Chapter Three: The Fierce Dragon Sheds Tears
The dragon held its breath, eyes wide open, unable to believe what lay before it was real.
And somehow, Huang Ze’s eyes grew moist.
Dragons are not known for prolific tear glands; no matter how bitter or aggrieved he’d been these past six months, Huang Ze had never cried. But now, faced with the familiar words and goods, he could not hold back his tears.
A mighty dragon seldom weeps, unless touched to the heart’s core.
No one knew how he had survived these past months.
He had, at times, eaten crystal soil out of hunger;
He had wandered in confusion, unable to sleep day or night;
He had spoken to the sky, lonely and homesick;
He had often been overwhelmed by rage, standing atop mountains and howling into the wind—“I don’t want to be a dragon, I want to be human…”
He had…
…
But all of that was past now. He had found a sign from his homeland. This lost dragon had a home once more, a direction to follow, no longer adrift and alone!
“Where did you get these things?” Huang Ze instinctively asked the crowd in a deep voice.
But he quickly realized that these humans had cried out in a language entirely unfamiliar to him. Speaking further might be futile.
To his surprise, the terrified humans, upon hearing his voice, all showed astonishment. One middle-aged man even stammered a reply in the language of Xia.
“Great Dragon Lord, we obtained these goods from mysterious Xia through trade…”
So it truly was his homeland! Xia had arrived in this world as well!
The dragon was beside himself with joy, urgently asking, “Which direction is it… never mind, just take me there yourself!”
“Don’t worry, I promise not to harm you, and will even reward you!”
…
The middle-aged man dared not refuse a dragon’s request. Huang Ze grabbed him in his claws and flew southwest.
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After some conversation, Huang Ze learned that the man’s name was Hook, from the western Kingdom of Soman, a professional merchant who had traded with Xia several times.
According to Hook, Xia was an incredibly mysterious nation, which had suddenly appeared in this world about half a year ago.
No one knew the vastness of her territory or the size of her population. All that was known was that she was rich and powerful, a forbidden zone even gods dared not enter—a true forbidden zone!
Between Xia’s borders and the native world lay a mysterious barrier, dividing the two realms completely. Inside Xia, there was no magic, only something called science. The laws of the world and the air’s environment were vastly different from the native world; indigenous creatures who entered would suffer severe incompatibility—illness at best, death at worst.
Similarly, Xia’s people rarely ventured outside the barrier, for their bodies lacked affinity for magical elements, and without strict protection, the omnipresent magic could cause irreversible harm.
The barrier thoroughly separated the two worlds, each functioning independently with little interference. Few ever penetrated deep into Xia—she was not to be trifled with, not merely for her national strength and technological weapons, but for her ultimate weapon called nuclear peace, which even gods feared.
“Xia is a great nation. Though strong, they never bully neighboring countries or tribes. Instead, they offer abundant goods for trade,” Hook said, growing animated as the dragon’s gentle manner put him at ease. “You wouldn’t know it, but at first, trade with Xia didn’t even require professional merchants like us. Xia’s people used a flying technological beast called an airplane, delivering goods straight to our country—fast and with huge capacity, one trip equaling dozens of our caravans!”
“But later, Xia’s people realized the magic elements in our world corroded their high-tech machines, shortening airplane lifespans. So they abandoned that method, giving us merchants a livelihood again, and business is even better now!”
Hearing this, Huang Ze’s heart surged—could it be that his homeland Xia had traversed into this world as a whole nation?
If so, might his parents still be here?
He wondered if they would dare to acknowledge him as their son…
Huang Ze was both excited and anxious, impatient to return to his homeland, his wings nearly smoldering with anticipation.
…
North Dragon River, Xia’s border.
A massive barrier wall rose from the ground, stretching endlessly to either side, towering into the clouds.
“Look… that’s the barrier!” After hours of flight in the dragon’s grasp, Hook was somewhat weary, but he couldn’t help but shout, “Beyond the barrier lies Xia!”
Huang Ze could no longer restrain himself. Forgetting Hook’s previous warnings and ignoring his cries, he plunged straight into the barrier.
At once, he sensed something was wrong.
The air and gravity inside were very different from outside, making him extremely uncomfortable.
Like a non-swimmer suddenly plunged underwater, Huang Ze felt breathless, heavy-headed, light-footed, and a strange panic, as if nothing in his body felt right.
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What terrified him more was that no matter how he gasped, he couldn’t ease the pressure in his chest, as though the air he breathed contained no oxygen.
No—the lush greenery and abundant foliage proved oxygen was present.
The only explanation was that the body of a fantastical creature like a dragon did not use oxygen as fuel, but other gases or elements that did not exist here!
This thought flashed through Huang Ze’s mind. Instinct warned him that this environment was extremely unsuited to dragons—he ought to leave immediately!
Yet, having come this far, he could not bear to leave without contacting his homeland.
He gritted his teeth and flew deeper.
Flight, once effortless, now became strenuous. The gravity here was at least three times greater than outside—
Of course, Huang Ze suspected the gravity constant hadn’t changed; rather, outside, his dragon body benefited from mysterious forces that lessened the effect of gravity.
With dwindling energy and increased gravity, Huang Ze’s speed dropped below thirty per hour, his altitude barely exceeding one hundred meters.
Worse, after nearly half an hour of arduous flight, he saw no sign of another soul—only deserted villages and banners confirmed he was indeed in Xia.
Huang Ze did not realize that five months ago, Xia had relocated every resident within fifty kilometers of the border deep into the interior.
A precaution—though separated by a barrier, from time to time some otherworldly creature might stumble through, threatening the safety of the locals.
With no people and nothing to eat, Huang Ze’s condition worsened, his resolve wavering—should he retreat and think of another plan?
But then, several roaring fighter jets approached, reviving his spirits!
His homeland had found him!
It was to be expected; his size far exceeded that of the jets, and lacking stealth, radar detection was inevitable upon entering the country.
These fighter jets had clearly rushed over from a nearby airbase.
“Hey! Fellow countrymen, I’m one of you!” Huang Ze cried, tears streaming, excitedly waving his claws and feet at the jets.
But they flew too fast, engines roaring, unable to hear anything he shouted. Instead, they mistook his excitement for a hostile gesture and promptly fired two missiles.
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