Chapter 883: To Ask a Dragon For Its Hide
Pop pop pop...
Tao Chong’s eyes widened. He could clearly feel every bone inside his body disintegrating into powder from that one tap. First, there was a series of pops and squeaks that sounded like frying beans. Then, an indescribable pain washed throughout his entire body.
“AAAAAAARGHHHHH!!!”
Unable to hold it in, Tao Chong let out a bloodcurdling scream. At the same time, he slumped on the ground like a pool of mud.
Despite this, Tao Chong did not forget to beg for mercy,
“Mercy, senior! Mercy!”
“Please... this junior never thought of harming you two. Please see the truth...”
Ye Qing ignored his screams and pleas and asked Feng Qingyou, “Why do people always overestimate their intelligence, Qingyou?”
Feng Qingyou answered casually without looking at Tao Chong even once, “Because they’re the type to hold their tears until they finally see the coffin[1].”
“Makes sense. If this is what they wish for, they I shall grant it.”
Ye Qing snapped his fingers, and the bloodcurdling scream came to a stop for one brief moment. Then, it exploded twice as loud and painful as before.
It wasn’t just Tao Chong who was screaming. The painted skin behind the back of his head was screaming as well.
Right now, Tao Chong wished from the bottom of his heart that he was dead. If previously he only needed to contend with physical pain, now he was being tortured in the mind as well.
When Ye Qing snapped his fingers, he immediately felt as if a seed was germinating and sprouting inside his mind. The only way to describe the resulting torment was that it was worse than death.
“Mercy... this junior... this junior knows his mistake...”
“This junior swears he won’t do it again... please...”
“This junior will do anything... all this junior asks is your forgiveness and mercy...”
At this point, Tao Chong didn’t dare to cling to hope; didn’t dare to bet on the possibility that his tormentors were just testing him. No, he knew that the duo had seen through his ploy completely. If he kept lying, then he would die while suffering the worst pain imaginable.
He didn’t dare to negotiate terms with the duo either. He now knew in both body and soul that he was dealing with a pair of dragons.
If you asked a tiger for its skin, there was still a chance you might turn things around and survive.
But if you asked a dragon for its skin, if you tried to fool a dragon, all you would be doing was committing suicide.
“Mehhhh...”
Seeing that Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou had completely dominated Tao Chong, the flock of goats began bleating profusely at them. Their bleats were filled with hope and pleading.
“What should I do, senior?” Tao Chong asked carefully, not daring to make a call without Ye Qing’s express instruction.
“Release the ordinary people and the innocent,” Ye Qing commanded. “As for the villains, no need to let them go.”
“As you command, my liege,” Tao Chong responded. He walked up to the flock of goats and cut open his palm. When he swung his hand in front of him, the blood wriggled in the air and transformed into many mysterious blood runes. Once they landed on the goats’ heads, their fur started shrinking back into their body, their hooves slowly turned back into human limbs, their horns fell out of their heads, and their goat heads turned back into human heads.
It was quite the profound process. Ye Qing could not help but click his tongue in amazement.
Nine breaths later, most of the goats had turned back into humans. They were completely naked, of course. There were male, female, fat, thin, old, young. If he hadn’t watched the transformation from start until the end, he would not have believed that these people were goats a moment ago.
Maybe it was because they had been goats for too long, but the victims were unable to adapt to their original bodies immediately. They were either crawling on all fours or lying on the ground, and they could not help but bleat from time to time. It was both pitiful and cringy.
“Meh! Meh! I’m back to normal!”
“Hahaha! Meh! I turned back! I finally turned back!”
“Thank the heavens, I can’t believe I’ve turned back into a human...”
“The heavens aren’t blind after all... uuuu...”
A moment later, when the victims finally got used to their original bodies, the cheers began. Then, they recalled that Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou were the ones who saved them and thanked them profusely.
“Thank—meh—thank you for saving our lives, warrior, fairy...”
“Meh meh... thank you, warrior. Thank you, fairy...”
“Thank you, warrior... thank you, fairy...”
“No need to thank me, you all. Rise.”
Ye Qing waved his hand, and the crowd felt an irresistible but gentle power lifting them to their feet.
“Meh meh meh!”
There was a small number of goats who hadn’t returned to normal though. When they saw that most of the victims had returned to normal, they naturally grew anxious and ran up to Ye Qing, bleating.
1. Meaning someone who refuses to be convinced until they are faced with grim reality ☜