"Anhe, you've been on this painting for the past four years and you are still taking ages to finish??"
The young maiden candidly asked with an inpatient pose while her friend only smiled in return, although her eyes were blindfolded with a scarf, she could sense her nosy friend trying to sneak a peek at her painting making a slow smile form on her delicate lips.
"Chenguang, I draw them according to what I can recollect through my memories." She softly said to her, dipping her paintbrush into the white paint. "It took me four years to paint all the broken pieces together but I think all of that is finally going to come to an end today."
Smiling triumphantly, she gave the sheet one last stroke of her paintbrush and dropped it back on her collection of brushes.
"It's done!"
Chenguang who impatiently sat on the garden swing suddenly perked up at Anhe's words, she's finally done!
"Ah! Let me see!" She darted towards Anhe with eager steps, crouching beside her on the soft grass with an expectant gaze.
Anhe slowly loosened the blindfold from her eyes, finally getting ready to face the image which had left her heart unease, what had kept her mind in constant turmoil and fixing up the broken images through a painting.
Chenguang's big emerald green eyes dilated momentarily as she stared at the magnificent painting before her. Anhe's brown optics also gave the same demeanor as both were left speechless by the painting, unable to believe it.
"Four years Anhe..…" Chenguang finally broke the silence. "...four years and the best thing you could come up with is the painting of a dragon?"
Anhe on the other hand ignored her friend's silly comment and gently ran her slender fingers through the outline of her painting.
"It's a dragon?!" She breathed out, stunned by the end result of her work but still, it didn't make any sense as to why the images on her head turned out to be the picture of a dragon, although the picture before her still left her in complete daze, she couldn't help but admiringly stare at it.
Its beauty was aesthetically pleasing, with glistening silvering metallic scales which would make other creatures wonder about its alluring elegance, its midnight dark eyes filled with life and one could easily sense the sparkles of delight and tranquility in them.
Its long silver body almost gets lost in the clouds as it soars high with great power and unwavering confidence. Her painting itself realistically evokes a life in the great masterpiece.
"Wow Anhe, this is beautiful!" Chenguang couldn't help but admit herself, Anhe has always been a talented painter but this just depicts the life of a real dragon.
"Why would I spend four years painting the portrait of a dragon?" She questioned, puzzled by it all but Chenguang was so engrossed by the beauty of the painting she barely paid attention.
"Chenguang!"
She nearly jumped at the mention of her name. "Oh yes! Sorry, you were saying?"
"Why would I spend four years of my life painting a dragon??"
Chenguang immediately thought the same but unfortunately, couldn't find the answer to that question. "I don't really know, besides it's your drawing, I should be asking you."
Anhe pursed her lips, finding her response sensible, there was no way Chenguang could figure it out, she was the one who painted it afterall but why?
That she couldn't make any sense of.
"Or is it possible dragons existed?" She theoretically asked.
Chenguang laughed hysterically at her friend's words like she just said something funny. "Oh Anhe, dragon's aren't actually real, sure we've heard stories about them but I don't believe in their existence."
"Then how do you explain this?" Anhe argued further, pointing at the dragon she just painted. "It feels so full of life….like I could actually feel it's pulse penetrating through my fingertips, reaching out to me." She could barely make out what she just said herself but her fingers didn't refrain from tracing every line on the magnificent painting.
"Imagine if you could sell this Anhe." Chenguang laid out her thoughts quickly. "A lot of people out there would love to buy it!"
"No." Anhe replied too quickly. "I can't sell it just like that, I have to figure out what this image means and why it's been riveting non-stop on my head for years and giving me sleepless nights."
Chenguang sighed softly, understanding the position her friend was in. She has watched Anhe for four years, staying up at night to paint the picture she kept envisioning in her dreams to the extent of even blindfolding herself.
At first she thought her friend was artistically going crazy but after witnessing the aftermath, it could be possible the dragon meant something and knowing Anhe right from childhood, she would definitely try to get to the bottom of this.
"We'll talk about this later, we should head back to the village now, master Futuan won't spare us if we end up being late for practice and don't forget to bring those herbs he asked us to get for him."
Anhe was immediately reminded of the herbs and her pupils dilated in remembrance. "My goodness I completely forgot!"
Rolling the painting into a scroll, she kept it safely in a small sack which she hung around her waist, getting up to her feet to grab the basket of herbs they just freshly picked.
"Let's go."
Chenguang nodded with a smile and they left the clear spring garden.
~
"Yin Zhen!!"
A demon raged with fury burning in her bloody red eyes as she hastily lunged at the being in front of her, but he effortlessly evaded her hit. Swiftly getting her cornered as he drew out his long silver blade, only to end up giving her a cut at the side of her left arm.
"Ah!!" She winced in pain and turned her revengeful gaze at him.
"Where is it?!!" He didn't hold back and lunged forward with the aim of splitting her in half, the sound of swords clashing resounded along the dark and gloomy cave, the hatred from both of them could be sensed miles away and were equally ready to tear each other apart.
"You'll never get it!" She smirked deviously while her opponent kept a calm composure but the anger was visible in his midnight dark eyes, seeing she wasn't ready to comply with him, his eyes darkened like a midnight storm.
"Then I'll have to take it by force."
Lifting himself into the air, a powerful white light hovered around him and immediately took the form of a spirit dragon, roaring with so much dominance and emanating a deadly aura, keeping it's predatory gaze locked on the demon.
The demon only smiled foolishly as she staggered forward, weak and bruised.
"You won't succeed Yin Zhen! Never!"
Yin Zhen had had enough of her silly tantrums, it was time to end it once and for all. Focusing his spiritual senses into the light around him, the dragon form roared wildly and in one quick move, it had viscously grabbed hold of the demon and split her in two with its sharp claws turning her into nothing but dust as it crumbled to the floor.
The spirit dragon disappeared right after, leaving Yin Zhen to land soundlessly on the ground.
The cave became quiet and empty, it didn't seem like anyone else was lurking around. His footsteps echoed continuously with each walking step as he headed towards the altar.
There was a box in front, glowing brightly as it was placed on top of a silver stand, Yin Zhen's incomprehensive yet cold gaze remained locked on the box before him, finally, the box held the truth he had been seeking for and it was time to unravel them.
And destroy it!
The moment he opened the lid, the artifacts inside turned into dust and a strange bizarre energy hit him straight in the chest, sending him flying and bursting through each walls of the cave due to it's outraging force but he managed to keep himself collected and used his energy to land on the floor but he went weak on the knees as the energy surged through his system, he spat out blood, leaving his skin burning and a sudden realization hit him quicker than he had expected.
"It's a trap!"