After being snatched by the dragon

The rain in Shanqiao Village has been falling continuously for three days.

The little prince Zhao Mingxu, accompanied by Mrs. Taifu Lin and several attendants, went out for a tour. He passed Shanqiao Village. middle.

But found a strange thing.

Even though the heavy rain continued, it was only noon, and the sky was still bright. Shanqiao Village, which is recorded in the local chronicles, was actually quiet, and the doors of every house were closed. When the wind blows, whether it is the umbrella he is holding or the coir raincoat he is wearing, all are blown away by the wind.

Zhao Mingxu's body was a little thin, his feet were not steady, and he was almost blown down by the wind.

The guard standing beside him hastily reached out to support him, and asked worriedly, "Your Highness, are you alright?!"

Zhao Mingxu grew up in the deep palace. Because of his frailty and naivety, he has never stepped outside the palace. This is the first time he has left the palace!His black and white watery eyes, which were protected pure and clear by the empress, were filled with excitement, he shook his head and said with a smile: "I'm fine! This is the first time I've seen such heavy rain and wind! How interesting!"

The attendants secretly couldn't laugh or cry, for fear of hurting him, they quickly retrieved the coir raincoat and umbrella, helped him put them on, and then helped him hold the umbrella.

Mr. Lin stroked his beard, walked towards the nearest house, and knocked on the door. Zhao Mingxu followed immediately, and stood behind Mr. Lin, tiptoeing curiously.After knocking for a long while, a man finally came out. The man looked trembling. He saw their group, Mr. Lin was elegant, and Zhao Mingxu was pure.

He just yelled across the yard: "What's the matter with you?!"

Master Lin cupped his hands: "Excuse me, we are passing by, the rain is heavy and we can't go any further, can we stay overnight?"

The man hesitated very much, and soon he waved his hand: "No way!!"

As he said that, he was about to close the door, "Wait a minute!" Master Lin untied his purse from his waist, "This is accommodation money."

The man's movements froze for a while, but he still closed the door resolutely. He didn't want to be moved by so much money. Mr. Lin gestured with his eyes. A guard jumped into the courtyard and walked up to the man. The man shouted in shock: "You guys What are you going to do! What are you going to do!"

Master Lin also walked into the courtyard, not forgetting to help Zhao Mingxu beside him.

Mr. Lin stood under the eaves and discussed: "We are only staying for one night, why does this strong man reject us so far away?"

Zhao Mingxu nodded, blinked, and said, "Yes! We're only staying for one night!"

The man saw that they were speaking politely, and there were guards coiled around him. He struggled for a moment and sighed, "It's not that I don't want to receive you! It's just that Shanqiao Village is not safe recently!! You should leave as soon as possible! Although the rain is heavy, if you walk for an hour, you can still leave!"

After Zhao Mingxu heard this, his eyes widened and his ears perked up.

Lord Lin knew he was curious, so he asked with a smile, "What does the strong man say?"

"Hey! I'm not going to hide it from you. You guys are very handsome. You must also be scholars. You should know the legend of our Shanqiao Village!"

Zhao Mingxu immediately turned to look at Master Lin, he didn't know!Mr. Lin is a bachelor, he must know it!

Master Lin really knew, he still had a smile on his face: "The strong man is talking about the sacrifice of the Dragon King?"

"That's right! Our Shanqiao Village is facing the river. The reason why there has never been a flood for thousands of years is because of the blessing of the Dragon King! But that blessing is not in vain. Every hundred years, our village sacrifices a beautiful woman." !"

"Oh?" Lord Lin asked, "According to this, is it possible that the Dragon King is coming?"

"Yes! It's a hundred years now!" The man's eyes were full of horror, "The rain and the wind are just like what the old man said! Everyone, the Dragon King is coming soon. I think you are foreigners, and you are all kind. Look, let’s go quickly! No matter how heavy the rain is, you have to go! Who knows if the Dragon King will eat people!” After finishing speaking, the man still wanted to close the door.

This time, the guards didn't stop him again.

The door slammed shut, and they were the only ones left under the eaves. Zhao Mingxu immediately asked: "Teacher, is this true?! There is a dragon king here? What is the dragon king like?! What does it mean to sacrifice? We may see Dragon King?"

Lord Lin lowered his head to see the excitement and curiosity on His Royal Highness's face, and explained with a smile: "It is rumored that the Dragon King is the god of water, who is in charge of wind and rain, but these are all rumors. It's interesting, you can listen to it, but you can't believe it."

Zhao Mingxu was a little disappointed, but soon cheered up again, and asked: "But this rain, this wind, is really strong! Mingxu has never seen it in this life!"

"That's because His Highness has never left the capital before. If you follow me along the way, you will see more scenery that you have never seen before."

Zhao Mingxu put away the smile on his face and let out a muffled "Oh".

Master Lin knocked on the door again later, and the man tried to persuade them to leave, but Master Lin didn't believe in this evil, insisting that it was just a foolish theory.The man had no choice but to tell them the address of the village chief's house. Master Lin still left the silver taels, and everyone walked to the village chief's house with His Royal Highness.

Like the men, the village head did not agree to their accommodation at first. It was not until Mr. Lin showed the post that Shanqiao Village belongs to the county magistrate that the village head left them, but his face was also full of sadness.

The village chief's family was very hospitable and entertained the distinguished guests with hot meals and dishes at night. It was inevitable that the Dragon King would be mentioned again at the dinner.

The village chief was worried: "The wind and rain will blow for another three days, and the Dragon King will come. You rest for one night today, and leave early tomorrow morning! I will personally see you off tomorrow morning!"

Mr. Lin still didn't believe this foolish talk, but he also took the opportunity to ask the village chief about many local rumors.

Mr. Lin is a great Confucian, and after a while, he became the main one talking, and everyone in the village head's family listened with great interest to his other legends about monsters and gods.

Zhao Mingxu got up from his seat and stood by the window to watch the heavy rain outside.

Seeing that the guards were guarding him, Mr. Lin also knew that His Royal Highness was very curious when he came out so rarely, so he let him watch, while he continued to tell the legends of ghosts.

Shanqiao Village at night is hidden in the wind, rain and thick fog, as if something is hidden in the thick fog.

Zhao Mingxu didn't feel scared, he was just curious, is there really a Dragon King?He felt that Master Lin was wrong, if not, how could people make it up out of thin air?

"What are you looking at?"

Zhao Mingxu looked back, and the person talking to him was the youngest son of the village chief's family, who was about his age.

"I was wondering what the Dragon King looked like."

"I haven't seen it either!" The youngest son scratched his head. "However, dragons must have many claws. There must be more than ten pairs of claws. They also have wings! They also have sharp fangs!" said the youngest son. , while raising his hands, trying to make a hideous look.

Zhao Mingxu was amused by him, and asked back: "Then isn't this a monster? The Dragon King is a god."

"So what about gods, what they do is not what monsters do, just like monsters, they want to eat people!"

Zhao Mingxu was taken aback: "Cannibalism?"

Seeing that the stranger didn't know anything about it, the youngest son leaned over and said in a low voice, "Do you know about offering sacrifices?"

Zhao Mingxu nodded vigorously, he had heard about it before, but Master Lin didn't explain it!

"The sacrifice is to offer people to the Dragon King to eat!"

"Ah!" Zhao Mingxu opened his mouth slightly.

Seeing that he was frightened, the youngest son became more proud: "Every 100 years, one will be sacrificed, and the sacrifices will be the most beautiful people in our Shanqiao Village!"

"This time too?"

"Yes! People have already prepared it! It's in the earth temple at the head of the village!"

"What kind of person is he?"

The younger son withdrew his complacent look, paused for a moment, and said, "It's Lingya."

"Lingya, who is it?"

"She is the prettiest little lady in our village."

"Then, is she going to be eaten by the Dragon King..." Zhao Mingxu asked cautiously.

The younger son stopped talking, and the two of them watched the heavy rain outside the window silently. After watching quietly for a long time, the younger son irritatedly stroked his hair all over his head: "It's a pity that the Dragon King doesn't eat men! Otherwise, I can go! The Dragon King If you want to catch me, I will fight with him, and then ask him why he insists on eating us! What kind of dragon king is this, it is clearly a dragon!!"

Zhao Mingxu glanced at him secretly, thought for a while, but still didn't tell the truth.

He felt that this little son was not very good-looking, and if it was a girl, he probably wouldn't be able to be sent there as a sacrifice...

After late at night, everyone finally lay down to rest.

The village head's family has limited conditions and too few houses, so the biggest one is reserved for them.The guards must have been given over to His Royal Highness Zhao Mingxu. They were guarding outside. Afterwards, Mr. Lin got excited and drank a lot of wine, so he was already drunk.

Zhao Mingxu respected his teacher and slept with Mr. Lin on the same bed.

Zhao Mingxu couldn't sleep, he was still thinking about the Dragon King, he actually wanted to see the Dragon King, one was curious, and the other was to ask the Dragon King, why did he have to eat people?

He felt that those who were eaten by the Dragon King were so pitiful. It is said that the girl was as old as him, only 16 years old.

He was lying on the bed, looking out the window, and suddenly wanted to see the poor little lady who was sacrificed.

Years of life in the court, the love of the emperor and the empress and many other people have made Zhao Mingxu develop a temperament that is not afraid of the sky and the earth. He wants to do it when he thinks about it. Putting on a vermilion cloak, I wanted to leave through the gate and take a few guards with me, but saw a bright light suddenly lit up outside the window.

The whole world stands still for an instant.

Zhao Mingxu, who was always slow to respond by a few beats, didn't realize it. When the light dissipated, he opened the door and went out quietly, only to find that his guards were all sitting on the ground and fell asleep. Pat them: "Wake up, I'm going to the Earth Temple, hey, come with me, hey..."

Shaking back and forth, they didn't wake up either. Zhao Mingxu was troubled for a while, and then got up quickly.

He thought, then he can go by himself!

Anyway, this is not the palace, the queen mother said, it is safer outside the palace than inside the palace!

Zhao Mingxu picked up an umbrella and walked into the stormy sky.

The youngest son of the village chief had pointed him in the direction of the Earth Temple before. He didn't know the way, so he just walked in the direction of his fingers in a daze, but he was getting closer and closer to the Earth Temple.

It's just that the wind and rain are getting bigger and bigger, Zhao Mingxu's umbrella was blown over, and he almost fell to the ground again, so he hurriedly hugged the big tree beside him.

The sky was bright again.

He immediately looked up, and in the gaps between the leaves, the white light above his head, which was as bright as day, suddenly began to shatter, and countless stars suddenly appeared in the rain in the night sky!Those stars all started to fall down, Zhao Mingxu stared dumbfounded, he opened his mouth wide, looking at the magical and wonderful night scene in front of him in disbelief.

The stars even fell on him, and when he looked back, the stars were flying around him.

In other words, it's not just surrounding him, the whole land is actually full of stars!

Zhao Mingxu let go of one hand and reached out to catch the stars, but he didn't catch even one.

The stars disappeared into the land one after another. Zhao Mingxu ignored the heavy rain and stepped forward, wanting to make sure whether the stars had indeed disappeared. He wanted to pick up a star and give it to his mother when he returned!

But one was gone, he was a little disappointed, and said softly, "Oh, it's really gone."

He picked up the umbrella that fell in the mud and continued to the Earth Temple. After walking a few steps, he saw a light hidden in the mud.He was stunned, and immediately ran forward, knelt down and dug out the shiny thing from the mud, and he put it in the palm of his hand to watch.

Bright, cool, translucent, with rays of light shining from time to time.

It is really too beautiful a stone, or if Zhao Mingxu looked up at the sky again, could it be those stars? !

Excitedly, Zhao Mingxu carefully hid the "star" in his lapel, and happily ran to the Earth Temple.

The earth temple is brightly lit, perhaps it is blessed by the gods, and the wind and rain have no effect on it.

Zhao Mingxu ran into the lights, "Who is it?!", there was a sound of panic, Zhao Mingxu took a few steps forward, and saw a beautiful girl in bright red sitting on the desk. The girl's eyes were terrified, obviously very scared. It was Zhao Mingxu. She seemed to be relieved, but she still asked, "Who are you and why are you here?"

Zhao Mingxu walked up to her, looked at her carefully, and said softly: "My teacher and I passed by here. We live in the village chief's house. I'll come and see you. Are you called Lingya?"

Lingya's eyelashes trembled, and she whispered: "I am, but I won't be soon."

"why?"

"In another three days, I will be eaten by the Dragon King, and there will be no more Lingya in this world." Lingya said this, closed her eyes, tears were already falling down.

Zhao Mingxu felt that she was very pitiful, and he said: "My teacher said that the dragon kings are all fake and deceitful. Don't be afraid, so you won't be eaten by the dragon king!"

Ling Ya cried and shook her head: "It's true, 100 years ago, my grandma's sister was eaten by a dragon, and she is sitting here."

"Ah, is that so, but my teacher said it was a lie..." Zhao Mingxu was very conflicted in his heart. He originally hoped that there really was a Dragon King in the world, but now he hoped that everything was a lie as the teacher said.

Lingya looked at him, cried and smiled, "Thank you for coming to see me. I came to the Earth Temple, and for so many days, you are the only one who came to see me. Before I die, I am very content to have someone to talk to. "

and--

Lingya looked at the young man under the red candlelight, the rain wet his clothes, but his skin was fair, his lips were bright red, and his eyes were moist. It was enough to see such a beautiful young man before he died.

Ling Ya smiled at him again.

Zhao Mingxu felt very unbearable in his heart, and he reiterated: "Really, there is no Dragon King, it's all fake."

On the contrary, Ling Ya comforted him: "I knew when I was a child that when I grow up, I will be eaten by the Dragon King. Don't worry about me. You should go back quickly. Don't let your teacher worry."

Zhao Mingxu felt that this girl was very kind, and it was even more sad to hear this.

He thought for a while, then took out the "star" from the skirt, and said, "I'll show you something beautiful."

As soon as he took the star out of his pocket, the star suddenly lit up, and it was the light as bright as day again. Lingya exclaimed, the sound of the wind and rain outside the temple suddenly became louder, and during the storm, even the doors and windows of the Earth Temple started to tremble. quiver!Most of the roof was torn off, and only a few of the burning red candles in the temple were extinguished!

Thick fog poured into the house, Ling Ya looked up and said in shock: "Come on, he's here, he—"

Zhao Mingxu hurriedly turned around to look, only to see the thick fog suddenly turning black in front of him, and under the red light, a thick fog suddenly rushed towards him.Zhao Mingxu took a step back subconsciously, but something cold grabbed his waist, and he looked down.

It's paws! ! !

Zhao Mingxu didn't have time to be surprised, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa''' Lingya screamed loudly, not knowing who it was for.

Zhao Mingxu was very worried, was Ling Ya also caught? !

He turned around to look, only to see that Ling Ya was getting farther and farther away from him!

And himself.

He looked down, where is his umbrella?What about the wind?What about the rain?How is he rising?Higher and higher!He turned his head to look again, and he was actually flying in the sky!

Zhao Mingxu closed his eyes and opened them again, still the same!

He was a little scared, but more excited. He looked up, but couldn't see what was in the black fog.

He shouted: "Are you the Dragon King?! Are you the Dragon King?!"

No one paid any attention to him.

He hugged the big paw at his waist, touched the sharp armor, and asked again: "Are you—"

"Roar——————" A huge dragon's head suddenly protruded in front of him, roaring angrily at him, in the thick black fog, sharp teeth and bright red eyes as big as discs were exposed.

Zhao Mingxu was startled, and finally fainted between the paws.

The wind and rain in Shanqiao Village have stopped, and even the sky has turned up earlier, and a rainbow hangs between the mountains.

A black dragon wrapped in thick black fog, covered in blood, and almost covering the entire sky, held a limp figure in its hand, roaring, and submerged behind the rainbow.