayer and the dragon princess live happily together. What a novel idea! If the boss told me now that he wanted to go back on his word and stage a tragedy... then just kill me. I'd rather be Lu Mingfei's bedmate!"

"By the way, when we infiltrated Kassel Academy a while ago, did you and Sanwu fight Jörmungandr?" Potato Chip Girl's tone was full of praise. "When they started fighting just now, I almost thought the world was over. You guys are really strong to be able to fight such a monster and escape unscathed."

"What a fight! They were nearly wiped out in one blow, and they were just running for their lives. That time, it was Lu Mingfei who took on the Jörmungandr, and he pulled out all seven deadly sins." Jiude Mai was still terrified. "This time, it's Chu Zihang. These two brothers are incredibly strong. It's a good thing they weren't enemies, otherwise, it would have been fatal."

"Our work isn't finished yet. How's things going at the magazine? Is everything going well?" asked the potato chip girl.

"The physical mail has filled up an entire room, and several online mailboxes are overflowing. The sheer volume of emails has clogged my fiber optic network to the point of freezing. Readers are so enthusiastic! Our prize pool has already accumulated nearly $300 million, and the number is still soaring! A massive $300 million jackpot would allow you to achieve almost anything an average person could imagine. If you put it in the bank, it would be enough to last you for several lifetimes. I wonder who will win it in the end!"

Jiude Mai was filled with sorrow.

"In less than a week, 'Of Men and Dragons' has become one of the world's top IPs. Countless animation and film companies have contacted me to buy the rights to the characters of Chu Zihang and Jormungandr, including the renowned Disney. Their bids are astronomical, in the hundreds of millions. Their product marketing director said they plan to create storylines and standalone films for these two characters that will perfectly integrate with Disney's storylines. They'll become global hits within three years!"

"Astronomical?" Potato Chip Girl curled her lips. "Just casually taking out three hundred million or five hundred million is considered an astronomical figure? I thought I was just giving alms to beggars. My investment cost more than that! Tell their person in charge that if you really want to buy it, then show some sincerity, otherwise, forget it!"

"What a domineering girl! Whoever marries you will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of his life!" Jiude Mai pinched the potato chip girl's face. "By the way, Tang Ben and Zhu Yan have also become famous in their respective circles. Tang Ben was invited by the local writers' association to be a special consultant, and they are planning to do a special interview with him. Zhu Yan, on the other hand, doesn't have much ambition. He's been exhausted these past few days. He doesn't even know there's an extra three-digit number in his account. He's planning to take a break and travel to Japan with his friends to relax. He said there are several places where all cartoonists from various painting clubs make pilgrimages, and he wants to learn from them and then continue painting when he comes back."

"It's rare to find a young person who's neither arrogant nor impetuous," the Potato Chip Girl couldn't help but admire. "It makes me want to travel to Japan too. I heard a young newcomer suddenly appeared in a Tokyo host bar a while ago, and he's very popular!"

"You're okay with that?" Jude Mai rolled her eyes. "But I haven't been back to my alma mater in a while. Every time I go back, the boys line up at the door with chocolates and roses, like I'm some kind of celebrity!"

"Hey, are you trying to show off your popularity to me? So you can laugh at me for being a bored, homebody?" "Clear your inbox, celebrity! Your emails are overflowing and popping up all over the place!"

"Hey, this isn't a reader's letter..." Jude Mai clicked on the pop-up window, her expression slightly tense. "This is an invitation to nominate for the International Hans Christian Andersen Awards!"

In July 2010, a young human boy named "Chu Zihang" and a dragon girl named "Jormungandr" suddenly appeared in the world and with unstoppable momentum, they topped the list of the fastest-growing virtual characters in history.

The fairy tales of "Man and Dragon" have won major children's literature awards at home and abroad. Their stories have spread to thousands of households and are sincerely blessed by tens of millions of people around the world.

……

The domain of the Word Spirit Vampire Scythe swept through thousands of sickle-weasels. The blood-red wind monsters roared and fought fiercely with the bone-gray sickle-weasels, but countless sickle-weasels were still surrounded outside the domain, watching with eager eyes.

After the blood burst, Caesar's pupils flickered with gold, and blood oozed from the gaps between the scales on his body. It was a fantasy that he could withstand the army of thousands of vampire wind monsters for a long time. Even Caesar showed obvious signs of fatigue.

A sickle-weasel flew in through the area. The vampire sickles were surrounded by the sickle-weasel and could not escape. It screamed sharply and used its claws to tear at Caesar's face.

The white blade sliced ​​through the air, but it wasn't sharp, practically knocking the sickle-tailed weasel out of the air. Nuonuo, carrying two butcher knives, stood in front of Caesar with a fierce slash, quite like a single man standing against the enemy. "Caesar, hold on! Didn't I come here today to propose? If you both survive, I'll marry you, so what?"

These words were like a shot of powerful stimulant. The golden light in Caesar's pupils, which had begun to sag, solidified again, and a beast-like roar came from his throat. The blood-red wind monsters waved their iron sickle-like claws, and the fight became more intense!

"Reinforcements are coming." Zero suddenly narrowed his eyes.

Around her, a field of wind attribute suddenly opened up, covering Caesar and the other two. The Word Spirit·Dustless Land erupted!

The gray weasels were pushed forward by an invisible barrier. Before long, they suddenly let out a hysterical wail. Countless weasels turned into gray dust and fell from the sky. This was because a similar domain was expanding from the outside.

The two "Dust-Free Land" domains collided with each other, and all units except the selected ones were repelled. The group of sickle-weasels was sandwiched between the two violent domains, as if placed in the center of a powder tablet press, and crushed into mist!

Chapter 168 The End of Dragon Slaying

Caesar leaned tiredly on Nono's shoulder. The pressure suddenly eased, and he finally had the time to take a full breath of air into his almost exhausted lungs.

"Caesar, are you okay?" A blond young man ran over from a distance. The wind lifted the blond hair on his forehead, revealing his heterochromatic eyes, like two shining lights.

As the distance between the young man and Zero closed, the two "Dustless Lands" spheres clashed like two giant, flat crushers, crushing the sickle-weasels caught in the middle with shrieks. Bone dust showered down, and the sky seemed to be falling like a heavy gray snow.

"Did your family ask you to come again?" Caesar glanced at the young man coldly.

"No, this time it's on my own behalf." Percy came to Caesar.

The black blade cut through the air and cut down a sickle-weasel that tried to get through.

A pitch-black hunting knife slipped out from Percy's sleeve. It was exactly the same hunting knife as Caesar's "Dictatu", the only difference was the inscription.

"Augustus".

The twin works of the same knife maker were named after Julius Caesar's title "Dictato" and Octavian's title "Augustus".

"Good, at least you don't look so disgusting now." Caesar restrained his disgusted expression.

"I would like to apologize for my rude behavior, but the most urgent thing now is to get rid of these crow-like guys!" Percy looked up at the sickle-weasels that were not covered by the "Dustless Land". There were probably still several thousand of them.

Then Percy looked at Caesar, who nodded slightly.

Dictato and Augustus collided with each other, and the two hunting knives began to resonate. When they separated again, purple, swirling filaments flashed in the middle, like a high-voltage electric grid.

A new area was opened up, and the covered sickle-weasels twitched and fell.

There is an alchemical field hidden in these two hunting knives!

This roaring alchemical field rapidly expanded, violent arcs of electricity streaking through the sickle-tailed weasels, causing them to convulse and fall, severing their life force. However, this field couldn't encompass the entire group of sickle-tailed weasels. More vampires circled in mid-air, like vultures waiting for their prey to exhaust their strength before pouncing on them.

"These bugs are so annoying. If only I had a giant insecticide to kill them all!" Nono raised his head and said viciously.

The next moment, the flying sickle-tailed weasels in the sky turned into dark gray dust, as if Nono's words had come true, and an invisible hand was holding a large and powerful insecticide and spraying the sky.

The noisy and clamorous howling suddenly stopped, and there was silence, so quiet that it made the back chill, so quiet that it felt like death.

Dust fell on everyone's shoulders and heads.

Caesar looked at Nuonuo blankly, "Are you lucky enough to have such a mouth?"

"What the hell!" Nuonuo looked at the dead sickle-tailed weasels in amazement. "I don't know what's going on. I was just mumbling in the ladies' room about how boring today was and how I wished some little monsters would suddenly appear and give me a fight. But when I opened the door, I saw a few of these weird things!"

"It works very well!" Caesar looked at Nono.

A loose red T-shirt drooped from her shoulders, making her look like she was covered in a red cloud. Her light makeup was a little messy, and the rose-red eyeshadow created short, sharp corners at the corners of her eyes. Her tight jeans made her legs look straight and well-proportioned.

She was holding two large butcher knives in her hands. This girl looked extremely eccentric!

Caesar suddenly hugged Nuonuo, holding him in his arms like an emperor embracing the whole world. He asked softly, "Then you, with your blessed mouth, shouldn't go back on your promise, right?"

"Bah! Let go!" Nuonuo yelled, "I don't remember what I promised anyone!"

Caesar gently let her go without getting angry. His smile was full of determination to win the girl in front of him.

Zero had quietly left without a word, just as she hadn't been there in the first place. This girl was always confusing. Percy didn't want to disturb the affectionate couple and prepared to leave alone.

"Isn't this what attracted the sickle-tailed weasels?" Caesar suddenly spoke from behind Percy. He pulled out a dagger-like stone with a dark crimson blade. "This thing was mixed in with the supplies sent by the Equipment Department. Was it arranged by the family? Let me guess, is the Deputy Minister of the Equipment Department a member of the family?"

"No, the Equipment Department does not belong to the Gattuso family, but the two parties have a cooperative interest." Pasi explained.

"Perhaps it's my uncle who controls everything with one hand." Caesar held the red stone blade up to the sunlight and examined it. The red thread flowed through the solid object as if it had life. "Is this the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Yes, it's the most refined part taken from the skeleton of the dragon servant in the Bronze City beneath the Yangtze River. It's filled with violent fire elements, and even a tiny piece like this could severely injure a dragon king if it pierced his nerves," Percy said. "It's very precious, and our family paid a great price to obtain it."

"Do you think I'll be grateful to my family for doing this? Don't be ridiculous! I'm not anyone's puppet." Caesar sneered, "Anything forced into my hands will only make me feel sick!"

The Philosopher's Stone dragged a red arc of light in the air and fell into Percy's hands.

"I don't need this kind of thing. It will never be of any use to me if I keep it." Caesar crossed his arms over his chest, a confident smile on his angular face. "I'll give it to you. You don't have to return it to the family."

"I don't have that position." Percy bowed slightly.

"Pasi." Caesar frowned. "Standpoint has nothing to do with power or status. Don't take the name 'Gattuso' too seriously. Now I understand why I feel oppressed every time I see you. You're living like you're carrying a mountain on your back!"

After saying this, Caesar took Nono away.

Percy stayed there for a long, long time, until Caesar disappeared from his sight.

"But have you ever thought about this? You don't feel the heaviness and oppression because someone is carrying the burden for you... Everyone living in this world has a heavy mountain on their back."

The wind blew across his forehead, and a strange glow swirled in his pupils. The icy blue one seemed filled with Siberian wind and snow, while the dark gold one seemed to reflect the falling stars in the sky.

……

The girl in white knelt on the ground, the boy covered in blood lying quietly in her arms, she looked at the broken face quietly. At the end of the lonely platform, they looked like a sculpture praising great love.

"You're right, I still don't understand humans well enough, nor do I understand...him well enough." Xia Mi gently stroked Chu Zihang's bloody neck.

The blood coagulated into amber-like beads and slid down her thighs, like a drop of cinnabar falling on the white moonlight, or like a drop of mosquito blood on a white rose.

"That's normal. You've only been studying human life for a few years. So many scholars throughout history have come one after another, but no one has been able to fully understand human nature..." Lu Mingfei paused, "That's simply the most unreasonable thing in the world!"

"Actually, I didn't take the bet you mentioned seriously at first. In my opinion, you are too weird and untrustworthy." Xia Mi said.

"I really don't want to be criticized by a dragon king for being weird." Lu Mingfei rolled his eyes.

"It's not the Dragon King..." Xia Mi suddenly said. It was that girl again, and she refused to show weakness. "It's Xia Mi!"

"Yes, it's Xia Mi!" Lu Mingfei smiled. "That's the right thing to do now. Life is already hard and tiring. You know my brother well. His regrets are already piled high as a mountain. If your body is piled on top, he will be crushed... and so will you."

"The joys, sorrows, anger and happiness in everyone's life are like a balance. We always keep a little hope and happiness in our hearts to survive, so that the end of the scale that symbolizes sadness will not be crushed to the bottom. So, don't add any more weight to loneliness." Lu Mingfei said softly.

"Very profound, is this the romance of a liberal arts man?" Xia Mi said, "You talk as if you can foresee the outcome."

"How should I put it? I did foresee an ending where my senior brother won, or you let my senior brother win, but that's not right... In fact, no one won." Lu Mingfei restrained his smile.

"What do you mean?" Xia Mi was puzzled.

The loser eats dust, and the winner gains nothing. If anything, it's just that he feels even more empty and lonely. But he refuses to admit that he's betrayed his true self, as if that were the case, his life would come to a halt. All the people and things he once held on to and pursued would vanish like smoke, and he would be trapped in the Nibelungen he created for himself, unable to escape. He would stand on an elevated road in a torrential downpour on a typhoon day, get lost on an empty subway platform, and never be able to reconcile with himself for the rest of his life.

Lu Mingfei gently tapped his heart, "Everyone might have a dead child hidden inside them. This applies to me, you, me, and everyone else."

"You speak with good reason and evidence, as if it were true." Xia Mi smiled, "How did you foresee this ending? Don't tell me you dreamed it."

"Hey, I really did dream about it. Could it be that you, Junior Sister, also dreamed about it?" Lu Mingfei's face was full of surprise.

"Come on, at least make up a decent lie. You really are the weirdest guy I've ever met!" Xia Mi curled her lips. "Does it still count? The bet you mentioned, or rather, I've already admitted defeat, so you can just raise the price."

"It counts, of course it counts!" Lu Mingfei glared. "Don't lump me in with those evil capitalists. I'll stick to what I said. I won't cheat you on the weight, and I won't charge you a different price!"

"Tell me, what do you want me to pay?"

"Three requests." Lu Mingfei stretched out three fingers.

"First, I need to borrow some of your and Fenrir's blood. Of course, I'll also borrow some from Old Tang." Lu Mingfei slowly lowered his ring finger. "You should be able to guess why I need it."

"It's because of him." Xia Mi lowered her head and looked at Chu Zihang who was resting his head quietly on her thighs. The boy's eyes were closed and the wound on his face was hideous, but his expression was peaceful as if he was sleeping soundly.

"The blood rage refines the dragon blood in his body. Exceeding the third degree of blood rage has already pushed him far beyond the critical bloodline. The reason he hasn't lost control and turned into Deadpool is because he shed some of my blood in battle." Xia Mi stroked Chu Zihang's bony neck. "You want to use three parts of Dragon King's blood to strengthen his body, so as to temporarily alleviate the sequelae of excessive blood rage. But you have to know that these are only temporary. To completely eliminate the hidden dangers, you must use the last life essence of a Dragon King before his death to irrigate his body... Who do you want to sacrifice?"

"There's no need to be so vigilant. If my target was your brother, I wouldn't have protected him with Old Tang just now. Rather than saying that the relationship between us is bound by a bet, I'd rather achieve a win-win outcome." Lu Mingfei said, "Of course, I won't sacrifice Old Tang."