The villagers, awakened by the village chief's furious roar, rushed over in groups to drag Xiao Yu out of the pool.
Lu Cai stood by, hesitated for a moment, then quickly rushed over to help.
But the moment he touched Xiao Yu, the village chief madly pushed everyone away hugging his daughter and sobbing bitterly:
"Xiao Yu! Xiao Yu! Wake up! Talk to Daddy!!!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs veins bulging from his forehead.
He was overcome with emotion, his grief unacted.
But the eyes of the people around him were filled with unease as they exchanged glances.
Lu Cai retracted the hand the village chief had pushed away and his fingers twitched slightly. He clearly sensed that something was amiss with this group of people again.
Without wasting any time he secretly performed another cleansing spell but he would never admit that his ineffectiveness stemmed from his lack of incantation—these people showed no signs of improvement.
The crowd's expressions in their extreme fear and grief seemed to have lost their ability to adjust naturally, regaining a certain ferocity and gloom.
"Village chief, why don't you release Xiao Yu back to Dragon King Pond?"
The crowd shrank back but someone finally spoke up.
Lu Cai raised his brows slightly. Was this a rebellion?
The village chief raised his head and roared, "Don't even think about it! Xiao Yu is my daughter! No one can touch her!!!"
As soon as these words were spoken someone became upset: "Anyone offered as a sacrifice to the Dragon King isn't someone else's child? Why is it our children who are sacrificed while yours can't be touched?"
"That's right! In my opinion, the Dragon King is dissatisfied with Zhang Xue and specifically ordered Xiao Yu to join him in the water!"
This strange emotion seemed contagious unrelated to dark matter. It was simply a chain reaction. One person got angry and another followed suit quickly descending into a frenzy and mutual accusations.
Lu Cai stared at them coldly. Sure enough someone finally spoke up, trembling but brave:
"Also! It's because Zhang Xue fooled around with Xiao Lu last night! The Dragon King is angry!"
Fooling around?
It had indeed been a night of fooling around. Lu Cai was amused by the absurdity of the scene. "Can you try to send Zhang Xue back?"
He asked coldly. The other person's eyes evaded as if remembering Lu Cai's recent display of power and he shrank back into the crowd.
Any normal person would never have bothered Lu Cai again. Unfortunately, these people were nearly completely infected and it was unclear what kind of monsters they would eventually become. Lu Cai had no hope of them staying sane for long.
"We can't send them back. The Dragon King is angry, angry."
Some people murmured in grief while others began to cry bitterly. Their voices mingled with the village chief's wailing for Xiao Yu making one's scalp tingle in the silence of the wilderness.
Suddenly, the village chief raised his head, his eyes bloodshot purple: "It's you. It must be you."
Lu Cai coldly stared at the man staring at him sharply scolding: "You must have done something to Xiao Yu last night! It's not enough that you harmed Zhang Xue, you're also going to harm Xiao Yu!!!"
He stood up trembling ready to pounce on Lu Cai.
Lu Cai could see clearly that the village chief had appeared normal that morning but when he opened his mouth his teeth had become as sharp as a monster's.
His face darkened and he cursed silently as he quickly moved away. However, the crowd, clearly irritated by the village chief's actions, briefly returned to their earlier state.
Lu Cai glanced at the nearby Dragon King Pond and sneered.
Blessing?
That's it?
The crowd rushed towards Lu Cai, their infection rapidly accelerating. Besides the village chief's sharp teeth, many of their nails grew wildly matching their gaunt, haggard appearances with an eerie, almost undead look.
This situation wouldn't be easily suppressed. With a heavy heart, Lu Cai dodged nimbly through the crowd tightening his clenched fists.
It's possible to imprison them directly but it only imprisons their bodies. These people's essences are still rapidly being infected. One moment, he might imprison them and the next, he'd be forced to completely destroy them with overwhelming force.
"Send him to the pool!"
"Sacrifice him to the Dragon King!!!"
"The Dragon King's enemies must be dealt with by the Dragon King!!!"
The insane villagers watched Lu Cai retreat to the pool's edge, twisting their necks and encouraging each other to spur on the others.
Lu Cai's eyes flickered slightly thinking this was a bit like a mass suggestion.
But before he could move the ground suddenly shook!
Lu Cai spun around and the water in the pool behind him seemed to surge out in a large pool wetly spreading to the crowd's feet.
Terror quickly spread across their faces. This shock seemed to lessen their infection but their madness only intensified:
"Earthquake, earthquake!"
"The Dragon King is truly furious!!!"
"Quick! Push this outsider down! The Dragon King needs him before he can calm down!!!"
Lu Cai was a little enraged. He watched helplessly as these people rushed towards him recklessly. There were so many of them it was impossible for him to avoid being touched.
But seeing that some of these people had been infected to the point of losing their human form his scalp tingled and his fingers curled up into a stiffness.
Behind him was the eerie Dragon King Pond. Lu Cai couldn't retreat too far and ahead was a huge crowd.
Lu Cai paused, frowning and muttering something inwardly obscene. He extended his hand and drew a simple barrier blocking the oncoming crowd.
The ground shook again and Lu Cai immediately turned his head, his gaze fixed on the deep pool.
Something was about to emerge. He could sense a powerful force surge beneath the ground.
"It's the Dragon King! The Dragon King is about to emerge—"
"Dragon King, save us—"
The crowd screamed at the top of their lungs. As the tremors grew stronger so did their reaction.
Lu Cai gritted his teeth debating whether to avoid it or simply perish with it.
Xiao Yu, lying at the edge of the pool, suddenly stirred, then rolled over, vomiting a large puddle of water.
"Cough... cough! Cough cough!"
She coughed continuously, looking as if she'd choked on water then looked up in shock: "Lu Cai, how did they become like this!?"
Lu Cai didn't have time to explain to Xiao Yu. With a sullen face he placed a barrier around the pool to prevent the thing from suddenly bursting forth.
But the earthquake intensified accompanied by the muffled gurgling of underground water. Lu Cai knew that thing was about to emerge and there was no way to prevent it no matter what.
He gritted his teeth, forming a spell with his left hand ready to strike the thing the moment it emerged.
The next second, his spiritual perception rapidly magnified. It was coming—
"Be careful!!!"
Xiao Yu, who was crawling on the ground, suddenly felt her pupils shrink and she lunged behind Lu Cai.
Behind Lu Cai, a villager who had escaped from the barrier that had somehow broken through emerged and lunged at Lu Cai's back. Its sharp claws and razor-sharp teeth would have been unbearable for an ordinary person.
Xiao Yu, dragging her newly awakened body, was not very agile but she charged forward with all her might!
The problem was that she didn't control her force well, knocking the villager sideways and landing squarely on Lu Cai's waist.
The central power was disrupted and Lu Cai's face paled with shock. He was caught off guard and thrown into the pool!
The pool was deep and after the tremor, the ripples were scattered leaving no idea what lay beneath the surface.
A moment of silence passed. Xiao Yu, pale and shocked, watched the scene. Then, the crowd erupted in frantic cheers:
"To the Dragon King—!!!!"
"To the Dragon King—!!!!"
"To the Dragon King—!!!!"
At this point, they no longer cared about the restrictions preventing them as if sending Lu Cai into the pool was their mission. Afterward, they made no further move, only cheering and roaring like a group of barbarians.
Xiao Yu stared blankly at the pool then suddenly cried out:
"Lu Cai!"
It was originally just a cry of grief not expecting a response when the ground shook violently, so hard it knocked everyone to the ground—
"Roar!!!"
The sound of splashing water accompanied by a deafening dragon roar rippled from the center of the pool. Suddenly, everyone was blown away by a huge gust of wind forcing them to lie flat on the ground to avoid being blown away. They stared in astonishment at the figure rising from the water.
The sunlight which had been unable to penetrate the fog finally fell into the woods behind the village instantly blinding everyone.
But was this really sunlight?
Their village had just been foggy lately, not like they had never seen the sun before. Don't fool them!
When they finally adjusted everyone stared into the blinding wind and finally made out the massive figure hovering above the pool—
"Dragon... Dragon King...!!!"
"It's the Dragon King!!!"
"The Dragon King has appeared!!!"
The silver-white dragon flapped its wings, its head held high as it gazed down at the tiny two-legged creature!
The flickering light was the silvery reflection of the sun on its scales even more dazzling than the natural light.
Its brilliant golden eyes held no emotion, a coldness and arrogance that would crush everything in sight if it were displeased.
Xiao Yu, lying on the ground, watched anxiously, swallowing her saliva. "Does the Dragon King look like this.?"
Yes, the Dragon King in Chinese culture looks like this!?
Lu Cai struggled to rise from Zeshiya's back. After choking on a few mouthfuls of water and coughing softly he remained silent, unable to express himself.
Who could have imagined that after falling into the water he would find Zeshiya as the only living creature?
If he hadn't been certain Zeshia had left Dragon Valley with him he might have been caught in a dilemma: was he simply uneducated or simply the world was too terrifying? The Dragon King worshipped in Eastern culture couldn't possibly be a Western dragon, could it?
Who was mad?
But no matter who was Zeshia maintained her most graceful demeanor.
A powerful dragon claw touched the ground, wings folded to its sides. The villagers finally freed from their grip on the grass immediately knelt before Zeshia, fervently chanting "Dragon King"!