Her anticipation was painfully obvious.
Perhaps because she was afraid of missing even a single moment when Mr. Dragon might return, Mu Wanwan lay in bed but still could not fall asleep.
Fortunately, she was now a third-rank cultivator. Her body was far stronger than when she had first arrived. Otherwise, she would never have been able to endure putting herself through this.
However, Mr. Dragon did not return simply because her anxiety and suffering grew with every passing moment.
On the morning of the seventh day without him, Mu Wanwan stared at the increasingly gloomy sky outside and felt overwhelmed by despair and loneliness.
She could not stop reading the note he had left behind, over and over again. Her palm rested against her chest, as though doing so would allow her to feel the drop of his heart’s blood inside her.
“Mengmeng, why do you think he still hasn’t come back?”
Mu Wanwan sat on a stool, several bags of somewhat jumbled seeds beside her, and murmured to the plump little fluffball that had now grown as large as both of her palms put together.
“Chirp!”
“Chirp, chirp!”
In only a few days, Mengmeng had transformed from a small, skinny fluffball into a large, round bird covered in soft white down. The little scarf-like ring of feathers around its neck was no longer entirely uniform, while those stubborn black feathers still refused to disappear.
However, Mu Wanwan felt that Mengmeng was much livelier and more intelligent than before. She could already understand some of the meaning behind its chirps.
For example, right now, it was rubbing its newly regrown cowlick against her hand while chirping complaints about Mr. Dragon.
Its general meaning seemed to be—
The evil dragon was very stupid and had probably got lost.
The little fluffball’s body was soft and warm, like an oversized hand warmer.
After Mengmeng rubbed against her a few times, Mu Wanwan felt slightly better. However, the fear and anxiety in her heart did not lessen.
She held Mengmeng while refining pills for a while longer, forcing herself to endure the passing hours and praying that nothing had happened to her dragon.
By the evening of the eighth day, Mu Wanwan sat silently on the bed with her knees hugged against her chest.
Mengmeng had fallen asleep.
The room was frighteningly quiet. Both the world outside the window and the room itself were engulfed in darkness. Only the crystal sphere emitted a faint, flowing light.
Two days earlier, Mu Wanwan had constantly talked to Mengmeng about Mr. Dragon.
Now, she could go almost an entire day without saying a word.
Mu Wanwan raised her hand and felt the weight of the jade bracelet around her wrist. After a moment, she finally picked up the crystal sphere resting beside the bed.
Because it had been left out in the cold, the sphere was icy. The moment it touched her palm, Mu Wanwan instinctively flinched.
She lowered her head and examined the beautiful crystal sphere.
It was perfectly transparent, with no colours flowing through it.
If she shattered it, would she truly be able to see Mr. Dragon?
Moisture clung to Mu Wanwan’s eyelashes.
She missed him so much.
That scoundrel of a dragon had left her nothing but a note and made her wait alone for so many days.
He was far too awful.
She wanted to see him.
The crystal sphere gradually absorbed the warmth of her palm. In the darkness, a faint blue mist began glowing within it.
Mu Wanwan no longer hesitated.
A thread of spiritual energy extended from her fingertip and transformed into a glowing green blade. With all her strength, she drove it into the flawless crystal sphere.
**Crack.**
A crisp shattering sound rang out.
However, sharp fragments did not scatter across the bed.
Under Mu Wanwan’s widened gaze, the fragile, beautiful crystal sphere broke apart into countless suspended stars. A warm, pale-blue wind swirled among them before suddenly rushing towards her.
A stabbing pain shot through her mind.
Mu Wanwan felt something forcefully invade her sea of consciousness.
In the next instant, her eyes closed, and her awareness seemed to separate from her body.
When she opened them again, mottled golden sunlight covered the ground before her.
“Ah Tie, you’re secretly playing with Father’s hammer again!”
A young girl’s childish voice rang out.
Mu Wanwan turned and saw a dwarf girl who appeared to be around three or four years old.
She had green skin, black eyes, and two pretty pigtails.
“You just have to keep quiet and not tell him,” replied a boy beside her.
He was a young dwarf.
His eyelids did not droop, and his clothing looked perfectly ordinary. He was not wearing thick animal-hide trousers.
Apart from the strangely familiar hammer in his hand, he bore almost no resemblance to Uncle Tie.
The sunlight was dazzling.
Mu Wanwan raised a hand to shield her eyes.
Had she entered Uncle Tie’s memories?
Was it like the effects of the Illusion Grass? Would she be able to feel everything that happened?
She tried reaching out to touch the wooden frame beside young Ah Tie.
As expected, her hand passed straight through it. However, a faint sensation of the wood’s rough texture remained against her skin.
Looking at the lively expression on young Uncle Tie’s face and the spring sunshine that was entirely different from the weather in reality, Mu Wanwan’s anxious heart settled slightly.
If this was similar to the dream she had experienced before, perhaps she would need to spend several days inside these memories.
By the time she returned to reality, her dragon might already be waiting beside her.
Mu Wanwan comforted herself with that thought.
The beginning of the memory was bathed in sunlight, so Uncle Tie’s memories must be warm and happy.
She could hardly wait to see Mr. Dragon.
Like a ghost trailing behind him, Mu Wanwan followed the young Ah Tie and quickly learned about his circumstances.
His family lived in a remote dwarf village near the edge of the dragon clan’s territory.
There were no major cities nearby, but the local town had a trading company. Their branch of the family had lived peacefully in this quiet village for generations.
Ah Tie had a younger sister named Ah Ling.
Their father was a renowned dwarf craftsman in town, while their mother was an even more skilled craftswoman than their father.
Ah Tie should have been a very happy young boy.
That day, he had promised to take his younger sister exploring in the mountain behind the village.
Mu Wanwan followed them for roughly an hour before they finally reached the foot of the mountain.
“Ah Tie, slow down.”
Ah Ling was still very young and had become exhausted after walking for so long.
Ah Tie clearly doted on his sister. He crouched down and carried her on his back.
“I’ll carry you. We need to hurry.”
Mu Wanwan watched them enter the forest, but the feeling of unease in her heart grew stronger.
From the outside, the forest appeared lush and full of life.
However, once they stepped inside, they seemed to become surrounded by an extremely strange aura.
Although everything still appeared bright and warm beneath the sunlight, the light felt cold against her skin.
They had not walked far before Ah Ling began to feel afraid.
She stared fearfully at the small red flowers blooming on the ground, her voice trembling with tears.
“Ah Tie, I want to go home.”
“All right.”
Ah Tie had not finished enjoying himself, but for some reason, the forest felt different from how it had on previous occasions.
He was also somewhat frightened, but because he wanted to maintain his pride as a brave older brother, he spoke stubbornly.
“Then don’t pester me to bring you up the mountain again.”
Ah Ling wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.
Mu Wanwan also breathed a sigh of relief.
The constant feeling that something was about to leap out at them was deeply unsettling.
However, before she could fully relax, the wind began howling around her.
The sky darkened almost instantly.
It was more terrifying than the fastest and most violent storm Mu Wanwan had ever witnessed.
Her vision abruptly became completely black.
Pain tore through her shoulder.
A bitterly cold wind slashed across her face. Alongside the deafening roar of the wind, she heard the shrill laughter of some unknown creature.
When Mu Wanwan finally regained sight of the world around her, she discovered that Ah Tie and Ah Ling had been seized in the talons of an enormous bird, more than ten times larger than a vulture.
Blood poured continuously from Ah Tie’s shoulder.
Mu Wanwan’s own shoulder also throbbed with pain.
She watched the village below grow smaller and smaller.
Ah Ling had already lost consciousness. Ah Tie’s eyes were filled with terror.
The pain briefly stole Mu Wanwan’s breath.
The giant bird flew incredibly quickly.
Ah Tie soon fainted from excessive blood loss, but Mu Wanwan remained conscious.
From her perspective, she could see half of the giant bird’s body and large patches of its filthy feathers.
Perhaps because the dwarf village was located near the edge of dragon territory, the bird flew for only two or three hours before arriving somewhere Mu Wanwan had never seen before.
Was it a valley?
Oppressive mountains rose on all sides, leaving only two narrow openings.
As they descended from the sky, Mu Wanwan could not smell any of the freshness that should have filled a mountain forest.
The giant bird dived towards the bottom of the valley.
Only when they drew closer did Mu Wanwan finally see what lay inside.
Countless cages surrounded them.
There were wooden cages and cages made from iron bars, each differing in size.
Several people were imprisoned inside every cage.
Mu Wanwan’s heart trembled, and her eyes widened.
As the bird descended, thousands of cages came into view, arranged across the valley in a spectacle that was horrifying in its scale.
Ah Tie and Ah Ling were thrown onto the ground.
Mu Wanwan also felt a brief jolt of pain through her body.
She watched as the giant bird gradually transformed into a sinister-looking man with a hooked nose.
After he landed, three other men approached from nearby.
One of them held a testing stone.
He cut Ah Tie and Ah Ling’s hands and frowned as he examined the results.
“Third Brother, you went all the way out there and only brought back two dwarves with mediocre talent?”
“The boy is passable, but the little girl has almost no talent. Her flesh looks tender, though. We might as well eat her.”
Another man looked Ah Ling up and down with a terrifying expression.
Her head had been injured, and she still had not awakened.
Mu Wanwan watched as Ah Tie pulled his sister into his arms, his eyes filled with fear.
“Tch. All you think about is eating. Keep her alive for now.”
The youngest-looking man appeared to hold the most authority.
They decided to imprison Ah Tie and Ah Ling inside a wooden cage near the stone wall.
Pain seized Mu Wanwan’s neck.
She watched as Ah Tie was lifted by the back of his neck. Ah Ling was also picked up like a helpless chick.
Cold dread filled Mu Wanwan’s heart as she followed them farther into the valley.
Mist hung everywhere.
The ground was damp and filthy.
Broken sobs and cries of unbearable pain drifted through the air.
Mu Wanwan instinctively glanced to the side.
A beastman from the leopard tribe was imprisoned inside an iron cage.
His body was covered in blood. His mouth hung open in agony, and Mu Wanwan saw that his fangs had been removed.
His roars sounded like air scraping through a broken bellows.
Mu Wanwan’s fingertips trembled.
She lowered her gaze towards the wet path beneath her feet, her mind filling with terrible possibilities.
Why?
Why were Uncle Tie’s memories like this?
This was nothing like the place where she had expected to meet the young Mr. Dragon.
This was clearly—
This was clearly a terrifying prison where slaves were raised so that their talents could be extracted.
She clenched her hands tightly.
She even wanted to tear herself out of the memory.
She did not want to see this.
She did not want to see a past like this belonging to Mr. Dragon.
“Get inside.”
Ah Tie and Ah Ling were eventually locked inside an iron cage that already contained several people.
There were a few human cultivators in their twenties.
When they saw the dwarf siblings, their expressions did not change. Their faces were numb, and none of them spoke.
Only a younger female elf looked at them with sorrow.
“Two more have arrived.”
“Where is this?”
Ah Ling had awakened and opened her eyes.
The elf merely closed her eyes and shook her head without answering.
Everyone captured and brought to this place had only two possible purposes.
They would either be eaten immediately, or their talent would be extracted before they were eaten.
All of the elf’s companions had already been devoured.
Perhaps tonight would be her turn.
Ah Tie seemed to understand some of what was happening.
Ah Ling, however, began crying. She clutched her brother’s clothing and repeatedly said that she wanted to go home.
“It’s all right, Ah Ling. This is only a game your brother is playing with some other people.”
Ah Tie’s voice trembled as he forced himself to smile and comfort her.
Ah Ling was terrified.
Instinctively, she wanted to believe her brother. She forced an ugly yet adorable smile onto her face.
“Then is this pretty elf sister one of Brother’s friends?”
The elf opened her brown eyes.
Tears filled them, but she did not dare meet Ah Ling’s gaze.
Mu Wanwan’s heart trembled.
She instinctively looked into the distance.
An enormous cage stood there, far larger than all the others.
It was constructed from exceptionally strong materials, yet only one person was imprisoned inside it.
He was painfully thin.
And unbearably familiar.
Mu Wanwan’s eyes instantly stung, and tears began pouring down her face.
She walked towards him and gradually saw his appearance clearly.
The young man leaned against the side of the cage.
His long black hair appeared obedient as it fell beside his temples.
His eyes were half-closed, and his pale lips were pressed lightly together.
Just as Mu Wanwan approached him, he lifted his gaze.
A cold, sharp gleam flashed through his eyes like a sword sliding briefly from its sheath before disappearing again.
His gaze was piercing and dark.
It was Mr. Dragon.
The young Mr. Dragon.
He was wearing different clothes now, no longer the same unchanging grey cloak.
Yet he still appeared proud and indifferent.
Although he was imprisoned inside a cage, he carried himself as though he were standing within a magnificent palace.
Mu Wanwan saw blood winding down from his hand.
However, unlike before, he no longer trembled desperately from the pain, nor did his fluffy ears twitch uncontrollably.
He had grown up.
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