"Hmph! Are you still going to keep acting?"
The High Priestess stepped forward, voice edged with anger. "You came for the ancient Bing Mo Shen, did you not?"
"Bing Mo Shen? So Wei Zhuang really is looking for it… Our earlier intel was true. Thankfully, Brother Goku already drove them off," Shaoyu thought, startled.
"We don't know anything about any Bing Mo Shen! Let us out—now!" Tianming shouted.
"Even now you refuse to admit it? Your story is clever, I'll grant you that. But perhaps that necklace means too much to her—that's how you slipped."
With a wave of her hand, the High Priestess signaled. A curtain lifted, revealing a mural on the wall: a formidable figure clutching a greatsword.
"This is… the one called the demon of war… Chi You, who once wrought calamity and slaughter. How can the necklace in his hand be identical to the one Xiao Li wears?"
Shock surged through Shaoyu.
"Xiao Li—I don't know if that's your real name. But there is one identity you cannot conceal: you are of Chi You's lineage. Though your ancestors reaped what they sowed, your clan has never repented—always scheming to reclaim the sealed Bing Mo Shen."
"You say Xiao Li is from Chi You's clan? Judging identity from a single necklace—isn't that far too hasty?"
Silent until now, Goku stepped forward, gaze steady on the High Priestess.
"Hmph! Is that not proof enough?" she retorted, eyes cutting toward Goku. "Do you still intend to quibble?"
"This is getting tiresome," Goku said calmly. "I don't care what Xiao Li's identity is. Even if she truly belongs to Chi You's clan—so what? She is my friend. That alone is reason enough."
Hearing him, Xiao Li's eyes flickered with emotion.
"Exactly! Chi You may be the villain, but Xiao Li is not. She's our best friend," Shaoyu said firmly. Tianming nodded hard and stood by his side.
Goku smiled faintly and patted Xiao Pixiu. Understanding at once, it roared—its voice shaking the hall—and bit through the iron cage like chewing sugarcane.
With a series of loud crunches, the entire cage vanished down its throat. The Loulan onlookers stared in stunned disbelief.
"So—you finally drop the pretense?" the High Priestess scoffed, as armored guards poured into the hall.
"Lord Goku" Gai Nie said quietly from the side, a hint of concern in his voice, "won't this deepen the misunderstanding?"
"It's fine. They won't listen to explanations anyway. That leaves force—but without harming them. We'll simply show our strength and make it clear we mean no harm."
Goku tapped Xiao Pixiu's head. "Go wild—but don't hurt anyone."
"Rooaar!"
Xiao Pixiu needed no further urging. Whatever it once was to Loulan, it now heeded Goku alone. With a few powerful wingbeats, it took to the air. A violent gale tore through the hall, sending guards sprawling, rolling across the floor.
"H-how can this be… Isn't the Dragon Soul our national treasure? Our guardian spirit? Why… why would even the Dragon Soul attack us?"
The High Priestess stared, momentarily dazed by the chaos.
"Because you mistook friends for enemies," Goku's voice answered lightly from right beside her. "It's very displeased."
"Ridiculous! You must have tampered with it. I will never let the Chi You clan succeed!"
She lashed out with her staff; Goku simply watched her come.
Seeing the hall devolve into chaos, Shaoyu glanced at Gai Nie. "Isn't this… a bit much?"
The storm intensified—winds shrieked, people stumbled and cried out. Xiao Pixiu seemed only more excited, wings beating faster and harder, until even the bronze statues lining the hall began to shake on their pedestals.
---
Gai Nie stood calmly off to the side, choosing not to intervene.
With Gai Nie silent, Shaoyu also held back, waiting to see how things unfolded.
Tianming, however, couldn't resist diving in—cheerfully kicking and swatting at the guards already blown off their feet.
Even the High Priestess's patience had limits. Usually composed and gentle, she now struck at Goku with her staff, revealing the anger in her heart.
But her attacks were soft and harmless against him; instead, she found herself toyed with—Goku circling her easily, even brushing her hand during a counter, which only deepened the blush and fury on her cheeks.
Watching her flustered, Xiao Li frowned, an odd tightness in her chest—an unfamiliar feeling.
The whirlwind in the hall kept rising. Goku looked up at the airborne Xiao Pixiu, still flapping joyfully. For all its strength, it was a child at heart—if this continued, someone truly might get hurt.
When the High Priestess swept her staff again and a gust rushed at him, Goku didn't bother to dodge. He ignored the force, tapped the staff from her grip, caught her wrist, and lightly locked an arm across her throat.
"Enough," his voice carried across the hall. "If you don't stop, your High Priestess may be in danger."
"High Priestess!"
The guards froze in alarm. Hearing Goku, Xiao Pixiu grudgingly calmed and dropped from the air. With their leader seized, the soldiers also dared not move recklessly.
"Release the High Priestess, or we of Loulan will never let this go!" the guard captain warned.
"After all this, you still haven't seen the gap between us?"
With a casual wave of his sleeve, Goku sent a harmless shockwave rippling out, toppling the newly risen guards in a single sweep.
Ignoring the stunned soldiers and citizens, Goku gently released the High Priestess. "Have you cooled down? If we truly had designs, what power here could stop us? If I wanted to awaken the Bing Mo Shen right now—what could you do?"
"You… truly didn't come for the Bing Mo Shen?"
Sensing no malice from him, the High Priestess hesitated.
"I told you—we're escorting Xiao Pixiu back for Xiao Li," Goku said evenly.
"You're not of the Chi You clan?" the High Priestess asked Xiao Li.
"No." Xiao Li shook her head, voice steady.
"Very well. I will believe you—for now. I misjudged you earlier. I apologize."
She bowed slightly to Goku and the others.
"No trouble. If you really want to apologize, how about a good meal and some strong wine? We've been on the road all day—we're thirsty and starving."
"That is easily arranged."
---
The next day, to the cheers of the whole city, Goku drew the Dragon Soul's power from within Xiao Pixiu and embedded it into the colossal goddess statue. Torrents of water poured from the dam, coursing through every canal of Loulan. The withered city sprang back to life.
Goku refused to let Xiao Pixiu return to sleep as a sealed core inside the statue. Fortunately, to drive the statue's hidden mechanism and restore the waterways, only the Dragon Soul was required. With Goku's power reinforcing it, Xiao Pixiu remained entirely unaffected—and would, in time, grow even stronger.
No one knew how many years they had waited for this day. Watching clear water run through every channel, the High Priestess's face shone with joy; a lifelong wish had finally been fulfilled in her hands.
The square erupted in celebration. Loulan's people were all smiles, alive with excitement.
"Thank you—truly. I doubted you before… I'm sorry."
The High Priestess bowed again to Goku and his friends, offering genuine contrition.
Thus the misunderstanding dissolved. The people of Loulan cast aside their doubts; for the moment, Goku and the others became the city's honored benefactors and heroes.
For the next few days, Loulan hosted them with heartfelt hospitality.
At the same time, a massive Qin host appeared in the surrounding desert. Sandships of every size dotted the dunes—their number no less than tens of thousands.
All this for a single hidden city. Qin Shi Huang had not only mobilized an army of such scale, but also dispatched several top-tier masters—just for one man.
"Still no entrance to Loulan?"
Meng Tian stood on the deck of a massive sandship, his tone authoritative as he addressed a portly general.
"N-not yet… but I've sent thousands of elite scouts. We should have results soon!"
Just then, hundreds of meters ahead, the desert erupted in a storm. A colossal two-headed sand serpent, formed of wind and grit, rose over the horizon. Qin soldiers were flung into the air, swallowed by gaping maws. Screams rose and fell in waves.
"Oh? So such a monster exists in this desert? How rare…"
Chi Lian stood on the deck, eyes gleaming with a strange, bewitching light. She had few hobbies—poisonous serpents were one of them, and the deadlier, the better.
"Order a retreat. They can't handle that serpent," Yue Shen said calmly from behind her veil, mysterious and radiant.
Meng Tian nodded—unnecessary casualties served no purpose. "Relay my command—withdraw!"
Then he turned to Wei Zhuang and the others. "Well then, who among you will deal with that creature?"
Wei Zhuang said nothing, but stepped forward first. His aura turned ice-cold, killing intent seeping out. In a flicker, he sped toward the serpent. He would wait no longer. The one who had humiliated him… was likely just ahead.
___
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