As Chu Wu arrived at the human town, she glanced back. Seeing that neither Yun Xiang nor Ao Lie had pursued her, Chu Wu breathed a sigh of relief.
Indeed, for humans, no matter their status, they themselves were the most important. Even if they knew others would die, they wouldn't react much.
After all, the lives of others had nothing to do with them.
However, this situation was good for her, because with Yun Xiang and Ao Lie's indifference, she could confidently devour all the people in the town. As for whether she would continue to trouble Liu Buli after eating them...
Chu Wu was excitedly pondering this question when, in the next second, a spiritual power so potent that it made Chu Wu tremble with fear surged towards her from behind.
Chu Wu spun around abruptly.
Before she could even clearly see what was happening, a giant black dragon had already shot past her. Her shoulder, along with an arm, was torn off with sheer force. The black dragon chewed twice before spitting out the severed arm as if it had tasted something disgusting.
Witnessing this entire sequence, Chu Wu froze on the spot.
Then, she burst into maniacal laughter. Staring into the black dragon's glowing yellow eyes, Chu Wu angrily cursed, "Are you truly not planning to live? Is it necessary to perish with me?"
"It's not about perishing with you. If you wish to die like this, I would be more than happy to let you, but I won't accompany you," the black dragon's eyes held a resolute gleam, but anyone could see he was at the end of his rope.
Chu Wu sneered.
To continue chanting and unleash her light, she was currently feeling the strain. However, admitting defeat so easily was something she was unwilling to do.
So, looking at the black dragon, Chu Wu thought for a moment before finally asking, "What is the reason for this? To protect the people in the town?"
"Perhaps there is that reason," Ao Lie opened his mouth again, revealing all his sharp teeth, and said, "Of course, besides that, it is also to eliminate future trouble. If you are not killed now, once you recover, you will definitely seek us out again. Since that is the case, it is better to resolve it now. Perishing together is better than you achieving victory later."
With that, neither of them spoke further. Chu Wu gritted her teeth and, with a roar, unleashed all her ghostly energy once more.
The black dragon, equally unwilling to back down, shattered his beast core and, enduring this final blow, returned his attack to Chu Wu. A colossal surge of spiritual energy erupted above the city, not only alerting the people within but also attracting nearby cultivators who rushed towards the epicenter of the spiritual explosion at their fastest pace.
Yun Xiang had already reached her limit, so she was powerless to stop whatever Ao Lie was about to do.
She could only watch the spiritual explosion in the distance, crying out with all her might. She wanted to get closer, but the spiritual energy was too dense, making it impossible to approach the center of the disturbance.
Only after everything had ended and the black dragon's form plummeted from the sky did Yun Xiang rush towards him at her fastest speed. Yet, in the end, she couldn't catch him. She only reached his side as his massive body crashed onto the ground.
The black dragon's colossal form was now shattered, his scales almost entirely stained red with blood.
He lay there, askew, with what seemed like the last flicker of light in his eyes. As his girl embraced him and wept uncontrollably, the black dragon's eyes moved.
He wanted to tell her to stop crying.
He wanted to tell her that everything he had done was not to make her sad.
But he couldn't utter a sound.
The body temperature of dragons was generally lower than that of humans.
Yet, as the girl's hands rested on him, he felt no warmth, only a chilling sensation that seemed to spread from the depths of his soul throughout his entire being, as if he had fallen into a frigid abyss, making him feel even more pain than when they had first met outside the water city.
This, perhaps, was the feeling of death.
Ao Lie understood this clearly.
And regarding death, he had always believed he shouldn't care.
After all, when all the dragons had perished, he had long stopped expecting to survive. He already felt fortunate to have stolen so many years. If it ended here, he wouldn't have many regrets.
He was just a little sad, and a little regretful.
He should have told this girl he loved her sooner...
If possible, he actually wanted to go through with the Dao Companion ceremony that Liu Buli had promised them. After all, his girl was so beautiful, and her smile was so lovely. If she wore a wedding dress...
She would surely be the most beautiful bride in the world.
It was just a pity...
He didn't seem to have the right to witness it...
The black dragon lay there, his eyes open, quietly gazing in Yun Xiang's direction. He watched with great intensity until all the light in his eyes vanished.
Sensing the cessation of his breath, Yun Xiang could no longer hold back. She wailed, feeling for the first time that perhaps being a good person wasn't necessarily a good thing.
If Ao Lie could have been a little more wicked, a little more selfish, and not think so much about the future, would this have happened?
If she had been the one to perish together, would the outcome have been different?
Yun Xiang's injuries were too severe.
Yet, even so, she felt that those wounds couldn't compare to the pain in her heart.
She didn't know how to describe her current feelings.
She had always believed that after hearing her master's many teachings, she should have become indifferent to life and death.
But the reality proved she had thought too much.
She hadn't become indifferent at all, and she couldn't face it.
As she wept uncontrollably, the townspeople who had witnessed the battle slowly began to gather outside the city. They looked at the black dragon's corpse in the distance, their faces filled with indescribable complexity.
And as everyone remained silent, a young child suddenly spoke. He said, "Mom, the ghost tribe was going to eat us, right? So... the dragon protected us?"