"Isn't that the Green Emperor? What's it doing here?"
Jia Xu's eyes flickered with surprise. That unmistakable green fur—there could be no one else. In the Great Yi Dynasty, everyone had a vivid, soul-deep impression of the Green Emperor. It haunted their dreams like a restless ghost wandering the midnight hour.
"It really is him. And that's Sikong Zhaixing too. As for the other two... I can't say I recognize them," Wu Yong said, blinking slowly.
"The Green Emperor… you really see it everywhere," Yi Tianxing muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Others might not know, but how could he not? That was one of the infamous Four Great Rogues who had wreaked havoc across the Hanhai Dragon Palace, robbing and looting with abandon. Yi Tianxing had once turned the tables and double-crossed the rogues, stealing from them after they'd robbed others. Others might be in the dark, but the Green Emperor definitely knew who had done it. Seeing it again now, even Yi Tianxing felt a little awkward.
Of course, such an emotion only flashed through his mind for a moment.
With his state of mind, he wouldn't dwell on such things.
Looking closely, he saw a giant flying carpet circling through the sky. Standing tall upon it were none other than the Green Emperor, Invincible General, Sikong Zhaixing, and the archaeologist Liu Qu. Together, they were the Four Great Rogues, not one missing.
At this moment, they stood proudly on the flying carpet, faces glowing with excitement—clearly having pulled off another big score.
Moo!!
Suddenly, a thunderous bellow rang out—like a bull's roar fused with deafening thunder. It carried a fearsome aura, as if divine wrath had descended. Even the surrounding tsunami and storm winds seemed born of its presence.
Looking closer, a giant beast surged from the ocean, standing atop a thousand-zhang tidal wave, exuding overwhelming might. Its shape resembled a bull, yet it had only one leg, and its body shimmered with radiant sun and moonlight. It was enormous, easily over a thousand zhang tall.
"That's a Kui Ox—a legendary ferocious beast. How could it be here? And it's confronting the Green Emperor? Judging by its rage, it must've been provoked," Jia Xu said with a frown.
The creature's features were too distinct to mistake.
According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Kui Ox, also known as the Thunder Beast, is a one-legged beast shaped like an ox, hornless, with a gray-blue hide. Wherever it appears, it brings wind and rain, and its cry is thunder. Its body glows with sun and moonlight.
Everything described matched perfectly. In the ocean, it was in its element—swift and deadly. Born with command over thunder and lightning, once enraged, it could cause apocalyptic devastation.
Around it, countless sea beasts surged in a black tide, their numbers too great to count. Even the sky above teemed with ferocious seabirds, glaring with bloodlust—a full-blown beast tide in motion.
Their target was obvious: the Green Emperor and its fellow rogues.
"Creatures like the Kui Ox are usually reclusive unless provoked. It must've been deeply offended," Zhuge Liang mused.
It was clear—this was a pursuit.
The Kui Ox was highly intelligent. Whatever the Green Emperor had done, it had clearly crossed a line.
"You overgrown black cow! Why so petty? I only took a few of your dusty old trinkets. Do you really have to chase us down like this?" the Green Emperor shouted, standing tall on the flying carpet like a person. Its hind legs were planted, one paw on its hip, the other waving at the Kui Ox in theatrical rage.
Sikong Zhaixing and Liu Qu twitched at the corners of their mouths.
If someone robbed your ancestral crypt, you'd probably want to tear them limb from limb, too, they silently muttered.
ROAR!!
Sure enough, the Kui Ox exploded in rage. Its ancestor's relics had been stolen—and now the thief had the nerve to scold it? Unforgivable.
With a furious roar, the sea beasts surged like a tidal wave, and thunder rained from the skies toward the flying carpet, aiming to obliterate it.
The Kui Ox had entered a full-blown frenzy.
The Four Great Rogues paled.
Invincible General quickly summoned his iron bucket, releasing a noxious wave of night incense to clash with the thunderbolts, dispersing many of them in a storm of stench and lightning.
"Aiya, really! Just for a little trinket? Come now, allow His Majesty to sing you a song in apology. A heartfelt tune to soothe your soul!" the Green Emperor declared cheerfully.
"...He's going to sing?" Sikong Zhaixing and the others exchanged horrified looks—and without a word, immediately pulled out jade cicadas, jamming them into their ears to seal off their hearing. They also backed away, trying to get as far from the dog as possible.
"What?! The Green Emperor's about to sing?!" came the outcry from the distant Skyboat.
The soldiers on board didn't hesitate. With muscle memory honed by trauma, they all plugged their ears with jade cicadas. Even this might not save them—but anything to lessen the blow.
This was soul-deep terror.
"The Green Emperor still leaves a trail of suffering wherever it goes," Yi Tianxing said with a deep breath, shaking his head.
At his level, especially with the Hongmeng Heavenly Emperor Pagoda guarding his soul, he no longer needed such tools. The Green Emperor's songs were horrifying, yes, but not fatal.
Then, the Green Emperor drew a deep breath. Its eyes glowed with a strange devotion, fully immersed in some mystical emotion.
"The spring breeze stirs blossoms, butterflies dance the trees,I send you south, toward the distant fields and seas.You said you'd sketch the snow, return with tea to share,Under snowy roofs, we'd sit without a care..."
As the Green Emperor began to sing, spring winds stirred above the ocean. In the distance, one could see endless peach groves bursting into bloom. Butterflies danced. Then suddenly, snowflakes fell, and a biting cold took hold—so fierce even the sea began to freeze.
The song had begun to alter reality itself.
"It's still that god-awful screech," Yi Tianxing muttered, face twitching.
No matter the lyrics, the Green Emperor's voice always turned them into auditory torture. It inspired a primal urge to kill.
Even the soldiers aboard the Skyboat were beginning to freeze in place, their expressions stiffening in pain and dismay.
The song grew louder.
"You said: pouty lips, pout pout pout... just one pout, and you'll come around!"
The Green Emperor pouted, dramatically.
Even worse, it grew to hundreds of zhang tall, its expression magnified for all to see—a pouting green dog of immense proportions.
The Kui Ox saw it.The sea beasts saw it.Everyone on the Skyboat saw it.
That sight—that pout—shattered worlds. No, it darkened the skies.
Soldiers trembled uncontrollably, their stomachs churning with nausea, despair, and existential pain.
"My eyes! I'm blind!"
"This must be a nightmare. What's with the pouty lips?! Why is it making flirty eyes?!"
"This is terrifying. My soul is vibrating. I can't get that pout out of my head!"
Even Jia Xu and Zhuge Liang looked stricken.
"It's always been like this. That cursed song..." Jia Xu shook his head with a bitter smile.
Then—unbelievably—the Kui Ox itself began drifting closer, drawn by some invisible force. That pout seemed to have a gravitational pull.
But the Green Emperor was too immersed to care.
"You said: pouty lips, pout pout pout... just one pout, and the flowers bloom now!"
It pouted again, swaying with delight.
So terrible was the display that sea beasts began vomiting blood, unable to bear the internal chaos. The trauma was not just physical—it was spiritual.
"You said: pouty lips, I pout pout pout... just one pout, till you come back now!"
The song echoed across the ocean like a curse.
From below, fish surfaced and began pouting back, blowing bubbles at the Green Emperor.
Meanwhile, Sikong Zhaixing and the others had long since abandoned the flying carpet, fleeing hundreds of zhang away, faces filled with despair.
They were broken.
Their minds echoed with just one sound:
Pout. Pout. Pout.