Dragons and Serpents

It was a gamble. A gamble where everything belonging to Chen Xingzhou and Lei Yaoxing was laid on the line. Judged and witnessed across the whole board by the Chief beyond the clouds and mist—it had begun the instant that balance-shattering bullet was fired. There was no room for clever tricks, nor for pretense or theater. Either die a ridiculous death, or crawl back alive from hell and reach out to seize everything you desire! This was the absolute sentence the Chief had handed down to Chen Xingzhou in advance: for his selfish ambitions, he had sought to turn Yacheng's Wild Gathering into the target of public fury, a crime deserving of death ten thousand times over. And from that single bullet onward, only two outcomes remained for Yacheng's Wild Gathering. In the first, Lei Yaoxing would overpower everyone, crowned with methods and strength surpassing Lei Wuye's, becoming the genuine boss of Yacheng—at which point Chen Xingzhou would be nothing more than a clown, beneath contempt. In the second, faced with widespread outrage, Lei Yaoxing would find no path forward and no way back, unable to make a decisive move or control the situation, thereby endangering everyone's safety. Once the tacit understanding and balance were shattered, Chen Xingzhou, returning from the dead, would settle all scores on behalf of every other participant. Now, victory and defeat were finally decided before the memorial altar. Lei Yaoxing ultimately lacked the ability to command the Wild Gathering and reshape the wilderness. Or rather, under Chen Xingzhou's interference and steering, one wrong step had led to another until the momentum was irreversible, collapsing the situation entirely by his own hand. Meanwhile, Chen Xingzhou, who had initially been written off... upon opening his eyes, had reassembled a scattered mess of sand in just a single night through promises, intimidation, negotiation, and intrigue. The long night had ended. After today, Yacheng's underworld would never look the same. Lei Wuye was dead, and the last traces of him would be thoroughly wiped from the Wild Gathering; the stagnant pool of checks, balances, and standoffs of the past would never return. No, perhaps the moment Lei Wuye deliberately let the wilderness fall into ossification and decay just to prolong his own status and power, he had already incurred the White Stag's disgust and contempt. Tianyuan favored checks, balances, and stability, but all the White Stag demanded was the elimination of the weak for the capable to rise, and the endless cycle of the law of the jungle. The stagnant water of Yacheng had festered for far too long. And in this brief half-month, driven forward by Chen Xingzhou, the battles they should have fought over all these years, the game and struggles they should have offered up, had all been repaid in full to the White Stag... More than enough, in fact. This was a sacrifice willingly offered to the wilderness by everyone. For profit, for ambition, for vengeance, or for something else... And as the decrepit, incompetent fools collapsed, amidst the pooling blood, new seeds had already received the White Stag's grace. Ambition and desire sprouted once more across the wilderness. Young beasts roamed voraciously, arrogant and insufferable, yearning to challenge everything. The transition from old to new was complete. From this point forward, nothing would ever be like yesterday. "Give up, Young Master Xing. No one will submit to you," Chen Xingzhou sighed softly, gesturing toward the supporters behind him. "The elders don't back you, the bosses don't stand with you, and none of the boys support you. Even if I died, do you really think you could take the high seat? Who would believe your promises and guarantees? You're doomed to have no hope of becoming the boss." He continued, "Leave Yacheng before this afternoon, and the Wild Gathering will still have a place for you." *Boom!* Without warning, a thunderbolt struck from a clear sky. Uncle Lin, who had been outside the doors, tore through the air in an instant to block Chen Xingzhou. Palms swathed in flame and thick smoke twisted into an eerie outline, stubbornly parrying an invisible blade slashing down through the air. The entire memorial hall shook violently. Fresh flowers flew up in the raging tempest, scattering and falling in total disarray. "You say it won't work, so it won't? Chen Xingzhou, who the fuck do you think you are?" Lei Yaoxing's eyes were bloodshot as he cast a contemptuous glare over him and the crowd behind him. "You think you can beat me with a bunch of rabble? It's not your place to give orders here! If the Chief wants my life, let him tell me himself! If you want my life, come take it yourself!" At Lei Yaoxing's words, numerous people in the memorial hall shot to their feet, unreservedly releasing spiritus fluctuations. With savage malice, they glared at Chen Xingzhou and those behind him. The situation? Strength and weakness? The public's will? To beasts, those were useless trifles beneath contempt. Even a cornered creature knew to make a desperate last stand. Who would become the boss could only be decided through battle! Even if the survivor wasn't guaranteed to win, the dead man certainly couldn't take the seat! "Very well. Since things have come to this, I have nothing more to say." Chen Xingzhou let out a soft sigh and concluded, "I leave it to you." With that, he turned his head and looked at Ji Jue. "Huh?" Ji Jue froze in utter bewilderment, nearly dropping his melon seeds. Under everyone's gazes, his head buzzed with disbelief—*What the hell? What's going on? What good does leaving it to me do?! I'm just here to watch the drama! What do your White Stag life-and-death feuds have to do with me?!* Yet right then, a soft voice spoke from behind him. "Understood," she said. The moment Ji Jue turned around in astonishment, he almost thought Xiao An had shown up as well. But it wasn't Xiao An. It was another figure he had just parted with the previous night... —An Ning! He had no idea when she had pulled up a stool and sat down behind him, yet he hadn't felt the slightest presence or movement. In fact, during the boring wait, she had casually braided three little pigtails into the hair at the back of Ji Jue's head. And through it all, Ji Jue hadn't noticed a thing... Now, as the girl stood up and stepped forward into the confrontation before her, no one could ignore her presence any longer. The brilliant light in her eyes, once like sparkling stars, had vanished, leaving only an endless abyss as black as the night. No hint of a gentle, sweet smile remained—only an indifferent, detached calm. After waiting for so long and enduring countless unexpected interludes, her duty had finally begun. Every vivid trait she once showed had completely disappeared from her. As An Ning actively stripped away all color, the person walking into the memorial hall was nothing more than the executor of the Chief's will. Like an incarnation of the Wild Gathering. The White Stag Hunter strode toward the conflict. Just like that, before everyone, she raised her right hand, revealing the thin glove she wore, blood-red. A pitch-black White Stag insignia gleamed with light. "Today, I deliver the Chief's judgment on his behalf—" Fixing her gaze on the enraged or terrified beasts, she declared with utter detachment, "The conflict of Yacheng ends here. Let there be no further strife. The incompetent shall be banished; the disobedient shall die." After a brief pause, the White Stag Hunter asked a final question: "—Now, the Wild Gathering asks: do you intend to rebel against the Chief?" In that instant of dead silence, with the sole exceptions of Chen Xingzhou and Lei Yaoxing, everyone unexpectedly took a step back in unison. Their expressions wavered, and before long, the violent spiritus fluctuations dissipated entirely. Some even voluntarily put down their weapons and sidearms, retreating several paces. Uncle Lin remained as motionless as a mountain. Behind Lei Yaoxing, among his many silent supporters, expressions shifted. Some gritted their teeth, stood down, and hurriedly turned to leave; others hesitated before stepping back. In the end, even his closest assistants and subordinates submissively bowed their heads under the White Stag Hunter's gaze. Yet seeing Lei Yaoxing still standing rigid and ferocious, they couldn't help but plead in low voices: "Brother Xing, where there's life, there's hope..." "Brother Xing!" Lei Yaoxing said nothing and paid no heed to those tugging at him. His face was livid. He stared coldly at the figures stepping back around him, and finally turned his eyes to An Ning. His murderous intent raged like a cornered beast in a cage, shackled by invisible chains it could not break. He merely gritted his teeth, holding his ground, refusing to bow his head. "Someone from the House of An, huh..." A cold sneer squeezed through his teeth. "Heh, it really has been a long time." An Ning merely tossed a box over. "Before I came, Grandpa said that for the sake of his slight friendship with Lei Wuye, I should bring you something." She said, "He hopes you will conduct yourself with discretion." The box landed at Lei Yaoxing's feet. In silence, he bent down, picked it up, and opened it. Inside was neither a fast-acting poison nor a letter. Nestled amid soft, luxurious velvet and padding was merely an ordinary coarse porcelain rooster bowl. It looked as if it had been used for many years. The rooster painted on it was faded and dull, covered in numerous scratches. "The White Stag is the way of the wilderness. The strong preying on the weak is only natural, but the wilderness also has its rules. If anyone attempts to cut off the water source and endanger the wild, they become the enemy of every beast. "In half a month, you failed to unite Yacheng and suppress discord. If you still don't know when to advance or retreat and make a futile death struggle, you will be the source of disaster." An Ning said, "If the wilderness has no room left for you, then you must leave it and find your own way. "This is his guarantee to you." A rice bowl was meant to hold food, even when it was the Wild Gathering's bowl. As long as a man still had a bowl, he had food to eat; as long as the bowl remained, no one could snatch that bite away. As long as a man had food, he could survive. This was the grace granted by the Wild Gathering. Leave Yacheng and make a living on your own. If ambition still burned within him, he could one day stage a comeback and reclaim the seat of the boss. Life and destiny were in his own hands. "Now, on behalf of the Wild Gathering, I ask you once more, Lei Yaoxing—" Amid the dead silence, An Ning asked one last time, "Will you obey the Chief's command?" Lei Yaoxing did not reply. He merely stared in silence at the bowl in his hands. A sneering smile appeared on his livid face, mocking—though whether he was mocking others or himself was impossible to tell. Yet when he finally looked up, glancing at the empty space around him and then at Chen Xingzhou standing among the crowd, his twitching expression gradually calmed. In the end, only exhaustion and numbness remained. "Heh, a complete and utter defeat." Sighing softly, he raised the bowl toward An Ning, his knuckles turning white. "My thanks to Lord An for this lifesaver." And with that, he offered an indifferent, serene smile. "Pity." Lei Yaoxing said, "A life begged for on bended knees isn't something I want!" *Smash!* With a wave of his hand, the Wild Gathering's final mercy slipped from his grasp, struck the ground, and shattered to pieces. The crisp sound rang like thunder, jolting everyone present. Immediately following came the sound of blood flowing. Dripping onto the floor. "Hrk... hrk..." Lei Yaoxing's eyes went wide. He blankly raised a hand to touch his throat, only then feeling the cold texture, so razor-sharp that it cut his fingers. The moment the coarse porcelain bowl hit the ground and shattered, a single shard had bounced lightly off the floor. As if by sheer coincidence, it had lodged deep into his throat. Even a Celestial Chosen's dynamic vision could not perceive it; even the recovery capability of the Regeneration tier could not grant immunity. Impossible to dodge, impossible to evade, impossible to guard against. Just like fate. A bowl was for eating; once the rice bowl was smashed, there was no more food to eat. And then a person died. This was the dead end Lei Yaoxing had chosen for himself. . At that moment, far out in the wilderness beyond Yacheng, amid the dense forests deep in the mountains, startled birds took flight. Basking in the sun in a reclining chair, an old man seemed to sense something, his eyelids lifting slightly. Soon, however, he withdrew his gaze without interest. A pity. He had learned Lei Wuye's proud disdain for having his life dictated by others, yet failed to learn the forbearance Lei Wuye had shown when crawling between another's legs in humiliation all those years ago. Given time, it might not have been impossible for him to soar into the highest heavens, but alas, the Dragon Gate was hard to cross. In the end, he amounted to nothing. No, perhaps he had chosen to give up on his own, because... up in the clouds and mist of the ninth heaven, that position was already occupied! Changing in size at will, rising and vanishing at ease. So lofty and distant that it drove him to utter despair. Only... this great flood dragon that had seized the momentum to summon wind and rain—when its true form was revealed one day, would it prove to be a dragon, or a serpent? The old man gazed at the dark clouds drifting in from the distance, seemingly lost in thought. After a long time, he waved his hand. He closed his eyes again for a nap. The clouds broke, the mist dissipated, and the sky stretched clear for ten thousand miles.