Chapter 96: The Ancestor’s Long-Overdue Rebellion, Part 23
The source of the golden light was at the dragon’s head.
A round object no bigger than a palm, as white and smooth as jade, floated within the glow. More precisely, it was the object that was giving off the light.
“This is the Qilin Diagram?”
“Mm.” Lou Xingluo’s expression remained faint, revealing little.
He told Ling Qiong to stand back while he went to take it down.
The dragon’s head rose like a high platform. Lou Xingluo leaped up and landed beside the Qilin Diagram.
Whoosh—
The hand he had just reached out was forced back by a surge of spiritual power.
Several figures streaked over from afar and struck at once, driving Lou Xingluo down from the dragon’s head.
“How insolent!” one of them shouted, pointing at Lou Xingluo. “What petty rat dares lay a hand on the Qilin Diagram!”
These people wore clothing marked with the distinctive insignia of the Flying Dragon Sect, so they were likely all members of that sect.
And after they arrived, another group came chasing after them and, without a word, launched straight into battle.
All three factions were after the Qilin Diagram.
Lou Xingluo was the closest to it, but no one wanted the others to obtain it. The instant chaos erupted, making it far from easy to seize the treasure.
Lou Xingluo released the Ink Serpent. In an instant, it grew enormous, whipping its tail to send several people flying.
Compared with the dragon bones, the Ink Serpent’s body was still somewhat smaller.
But to human eyes, it was still a colossal beast.
With the Ink Serpent at his side, Lou Xingluo once again leaped onto the dragon’s head.
“We can’t let them take the Qilin Diagram!” someone roared.
Lou Xingluo was, after all, only one person. Even with the Ink Serpent helping him, facing so many attackers meant he could not watch every direction at once, and several times he failed to secure the Qilin Diagram.
Just as Ling Qiong was about to go help her cub, a thunderous boom suddenly exploded in her ear.
The ground and the dragon bones trembled.
Spiderweb cracks spread from around the dragon bones, and golden light leaked out from within them.
That light shot outward, forming barrier after barrier.
Ling Qiong realized she had been trapped by it.
The light did not attack, but it also would not let her out.
No matter how much spiritual power she used to strike at it, it was all absorbed by the golden radiance.
Hands on her hips, Ling Qiong looked toward the dragon’s head.
Through several layers of golden light, she could no longer make out what was happening there.
“Darling, want to draw a card?” Flashy’s voice was sweet and full of temptation. “Draw a card, and you can go out to save your cub~”
“What if I don’t draw?”
Flashy conjured a little burst of fireworks before her eyes.
Refuse, and it would explode?
“…”
Maybe the spending would be late, but it would never be absent.
Ling Qiong swallowed her anger, then puffed up again, furious beyond measure.
They were always trying to cheat money out of Father!
…
A violent rumble rolled on.
The entire space shook as if the world were collapsing. Broken stones fell from overhead, smashing into the stacked beast bones and sending them toppling in heaps.
Because the ground was trembling, the golden light became unstable, and gaps appeared from time to time.
Ling Qiong grabbed onto a dragon bone and climbed upward.
The people above were fighting with great fervor, and no one noticed her.
The Qilin Diagram floated quietly in the golden light.
At that very moment, a pair of fair, tender hands reached out from behind, snatched the Qilin Diagram, and pulled it away.
Rumble, rumble—
The shaking grew even worse.
The Qilin Diagram’s golden light vanished, and the light seeping from the cracks likewise dissipated completely.
“The Qilin Diagram!!”
The object that had just been suspended in midair was now in the hands of a little girl.
When the others turned to look at her, she even lifted a hand to wave with an obedient smile on her face.
If not for the Qilin Diagram in her grasp, they would never have considered this little girl any threat at all.
“Hand it over!”
“Come and take it,” Ling Qiong said, taking up a stance as if ready for battle.
The moment she did, everyone else tensed.
Yet Ling Qiong suddenly stepped aside, seized Lou Xingluo, and turned to leap down from the dragon’s head. Her skirt swept through the air in a graceful curve.
“…”
“????”
“Damn it!”
“Stop her!”
“Don’t let them get away!!”
Shouts of fury rose one after another from behind them.
Ling Qiong landed on the ground and called to Jiang He and the others. “Run. What are you staring at?”
Jiang He: “…”
What on earth are you doing?!
What use is that thing to us? Why are you even snatching it?!
The pursuers were already upon them. Jiang He had no time to complain and hurriedly led the disciples in a swift retreat.
…
Wilderness.
After running for a while and shaking off the people behind them, the group finally stopped to rest.
Ling Qiong pressed a hand to her chest and slowly exhaled.
One of her hands was still holding Lou Xingluo. He looked at her with deep, unreadable eyes, as though lost in thought.
Ling Qiong let go of Lou Xingluo, took out the Qilin Diagram, and handed it to him with a bright smile. “Here. I grabbed it for you.”
Lou Xingluo’s brow tightened slightly, and before he could speak, the Qilin Diagram was snatched away.
Jiang He stepped back several paces with it in hand, his tone severe. “Little ancestor, you cannot give this to him!”
“Why not?” Ling Qiong asked.
I seized it especially for my cub!
And it cost me so much money!
“Because this thing… if he intends to open the Qilin Diagram, you cannot give it to him.”
Ling Qiong blinked. “Should I remind you what exactly we’re supposed to be doing?”
What did the Moon Clan want to do?
Wasn’t it to restore their former glory and once again become the masters of the continent?
This was practically the script of a villain.
Even if her cub wanted to open the Qilin Diagram and unleash whatever so-called evil power it held, that would hardly be bad for the Moon Clan’s grand undertaking. What was wrong with that?
“Little ancestor, what we want is not a continent reduced to ruin,” Jiang He said, his face darkening. “The moment the Qilin Diagram is opened, it will truly become a slaughter of all living things.”
By then, if everyone was dead, who would they even dominate for?
Could she stop being so unreasonable?!
“How do you know? Have you seen it yourself?”
Jiang He choked. “...It’s recorded that way in the books.”
“Books might be full of nonsense. Give it back to me.” Ling Qiong held out her hand.
“Little ancestor…”
“Give. It. Back. To. Me.” Ling Qiong forced a smile and said each word slowly.
Jiang He: “…”
“He’s not wrong. Opening the Qilin Diagram really would bring devastation and death to all living beings,” Lou Xingluo said lightly.
Ling Qiong turned slightly to look at him. In her pupils reflected the boy’s elegant features, his lashes lowered, hiding every trace of emotion in his eyes.
He said, “You don’t need to give it to me.”
Ling Qiong withdrew her gaze, walked over to Jiang He, and reached out for the Qilin Diagram.
Jiang He refused to let go, but under her unblinking stare, he slowly loosened his fingers.
It was over. It was all over.
The ancestor had gone mad!
How was he supposed to explain this to the elders when they got back?
“Here you go.” Ling Qiong cheerfully handed it to Lou Xingluo.
The palm-sized Qilin Diagram lay in her hand, making her long, beautiful fingers seem even finer.
Lou Xingluo lifted his eyes. “You… are really giving it to me?”
“I fought specially to get it for you. Do you want it or not?”
The girl’s voice was sweet and soft, like a little cat endlessly scratching at the tip of his heart, sending ripples of unease through the lake of his emotions.
Lou Xingluo: “…”
He slowly raised a hand and took the Qilin Diagram. His fingertips brushed the back of her hand, and that smooth, warm touch made even his fingers tremble faintly.
Jiang He: I’m done for.
The little fairy: You can still vote and then... you know.