Several days had passed since Leng Yue woke up, yet his body still felt unbearably heavy. Every movement drained him, as though whatever Ji Woo had used to trap him had not fully released its hold. That morning, he forced himself out of bed and slowly lowered himself into a chair beside it, his breath uneven. His family gathered around him at once, watching with worried eyes.
"Whatever Ji Woo cast to trap me," he said weakly, "it must have been extremely powerful."
Yuyan's brows knit tightly. "She must be planning something truly dangerous," she murmured.
Leng Yue hesitated for a moment, then said quietly, "While I was trapped… I saw her. She was holding a very large egg."
"An egg?" Yuyan asked sharply, her body going tense.
He nodded slowly. "The biggest I have ever seen. And there was something strange about it."
Yuyan's eyes widened with sudden realization. She turned slowly to Tian Yu, whose face had already gone pale.
"The dragon egg," she whispered.
Shock rippled through the room.
"What do you know about it?" the emperor asked urgently.
Tian Yu inhaled deeply before speaking. "My mother once told me a story from her previous life. She said that centuries ago, a dragon terrorized the world. The three realms joined hands to destroy it, but no weapon could harm it. In the end, it was the Witch Queen of that era who killed it using forbidden black magic___and she lost her own life in the process.
"After her death, her daughter ascended the throne and later discovered that the dragon's egg had been stolen by witches. They believed that whoever hatched it would gain immortality. That was why the dragon became furious and began burning villages and slaughtering innocents. But before the truth could fully surface, the dragon had already been killed.
"To prevent further disaster, the new queen hid the egg with powerful magic. Its location was erased from history. After that, black magic was sealed, and any witch found practicing it was sentenced to death."
Silence filled the room as the weight of the story settled.
"So that is why she trapped me," Leng Yue said softly. "She needed time."
"She must have discovered the egg's location somehow," Tian Yu added grimly.
"Can she still be stopped?" the empress asked fearfully.
Leng Yue lowered his gaze. "It may already be too late. I saw her with the egg."
---
Ji Woo and Fang Leng rode without rest, through day and night, until the land itself began to feel wrong beneath their feet. The air grew heavy, dry, and suffocating as they finally reached a place not too far from the middle of the Earth___a forbidden hollow where the world's energy twisted unnaturally.
At the center of the barren ground, Ji Woo drew seven perfect circles into the soil with her blood. She and Fang Leng stepped into the middle, the massive egg resting between them. With cold focus, she began to chant. Witch fire rose at once, forming a burning wall around them, dark flames spiraling into the sky.
The egg began to crack. A sharp sound split the air. Then another. And another.
With a final violent fracture, the shell burst open___and a baby dragon emerged, small but glowing with terrifying life. The fire raged wildly before slowly dying down. Ji Woo knelt, placed the newborn dragon on the ground, and cast another spell upon it.
The dragon bowed.
A slow smile spread across Ji Woo's lips.
With their goal achieved, she and Fang Leng mounted their horses once more and began the long ride back__this time, no longer empty-handed.
---
Leng Yue had barely finished speaking when his body stiffened without warning. A sharp pain ripped through his chest, so sudden that his breath caught in his throat. His fingers dug into the arm of the chair as his vision blurred.
Yuyan felt it at the same moment.
Her head snapped up, blood draining from her face as a violent pressure crashed into her senses. It was not a sound, not a vision, but a crushing presence___ancient, burning, and alive. Her knees nearly buckled before she steadied herself.
"Yuyan…" Leng Yue breathed, his voice strained. "It's awake."
Her eyes locked onto his. "You felt it too."
He nodded slowly, swallowing against the burning in his throat. "The moment it broke free… that power reached me. Whatever she has done__it is complete."
Yuyan's hands trembled at her sides. "The dragon."
Leng Yue closed his eyes briefly, as if the weight of it pressed directly on his soul. "Yes. Ji Woo has succeeded."
Silence fell around them. No one else in the room seemed to notice anything unusual, yet the air between Leng Yue and Yuyan felt thick and heavy, as if the world itself had shifted its balance.
Yuyan exhaled slowly. "Then everything we feared has begun."
---
In the quiet village where Jia Yu and Yan Qing lived, the evening sun shone faintly over the narrow road. Jia Yu walked beside Yan Qing, breathing in slowly as they took their usual evening walk. It had been months since she became pregnant, and now her belly had grown as round as a ball.
They had not gone far when a sudden sharp pain shot through her waist. Jia Yu staggered and grabbed Yan Qing's arm, breathing heavily.
"Let's go home," Yan Qing said at once, his voice full of worry.
"No," she shook her head stubbornly. "I can still walk. I'm fine. The healer said I need more exercise."
After a few minutes, the pain eased a little, and they continued walking. But they had barely taken a few more steps when an even stronger pain struck her.
"Ah!" Jia Yu cried out, her breath coming fast and uneven.
"Please, let's go home now," Yan Qing begged, panic rising in his voice as he held her tightly.
She tried to take another step but suddenly froze. Her legs would not move.
"I… I can't move," she cried, fear flooding her face.
"Please, just try," Yan Qing pleaded, his hands trembling as he held her.
"I said I can't move! Are you deaf?" she screamed in pain and frustration.
Her voice drew the attention of the people passing by, who began to turn and rush toward them.