Douluo Continent: The Twin Holy Dragons of Light and Darkness, the Dragon Emperor Breaks Through the

He heard his bones creaking, a faint sound hidden among the muffled thuds of fists and feet and the soldiers' curses, but to his ears it was as clear as thunder.

"Honorary Elder? Elder my ass!" a young soldier cursed.

His voice was very young, sounding like he was only in his early twenties, but he was ruthless when he took action.

He kicked Yu Xiaogang in the thigh, sending him sliding more than a foot across the ground before his back slammed against the foundation stone of the city wall with a dull thud.

Blood kept seeping out of Yu Xiaogang's mouth, not in large gulps, but in thin, persistent oozing.

The blood mixed with saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth, staining his gray robe with a dark red mark.

He didn't know if he had lost any teeth; he only felt that his mouth was full of bits of food, like he had chewed a mouthful of sand.

"Is this a place for someone like you to come to Wuhun City?" Another soldier kicked him from the side, hitting him squarely in the shinbone.

The kick, propelled by the momentum of his run-up, was incredibly powerful. He felt as if his shinbone had been split in two, and the pain made his vision blur.

He tried to shout, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was a muffled whimper, like a mouse whose tail had been stepped on.

"You still dare to come even though your token is invalid? Who are you trying to fool?" Someone grabbed his hair and pulled up his blood-stained face.

Yu Xiaogang squinted and saw a distorted face, young, fierce, with eyes full of hostility.

The face flickered in front of him, then suddenly pulled back, his head hitting the ground with a thud as the back of his skull struck the stone slab.

The sound was like striking a wooden fish, a loud thud, followed by a buzzing ringing in the ears.

"Honorary Elder? You're asking for trouble!"

The fist came down again.

This time, someone used a stick.

It was a dark wooden stick, picked up from somewhere, about the thickness of a wrist, and heavy in the hand.

It fell with a whooshing sound and hit Yu Xiaogang's left leg.

That blow almost broke his leg.

He felt as if his shinbone had split in two, and a sharp pain spread from his leg throughout his body, causing him to convulse and his back to be instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He called out.

This time, a sound came out, but it wasn't a loud, desperate shout. Instead, it was a low groan squeezed from deep in the throat, like the desperate, dying cry of an old ox that had been stabbed.

"Alright, alright, stop killing him, lock him up!" The leader's voice rang out again, tinged with impatience, like someone who's tired of playing with a toy and wants to switch to a new one.

Several people hurriedly dragged Yu Xiaogang up from the ground.

Someone grabbed his left arm, someone grabbed his right arm, and someone pushed him from behind.

His legs were so weak he could barely stand, and he hung limply in the hands of the soldiers, as if his bones had been removed.

His right leg was dragging on the ground, his shoe had fallen off, exposing his toes, and his toenails were cracked and bleeding.

They dragged him into a small door next to the city gate.

The door was covered with sheet metal, with rows of iron nails nailed to its surface. It was painted dark brown and blended into the city wall, so it was almost invisible unless you looked closely.

Behind the door was a narrow, steep, and dark stone staircase leading down, resembling an open mouth.

There were no lights on the stone steps, only a faint light coming in from the entrance, barely enough to see the steps underfoot.

The soldiers knew this road well, and they didn't slow down, dragging Yu Xiaogang down the path.

His knees pounded against the edges of the stone steps, each impact producing a dull thud. His trousers were quickly worn through, exposing the skin and flesh on his knees, which rubbed against the rough stone surface, leaving streaks of blood.

"Hurry up!" Someone pushed him from behind.

He stumbled forward, his forehead slamming against the stone wall, leaving a large gash. Blood trickled down his nose, dripping onto the steps.

At the end of the stone steps was a row of iron railings.

Several cells were lined up in a row, each only a few feet square. The floor was covered with moldy straw, and water droplets seeped from the walls, making them wet to the touch.

A rotten smell permeated the air, as if something had been dead for a long time and hadn't been cleaned up.

Rats were scurrying about in the corner, their eyes gleaming with an eerie green light in the darkness, like will-o'-the-wisps.

They threw him into one of the rooms.

The iron gate slammed shut with a clang, the chains rattled, and the lock clicked shut.

Yu Xiaogang lay on the cold, damp ground, her nose filled with the smell of mold and decay. She was covered in wounds and couldn't move.

His right leg was still twitching, his shinbone felt like it was broken, and each twitch made him grimace in pain.

His baggage was gone, his short sword was gone, his jade pendant was gone, and his token was gone too.

He has nothing left.

Even his gray robe was torn with several large holes, and the wind was blowing in from outside, chilly and cold, as if someone was scraping his back with ice scalpels.

The foreman stood outside the iron fence and looked down at him.

The gaze was like that of someone looking at a pile of garbage, filled with disgust, contempt, and a hint of barely perceptible pleasure.

His footsteps faded away on the stone steps, growing fainter and fainter until they disappeared behind an iron gate.

Then the world went quiet.

Yu Xiaogang lay on the straw, panting heavily.

His lungs felt like they were on fire, and every breath was accompanied by a tearing pain, as if someone was sanding his trachea with sandpaper.

His mouth was full of blood, and the bloody taste spread through his mouth, mixed with a musty and rotten smell, making people nauseous.

He rolled over and lay on his back.

The ceiling was low and pitch black; you couldn't see anything.

Only a sliver of light, about the size of a palm, dim and weak, shone through the food delivery opening in the iron gate, casting a mottled water stain on the opposite wall.

He didn't know how long he had been lying there.

It might take a few minutes, or it might take an hour.

Time loses its meaning here; there are no bells, no bugle calls to announce the time, nothing can be heard.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps.

"Stay put and don't cause trouble."

He left with those words, turned and walked away.

Chapter 189 Let him go

The footsteps came from above, approaching gradually. At first, they were very soft, like mice crawling, but they gradually became clearer, heavier, and more urgent.

It wasn't just one person's footsteps; it was several people's, their footsteps making a jumbled sound on the stone path.

Someone is talking, but their voice is very low and I can't hear them clearly.

But one word drifted into Yu Xiaogang's ears, like a needle, precisely piercing his eardrum.

"Chihiro..."

His heart skipped a beat.

He knew that name all too well.

It's not just familiar, it's unforgettable.

This is the person who stole Bibi Dong away.

This is the person who ruined Bibi Dong's life.

This person shattered all his fantasies.

The footsteps grew closer.

Yu Xiaogang's pupils slowly dilated in the darkness. He heard the sound of the iron gate being opened, not his, but the iron gate above that led to the ground.

Then the footsteps reached the stone steps, echoing in the narrow passage and making the walls tremble.

Someone came down.

more than one.

Footsteps echoed on the stone steps, accompanied by the clanging of metal plates from armor and the low murmur of voices.

"Your Highness, the old man is downstairs."

He held an old token from the Spirit Hall in his hand, saying he was going into the city to find someone.

His brothers asked him who he was looking for, but he wouldn't say.

My subordinates found him suspicious, so they locked him up.

A gruff voice reported, with a hint of obsequiousness, like a dog wagging its tail in front of its master.

Then, a voice rang out.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was very clear, as if it came from a very far place, yet it also seemed to be right next to my ear.

"Who did he say he was looking for?"

Yu Xiaogang's body jolted violently.

He recognized that voice.

Although separated by iron gates, stone steps, and thick dungeon walls, the sound penetrated all obstacles and reached his ears like a rusty knife, slowly, slowly stabbing into his chest.

Qianxunji.

Former Pope of the Spirit Hall, Regent of the Spirit Empire.

Qian Renxue's father.

Bibi Dong's husband.

The man arrived.

The footsteps grew closer.

Yu Xiaogang heard her own heartbeat, thump-thump-thump, like a drumbeat.