Chapter 12: Dragon Eagle

Zhou Xuanlong, the second prince of Great Zhou, was extremely gifted. He started cultivating at six years old, reached Foundation Building at nine, and achieved Inner Pellet at twenty.

　　Before he was fifty years old, he was already the first on the Hero Ranking Board. However, as his age exceeded the limit of the ranking, his name disappeared from the Hero Ranking Board.

　　Zhou Xuanji snorted in disregard. One day, he would surpass Zhou Xuanlong!

　　He had never seen this elder brother of his, but precisely because of Zhou Xuanlong's presence, the Empress was so arrogant.

　　The Empress would speak of Zhou Xuanlong once in every ten sentences so that others were aware she had such a heaven-sent son.

　　"Ohh? This little brat was listening to us quite seriously. Do you know what we are talking about? Do you want some milk?"

　　A fat man with a bare upper body pointed at him and laughed. He had a shiny face, and he looked like a mountain of meat. The few hundred grams of flesh on his chest shook as he spoke.

　　The edge of Zhou Xuanji's mouth twitched. He had a sudden urge to kill.

　　This fat pig needs a spanking!

　　Little Jiang Xue stood in front of Zhou Xuanji and covered him, like a hen protecting her chicks.

　　Madam Night Seven snorted coldly, "Fierce Tiger, he is mine. Don't even think about taking him."

　　Fierce Tiger?

　　He is Zhu Bajie! (TL: A very plump character who had a pig head and a human body, in Journey to the West.)

　　Zhou Xuanji rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, he started to think of ways to escape from the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends.

　　First, he needed to lower the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends' guard.

　　A four-year-old's appearance was quite deceptive.

　　He had yet to expose how powerful he was.

　　Based on his understanding of Little Jiang Xue, she definitely would not have exposed his true capability to them. If she had told them, they would be tied up.

　　The Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends continued their conversations.

　　Zhou Xuanji pulled Little Jiang Xue aside and sat down beside a giant boulder.

　　Little Jiang Xue looked at him with eyes wide open and asked with her eyes, what it is they should do.

　　Zhou Xuanji had a great understanding of dangerous situations, as he had almost died once after all.

　　In these two years, he had simulated dangerous scenarios with Little Jiang Xue every night. The two kids had a great rapport, as well as countless secret signals.

　　His eyeballs rolled inward and he crossed his eyes.

　　Yes, this expression is called Crossed Eyes.

　　The meaning of it was to stay calm, observe, and wait for opportunities to arise.

　　Little Jiang Xue blinked, which meant okay.

　　Madam Night Seven noticed their small actions, and although she did not turn her head toward them, she was contemplating.

　　"The two kids have spiritual energy inside their body, and they were not in the company of adults. Their background might not be simple." Madam Night Seven thought in her head. Indeed, the older, the wiser.

　　Although he lived two lives, he was still younger than Madam Night Seven even if he put his age in both lives together. Of course, he could not predict what Madam Night Seven's thoughts were.

　　Not only Madam Night Seven, but the other sixteen fiends were also curious about Zhou Xuanji and Little Jiang Xue's background too. This was why the two of them were not dead yet.

　　They did not closely observe him and Little Jiang Xue because of the absolute difference in power.

　　As they continued to chat, he finally got to know the goal of their trip.

　　Dragon eagle!

　　This was a kind of demonic eagle that had in its veins the blood of a True Dragon. It was powerful and had already attained Demonic Pellet, which was equivalent to the Inner Pellet stage for human cultivators. However, within the same stage, demons were usually more powerful, let alone a dragon eagle that had the blood of True Dragons in its veins.

　　Dragon eagles were secretive, and they were extremely rare. Their bodies, from head to toe, were full of treasures of immense value.

　　Recently, the appearance of a dragon eagle at the edge of the Southern Snow Kingdom had caused a great commotion. Many wanted to possess the dragon eagle, and the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends were among them.

　　He thought to himself, "It seems like if we want to escape, we will have to wait until they are rounding up the dragon eagle."

　　However, he was also worried that before that, he would already be boiled in soup.

　　Just the thought of it made him shudder.

　　After chatting for two hours, the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends finally stopped. Some slept, and others started training. The cliff fell into silence.

　　Zhou Xuanji laid in the arms of Little Jiang Xue and pretended to sleep. He could feel that Little Jiang Xue was very nervous. Her body was stiff, and she was quivering slightly.

　　To her, the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends were even more horrifying than demons.

　　Earlier, the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends talked about how to torture a person, and her little face became pale in terror.

　　Zhou Xuanji did not comfort her, because he did not want to appear too mature.

　　Throughout the night, there was no conversation.

　　Early in the morning, when the first rays of light shone across from the ends of the horizon, the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends moved out.

　　Madam Night Seven carried him like a chick. She threw him onto her mount, followed by Little Jiang Xue right after.

　　The Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends did not seem harmonious, and Madam Night Seven was seemingly worried that her partners would snatch the pair of children away.

　　She sat behind Little Jiang Xue, and Zhou Xuanji sat in front of Little Jiang Xue.

　　Little Jiang Xue wrapped one of her arms around his waist, while she held onto Madam Night Seven's thigh with her other hand. She was afraid that Zhou Xuanji might fall.

　　Zhou Xuanji noticed the direction that the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends were heading in, and surprisingly, it was Sword Emperor Slope, the place they used to live.

　　Could it be that the roar, which frightened them so much that they ran away, was from the dragon eagle?

　　He felt complicated.

　　After wandering about for so long, they were going to return to the same place?

　　When it was near noon, they finally reached the dragon eagle's territory.

　　In front of them was a mountain that reached into the clouds. Beneath the mountain was a forest that seemed without a border. There were many cultivators dispersed within the forest, some were training beneath the trees, while others stood on branches and looked at the mountain.

　　Just Zhou Xuanji alone could count more than ten people in their vicinity. They were all drawn here by the dragon eagle.

　　The Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends landed in the forest.

　　Madam Night Seven carried him with her left hand, and held Little Jiang Xue's with her right, and brought them in front of a huge tree.

　　She took out a red rope that was as thick as an infant's arm, and tied Zhou Xuanji and Little Jiang Xue to the tree.

　　After they were bound by this rope, he felt that he could not control his spiritual energy at all!

　　Enchanted artifacts!

　　Zhou Xuanji looked at Madam Night Seven with a pitiful, doe-eyed look, hoping that she would show him some sympathy.

　　"Sister, it's painful, can you loosen it a little?" He asked with a sob. Little Jiang Xue heard him, and also appeared like she was about to cry.

　　Madam Night Seven pinched his little cheek and said with a flirtatious laugh, "Little brother, don't cry, it will be more painful later."

　　The red rope constricted suddenly and became tighter than before.

　　Zhou Xuanji groaned in pain.

　　Madam Night Seven checked around, and then turned and left to return to her the rest of the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends.

　　They leaped up to the canopy of the forest and stared up at the peak.

　　"Roooaarrrr ---"

　　The roar of the dragon eagle came from above the clouds. It was deafening and sounded like a dragon's roar.

　　Zhou Xuanji had already confirmed it, the sound that scared them away was from the dragon eagle.

　　Little Jiang Xue touched his palm with her thumb and asked with her eyes what to do next.

　　Although she was afraid, she could stay calm and did not cause trouble for him.

　　Zhou Xuanji sent her the Crossed Eye signal again.

　　Stay calm and observe!

　　With the Crimson Dragon Sword's sharpness, it would not be difficult to cut the red rope.

　　Now they had to wait until the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends start battling with the dragon eagle. If not, any of the fiends could stop them from escaping.

　　Time passed by the minutes and seconds.

　　The dragon eagle's roars were getting more frequent. The number of cultivators that were above the forest had already exceeded thirty.

　　Cultivators were conversing with one another in groups of twos and threes.

　　"It's laying eggs?"

　　"Such a strong dragon might. Its tendons and flesh will be a great supplement!"

　　"Be careful, the Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends are here."

　　"The Yellow Gust Seventeen Fiends are nothing. The most threatening person is him, Zhang Tianjian!"

　　...