Not long after Wu Yao and Ao Qin signed their contract, Ao Qin issued the order to withdraw.
Bai Huan narrowly dodged a wildly lashing vine. Clutching the communication token in his hand, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Mo Teng’s combat strength was formidable. These dragons were no match for him at all. After fighting for so long, forget confirming whether the Dragon Lord was inside—they had not even managed to touch the edge of the barrier.
The curse inside Bai Huan’s body had barely improved to begin with, and the battle had consumed a great deal of his strength. He was now so weak that he might not even be able to defeat a dragon who had only just advanced to the fourth rank.
Retreating could not have come at a better time.
Once he returned to their territory, he would find a way to contact the owner of Huayun Apothecary, who had suddenly stopped opening the shop, and see whether he could purchase some pills.
He, Bai Huan, was still a fairly prominent figure among the dragon race. Surely he would be able to buy some of those pills.
Bai Huan silently reassured himself.
A man of few words, he quickly ordered the dragon guards under his command to retreat.
As soon as the dragon guards withdrew, Mo Teng immediately sent word back to the Alliance of Special Lifeforms.
Leng An touched the two antennae on his forehead, his expression grim.
“Master, I want to use my innate ability.”
The Alliance Leader’s expression also turned solemn.
“All right. I’ll protect you while you do it.”
Leng An nodded.
A ghostly blue light gradually radiated from his translucent body. Dense, intricate characters appeared across his forehead. As time passed, the colour of his body gradually deepened. His skin split apart inch by inch, only to heal again almost immediately.
The entire process lasted approximately three minutes before Leng An opened his eyes again in pain.
“Master, the witch clan and the dragon race have reached an agreement. I couldn’t determine its contents.”
His antennae curved, and complex characters flashed across them.
“In addition, a large portion of the Sun-Devouring Rat tribe’s forces have left the demon capital.”
The Alliance Leader narrowed his eyes.
“Send this information to every branch. Also tell that girl Jiu Qing that she may begin.”
“Yes, Master.”
Leng An nodded. His antennae lit up, and the message was quickly transmitted.
The Alliance Leader raised a hand and sent a beam of green light into Leng An’s body.
“Rest properly.”
Leng An’s expression brightened.
“Thank you, Master.”
The Alliance Leader waved a hand.
“It’s nothing.”
He glanced at the sky filled with dark clouds before asking with a slightly grave expression, “Your eldest senior brother and the others have already joined Jiu Qing’s group, haven’t they?”
Leng An nodded.
“Senior Brother replied to me just now.”
After discovering that Mu Wanwan was acquainted with Jiu Qing and the others, the two sides had established contact. Uncle Chen was excellent at calculating advantages and losses, and since they had already intended to help Mu Wanwan, the two groups quickly reached an agreement.
“Oh. Have arrangements been made with the Demon Realm?”
The Alliance Leader asked the question while pretending not to care.
Leng An paused before replying, “Yes. Eldest Senior Sister has already sent many people to guard the area near the forbidden land.”
“Mm.” The Alliance Leader nodded. “That way, even if everything fails, there will still be a path of retreat.”
Leng An felt a brief flicker of envy.
The girl whose talent had caught his master’s eye—and who might very well become his junior sister in the future—was truly fortunate.
His master rarely troubled them with requests. This time, however, he had even asked their eldest senior sister in the Demon Realm for assistance, all because he feared that if the Dragon Lord failed, the girl would be driven into a desperate situation.
But Master was still being rather optimistic.
Leng An silently thought that although the girl appeared gentle, mild-tempered, and easy to speak to, her nature was actually extraordinarily stubborn and resilient.
If the Dragon Lord failed, whether she would be willing to continue living was another question entirely.
After all, judging from everything Leng An knew, she already loved that dragon very, very much.
…
Mu Wanwan, who loved Mr. Dragon very, very much, finally tasted the sweets her husband had claimed were delicious.
They found a sea-candy shop that was just about to close and spent a few silver coins on several pieces of candy. Then they found a quiet, deserted alley and began eating them.
The sea candy was refined from first-rank sea sugarcane and processed through several additional steps. It had a soft, fluffy texture, but its sweetness was overwhelming—sweeter than biting directly into a lump of sugar.
Although it was not cloying, it still far exceeded Mu Wanwan’s tolerance.
She wrapped up a small piece to save for Mengmeng. Mr. Dragon ate everything else.
He maintained a solemn, expressionless face as he seriously ate his sweets. Whenever they accidentally brushed against each other, even his breath seemed to carry a faint sugary fragrance.
“…”
Mu Wanwan had just been about to speak when she noticed the Azure Dragon communication token lighting up.
Perhaps Ao Qin had realised that saying too much would be inappropriate. This time, he merely announced the withdrawal of the troops and vaguely mentioned that the dragon race would later be summoned for a confidential discussion.
Mu Wanwan’s previously relaxed mood immediately became heavy.
She was not particularly surprised that Ao Qin had discovered something sooner or later. She was merely more worried now.
She wondered whether they would be able to obtain enough information from the Xianqing Pavilion later.
Mr. Dragon had roughly explained their future plans to her and briefly mentioned the inheritance.
There had been an indescribable sadness in his voice at the time, so Mu Wanwan had not continued questioning him.
When she returned to her senses, she realised that Mr. Dragon had remained silent throughout.
She raised her head and saw him standing in a dimly lit corner.
Dark shadows lay beneath his beautifully shaped brow bones, and the corners of his slightly thin lips had curved downwards.
It looked almost like mockery.
Mu Wanwan felt his grip tighten around her hand. The warmth flowing from his palm was reassuring.
With his other hand, Mr. Dragon switched off the communication token and gently touched the side of her face near her ear.
It tickled slightly.
She raised her eyes and met his phoenix eyes, which were filled with unfathomable emotion.
Mr. Dragon stared fixedly at her. Rare uncertainty and hesitation were openly displayed across his face.
Mu Wanwan’s heart suddenly felt hollow.
Then, beneath his anxious gaze, she let out a soft laugh.
Even without him saying anything, she could roughly guess what the dragon wanted to ask.
“I’m not afraid.”
Mu Wanwan took his other hand.
“I want to stay beside you forever.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the struggle and hesitation in his eyes shatter into fine, glistening grains of sand. They clung to his lashes before gathering at the corners of his eyes.
He touched his lips to hers, carrying the faint sweetness of the candy.
It did not take long for the human and dragon to arrive at the merfolk kingdom’s Xianqing Pavilion, which resembled the one in the capital.
However, the information they wanted was highly classified, so the Pavilion Master personally handled their request.
“What would the two guests like?”
The Pavilion Master’s voice was rather soft and sounded like that of a gentle young woman.
“Recent information regarding the Azure Dragon tribe, the movements of the demon and witch clans,” Mr. Dragon said, “and a map of Yifa City.”
The person opposite them remained silent for a moment before replying, “Fifty supreme-grade spirit stones, or one treasure above the fifth rank.”
The corners of Mu Wanwan’s mouth twitched when she heard the price.
She did not know how valuable a map of this place called Yifa City might be, but the price of the first two pieces of information was far too high.
Fifty supreme-grade spirit stones?
Why did they not simply rob them?
She squeezed Mr. Dragon’s hand.
She knew that the dragon did not have many spirit stones remaining in his spatial storage.
When her Heart-Clearing Jade shattered last time, the dragon had given her another one. It had clearly been smaller than Jiu Qing’s, and his face had even reddened at the time. He probably had no better treasures left.
He had now fallen so far that he could not even afford to purchase information.
Mr. Dragon’s palm was damp with sweat.
Mu Wanwan asked, “Pavilion Master, could you lower the price slightly?”
“Haha.”
The Pavilion Master, whose entire body was concealed beneath a black robe, laughed pleasantly.
“The price of information is non-negotiable.”
“A map to Yifa City,” Mr. Dragon said after a moment of silence.
“Ten supreme-grade spirit stones.”
The Pavilion Master’s tone remained gentle, but she refused to lower the price by even the smallest amount.
Ten was still far too many.
Mr. Dragon needed those spirit stones for his cultivation.
“If you have decided not to proceed with the transaction, please leave through this door.”
The Pavilion Master pointed towards a narrow doorway on her right.
Mu Wanwan felt Mr. Dragon’s hand suddenly tighten around hers.
Her heart ached.
She pulled back the dragon who was preparing to leave, gritted her teeth, and asked the Pavilion Master, “Can we exchange pills for the information?”
“Oh?”
The Pavilion Master finally sounded interested.
“A fourth-rank pill with an unusual effect may be exchanged for the map of Yifa City. For all the information, you would need at least one fifth-rank pill with an unusual effect.”
Mu Wanwan mentally reviewed her inventory.
When she had broken through, she had cultivated quite a few seeds. Later, she had also refined one batch each of Snow Condensation Pills and Spirit-Congealing Pills.
Setting aside the other low-ranking pills, she currently possessed three fourth-rank Snow Condensation Pills and two Spirit-Congealing Pills.
She had painstakingly saved them for Mr. Dragon.
However, the information was more important at the moment.
“Three fourth-rank Snow Condensation Pills,” Mu Wanwan said. “I want all the information.”
“You possess that many high-ranking Snow Condensation Pills?”
The Pavilion Master sounded surprised.
“I was fortunate enough to find them in a secret realm.”
Mu Wanwan did not reveal that she had refined them herself. She took out a small jade bottle and tossed it towards the woman.
“There’s one inside. You can inspect the finished pill.”
“Very well.”
The Pavilion Master laughed softly. A pale light appeared around her palm as she carefully opened the sealed jade bottle.
In the next instant, the unique fragrance of the Snow Condensation Pill spread through the room.
The Pavilion Master immediately resealed the jade bottle. Her voice became more serious.
“It is indeed a fourth-rank Snow Condensation Pill.”
“If you agree to the exchange, give us the information.”
“Three pills are not enough. At least four,” the Pavilion Master replied. “Although Snow Condensation Pills are rare, the information is also extremely valuable.”
Mu Wanwan became somewhat angry.
“That’s all I have.”
The Pavilion Master shook her head.
“Then I can only provide eighty per cent of the information.”
“Can I replace the fourth pill with a different kind?”
Mu Wanwan was furious.
It was fortunate that she had already advanced. Otherwise, refining those pills would have been extraordinarily difficult.
As Mr. Dragon listened to her bargaining back and forth with the Pavilion Master, bitterness filled his heart.
He sat silently on the chair, his eyes containing a mixture of embarrassment, guilt, and faint happiness.
In the end, he had still failed to provide for her.
He had clearly wanted to give her the entire world.
Yet selfishly, he also felt delighted by her words. A dark part of him wanted to possess her immediately.
No one had ever worked so hard to obtain something that he needed.
This unfamiliar feeling was novel to him. He even took a somewhat shameful pleasure in it.
His heart contracted with guilt, yet her words warmed it as though it were being bathed in sunlight.
So this…
was what it felt like to be carefully cherished.
In the end, Mu Wanwan exchanged three Snow Condensation Pills and one Spirit-Congealing Pill for all the information and the map.
Both the intelligence and map were stored inside jade slips.
The Pavilion Master warned them to examine and record their contents only when no one else was nearby.
Mu Wanwan accepted the jade slips and handed them to Mr. Dragon.
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