Chapter 79: Chapter 78 – He Is The Head Of This House

  “Where are we going?” Feng Yu asked in a subdued tone.

  “Somewhere where we can recover from all this ”

  Long Di couldn't deal with the drama that would come from telling them outright that they were heading inside a volcano.

  He would cross that bridge when he got to it. Which was a lot closer than he'd like it to be.

  ****

  Bam!

  A figure shut out of a large stone door into the arms of another who expected.

  The body of the one who caught the figure shot back at an insane speed!

  Boom!

  He crashed into a rock wall quite some distance away.

  “Pwah!”

  A mouthful of blood erupted from the impact.

  “Hmph! What a useless human!”

  Long Huangdi refused to acknowledge the existence that came to ridicule him.

  “Catch!”

  He sensed the draconic salve that hurtled towards him and held a hand out towards it.

  Chichichi!!!

  The draconic salve was accompanied by a shredding force, just like always. However, this time the provoking dragon was slightly surprised, for he saw that though the salve mutilated Long Huangdi’s hand, the latter’s expression remained unchanged.

  He executed a bow to the door as he thanked the presence inside for the salve before proceeding to leave.

  The entire time, he paid no attention to Long Jiao, which sparked the latter's ire!

  “Insignificant human!”

  Long Jiao then proceeded to make his way towards him.

  "Ruler Long Jiao steady your claws…"

  Long Jiao froze when it heard the low guttural growl of words that came from the room.

  "Royal emi-"

  "Don't act on impulse, Ruler. Know your place and carry out your duty.”

  Long Jiao snorted as he turned tail and left, but not before he shot a gaze filled with contempt at Long Huangdi’s retreating back.

  Long Huangdi had no idea that his actions just now nearly brought a calamity unto himself. Still, the only goal he had was to bring his wife to the encampment they had whilst at the bastion.

  It was a closed-off area that none of the dragons or dragonkin were allowed to enter. He had just entered the encampment when a figure ran over to him in a hurry.

  “You’ve returned Lord Long!” It was Long Chen who arrived, Long Huangdi’s most trusted aide.

  When Long Chen saw the gaunt look on his lord’s face, his countenance fell, but it completely turned dark when he sighted the lady in Long Huangdi’s hands.

  “Those monsters!” Long Chen’s aura and cultivation base erupted and the pressure of a 9 Core Martial Adept could be felt.

  “Your pressure is very impressive.” Long Huangdi said what he felt at that moment.

  “The Lord is too kind!” Long Chen cupped his fist. “How is the lady, Lord Long?”

  “She’ll be okay as soon as I get the chance to apply the draconic salve.” Long Huangdi replied.

  They both headed deeper into the encampment. Long Huangdi could see the members of the Long family and all who were taken with them cultivating bitterly. Even the servants were not spared this fate.

  It was not that they weren’t worried about Lady Nuhuang; it was quite the opposite. They all feared for her wellbeing every day. However, this was the only thing they could do to make the most of their time. This was why it was Long Chen’s duty at the very least to welcome them back.

  The dragon’s bastion was a rough and unforgiving place for most living things to reside in. The reason was because dragons unleashed an aura unique to them known as draconic aura.

  This aura reflected their properties and was therefore overbearing and inherently arrogant. It would stifle most life-forms from growing if they didn’t have an indomitable will themselves.

  Grass, flowers, and even trees didn’t grow where the dragons roamed. The environment was not suitable for them to bud, much less to survive.

  The members of the family found it unbearable themselves in the beginning. Long Nuhuang was the one who rallied them to cultivate in this type of environment to temper their will and aid in their own cultivation.

  It proved to be the correct choice as when Long Chen and Long Huangdi currently passed the members of the family, they could feel the pressure that the collective family gave off and it was impressive.

  Long Chen led Long Huangdi and his wife to their tent to recover in peace. He already knew where to go, but he allowed Long Chen to lead him along anyway, as the latter never relented in his duties as his aide.

  When the couple entered the tent, Long Chen advised, “I’ll gather the core family members so we can start the meeting as soon as you’re finished here.”

  “It’s been hard on you.” Long Huangdi thanked him for this.

  Long Chen only gave a wry smile when he heard this, “I should be saying that to you my lord.”

  He then executed a bow to both Long Huangdi and his wife as a sign of respect and retreated.

  Long Huangdi stared in the direction his aide disappeared in for a while before he turned his attention to his wife.

  “The situation in the family has become a bit… complicated,” he muttered to himself. However, this was something that could be saved for later rumination.

  He didn’t want to waste too much time, so after he gently laid her down, he softly undid her robes. He didn’t want to jolt her to cause her to awaken to this. The pain would be immeasurable.

  There were deep bloodstains in certain areas where the robe stuck that he tried his best to remove with as much tact as possible. Other areas were ripped to shreds, where horrific injuries could easily be seen.

  Finally, the robe slid from her body to reveal a gruelling scene. Where there was peerless skin without the slightest blemish was now beaten black and blue with large gaping gashes that ran diagonally from shoulder to waist and another, and another that travelled the length of her midsection to her thigh.

  He quickly took out the salve that was in a leathery black bag and dipped his hand on the inside.

  Ttsssssss!

  Just as always, the salve started to very slowly burn away Long Huangdi’s hands. The wounds he suffered from the shredding force caused the pain to become bone-deep., evident by how he gritted his teeth as he allowed the salve to cover his hands.

  The salve was a deep red, thick, syrupy liquid that the royal emissary advised them to use for the injuries.

  However, it had an unusual effect to it. That was whenever Long Huangdi used it to treat his wife’s wounds the salve caused harm to him.

  Long Huangdi was sure that this was why Long Jiao always sent it with a shredding force. So that it would cause him pain whenever he treated his wife. It also seemed to have a long-lasting effect on him as well. Such as, it seemed to eat away at him mentally and physically over time. This was the reason why he appeared so gaunt and weakened.

  The most curious thing about it, though, was that his wife suffered no pain from it. The same steam rose from the places it was applied to, but Long Huangdi could see how the wounds and injuries stitched themselves up.

  His wounds, however, were being worsened by the salve, but as long as it could heal her, this pain was nothing.

  Once the salve was applied to where the injuries were present, Long Huangdi took a deep breath and used the leathery bag to wipe the rest off his hands.

  “Hhmmm”

  Not long after, a soft groan could be heard coming from her.

  “Dear! You’re awake!?”

  Long Huangdi was aware of another trend that took place over the last few days. It was that each day his wife emerged from the training room and she was treated. The time it took for her to recover was shortening.

  He was over the moon at the moment, because it was the first time he applied it only for the effects to be immediate.

  “Dear husband, you’re here.” Long Nuhuang’s feeble voice came out. She weakly reached out her hand to touch his rugged and haggard face. “It’s been hard on you,” she said.

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  He closed his eyes and smiled at her selfless words. “I should be saying that to you.” He said, following the words of his aide. Tears welled up in the corner of his eyes as he held her hand to his face to kiss it.

  “Today’s the meeting, right?” She asked him.

  He nodded to confirm her question, “But don’t worry, I can cancel the meeting to spend ti-”

  She placed a finger to his lips. “We are not to waste a single time while we are here. In addition, they are waiting for you. Go on, I will still be here when you get back.”

  He quickly held her down when he saw her getting up. “Why don’t you rest properly tonight? You’ve been pushing yourself so hard every day since that day.”

  She shook her head at his suggestion. “This is the only thing I can do to avenge him Huangdi, besides,” she placed another hand on his. “This is one of the few things that bring me a reasonable amount of peace.”

  He stared at her for a while before he stopped holding her back. With her current strength, he could no longer hold her back if she wished to do something, even in her weakened state, but it was only with him that she was like this. She would only ever show this weaker side of herself to him and him alone, and he knew it.

  When she was properly sitting up, she assumed a meditative pose and started to cultivate. Long Huangdi quietly retreated from the tent and went to the central tent where they held meetings while they were here.

  After all, they had to communicate any new developments and plans that could be shared regarding their current predicament.

  As Long Huandi neared the tent, he could hear a heated argument coming from the tent. “They started the meeting without me?”

  He suddenly paused his steps when he heard his name being called.

  “Why should we be led by such a weak leader!? We should let Lady Long Nuhuang lead us!”

  “Silence Long Yan! Who are you to dictate who leads this family!?”

  “Everyone agrees with me, Long Chen! He’s just a shadow of his former self!”

  “Your disrespect needs to cease! The leader has lost his son and-”

  “But look at Lady Long Nuhuang! She lost her son, but she used that to motivate herself and motivate us to get stronger. However, while we grow, he remains stuck at that same stage!”

  “You know he is unable to advance ever since the acc-”

  Swish!

  The curtain to the tent drew aside to reveal Long Huangdi entering unhurriedly.

  In the centre of the tent was a long table that nearly stretched the length of the massive tent. Seated around it were several core members of the Long family.

  Everyone present was frozen in place at the moment, and no one dared to say a word. After all, no matter what, Long Huangdi was the leader of the Long family and here they were not just starting the meeting without him, but they took it further and were even talking about replacing him!

  Long Huangdi didn’t show much expression on his face as he slowly made his way to the head of the table. Every clearly audible step drove home the magnitude of what they were doing. This was not much different from betrayal. The only thing that made it slightly better was the fact that they wanted his wife to be the one to lead the helm.

  Once Long Huangdi sat down, Long Chen was the first to sit up with cupped fists towards him apologising profusely. “I am sorry, Lord Long, for the disrespect of entertaining a meeting that didn’t have you here. But I couldn’t sit back after hearing certain things!”

  When he did this, nearly everyone else got up and cupped their fists towards him, as well apologising as well.

  There was only one person who didn’t get up. It was a mountain of a man who appeared to be middle-aged with bushy brows and bushy sideburns.

  He had a scowl on his face that fitted him so well that it wouldn’t be surprising if he were born like that. It was he who argued with Long Chen before.

  Still, Long Huangdi didn’t say anything about this and only nodded in general, allowing everyone to sit down.

  The atmosphere was tense and awkward as everyone waited for Long Huangdi to start.

  “You’re not pleased with me and my current leadership style.”

  “Lord we…!”

  Long Huangdi put up a hand to stop the person who just spoke so he could continue.

  “Now, I’m not an unreasonable person, and if anyone here wanted to speak to me about my position in the family, there is no problem.” Long Huangdi found himself staring at the table as he spoke, but it just made everyone feel worse for some reason.

  “However,” he went on. “To speak behind closed doors about such matters and behind my back is a traitorous act. As it signifies that, you have no qualms about discussing even more severe actions and putting into motion said actions.”

  No one said anything at the moment because everything he said was true. Traitors were not an existence that was tolerated anywhere. No one wanted to say something wrong and be labelled as such because they could very well be killed as a result.

  Nonetheless, Long Huangi’s next words gave them pause.

  “So to have none of you bear the moniker of a traitor, I will give you the chance to speak your mind in front of me right now.”

  Several minutes went by with no one saying a thing, but Long Huangdi waited. He noticed the way the clansmen stared at him recently. They bowed to him when he passed by, but their gazes contained hidden contempt.

  This most likely stemmed from his enduring nature in the face of their current situation. It was highlighted even more when his wife took the initiative to make sure that things were put in place for a goal for them to work towards.

  Of course, he wasn’t jealous or anything, but everyone that saw this viewed him in a lesser light and before they knew it, talks like replacing him as the family head became commonplace within the encampment.

  It didn’t help that his strength was being weakened due to the salve that he was using to treat his wife. All these things painted him as an incompetent leader in their eyes, especially when compared to the shining sun that was Long Nuhuang.

  “Well.” He urged them on.

  “Fine! Since no one else is saying anything!” One person finally couldn’t help keeping silent and stood up.

  “You should step down as family head and have your wife be the one to lead us!” It was the same mountain of a man who remained seated when everyone else got up to apologise, Long Yan.

  “My wife doesn’t wish to be leader, else I would have stepped down a long time ago. In addition, though my cultivation has stagnated, I am still the strongest here save for my wife.”

  Long Yan snorted when he heard this. “Your cultivation grows more insignificant each day! Have you not realised that though our cultivation has not increased much, the amount of power we can execute within our respective realm grows!”

  This was something they discovered when cultivating in a place suffused with a draconic aura. Their own aura was affected and as long as their will was strong enough, they would benefit from it instead of being harmed. This benefit was strengthening their foundation and allowed them to grow more powerful. It would be more amazing when Lady Nuhuang passes the challenge and allowing them access to resources that would allow them to increase their cultivation bases. At that point, they would be a tiger with wings, able to take on any challenge!

  However, it was this same overbearing will that was being transmitted to them that caused some to view Long Huangdi as a weak leader. One of these was, of course, Long Yan.

  “You should be embarrassed to keep your position!” Long Yan continued.

  “Long Yan! watch yourself!” Long Chen grew angered in the face of Long Yan’s arrogance.

  However, Long Yan ignored Long Chen’s warning and went on. “Use whatever dignity you have left and step down. Even without an established leader, your wife will take the wheel and be more of a man than you ever-”

  Shing!

  A sword light illuminated the inside of the tent for a flash before it disappeared. However, that flash brought with it an extra body inside the tent.

  “Dear!?”

  Long Huangdi was surprised to see his wife standing beside him all of a sudden.

  “L-Lady Long Nuhuang!”

  Everyone scrambled to get up to greet her.

  Boom!

  Her cultivation base spread out, pressuring them to remain seated, for she would not take any respect from them at this time.

  “You.” Her cold gaze shot towards Long Chen, sending a chill up his spine. “Drag every clansman to the open grounds right now. There are things that need to be said.”

  Long Chen didn’t hesitate; he rushed outside, leaving a gentle breeze in his wake.

  “Let me make one thing perfectly clear.” Her expression was cold, but everyone knew that she was undeniably furious! “This is my husband, and I will not tolerate the slightest disrespect towards him. To use me to do so is nothing short of a death wish. An example stands before you.”

  When she said this, everyone turned their heads to Long Yan, who remained standing with an arrogant look on his face.

  Suddenly, a thin red line appeared on his neck before the head slid off and fell to the ground, followed by the body shortly after.

  Thud!

  The thump of the head rolling on the floor made everyone’s blood run cold. He didn’t even realise how he died! Just how much stronger has Lady Nuhuang become!?

  “Once again,” her low voice forced their attention once more. “This is my husband, and he is the head of this house.”