The Endless Promise {COMPLETED}

150. Bitterness

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The Attack on Caoyang left everything in ruins.

At first, Bailong assumed no survivors were present, but then he found Chu Cui, a young partially transformed Merman who had recently been more friend than employee...

Bailong had once rescued him from older Mermen who bullied him for being stuck at the same level for almost a thousand years.

Promising to cure him, Bailong had taken him to work at four Petal-Garden, and with the recent rifts between him and Tianlong, Bailong's visits to Sky Palace dwindled, leading to a few drunken nights where he found himself somehow confiding in Chu Cui.

Chu Cui had latched on to him and eventually insisted on following him to Caoyang...

If Bailong had foreseen the present tragedy, he never would have brought Chu Cui near Caoyang, because at the moment Chu Cui was in a terrible state.

Blood stained his robes from multiple injuries, and his usually vibrant aquamarine scales dimmed as his life force waned.

He was hanging on from sheer force of will, and the instant he spotted Bailong, he gave a sad smile before finally letting go.

~"Master... I leave my memories to you..."~ His voice slipped into Bailong's mind.

Bailong simply fell to his knees and silent tears ran down his face as Chu Cui's beautiful aquamarine aura rose, swirling around him, bringing the memories of the past days...

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It began a full day after Bailong left to cultivate.

Before the sun fully rose that morning, a surprise guest visited.

"A-Bai!" Fei Yun's voice thundered, his hand beating against Caoyang's multiple layered barrier.

It was right in front of the cave which led to the lava sea, and Fei Yun stood there, an anxious look on his features.

The new Snake King, HeiYuan, noticed him and went over.

Since the snakes moved to Caoyang, Hei Yuan, brother of HeiShe, had taken over leadership, but unlike the former snake clan which stood on its own, he and his companions mostly protected Caoyang, taking Bailong as their master.

Now that the mountain was locked down, they took turns patrolling, and were now surprised to see the Fate Immortal at their doorstep.

It wasn't really a surprise...

Fei Yun, and even Tianlong had visited Caoyang multiple times. In fact in recent years, Fei Yun came here once in a while to cheer Bailong up whenever he and Tianlong fought, and more often than not, he agreed with Bailong's viewpoint.

But these were tense times...

"Fate Immortal, we greet you!" Hei Yuan linked his thumbs in a salute and his companions did the same.

They stood a few feet away, safe within the multiple layered barrier which covered the entire top of the mountain.

Fei Yun stood just outside the barrier.

"No need for formalities!" Fei Yun waved him away with a concerned expression. "I hear A-Bai turned into a black dragon...?! Where is he?! Is he okay?!"

"Er... Th- This..." The Snake King looked uneasy. Afterall, Liwei had instructed them not to let anyone in for the next five days or so. "The Master is away for Seclusion. Perhaps you can return after some days...?"

"This has something to do with the black aura, right?!" Fei Yun pretended not to notice the man's unease, and he held out a hand. A gold bamboo-slip scroll appeared, hovering over his palm.