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“Senior Dragon God.”
As the Dragon God’s soul body manifested in the main hall, everyone stood and bowed in greeting. Even the usually frivolous Xia Yingqiu greeted him with the utmost politeness.
“Senior Dragon God.”
“Mmhm.”
The spiritual body of the Dragon God smiled and nodded, then arched his brows. “It’s quite lively in here. I almost never get to see some of you old fellows, yet you’re all here now.”
The crowd smiled obsequiously. Who dared refer to themselves as an “old father” before the Dragon God? He had existed since before the Great War of Gods and Demons. For the Dragon Race, he was an ancestor-level figure.
Nevermind the others, just look at the grand-elder. He’d always taken pride in his seniority but now, facing the Dragon God, didn’t he too have to respectfully call him…..
Ancestor?
When he saw the Dragon God, his expression clearly shifted. Someone of even higher seniority had appeared. He…. could no longer use his seniority to bear down on the others.
The former clan head’s expression shifted as well. In truth, he hadn’t wanted to trouble the Dragon God with this.
This ancestor-level existence had already taken great pains on their behalf. The former clan head had hoped to resolve this situation without alerting the Dragon God.
But at the same time, he was glad to see the Dragon God. The former clan head had just been agonizing over the Grand-elders status.
Now, everything would be much, much simpler.
“Senior Dragon God, please take a seat.”
The former clan head stood and offered him his seat. The Dragon God didn’t refuse; he immediately took a seat.
Since the former clan head had offered up his seat, everyone else was obligated to shift one seat over.
But this was far too much work, so the former clan head decided to simply stand to the Dragon God’s side and watch the proceedings.
“Go on then, tell me what exactly is going on. What’s troubling you? Yingda, if you please.”
“Senior Dragon God, it’s like this.”
In response, Xia Yingda recounted everything that had happened. He left nothing out, not even the smallest detail. The Dragon God didn’t interrupt him at all. Instead, he simply shut his eyes and listened intently.
“This is the situation: we currently suspect the grand-elder……”
“You suspect him of colluding with demons?”
Xia Yingda and the other juniors dared not explicitly voice their accusations, but the Dragon God had no such reservations.
The Dragon God’s gaze fell on the grand elder. “Xia Dong, are they telling the truth?”
“Yingda’s account was indeed true.” Xia Dong nodded, then frowned. “But I never once colluded with the demons. It’s…. It’s just, my unfilial son is trying to frame me. Senior Dragon God, please understand.”
He no longer attempted to abuse his position and instead nervously explained himself. Seeing this, the others couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
In their hearts, they already saw this formerly esteemed elder as a demon spy.
“If he’s truly falsely accusing you, he really is an unfilial son,” said the Dragon God. He smiled calmly, yet passed no judgment on Xia Dong.
Instead, he turned to the crowd and said, “you all can leave for now. I’d like to talk to this demon spy in private for a bit.”
“Yes, sir.”
They didn’t hesitate; everyone exited the main hall. After Xia Yingda dispersed the Dragon Encircling Formation, he and the grand-elder left as well.
Before long, only the Dragon God and the spy remained within the main hall.
“When you get old, your memory starts to fade. Could I trouble you to repeat everything Yingda just told me?”
……..
“What exactly is the Dragon God up to? Why did he kick us out?”
The elders of the Dragon Race frowned. None of them understood the Dragon God’s intentions but as they looked at the elder, their gazes carried a hint of newfound complexity.
The grand-elder made no efforts to escape. He knew full well that…..
That even if he wanted to run, he couldn’t possibly escape right before everyone’s eyes. Furthermore, if he ran, wouldn’t that just prove he had a guilty conscience?
“You brat, you really did give me a huge surprise.”
The elders stood together in small groups. Meanwhile, Xia Yingda and Xia Yingqiu naturally made their way to the same place.
“Hey, it was a pleasant surprise though, wasn’t it? ” Xia Yingqiu laughed. “He’s quite the heavyweight. Bro, after this, don’t you think you ought to reward me properly?”
“You greedy brat!” Xia Yingda kicked his younger brother, then said, “what exactly did you do to scare him so badly? That’s the former head of the punishment division! Hasn’t he seen it all already?”
“Look at you, aren’t you taking me too lately? I’m the current head of the punishment division, aren’t I? Haven’t you heard that “the student will eventually surpass the master?’ Isn’t getting him to talk a simple matter?”
“Then how exactly did you manage it?
“It was nothing, but can’t tell you the details”
“You brat.” Xia Yingda rolled his eyes irritably. He looked back at his brother helplessly. “Yingqiu, you’re getting older. Shouldn’t you find someone and get married? There are lots of wonderful girls in our Dragon Clan; how about I pick someone out for you? Look at your niece- Keke has already grown up! She’ll be married before long, while you’ve still yet to settle down.
“This again? How many times have I told you: I’m not interested!” Xia Yingqiu frowned and cocked his head to the side.
“Then do you plan on being single forever? Don’t know you that our clan’s reproductive powers are weak? Every dragon is a treasure of our clan.”
“I’ve heard that line at least ten-thousand times. If you keep it up, my ears will fall off. There’s a saying I quite like: ‘how can you settle down when the future is uncertain?’ It’s not that I don’t want to get married but let’s talk more about this after chasing out the demons, okay?
“We’re ready. Everyone, you can come in now.”
Just as Xia Yingda was about to respond, the Dragon God’s voice transmitted from within the man hall. Everyone flowed into the hall.
Xia Yingqiu took the opportunity to laugh gleefully, “Senior Dragon God is looking for us. Let’s talk about marriage next time!”
Xia Yingda could only watch as his brother ran off. He couldn’t help but shake his head. Even so, there was nothing he could do but sigh helplessly and return to the main hall.
Everyone took their seats.
The spy still knelt on the ground. After everyone was seated, the Dragon God spoke up. “I’m sorry for the wait. You all must be getting impatient by now.”
“Senior Dragon God, it was no trouble,” said the crowd subserviently.
“Actually, I didn’t discuss that much with him. You all needn’t overthink things,” said the Dragon God. “Alright then, now let’s discuss Xia Dong.”
He pointed with his right hand. Instantly, Xia Dong floated out of his chair and landed in the center of the room.
“No matter what else you say about him, Xia Dong’s contributions to the clan can’t be overlooked. Although he has committed an extremely grave sin, it is not worthy of death. Let’s have him clean the clan’s blood pools for three thousand years as punishment. Do you have any objections?”
The crowd shook their heads. Only Xia Yingqiu frowned, but not even he objected.
“Alright, it’s settled. Xia Dong, your punishment starts now. Go sweep the blood pools right away.”
“Yes, sir.” Xia Dong didn’t hesitate; he immediately left the hall.
At the same time, the Dragon God smiled. “As for this spy, let’s just kill him.”
