Chapter 16: Delivering the bride.

As they watched the dragon fly away, Liwu’s family members sighed. Some, in relief but others in terror. A dragon near the gates of One city!

Surely, another disaster was coming.

“Why didn’t they go for a honeymoon?” Old lady Tai asked.

With a huff, her husband replied, “Because, that Weifeng does not want my baby to have fun. All they had to do was take a few days off work to relax and soak in all that has happened. I don’t like him at all.” He looked at Caishen, his grandson-in-law. Years had passed and he still didn’t like him that much because he was the thief that stole his granddaughter. “Just like I don’t like you.”

Caishen rolled his eyes to the sky. “Here we go again.” he muttered. Now that Liwu was gone, the old man would be even more crabby.

Maybe he could secretly suggest that the old man move to One city and give Shen Weifeng a difficult time. It could be a painful family tradition passed down.

****

One city was a city unlike any other in the country. The only refuge for system hosts in the world. It was an abandoned city; a place people escaped during the height of the system wars eight years ago. This was because it became a den for thieves and criminals, with a collapsed economy and testing ground for every weapon created by system hosts.

Shen Weijun had taken advantage of this problem to request the government to hand off its leadership to him. He convinced them by telling them about his ’City-Building System’ that could expand walls, summon mysterious infrastructure and even assign him bureaucrats from the past or future to lend assistance.

Best of all, it could provide him with a list of talents from all over the world to employ. It had all seemed like a miracle, and so, the government struck a deal with him.

It was the only city with walls, stretching across an area the size of Shanghai. The high walls were so thick that even pigeons did not dare to cross them. Inside, you could find system hosts from across nations.

People with “cultivation systems”, “harem systems”, “potato farming systems”, “comedy systems”, “thieving systems”, “laundry systems”, “bragging systems” and even one poor fellow with a “Die once a day System.”

There were just too many systems to count. The system hosts lived side by side with ordinary humans. Life was chaotic, but tolerable. As long as they had freedom and peace, the city remained home.

Until this morning, when a shadow suddenly fell across the eastern gates, putting them on alert.

The Azure blue dragon, with a wingspan wide enough to blot out four districts descended with a deliberate thunderous crash. The walls trembled, the guards at the eastern gate pulled their weapons.

On the dragon’s back sat a young woman in a white dress, clutching a bouquet of peonies that looked tired from the journey. The dragon’s voice boomed like rolling thunder”

“This is the Systems Bureau President Tai Alix. I demand that you open the gates. My daughter Tai Liwu is moving in today as agreed in the marriage alliance.”

Some of the guards scrambled to the monitoring room to find someone from the Shen family. But before they could find someone with authority, a shrill voice rang from the gate tower. “We are not expecting any brides, and you are not welcome here you scaly lizard.”

It was Shen Biao, the groom’s aunt, a woman whose personal feud with Tai Alix had caused the enmity between their families to deepen. A day did not pass without her blaming Alix for the dead of her father. She also blamed Alix for everything her own husband Han Ce had put the Shen family through.

Not once, had she admitted to herself or anyone that she had mistreated her husband, abused him verbally and physically. All the hatred Han Ce had for the Shen’s; she was the direct cause.

“No matter how you sneaked into the circle of wealthy families, your uncouth ways remain.” Shen Biao continued to insult Alix. “Other people deliver brides in cars but you are delivering your daughter like a package. So uncultured. Let me tell you, we do not accept her. The gates are closed for cleaning; you either wait until evening to enter or try again tomorrow. But we could be painting the gates tomorrow.”

Alix’s dragon eyes narrowed. Smoke curled from her nostrils.

“I should have known that it was you Shen Biao, when I smelled old urine.” Alix replied. “Now open the gates or I will roast this wall like a marshmallow!”

“You dare.” Shen Biao screamed. “Anyway, roast away, these gates are invulnerable to fire.”

The soldiers standing on the walls and below looked at each other nervously. The walls and the gate were invulnerable, but they were not!

One made a call to the President of the country. One city had a military base inside. Was it time for the soldiers to evict the residents or fight a dragon?

“Do we let her burn it?” A soldier asked.

A female guard, from Shen Weijun’s private bodyguard army called her boss. “I am not losing my eyebrows to this nonsense.” she muttered.

Alix, in dragon form, was not the most patient of creatures. She opened her jaws, a stream of fire licked across the red gate, scorching a lion stone.”

Someone set off the alarms which usually signaled an enemy attack in the days of the system wars. Inside the city, panic spread.

“I thought this was over.” A woman shouted as she scrambled to close her stall.

Meanwhile, system hosts activated their powers.

Shen Biao, however, remained calm. She brought out a fan and fanned herself dramatically. “Ah, such wonderful warmth! I should hire you to light my fireplace daily.”

Liwu groaned. The bear or dragon had been poked a little too much.

Alix roared and inhaled for the next blast. One which would blow the gates wide open.

Suddenly, the gates moved inward and a familiar voice echoed across the chaos. “Enough.”

Soldiers and private guards retracted their weapons, and Alix swallowed her ball of fire, releasing only smoke. Shen Weijun stood in front of the dragon; at the safest distance he could measure without looking afraid. “Must we do this on day one of the alliance?” He asked.

Behind the dragon, a convoy was approaching. Not just trucks delivering Tai Liwu’s property but reporters. Many would be happy to report on this incident.

“Your aunt denies my daughter entry.” Alix told him. “She forgets how easy it is for me to swallow her in one bite.”

Gasps.

Shen Weijun made a gesture, telling his men to remove Shen Biao from the city wall. “My apologies, aunt Biao has not been in the best mental state for a while. She holds some grudges against you.”

Alix rolled her eyes.

Behind Weijun, cameras flashed. Most people had never seen the only dragon in the world. They did not even know a dragon could roll its eyes dramatically!

Liwu slipped from the dragon’s back, landing on the ground gracefully. She just wanted to eat something and sleep. Oh, and see what else her system could do!

“Mother,” she hugged the dragon around the neck. “Thanks for the ride. I will take it from here.”

Alix snorted, black smoke from her nostrils hit Weijun in the face. It turned his blonde dyed hair black!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep