The rain over Longhai City didn't wash away the filth; it just made the blood run faster into the gutters.
Lin Hao, the feared "Black Dragon" of the underworld, stumbled into the dead-end alley of the Old District. His Italian suit was shredded, soaked in a mix of rainwater and his own blood. Three bullets in his chest. A knife wound in his gut.
"Golden Tiger..." Lin Hao spat a mouthful of blood onto the wet pavement, his vision blurring. "And Chen... that traitorous dog."
He collapsed against the brick wall, sliding down into the mud. They had ambushed him at the docks—hundreds of them. He had taken forty men down with him, breaking necks and crushing windpipes until his body finally gave out.
Is this it? he thought, his consciousness fading. Dying like a rat in the rain?
NO.
A primal rage exploded in his chest. It wasn't just anger; it was ancient. It was sovereign.
Around his neck, a jagged piece of black jade—a cheap trinket he'd worn since the orphanage—suddenly drank his blood.
BOOM!
Thunder didn't roll; it cracked like a whip directly overhead. The night sky over Longhai City split open. A bolt of purple lightning tore through the clouds, striking not the ground, but Lin Hao's chest.
[SYSTEM ALERT: Primordial Dragon Sovereign Bloodline Detected.]
[Awakening Initiated...]
[Memory Synchronization: 100%]
The pain wasn't agony; it was evolution.
Lin Hao's eyes snapped open. The dark brown irises were gone, replaced by vertically slit, glowing golden pupils.
He gasped, his back arching off the mud. He saw it all. The ancient wars. The mist-covered mountains of the Xuanlong Clan. He saw himself standing atop a pile of demon corpses, holding a spear that shattered the heavens. He was Long Chen, the Dragon Chieftain.
"I see..." Lin Hao's voice changed. It was deeper, vibrating with a terrifying resonance. He looked at his hands. The bullet holes were pushing the lead out, skin knitting together, covered in faint, translucent black scales that shimmered and vanished.
He stood up. The weakness was gone. In its place was a terrifying, burning heat.
It wasn't just Qi. It was pure, unadulterated Yang Fire. The Dragon Bloodline was tyrannical, aggressive, and insatiable. It roared through his veins, demanding conquest. It demanded a mate to bear its power.
Images flashed in his mind. Not of war, but of a woman.
Su Mei.
His ex-girlfriend. The only woman who had ever looked at him without fear. He had pushed her away to protect her from his gangster life.
"Stupid," Lin Hao growled, clenching his fist. The air pressure in the alley dropped, cracks appearing in the brick wall. "I was weak then. I pushed my woman away because I couldn't protect her."
He inhaled sharply, the scent of the city filling his nose. He could smell everything. The fear of the rats, the ozone of the lightning... and the faint, sweet scent of medicinal herbs and orchids three streets away.
Su Mei.
The desire hit him like a physical blow. It wasn't a request; it was a command from his very soul. He didn't just want to see her. He needed to claim her. To mark her. To let this burning dragon energy flood into her so they could ascend together.
He checked his reflection in a puddle. Savage. Bloody. Predatory.
"Perfect."
He moved. He didn't run; he vanished, leaving a crater in the concrete where he stood.
Scene: The Grace Clinic
Su Mei was closing up the small clinic. She was tired. Her white coat was pristine, her black hair tied back in a messy bun that only emphasized the elegance of her neck.
She locked the front door and turned off the lights, the clinic bathed in the soft glow of the streetlamps outside.
Crash!
The back door of the clinic—made of reinforced steel—wasn't picked. It was torn off its hinges.
Su Mei spun around, grabbing a scalpel from the tray, her heart hammering. "Who's there?! I've called the police!"
A shadow stepped out of the darkness of the hallway.
Su Mei froze. She knew that silhouette. Broad shoulders, the dangerous tilt of the head. But the aura... it was suffocating. The air in the clinic suddenly felt hot, heavy, charged with static electricity.
"Lin... Lin Hao?" she whispered, her hand trembling. "You... you're covered in blood."
He stepped into the light. He looked like a demon god who had crawled out of hell. His shirt was torn open, revealing a chest that should have been riddled with holes but was smooth, hard muscle, glowing with faint golden veins.
"Put the knife down, Mei'er," he said. His voice sent a shiver straight down her spine and settled low in her stomach.
"You... you're hurt," she stammered, dropping the scalpel. Her instinct as a doctor took over. She rushed to him, reaching for his chest. "Let me see. I need to stop the bleeding..."
She placed her hands on his bare chest.
Hiss.
Her palms didn't touch cold skin; they touched a furnace. The heat was scorching, shocking. She gasped, trying to pull away, but Lin Hao's hand shot up, wrapping around her wrist.
His grip was iron. Possessive.
"Lin Hao, you're burning up!" she cried, looking up into his face. Then she saw his eyes. Those terrifying, golden, vertical slits.
"I'm not sick," he growled, pulling her closer until her body was pressed flush against his. The blood and rain on his clothes soaked into her white coat, staining it. "I've just woken up."
"Woken... up?" Su Mei's breath hitched. She should be terrified. The man was radiating danger. But her body... her body was betraying her. Being this close to him, she felt a strange, magnetic pull deep in her abdomen. A warmth she had never felt before began to bloom, answering his heat.
"I left you because I thought I was poison to you," Lin Hao whispered, leaning down. His lips brushed against the sensitive shell of her ear. "But I was wrong. I'm not poison. I'm your cure."
He inhaled her scent, a low growl rumbling in his chest that made her knees buckle.
"Lin... what are you doing?" she breathed, her hands clutching his biceps for support.
"Taking back what's mine."
He didn't wait for an answer. He didn't ask. He captured her lips in a kiss that wasn't gentle—it was starving.
As their lips met, a golden shockwave blasted through the clinic, shattering the windows. Su Mei's eyes widened, then fluttered shut as a rush of pleasure-filled Qi flooded her meridians. Outside, the sirens of the traitorous Golden Tiger Gang screamed in the distance, coming to finish the job... but they had no idea they were driving straight into the Dragon's den.