Chapter 93: Confession

Old Tang had a look on his face like, "Are you kidding me right now?"

Lu Mingfei tilted his head slightly, gazing up at the sky. Even a loser wants a happy life. He thought about the future written in the novel—sitting alone on a throne, watching his friends die one by one, completely powerless to stop it.

"Sometimes I wonder… would it be better if the group leader just went all-out and wiped out all the dragons in the world? If we drained every drop of dragon blood from the hybrids, would that fix everything?"

"But even if that happened, the war between humans and dragons would just become a war between humans and humans. Conflict wouldn't disappear—it would just shift."

"So I made up my mind. I don't care about the war between humans and dragons. I don't care about saving the world. I just want to protect the people I care about. The rest? Let them live or die, it's none of my business. Let others worry about the frost on their own rooftops—I'm just sweeping the snow in front of my own door. That's the only way to live freely."

Lu Mingfei finally let all the frustration in his heart pour out.

Sometimes, not knowing about a tragic future… might actually be a kind of happiness.

Old Tang took a swig of beer.

"Didn't get it."

Lu Mingfei sighed, then turned to him with a serious expression.

"Old Tang, what if one day I told you… you're not human? That you're actually a Dragon King—what would you do?"

"Pffft—HAHAHAHA!!!"

Old Tang clutched his stomach, laughing hard.

"Lao Lu, you're terrible at making stuff up! At least come up with a better lie. I'm not human, I'm a Dragon King? That's hilarious, man!"

Lu Mingfei shook his head helplessly.

"If I had the choice, I wouldn't want you to be a Dragon King either. But loneliness… draws loneliness in. Monsters find monsters."

Old Tang finally stopped laughing and turned his gaze toward the mighty Yangtze.

The sound of the rushing water crashing into the rocks was thunderous.

The closer you got, the more you could feel nature's raw power.

"If I'm a Dragon King, then what are you?"

Old Tang asked offhandedly.

Lu Mingfei slowly said two words:

"A monster. A monster capable of killing a Dragon King."

"Pffft—HAHAHAHA!!"

Old Tang thought Lu Mingfei was in an especially jokey mood today.

But Lu Mingfei didn't say anything more.

He was ready to prove everything—with action.

"Old Tang! You ever wanted to fly?"

Old Tang: "???"

Without warning, Lu Mingfei grabbed Old Tang and shot into the sky.

Under their feet was a flying sword—your classic cultivator-grade weapon.

Once you reached the Foundation Establishment stage, you could fly on swords for extended periods.

In the world of cultivation, if you could fly, you flew—no walking necessary.

"AAAAHHHHH!!!"

Lu Mingfei held onto Old Tang tightly as they soared up into the clouds.

Within the cloud layer…

Old Tang clung to Lu Mingfei like an octopus.

"Holy crap, Lao Lu—since when did you become Superman?! I'm afraid of heights, man!"

Lu Mingfei stood calmly on the flying sword, looking down at the sea of city lights below.

"Do you believe me now, Old Tang?"

"I believe you, I believe you! Just get me back down!"

Old Tang was shaking from head to toe. They were at least a thousand meters up.

If he fell, he'd die for real.

Lu Mingfei nodded and slowly descended from the sky.

The moment he set foot back on solid ground, Old Tang had never felt so safe in his life.

Lu Mingfei quietly waited for him to recover.

After descending from a thousand meters, Old Tang's legs were still trembling.

"Lao Lu… even if you wanted to show off a little, couldn't you have warned me first? I'm not built for this!"

Maybe it was because he was a Dragon King, but Old Tang accepted this reality—one far beyond normal human understanding—remarkably fast.

What followed was silence.

The two of them quietly drank their beer.

In the distance, Mai and Ren Asakura approached with a few bags of spicy snacks.

Beer with spicy sticks? That combo always hit the spot.

"Hey, Mingfei, all done talking?"

Ren Asakura waved casually.

Lu Mingfei nodded. Some things between friends had to be resolved by friends.

Ren Asakura's methods… tended to be a bit on the violent side.

…

After having his worldview completely reshaped, Old Tang finally accepted his identity as a Dragon King—though the memories still hadn't returned.

He was still Old Tang.

"Lao Lu, you're not planning to take me out, are you?"

Lu Mingfei shook his head… then nodded.

"I'll only take out Norton, not Old Tang."

The conflict between Dragon Kings and humanity—Lu Mingfei knew he couldn't be the one to mediate it.

"So what's the plan now?"

Old Tang asked.

"We go to Bronze City. Your Dragon King memories will awaken eventually. Instead of being manipulated and pushed onto the stage, we should take the initiative and step onto it ourselves—take control of our own fate."

Lu Mingfei knew—his fate had already begun to unfold.

If he wanted to reclaim what was his from the forces surrounding him, he had to be strong enough.

Power wasn't just strength—it was also influence.

"I feel like I've stepped right into a trap or something…"

Old Tang scratched his head and downed the rest of his beer.

…

Late at night. The Yangtze River roared on, and the temperature had begun to drop. At this time of night, going into the water would almost certainly cause a cold.

Warning signs stood along the riverbank, clearly stating: No Swimming – Danger.

In the distance was the reservoir of the Three Gorges Dam.

Bronze City lay roughly 150 meters beneath the water's surface.

That depth was nearly impossible to reach without being a trained diver.

But none of the people present were ordinary.

The sudden pressure changes at that depth could severely damage a normal person's heart and lungs.

But against absolute strength, that kind of pressure was nothing.

"Tonight's a good night for it!"

Ren Asakura glanced up at the moonlit sky.

Old Tang was still a little scared.

"Maybe we wait until tomorrow? It's so dark out… kinda dangerous, don't you think?"

"Too many people during the day. Too many eyes. Not ideal for diving. And if the worst-case scenario happens, it might hurt innocent bystanders. But right now, it's the middle of the night—no one's around. Even if something breaks out, no one else will get caught in it."

Lu Mingfei explained patiently.

Old Tang patted his chest.

"Don't worry, Lao Lu. Even if I regain all my old memories… you'll still be my friend."

"I hope so."

Lu Mingfei looked around at everyone.

Mai would be diving in too. As a professional bodyguard, she had to stay by her target's side at all times—her target being Lu Mingfei.

"Alright, if we're diving, I'll show you guys something cool."

Ren Asakura snapped his fingers lightly.

A soft blue glow instantly wrapped around everyone's body.

Then, just as quickly, it vanished.

Old Tang quickly patted himself down.

Nothing felt different.

"What the heck just happened?"

Ren Asakura explained with a grin.

"I cast a Water-Avoidance Charm on all of you. You'll be able to breathe underwater like fish and ignore pressure changes in the depths. Even if you're a landlubber who can't swim, with this charm, you'll be swimming like a mermaid in no time."

Old Tang gave him a big thumbs up.

"Freaking awesome!"

Even so, Old Tang was still hesitant to go in.

This was the Yangtze River, after all.

Every year, countless people drowned in it.

There were even professional corpse fishers in the past few years—supposedly a really profitable job.

"What're you scared of?!"

Ren Asakura raised a leg and gave Old Tang a solid kick—sending him flying straight into the Yangtze.

The raging current swallowed him in an instant.

"Help! I can't swim!"

Some habits… are carved into your bones. You can't just shake them off that easily.

°°°

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