CHAPTER-13

"What was that?" A farmer harvesting his crops heard a bang and searched for the source of the sound only to find a large fire scaling up the skies as the smokes slowly grew into the shape of a giant tree.

"A volcanic eruption?" Another farmer frowned, "But there are no volcanoes here in Wing-sam."

"We need to alert the Inspection office! They need to find out what caused the explosion!"

"Quick! Let's go!"

The farmers dropped their hoes and headed for the inspection office.

...

The inspection office was quite big. The government put a lot of work into the place since it was the only law enforcing agency in Wing-sam. A large board was hung above the entrance door, and on it, laid a group of words.

The words read, "Seers of the Unseen.'

The whole place had been jam-packed by people with complaints. The air in the environment was slowly getting warmer, but the people didn't mind this change as they carried expressions of fear and rage on their faces.

"The government never told us anything about a volcano in Wing-sam!"

"You are liars!"

"Since when have you been lying to us!"

"The explosion seemed to have happened at Wing-sam mountain. Is Wing-sam mountain even a mountain?"

"Wing-sam mountain is a volcano and not a mountain?"

"You should give us an explanation for this!"

"What happened at Wing-sam mountain?"

The people's voice gradually increased as they noticed that none of the officers even bothered to bid their time.

In one of the rooms at the office, a man could be seen rubbing his forehead with his fingers. On his table, papers and books were scattered. His closed his eyes as he sighed. The man looked very young, and from his looks, one could tell that he was probably in his twenties.

"A volcano in Wing-sam? That sounds crazy!" The man blurted out.

"I agree with you sir." An officer in the room nodded, "I grew up here in Wing-sam, and I've even went up the mountain with my father when I was still a child a couple of times. We never came across any volcano at the mountain."

"That's why I said it sounds crazy." The man replied. "What do you think could have caused an explosion as big as that?"

"Maybe a meteor fell." An officer with a grumpy voice spoke.

"No, it's not a meteor. I don't think a large meteor like that could fall from the skies without anyone noticing." The man at the desk reasoned.

"Then what could have caused it sir?" The officer asked.

"Wing-sam mountain has been existing long before Wing-sam village came into existence. It was believed that many great cultivators today had trained on this mountain because of the pure qi that surrounded the mountain." The man stopped talking as soon as he realised something, "Cultivators! There must be someone training on the mountain!"

"But who would be so strong enough to create such a powerful blast?"

"Jing Chih stop asking questions and round up a group of five. We need to find out what really caused the explosion!"

"Yes sir." The officer named Jing Chih bowed before exiting the office.

"Lian Wei, you and Zhou Cheng, go to the weaponry and grab the Polar Guns. If there is any leftover fire, we cool it off."

"Yes sir!" The two officers nodded as they scurried away.

...

In a dark room where fire torches hung on the wall and where blood covered the floors, a man stood with chains holding up both of his arms. Stretching his arms apart, the chains also binded his legs as he appeared to have been severely tortured.

A girl walked into the room with a wild smile on her face. She held a whip that had been died red blood.

"Ready to give in yet, Mr Long?"

"..." Long Qiao glanced at her before gazing at the whip in her hands.

"I see you're afraid of this." The girl laughed as she shook the whip in her hand. "Listen, I could end your pain or you could end it yourself. You probably wouldn't like me ending it for you, but, I would definitely like it If you did. Father says you're important so he's going to be keeping you alive for a while. It's still quite shocking that the Long sect are actually the dragon descendants."

"Shut up. You're ruining my sleep with your gibberish." Long Qiao mumbled.

"Your sleep?" Yin Zhen giggled. "You could get enough of that if you just tell us where the last Dragon progeny is, your son, Long Xue."

"What do you mean by 'the last Dragon progeny?" Long Qiao asked as he glared at the girl before him.

"Hm." Yin Zhen swung her hair. "The rest of your children have been killed. Your brothers, your sisters, your mother, your uncles, aunts and every other relative you–"

"No!" Long Qiao roared out, releasing a massive amount of qi that blasted Yin Zhen backwards.

Yin Zhen knocked into the iron bars of the prison and fell to the ground coughing out fresh blood. "You..."

She frowned but then again, she smiled, "Long Tai, Long Xiao, Long Lan and every other Long have been killed! And there is nothing you can do about it!"

After hearing her last sentence, Long Qiao's emotions turned form rage to woefullness. He looked at the girl and placed a fake smile across his lips, "You're lying, aren't you? I killed two of your strongest members, so I don't believe the Elimi could even stand a chance against my other relatives."

"You're just trying to sound optimistic. We didn't kill them. The Vermillion brotherhood did. Of course, they've also wanted you and your sect out of the way for a while now."

"Do you hate the Long sect?" Long Qiao asked, looking into the girl's eyes.

"I don't hate anyone really, and I don't know if I hate your sect. I only do as father wishes."

"Father." Long Qiao muttered. "I've missed that word."

"You don't need to tell me where your son is anyway. We'll find him soon." Yin Zhen smiled evilly. "I'm here for something else."

"Why are you here?'

Yin Zhen walked towards Long Qiao, "I need a son."

"What are you talking about? That's absurd! I will not lay with you!" Long Qiao was disgusted.

"You don't need to. Father says the Qi of a Dragon is very unique. It evolves overtime even without any training. I see why Dragons are worshipped as gods."

"Get out!" Long Qiao barked at her.

"Don't worry my love, it'll all be over soon." Yin Zhen placed a hand on Long Qiao's chest as she trailed them down to his abdomen. "I know you want this."

...

A boy whose head appeared to have been burnt sat down staring at the fire that flickered before him. His face was covered with bandages and so was his body.

Long Xue appeared to be angry and at the same time, he carried an aura of awe.

"Did I just destroy Wing-sam mountain?" Long Xue tilted his head to face Long Zhi.

Just as their gaze met, Long Zhi shivered as he moved away from Long Xue, "I have no idea!"

"How did I even survive?"

"The flame belonged to you so it wouldn't harm you nor kill you." Long Zhi replied.

"But it clearly harmed me!" Long Xue frowned.

"I have no idea that was even possible!" Long Zhi retorted. "But, I think I know why the explosion must of have happened."

"How did it happen?" Long Xue glared at the fire before him.

"Will you stop glaring at the innocent flame? I lighted this one myself." Long Zhi said.

"Fine." Long Xue glanced around.

"Wing-sam mountain is place filled with one of nature's most purest qi, the healing qi. Wing-sam mountain was surrounded by so much qi that even the qi flowing through the meridians of over a hundred cultivators wouldn't surmount to it. Fire burns using Qi from a cultivator's body, and since Wing-sam mountain was literally surrounded with the purest qi one could ever find, it must have caused your fire to transform into a massive explosion."

"I see." Long Xue felt better after knowing that he wasn't actually fully responsible for the disintegration of Wing-sam mountain. "By the way, I found something under the remains of the mountain when I was out searching for my bracelet earlier."

Long Xue brought out a large wooden casing from his space device and showed it to Long Zhi. Long Zhi's eyes widened as he stared at Long Xue.

"Do you feel that?" He asked with his eyes closed.

Long Xue closed his eyes to try and see if he could also feel what Long Zhi was talking about, "I do. It feels cold, absolutely cold."

"This is the core of Wing-sam mountain. Wing-sam mountain wasn't an epitome of the healing qi, this casing was. It radiates so much Yang." Long Zhi smiled as he scanned the casing.

"There are some writings beneath it." Long Xue spoke as he showed the writings to Long Zhi.

"The Ancient Language?" Long Zhi mumbled.

"What did you say?" Long Xue asked as he scanned the words, but he could not understand them, "Can you read them?"

"It reads, 'The Sword of Flame–Only those with the heart of true virtue will weld this sword. This sword shall destroy the lives of all those who worship the Ruler of Darkness..."