Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

The warm, down-to-earth smile on Lin Fenglong's face slowly faded.

He walked behind the counter and leisurely brewed himself a pot of jasmine tea.

Amidst the fragrant aroma of tea, he walked to the window and looked at the occasional pedestrians passing by in the alley outside. His gaze became profound, no longer that of an ordinary antique shop owner who loved listening to storytelling.

The information that the bicycle driver inadvertently revealed gradually overlapped with some subtle fluctuations he had recently sensed, as well as the rumors coming from his sources.

"Adventure enthusiasts? Treasure hunters?" Lin Fenglong muttered to himself, "Three thousand hungry wolves have gathered in the capital, drawn by the scent of blood. Little do they know, they themselves may be the prey of others."

Fenrir, king of the earth and mountains.

"This pool of water is getting muddier and muddier," he said, picking up his teacup, blowing on it, and taking a sip.

"I wonder who will be the one to catch the big fish in the end?"

Chapter 145 The Great Explosion at Wanggongchang

On Liulichang East Street, the old wooden door of "Fenglongtang" was pushed open again, and the copper bell hanging on the lintel made a crisp tinkling sound.

Lin Fenglong, who was carefully wiping a Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain vase with a soft cloth behind the counter, looked up and his reading glasses slid down to his nose.

A guest entered, a very conspicuous guest.

The newcomer was tall and imposing, dressed in a well-tailored, expensive casual suit, with icy blue eyes like the waters of the Adriatic Sea.

He seemed somewhat out of place in this antique shop filled with a sense of antiquity, but he remained composed, as if he had stepped into the Gattuso family's drawing room rather than a small shop.

Lin Fenglong's gaze lingered on the newcomer for a moment, a fleeting, almost imperceptible look of surprise flashing across his face, before settling into his usual friendly smile. "Welcome, sir. Please feel free to browse. My shop has a variety of items; perhaps you'll find something that interests you."

Caesar Gattuso nodded slightly, his gaze casually sweeping over the various antiques displayed in the shop.

His gaze swept over the porcelain, jade, and calligraphy and paintings, without lingering on any of them for long, as if he were just a discerning tourist who had stumbled upon the place by chance.

“The owner’s shop has a lot of character,” Caesar said, speaking fluent Chinese, though with a slight foreign accent. “Are these all old items?”

"Just trying to make a living," Lin Fenglong said with a smile, putting down the porcelain vase and walking out from behind the counter. "It's been quite a few years. Whether it's real or fake, you'll have to rely on your own judgment. Are you here in Beijing for tourism, sir?"

"I suppose so. I was handling some family matters and taking a stroll around a bit," Caesar said, picking up a bronze incense burner and casually running his fingers along the patterns on its surface. "BJ is a fascinating city with a rich history and many stories to tell."

“Yes, this imperial city has stood for hundreds of years; you could practically find stories in the cracks between the bricks,” Lin Fenglong chimed in, sizing up Caesar.

Although this young man was very discreet, the nobility that came from the depths of his soul could not be hidden from those who truly understood the situation.

Lin Fenglong already had a good idea of ​​what was going on with the Gattuso family.

Caesar put down the incense burner and casually strolled to a yellowed old map, which depicted the layout of Beijing during the Ming Dynasty.

“History is always full of unsolved mysteries, isn’t it?” Caesar said, in a casual tone, “such as some sudden and enormous disasters, for which there are many different theories.”

Lin Fenglong's smile remained unchanged. "Oh? Sir, are you interested in historical mysteries?"

“I have some knowledge of it,” Caesar said, turning around and looking directly at Lin Fenglong with his icy blue eyes. “Especially those earth-shattering events that are difficult to fully explain with conventional science. For example, boss, have you heard of the Tunguska event?”

Lin Fenglong's facial muscles twitched slightly. He pushed up his reading glasses and said slowly, "In 1908, in Siberia, Russia, more than two thousand square kilometers of forest were burned and dumped, with an impact equivalent to ten to twenty million tons of TNT. The scientific community has theories about meteorites, comets, and even black holes. Of course, these are all things I read in the newspapers."

"There are many explanations from the scientific community, but there are always some details that don't add up, aren't there?" Caesar said slowly. "For example, no obvious impact crater was found, and the trees at the center of the explosion did not fall outwards."

Lin Fenglong did not respond immediately, but simply looked at Caesar quietly.

Caesar didn't need his reply and continued, as if stating a fact he already knew: "In the world of hybrids, there has always been a rumor. That disaster was not a natural one, but a man-made one. Or rather, it was caused by some out-of-control Word of Power with godlike strength."

He slowly uttered that forbidden name: "Word Spirit Rhine".

You could hear a pin drop inside the store.

Lin Fenglong remained silent for a moment, sighed softly, turned around and walked to the shop entrance, flipped the "Open for Business" sign to "Temporarily Closed," and then gently closed the shop door.

He walked back, the amiable smile on his face fading. "Young Master Gattuso, you truly live up to your reputation. You have broad knowledge and get straight to the point."

He tacitly acknowledged Caesar's identity and the connection between the Word of Power Rhine and the Tunguska explosion.

"Then," Caesar pressed, "based on the same logic, another mystery that has perplexed historians and scientists for centuries: the massive explosion at the Wanggongchang gunpowder depot in the southwest corner of Beijing in 1626, during the Tianqi era of the Ming Dynasty. Was that earth-shattering event, which resulted in over 20,000 deaths and injuries, destroyed an area of ​​two square kilometers, and exhibited bizarre phenomena, also not a simple accidental explosion of the gunpowder depot?"

"That disaster, recorded in the 'Chronicle of Heavenly Changes' as 'an unprecedented event in history,' that force that hurled trees, rocks, human bodies, and even houses into the sky, yet left a strange vacuum in the center—could it also have originated from some, or rather, some, out-of-control, destructive Word of Power?"

Lin Fenglong walked to the coffee table, sat down slowly, and gestured for Caesar to sit down as well.

He picked up the cup of jasmine tea, which had cooled slightly, but didn't drink it; he just watched the tea leaves floating in the cup.

"The Wanggongchang Explosion," the old man murmured to himself, savoring the distant and heavy name. "On the sixth day of the fifth month of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, at the hour of Si (9-11 AM). The dead and injured lay everywhere, houses were completely destroyed, and the phenomena were bizarre and extraordinary."

He raised his eyes and looked at Caesar. "Mr. Gattuso, since you've managed to find me here, you must have done some research. You should know that during that time, the capital was not peaceful. The emperor was negligent in his duties, the eunuch faction was rampant, and the Jurchens were rising in the north. The world of mixed-race people was also in a delicate state of turbulent balance."

“I’ve heard a little about it,” Caesar nodded. “It is said that there were several ancient mixed-race families whose influence could even affect the decisions of the Forbidden City.”

“It’s not influence, it’s infiltration,” Lin Fenglong corrected. “The game of power has never been limited to ordinary people. And Wanggongchang was more than just a place to store gunpowder.”

He paused, then lowered his voice: "It was also a secret alchemy workshop and a testing ground for the power of words. It belonged to a mixed-race family that was backed by a very powerful eunuch at the time."

What are they testing?

“Who knows?” Lin Fenglong shook his head. “Perhaps they were trying to replicate some kind of powerful incantation, perhaps they wanted to forge a dragon-slaying blade, or perhaps they just wanted to create more powerful gunpowder to consolidate their power. But without a doubt, they played with fire and got burned.”

"The experiment has gone out of control?" Caesar pressed.

"It was worse than that. Based on some extremely secret and almost completely destroyed records, it is speculated that a resonance or even a fusion explosion of Word Powers may have occurred at that time. More than one high-risk Word Power was simultaneously, or triggered in a chain, or even possibly clashed and devoured by each other in that small space. Ultimately, it triggered a massive explosion that exceeded the limits of everyone's understanding and control."

"Rhine level?"

“I can’t be sure,” Lin Fenglong shook his head. “The phenomena are different. Tunguska tends to be more about extreme burning and impact, while Wanggongchang is mixed with more complex effects. Extreme decomposition, tearing, spatial distortion, and stripping away of living beings. It may not be a single word spirit, but rather the result of multiple word spirits going out of control.”

The old man sighed. "That explosion not only completely wiped out that family's existence, but also severely damaged the mixed-race power structure that was entrenched in BJ at the time, and many secrets were thus lost. The official record of the gunpowder depot being an accident saved us a lot of trouble."

Caesar fell into deep thought; he hadn't expected such an answer.

A compound word spirit explosion? This is beyond his understanding of word spirits.

How do you know so much detail?

Lin Fenglong smiled, a hint of bitterness in his smile. "Because my family, or rather, my family's ancestors, were in Beijing at the time. And they were both old friends and rivals of that family that was erased from history."

He didn't say it explicitly, but his meaning was clear.

Lin Fenglong's family is also a long-established mixed-race family, and has been deeply involved in the power struggles in the East.

Caesar took a deep breath, stood up, and bowed slightly to Lin Fenglong: "Thank you for your explanation, Mr. Lin. This information is very important."

“No need to be so polite, Mr. Gattuso,” Lin Fenglong also stood up, reverting to his amiable antique dealer demeanor. “It was just some casual conversation about old Beijing legends. Don’t take it seriously, don’t take it seriously.”

He escorted Caesar to the door and reopened the shop.

“The capital city,” Lin Fenglong said, leaning against the doorframe as he watched Caesar’s departing figure, seemingly talking to himself, yet also hinting at something, “The secrets buried underground are not limited to just Wang Gongchang. Sometimes, knowing too much is not a good thing. Young man, take care of yourself.”

Caesar paused for a moment, but without turning back, he merged directly into the flow of people on Liulichang Street.

Lin Fenglong watched his figure disappear, then slowly closed the door, plunging the shop back into darkness and silence.

He went into the inner room and tapped rhythmically on a wall a few times. The wall slid open silently, revealing a secret room.

Inside the secret room hangs a huge, ancient map drawn on sheepskin, a complete map of Beijing from the Ming Dynasty.

In the southwest corner of the city, where Wang Gongchang was located, a huge, shocking cross was drawn on it with dark red cinnabar.

The old man's fingers gently brushed over the mark.

"The power of words has reached such a level. Now, another turbulent time has arrived."

Chapter 146 Traditional Weddings

Cesare Gattuso did not leave Liulichang immediately.

The conversation with Lin Fenglong just now about the earth-shattering explosion and the secrets of the Word of Power was incredibly informative and shocking. It was like a wake-up call, temporarily pulling him out of the tense state of searching for clues about the Dragon King in recent days.

He needs some time to process this, and he also needs some lighter topics to calm his mind.

He strolled along the quaint streets, his gaze sweeping over the dazzling array of stationery, porcelain, and antiques displayed in the shops on both sides.

A shop specializing in silk embroidery and traditional clothing caught his eye.

In the shop window, there was a magnificent bright red classical wedding dress embroidered with intricate dragon and phoenix patterns in gold and silver thread.

Caesar stopped in his tracks.

He thought of Nono almost immediately.

Thinking of her bright, expressive eyes, her long, dark red hair, and the unique blend of Eastern mystery and Western untamed spirit she possessed.

If it were her, what would she look like wearing such a wedding dress that embodies ancient culture and exquisite craftsmanship?

Caesar turned around almost without thinking and walked back to the Phoenix Hall.

The copper bell on the door jingled again.

Lin Fenglong, who was carefully putting away the map of the secret room in the inner room, came out when he heard the sound. When he saw Caesar return, a look of surprise flashed across his face, but it quickly turned into a friendly smile.

"Mr. Gattuso? Did you leave something behind?"

“No,” Caesar shook his head. “Mr. Lin, I apologize for bothering you again. I just saw the wedding dress next door and suddenly had a question I would like to ask you.”

"Oh?" Lin Fenglong was a little surprised. He followed Caesar's gaze to the silk shop outside the window and smiled knowingly. "So Mr. Gattuso is interested in traditional Chinese wedding attire? Please sit down, let's talk slowly."

He gestured for Caesar to sit down again and brewed another pot of hot tea.

“Yes,” Caesar said, sitting down. “I think that wedding dress is very beautiful, containing a unique sense of ceremony and historical weight. I’m thinking, perhaps in the future…”

He paused, not saying it too explicitly, but the meaning was clear: "Perhaps there will be an opportunity for my future wife to wear such a dress."

Lin Fenglong's smile became more genuine, carrying a gentle, elder-like quality. "I see. Congratulations, Mr. Gattuso. Finding a partner to spend your life with is one of the greatest blessings in life."

He poured tea for Caesar, saying, “Chinese wedding dresses, especially the classic phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, are indeed more than just clothes; they carry thousands of years of culture, etiquette, and best wishes for the newlyweds.”

He began to speak slowly, like a patient scholar.

"In China, red represents joy, auspiciousness, passion, and life, and can ward off evil spirits. The embroidery on this piece features dragons and phoenixes, which are symbols of supreme status, signifying good fortune and harmonious marriage. Pomegranates, bats, and peonies each have their own meanings, representing many children, blessings, wealth, and prosperity. Every stitch and every thread is sewn with the hopes and blessings of the bride's family."

Caesar listened intently, even subconsciously imagining Nono wearing such a heavy, magnificent, and meaningful wedding dress.

She'll probably find it troublesome and complain that the headdress is too heavy.

"Chinese wedding customs place great emphasis on the 'Three Letters and Six Rites'," Lin Fenglong continued, clearly pleased that Caesar was genuinely interested.

"From betrothal, asking the name, accepting auspicious gifts, presenting betrothal gifts, setting the wedding date, to the wedding ceremony, each step has ancient rules and meanings, emphasizing the union of two families, a match made in heaven."

He smiled and said, "Of course, many of the cumbersome rituals have been simplified now, but the core is still there. For example, the bride must be carried out of the house by her brother or have her head covered by a red umbrella, which means she will not be affected by her family's feng shui; she must step over a fire basin, which symbolizes a prosperous life and also drives away bad luck; she must worship heaven and earth, worship her parents, and the couple must worship each other, which means that they have declared to heaven, earth and ancestors and gained their approval."