Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 135

The War of Gods and Demons – Part 3

---

‘Rumble-'

After a muffled thunder clap, lightning cut through the sky, the coiled veins tearing the dark sky into countless pieces. The blood mist formed by the death of the demons remained for a long time, and half of the sky was dyed blood red, just as tragic as the battle between the gods and demons ten thousand years ago.

Beneath the Demon City, the demons and the heavenly soldiers were killing each other. The claws of the demons cut through the armour of the heavenly soldiers and their internal organs flowed all over the ground, while the lances of the heavenly soldiers pierced into the eyes and bellies of the demons, and their harsh cries resounded through the sky...

Mo Zun wielded a demonic blade that glowed with black air, exchanging blows with Xuan Long's silver longsword in mid-air. A chilling light flashed, reflecting Mo Zun's icy red eyes.

He snorted.

"A dog of the Gods."

"Have you forgotten how Yan Yuan treated you?"

"He plucked your scales and gouged out your flesh, yet you forgave him like this and are still foolishly working for him, you are truly the most foolish dragon in the world."

The two had already exchanged no less than a hundred strikes between them. Xuan Long dodged a dark slash from Mo Zun, and his murderous blade stabbed at Mo Zun's chest, which was blocked horizontally by the blade in Mo Zun's hand.

The god and the demon stopped in mid-air, two figures, one silver and one black, their long hair dancing in the wind, their clothes fluttering.

"Your flesh has not been reshaped for long, so I suppose your soul is still weak, right? Yet he sent you out into the battlefield like this?"

"Look, he doesn't love you at all, how about falling into the demonic path and coming to my Demon Clan as a great general?..."

Ning Zhiyu was so devoted to Yan Yuan that it made Mo Zun jealous. If Xuan Long had really fallen into the demonic path, Yan Yuan would have died of anger.

It's a pity that this dragon has a face that no one wants to approach, but in fact, it had a one-track mind and did not change course at all.

Xuan Long's lips were pursed and he didn't say a word the whole time, but his movements became more and more aggressive, and his strikes were aimed at Mo Zun's face.

As a general of the Gods, it was his honour and mission to fight for the Gods, and he could not allow anyone else to have an opinion.

Although the Demon Realm was not as powerful as it used to be, it was not something that the Gods could easily take down. More and more heavenly soldiers and demons fell, and one after another, both Mo Zun and Xuan Long suffered external wounds.

In this battle between the gods and the demons, Yan Yuan personally led the fight, and the wound to Mo Zun's heart was thanks to Yan Yuan. He didn't want to rest for the night, and there was no sign of Yan Yuan today.

Taking advantage of his unpreparedness, Mo Zun slashed at Xuan Long's neck with the curved blade in his hand. Xuan Long tilted his head and back-flipped to avoid it, leaving a faint bloody mark on his neck. The moment he landed, he raised his leg and struck at Mo Zun's face.

"Where is Yan Yuan?

"He just left you alone, as he did ten thousand years ago?"

It was impossible for Xuan Long to answer his obvious provocation. He leapt up and kicked the boundary with one leg, breaking it and scattering the red light in all directions.

The two were once again entangled, moving so fast that they were barely visible to onlookers. Mo Zun never forgetting to sneer, "He, the Emperor of Heaven, has done a really considerate job, thrusting you into battle ten thousand years ago and causing you to die a horrible death, and it is still the same ten thousand years later."

"Tsk, such an immortal couple, I'm afraid, is the worst in the Immortal Realm."

The cold wind whistled in his ears, scraping his cheeks. Just as Mo Zun had said, Xuan Long had been destroyed and his soul reshaped, his body was still weak, his spiritual power had not fully recovered, and even though he was facing this battle with all his might, he was still gradually at a disadvantage.

It was as if the cracks in his soul had been torn open even more, and the pain gradually corroded his flesh, becoming somewhat unbearable.

His breath was disorganised and his movements slowed down.

Mo Zun forced him to retreat and found the right moment to control the demonic blade to stab him in the heart with such speed that Xuan Long had no time to dodge.

Time became very long in this moment.

It was like this ten thousand years ago; after defeating the demon generals one after another, Xuan Long, already exhausted, was forced to confront Mo Zun, and the moment the demonic blade stabbed him in the heart, he thought of Yan Yuan.

There might not be a way to go see the sea with him.

That wish, after ten thousand years, had still not been fulfilled.

Neither would there be any more possibilities for the next ten thousand thousand lifetimes.

Perhaps his life had always been ridiculous. He had been born as a lonely star, not qualified to have love, and even if it was found, it was useless, the love he had stolen would eventually have to be returned, and he would be punished for it in the most cruel way.

He had been alone in the world for a long time, and he did not know why. It was good that A'Zhi had someone who really loved him and would not suffer as much as he had.

When he left ten thousand years ago, Xuan Long felt reluctant to leave, but at this moment he was at peace.

Perhaps he was relieved and no longer looked forward to anything.

Spiritual energy rushed through his body, Xuan Long's throat itched, and blood gushed out of his mouth without restraint. The demonic blade cut through the air and was about to pierce Xuan Long's chest when it was suddenly struck down to the ground by a powerful burst of spiritual energy.

Mo Zun recalled the blade and looked soberly at the person who had come, only to see Yan Yuan dropping his hand which was exerting spiritual power. His long hair was half-tied, and he was dressed in a light white robe with a warm smile on his lips, but his right hand was clasped tightly around Ning Zhiyu's neck like an eagle's claw. With just a little force, Ning Zhiyu, a mortal, would be returned to the ground by his hand.

Inside the demon palace, there was a boundary set by Mo Zun, so it was warm in winter and cool in summer, so there was no need to wear extra clothes. In this cold weather, Ning Zhiyu was wearing a thin white robe, and his calves and feet were exposed to the air.

The wind made his clothes bulge and then deflate. Compared to Yan Yuan's tall figure, he looked so thin and frail, as if he would shatter if he bent hard enough.

“A'Ning...” Mo Zun never expected to see Ning Zhiyu on the battlefield, and a brief moment of dismay swept across his handsome young face.

Xuan Long was equally stunned, not understanding what Yan Yuan was doing.

Soon, Mo Zun came back to his senses and tightened his grip on the demonic blade in his hand, his red eyes, suppressed with anger, fixed on Ning Zhiyu's pale face, "... Let go of him."

The subtle reaction was taken in by Yan Yuan, who smiled without moving, "Want to save him?... Then how about using your life, and the lives of the entire demon race, to exchange for his life alone?"

“Don't even think about it.” Mo Zun gritted his teeth and wanted to rush up and take Ning Zhiyu back, but he didn't dare risk it, the lives of the human race were too fragile, if he lost him, he wouldn't be able to get him back.

"There is a blood feud between the gods and demons, between you and me, and there is hatred for killing my wife. Ning Zhiyu was involved in your plot to put a demonic compulsion into me, causing my wife to be separated from me. I will not spare any of you."

"I originally thought that if you were willing to trade yourself and your entire demon clan for him, I could let him go and let him live on, but I didn't know that you would refuse so simply.  What a pity, what a pity..." Yan Yuan shook his head with a soft sigh, and a dagger with a cold glow appeared in his palm, which was clamped around Ning Zhiyu's neck, and pressed against his flesh.

Yan Yuan lowered his head and said to the hostage in his arms in a voice that was not too loud and not too quiet, and that could be heard by several people floating in mid-air, "Didn't you say he cared about you, how come he was indifferent even when he saw you dying..."

"Since that's the case, I'll kill you..."

As his words fell, Ning Zhiyu felt a sharp pain in the middle of his neck, and he gently drew a cold breath as his face grew paler and paler.

“Stop!” Mo Zun's red pupils tightened violently, staring at the line of blood on Ning Zhiyu's neck, almost unable to hold back. He was not faster than the knife in Yan Yuan's hand, and if the blade went any further in, Ning Zhiyu would die.

He had lived for so long but had never really liked anyone. Ning Zhiyu was the first person for whom he had been able to feel the desire to hold in his arms and treat properly.

Even if the other person had never given him the slightest chance.

All he knew was that he liked this person very much, so much so that he was going crazy, so much so that he could secretly rejoice for a long time even if Ning Zhiyu looked at him one more time. He liked him so much that he knew that he was disgusted with him, but he still wanted to bind him to his side in a way that Ning Zhiyu did not like, because he did not know how else he could keep him.

He loved to see Ning Zhiyu smile, he smiled so gently, like a breeze in early spring. But Ning Zhiyu never smiled at him like that, and even when he did smile, it was cold. He was gentle to everyone, the palace maids, the eunuchs, even an unknown cook he had taken from Earth, but he was cold and cruel to him and A'Lie, and never treated them with kindness.

He knew that Ning Zhiyu hated him for being a demon, but it was an innate identity that could not be changed. He knew that Ning Zhiyu would never like him, and no matter how hard he tried, everything he did would still be a joke in the other's eyes.

But he was just so stubborn that he wouldn't let go.

"Heartbroken?" Yan Yuan lifted his head and smiled. "Ten thousand years ago, when you killed my immortal partner, you had no idea how much it hurt me. Ten thousand years later, when you planted the demonic compulsion in me and made me kill the love of my life with my own hands, did you know how much it hurt...” As he murmured, the corners of his eyes reddened silently...

“Now, with just this, you are heartbroken?"

"In that case, you can suffer for him, okay?..."

Killing, killing, killing, never-ending killing, blood mist tumbled and shrouded the sky. The demons and heavenly soldiers below repeated the increasingly frantic killing, the scene unbearable.

Ning Zhiyu was bewildered by what was happening.

He had never told Yan Yuan that Mo Zun cared for him, and he did not want to mention a word of this filthy past.

Before Yan Yuan pretended to abduct him, he only said that he should accompany him in a scene, a scene that would allow the gods to win without fighting.

At first he did not understand what Yan Yuan wanted to do, but now he finally understood. Yan Yuan wanted to use his life as a bargaining chip to force the Demon Lord to give up his people and put an end to himself.

This was a ridiculous thing in Ning Zhiyu's view. A demon like that could not die because of a small human being. Mo Zun might try to please him in any way he could, but the price was definitely based on having nothing to lose, just as someone would be willing to please a puppy, but no one would ever be willing to die for a dog.

True love should be to like what the other person likes and to feel the other person's pain. Mo Zun had kept him here for four whole years, never really taking into account his feelings; he was no different from a dog with no dignity.

"It's useless... he won't compromise because of me..." Ning Zhiyu's lips were blue and purple from the cold, and he was trembling slightly as he spoke, his thin body shivering.

His body was so weak, how could he stand such cold? Mo Zun knew that he must be very cold and must be very scared. He did not know that as long as Ning Zhiyu was in Yan Yuan's arms, even if he was being held against a brightly shining knife, it was a hundred times better in Ning Zhiyu's heart than being by his side.

He couldn't think of anything else, but remembered his words that night, when he had said very seriously that no matter what happened, he would protect him, even if it meant with his life.

So he said:

"Okay… I'll suffer for him."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: January 5, 2023