Traveling Through Journey to the West: I Am the Dragon King

Chapter 5 Gods are untrustworthy and go back on their word

The Dragon Princess has not yet returned, and the Turtle Prime Minister has disappeared.

A moment later, the Turtle Prime Minister tiptoed over.

He walked up behind Chonghua and then took out a red rope from his robe.

With a casual toss, the rope, like a nimble snake, wrapped itself around Yun Chonghua's body.

While Chonghua was in a daze, he was suddenly bound by the ropes. He kept twisting and struggling, but the ropes only tightened.

Moreover, most of his strength, and even his meager magical power, seemed to be bound by this rope.

The old tortoise walked up to Yun Chonghua and said, "Don't struggle. This is the Dragon-Binding Rope, a magical artifact specifically designed to bind dragons. Any dragon trapped by it will have its strength and magic power restricted. If your magic power is insufficient, you cannot break free."

Unable to break free, Yun Chonghua gave up. He looked at the Dragon King and asked, "Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this?"

The Dragon King ignored Yun Chonghua, stood up, and bowed to the two celestial officials who slowly entered the Dragon Palace, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellencies, Ao Guang."

The celestial officials who entered the Dragon Palace were none other than the Heavenly Official and the Fox Fairy who were tasked with capturing Yun Chonghua.

Although these two celestial officials were not as high-ranking as the Dragon King of the East Sea, they served in the Heavenly Court and were under the command of the Supreme Thunder God and the Inspector King Lingguan.

As the saying goes, even a seventh-rank official can be respected at the prime minister's gate. One should show respect to the Buddha, not the monk.

And the Heavenly Inspector Wang Lingguan is the Jade Emperor's eyes and ears, overseeing all the gods. Even the Great Luo Heavenly Immortals dare not easily offend him.

These two were under Wang Lingguan's command. The Dragon King respected not the two minor immortals, but Wang Lingguan, who was behind them.

Although the Dragon King of the East Sea was the ruler of the sea, he still treated them with great respect.

These two celestial officials, having been in and out of the celestial realm for many years, naturally knew that the Dragon King's courtesy was not meant for them. They quickly bowed and said in unison, "This humble immortal greets the Dragon Lord of the East Sea."

Ao Guang looked at Yun Chonghua on the ground and said, "My lords, this demonic dragon is a wanted criminal you have captured. It broke into my territory, and I helped you lock it up. The fact that it was able to escape suggests that you two didn't have suitable restraints. Now that the demonic dragon has been captured by this Dragon-Binding Rope, you two can rest assured."

Yun Chonghua asked in surprise, "Your Majesty, you already promised to let me and the princess accompany you, why are you going back on your word? Dragon King, it's fine if you don't want to save me, but why betray me!"

At this moment, the Fourth Princess of the Dragon Kingdom emerged, carrying a box of precious pearls. Seeing the scene before her, she asked in bewilderment, "What...what's going on?"

Seeing the two celestial messengers before her, the Fourth Princess held up the beaded box and said, "Gentlemen, these are the offerings my daughter made to redeem this little dragon. Please release it..." Before the Fourth Princess could finish speaking, the Dragon Granny covered her mouth and then dragged her back with the other two dragon girls.

Seeing this, Ao Guang glanced at the two celestial officials and then said, "Hehe, what I just did was merely a temporary measure to prevent this demonic dragon from escaping and causing trouble in the Dragon Palace. Neither I nor my fourth princess have any involvement in this matter. I urge the two celestial officials to investigate thoroughly."

The official was a smart man and immediately understood the reason for the matter.

So the fox spirit dragged Yun Chonghua, who was bound by the dragon-binding rope, and said, "In that case, this humble fairy thanks the Dragon Lord for helping us capture the demon dragon. We will take our leave now!"

Ao Guang said with a smile, "Respectfully seeing off the two esteemed officials! Prime Minister Turtle, please see off the two esteemed officials on my behalf."

Then the Turtle Prime Minister led the two Heavenly Officials, dragging Yun Chonghua out of the Crystal Palace. Only after the three of them swam to the surface did the Turtle Prime Minister turn back.

The celestial official led Yun Chonghua out of the water and immediately set up auspicious clouds.

The celestial official couldn't help but complain, "Brother, I've long heard that the Dragon King of the East Sea is stingy, and seeing him today, I can see he's truly extraordinary."

The fox spirit snorted and said, "Stingy? I don't think so. He's afraid of getting into trouble, otherwise he wouldn't have used a magic weapon like the Dragon Binding Rope to help me. He just wants to distance himself from this matter."

The fox spirit looked at Yun Chonghua and asked, "Little dragon, let me ask you, what did you say to that old dragon king? Judging from his daughter's appearance, it seemed she wanted to save you. Why did you end up leading us to capture you?"

Yun Chonghua replied, "Alas! To be honest, you two celestial officials, I had a good talk with the Dragon King, and he agreed to let me serve in the Dragon Palace. I was to accompany the princess and drive her carriage. We even talked about me becoming food for him. However, remembering your instructions, I omitted a part about you when I mentioned asking for a bribe. I only said that when we reached the Eastern Ocean, I took advantage of your inattention and escaped to seek refuge. I wanted to ask you for a bribe to settle things peacefully. The princess was kind and righteous; she turned around and went back to the palace to fetch a deep-sea pearl to offer. Unfortunately, that old Dragon King is despicable and shameless. He agreed to save me on the surface, but secretly plotted against me."

Upon hearing this, the Heavenly Official said, "Alas! Seeing that you could speak human language, I thought you were insightful, but I didn't expect you to be such a blockhead. That old Dragon King is timid by nature; since you said you escaped, he naturally wouldn't tolerate you. However..." The Heavenly Official glanced disdainfully at the sea, "But that old Dragon King is indeed shameless. Since he wouldn't tolerate you, he could have just expelled you from the Dragon Palace. He completely disregarded kinship and directly betrayed you to us, even specially providing a magical treasure to lock you up. Alas! If you have to blame someone, you can only blame your bad luck for missing this chance to live."

The official's words were also filled with regret.

However, the fox spirit laughed and said, "Hehe, although that old dragon is shameless, this little dragon is humane. Although the old dragon betrayed him, he didn't betray you and me. If he hadn't wanted to drag us down with him, we wouldn't have wasted this chance to survive."

Yun Chonghua sensed a hint of pity in the two celestial officials' words, so he said, "In that case, I beg you two immortals to give me another chance. This time, I will surely be able to obtain a reward. I humbly beg you two to spare my life."

But the fox spirit shook her head and said, "We have already given you a chance. Right now, that old dragon king has you bound with a magical artifact. We have no incantation or power to untie you. Even if we release you, you won't be able to move. Moreover, if we don't return this item, we will be in serious trouble if the old dragon asks about it in the future. Now we can only take you back to the Heavenly Court."

Seeing the despair and disappointment in Yun Chonghua's eyes, the fox spirit comforted him, "But you don't need to lose heart. Just because the old Dragon King won't take you in doesn't mean others won't. There are many capable immortals in heaven. On our way to the imperial kitchen, we'll take you on a few more rounds. Perhaps other immortal star lords will take pity on you and keep you in their household."

The celestial official also said, "That's fine. Little Dragon, we'll give you another chance. We'll take you on a few more walks around the residences of the immortals. Whether you live or die depends on your own fate."

Yun Chonghua was tightly bound by the Dragon-Binding Rope and unable to move, with nowhere to go. At this moment, he steeled his heart and said, "In that case, let fate decide my fate!"

The fox spirit laughed, "Good! You have guts! We'll take you to heaven right now!"

After saying this, the two celestial officials rode on auspicious clouds and headed straight for the Heavenly Palace.