Her consciousness felt as though it were being pulled by something. At first, Mu Wanwan felt a little uncomfortable and tried struggling a few times, gradually becoming clear-headed.
Only this time, when she opened her eyes, she did not see the familiar room or the familiar Mr. Dragon. Instead, she felt as though she had arrived somewhere very unfamiliar—
Beneath her feet were filthy bluestone slabs, messily joined together. The gaps were filled with dirty muddy water, and the stench of rubbish filled the air. A drop of rain fell from the gloomy sky and landed directly on her eyelashes, but it only blurred her vision for an instant. It did not bring any unpleasant physical sensation.
Mu Wanwan quickly realised something was wrong. She tentatively stepped on the ground a few times. Her rough cloth shoes were not stained with muddy water, but the unpleasant damp feeling was still there. The depressing sensation of rain hitting her head was also still there. Yet when she touched her head, it was dry.
Was she… dreaming?
Once she realised she was dreaming, Mu Wanwan was no longer so nervous.
Ever since transmigrating into the book, she had not dreamed in a long time. The last time she dreamed, she had dreamed that she had earned many spirit stones and piled them beside Mr. Dragon.
Only this dream was far too clear. Even the sound of rain falling onto the ground was distinct.
Mu Wanwan walked forward two unreal steps and slightly furrowed her brows—
This dream was so dark. Everything around her was damp and gloomy, and the walls of the alley were all filthy.
When her gaze swept to one corner, Mu Wanwan’s heart jumped. She felt a little frightened. There were drip, drip, drip sounds there; it was covered in bloodstains.
She was somewhat afraid and quickened her pace, wanting to leave this dark alley. She walked for who knew how long before finally seeing a person. To be accurate, it was a child, a child who seemed to be running away—
He looked about eight or nine years old. He wore a tattered grey cloak that, despite being ragged, clearly showed he had tried hard to keep it clean. His eyes were fierce, and his arms and face were stained with blood. He quickly ran past Mu Wanwan. His long hair was messy, and his injured hand worked hard to pull up the hood of his cloak, but Mu Wanwan still caught a glimpse of his not-yet-very-long horns and a pair of white fluffy ears.
Was this… Mr. Dragon?
Mu Wanwan was a little surprised. She hesitated for a second, and the child version of Mr. Dragon had already run far away. Through the rain curtain, she could only see the long dragon tail dragging behind him.
Ha.
There was also the tip of his tail. The still-tender white fur at the tip was stained with blood, making her feel both heartache and a little urge to laugh.
What kind of dragon was this fluffy?
As this thought flashed through her mind, Mu Wanwan was just about to chase in the direction he had fled when a string of chaotic footsteps sounded behind her.
“Damn it, little mutt!” Several adolescent dragon youths ran over furiously. They did not look too good either. They also wore tattered cloaks, and their dragon horns and bodies were dirty, with a faint stink.
Compared with Mr. Dragon, they really paid far too little attention to hygiene.
Mu Wanwan felt a little disgusted.
“Fuck! That mutt rummaged through the rubbish bin we found first again.” The dragon youth in the lead had black scales faintly appearing on his face. He looked like a bad-tempered black dragon. “Brothers, today we must kill him. Let’s see who’s the boss of this dark alley.”
Mu Wanwan: “…”
And yet, at his command, the other dragons all gave excited low growls, their voices full of joy and satisfaction from imagining beating Mr. Dragon up.
Mu Wanwan became a little worried. Looking at this group of dragons, all much bigger than Mr. Dragon, she anxiously ran in the direction Mr. Dragon had fled. But that troublesome dragon, although he looked badly injured and was young, ran very quickly. She searched together with that group of adolescent dragons for an entire afternoon in the dream, yet still could not find him.
“Fuck, this brat sure knows how to hide.” The black dragon youth was exhausted and waved his hand to signal the other dragons to stop. “Let’s go. It’s almost night. The dragons from the next alley might come to steal our territory. Let’s go.”
The other dragons also followed him timidly and left.
Mu Wanwan stood beside them and wiped at the non-existent sweat on her forehead. Seeing them leave, she even felt a little pride and sadness from who knew where—
So in her heart, Mr. Dragon had lived this miserably when he was young?
Rummaging through rubbish bins and being chased and beaten by a gang of delinquent dragons?
She was caught between laughter and tears. Not knowing when she would wake up, she simply decided to carefully look at the living environment of the young Mr. Dragon in her dream.
That afternoon, she and the black dragon youth had practically run through the entire abandoned No. 7 Dark Alley district. Calling it a dark alley district was already praise. Strictly speaking, it was more fitting to call it a mixture of a border slum and rubbish dump.
She did not know exactly where this place was, but according to what she observed that afternoon, most of those living here were dragons. There were also some fairly strong beastmen and people of other races. It was a chaotic mix, with many younglings and orphans.
Apart from that, there were rats, bugs, and some low-level creatures everywhere. There were even shops and inns, as though it formed a complete street of its own.
The sky gradually darkened. Following a remote, inconspicuous little alley, Mu Wanwan finally had an intuition that the tiny Mr. Dragon would be hiding inside this alley. This alley seemed endless at a glance. The terrain was very low, and at one look, it was full of dirty muddy water.
The accumulated water was almost past her ankles.
She even saw something inside struggling about, like either a snake or a worm.
If this were not a dream, she would definitely turn around and leave.
Mu Wanwan gave a bitter laugh. Why exactly had she imagined Mr. Dragon’s childhood to be this miserable? If not, she would not have had to endure this realistic, terrible sensation.
Even so, she still wanted to know what kind of days the dream version of him had lived. So Mu Wanwan did not hesitate. She gathered her courage and walked in—
It was wet and dirty, and there were things like rats brushing against her calves. Mu Wanwan felt as though she was about to suffocate. She walked through the icy muddy water for more than ten minutes, relying on instinct as she turned several corners. Finally, she reached the end.
In truth, she felt sick to her stomach. Over the past dozen or so minutes, the water had grown deeper and deeper, and there were more and more filthy things. She had even seen a two-headed snake swim past her leg, flicking its red tongue, frightening her so much she nearly froze in place.
Mu Wanwan was shivering from the cold. She turned the final corner and suddenly met a pair of brilliant pupils like flowing gold. Her entire body froze in place.
It was Mr. Dragon.
He was barefoot, the soles of his feet transformed into sharp claws, deeply embedded in the not-too-high but not-too-low wall. He was half-crouched at the end of the alley. The wounds on his arms had scabbed over, and the tip of his tail was raised defensively. Blood wound down from it, sliding along the wall.
This was the first time Mu Wanwan had seen Mr. Dragon awake—
His eyes were terrifyingly bright. His thick black brows were furrowed, his long curled eyelashes were like two brushes, and his lips were pressed together. He stared at her fiercely, as though in the next second he would pounce over and tear her apart with his sharp claws.
He was very fierce. His expression was cold. He was clearly still a very young dragon, yet he seemed to have already lost all expression and become facially paralysed. o(╯□╰)o
“Mr… Mr. Dragon…”
Mu Wanwan felt a little frightened and subconsciously called out his name.
But the person opposite gave no reaction. He only kept staring in the direction where she had been standing. Perhaps because he was nervous, the pair of ears on his head twitched.
The moment his ears twitched, Mu Wanwan almost broke character. Clutching her chest, which had been frightened into beating a little faster, she tentatively walked inward.
Mr. Dragon did not move. He only continued to stare defensively in the direction where she had stood earlier.
So he was on guard?
Mu Wanwan let out a breath of relief and somewhat embarrassingly rubbed her cheeks. She was dreaming. Why was she instead becoming afraid of a person in her own dream?
She circled around behind Mr. Dragon and walked further inside. The water gradually grew higher. She did not want to keep enduring that terrible sensation, so she walked inward in one breath for a long time. After turning through several more forks, she finally reached a relatively drier place.
Mu Wanwan sighed and lowered her head to look at her clothes, which had not been stained by anything dirty. She could not help shivering.
Only after confirming that nothing had really stuck to her did she have the mood to start examining her surroundings—
This was probably Mr. Dragon’s secret base. There were many small stones around, raising the ground a little and ensuring the inside would not be submerged by water.
Near the corner, there was also a… house? Made from stones, wooden blocks, and some thatch.
A dull pain rose in her heart. Mu Wanwan walked toward that tiny “house,” which was only slightly taller than she was now and had clearly been built with endless effort.
Large stones were used as the foundation. Gaps had been clawed into the edges to hold things in place. Smaller stones were stacked on top, with wooden boards wedged between them. Bit by bit, it had been built into a house.
Very small, very broken, and very painstakingly made.
Mu Wanwan’s hand, which had been about to pull open the shabby wooden door, suddenly stopped in midair. She pinched her slightly trembling fingers and silently stood beside the little house, waiting for a long time.
She waited until Mr. Dragon finished standing guard and dragged his injured tail back “home.”
The colour of his eyes had already turned normal. They were long, narrow, and pitch black, like two pieces of black jade. Reflected inside them was this shabby little corner, but they seemed to carry a little relaxed peace.
Mu Wanwan watched as he slowly walked toward his “home,” wearing a tattered grey cloak that covered the fluffy ears he could not hide. Yet his back was held perfectly straight, and he even tugged at his somewhat curled cuffs, looking as proud and elegant as a noble.
Honestly, if not for Mr. Dragon’s ears twitching from time to time, she would really have been fooled by his arrogant, cool, domineering CEO-like aura.
Mu Wanwan watched him walk in from the alley entrance. Over the short distance of just a dozen or so steps, he adjusted his clothes several times. They were clearly soaked and dirty; tidying them made no difference at all, yet he was still so particular.
So Mr. Dragon was such a fussy dragon?
Mu Wanwan’s eyes felt a little sore. She watched him walk to the door with slightly bright eyes, pretending to open the door grandly, then softly say, “Daddy’s home.”
Daddy? Had Mr. Dragon become a father so young?
Mu Wanwan’s heart felt sour, and she was also a little curious. She quietly followed behind him, bending down to enter.
Ah, the room was pitch-black, with only a little light coming in from outside.
She carefully distinguished the scene for several moments before seeing what Mr. Dragon was talking to.
How was it some little dragon like she had imagined?
It was two white eggs!
Two eggs that were very obviously spirit-chicken eggs. =_=!! Exactly the same as the ones she had just bought, and about the same size too.
Author’s note:
Little Mr. Dragon, cheeks faintly red: “I’m not being fussy because I’m poor. I just like being clean, hmph!”
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