Teacher by day, Farmer by passion

After soaring through the sky, the two finally touched down near the camp.

The moment his feet hit the ground, Giyo twisted out of Yu Zhong's grip with a rough jerk.

"We agreed to be partners!" he shouted, his voice sharp with betrayal. "This is not how you treat a partner, no!"

Yu Zhong didn't spare him a glance. He just walked away, silent, cold, unmoved.

Giyo, teeth gritted, followed a few steps behind.

Then, hesitantly, he asked,

"Do you think he'll actually hand over the beast?"

Yu Zhong gave a slight shake of his head.

"Not that it really matters," he muttered. "Either he hands it to her, or he doesn't. Both outcomes work for me."

Suddenly, he stopped mid-stride and turned to face Giyo, eyes narrowing.

"You."

Giyo blinked, startled by the sudden focus, but quickly composed himself.

"What?" he said, a bit wary.

"Say, hypothetically speaking," Yu Zhong began, "you're married."

Giyo raised an eyebrow, playing along. "Alright. I'm married."

"And hypothetically... you're a Dragon King."

"A what now?" Giyo interrupted, confused. "What's a Dragon King?"

"Don't ask questions," Yu Zhong snapped. "Just say yes or no."

Giyo scoffed. "Hey, I'm the one helping here. At least quench my curiosity, you fool. This is now how you ask others for help, goddamnit."

Yu Zhong stared at him, then finally shook his head with a small sigh.

"A Dragon King is the ruler of dragons. Simple."

"That's your explanation? That's barely an explanation but fine. Go on. I'm listening."

"Alright. You have a beautiful dragon wife, your dragon queen. Very beautiful that even gods begged to see her. And luckily for you you've been married to her for ages. Millennium, even."

Giyo nodded, sinking deeper into the hypothetical.

"And," Yu Zhong continued, "you have a human friend. Your best friend. He's your only friend."

"Huh. A dragon and a human as friends, eh?" Giyo murmured.

"Also he visits often. Every day, actually. Even when you're not home."

Giyo's face twisted in disgust as the implications clicked.

Still, Yu Zhong pressed on.

"Then, after a hundred years... your pregnant dragon wife gives birth. But the child—doesn't actually look fully dragon. Let's say it's a half-human."

Giyo spat on the ground, eyes blazing.

"What the hell kind of story are you spinning?! I'm not into that kind of stuff! I'm not wearing any green hat, you hear me? You're telling me this idiot let his friend cozy up to his wife for a hundred years and didn't see the signs? That's not loyalty—that's stupidity. That dragon is a damn idiot. Idiot, I say!"

Yu Zhong fell silent for a long moment, then let out a resigned sigh.

"Alright. Follow me. We still have tasks to finish."

Giyo huffed, but trailed after him.

Then, casually, he asked, "By the way... what was that story for, anyway?"

"You don't need to know," Yu Zhong replied curtly.

Giyo frowned. "Hey, then why even tell me the damn story if you weren't gonna finish it?"

Yu Zhong glanced back with an irritated look.

"Who interrupted it in the middle? Huh? Huh?"

The two eventually arrived at the mouth of a looming cavern. Jagged stone teeth lined its entrance, and a damp chill seeped out from the dark.

Inside, shadows pressed in from all sides. The deeper they walked, the thicker the darkness became until the flapping began.

A swarm of bats descended from the ceiling like a living curtain, their wings slicing through the air.

Then—fwip, fwip, fwip—one by one, the bats landed, shimmered, and transformed into humanoid figures.

Some male, some female, all bowing deeply to Yu Zhong.

Giyo's reactions were... varied.

"Eugh." (to the first bat-turned-male)

"Eww." (to the second one, also male, with a particularly large nose)

"What the fuck." (to a third male with suspiciously greasy hair and a thong)

Then one transformed with a curvy, elegant grace, her long dark hair cascading like velvet.

Giyo squinted.

"Oh... she's actually hot."

Yu Zhong sighed deeply and turned to glare at him.

"For fuck's sake. You're a crown prince. Act like one."

Giyo gave a lazy shrug.

"Correction. Ex crown prince. That title was revoked the moment I got defeated."

He leaned on a rock, utterly unbothered, eyes still glued to the attractive bat-women.

Yu Zhong pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You do realize they're all born from my blood, right? Every one of them. So technically, they're... me."

Giyo paused.

Then, with a slow smirk:

"So you're gay, huh."

"Huh? What?" Yu Zhong stumbled, caught completely off guard.

Giyo doubled down. "No shame in it. If it were me, though? I'd refine all the bats into hot girls. Then I'd just live in here, carefree. Doesn't matter if that counts as masturbation. Life's short."

Yu Zhong stared at him like he was trying to decide whether to strangle him now or wait until later.

He sighed.

This crown prince… was clearly unhinged.

At the very end of the cavern, the shadows gave way to a hollowed chamber.

Ancient stone lined the walls, and in the center stood an altar worn by time, yet pulsing faintly with power.

Yu Zhong gestured lazily toward it.

"Go ahead. Grab your gloves."

Resting atop the altar were a pair of gauntlets, gleaming with an eerie luster.

They looked alive, crafted from a dark metal veined with light, like lightning frozen in steel.

These weren't ordinary gloves.

These were Level Six weapons, the highest grade currently known on this continent.

Giyo reached out and slipped his hands into them.

The moment he did, a crushing weight slammed down on his arms. His breath caught. His knees buckled slightly.

Even with his Legend-rank cultivation, the gloves fought him. Fought to reject him.

"Holy hell..." he muttered through clenched teeth. "How long until I can adapt to this?"

Yu Zhong was already walking away, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"As long as you don't die," he said and vanished into the darkness beyond.

Giyo blinked.

"…Wait. What?"

Behind him, the soft rustling began.

He turned.

All the humanoid bats, still clad in their dark leathers and silken grace, were now facing him. Every last one of them.

They didn't speak. Didn't blink. Just stared.

Like wolves eyeing an injured deer.

He forced a grin.

"Uh… I don't think I can mate with all of you. Let's form a line, yeah?"

His joke fell flat in the silence.

They began to circle him, slow and calculated. Every step tightened the noose.

They were making sure to stay just outside his striking range.

Predators, all of them. Waiting. Watching. Ready to pounce the moment he faltered.

Giyo's eyes flicked from one to the next. His breathing steady, measured. The gloves pulsed again still resisting.

He could feel the gloves devouring his stamina, leeching his strength just to stay bound to him. But letting go wasn't an option and neither was hesitation.

If I sit and try to adapt... they'll tear me apart.

But if I stand here doing nothing... I'll die just the same.

His lips curled into a grin.

"…Screw it. I'm going with the the third option."

He bent his knees.

And then he charged.

A flash of motion. A thunderous step forward. There was zero hesitation and no path for retreat.