“Hah! I never thought there would come a day when I could walk through this place openly.”
One of the guards laughed. He appeared fairly young and had dark-green skin. Whenever he spoke, a tongue much longer than an ordinary person’s occasionally slipped out of his mouth.
“In the past, how would I have dared? Anyone who crossed this line would probably have been killed immediately by the Dragon-Protector guards.”
He was a second-rank toad beastman.
“That’s right.”
Another guard smiled.
“Hehe, look at it now. Does this place resemble His Majesty’s sleeping quarters at all? Tch, there are even weeds growing here. It probably hasn’t been cleaned once this entire month.”
His skin was wet and slippery, with faint earthen scales visible beneath it.
He was a second-rank grass-carp beastman.
“Enough nonsense. Hurry up and get the job done.”
Another guard appeared to be the leader of the group. His eyes had vertical pupils, identifying him as a snake beastman. His expression was solemn and sinister.
“I heard that warming jade bed is priceless. It wasn’t easy to discover that Lord Ao Qin and many of the dragon guards would be away today. Hardly anyone is patrolling the dragon residence, and the sacrificial bride happens to be away as well.”
“There’s only that crippled dragon inside the palace. Don’t waste time.”
“And don’t forget the crippled dragon’s horns.”
The beastman walking at the very back was the tallest and strongest of the four. His strength approached the fourth rank, and he was also the boldest.
“Although I heard they’ve already been ruined, they should still be fairly hard. If we dig them out completely, we can probably sell them for some money.”
“Hehe, Big Brother is right.”
The toad beastman spat and excitedly rubbed his hands together.
“I’ve worked in this dragon residence for so many years, yet I’m still nothing more than a low-ranking guard. Once we finish this job, I’m running away. Who wants to keep risking their life in this place?”
The grass-carp beastman cursed fiercely as well.
“Damn it, let’s hurry. It cost me a fortune in gold coins to trick that greedy superior of mine into going out drinking.”
Their voices were not loud, but they could not escape Mr. Dragon’s spiritual consciousness.
There were four of them.
They would not be difficult to handle.
Mr. Dragon narrowed his eyes slightly.
After he had been severely injured, most of the items inside his sleeping quarters had been removed. Only the warming jade bed remained.
Part of the reason was probably that the servants had failed to recognise its value. Another possibility was that they disliked the bloodstains covering it.
Now Madam had finally managed to clean the courtyard and room thoroughly.
These guards had somehow learned about the bed and wanted to steal it.
Wanting to dig out his broken horns was one matter.
But they even wanted to steal their marital bed.
Heh.
A month ago, he probably would have been completely powerless to resist them.
But now…
Mr. Dragon leisurely picked up the cage containing the spirit-chicken chicks and returned to the room. Then he collected the three mid-grade spirit stones Mu Wanwan had deliberately left at home.
Wasn’t it fortunate that someone had come to deliver spirit stones to him?
He had originally planned to wait until the men entered the courtyard before dealing with them.
But then he suddenly heard the grass-carp beastman, who was approaching the gate, say,
“Big Brother, after we finish, could we hide inside the courtyard and wait for that madam to come back…”
The toad beastman exchanged a knowing glance with him and smiled obscenely.
“We’re leaving anyway. We might as well enjoy ourselves first. I saw that madam from a distance during His Majesty’s wedding.”
“She may not be as stunning as the girl who stood beside her, but she’s still a rare beauty. And she’s human too. Her skin looked so tender. I wonder what it would feel like to—”
Before he could finish the final two words, the toad beastman abruptly stopped.
His eyes widened until they were almost perfectly round. His face turned crimson, as though he were enduring enormous pressure.
He watched helplessly as black mist suddenly appeared and gradually swallowed his body.
He did not even have time to release a single scream.
“Who’s there?!”
The two snake beastmen immediately became alert.
Before they could assume defensive positions, they watched the grass-carp guard, who had been unable to evade in time, become rapidly enveloped by the black mist.
His body dissolved into nothingness.
The courtyard gate slowly opened.
Hideous black-and-red curse markings covered Mr. Dragon’s face, while flames burned within his phoenix-shaped eyes.
“You deserve to die.”
His cold, furious voice rang out.
Those were the final words the two snake beastmen heard in their lives.
Black mist spread across the sky and completely surrounded them.
They struggled desperately, but ultimately managed only a single scream before they too dissolved into nothingness.
The black mist gradually dispersed.
The alley outside the courtyard became peaceful once more.
The ground was perfectly clean, with only several spatial pouches scattered across it.
Not even a trace of ash remained from the guards who had stood there moments earlier.
The curse markings across Mr. Dragon’s face shifted like flowing blood.
The backlash from using his ability ruptured his meridians, and blood spilled from the corner of his lips.
The three mid-grade spirit stones in his hand had crumbled into powder.
The golden light in Mr. Dragon’s eyes had not faded.
He was furious—and terrified.
What if Madam had not possessed such a special talent?
What if she had not cared for him so well during this period?
Then perhaps…
Perhaps…
They had intended to harm her.
How dare they?
Mr. Dragon trembled violently from the pain.
The hand he used to support himself against the courtyard gate tightened until his knuckles turned white.
His already wickedly handsome face had become terrifying enough to inspire genuine fear.
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Mengmeng hopped out of the room, intending to help.
But the sight of Mr. Dragon leaning against the gate frightened it.
Its tiny body trembled as it watched him from a distance. It did not even dare flap its small wings arrogantly.
After some time, Mr. Dragon finally felt slightly better.
He slowly straightened himself, walked forward and collected the spoils.
There were four spatial pouches.
Three were low-grade, while one was mid-grade.
Mr. Dragon held the three low-grade spatial pouches in his hands. His palms transformed into dragon claws, and he initially intended to crush them immediately.
But then an image appeared in his mind—
Mu Wanwan painstakingly saving spirit stones in front of him.
Although these three spatial pouches were not particularly valuable, he was no longer the ruler he had once been.
Mr. Dragon’s hands slowly returned to normal.
He wiped away the blood at the corner of his lips and opened one of the spatial pouches, immediately absorbing all several dozen low-grade spirit stones stored inside.
Only after a short while did his complexion improve slightly.
Mr. Dragon closed the courtyard gate, carried the spirit-chicken chicks out of the room and roughly grabbed Mengmeng before throwing it inside.
Only then did he have the attention to inspect the remaining three spatial pouches.
These guards were extremely poor.
Their combined wealth amounted to only slightly more than two hundred low-grade spirit stones and around thirty mid-grade spirit stones.
After subtracting the stones he had absorbed, only slightly more than one hundred low-grade stones remained.
Their medicinal pills consisted solely of the most ordinary first-rank Spirit-Restoring Pills, though there were many other miscellaneous objects.
The wealthiest had been the snake beastman who served as their leader.
The mid-grade spatial pouch itself was worth twenty or thirty mid-grade spirit stones.
Inside were third-rank Spirit-Restoring Pills and several other items, including two second-rank flying swords.
They would be suitable for Madam.
At the thought of Mu Wanwan, who was currently outside, Mr. Dragon’s gaze softened briefly.
He opened the final spatial pouch and swept through it with his spiritual consciousness.
His eyes brightened.
There was unexpectedly a small treasure inside.
Mr. Dragon’s lips curved faintly. The hostility within his heart also seemed to fade somewhat.
It was a green-jade hairpin intended to preserve its owner’s life.
The jade used to carve it was not particularly high quality, but an exquisite formation had been engraved within it.
It could withstand the full-force attack of a fourth-rank expert.
He had once been an extremely wealthy dragon.
In the past, he would not even have considered wearing a treasure of this level.
But now, it was the finest gift he could offer.
At last, he finally possessed something he could give her.
She had suffered ever since marrying him.
She did not own a single respectable piece of jewellery and wore plain clothing every day, saving wherever she could.
Mr. Dragon took out the green-jade hairpin and placed all three low-grade spatial pouches inside the mid-grade one.
Then he held the remaining spirit stones.
Long ago, when he had been bored, he had casually carved a formation into his sleeping quarters.
The formation was incomplete, but no one else knew of its existence.
Once activated, it possessed no genuine defensive power. However, it could conceal the fact that he was now capable of moving.
As long as Ao Qin did not personally enter this place, anyone examining the palace with their spiritual consciousness would see only the image of him lying helplessly upon the bed.
Mr. Dragon lowered his head slightly.
These spirit stones would be enough to activate the formation.
The remaining stones should also be enough to connect the fifth shattered fragment of his primordial core.
At that time, he should recover fifty per cent of his strength.
“Mengmeng, come here.”
Mr. Dragon beckoned towards the tiny fluffball trembling in the corner.
“Chirp…”
The fluffball did not dare speak.
Mr. Dragon raised an eyebrow.
Mengmeng still did not dare disobey.
“Heh.”
Mr. Dragon reached out and poked its little scarf.
Holding its tiny wing, he briefly examined it before revealing a faint smile.
“As expected, you aren’t an ordinary mountain tit.”
“It would be inappropriate to directly awaken your spiritual intelligence.”
He spoke softly and tied the spatial pouch containing the treasures around the fluffball’s neck.
“Let her…”
“Believe you did it.”
His current situation was dangerous.
Even if he reconnected every fragment of his primordial core, he still might not be capable of defeating Ao Qin, who possessed the support of numerous dragon clans.
More importantly, he did not have enough time.
A little over one month might not be enough for Ao Qin to reach an agreement with the demon race.
But three months?
Half a year?
Ao Qin would not wait that long.
Mr. Dragon deeply regretted trusting others so easily in the past.
That mistake had now dragged her into danger as well.
There was only one way.
Only one.
Once he connected the fifth fragment of his primordial core, he needed to enter the Trial Grounds before Ao Qin.
Perhaps he could break through there and seize a narrow chance of survival.
Enduring the pain of the curse inside his body, Mr. Dragon walked calmly into the side hall and began activating the formation.
Before connecting the fifth fragment of his primordial core, he wanted to spend a few peaceful days as the “vegetative dragon” Madam always described.
He wanted to remain asleep.
To say nothing.
To pretend he could not care for himself.
To enjoy the feeling of being looked after—something he had never experienced throughout more than a hundred years of life.
Mr. Dragon wanted to smile.
But the corners of his lips refused to rise.
Instead, they curved downward into a stiff arc.
He could sense that Mu Wanwan did not feel absolutely nothing for him.
Yet because of that, he could no longer remain the perfect “Mr. Dragon” inside her heart.
Previously, he had desperately resisted the possibility that she might dislike him.
He had even selfishly and cruelly wanted to bind her to his side.
But Mr. Dragon knew that he would never have the heart to do so.
After recovering fifty per cent of his strength, before entering the Trial Grounds, he would “wake up.”
He would treat her cruelly.
He would tell her to get lost.
He would make her hate him.
He would make her believe he was an arrogant, conceited and hateful monster, completely carving his image from her heart.
Then he would abandon her somewhere without any dragons and leave her to live on her own.
Before departing, he would visit several places and retrieve all the treasures he had once hidden.
He would give everything to her so that she could live comfortably.
If he failed and died, she would not grieve.
With Mengmeng and the possessions he left behind, she would still have something to rely upon.
But if he succeeded…
Then even if she refused, he would never let her escape.
He would tie her up and make her lay one hundred dragon eggs for him.
The formation gradually took shape.
Beneath the weak glow, Mr. Dragon’s face appeared hideous and terrifying—
Like a weeping ghost.
—
**Author’s Note:**
Mr. Dragon really is foolish, but do you think he’ll truly be able to bear doing it? 😏
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