Chapter 108: Liu Erlong Also Becomes Love-Struck
Just as the three were about to speak again, a faint, indistinct singing voice drifted from ahead.
The song was gentle and melodious, lingering with sorrow, as if weeping, tugging at the heart. Its winding melody was incomparably soft and beautiful.
"Unable to sleep at night, what can numb the pain.
Too many emotions, how can I face them.
It is not that I don't want your company, but some things you cannot understand.
Shedding my guard, loneliness follows.
I want a space of my own."
Zu Zong, familiar with the original story, naturally knew it was Liu Erlong singing, and it seemed to be a song written for her by Yu Xiaogang.
But he was puzzled—hadn't Yu Xiaogang already come to Blue Tyrant Academy? Why then was Liu Erlong still singing with such grief? Could it be that she had discovered Yu Xiaogang was with someone else?
Zu Zong feigned confusion and asked, "What's this?"
"Hush, that's Teacher Liu Erlong singing. She used to be the head of this academy's predecessor, Blue Tyrant Academy. I heard about it secretly from Dean Flender the other day.
When she was young, before meeting Dean Flender and the Grandmaster, she once loved a man. Later, that man suddenly disappeared. Twenty years ago, to force him to appear, she agreed to marry the Grandmaster.
But even on the day of their wedding, the man never came. Instead, Liu Erlong's father appeared and revealed that the Grandmaster and she were cousins. The marriage ended in misery.
Hmph! Teacher Erlong truly loved the wrong person, waiting foolishly for that scoundrel for so many years."
It was Ning Rongrong speaking. When she said the word "scoundrel," her tone was noticeably heavier, her gaze darting toward Zu Zong as if he were that man himself.
"Uh…" Zu Zong's thoughts tangled completely. Where had this mysterious man suddenly come from, stealing Liu Erlong's heart?
Could it be that some transmigrator senior had crossed into this world decades earlier and wooed Liu Erlong—then abandoned her, leaving for another world, or ascending as a god? It wasn't impossible; after all, he himself was a transmigrator.
Zu Zong muttered, "Hmm, seems that man really was a scoundrel."
"Teacher Erlong has suffered too much," Zhu Zhuqing sighed. As a woman, she understood how painful it was to be abandoned.
When she thought Zu Zong had been captured by Dugu Bo, she had already been stricken with grief for days. How much worse must Liu Erlong's decades of longing have been?
When the song ended, the gentle female voice drifted again: "This song was once sung for me… Xiao Zong, do you know? My heart is too confused. Where are you?"
"X–Xiao Zong?" Zu Zong was dumbfounded. Why was this transmigrator senior's name so similar to his?
Hearing Liu Erlong's sorrowful words, Ning Rongrong's eyes reddened as she looked to Zhu Zhuqing and Zu Zong. "Zhuqing, Zu Zong, let's go visit Teacher Erlong. She has suffered far too much these years."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded, not caring whether Zu Zong agreed, pulling him along. Though she and Ning Rongrong had only been at the academy a few days, Liu Erlong had shown them extraordinary care, almost more than a mother.
As for Zu Zong—well, this was just practice for meeting the mother-in-law.
Zu Zong smiled bitterly but was also curious to finally meet the famed "She-Dragon."
After walking several hundred meters, the three reached a small lake.
Beside the lake stood a simple hut with a ring of fences. Inside the fence bloomed a riot of colorful flowers, vibrant and beautiful.
Among the blossoms, a woman stood holding a watering can, tending the flowers. It was Liu Erlong.
She looked to be in her thirties, dressed in a plain cyan dress, yet her elegance could not be concealed.
Her dark hair was tied back with a cloth, her face slightly pale but her features delicate and striking, her brows like brushstrokes. Her large black eyes, though dazed, still sparkled with spirit.
Beneath the robe, her voluptuous figure surged with mature charm, unmatched by ordinary young girls.
Zu Zong nodded to himself. Indeed, she was quite beautiful, her entire being brimming with ripeness. But what a dull pastime—to be watering flowers at night.
Sensing the footsteps of Zu Zong and the others, Liu Erlong frowned. "Didn't I say, if you have nothing important, don't come and bother me?"
But when her gaze passed over Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, landing on Zu Zong behind them, her whole body instantly froze. Her hand loosened, and the watering can fell to the ground with a bang. Water spilled everywhere, but she had already forgotten it.
In a flash, Liu Erlong was outside the fence. Zu Zong's heart gave a jolt. As expected of a Soul Sage—even with this simple movement, without opening my Sharingan, I couldn't fully track her trajectory.
"Xiao… Xiao Zong, is it really you? Am I not dreaming?" Her tender voice asked twice, but it was trembling violently, tears streaming uncontrollably down her pale cheeks as she sank into overwhelming emotion.
"Uh…" If earlier, hearing Ning Rongrong recount Liu Erlong's past had left Zu Zong confused, now he was completely at a loss.
"Teacher Liu Erlong, it seems this is our first time meeting, isn't it? My name is Zu Zong, but I'm not the Xiao Zong you know."
Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong were also bewildered. If it had been anyone else, they might have believed it. But Zu Zong was clearly only twelve or thirteen years old—decades ago, he hadn't even been born!
"Teacher Erlong, did you perhaps mistake him for someone else?" the two girls said in unison.
Liu Erlong's unfocused eyes finally regained focus, turning to Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong. "No, it can't be wrong. Even if he turned to ashes, I would still recognize him. He is my Xiao Zong."
Her gaze returned to Zu Zong as she seized his hand. "Xiao Zong, you're not angry with me for agreeing to Yu Xiaogang's proposal and avoiding you, are you? You misunderstood. I only made that wager to force you to appear. I searched for you for so many years and couldn't find you. I missed you so much that I resorted to that desperate measure."
Feeling the force of her grip, Zu Zong could only give a helpless smile. What kind of nonsense was this? Could it be that decades ago someone with his face had been courting women?
He knew that no matter how he denied it, she wouldn't believe him. So he raised his other hand and said solemnly, "Teacher Liu Erlong, I know nothing I say now will convince you, but I only just turned thirteen today. I couldn't possibly be your lover from decades ago. If you don't believe me, you can check my bone age."
Liu Erlong clearly did not believe him, but still reached out and touched his right hand. Yet no matter how long she felt, she couldn't determine anything.
Zu Zong felt awkward. He had forgotten that after training the Mysterious Jade Hand, no one could read his bone age from his hand. He quickly corrected himself, "Sorry, I've cultivated a soul skill in my hands. You should check my calf instead!"
Liu Erlong, suspecting nothing, reached down—she wanted to see how he would face her once his excuse was exposed.
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