NHWSG chapter 19

Compared to the “hero” battling the evil dragon in front of him, Sheng Zhao seemed more like an extra.

He neither displayed extraordinary courage in adversity nor tapped into hidden potential in extreme anger. Just clinging to the riverbed’s stones to avoid being swept away by the water had exhausted all his strength, making him appear like an unimpressive cheap giveaway.

—Of course, perhaps replacing “like” with “is” wouldn’t be entirely wrong.

But, in a sense, Sheng Zhao could be considered naturally talented. At least, even he didn’t expect that one day, when faced with such a metaphysical scene beyond his understanding, he would surprisingly remain calm. Not only did he not faint in fear, but he even had the energy to enjoy the spectacle.

Gossip is truly human nature.

The underground river was already dark, and now, with the water stirred up, nothing could be seen clearly.

Even with the fluorescence in front of him, Sheng Zhao could only vaguely discern a general outline. He hadn’t paid attention to the dragon’s appearance when he fell earlier, but now, looking carefully, he discovered that the sorry-looking demonic dragon was entangled with many rusty iron chains. Among them, one section had an unusually light color, faintly emanating a golden glow, and it was already severed in half, with the other end tied around the dragon’s neck.

Sheng Zhao instinctively felt that this was the “seal” broken during the construction site incident.

Xing Yingzhu, whether he was ignoring Sheng Zhao or unable to speak, had not given any reaction. However, after observing for a while, Sheng Zhao was almost certain that the serpent currently “heroically” fighting was his boss.

Perhaps due to the life-and-death situation, Sheng Zhao accepted this setting surprisingly well. Almost effortlessly, he equated the black serpent in front of him with Xing Yingzhu.

And after accepting this premise, he strangely found the serpent much more agreeable.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t enjoyed enough of Xing Yingzhu’s “battle” prowess when the situation began to subtly change.

Although the demonic dragon’s appearance was not impressive, it had a few more claws than Xing Yingzhu. Despite suffering a surprise attack earlier, it had now regrouped and could actually hold its own against Xing Yingzhu.

The two, one dragon and one serpent, seemed to have higher martial arts skills than the other. However, their fight looked like two beings lacking in tactics, entwining with each other and biting in a manner devoid of any martial arts techniques.

Xing Yingzhu’s movements were agile, and his attacks were fierce. In just a few breaths, the dragon had several deep wounds visible to the bone, and the pungent smell of blood spread in the water, making Sheng Zhao almost breathless and his vision darkening.

But the dragon was no pushover; its iron chains clanged with every move. Although Sheng Zhao couldn’t see the specific situation of the battle, just hearing the sounds made him uneasy, fearing that Xing Yingzhu might be at a disadvantage.

With an almost innate jinx, as soon as this thought crossed his mind, a muffled noise came from the depths of the mud. Following that, a roar of a dragon echoed, so close that it seemed to be shouting directly in his brain.

Sheng Zhao saw stars before his eyes, experiencing for the first time what it felt like to be attacked by sound waves.

But what worried Sheng Zhao more was that he couldn’t see Xing Yingzhu in an instant.

He had barely managed to see a hint of the tail in the mud before, but after that last noise, he couldn’t find Xing Yingzhu’s silhouette no matter what.

His heart suddenly rose to his throat. He gritted his teeth, lowered his body, resisted the dizziness and nausea, and, against the flow of water, grabbed another nearby stone.

He looked like an elderly person with partial paralysis, relying on feeling the stones to slowly move forward for about twenty meters. Finally, he passed through the most heavily muddied area and witnessed the high-definition live version of the “battle of gods.”

The demonic dragon was covered in thick dragon scales, with thin and sharp edges on the scales that looked as penetrating as blades. Compared to it, Xing Yingzhu’s defense seemed a bit insufficient, and with every strike, he sacrificed five or six hundred points of his own health. His body was covered in various injuries.

As Sheng Zhao crawled closer, the demonic dragon found an opportunity. Taking advantage of Xing Yingzhu’s attempt to restrain its movements, it forcefully rammed into the riverbed, and its sharp claws almost instantly tore open a wound on the giant serpent’s abdomen.

If Xing Yingzhu hadn’t dodged quickly, he might have been gutted by that claw.

Sheng Zhao gasped for a cold breath, feeling a chill running up his spine, and goosebumps covered his body.

Instinctively, he shouted Xing Yingzhu’s name while blowing bubbles, but unfortunately, the two massive creatures in front of him were deeply engrossed in their battle, and no one paid attention to this small shrimp.

Crouching on the side, Sheng Zhao moved forward by pulling on the stones, gasping and blowing bubbles. The scene was so comical that it looked like Xing Yingzhu and Sheng Zhao belonged to two different genres, as if one side was in a martial arts fantasy drama, and the other was in an adventurous little fish tale.

But Sheng Zhao couldn’t just stand by and watch his “comrade” being bullied. After Xing Yingzhu was once again thrown off by the demonic dragon, Sheng Zhao, driven by some unknown courage, impulsively grabbed a large stone, about the size of five or six palms, from the riverbed beside him.

Using buoyancy, he dug the stone out of the mud and then raised it above his head. With a momentary burst of determination, he kicked against the riverbed, charging forward for ten meters, and then vigorously threw the stones at the tail of the demonic dragon.

—If this were a web game, Sheng Zhao should have seen the boss bar above the dragon’s head with the words “Critical Hit: 30.”

Of course, this damage was far from enough to penetrate the dragon scales. However, it did manage to grab the attention of the monstrous creature, making it turn its head towards him. It shook its head and menacingly exposed its teeth, focusing on him as a threatening gesture.

Sheng Zhao: “…”

His brief impulse quickly sobered him up. Drenched in cold sweat, he stared at the murky large eyes.

Fortunately, amidst the turmoil, Xing Yingzhu also noticed him.

Sheng Zhao swore that in that instant, he clearly saw the precursor to Xing Yingzhu’s anger in those cold and eerie snake pupils.

Floating in the water, he frantically splashed water, trying to swim towards the riverbed and, in a desperate attempt, shouted, “I know I was wrong! I should have listened to you and stayed away from this place, but it’s too late, boss, save me—”

Xing Yingzhu: “…”

A long string of words without taking a breath; that was quite a talent.

Sheng Zhao was unceremoniously swept off by the water, and after bubbling for a while, he suddenly heard Xing Yingzhu speak in a condescending tone.

“Go quickly,” said Xing Yingzhu.

His voice sounded even more indifferent than usual, with a subtle and hard-to-describe nuance. It was low in pitch, deep, and though it seemed cold, in this situation, it was strangely reliable.

However—

“Where can I go? Boss, this is the riverbed!!!” Sheng Zhao retorted.

While he spoke, the dragon had temporarily given up fighting with Xing Yingzhu and turned back towards him

Just as Sheng Zhao hesitated whether to run towards Xing Yingzhu or let go of the support and be swept away by the water, the serpent that had been behind the demonic dragon suddenly flipped its body and, in an extremely twisted posture, charged towards him.

Immediately after, Sheng Zhao felt a tightness around his waist. He was abruptly pulled out by a strong force.

It took him five seconds to react. The object wrapped around his waist wasn’t the iron chain of the demonic dragon but the tail tip of Xing Yingzhu.

Sheng Zhao: “…”

Looking down in close range, he found that Xing Yingzhu wasn’t entirely black. It seemed like he had an extremely thin layer of scales covering his body, which was inconspicuous compared to dragon scales, making it hard to notice from a distance. The texture of these scales was almost transparent, giving off a subtle and imperceptible iridescence under the light. They looked exceptionally sophisticated, and when Sheng Zhao touched them, they felt cool and smooth, with a delicate texture.

“Why waste time touching?” Xing Yingzhu said.

Sheng Zhao, like a mischievous elementary school student caught red-handed, hastily withdrew his hand, raising both hands over his head in a surrender gesture.

Xing Yingzhu: “…”

Xing Yingzhu couldn’t be bothered with him.

However, Sheng Zhao soon had no time to think about anything else because Xing Yingzhu, even more unruly than the antagonist, was currently not only dragging him but also treating him like he was tied to a fighter jet’s landing gear.

He was tossed around so much that he felt dizzy. Luckily, he was in the water; otherwise, he suspected that he would either suffocate from lack of oxygen or be dragged to death by Xing Yingzhu.

However, even though he cursed Xing Yingzhu in his mind a thousand times, his body was still very honest. He clung tightly to the tip of Xing Yingzhu’s tail, hesitating to open his eyes.

—Because the dragon was still following behind him.

Apart from some bodily facilities, it seemed that it really couldn’t compare to Xing Yingzhu. Even in the water, it could barely keep up with Xing Yingzhu’s speed, let alone catch up.

Sheng Zhao didn’t know how long he had been dragged by Xing Yingzhu. He felt like he had spent half a century in the water. Until he suddenly felt Xing Yingzhu violently swing in a certain direction.

Sheng Zhao woke up abruptly from that chaotic state. Feeling like he was about to become an aquatic creature, he was suddenly thrown by Xing Yingzhu.

Sheng Zhao, with a series of somersaults in mid-air, broke through the water surface with the momentum provided by Xing Yingzhu and stumbled, rolling on the soft grass. He first instinctively took a deep breath and, lying on the water’s edge, shouted for Xing Yingzhu. Then he suddenly realized something.

—He had finally returned to solid ground.