Chapter 178

Hiccups POV:

It's been two weeks since I last saw master Shen but the memories of seeing my master again always brought a smile to my face along with the knowledge that every mile we travelled brought me closer to the Forbidden City and little down time with Blanca and Astrid. So far we hadn't had any trouble returning home other than encountering a few bandit groups that were easily dealt with by me and my dragons before they were handed over to the local authorities. Other than that, the only other thing to happen was that there was a large storm that kept us grounded for a day since we couldn't fly in such hard rainfall. Now though our long journey was finally coming to an end with city that surrounded the Forbidden City in sight, and I felt my heart beat faster with the beat of Toothless' wings knowing who awaited our return in that city and that knowledge made me smile.

Ten minutes later

We all came to land in the courtyard in in front of the palace allowing me to dismount Toothless but just as my feet had just hit the ground the doors of the palace opened up. We all looked up to find both Blanca and Astrid making their way down the stairs quickly with Chin Wu and Ling Cho following behind them. I smiled and walked towards the steps to meet them at the bottom of the steps and the second I reached the steps Blanca and Astrid jumped at me and all I did was smile while hugging them both close to me. When they pulled away Blanca pulled me into a kiss that I was happy to return and when she pulled away, I smiled but grunted in pain when Astrid punched me in the shoulder making me turn to her as she said.

"That's for leaving us for so long and making us worry so much." I rubbed my shoulder and smiled.

"Yeah, I deserved that." As expected, though it was followed by me being pulled into a kiss and when she pulled away she smiled.

"And that's for everything else." It was then Chin Wu and Ling Cho made their presence known with Chin Wu walking up and holding out his arms.

"Hiccup Haddock, the emperor welcomes you back to the Forbidden City and welcomes your new dragons as well." I smiled and bowed to him.

"Thank you, your majesty." I then stood up straight.

"Now Hiccup Haddock, the emperor has heard much news about what happened to you on your journey including how you stopped nobles from poisoning a river and went up against jiangshi to protect a village but the emperor wishes to know what is true and what is mere gossip." I smiled and nodded.

"I would be happy to tell you everything your majesty but first I would like to request fish for my dragons so they may regain their strength from the long journey." He nodded.

"The emperor shall have it done." I smiled as he clapped his hands summoning some servants to us. "Please fetch each of the dragons a basket of fish for them to enjoy." They all nodded before rushing off as Ling Cho said.

"While the servants retrieve the fish for your dragons, perhaps we should all retire to the throne room so you may tell us of what happened on your journey." I smiled and nodded.

"I think that is a fine idea Ling Cho." I then turned to my dragons. "You all stay out here, and some people will bring you fish in a bit while me and others handle some business inside the palace." They all growled and nodded as I turned to Toothless. "Keep an eye on things for me bud and make sure the others don't cause any trouble." He growled and nodded before we all climbed the steps to the palace.

2 hours later

It's been two hours since we arrived back and in that time I haven't been able to leave the palace thrown room due to Chin Wu asking me to show him all that happened on my journey concerning what he'd heard which was mostly about my fights. He did also request that he be able to see me train my dragons which I was happy to do since he already knew how to train them from my first time here when I showed him how me and Toothless first met. Sadly, there was a downside to this in the form of me being sure Astrid and Blanca getting both proud and angry with me for protecting the innocent but putting my life in so much danger. Now I was sitting on my knees in front of the throne where Chin wu was sitting with Ling Cho standing at his side, my dragons were still outside while Blanca and Astrid were sitting at my sides. It was then Chin Wu smiled down at me and said.

"Hiccup Haddock, although your journey was to simply train the dragons of this country you did much good for the people by capturing bandits, stopping corrupt nobles and even fighting against jiangshi." I bowed my head.

"I only did what I needed to do your majesty." I then raised my head.

"Nevertheless, you shall be rewarded with whatever it is you desire from rare treasures to a feast in your honour."

"I do not ask for any of those things your majesty." It was then I remembered the things I found in the chests that were at the bottom of Wā dòng's river. "There is one thing I would like though your majesty."

"Simply ask and if it is within the emperor's power then it shall be given."

"Well as you saw when I first met Wā dòng I discovered four chests at the bottom of her river." He nodded. "What I didn't show you however was what was in them." He nodded. "I believe them to be items that may have once belonged to the royal family and was hoping someone could look them over and tell me of these items." Chin Wu nodded.

"If you present the items, I am sure Ling Cho will happily examine them as he has studied ancient artefacts for many years." Ling Cho nodded.

"It would be my honour your highness."

I stood up and stepped forward while reaching into my bag as Ling Cho walked up before I pulled out the ring and offered it to Ling Cho who took it from me. He hummed in thought while stroking his beard and examined it before the ring opened up to reveal the royal seal and I saw his eyes widened to the point where I thought his eyes would pop out. I would have actually found it pretty funny if I wasn't worried about what it could mean since it might be trouble as it takes a lot to shock Ling Cho. He turned to me and asked.

"You said there were other chests with items in them." I nodded. "Please, bring them out immediately."

I could hear the urgency in his voice and quickly brought out the sword, the necklace with the pendant and the statue placing each on the ground as Ling Cho examined the each one at a time. We all just sat there watching him carefully examine the items one but one with the gentlest of care while nodding his head while his eyes widened from time to time. He then looked up at me with a smile that if it were any wider, I'm sure it would split his face as he looked at a gleam in his eyes that seemed to shine like stars. He put the sword down and walked up to me, placing both hands on my shoulders as he looked me in the eye and asked.

"Hiccup Haddock, do you have any idea what you have brought to us?" I shook my head. "These items are artefacts from the first dynasty that were stolen over a century ago and thought lost to time, you have brought back four of our countries greatest treasures." He. "Hiccup, men have spent their lives searching for these treasures, each worth more than a king's ransom and you simply stumble upon them on a journey." I shrugged.

"I guess so." He chuckled.

"You are without a doubt, the most interesting man I have ever met Hiccup Haddock." I just smiled as he let me go and turned to Chin Wu. "Your highness, these items are priceless heirlooms from the first dynasty and the return of these items is not something that can go unrewarded as they are four of our countries greatest treasures that were believed lost to us for all eternity." Before I could reply to tell them that rewarding me wasn't necessary Chin Wu said.

"The emperor could not agree with you more Ling Cho." He clapped his hand and two servants walked in. "Please fetch Hiccup Haddocks reward but bring four times what he was originally to receive." They all bowed and left but when they were gone, I turned to Chin Wu.

"I honestly require no reward your highness as I stumbled upon the treasures by chance and as for my battles against the foes I encountered on my journey, I was just trying to help out the people."

"You brought the treasures back when you could have kept these heirlooms for yourself and you faced the villains roaming my country could have ignored them." I nodded. "The least my country could do is reward you with simple treasures to add to your wealth." Knowing I wasn't going to win this argument I sighed and nodded with a smile.

"Thank you for your generosity your majesty." He just smiled as servants walked in carrying eight large chests that they placed in front of me before opening them up to show gold coins, jewels, jewellery, gold items and other such treasures.

"Here is your reward for your services to both the royal family and my country." I bowed in thanks to him but inside I was getting a headache wondering how we were going to transport all this treasure back home since it would take time even with my dragons and sorting it all would take even longer but never the less I was grateful.

"Thank you your majesty but would it be asking much to have these treasures transported to my home here in the Forbidden City for the time being?" Chin Wu nodded.

"No trouble at all Hiccup Haddock." He then did a hand gesture to the servants and they got to work carrying the chests away as Ling Cho said.

"Hiccup Haddock, if you do not mind me asking, you brought a device that showed you the information on dragons when a dragons fire shone through the lenses within it correct?" I nodded. "Wasn't one of the reasons for going on your journey so you could unlock the mystery of the five other lenses that could only be unlocked using the flames of all eight dragon species of China?" My eyes widened as I remembered it before I slapped my head.

"With everything that's happened I forgot about them." I pulled out the dragon eye smiling. "Now we can finally see what's on them." As soon as the words left my mouth the dragon eye was snatched right out of my hands and when I turned to see who it did, I saw Blanca holding it next to a smiling Astrid who said.

"You're not getting this back for at least four days which you'll be spending with either me or Blanca at your side to make sure you don't try anything since you need a bit of down time before you get swept up in another adventure." I sighed knowing they weren't giving me a choice, so I just nodded and allowed myself to be led out by the ladies for a few days of fun and relaxation.

5 days later

It's been five days since I got back from my trip across China to find and train all the dragon species of China and in that time, I have done nothing but relax and enjoy some down time with the girls. I admit it wasn't bad since it was nice to enjoy some down time with the girls and only flying for pleasure instead of travel plus it was nice to hold Blanca in my arms again when I slept. Along with this Astrid wanted to put herself up against me and my new bo staff so practicing with her helped kill some time and Astrid enjoyed it. Speaking of Astrid, she'd taken to wearing a kimono when not training since the way her regular attire drew attention to her from the locals and I admit I wasn't complaining since she did look good in it but I could tell it was annoying for her.

It was no picnic for me either since every time I took the girls out of the Forbidden City for a simple walk or shopping trip I'd be on the receiving end of glares of envy from the local males while the girls got looks of lust. Along with this I also had to deal with looks of desire from the local women who'd glare at the girls and all of this made me uncomfortable to the point that my hands were always wrapped around the girls to show the people I'm taken as are the girls. There were other things to keep me entertained though like flying with the girls and helping Ling Cho achieve a childhood dream of riding a dragon to which he'd chosen Fēngbào as the dragon he'd ride. Seeing the look of terror on his face when he first took off made me laugh but once he got used to being up he laughed and the look on his face brought to mind the look of a child on snoggletog morning when they saw their presents waiting for them.

Now after five long days night had fallen over the kingdom and I was with all my dragons behind me, Chin Wu on his throne with Ling Cho at his side, Astrid and Blanca standing to the side of me across from Chin Wu and Ling Cho. I was standing at a small table in front of my dragons putting the lenses in the dragon eye that was facing the wall as I smiled wondering what knowledge these five lenses held. I stepped back from the dragon eye and smiled before I turned to my dragons and signalled them to give me a low burn which they were all happy to do. We all watched as the light shone from the dragon eye spinning around in a rainbow like when I used the light of the titan wing dramillion to find where the supposed king of dragons lived. When the light stopped it revealed a long tale and four different coloured dragons surrounding it with the text in the middle being jade green while the dragons were azure blue, red, dark purple and white. It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by Chin Wu asking.

"What knowledge do these lenses possess Hiccup Haddock?" I rubbed my chin as I read the Chinese wording.

"From what I can tell it's about a species of dragon known as the Longwang." Ling Cho stroked his beard.

"The name sounds familiar but I can't seem to remember from where." He then gestured to the text. "What does the rest of it say?" I examined the text and read.

"Centuries ago a great drought plagued the land of China destroying the country as with no water the crops dried out as they had no water to nourish them, their livestock perished with no water to sustain them and the people suffered under the blazing sun with nothing to quench their thirst or food to feed themselves. For weeks the people suffered for no rain had come to ease their suffering and return life to their land despite their please to the Jade emperor begging him to bring them rain while offering him what little they could but their cries continued to go unheard by the Jade emperor. Their please however did reach the ears of the white dragon Báilóng, one of the four dragon kings who lived in the eastern sea as its guardians who with the three other kings left the ocean to play in the clouds. Báilóng came to see what was causing the people so much suffering and was horrified by the sight of the crops withering, the grass turning yellow and fields cracking under the burning sun as the people did their best to tend to the starving children. Seeing such pain he summoned the three other dragon kings, the Azure Dragon Qīnglóng, the Red Dragon Zhūlóng and the Black Dragon Xuánlóng, showing his brethren how the people were suffering.

The four great dragon kings knew that if the people did not get rain soon then they would surely die of starvation as there was no water to grow rice or fill their wells. Seeing as the Jade Emperor was ignoring the calls of the people they decided it better for them to go to his palace and ask for him to send rain for the people and end the drought that plagued the land. When they arrived at his palace he was no happy to see them away from the ocean and interrupting the dance some fairies were performing for his entertainment. They ignored the Jade Emperors anger and made their request for him to end the peoples suffering by giving them the rain their land so desperately needed to return life to it. The Jade emperor told them he'd send rain to the people followed by an order to return to the ocean where they came from before they thanked him and left the palace to return to their home in the ocean.

Days passed and Báilóng once more flew over the land hoping to see it full of life once more with children playing on the streets while their parents tended to the fields. What he saw however was not such a joyful scene but one that would bring an ache to the dragons heart whenever the mere image flashed by his mind in a memory. Down below on the land there was still no life in it and things had gotten worse for the people to the point where they were eating dry bark off trees, dead grass and even the earth itself. This was more than enough proof for Báilóng that the Jade Emperor did not do as he promised and had not brought rain to the suffering people to end the drought. Báilóng summoned the other dragon kings to show them the peoples suffering and they too were pained by the sight of the peoples suffering. They realized that if they went to the Jade Emperor with a request to give rain to the people they would only suffer the same results as he cared for only his own pleasure and not for the people of China.

It was then the Azure dragon Qīnglóng came up with an idea of how they themselves would be able to bring rain to the people of China bringing life back into the land and ending the people suffering. The plan was for them to scoop water from their home in the eastern sea in their mouths and fly over the land while spraying the water from their mouths making it fall like rain upon the land. They knew that should they do this they would risk the wrath of the Jade Emperor who might believe they took too much upon themselves but they knew the people needed their help and it was something they would not regret. With this in mind they returned to their ocean home and gathered the needed water in their mouths before returning to the country so they could begin bringing life to the land. The four mighty dragons flew over the land spraying the water from their mouths in the sky until the clouds began to gather and burst with rain that poured down on the land below.

The people ran out of their homes into the rain with their hands held out as they cried out in joy at the rain the dragons had brought them while said dragons looked down at the people with joy seeing their suffering had come to an end. Not all were happy with the actions of the dragons though, especially the god of the sea who was not the least bit happy with them as he believed they'd stolen water from his sea and reported it to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor was furious with the dragons for acting without his consent and sent out his armies with all his heavenly generals to arrest the dragons. The dragons knew that there was no way for them to escape so they did not fight back as they were chained up and brought to the Jade Emperors palace to face punishment. The Jade Emperor had the four of them separated before he had the mountain god bring four mountains down on them imprisoning the dragons within them.

The dragons however did not regret what they had done for the people of the land and still wished to serve the people anyway that they could even if it were from their prisons. Using what little manoeuvrability that they could they dug deep into the ground within the mountains until the holes burst with water that leaked from the sides of the mountains. These springs formed the Heilongjian river in the north, the Huanghe river in Central China, the Changjiang river in the south and the Zhujiang river in the farther south, the four great rivers of China. Since then there have been many mortals and gods who opposed the dragons imprisonment and begged the Jade Emperor to free them from their prisons but to no avail for the Jade Emperor shall not let his anger at them go and none went up against him, fearing his power. Despite this knowledge the dragons still wait in their stone prisons holding onto the hope that someday someone either god or mortal shall come to break the chains that hold their bodies and allow them to taste freedom once more." I turned to the rooms inhabitants. "That's where the story ends." Ling Cho stroked his beard as he said.

"I remember this old story from when I was a boy and my grandfather would sit me down on his lap and tell me stories but I always assumed this was just a legend told to children." I turned to him.

"Ling Cho, if there's one thing I've learnt it's that legends often turn out to have at least some truth to them since I've gone up against enough beasts that were considered legend." I then turned to the dragon eye. "Well that's the jewelled lens but what's on the others." I lifted it up and twisted the end to focus the light through another gem and the lights swirled around changing until the light turned yellow revealing a map. "Is this a map of China?" Ling Cho walked up and examined it.

"This is indeed a map of the country and I believe these curled up dragons are where the four dragon kings are being imprisoned?" It was then I noticed there were four dragons that were azure, red, white and dark purple. "But why would the gods give you this map is what I wonder." I already knew the reason why.

"Don't you remember the end of the story?" He turned to me but my eyes never left the map. "There were gods who disagreed with the Jade Emperors decision to imprison the dragons." I turned to him. "I think they want me to free the dragon kings." Everyone in the room stared at me except for Astrid who just looked lost since she was still learning the language before Chin Wu asked.

"Are you sure that is wise Hiccup Haddock?" I turned to him. "Should you release them then you might incur the wrath of the Jade Emperor." I turned to him as I gestured to the map.

"Those dragons gave up their freedom for the people of your country so they could have water to grow their crops to feed their children and even when imprisoned they still served the people." I lowered my arms. "Those dragons deserve their freedom and I can't just sit down knowing that they're imprisoned for doing what they could to help the people while the leader of the gods couldn't be bothered to do the right thing and help those who worshiped him." I took a breath. "Those who do not care for the people they lead do not have the right to be a leader themselves and if I stood by and left things as they were I wouldn't have the right to call myself a friend to dragons and the people." I then felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Blanca.

"Hiccup if you do this you risk going up against the Jade Emperor himself and I don't want to lose you to him." I smiled at her as I gently caressed her face.

"I promise you Blanca I will come back to you." I turned to Astrid. "Both of you!" She smiled as I turned back to the map. "I'm going to need some time to go over this map and plot out the best routes to get to these places." I looked the map up and down. "And possibly draw the entire map so I can find my way around." It was then Astrid asked.

"Hiccup, what's going on with the dragon eye."

I turned to the dragon eye and saw the lenses glowing in their slots but before I could do anything the lenses floated out of their slots and hovered in place as we all watched. The lenses pressed together while glowing gold and slowly rotated as they merged into one single item that glowed brighter and spun faster with every passing second. Then there was a single blinding gold flash making me and everyone else cover our eyes to block out the bright golden light since it was so bright. When the light died down, I lowered my hands to find a golden pendant floating above the dragon eye before it slowly lowered to the table. I walked up to it and picked up using my prosthetic hand and found it to be a golden Chinese dragon that had circled around itself with its head just beneath the end of its tail forming a ring that was the size of my fist but as thick as my index finger. (AN: Picture the dragon seal from the movie, Journey to China: Mystery of the man in the iron mask which might be used in the future.)

I turned the pendant around in my hand but from what I could tell there was nothing odd about it until I thought about the map and how I hadn't been able to study it that long. It was then the pendant floated out of my hand and hovered in front of me while rapidly spinning and much to my surprise, growing until it was the slightly taller than me. In the centre of the ring the map appeared in perfect clarity. This time however there was another dragon on the map, a black nightfury symbol exactly where the palace was, and it wasn't that hard to figure out the nightfury was me. I smiled knowing that with this map I'd have no trouble finding the mountains that the dragons are being held in. It was then I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Astrid looking at me as she said.

"Hiccup, you seem to have forgotten that I don't speak Chinese so do you think you could tell me what's going on?" I smiled at her uneasily as I rubbed the back of my head.

"Sorry Astrid, forgot you don't speak Chinese but here's what's happening."

I gave Astrid a quick update on what was going on with the story of the dragons and how I intended to free them while going up against the Jade Emperors rule to do so. Astrid just stood there silently listening to me explain everything to her about what we learned and what I intend to do with this new information. When I told her I intended to go and free the dragons she didn't reply and just stared at me which is what is presently happening and I had to say the silence was making me nervous. She then smiled and shook her head while crossing her arms before saying.

"I've known you since we were kids and if there's one thing, I've learnt it's that when you set your mind to something, trying to stop you is a lost cause so it better to just let you do it even if you know that the wrong kind of person is going to be angered in the process." I smiled at her and shrugged.

"Comes with the territory of me trying to do the right thing." Blanca then giggled as she looked at Astrid and said.

"If you wish to be with him then you must learn how to accept and get used to it, but it does take time." She then gestured to herself. "I'm still trying to get used to it and I'm married to the man." She then got a flirty smile. "But it does have a way of adding to his natural charm." I blushed as her and Astrid giggled before Astrid said.

"Well either way you are going to be spending a few more days with us before going on another adventure." I nodded.

"I know from past experience that arguing with you would be a lost cause so I won't bother arguing." She smiled as I began examining the map trying to figure out how to shrink it back down to the size of a pendant.

AN: Hey guys, yes I know this chapter is shorter than usual but I wanted to save the journey to free the four dragon kings for the next chapter. I know it's a bit of a cliffhanger but if I did the adventure now then I wouldn't update for another week and highly doubt any of you wanted to wait that long to find out what was on the lenses. Anyway if you're curious to know what's going to happen with the four dragon kings and the Jade Emperor you'll have to wait and see. Till next time stay safe, please review kindly and actually review.