The Yao Emperor and His Human Doctor.

chapter 81 - Rescuing the Emperor

The group walked through the tunnel for a long time, lit by only a few fireballs, led by Su Ning and Qiang Yong. When they reached the edge of the Ce Rang barrier, they encountered the small entourage of the human emperor Zhi Lu, his wife, children, and some of the closest servants who had fled when the invasion alarm was sounded.

"Su Ning!" He couldn't help but exclaim, even though he knew he would come anyway. What he didn't expect was that Qiang Yong would also come. When he met with the Dragon Emperor to sign the peace treaty, he was so reserved, cold and distant that he thought he would never have business with him again. Now the dragon seemed completely different to him, even friendlier.

"Emperor Zhi." Su Ning greeted him with a quick bow. "We have come to rescue you and retake the imperial city."
"I am very grateful. And I also appreciate Emperor Qiang's help." Zhi Lu also humbly bowed. Qiang Yong nodded.

He did not dislike Emperor Zhi, he took over the government after his father's death during the war and unlike him, he soon proposed the peace treaty, under Su Ning's influence, of course, as Qiang Yong now knew. Furthermore, the dragon investigated a little more about the two: the human Emperor met Su Ning when he went to treat him because of a fever, on Lai Guen's recommendation.

Zhi Lu recognized Su Ning's impressive qualities and tried to form a bond of friendship with him, requesting only his services. Even today, he would occasionally look for him when he needed some advice and, of course, medical care. Qiang Yong was not very satisfied with this relationship, especially due to the affectionate way Zhi Lu treated the doctor, but there was not much he could do. At least Su Ning always maintained only cordial and respectful contact.

The doctor did a quick assessment of Ce Rang's barrier. He didn't look pleased.
"What is wrong?" Emperor Yao asked.
"If we open the barrier,  automatically Ce Rang will know and discover our location."
Su Ning shook his head. "We will lose the advantage of entering incognito."

"Well, he'd know when we actually got in anyway, so it doesn't matter if it's here or somewhere else."
Su Ning bit his lower lip. "I was hoping that looking closer there would be a possibility of having an opening, as it would be good to fight in such a closed space..." He reminded the emperor.

"Okay, both parties are at a disadvantage. We can also run faster and get out of the tunnel before they arrive or make another tunnel out of this one." The dragon smiled confidently. There were three good solutions.

Su Ning looked at him in surprise, what do you mean by making another tunnel? Would he excavate the mountain??
"There's nothing that can go wrong." Qiang Yong laughed and stretched out his claw-like hand and tore the barrier as if it were a piece of old fabric.

Su Ning ".............."
Emperor Zhi "......."
"Come, Emperor Zhi Lu. This is my mother,  Qiang Ling, the Empress Dowager. She will escort you to safety."
The Empress approached, smiling and soliciting. Zhi Lu couldn't help but be amazed at how slowly yao and cultivators aged.

It was the first time he had seen Empress Dowager Yao, but the dragon retained the same vigor as her youth and despite the few visible silver threads and some fine lines of expression, she was a haughty and exuberant lady. The human emperor and his group didn't make them wait, rushing through the tear in the barrier.

The Empress led the way and together with Hu Long, who came along because of his martial skills, they led the humans through the tunnel in the direction they were heading. Su Ning then entered through the opening, followed by Qiang Young and the others. After everyone passed, Su Ning extended his palm onto the ceiling above and caused it to collapse, blocking the way. It was to prevent cultivators from following the trail of Qiang Ling and the emperor.

Qiang Yong smiled. Very well thought out. It wasn't that he didn't know that Su Ning could handle these cultivators, but just the thought of seeing him alone again, always alone, fighting against everything, made his heart ache. He hurt so much that his eyes filled with tears.

Su Ning alone as a child,  losing his family, alone educating himself in the sect as a teenager, alone in his youth fixing other people's mistakes, alone as an adult, working at the clinic... No more being alone, Dr. Su...
"Let's go?" Su Ning said to the yao when he saw him distracted.
"Let's go." Qiang Yong smiled.

Then he transformed into the body of a dragon, occupying almost two-thirds of the space they were in. With force, he hit the mountain wall, excavating another tunnel with his powerful claws. The entire base of the mountain shook as he dilapidated it like cutting tofu. Now Su Ning understood what the emperor had proposed before.

He followed it along with the others, the dragon disintegrated the rocks without leaving debris behind, opening the way for them. The cultivators coming after them would follow the tunnel and have to go all the way back to catch up. Qiang Yong emerged out of the mountain, in all his splendor, his reddish-black scales shining sharp against the sunlight.

Su Ning stared at them in awe, the last time he saw Qiang Yong in his draconic form was at night and he couldn't see properly. It was a stunning and terrifying sight at the same time. He waited for all the yao to leave and then closed the mountain entrance, knocking down the rocks like he did last time.

The dragon flying in the air laughed. "Dr. Su, you're being so mean! Making the poor bastards go through all this for nothing, hehe."
Su Ning smiled. It was that smile that Qiang Yong loved, discreet, simple, sincere, when he was really well and happy. His true essence, which only he knew so well. The dragon snaked through the air towards him.

"Come up, Su Ning. Let's take back the city."
Su Ning's eyes widened, did he really want him to climb on it, in front of everyone? Ren Loo pushed him in the back when he saw him hesitating. "Don't be shy, you've done this once before. And it's faster too."

Su Ning was flushed but mechanically obeyed, climbing onto the dragon's back. An Shu always had a low temperature but the dragons were different, the heat overflowed through the hard scales, although the ones on the neck were slightly softer.
Qiang Yong turned to his personal army.
"You already know what to do. There's no need to kill them, just surrender them."

"Yes sir!" Ren Loo exclaimed with a small bow. The other yao repeated the gesture. Su Ning felt a great sense of gratitude towards Emperor Yao. In other times, it would be a bloody war, but Qiang Yong was always fair and knew that the situation of these cultivators did not even compare to the last generation.

"Thanks." He did not fail to thank the Emperor's ear. Qiang Yong  knew well why it was. Lucky for him to be in draconian form now, because sitting like that, whispering in his ear, the yao felt as if an electric current passed through his entire body. You will still have plenty of time and ways to thank me, Dr. Su.

Author's Note

Ahem, we know what forms of gratitude are available 😏.