Imperial God Emperor

He ultimately nodded in assent after he saw the look in Hao Jianren's eyes.

"Many thanks, my lord. Many thanks…" Hao Jianren was overcome with joy.

Hidden Dragon City was approximately ten thousand kilometers away from this small chaotic city, but Ye Qingyu was so powerful that he could travel this distance in a flash.

He immediately made his way past the guards at the city gates and appeared in a quiet alley in the city.

"I can smell the scent of blood," Hao Jianren said in surprise and fear.

Ye Qingyu remained silent.

In fact, the scent of blood wafted through the entire city. The city was extremely large, even larger than Snow Capital of Heaven Wasteland Domain, but it was very chaotic, even more so than the small city. He could see many human corpses that had been abandoned on the streets. The humans seemed to be treated even worse than dogs and pigs in this city.

Signs of chaos and panic could be seen throughout the city.

Those in the Human Race in this city were treated more miserably than in the small city.

"Master, this place feels a little familiar," the Puppet Bloodworm said telepathically. "I'm sure that Wei Wubing was here when he was alive."

He was overjoyed.

That was enough to prove several things.

As he mulled over the bloodworm's statement, they exited the small alley.

The roads were very wide but the atmosphere was bleak, and the few passers-by who walked on the roads looked very anxious and flustered. Regardless of whether they were from the Dragon Human Race, Human Race, or from another race, everyone seemed very twitchy and afraid.

The high-rise shops located on both sides of the road were almost all owned by the Dragon Human Race. Hidden Dragon City was strictly governed and the foreign races were all considered lower-class citizens, so it was extremely difficult for them to own shops located on such prime land.

Several Dragon People in those shops looked at Ye Qingyu and Hao Jianren curiously and whispered amongst themselves because they were the only humans who walked on the streets and they both seemed so relaxed.

"I don't see a single human. It is as though they've all completely disappeared," Hao Jianren said fearfully.

Ye Qingyu remained silent.

He released his divine sense in search of something.

Suddenly, they heard the sounds of hurried footsteps ahead.

"Catch those two humans. Don't let them get away..." Several dozen Dragon Human Race warriors rushed toward them. These warriors all held weapons and were clad in blood-colored armor, looking extremely fierce.

"What should we do?" Hao Jianren was starting to panic.

After all, they were in Hidden Dragon City, where there were many Dragon Human Race experts.

Ye Qingyu did not respond.

Soon after, they were completely surrounded by the Dragon Human Race warriors.

"Take them away," the Dragon Human Race warrior who was their leader commanded.

Clang!

Chains were placed over both their heads.

"Don't resist," Ye Qingyu said in Hao Jianren's ear.

Hao Jianren froze, then he obediently stopped trying to resist being captured.

The Dragon Human Race warriors dragged them both away.

They were led out of the streets and stuffed into a prisoner's cart. Fifteen minutes later, the cart arrived in front of a high-rise manor with a large yard. The words "Commander's Residence" were written on a plaque on the main doors and it was heavily guarded. The gates opened and their prisoner's cart was pushed into the manor.

The prisoner's cart passed the main courtyard and was led down winding paths, passing by a military practice ground before finally arriving in the backyard.

"We're here."

The leader of the Dragon Human Race warriors unlocked the prisoner's cart and released both Ye Qingyu and Hao Jianren. Then, he removed the chains around their necks and said with a frown, "What were the two of you thinking? Hmm? Don't you know that humans are being hunted down all across the city? How could you walk on the streets in broad daylight? Are you trying to court death?"

He sounded as though he was admonishing them but there was even a trace of concern in his voice.

Hao Jianren was extremely confused.

Ye Qingyu remained calm and maintained his silence.

"Alright, all the others are being held in the backyard. Go on in and remain quietly inside. Don't go anywhere else... Our mistress is a kind soul who is willing to brave the danger to save the Human Race. If you run around rashly despite my warning, you deserve to die." The leader left them with a warning and instructed his men to lead both Ye Qingyu and Hao Jianren into a quiet courtyard in the backyard.

"Stay here quietly and stop running around. You were both ridiculously brash today," the Dragon Human Race warrior warned them again. "Don't get my mistress into trouble."

They were led into the courtyard.

To their surprise, they discovered that there were many humans residing in the courtyard, filling the entire courtyard to the brim. Everyone turned to stare at them when they were led inside.

"Oh, they rescued another two humans."

"Miss Yuexin is really kind..."

All these humans immediately surrounded the newcomers and clamored to ask, "Where did you guys come from? What's the situation outside?"

Hao Jianren looked at Ye Qingyu, and after Ye Qingyu gave him a small nod, he told the others what he had seen on the streets earlier.

"What? The two of you dared to walk down the main streets in broad daylight? Wow, you were really courting death. Fortunately, Miss Yuexin managed to rescue you in time and you managed to escape with your lives," a middle-aged man who seemed to be in his thirties exclaimed in shock.

"I didn't expect the situation in Hidden Dragon City to be so terrible that not a single person of the Human Race could be seen on the streets," an elderly man said sadly.

Ye Qingyu took a look around his surroundings.

This courtyard was only about twenty thousand to twenty-seven thousand square meters, and it had both pavilions and waterside pavilions. It looked like it was a little dilapidated and it was currently being used as their hiding place. There were almost ten thousand humans in this courtyard and they looked rather healthy. No one had been tortured and it did not seem like they had been captured as cannon fodder either.

Hao Jianren had already befriended several humans and tried to find out more from them.

Suddenly, the doors to the courtyard opened.

"Time to eat."

Several dozen Dragon Human warriors entered with buns and congee.

All the humans in the courtyard lined up in an orderly manner and collected their rations.

A while later, Hao Jianren approached Ye Qingyu and reported the news he had gathered.

"This is the residence of Zhou Tingyu, the commander of the Destroyer Army, one of the three main standing armies in Dragon Scale Province. The 'Miss Zhou' that everyone mentioned earlier is the only daughter of Marshal Zhou and she's known to be one of the four beauties of Hidden Dragon City. It is said that she's extremely gorgeous and innately talented, so she is very popular. She cares for the Human Race and took great risks to save many humans when they were being captured throughout the city…"

Hao Jianren shared all the information he had gleaned from the others.

Not everyone from the Dragon Human Race was evil and savage, there were still kind souls amongst them.

Ye Qingyu nodded.

His impression of the Dragon Human Race improved a little after he heard this news.

Unfortunately, Zhou Yuexin could not single-handedly save all the humans within the city.

Suddenly, a cheer broke out in the crowd.

"Miss Yuexin has arrived."

"Greetings, Miss Yuexin."

Ye Qingyu turned to look in the direction of the cheers.

He saw a beautiful woman in a purple-gold dragon armor escorted by several handsome female warriors. As she entered the courtyard, Ye Qingyu's eyes lit up. He did not expect such an ethereal and beautiful woman to be from the Dragon Human Race. She looked more petite than an average Dragon Human; her skin was as fair as snow, her features were gorgeous and well-defined, her brows were black and sharp, and her eyes shone brightly like black crystals. She was also very slender and her long crimson hair was like a fiery flame, which added to her bold charm.

She was indeed a rare beauty.

Her cultivation was probably around the peak Immortal Step realm. Although this was nothing compared with his own cultivation, she would indeed be considered very powerful amongst her peers to have attained this cultivation at such a young age.

This was the person whose name was on everyone's lips—Zhou Yuexin.

She was a kind-hearted woman who greeted everyone and even gave some sweets to the children. Her laugh was melodious as she said some words of comfort to the humans. "Don't worry. Everyone at the Commander's residence will do our best to protect all of you… There aren't many within Hidden Dragon City who would dare to barge into our residence."

Everyone cheered.

However, Ye Qingyu noticed that her eyes were slightly clouded with worry. Clearly, the situation was not as simple as she tried to make it seem.

"You must be the ones who have just joined us today, right?" Zhou Yuexin noticed Ye Qingyu and greeted him with a smile. His white robes and extraordinary aura made him stand out from the rest of the humans.

"Many thanks for saving my life," Ye Qingyu saluted her with a smile.

Zhou Yuexin smiled and her eyes curved prettily like crescent moons along with it. "You're welcome. A human once saved my life, so this is the least I could do to repay his kindness…" She looked at Ye Qingyu and noticed that he did not give off any yuan qi aura, and his companion, Hao Jianren, only had an above average blood qi, so she assumed that he was a nobleman and Hao Jianren was his servant and did not pay them much attention.

After she reassured the humans, Zhou Yuexin left.

Ye Qingyu looked at her departing figure contemplatively.

"Sigh. Miss Yuexin is truly a kind-hearted soul. She must be under a lot of pressure because of us," said someone in the crowd.

"That's right. She is beautiful and kind-hearted and also extraordinarily talented. No wonder the strongest human of the younger generation here, Guo Wuyan, is in love with her and they've pledged themselves to each other in private. It was rumored that if it wasn't for the chaos that broke out throughout the Dragon Human Domain this time, he would've already eloped with her."

"The Dragon Human Race have always thought that they were of a noble bloodline and forbade inter-marriage between Dragon People and humans, so their relationship will not be accepted here in this domain. Sigh, the stars seem to be conspiring against this pair of lovers."

"Miss Yuexin is truly in love with him and has remained true to him. I heard rumors that many young, handsome, and influential Dragon People have sought her hand in marriage but she rejected them all."

The crowd engaged in animated discussion.

It was clear that everyone was both sympathetic to her plight and admired her.

Ye Qingyu sank into deep thought.

He was surprised to hear about her plight.

An idea came to him and he telepathically reminded Hao Jianren to remain where he was. Then, he silently disappeared on the spot and no one noticed him leaving.

"Miss, miss, there's trouble. The men from the Fugitive Recovery Unit have come again."

A maid ran toward her in a panic.

Zhou Yuexin's brows arched as she said, "Didn't we just send them away? Why are they back? Do they really have the guts to barge into our manor? These people are getting bolder and more impudent."

"Xu Tiexin from the Fugitive Recovery Unit has personally led his men here. He said that he was acting on Prince Xu Xuesheng's orders to search the manor," the maid said breathlessly. "The commander informed me to let you know immediately and asked you to think of a way to send all these humans away as soon as possible. We might not be able to protect them otherwise."

"What?"

Zhou Yuexin immediately turned pale.

Was the situation already so serious?