Zhao Luo had entered the grey cloud with Yan.
'They waited.'
Zhao Luo thought with a pleasure filling in his eyes.
The first thing he saw after entering the cloud was the stunned faces of his companions.
The most shocking view was the aghast look on Feng Mei's face.
"What happened?"
Zhao Luo questioned as he looked at Feng Mei.
He walked towards her after letting go of Yan's hand.
"Brother."
Feng Mei raised her hand and pointed her finger towards the cloud from where they had just entered now.
"What? Is something wrong?"
Zhao Luo who couldn't understand what Feng Mei was trying to tell him, turned around to look at the place where she was pointing at.
"There is nothing we-...."
"Hik."
Zhao Luo hiccuped as he realized something.
'Why can I see through the cloud? Did the others saw me and Yan?"
Zhao Luo was worrying that Yan's secret may have been exposed because of their earlier interaction.
'Tap.'
Wu Yang patted Zhao Luo's left shoulder.
'Tap.'
Mite's hand stopped after landing on his right shoulder.
"Don't worry."
"Love has no boundaries."
"We will not tell anyone."
"Indeed it's a secret between us."
Wu Yang and Mite took turns as they teased Zhao Luo as if they had found his secret.
"But I don't...."
"It's okay Brother Zhao Luo, I support you too."
Mo Lee also added with a cheeky smile on his face.
"No, you guys don't understand."
Zhao Luo tried to correct them but they had already witnessed a lot more than he thought.
Zhao Luo and Yan hadn't kissed outside.
Unfortunately, that is not how the others saw it.
To them, as they were looking at the questioning couple from the opposite direction, which was from inside the cloud, they could only see Zhao Luo's back as he embraced Yan.
His face moving closer to Yan's face.
Therefore they did not doubt that things had progressed a lot between Zhao Luo and Yan.
Zhao Luo didn't mind them misunderstanding the things which happened between him and Yan but he had another problem.
'How do I tell them that I don't swing that way?'
Zhao Luo was confused as the others weren't even letting him speak.
He couldn't just tell them that Yan isn't a guy. He had promised to keep her identity a secret.
"Guys."
While Zhao Luo was wondering Yan spoke with a troubled look.
"I am a..."
Yan paused as she looked at Zhao Luo and showed him an adorable smile.
'Is she going to tell them her secret? Because of me?'
Zhao Luo wondered as he clenched his fist.
"Ahahahaha."
Zhao Luo started laughing suddenly.
"Wu Yang, you could see us but could you hear us too?
Zhao Luo took his chance and asked Wu Yang after laughing like a mad man.
"No, we couldn't. Why?"
Wu Yang answered and the others also exchanged looks with each other.
"Huff."
Zhao Luo let out a sigh of relief.
His glance had changed as he squinted his eyes while looking at his companions. There was a very serious look on his face.
The expression on Zhao Luo's face showed that he was going to tell them about a big secret.
"How many coins did we have?"
Zhao Luo questioned them with a weird but understandable authority in his voice.
"7."
The others answered together.
"According to the conditions of the announcement, only 8 of us could have happened. But aren't we all here now?"
Zhao Luo told them slowly letting them digest what he was saying and then ending his little speech with a question.
But Wu Yang and the others weren't nincompoops.
"Didn't the eighth gold coin fall from the sky? ON YOUR HEAD? When you were kissing Yan."
Wu Yang said as he looked at Zhao Luo's head. The shape had indeed been lifted a little bit because of the impact of the coin.
"That must be hurting."
Mite added as they both held their laughter.
Both Wu Yang and Mite were messing with Zhao Luo without giving him a chance to finish what he was saying.
"Didn't know that you were best friends now."
Zhao Luo said with a grin. He was still calm even when they taunted him.
"The coin did fall from the sky, but you all didn't hear the announcement before the coin fell."
Zhao Luo added as he looked at them with sincere eyes.
'Since they didn't hear the announcement, I can turn this situation around.'
Zhao Luo decided as it was time to clear his name.
"What was the announcement about?"
Wu Yang asked him. He had bitten the bait that Zhao Luo was throwing.
The others also looked at Zhao Luo who was going to tell them what they didn't know.
*cough*
"Be all-embracing and keep your companion close even in the time of separation, only then will you end up staying together."
Zhao Luo started talking after perfectly altering his voice with the voice of Kong Fu Zi.
The announcement sounded similar too.
The others had similar thoughts as they remembered the second teaching even though the meaning was changed by Zhao Luo.
The second part of the announcement was also similar to their first mission on the dragon zone.
Zhao Luo looked at them and discovered that everyone had somewhat believed his made-up story.
"That was the announcement I heard and Yan was quick to act upon it. As for our faces being close we never kissed, it was because you couldn't see our side profiles. That's how I got the coin which allowed me to enter here both Yan."
Zhao Luo explained with a smile as he took out his gold coin which had lost its shine.
The coins in the hand of others were the same too. The coins lost the shine when they were used to enter the cloud.
Nobody knew the truth except Zhao Luo and Yan.
"What you guys saw and what you understood were two different truths. It was a misunderstanding."
Zhao Luo used this small opening to hit the last nail to make his story the only truth.
The others nodded, even Wu Yang and Mite were looking somewhat devastated. They were making fun of Zhao Luo without knowing the full story.
"We are sorry."
Both clasped their hands and bowed their heads just to get a stunning reaction from Zhao Luo.
'Pat, Pat.'
Zhao Luo dropped his hands like bricks on their shoulder and came closer to them slowly.
"It's okay. Haha."
Zhao Luo whispered in their ears with a cold yet calm voice causing them both to shover for a moment.
Zhao Luo had grown a lot during the short time since he had been freed from the capsule.
"We still have a goal to achieve."
Zhao Luo said to them but before he could turn around, something entered his vision.
It was Yan's face.
Yan who was standing at the last, behind everyone, was looking at Zhao Luo with her wet eyes and blushing face.
"Ahem."
Zhao Luo lightly nodded at Yan before turning around.
He had handled the situation pretty well.
The sight of her glistening lips closing on him flashed past his eyes causing him to feel a little awkward around her. So Zhao Lup walked ahead.
"Let's Go."
Zhao Luo shouted awkwardly with a heavy voice as some images kept on flashing in his mind.
'Tap, Tap.'
The group started walking inside the cloud, they were still on the dragon road but the area in front of them looked short.
While walking Zhao Luo and the others kept on looking upwards towards their bars.
Everyone's bar gauge was almost filled with the red quirk. While only Zhao Luo's bar had a crimson quirk.
The red line of his bar was still visible in his bar gauge but above it, the crimson quirk was also close to reaching the end of the bar.
The crimson line was the second layer of the bar that only Zhao Luo had.
For a while, everyone walked till the road ahead ended at a door.
Zhao Luo reached the door, and Wu Yang knocked it like a boar.
'Crea~k.'
The door opened slowly and a garden appeared in their side.
A man was standing in the middle of this mysterious garden in the cloud.
"The dragon has ended."
Zhao Luo said with a smile that he couldn't hide.
"Finally."
Mite sighed as he looked at Hong Ling who had been staring at Zhao Luo since the moment they had entered the grey cloud.
"Clap."
While Feng Mei and Su Shi gave a loud high five, celebrating the end of the dragon road.
"Congratulations on reaching the end of the Dragon Road."
Fu Zi announcement rang out in the garden assuring the others that their celebration wasn't a waste.
Zhao Luo who was standing in the front of the group noticed something which bothered him.
The announcement was in the voice of Fu Zi but the sound wasn't coming from the man in front of them who had his back facing Zhao Luo and the others.
'Who is he?'
Zhao Luo wondered while looking at the straight back of the man in front of him.
