Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, Mu Wanwan had already spent three or four days with a certain fully conscious dragon.
After finally coming to understand just how awkward and contrary Mr. Dragon truly was, she had gained a whole new insight into how to get along with him.
A new day began with greeting the awkward dragon.
“Good morning, Mr. Dragon~”
She received a cool, aloof nod in response.
“Mr. Dragon, would you like to try a different flavour of spirit fruit today?”
“Whatever,” came the low, hoarse reply.
“Mr. Dragon, your scales have finished drying, so I put them away.”
This time, a certain dragon grew a little embarrassed. Mu Wanwan, his devoted caretaker, was rewarded with the sight of a pair of ears twitching shyly.
“Mr. Dragon, the sun is out.”
Mu Wanwan glanced outside. Sunlight streamed through the clouds and shone upon the freshly cleaned courtyard, making everything look warm and cosy.
She paused while tidying Mengmeng and said to the dragon sitting in his wheelchair, who was doing who knew what, “I’ll push you outside so you can bask in the sun for a while.”
“I remember that when I first met you, I kept thinking how wonderful it would be if I could save enough money to buy you a wheelchair.”
Without waiting for his answer, Mu Wanwan walked over and pushed him outside.
There was little wind today, and much of the snow in the courtyard had melted. Mu Wanwan brought the spirit-chicken chicks and Mengmeng outside to enjoy the sunshine. Several newly cultivated spirit plants were also stretching out their leaves beneath the sun.
Mr. Dragon tilted his head slightly. In his hand, he held the final mid-grade spirit stone she had just pressed into his palm. As he gazed up at the clear blue sky framed by the courtyard walls, warmth spread through his heart.
The spiritual energy inside his body had almost completely recovered. Over the past two days, perhaps because she had been taking such good care of him, the curse on his body had weakened even further. His strength had returned to roughly half of what it had once been.
According to his original plan, it was time for him to leave.
Pretending not to care, he glanced at Mu Wanwan, who had brought over a small stool and sat beside him.
Her dark eyes appeared like pale-ink glass beneath the sunlight. When she tilted her head slightly, she could see his eyelashes glowing gold. Even the fine hairs on Mr. Dragon’s handsome but pale face shimmered beneath the sun, and the curse patterns covering his face seemed to have faded considerably.
What ugly dragon?
He was obviously very handsome.
Mu Wanwan was once again struck by his good looks. She awkwardly withdrew her gaze, then seemed to remember something. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small spatial pouch.
Without asking his opinion, she shoved it directly into his hand. Her fingers brushed against his warm fingertips, and she quickly pulled her hand away.
Mu Wanwan lowered her head slightly and stared intently at the little fluffball trying its hardest to act adorable nearby, while her words were filled with concern for the dragon.
“Mr. Dragon, I’ve been saving these for the past few days. You might be able to use them.”
Ever since that night, although Mr. Dragon was still awkward and contradictory during the day, he had gradually returned to his former self.
Mu Wanwan had watched his legs slowly improve. Starting yesterday, he had even been able to support himself against the edge of the bed and climb onto it without assistance.
He was gradually getting better. Mu Wanwan could sense it.
The novel she had read only reached a point shortly after Mr. Dragon awakened. Although she did not know what happened later in the story, this dragon had most likely endured far more than she could imagine.
Considering how honestly he had been secretly holding her hand every night these past few days, she decided not to argue with this awkward dragon. She would prepare plenty of pills for him and hope that he recovered as soon as possible.
She had worked incredibly hard at refining pills these past few days. Surely he would finally say something other than his usual responses now, wouldn’t he?
Mu Wanwan lowered her head and looked at her feet in their cotton shoes, then secretly glanced at the cloth slippers on a certain dragon’s feet.
Since she would be going out soon, perhaps she should buy him another pair of shoes.
She waited for him to speak, but the instant Mr. Dragon opened the spatial pouch, his heart was already burning hot.
There were not many things inside—only two small jade bottles.
One contained the second-rank Spirit-Restoring Pills Mu Wanwan had struggled so hard to refine. The other contained second-rank Snow Condensation Pills, which had taken her an equally long time to produce.
There were not many Spirit-Restoring Pills, only six.
There were even fewer Snow Condensation Pills—only three.
And yet…
Mr. Dragon’s gaze darkened. Indescribable emotions lay hidden within his eyes, mingling with the gentle sunlight.
She had spent so long refining these pills. Dark circles now shadowed her eyes.
She was a third-rank cultivator, yet she had exhausted herself like an ordinary mortal. Every night, as he lay beside her, he could feel the deep exhaustion in her soul.
It was all for him.
Every last bit of it was for him.
Mr. Dragon put away the spatial pouch. He watched the strands of hair hanging beside her temples and the faint blush colouring her fair cheeks. Then he heard her speak softly, her voice carrying a hint of anticipation as she rambled on.
“It’ll soon be time for me to go out again. This time, I want to buy some different ingredients and make something new. My Lord, do you like sweeter foods?”
The dark, damp depths of his heart, once filled with endless gloom, seemed to be gradually illuminated by her. Warm currents flowed through him.
He wanted to do something for her.
He wanted it so badly.
After carefully putting away the spatial pouch, warmth spread across Mr. Dragon’s face. His thin lips parted, her name lingering between them.
He struggled for a long time before finally saying it aloud, his face reddening.
“Wanwan.”
His voice was cold and clear, but Mu Wanwan felt as though she had just heard something unbelievable.
Her eyes widened. Her ears burned as she abruptly turned to face Mr. Dragon’s handsome, expressionless face.
“Thank you.”
A certain dragon finally dared to meet her eyes directly.
Although there was little emotion visible in his long, phoenix-shaped eyes, Mu Wanwan was already overjoyed.
Her entire body felt unbearably hot. Even her vision seemed close to blurring. Her cheeks and ears burned terribly as she stared at Mr. Dragon’s moving lips and listened to him call her name and thank her.
It felt as though she had been waiting half a lifetime to hear those words.
Perhaps her reaction was too amusing, because he could not help letting out a quiet laugh.
The corners of his lips curved upwards. His familiar, tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and his dark lashes fluttered briefly. Starlight seemed to reflect within his eyes.
Mu Wanwan froze for a moment before hurriedly turning away again.
Her face was scarlet, and her fingers clutched the fabric of her skirt.
This was far, far too embarrassing.
Yet those secret thoughts she had tried so hard to conceal had already transformed into an unmistakable blush and an irrepressible smile.
Mr. Dragon gazed at the bright-red tips of her ears and her undecorated black hair. Thousands of thoughts passed through his mind.
…
The afternoon they spent basking in the sun together passed frighteningly quickly.
The heavy pressure of daily life was still reality. Mu Wanwan wanted to refine more pills before leaving the following day.
This time, she had not entered a state of enlightenment, and all the seedlings had withered again. On top of that, she wanted to refine more high-ranking pills for Mr. Dragon.
As a result, even after working hard for ten days, she had not produced many more pills than she had the previous time.
The pills she gave Mr. Dragon were completely free of impurities. The ones she intended to sell contained only a small amount.
By the time she finally finished, she was so exhausted that she could barely lift her fingers. Only then did she calculate what she had produced this time.
One hundred and thirty-five first-rank Spirit-Restoring Pills.
Thirteen second-rank Spirit-Restoring Pills.
Five first-rank Snow Condensation Pills.
And one second-rank Snow Condensation Pill.
There were also several spirit plants she had prepared for Auntie Yun.
After calculating everything, she realised she would not earn all that much this time.
The cold in the air gradually intensified. Having completely drained the spiritual energy inside her body, Mu Wanwan felt extremely unwell.
She put everything away, washed up briefly, and hurried towards the bedroom.
Clutching the spatial pouch containing the pills, she looked at the warm light glowing inside the room and suddenly experienced a very strange illusion.
Why did she feel as though she was the one earning money to support the family, while Mr. Dragon was the delicate little wife waiting for her in their bedchamber…?
Mu Wanwan shook her head vigorously, trying to throw the strange thought out of her mind.
She entered the room and met Mr. Dragon’s half-open phoenix eyes.
His clothes hung loosely around him, and his ink-black hair was spread out around his shoulders. He was reclining against the bed.
The instant he saw her enter, he immediately turned away, pretending he had not noticed her.
Mu Wanwan took another two steps inside.
His ears twitched.
Then he simply lay flat on the bed and closed his eyes.
Mu Wanwan: “…”
She touched her face, closed the door, and extinguished the lamp.
As usual, she said, “My Lord, it’s time to sleep.”
The rustling of clothing sounded particularly clear in the darkness.
Mu Wanwan was exhausted beyond belief and had no energy to entertain any strange thoughts. Her mind was filled entirely with how she should spend the money she would earn tomorrow.
Not long after lying down, she felt a level of exhaustion unlike anything she had experienced before and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Cultivating spirit plants and refining pills both consumed an enormous amount of spiritual energy.
To refine more pills for Mr. Dragon, she had already pushed herself beyond her limits several times. Had Mu Wanwan not been a third-rank cultivator, the consequences would have been far worse than merely falling into a deep sleep at night from exhaustion.
After she fell asleep, Mr. Dragon slowly sat up.
A faint pain came from his legs. He channelled a small amount of spiritual energy through them, and they began moving normally.
He slowly approached her and reached out to stroke her head, a tender smile lingering on his lips.
His little wife must be exhausted.
When she had looked at him earlier, she had been so shy and so happy.
Did that mean she had already begun to harbour different feelings for him?
Mr. Dragon’s fingertip brushed across the soft corner of her lips.
After a long hesitation, he carefully leaned forwards and gently kissed her.
She was far too good to him.
He could no longer bring himself to let her go.
He even found himself humbly praying that Ao Qin would never discover the secret of this place, hoping these days could continue for all eternity.
However, a dragon who always relied on his wife to support him was a bad dragon.
A truly useless dragon.
He wanted to go out once.
In the past, he had enjoyed hiding things outside.
Once, he had even disdainfully thrown away all the jewellery and clothing that the demon tribes had given him for his future wife, abandoning them in that dilapidated hiding place.
Now, he desperately wanted to retrieve them.
Many spirit stones and treasures were also hidden there. With those things, his wife would no longer need to work so hard.
He had considered simply taking her and running away together.
But he was still too weak.
Not only would Ao Qin easily discover them, but because he had once behaved so arrogantly, he had made countless enemies. Outside this manor, he could not guarantee her complete safety.
It would be better for her to remain here temporarily, where her life was relatively peaceful.
He wanted to stay away from her, but he was ultimately too selfish.
For the past two days, whenever he saw her wearing that pendant—given to her by who knew whom—jealousy surged violently within his chest.
Yet the other day, he had only revealed the slightest hint of his true thoughts, and the terrifying look in his eyes had nearly frightened her to tears.
His possessiveness was so vicious that he could not reveal even the smallest part of it.
Mr. Dragon’s eyelashes brushed against Mu Wanwan’s eyelids. He reached out and stroked her smooth cheek.
She liked him when he was weak.
She liked him when he was pitiful.
She liked the version of him who pretended to be indifferent.
If he exposed those cruel and dark thoughts hidden inside him, she would be frightened away.
And if he left her side, then perhaps that damned little fluffball—who might awaken its spiritual intelligence, transform into human form, and grow up within a hundred years—would eventually replace him in her heart.
Just thinking about it made Mr. Dragon feel as though he was about to explode.
He even wanted to disregard Mu Wanwan’s wishes and force her to remain with him forever.
He leaned close to Mu Wanwan’s ear and gently took her hand. All traces of his daytime aloofness disappeared.
Stroking her silken hair, he spoke in a soft, almost childish voice, like a young dragon hatchling.
“I’ll give you something better.”
“Wait for me to come back.”
He suppressed the emotions surging inside him, but could not resist gently nibbling her earlobe.
“Wait for me.”
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