They've all become top scholars in the imperial examinations, and you're telling me this i

Chapter 9 Jinghe Dragon King
The dream was like falling into a sea of ​​ink.

Chen Guangrui's consciousness floated and sank in the chaotic current, his senses enveloped in a thick darkness. The icy, bone-chilling water pressure surged from all directions, squeezing his chest, almost suffocating him. This was an unprecedented nightmare, filled with a tangible sense of oppression.

Suddenly, the water surged!
As if the abyss had opened its eyes, two enormous pillars of light, like lava, suddenly tore through the darkness and burned straight onto his face.

Those were long, narrow pupils burning with golden flames! Deep within those pupils surged an endless torrent of fury and an ancient majesty.

Then, a colossal, despair-inducing silhouette materialized in the darkness. A ferocious head covered in eerie blue scales slowly emerged, its sharp teeth like inverted halberds, its hanging whiskers as thick as pythons, churning the water and producing a chilling howl. The immense shadow completely enveloped the tiny Chen Guangrui, the chilling dragon's might almost freeze his soul.

"Chen! Guang! Rui!"

A thunderous roar exploded directly in Chen Guangrui's mind, accompanied by a roar like the boiling of a vast ocean, shaking his mind and making his vision go black. Each syllable was like a massive hammer crashing down.

"You! What a mess you've made!"

The dragon's voice was filled with rage and contempt.

Chen Guangrui was shocked and instantly realized who had come to his door.

He suppressed his surging blood and fear, and tightly gripped the two peach pits he carried with him in his right hand hidden in his sleeve.

However, the two walnuts that had been kept in his sleeve suddenly disappeared.

Chen Guangrui immediately realized that he was dreaming.

Yes, in Journey to the West, this Dragon King appeared in Li Shimin's dream to ask for help, and was also beheaded by Wei Zheng in the dream.

Thinking of this, he regained a sense of calm under the dragon's might. He had been searching for the dragon all day, and now the dragon had come knocking on his door.

He spoke with difficulty, his voice faint yet clear amidst the ripples of the dreamlike waters.
"Your Excellency... what brings you to say such a thing? I, Guangrui, am but a newly appointed scholar. I have no idea what I have done to offend someone like you... a celestial being?"

"Pretentious!"

The Dragon King spewed out two streams of condensed, icy air from its nostrils, instantly causing the temperature of the dreamlike waters to plummet, ice crystals forming on Chen Guangrui's eyebrows. The enormous dragon head drew even closer, a suppressed roar emanating from between its sharp teeth.

"A mere mortal! How dare he stir up trouble in the Jing River! He instigated Yuan Shoucheng to presumptuously pry into the secrets of heaven and track the fish of my aquatic tribe!"

The enormous sound was deafening.
"Yuan Shoucheng, that fortune teller at the West Market! He leaks heavenly secrets every day, revealing the hidden lives of my Jing River aquatic creatures to the fishermen on the river! If this continues, the aquatic life will be devastated, and the foundation of my Water Palace will be shaken! All these actions are orchestrated by you behind the scenes! Speak! What are your intentions?!"

Faced with overwhelming accusations and near-fatal murderous intent, Chen Guangrui did not choose to stubbornly deny that it was "unrelated to me."

Despite the pressure, he looked up at those burning giant eyes, his tone urgent yet tinged with a sense of grievance as he defended himself.

"Immortal Master, you are wise! Yuan Shoucheng's divination was accurate. How could Guangrui possibly have the ability to command an immortal?"

"I am not on the same path as Yuan Shoucheng!"

"Today I spared no expense to find two golden carp on the riverbank... and immediately released them back into the water, knowing how hard it was to obtain them and not wanting to see the aquatic creatures suffer as a result!"

"If I truly came here to harm aquatic creatures, why would I go to such lengths, wasting money and resources just to release them?"

"Ha!" The Dragon King let out a low, mocking roar, which shook the waters.
"How can a petty act of releasing fish atone for your grave sins? If you hadn't instigated and incited him, how could that fisherman have been so arrogant? On my Jing River, everyone I meet praises Yuan Shoucheng's 'divine calculation,' saying that he tells us the time and place to cast our nets every day, and that the fish caught in half a month are more numerous than those caught in ten years!"

Seeing the Dragon King's killing intent intensify, its phantom claws appearing and disappearing in the darkness, as if about to seize his soul at any moment, Chen Guangrui knew he had to throw out the real "bait." He took a deep breath, his voice suddenly rising.
"You Dragon King, you are utterly unreasonable. That fortune teller was Yuan Shoucheng. If you want to protect your Jinghe River aquatic creatures, go find him. Why bother me at night?"

The Dragon King's enormous dragon eyes suddenly contracted, golden light surged, and an immense pressure abruptly condensed.

Chen Guangrui completely disregarded the Dragon King's specially exerted pressure and used the excuse he had been planning for who knows how long.
"Trying to show off your power here? What kind of skill is that? If you keep acting tough, you might lose your head!"

Chen Guangrui was just an ordinary mortal. He was already having difficulty speaking because of the pressure deliberately released by the Dragon King. By the end, he was practically shouting.

However, the Jinghe Dragon King merely snorted coldly, "Nonsense! You mere mortal, you dare to try and take my head?!" As he spoke, he lowered his body, as if he were about to finish off Chen Guangrui in his dream.

Chen Guangrui wasn't afraid. He had waited for the Dragon King for so long, and he had mentally rehearsed many things. He raised his head and said defiantly, "If I can't kill you, is there no one in heaven and earth who can?"

"Insolence! Kid, I think you're looking for trouble!"

"Jing River Dragon King, your death is imminent!"

Chen Guangrui had already realized that this Jinghe Dragon King was definitely not the woodcutter from earlier that day. That woodcutter knew how to be patient and had the patience to gather all the information, while this Jinghe Dragon King was somewhat impatient. If he didn't reveal the key point soon, he might not have another chance to do so.

"You're going to find Yuan Shoucheng? Do you think you can kill him? Just wait to be killed by him!"

After saying this, Chen Guangrui felt the pressure around him lessen somewhat. Although the Dragon King was still exerting pressure, it had eased considerably. He continued...

"If I'm not mistaken, you looked for Yuan Shoucheng first today, but couldn't find him, so you came to find me, right?"

Before the Dragon King could answer, Chen Guangrui continued, "If you find him today, you probably won't kill him directly; you'll likely want to fight him, won't you?"

By this point, Chen Guangrui no longer needed to understand the personality of the Jinghe Dragon King. Having watched Journey to the West so many times, he still remembered this part of the story.

Sure enough, when he said those words, the oppressive aura that had been suppressing him vanished, and the Dragon King was now staring at him with hostile eyes.

Chen Guangrui stopped there.

Then the Dragon King spoke up, "Do you really think I can't defeat a fortune teller?"

"Even if you could win the fight, you probably wouldn't survive."

In his dream, Chen Guangrui found a chair, sat down, and looked up at the dragon head in front of him.
"What can you possibly do against that fortune teller? It's nothing more than his ability to control the secrets of heaven."

"If a fortune teller told you, could he accurately predict when, where, and how much rain would fall?"

Hearing this, the Dragon King became even more disdainful, "If that's really the case, then I will definitely defeat him."

Little did Chen Guangrui know, this was exactly what he was waiting for: "But if that's the case, you'll truly be facing death!"

"Whose decree governs your timing of rain? What will be the consequences if you alter it without authorization?"

Having said what he wanted to say, Chen Guangrui stopped talking. He had originally wanted to examine the two walnuts, but they were not in his hands at the moment. With nothing to do, he idly tapped the table with his fingers.

The turbulent waves in the dream seemed to freeze instantly.

The enormous dragon's mouth, which had been spewing out icy breath, was now slightly open, as if it were stuck by invisible icicles.

Those majestic dragon eyes suddenly froze, then flickered uncontrollably, revealing a momentary shock of being pierced through.

Chen Guangrui's thunderous remark, "Death is imminent," carrying the precise and piercing statement of "unauthorized alteration of the imperial decree," was like a sharp arrow, piercing the Dragon King's absolute confidence.

"Who are you anyway?"

Although he knew Chen Guangrui's name, he still couldn't help but ask, how could an ordinary person have calculated so much?

Chen Guangrui did not answer at this point, but instead brought up another matter.

"Releasing those two golden carp today cost me quite a bit of money."

(End of this chapter)