Chapter 79: The Rouge Dragon Girl, Flayed and Drawn Part 2

But it was too late. The White Snake Whip, barbed with immortal qi, whipped down. The dragon tendon snapped, blood gushing. The already dying black dragon unleashed a roar of utmost hatred.

“Shi Qingyi—”

I will kill you—

Shi Qingyi had already anticipated her unspoken words.

Blood trailed from the severed dragon half. The mangled tail thrashed in the viscous lake water. Pale flames crackled through flesh and scales, her shrill screams chilling everyone present.

The Medical Immortal’s temperament was inscrutable and eccentric. Those serving here as cattle or horse—human or yao—did so out of need, having nothing else to offer her but their time.

No one dared intervene. Only Shi Qingyi’s hidden hand trembled.

“Stop!”

Mist-white spiritual power laced with frost finally intercepted the second lash. The silver whip shattered inch by inch, barbs retracting—the lake guard was a little thorn tree demon.

“My Lord, what’s wrong?” The tiny thorn demon peeked from the brush, fearful of the capricious Medical Immortal.

The expected torment did not resume. The dragon in the lake trembled open her sole remaining eye—dark void, hatred overflowing.

Shi Qingyi’s heart inexplicably clenched.

From the endless abyss, the black dragon looked up. Atop the abyss stood the woman’s graceful figure, brows and eyes ethereally beautiful, white robes ever pristine, like a goddess gazing down from the clouds.

Then she watched the immortal wade through the rotting corpses and mud of the Grand Abyss toward her.

A mocking smile curled her lips; her muscles tensed taut.

Today was Dragon Tendon extraction day—

The Dragon Clan’s body was a treasure trove, powerful and rare in the world. Though coveted by countless humans and demons, few dared act. She herself was peak Demon Clan might—had it not been for—

Her lone eye gleamed with icy killing intent at the approaching figure, mingled with desolate resignation.

“What do you want this time?” The dragon’s voice was hoarse, her sarcasm echoing through the abyss.

The recently ingested Intestine-Severing Grass still ached in her gut; half her tail hacked off for medicine. Now, what more?

Dragon Tendon? Or her life?

Shi Qingyi’s throat constricted slightly. The dragon clan member opposite her was suspended from the cliff wall, half her body submerged in the rotten lake water. Chains pierced through below her collarbones, and due to her recent struggles, blood flowed continuously from the wounds, staining the entire Grand Abyss lake in mottled patches.

This…

The corners of Shi Qingyi’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. She tremblingly extended a hand, trying to touch and check her wounds. But just as her slender, pale palm made contact with her shoulder, the black dragon suddenly whipped her head around and bit down viciously on the webbing between Shi Qingyi’s thumb and forefinger!

The black dragon’s eyes blazed with ferocity; she was truly intent on biting off Shi Qingyi’s hand.

Shi Qingyi’s brows furrowed tightly. She instinctively wanted to pull away, but the black dragon, on the verge of death, seemed to muster all her remaining strength—Shi Qingyi couldn’t break free.

“You blind beast! How dare you bite the lady!”

The little tree demon who had followed her over was terrified and immediately lashed out with a whip, accurately adding a gruesome wound to the black dragon’s body, splitting skin and flesh.

Yaoluo cried out in pain from the strike and finally released her bite with a shudder.

Shi Qingyi lowered her head to look at the wound on her wrist. The dragon clan’s teeth were terrifyingly sharp—two neat rows of tooth marks nearly pierced her arm straight through.

Blood trickled down from her wrist bone, the pain twisting her face for an instant.

“Lady, are you alright?!” The little tree demon had never witnessed such a scene. The Medical Immortal of Fuxi Mountain was infamous for her volatile temper and eccentric personality. The demon nearly died of fright but, after Shi Qingyi shook her head, immediately turned the whip back around for another lash.

“This ungrateful beast! I’ll fetch the Bone-Peeling Knife right now to extract her dragon tendon—no need to dirty your hands!”

Shi Qingyi: “…!”

Her mouth no longer twitched; now her heart did. She finally understood why, after Yaoluo’s desperate counterattack succeeded, not only did she kill the scum Medical Immortal who had deceived her feelings, skinned her, and pulled her tendons, but she went mad enough to raze the entire Fuxi Mountain to the ground, uprooting the spiritual roots of all living beings there and barring them from reincarnation forever.

Who could let that slide?!

Her eyelid twitched nonstop. Finally, she spoke: “Don’t fetch the Bone-Peeling Knife. Dismantle the formation, remove the chains, and let her down.”

Two leaves drooped from the little tree demon’s trembling branches, looking utterly puzzled: “Lady, you arrived too early today. The dragon tendon isn’t fully extracted yet. I’ll go peel it right—”

You mention skinning again! Shi Qingyi’s heart choked. She immediately slapped a silencing talisman onto the little tree demon, her voice cold as ice: “I said, let her down. Do I need to repeat myself?”

Her demeanor was aloof and inhuman, as if she might strike fatally at any moment. With the black dragon as a precedent, the little tree demon trembled in fear. Mouth sealed, it hurried over to dismantle the formation and pull out the chains.

The dark iron chains had been embedded in the black dragon’s body for two years, fused with her flesh. Yanking them out brought a spray of blood, and one could even faintly hear the piercing sound of flesh tearing and bones cracking.

Sweat beaded coldly on Yaoluo’s forehead. Her cries were shrill yet hoarse, as if she had no strength left, not even to struggle.

Her half-human, half-dragon ruined body slumped into the foul-smelling lake water, propped against a reef. Her waterfall-like long hair spread across the surface, her body limp as if devoid of all strength. She vaguely lifted her head to look at the person before her.

Her mind seemed shattered, already lost to madness.

Shi Qingyi’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. After a moment, she leaned down halfway. A fresh scent of herbs and plants wafted into the dragon’s nostrils. Just as Shi Qingyi was about to touch her—

The black dragon, who had seemed half-dead moments before, suddenly snapped her eyes open. Her pitch-black, profound eyes brimmed with bloodlust, radiating chilling, mad obsession—like a trapped beast making its final desperate stand.

Bite her to death! Make Shi Qingyi die with her!

The System had already jumped: “Host, be careful! She’s going to eat you!”

“Lady, careful!” By the time the little tree demon cried out in horror, it was too late. The dragon had already bitten into the Medical Immortal’s neck, poised to splatter blood everywhere.

—Yet it ultimately fell short. Just before the black dragon broke her neck skin, something seemed to restrain her. She halted abruptly in midair, unable to budge no matter how she struggled.

It was as if an invisible hand gripped her throat in the void, immobilizing her.

Yaoluo’s eyes burned red. Her enemy was so close, yet she couldn’t exact revenge. Then a hand descended like a shadow onto her head—was this it? Death?

“Yaoluo… have you forgotten? Your reverse scale… is still with me…”

The expected annihilation didn’t come. The woman’s icy yet gentle hand lightly touched her dragon horn, her voice carrying a silent sigh that chilled Yaoluo’s heart inch by inch.

Shi Qingyi’s voice was soft and tender, just like the countless times she had coaxed her before. But now, it rang in her ears as nothing but endless mockery.

The one restraining her in the void was no other than herself.

A dragon had only one lifelong mate. Only during estrus, when mating tails with her beloved, would she voluntarily offer her reverse scale. Her body bore so many wounds that she had nearly forgotten—she had once been intimate with this person, even handing over her most precious possession with both hands.

In the blink of her daze, the woman beside her had lifted her up. Her pristine white dress stained with filth from the rotting abyss as she cradled the battered black dragon. Cool hands roamed along the black dragon’s spine, finally pausing at her collarbones.

Yaoluo’s body tensed instantly. As expected, it had come.

The dragon tendon lay beneath the collarbones. Once extracted, she could never soar to the clouds again, reduced to crawling the earth.

Could a dragon that couldn’t fly still be called a dragon?

“Shi—” Yaoluo’s furious roar hadn’t fully erupted when someone patted her spine. Immortal energy rippled into her body, plunging her vision into endless darkness.

Her final thought: If she survived, one day she would make Shi Qingyi wish she were dead!

She would repay every torment of these years a hundredfold!

The frantically struggling black dragon finally fell still. The entire Grand Abyss plunged into an eerie silence.

Ghostly netherfire still burned. The white-clad half-immortal, holding the foul, blood-soaked black dragon, walked over the corpses and bones. The dragon’s tail trailed in the lake water. A thin glow enveloped the half-immortal, as if healing the black dragon’s wounds.

The little demons waiting atop the Grand Abyss stared in stunned disbelief at the Medical Immortal, unsure of her intentions. Trembling, one offered a curved blade.

The blade came from beneath the Beiming Glacier, capable of slicing through tough dragon bone—a rare divine weapon.

A vein throbbed on Shi Qingyi’s forehead. She ground her teeth subconsciously.

When she carried out missions before, she had been thoroughly prepared!

The little demon still awaited the Medical Immortal splitting the dragon bone—wondering which bone she wanted to test medicine on this time. Hadn’t the last tailbone been unfinished?

But suddenly, a crack echoed from her hand. The peerless divine blade shattered inch by inch, turning to flying ash in the wind.

“No need. No bones need peeling—ever again.”

The Medical Immortal’s voice was bone-chilling, laced with a hint of sigh. Nothing more could be discerned.

Amid the swirling mists of Fuxi Mountain, by the time the little demons looked up, the Medical Immortal was gone. Only her white-clad back revealed a trace of inexplicable desolation.

Shocked for a long while, the little demons slowly followed. The Medical Immortal had actually released the black dragon—and carried her out?!

Thus, the mountain’s demons grew curious and trailed behind strangely.

Yaoluo drifted in hazy unconsciousness, yet fragments of memory slowly surfaced in her mind.

She dreamed her beloved had come to save her, lifting her from the muck.

It was like their first meeting. The immortal pitied all beings, her pure compassion laced with strange allure. From the clouds, she reached down, rescuing the gravely wounded Yaoluo from the Yao Clan at the foot of Buzhou Mountain—a fleeting glimpse that doomed her for life.

The immortal’s embrace was warm and soft. She laughed softly by her ear, bewitchingly chanting her name: “Yaoluo, Yaoluo… Now gazing upon Yaoluo, so pitiable by the river pool—trees endure thus, how can people bear it?”

Where was the poetry? It was pure demonic seduction, luring her into a sweet, fragrant trap filled with blades piercing flesh and bone, dooming her to death.

Again like this—always like this—

The moment fingers pierced her heart, she asked the still-smiling woman: “What do you seek?”

She seemed never to grieve for mortal affairs, answering calmly: “What I seek… immortality—”

What she sought: immortality—