《Dragon Rising》


 Glossary

    Cultivation rank:


    Qi Gathering


    Foundation Building


    Golden CoreIf you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Nascent Soul


    Soul Strengthening


    Spirit Assimilation


    Spirit Possession


    -


    Spirit Soul rank:


    Yellow grade


    Mystic grade


    Earth grade


    Heaven grade


    -


    Spirit Beast rank:


    Furious Beast


    Magical Beast


    Life Core


    Core Strengthening


    Core Seperation


    Form Transformation


    Beast Sage

 Chapter 1: Prologue

    Year 1295 - Rising Dragon City, Martial Mainland


    It was a cold winter night. The first frost''s snow fell gently, melting as they touched the ground. Slowly, the snow picked up, covering the ground in a thin white blanket.


    On an empty street, a lone figure was trampling on the light snow-covered roads, running at an unfathomable speed. The figure''s breathing was unstable. She was constantly exhaling vapor out of her mouth as she gasped for air. Her body was covered in a dull brown colored robe. She carried something under her robe as she ran. The sounds of nearby families enjoying their meals were like cruel whispers driving her to continue.


    She stopped in front of an ordinary looking house made of a dark colored wood. Light shone from the window and jolly sounds could be vaguely heard from inside. Along the street were many similar looking houses.


    She looked left and right and bit down on her lip. She took out what she was carrying under her robe. In her arms was a quiet baby with eyes wide and shining covered in a cloth saying two words, ''Long Yang''.


    "Ahh!" The baby stretched its tiny arms towards the lady. Tears started to flow as the lady hugged the clueless and joyful baby. In a quiet voice almost inaudible, "I''m sorry¡­ I''m so sorry." The lady took the baby away from her embrace, "Yang''er¡­ you have to be good without me okay?" The baby tilted its head, "Ah?" The lady slightly smiled before she took out a jade necklace and placed it around the baby''s neck. She then gently set the baby down onto the doorsteps of the house in front of her. She took one final glance at the baby before running in the direction opposite where she came from, tears falling from her cheeks.


    After a short while, a figure dressed in all black crossed by the baby with a clear intent of chasing someone down. His figure passed by the baby for a mere millisecond before vanishing, his speed a level higher than that of the lady''s.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The baby was laying there, silently staring up at the bright starry night. He reached his tiny arm up to the sky. A snowflake slowly descended and fell atop his palm. He brought his hand back and looked at the snowflake. It was pure white, the baby closed his eyes and cried out with glee. But he reopened them only to see that the snowflake was no longer there.


    The baby tried its best to look around for the snowflake but to no avail. The snowflake was gone. The baby teared up, "waaaaaahhhhhh!" He started flailing his small arms in the air.


    The door to the house opened and an old lady stepped out. She looked towards the source of the sound. "Hmm? A baby?" She picked up the baby into her arms and rocked him back and forth. "There, there, no need to cry. Where are your parents?"


    The noise slowly got smaller and smaller before the only audible sound was the falling of the snow. The baby was fast asleep. The old lady looked at the baby in deep contemplation as if reminiscing about something. After twenty seconds, the old lady walked inside with the baby in her arms.


    -


    In a small voice, the old lady called out, "Hey, geezer! Come here!"


    "Whaaat? Speak louder, I can''t hear you!" a grumpy voice sounded out. The old lady felt the baby squirm a little, its face had a slight frown.


    "This stupid old man, I swear¡­" mumbling under her breath, the old lady started gentling rocking the baby back and forth, easing his frown. She then walked towards the dining room.


    Inside the room, an old man was seated at a table drinking some tea. "I couldn''t hear you, what did you need-" He looked towards the old lady before his eyes widened. He raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice, "Old woman, is that what I think it is?" The old lady nodded, "he was just left there at our doorstep. I''ve decided that we''re going to raise him."


    "Raise him? That''s insane! You''ve gone senile with age, old woman! Y-you¡­" The old man stopped talking. "You''re still hung up over him aren''t you¡­" He closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. He got up and walked closer to get a better look at the baby. The old man stretched his hand out towards the baby before stopping halfway, his hand shaking.


    He retrieved his hand, "so what''ll be his name?"


    The old lady looked for something on the baby that could signify his name. She found the two words on the cloth. "There are two words here, ''Long Yang''. This must be his name."


    "So his name is Long Yang¡­ Yang¡­" the old man looked down for a second before shaking his head. "Long Yang is a good name."


    The old lady looked at the baby and grinned, "this is your home now, Long Yang." The baby''s mouth curved, a smile somewhat visible on his face.

 Chapter 2: Morning

    Year 1308 - Rising Dragon City, Martial Mainland


    The sun had just risen. White, fluffy clouds drifted across the sky as a ray of sunlight found its way past a window shining onto a youth''s face. The youth was asleep, his face was oval-shaped with a clean complexion and rosy lips. He had a flat nose with slightly arching eyebrows. His breathing was consistent as he laid in bed sleeping.


    He opened his eyes, his eyes were bright brown. The youth got up from the bed and reached near his chest. His hand drew close to a jade necklace. He clenched it, reassured that its presence was still there. He held onto it for a few more seconds before letting go and getting out of his bed.


    The youth walked towards a nearby wardrobe a meter in front of his bed and changed from his sleepwear into regular attire. As he finished changing, a knocking sound came from the door.


    "Long Yang, are you up yet?"


    "Mmm¡­ Granny, I''m coming!" Long Yang opened the door to a very aged old woman. She had a kind smile on her and very white hair. "Come, Long Yang, you''ll have breakfast at the noodle shop."


    Long Yang broke out in a smile, "Mmm! Your ramen noodles are the best!" He followed after the old woman downstairs to the living room.


    Inside the living room was a wooden table with a tea set on top. Beside the table were two wooden chairs and a large wooden bench covered in a cloth. Sitting at one of the chairs was a grumpy looking old man reading a newspaper called "The Rising Dragon News."


    He looked up at two that just entered the room and grumbled, "took you long enough¡­" Long Yang walked closer to him, "Good morning! Sorry about being late!" There was a smile on his face and his tongue was slightly sticking out of his mouth.


    The old man nose twitched a bit, "... Alright, we best be going now." He put the newspaper down and walked near the exit of the house. The three put on their shoes before going out.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The three started walking west. Despite the fact that the sun had just risen, there was a good amount of people walking around. Shortly after, they arrived at the town square. There were people setting up stalls in preparation for the day.


    "Oh? Long Yang? You''re helping out at the store again today?" A friendly looking fat old man with a curvy mustache waved towards the three.


    Long Yang nodded his head and waved back, "I am! Later when I''m on break, I''ll come to uncle''s shop as well!" The fat old man started laughing, "ho, ho, ho, I''ll make sure to keep the best meat skewer for you then."


    The three continued walking and exited the town square through the south entrance. After another twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at a restaurant. Above the door to the restaurant was a wooden plaque that said, ''Dragon Ramen''. The old man walked up to the door and took out a key.


    He opened the lock on the door and opened it and the three entered the restaurant. After eating a bowl of ramen in bliss not leaving any left, Long Yang helped set the tables and chairs as the granny and grandpa prepped the ingredients.


    After half an hour, they were ready to open shop. The sun was high up in the sky and the amount of people frequenting the streets increased.


    From morning to noon, little Long Yang scurried from table to table taking orders and bringing dishes.


    After two o clock, the shop had visibly fewer customers as lunchtime had just finished. Long Yang was cleaning up a table as he eavesdropped on two customers nearby.


    One of them slurped up some noodles and swallowed. "Senior brother, why did we come to Rising Dragon city again?"


    The other one took a sip of soup from his bowl of noodles, "Did you not pay attention? We''re here for the Rising Dragon tournament that takes place every four years here. There will be extraordinary prizes for first, second, and third. I even took the time to research the event. Apparently, the creator of the Rising Dragon city built the city atop the place where he slew a flood dragon while it was amidst its ascension to become a true dragon. The flood dragon''s blood dyed the area green which is why green is such a widely used color during the event. They hold the tournament in honor of the city creator and as well as a type of holiday."


    He took another sip of soup and sighed, "you really need to pay more attention junior brother, you''re so hopeless in that department."


    They finished the noodles after about five minutes and left two gold coins on the table before leaving. Long Yang took the gold coins and passed it to his granny before cleaning up the table. After seeing that there was only one person left in the store eating, Long Yang ran up to his grandpa.


    "Hey grandpa, can I go buy some meat skewers from uncle Niu?" The old man at the counter nodded. He took up five silver coins and passed it to Long Yang. "Here, five silvers is more than enough. Now go."


    "Hehe, I''ll come back real fast okay? Okay!" Long Yang took the five silver coins before running out of the store towards the town square.


    As he was sprinting, he almost ran into someone. He was pushed to the ground. "Hey, kid! Watch where you''re going!" It was a person with a monkey-like face in servant''s attire. Behind him were two people, a teenager dressed in a fine silk robe with a natural mean glare in his eyes and an expressionless old man behind the teen.


    "Now go, shoo! You''re holding up the Long Clan''s young master Long Wei!" Long Yang got up and out of their way and scurried off.

 Chapter 3: Fury

    Long Yang bit his lip as he ran, an unknown feeling welled up inside him. If anyone were to look him in the eyes at the moment, they would have felt goosebumps all over. His eyes were a slightly lighter color with a small trace of killing intent. The feeling disappeared almost as fast as it had appeared and in a second, his emotional state and eyes returned to normal.


    Long Yang shook his head and didn''t think anything of what had just occurred in him and continued on his way to uncle Niu''s meat skewer stall. After maneuvering around the crowd and running for ten minutes, he arrived at the town square.


    The town square was bustling, sounds could be heard everywhere. Long Yang squirmed through the crowd of people and arrived in front of uncle Niu''s meat skewer stall. He saw that uncle Niu was busy at work cooking meat skewers and didn''t see Long Yang arrive. Long Yang jumped up and down and waved back and forth. It took a few seconds before uncle Niu noticed Long Yang.


    "Haha Lil'' Yang you''ve come!" Sweat dropped down from uncle Niu''s head as he continued working on cooking as he spoke with Long Yang.


    "Mmm! Uhhh¡­ here!" Long Yang took out five silver coins and put it on the stall''s counter. "Hmm? Lil'' Yang take back two, I''ll only take three from you." Uncle Niu gave the coins a glance before going back to cooking, he took out another skewer and placed it on the grill.


    Long Yang took two coins back and put them away. He swayed his head back and forth as he hummed a tune while waiting for the meat skewer to finish cooking.He only had to wait a minute before uncle Niu called out, "Lil'' Yang come, here."


    Long Yang tippy toed and took the skewer that uncle Niu had held out. Long Yang blew onto the meat skewer to cool it down before chomping down on a piece of meat. The meat was still a little too hot as Long Yang started puffing out hot breaths of air. He quickly swallowed the meat down and his eyes turned into slits. He had a big grin on his face, dimples showing. Long Yang blew a little more onto the meat skewer before stuffing his face. He had so much in his mouth at once, his cheek filled up and he looked like a chipmunk. He constantly chewed before swallowing. He repeated this until he finished the skewer.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Long Yang let out a burp and chuckled to himself, "hehe." He looked around and spotted a nearby trash can and walked up to it to throw away the skewer stick. He waved at uncle Niu, "bye bye uncle Niu! I''m going back to the restaurant now!"


    "Ho ho ho, don''t get lost now Lil'' Yang" uncle Niu laughed as he took another order for meat skewers and started grilling more.


    Long Yang wiggled around through the crowd before leaving the town square through the south entrance and headed back to the restaurant.


    After encountering no issues, Long Yang arrived back at the restaurant in just under twenty minutes. As he was about to open the door, Long Yang a shiver down his spine and an uneasy feeling. He stopped in place for a second and let out a breath of air. He looked around him with confusion but didn''t find the reason for the feeling he just had.


    Long Yang shook his head and opened the door.


    In that moment, his heart nearly dropped. Long Yang started shaking all over and breathed in rapidly. His face contorted as he rushed forward, running with shaky, unstable steps and arms constantly reaching outwards. He stumbled and fell over.


    "G-grandma!!!" In front of Long Yang was his grandmother with blood flowing from her head as she at on the ground leaning against a fallen table. Around her on the ground were spilled noodles, soup and sides.


    His granny opened her eyes a little and weakly cried out, "Yang''er, this is nothing¡­ please¡­ just wait outside¡­ be a good boy¡­"


    "Grandma? What happened? Are you okay? Why are you bleeding? Where''s grandpa?" Long Yang asked with a quivering voice, falling down on his knees in front of his grandma and hugging her, not caring about the surrounding mess.


    Long Yang looked around before spotting his grandfather down on his knees kneeling as someone was stepping on him.


    "Hmph! To dare serve such hog''s feed to someone of my young master''s status, how daring must one be!" The foot that was stepping on Long Yang''s grandfather started stomping down repeatedly.


    The person stepping on his grandfather turned to Long Yang and spoke, "hmm¡­? Aren''t you that kid that ran into me earlier? Hehe, are these your grandparents? They''re merely paying the price for attempting to feed my young master this garbage they call noodles." Behind the person was the young master Long Wei and the old man. Long Wei crossed his arms and looked at the old man being stepped on in amusement.


    Long Yang started to hyperventilate, gasping for air as he began to feel light headed. "Y-you¡­ g-grandpa¡­" he started shaking uncontrollably.


    All of a sudden, he stopped. He stopped shaking and breathing uncontrollably. He closed his eyes and tilted his head upward. The temperature of the room dropped a few degrees.


    Long Yang opened his eyes, they were crimson red just like the color of a sea of blood. In a cold, deep voice laced with killing intent, Long Yang slowly announced, "You! YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR SINS WITH BLOOD! RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"


    After letting out a wild, almost primal, earth shattering roar, shadowy phantoms of dark red dragon wings appeared behind Long Yang. Dark red energy thats similar yet different to qi cloaked Long Yang''s body as he charged at the servant atop his grandfather.

 Chapter 4: Deaths Domain

    The red energy coiled around his right arm to form a twisted and oversized red dragon claw with hints of darkness flickering about. Long Yang slashed his claw sideways, swatting at the servant stepping on his grandfather.


    The servant was unprepared for the sudden attack and was sent flying into the wall of the restaurant creating a human-sized dent along with many cracks in the wall.


    The servant started coughing out blood uncontrollably. "You¡­ little¡­ SHIT!" The air around the servant thickened slightly as orange light emerged, covering his entire body. "Argh!" He pried himself free from the wall, a vicious glint in his eyes.


    He started pounding on his chest with his fists back and forth, "hou, hou, HOU!" A shockwave emitted outwards as an orange-furred ape appeared beside him. The ape was very slim and not too bulky like normal gorillas, instead, it had very long arms and sharp nails. It had a very mischievous grin on its face and a mean glare.


    "Go! Longarm Evil Ape, I want his head!" The ape pounced and ran at Long Yang on all fours. It stopped abruptly and swung its long right arm at Long Yang. But instead of fleeing or backing off, Long Yang stood his ground. As the arm neared him, the ape starting laughing in a high pitched unpleasant voice.


    The laughing stopped, instead of hitting its target, its arm was grabbed by Long Yang. The ape tried to free itself from Long Yang''s grasp but it couldn''t. The ape swung its other arm but it was grabbed as well.


    The ape started shrieking, it tried to back off, pushing its feet repeatedly against the ground but Long Yang didn''t budge. He started to spin the ape around by the arms. After, he threw the ape at the servant smashing both back into the wall.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    The ape got back up along with the servant. "Nnngh! Ape! We''ll both attack him at the same time!"


    The servant covered in an orange light ran at Long Yang with his ape beside him.


    The red light on Long Yang''s body ignited, the light burst outward like fire. Instead of a bright red, the flames were an eerie dark black. His dragon wings darkened as well, causing Long Yang to be devoid of any color besides black.


    His eyes turned dark black, the phantom of a jet black dragon appeared behind him for a split second before vanishing.


    Long Yang spoke out in a deep, majestic voice not belonging to him, "inferior monkeys, to dare stand in my presence and even attempt to assault me, the demonic dragon king! I sentence you to death!"


    A field of darkness expanded outwards with Long Yang as the center.


    "Hmm!?! Young master, get back!" The old man behind Long Wei grabbed him and hopped backward. The field of darkness barely missing the two.


    As for the servant and his ape, they were unable to stop their momentum and was struck by the expanding darkness.


    There was stillness, no sound could be heard. The field of darkness vanished as if it was never there.


    Suddenly, cracks appeared on the still servant and ape. The cracks spread all over their body until they shattered. Their bodies disintegrated into dust.


    The old man started glowing dark grey, his qi at the soul strengthening realm. Beside him, appeared a flood dragon who quickly shrunk down to the size of a python to fit in the store.


    The flood dragon instantly started hissing in defense as if it was scared of Long Yang. It kept squirming around nervously and hid behind the old man.


    The old man had a look of disbelief, he started sweating as he looked at the child in front of him cloaked in darkness. ''My flood dragon spirit soul is a tier 3 earth grade spirit soul! Not even a tier 9 earth grade spirit soul can cause my flood dragon to act like this! That can only mean that this child''s spirit soul is a heaven grade spirit soul! The turbulent emotions that he felt must have forcefully awakened it. No wonder he could kill and obliterate the foundation establishment servant with no cultivation at all.''


    His old, wrinkled face twisted in regret and anger. ''That stupid servant, he made a talent with a heaven grade spirit soul antagonistic towards our Long clan over some f*cking noodles! Ahhhhh, in the entire history of our Rising Dragon city, only the city ancestor had a heaven grade spirit soul!'' The old man didn''t realize that he could have easily stopped the servant earlier but didn''t and blamed it all on the now dead servant.


    He sighed, ''thankfully, the kid is still young. Even with a heaven grade spirit soul, without cultivation, there is no way he will stand a chance against me.'' He looked behind him and his flood dragon was still quivering, clearly in no state to fight. He recalled it and it vanished.


    ''Now that he''s antagonistic towards our clan, I have no choice but to kill him or else who wonders what he will do to our clan in the future.'' The old man leaped into action.

 Chapter 5: Cripple

    He appeared in front of Long Yang in a flash, he punched out towards his head with a fist glowing dark grey. Long Yang blocked with both arms in front of his head just in time. The old man''s fist landed on Long Yang''s arms and sent him flying.


    Long Yang crashed into a wall, the dark light on his body lessened as the dragon wings dimmed before vanishing. He got up, both his arms dangling from his sides unable to move. Long Yang grinded his teeth before roaring out loud. He then rushed towards the old man with an open mouth as if to bite him.


    The old man sneered and waited until Long Yang had come close. At lightning speed, he grabbed Long Yang by the neck and held him up. Long Yang kicked his legs back and forth struggling to free himself from the old man''s grasp but he couldn''t budge.


    The old man tightened his grip, slowly choking the life out of Long Yang. The darkness on Long Yang''s body grew smaller and smaller before it flickered and ran out. His eyes were dull and gray, all that remained was a frail little boy who''s fate rested in the hands of the old man.


    Just as the old man was about to snuff Long Yang''s life out, the spectating young master Long Wei called out, "wait, Elder Hong, don''t kill him yet."


    The old man loosened his grip and turned around, facing his young master Long Wei. He raised an eyebrow but he didn''t ask any questions.


    Long Wei started chuckling, "afterall, he killed one of our men, killing him would be an easy way out. How fun would it be, if a genius like him was forced to live as a cripple? It''ll be hilarious! I can''t contain myself at the thought! Ahhh¡­" His face started to blush, his eyes brightened up as if mesmerized by the mere thought of it.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Elder Hong frowned but he didn''t refuse Long Wei''s request. He released Long Yang who fell down onto the ground. He looked down at the still boy before stomping down on both his legs. A cracking sound echoed out in the empty silent restaurant. ''His arms are broken from before, all that''s left is... '' He eyed Long Yang''s face before looking further down at his neck.


    He crouched down and reached his hand out towards Long Yang''s neck before crushing his vocal cords. ''This way, he won''t be able to slander or blame us for the incident. If news of this spreads, while it won''t impact our Long clan very much, it''ll still damage our reputation which wouldn''t be good at all. Ultimately, it would have been much easier to just kill them off but¡­ the young master...''


    Elder Hong let go of Long Yang and got up before looking towards Long Wei. Long Wei was still in a daze with a slight blush on his face. He snapped out of it when he realized Elder Hong was looking at him, "sorry about that, Elder Hong. Let''s get going now."


    He smiled before walking towards the exit, stepping on Long Yang''s body as he passed. Elder Hong quickly followed behind him as the two left the restaurant.


    The restaurant was silent, a mess of tables and chairs everywhere as Long Yang laid there. After a few minutes, Long Yang''s grandfather moved. Shivering, he got up, tears started to fall down his wrinkled face. He hurriedly walked over to Long Yang before falling on his knees.


    "Yang''er¡­ I¡­ I¡­" He turned towards his wife, "O-old woman, can you stand?"


    Long Yang''s grandmother held her head as she slowly got up. Her head had just stopped bleeding. "Y-yes¡­ I-I''m fine, but Yang''er¡­ what about Yang''er!?"


    He bit his lip, "it-it seems they''ve spared his life¡­ but his limbs, they are all broken." He looked at Long Yang''s neck, "h-his vocal cords, they''re, they''re destroyed! How cruel can they be!?!"


    Long Yang''s grandmother covered her mouth, "we-we have to spread the news! We need to get retribution for him!"


    "ENOUGH! We can''t¡­ you know we can''t¡­ It won''t solve anything¡­ We''re powerless in the face of the Long clan." He gently picked Long Yang up and carried him on his back. "Let''s go home, we''ll figure this all out there. I still have the pill we got all those years back from our¡­ son."


    He got up and they walked towards the restaurant''s exit to head home. Along the way, many people looked their way and whispered but they didn''t bother with them. Only a few friends and acquaintances asked about their condition but they only shook their heads before going on their way.

 Chapter 6: Extinguished Light

    Long Yang''s grandfather gently placed Long Yang down onto his bed. "Old woman, get the pill."


    She nodded her head and exited the room. He looked over Long Yang with a pained expression, "I''m sorry, Yang''er¡­ we''re too weak, too powerless to stand up against a power like the Long clan. We¡­ we''ve let you down..."


    After half a minute, she returned with a very ordinary looking wooden box. She opened it up by taking off the top. Inside was a cushion with a small pill bottle on top. She took the pill bottle and popped the cork before turning the bottle over causing a single small spherical item to fall onto her hand.


    The sphere was light green with no additional patterns or engravings. "Will the pill be enough to heal him?"


    Long Yang''s grandfather shook his head, "this is only a tier 1 mystic grade healing pill. The pill will ensure that his life won''t be in danger and wake him up. But it can''t heal his limbs or vocal cord. He¡­ he will have to live as a cripple."


    He took the pill from her before placing it in Long Yang''s mouth. The moment the pill touched his tongue, it melted into a green liquid flowing down his throat. The medicinal effect spread throughout his entire body causing it to glow a dim light green for a split second.


    They watched over Long Yang with worry. After three minutes, his eyelids shuttered. Their faces were flushed with relief as Long Yang slowly opened his eyes.


    Long Yang opened his mouth but no sound came out. He tried to get up but his arms and legs wouldn''t respond. He closed his eyes and reopened them.


    "Yang''er! Are you okay?" His grandmother took his hand and looked him in the eye.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He opened his mouth again to respond but no sound came out. He gave a stiff smile and nodded his head.


    "That''s good, that''s good¡­ Yang''er¡­ I¡­ we¡­ we''re sorry." Her hands that were clenching Long Yang''s were trembling, she was on the verge of tears.


    Long Yang shook his head and smiled at her. A hint of relief flashed through her eyes but she was still frowning.


    "Well¡­ then¡­ get some rest. I''ll make something for you to eat okay? Grandpa will be here to watch over you, so don''t worry about anything." She eyed his grandfather who quickly nodded in response.


    He nodded and smiled again before closing his eyes to rest. He almost instantly fell asleep due to fatigue.


    His grandmother lets go of his hand and left the room to make some food. His grandfather sat there beside the bed watching over him as he slept.


    Seven hours later, the sun had just set. The sky was darkening and Long Yang woke from his slumber.


    Long Yang opened his eyes slowly, he tried to move but he couldn''t. "Hmm¡­? Oh, you''re awake." He looked to his left and his eyes widened in shock.


    A figure in black clothes was holding his grandfather up by the neck. Anger, frustration, fear, multitudes of negative emotion ran through Long Yang but he couldn''t do anything. He couldn''t speak, he couldn''t move. He was powerless.


    A furious expression with a trace of helplessness surfaced on Long Yang''s face before it turned into one of resignation and pleading.


    The figure shook his head, "sorry kid, no hard feelings but orders are orders." He tightened his grip and a snapping sound echoed throughout the empty, quiet room. He let go and the body of Long Yang''s grandfather dropped to the floor, unmoving and lifeless.


    Long Yang''s body flickered red and black for a split second but the light died out and he returned to normal. He was in tears and gritting his teeth but he couldn''t move, he couldn''t do a thing. ''Grandma, what about my grandma!?''


    As if reading his mind, the figure answered, "as for your grandmother¡­ sorry to inform you but I''ve already taken care of her earlier."


    Long Yang spat out blood in anger. His face twisted with emotion in tears. He opened his mouth to yell, but nothing came out.


    The figure looked at him, "letting you three live is an issue. A day hasn''t past and a few rumors have started to spread. We have no choice but to silence you. Your fate was decided when you crossed the Long clan."


    The figure drew closer, pulling out a short dagger before stabbing it into Long Yang''s heart. He held the knife there for a few seconds before taking it out.


    Blood slowly seeped out from the wound coloring Long Yang''s clothes and bed in red. The light in his eyes grew dim as the life in them slowly died out. His breathing slowed, and his vision grew blurry. ''Why¡­ why did it have to be this way...'' His eyelids grew heavier before they finally closed and Long Yang drew his last breath. Unbeknownst to the assassin, as Long Yang died, the jade necklace on his neck dimly glowed for a second before the light died out.