Chapter 224
Chapter 224: If You Ate My Flesh, Drank My Blood, and Stewed My Scales into Soup, Then You Owe It Back
Chong Ming’s gaze stayed fixed on the distant glow for another heartbeat before he turned to Jiang Tea Tea. “How do you know?”
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t even bother pretending she hadn’t expected the question. “I happened to meet the one seeking revenge once. I can sense his ability fluctuations.”
Chong Ming’s brow furrowed. “You met him tonight—at the mission site?”
Jiang Tea Tea shot him a look. “Your twenty-four-hour surveillance of me is impressive. At this point, why don’t you just crawl into my stomach and live there?”
Chong Ming laughed softly. “Strictly speaking, my surveillance is almost useless. Like you coming into my Military Department. Even after I warned everyone and they prepared, none of them could stop you.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes drifted to the rigid leaders nearby—backs straight, heads lowered, breaths shallow, like statues waiting for judgment.
“Your subordinates are top-tier,” she said. “But top-tier people get complacent. ‘Ready for anything’ still needs improvement.”
Chong Ming’s smile faded. He turned his golden eyes on the leaders. “Understood. Everyone, leave. Reflect on what needs improvement and submit reports.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief!” they answered, and filed out at speed.
Once the office emptied, Jiang Tea Tea spoke again. “I’m going to the Yellow Dragon Clan settlement. I’ll be back within three hours.”
“Hold.” Chong Ming’s voice stopped her. “Attacking the Yellow Dragon Clan—no matter who does it—violates empire law.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes narrowed. “You’re sending people to arrest him?”
“The Police Bureau has already deployed,” Chong Ming corrected.
Jiang Tea Tea let out a short laugh. “Fast.”
“It’s not me,” Chong Ming said. “Every dragon clan settlement has a life-alert system connected to the local Police Bureau.”
“If someone is attacking the Yellow Dragon Clan, the disturbance won’t be small. It will trigger the system.”
“And once it triggers, the Police Bureau will intervene—protect the settlement, stop the criminal, capture the criminal.”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded once, absorbing it, then said anyway, “Thanks. I’m still going.”
There were only two demons in this world. Jin Lin was going for revenge, and he had every reason. If it came down to it, she wasn’t letting him get torn apart alone.
“Jiang Tea Tea—” Chong Ming started.
She was already gone.
Chong Ming stared at the empty space for an instant, then issued orders and boarded his warship, heading out.
—
Back at the Military Department, Sui Xuan Chu and the others had returned with the captured living dead. They watched the creatures get strapped onto the lab tables, and only then did the realization hit.
“Where’s Sister Tea?” someone demanded. “Didn’t they say she already arrived at the Military Department?”
“Yeah—where is she?”
“I didn’t see her at all,” another said. “From the moment I got off the ship, I only saw guards.”
“What if Sister Tea got hurt?!”
“Don’t be stupid,” someone snapped. “This is the Military Department. If something happens to her here, the Zhen Lin Empire is basically done. Understand?”
“Oh… right. Sorry. I’m overthinking.”
“Relax. Maybe the Commander-in-Chief called her in. Or she went to the Medical Department to discuss something.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s not scare ourselves.”
Sui Xuan Chu and Cheng Lin Yue—two of the only people who knew the real situation—exchanged a look and joined in the reassurance, terrified the others would spiral into the wrong conclusions.
Once everyone finally calmed down, Sui Xuan Chu sent messages—one set to his uncle, another to Jiang Tea Tea.
Three messages each.
No response.
—
With forty percent magic power and the Flame Staff reinforcing her, Jiang Tea Tea crossed five hundred kilometers in the blink of an eye.
The Yellow Dragon Clan settlement was a disaster zone.
Mountains had collapsed. Rocks had rolled and crushed buildings. Underground river water surged up and flooded everything. The air was full of screams and dragon roars.
Under the artificial moonlight raised overhead, the destruction was impossible to ignore.
In the center of it stood Jin Lin.
His long hair was wild, his upper body bare and crisscrossed with scars. A strip of cloth was the only thing covering him below the waist. His legs and feet were naked, planted like a statue of rage.
His eyes—one gold, one black—held no fear at all.
Only killing intent.
Old dragons and cubs lay injured. Several Yellow Dragon Clan members were pinned under Jin Lin’s feet, barely breathing. In his hand, he held a dragon cub as a hostage, its small body struggling uselessly.
All of the settlement’s power systems had been destroyed. Police Bureau personnel had raised an artificial moon just to keep the scene lit.
Dozens—hundreds—of police personnel surrounded Jin Lin, cannons on shoulders, guns in hands, muzzles trained on every vital point.
But no one fired.
Not while he held a cub.
Jiang Tea Tea landed invisibly in a spot that let her strike or retreat as needed. Flame Staff in hand, she watched.
A dragon with a battered face stepped forward from one side of the encirclement, backed by a crowd of clan members. His voice was polite, but strained.
“Your Excellency. I am Chong Ling Lan, the chieftain of the Yellow Dragon Clan. May I ask what grievance you have with us, to come attacking our home in the middle of the night?”
Jin Lin lifted the cub slightly in his grip. The little dragon kicked and clawed, tail whipping. It did nothing.
Jin Lin’s voice cut like ice. “You ate my flesh and drank my blood, and you still ask who I am? Shameless.”
Chong Ling Lan’s expression darkened. “My Yellow Dragon Clan conducts itself honorably. I have never met you. How could we have eaten your flesh or drunk your blood?”
“If there is a misunderstanding, we can go to the Police Bureau. Under third-party supervision, we can clarify everything.”
“If we are at fault, we will apologize. If we are not, then you must give the Yellow Dragon Clan an explanation for destroying our settlement!”
Jin Lin’s fingers tightened.
The cub went limp instantly, head, claws, tail drooping like it had died.
A wave of panic went through the police line.
“Easy!” someone shouted. “Your Excellency, please—don’t hurt the hostage. If the Yellow Dragon Clan harmed you, we will investigate and give you justice!”
“Believe in empire law,” another pleaded. “It won’t protect criminals, and it won’t let the innocent be hurt twice!”
What did a demon care about empire law?
Demons believed in one thing: blood debt.
If you ate his flesh, drank his blood, and stewed his scales into soup, you paid it back.
Jin Lin lifted the cub—several meters long, no thicker than his wrist. “You people talk nicely. This cub drank my blood. It carries my scent.”
Chong Ling Lan snapped, “Nonsense! That cub is only eight years old. It’s hunted, at most, beasts under a hundred jin. How could it drink the blood of an adult beastfolk like you?”
Jin Lin ignored him completely, inhaled deeply, and said, “Not just the cub. You, Clan Chief, also carry my scent. You ate my flesh.”
He tipped his chin at the crowd. “There are thirty-eight dragons here—with my flesh and my scales inside them.”
“Tonight, those thirty-eight will die.” Jin Lin’s voice turned vicious. “They will all be swallowed into my belly. No one runs.”
Chong Ling Lan and the dragons behind him erupted.
“You’re slandering us!”
“We don’t even know you—how could we drink your blood or eat your flesh?”
“You’re serpent clan. We’re Yellow Dragon Clan. By rank, we’re nobles and you’re a commoner!”
“As nobles, what prey can’t we hunt? What food can’t we buy? Why would we eat you?”
“And empire law clearly forbids eating high-intelligence beastfolk who can transform into humans!”
“We’re a top dragon clan in the Zhen Lin Empire. We would never break the law knowingly!”
“It’s all just accusations. You’re making excuses to slaughter us!”
Jin Lin’s laughter held no humor. “You say I’m framing you? Fine. Then I’ll show you what a dragon looks like when it has swallowed my blood, flesh, and scales.”
He roared up at the sky, bit his middle finger, and drew seals in the air with his blood. When the last stroke was complete, he struck his palm outward.
The blood-seal splintered into countless fragments, each one moving like it had eyes.
They flew straight into the crowd of Yellow Dragon Clan members.
Thirty-eight fragments landed.
No more. No less.
Including Chong Ling Lan.
The blood seeped into their skin and reappeared between their brows as a long, vertical red mark.
Dragons who hadn’t been struck stared in shock. “What is that? Clan Chief, what’s on your—”
They didn’t finish.
The marked dragons screamed.
They clutched their heads as if their skulls were being cracked open. Their bodies spasmed like knives were carving them from the inside out.
“Ah—my head! Someone’s hammering my skull—”
“My body—my scales—someone’s ripping them off—someone’s cutting my flesh—drawing my blood—”
They collapsed, rolling across the ruined ground, howling in agony.