Vindicated After a Wrongful Death - Chapter 3

Compared to that foolish snow wolf, Xiang Zhongjing feared the evil dragon before him much more.

After all, he was the one who had personally sealed this dragon all those years ago.

Putting himself in the dragon’s shoes, Xiang Zhongjing figured its current hatred for him probably wasn’t much less than the hatred he felt for Su Cansheng.

Thinking he might still have a chance to talk his way out of this, Xiang Zhongjing tried to choose his words carefully. “Calm down, we can talk about our issues slowly once the coffin lid is shut. That snow wolf wants to kill me, and since our lives are linked, if I die easily at the hands of some wolf cub…”

As he spoke, the serpent-like shadow that had been shifting across his face finally slithered slowly to the center of his brow. It curved into a delicate, dragon-shaped mark and went still.

That was the seal that bound the evil dragon.

If Xiang Zhongjing met a gruesome end, the evil dragon’s vital energy would also be severely damaged.

The dragon caught his drift. Its pupils constricted slightly as it hissed, “Are you threatening me?”

Xiang Zhongjing shamelessly held up two fingers to show a tiny gap. “Just a discussion, really. It only has a tiny hint of a threat, just this much.”

The Dragon: “…”

Before the dragon could give it more thought, the snow wolf lunged toward them.

Xiang Zhongjing, who had been boldly “threatening” the dragon a moment ago, suddenly turned pale. A look of sheer terror crossed his face, and he practically scrambled toward the dragon. He looked utterly terrified, like a man who had lost his wits and was running blindly for cover.

The dragon was stunned for a moment. In sixty years, this was the first time it had seen the detestable Xiang Zhongjing look so frightened.

Was that snow wolf really that terrifying?

With that thought, the dragon’s horrifying vertical pupils finally shifted away from Xiang Zhongjing and glared coldly at the snarling, ferocious snow wolf.

The snow wolf’s heart and mind were entirely focused on dragging Xiang Zhongjing back. It hadn’t even noticed the massive dragon nearby. Now that a cold, predatory gaze was fixed upon it, the wolf instinctively froze. It turned its eyes toward those two enormous “lanterns.”

The dragon’s gaze was icy, its vertical pupils looking as if they were lined with countless sword edges. With just one look, the majestic snow wolf’s pupils shrank into slits. Its four paws shook violently, and with a heavy thud, it collapsed into a kowtow, pressing its head deep into the ground toward the dragon.

Even its tail went limp and hung dejectedly, it didn’t even dare to whimper.

The mountain-sized snow wolf didn’t even match half the size of the dragon’s body. Furthermore, the pressure coming from the depths of its bloodline made it impossible for the wolf to even stand up in the dragon’s presence.

The dragon exhaled a puff of dragon breath and let out a cold sneer.

Just a little wolf cub, was there any need to act like a terrified ghost?

The dragon turned to mock Xiang Zhongjing, but it suddenly realized something. Shifting its gaze, it saw that Xiang Zhongjing, who had been “trembling” with weak legs just moments ago, had somehow found the audacity to step over the dragon’s body and rush toward the white jade Soul-Stabilizing Coffin.

Xiang Zhongjing stood with one hand resting on the coffin. That infuriating face of his no longer showed any trace of fear, instead, it was full of a mischievous, captivating smile.

He could have slipped into the coffin silently, but he waited specifically for the dragon to look over before giving a sly wink. His eyes were full of smugness and pride, it was truly detestable.

Xiang Zhongjing said with a bright smile, “Gu Sangeng, I’ll remember this life-saving favor.”

The Dragon: “…”

The dragon’s pupils shrank, and it let out a furious roar, “Xiang Zhongjing!”

The dragon’s tail swung violently, whipping toward Xiang Zhongjing’s beautiful but punchable face, wishing it could smash him straight into the dirt for good.

Xiang Zhongjing wasn’t scared at all. With his hand on the coffin, his adult body shifted and changed in an instant.

In a single breath, he rapidly transformed from a man to a youthful boy, then to a small toddler. Finally, just a split second before the dragon’s tail hit, he turned into a streak of light and slipped through the crack of the coffin lid.

There was a deafening boom.

The dragon’s tail slammed hard against the white jade coffin.

The coffin was some kind of spiritual tool, and it was incredibly sturdy. Even the dragon’s furious strike failed to leave a single scratch on it.

Only a palm-sized wooden puppet fell onto the spot where Xiang Zhongjing had vanished, with the faint lines of a puppet talisman carved onto its body.

The dragon had likely never been played for a fool like this before. Furious, it whipped the coffin with its tail again. The commotion was so great that every monster within miles fled in terror, yet the coffin remained unmarred.

“Xiang Zhongjing!”

The evil dragon only gained a brief moment of freedom every night at the third watch (Sangeng), and as it raged, time silently slipped away.

Finally, the dragon gave a hateful glare at the cursed coffin and the faint red shadow of the detestable Xiang Zhongjing inside, before unwillingly fading away.

The next time I catch him, I’ll eat him whole, skin and bones!

Once the dragon was gone, the snow wolf, which had been pinned to the ground by the overwhelming pressure, finally tried to lift its head.

The area was empty now, save for countless hand-like black shadows slowly crawling up the Soul-Stabilizing Coffin, seemingly trying to wrap it in darkness.

The snow wolf blinked, finally realizing why they hadn’t been able to find the coffin for two days, it had been hidden.

The wolf circled the coffin several times, unsure of how to open it. It crouched on the ground and thought for a long time before having a sudden epiphany.

Master is all-powerful, he will definitely know how to open it!

Inside the coffin, Xiang Zhongjing’s soul returned to his body. After sleeping for a short while, his eyes snapped open. He gasped for breath as if waking from a nightmare, coughing painfully into his hand for a long time before finally steadying himself.

When he moved his hand away, there was a smear of blood on his lips, and his long, elegant fingers were stained with the fresh blood he had just coughed up.

The two clusters of ghost fire nearby were already used to this. They excitedly buried themselves in his palm, their flames turning into thin threads that wrapped around his slender fingers several times.

By the time they turned back into ghost fires, the blood on his palm had been evaporated by the heat, vanishing into the air as tiny beads of mist.

The Soul-Stabilizing Coffin wasn’t as cramped as a normal one, Xiang Zhongjing could even roll around inside. He sat up, gave another muffled cough, and closed his eyes to sink his consciousness into his inner palace.

Many of his meridians were severed. The moment he tried to move his spiritual energy, he would bleed. Normally, a Nascent Soul cultivator would only need to circulate their energy to heal such wounds without even needing medicine.

While the Nascent Soul in his inner palace was still there, it was dim and lusterless. A small, sleeping black dragon was coiled messily around the tiny Nascent Soul figure, it was the soul of the very dragon that had been acting so mighty outside just now.

Although he had sealed the dragon, it had indirectly trapped his Nascent Soul. He couldn’t use a single drop of spiritual energy. Unless he broke the seal, he was no different from a mortal with a slightly longer lifespan.

Xiang Zhongjing withdrew his consciousness and sighed. He reached out to idly stroke the ghost fires next to him, talking to them to pass the time.

“Luckily, Gu Sangeng is a bit of a blockhead and easy to trick, otherwise I would have been in deep trouble today.”

The ghost fires couldn’t speak, but they understood him, nuzzling against him affectionately.

Xiang Zhongjing sighed again, tilting his head back to look at the dense array of formations carved onto the coffin lid.

It was these complex arrays that kept him trapped in the Soul-Stabilizing Coffin. Over the years, he could only use puppet talismans to grant his soul a few moments of freedom.

“My last puppet talisman and spiritual energy are all used up. The mystic realm only stays open for a month. Unless someone hauls this coffin away, we’ll be stuck here for another sixty years.”

The more he spoke, the more he sighed. His chances of escaping the mystic realm felt as tiny as a needle’s point.

Just then, the ghost fires suddenly jumped, and the coffin that had been silent for sixty years gave a slight jolt.

Xiang Zhongjing froze, looking out through the white jade stone.

It was pitch black outside, he couldn’t see a thing.

Suddenly, the Soul-Stabilizing Coffin shook violently, as if someone were hauling it away.

Xiang Zhongjing had a sudden, sinking feeling.

His premonition soon came true. The entire white jade coffin rose from the ground. The countless hand-like shadows clinging to it were snapped by the massive force, and their screams echoed through the entire mass grave.

The coffin was hoisted up. Inside, Xiang Zhongjing was caught off guard and tumbled to the side. As the coffin took flight, the sudden sensation of weightlessness made him nearly cough up a mouthful of blood. he struggled to brace his legs against the coffin walls to keep himself from rolling around and hitting his head.

Xiang Zhongjing heard the faint sound of wolf howling outside and was struck by a terrible thought.

That stupid wolf… it’s not planning to ship me and this coffin straight back to Su Cansheng, is it?!

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