Side Story One: The Grand Wedding (2)
**Long Mengyu! **
Cute Feathered Dragon.
There were so many things wrong with that name that Mu Wanwan did not even know where to begin.
Besides, wasn’t Mr. Dragon’s name Ao Qi? How could he say that his name was Long?
Mu Wanwan thought about it—
Perhaps, once she grew a little older, she would understand that “Ao Qi, Ao the Abandoned” was hardly a good name either.
Or perhaps, the scene of him gathering his courage and loudly declaring his own name before those beasts had left such a deep impression on him that it had instead earned him ridicule.
That was why, even after becoming the leader of the dragon race, he had never considered giving himself another name. In fact, no one would have dared ask him about it.
In the eyes of ordinary people, he was their supreme ruler. In the eyes of his subjects, he was a powerful and formidable lord. In the eyes of those who despised him, he was a wretched orphan dragon of impure blood who could never defeat Ao Qin.
As for what he was called, was it really that important?
“When Mengmeng comes out, we’ll tell him together.”
The dragon spoke softly to her. Although they had already left their youth far behind, the aloofness and arrogance he pretended to possess melted away before her, like the silver wrapping being peeled from a warm piece of candy to reveal his truest self beneath.
Her dragon was becoming more and more like the younger Mr. Dragon.
Perhaps she had been “awake” for too long, because Mu Wanwan began to feel sleepy and her consciousness gradually sank into darkness.
After she fell asleep, Mr. Dragon did not continue speaking. His thumb brushed over the spot he had just kissed, resting against the slightly trembling seam of the bud as a bright light flashed through his eyes—
The moment he entered the room, he had sensed a faint ripple travelling through the wood-spirit bud, so Madam was probably conscious.
Yet he had shamelessly… pretended not to know and secretly kissed her…
Stealing a kiss felt somewhat different from a proper kiss…
Mr. Dragon blinked, finding it increasingly unbearable.
He wished Madam would hurry and wake up. He missed her terribly.
…
On the morning of the seventh day after Mu Wanwan’s rebirth, Mr. Dragon became extremely nervous—
According to Aunt Hua, Mu Wanwan would be successfully reborn once ten full days had passed.
Over the past few days, he had not dared leave her for too long, so he had only ventured around the outskirts of the abyss to gather things rich in spiritual energy. The results had been excellent. By the seventh day, the wood-spirit bud containing Mu Wanwan had grown to nearly two metres tall. Its exterior was almost entirely white, with layer upon layer of petals folded together, looking as though it might bloom at any moment.
Jiu Qing and the others had also been waiting expectantly for a long time. Unfortunately, a certain overbearing dragon refused to allow anyone else into the room he shared with his wife. →_→
Therefore, everyone could only wait downstairs.
Soon, the time for her rebirth arrived. Mr. Dragon gazed expectantly at the enormous flower bud in the centre of the room, which had long since grown too large to be wrapped in brocade.
The outermost petals slowly began to unfurl.
Mu Wanwan had also awakened. She could sense the somewhat scorching gaze of a certain dragon outside. When she noticed his two slender, completely empty hands, something abruptly occurred to her, and she awkwardly felt around herself inside the flower bud.
Oh no. It seemed she had not been reborn with any clothes! Moreover, once the wood-spirit bud fully opened, it would disappear. Then she would…
Realising that if she allowed the bud to continue opening, an unbearably embarrassing scene would unfold, Mu Wanwan desperately held the last few petals tightly closed, leaving a certain dragon outside to grow increasingly panicked.
Why had it stopped opening halfway?
Aunt Hua had said that although Madam would become a spirit after her rebirth, her cultivation would regress by several levels. For the time being, she would be unable to use either her spiritual consciousness or spiritual energy. He therefore did not dare touch the wood spirit rashly.
After standing there stiffly for several minutes, Mr. Dragon decisively left the room to seek help.
Aunt Hua had been sitting downstairs in the tavern drinking tea. When she heard the urgency in his voice, something seemed to occur to her, and she immediately rose to her feet.
Jiu Qing, who was sitting nearby, also said, “I’ll come too.”
Mr. Dragon abruptly turned towards her, a trace of coldness flashing through his eyes, but he did not stop her.
Jiu Qing rolled her eyes inwardly and followed Aunt Hua upstairs.
“You should wait outside for us,” Aunt Hua said, blocking the dragon who wanted to enter.
Seeing how pale he looked, Jiu Qing acted on some inexplicable impulse. Pretending to be frightened, she asked Aunt Hua, who was just about to go inside,
“Could Wanwan have lost her memory?”
The moment those words left her mouth, the dragon’s expression froze. Beneath his dark brows appeared a pale, helpless look, and his entire body seemed to stiffen instantly, making him appear almost fragile.
Jiu Qing suddenly felt that perhaps she had taken the joke a little too far.
“Generally, no,” Aunt Hua replied, choosing not to expose Jiu Qing’s bluff on the spot. How could someone undergoing rebirth through a wood spirit lose their memories? “All right, let’s go inside.”
Before closing the door, Jiu Qing saw the dragon cast a worried, frightened glance into the room. She felt sorry for him, yet at the same time, she thought he was genuinely foolish. He was already so powerful, but whenever it came to matters concerning the person he loved, he completely lost his composure. He usually seemed quite dependable, yet at the critical moment, he had not even thought to prepare clothes for his wife.
Still, perhaps it was precisely because he loved her so deeply that one baseless remark from Jiu Qing had frightened him so badly.
Jiu Qing felt a little envious.
Perhaps not everyone was as much of a scumbag as Ao Xue?
She suddenly felt like trying to fall in love again.
While Jiu Qing was lost in thought, Aunt Hua understood the wood spirit’s condition with a single glance and was somewhat surprised—
Normally, a newly reborn wood spirit would be extremely weak. Developing the body of a child in their early teens within seven days was already incredibly difficult. Judging by Mu Wanwan’s condition, however, she had probably developed an adult body.
Since she had handed the wood spirit directly over to Mr. Dragon to care for, Aunt Hua had only seen it once, on the morning of the second day. Now that she looked again, it had already grown so large.
Just how much spiritual energy had that dragon fed Mu Wanwan over the past few days?
“All right, Wanwan. He’s gone outside,” Aunt Hua said to the wood spirit with a smile.
Jiu Qing returned to her senses and pulled out the clothes she had previously made from her spatial pouch.
“I altered several outfits for you. I’ll leave them here. Aunt Hua and I won’t look.”
With that, the two of them turned their backs.
Only then did the wood-spirit bud, which had stopped moving, slowly begin to unfurl once more.
Mu Wanwan breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly and carefully put on the clothes Jiu Qing had placed on the floor before calling their names.
“Jiu Qing, Aunt Hua.”
Her voice sounded almost the same as before, only slightly softer.
Jiu Qing eagerly turned around, and her eyes immediately lit up—
The woman before her stood slightly shorter than she did. Her skin was fair, with almond-shaped eyes, red lips and long lashes. The corners of her eyes curved gently, and the tip of her nose was rounded. She resembled her former self by seventy or eighty per cent, yet there were still subtle differences.
Mu Wanwan’s long, dark hair fell loosely around her shoulders. She wore the pale-blue gauze dress Jiu Qing had altered for her, revealing a slender, delicate, fair neck. She tilted her head slightly as she looked up at Jiu Qing, forming a beautiful curve.
Her features were not bewitching, yet every glance and movement carried an inexplicable allure.
If Hai Qiangwei possessed a dazzling, fiery beauty, then Mu Wanwan was an exquisite beauty of quiet elegance, like a landscape painted in ink.
Even Jiu Qing felt her heart stir slightly after looking at her for too long.
“Wanwan.” Jiu Qing was unusually excited. She finally seemed to understand why so many men preferred beautiful women. Such an obedient and lovable little wife—she wanted one too. “You’re so beautiful.”
“……” Mu Wanwan was embarrassed to be praised the moment they met. Remembering how Jiu Qing had previously helped both her and Mr. Dragon, she said, “Jiu Qing, thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for?” Unable to resist, Jiu Qing reached out and pinched Mu Wanwan’s cheek. “So soft.”
Mu Wanwan: “…………”
She remembered that back in the modern world, she had never been considered a great beauty. She had merely been the delicate, pleasant-looking type. Her original appearance had not differed greatly from this body’s either, so why was Jiu Qing reacting as though she were exceptionally beautiful…?
“All right, hurry outside.” Jiu Qing remembered the slightly excessive joke she had made earlier. The dragon waiting outside was probably beside himself with anxiety by now.
Aunt Hua also said, “He’s waiting for you outside.”
Mu Wanwan was eager to see Mr. Dragon as well, so she did not stand on ceremony and headed towards the door.
*Click.*
She gently pushed the door open but did not see the dragon anywhere. She found that rather strange. How could he not be waiting outside?
Their room was at the very end of the corridor. Around the corner beyond it was a somewhat dark room.
Could Mr. Dragon be in there?
Mu Wanwan took two steps farther inside. Since she had yet to begin cultivating again, her eyes could only make out a small area directly before her.
“!”
Someone seized her wrist. Before Mu Wanwan could react, she collided with a firm chest. She staggered backwards two steps beyond her control until her back pressed against a door that creaked beneath the impact.
The dragon thoughtfully supported the back of her head with his palm, so she barely felt the collision.
Once she recovered and realised the person who had pulled her here was Mr. Dragon, she was no longer afraid. She even found it a little thrilling.
They had been separated for so long. Could he be planning to imitate the male leads in those romance novels and pin her against the door for a passionate kiss?
Mu Wanwan recalled the scenes she had read before and became slightly distracted. Her gaze appeared rather vacant, but in the eyes of a certain dragon, it became conclusive proof that she had lost her memories.
His heart seemed to contract painfully, the sensation sharp as the prick of a needle.
“Wanwan.”
Mr. Dragon restrained his emotions as he called her name. His voice sounded stiff and unbearably hoarse. He wanted to ask whether she still remembered him.
“……”
He had called her name. Did that mean he was about to kiss her?
Mu Wanwan had already prepared herself mentally. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she carefully wrapped her arms around his waist. The ends of his long hair brushed against her, making her feel a little ticklish.
She even gently closed her eyes.
However, after waiting for a while, the dragon still did not kiss her.
Mu Wanwan opened her eyes rather helplessly and found herself looking into a certain dragon’s reddened eyes.
Assuming he had simply waited too long, she summoned her courage and said with a flushed face,
“Mr. Dragon… kiss me…”
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