The enormous dragon was faintly shrouded in a thin black mist. A vicious-looking broken horn protruded from his forehead, while his long dragon whiskers curved gracefully through the air.
The mist churned, and the enormous dragon transformed into a tall man.
Mr. Dragon pressed a hand against his forehead and concealed his broken horn and ears. After checking that he had also successfully withdrawn his still-bleeding tail, he swallowed one of the pills Madam had refined for him. A moment later, a little colour returned to his pale, handsome face.
Today’s cultivation had gone well. His strength had improved considerably, and his origin core was only a tiny step away from being completely reconnected. His next cultivation session should not be quite so painful.
He had also recovered a significant portion of his strength. Although he had not yet returned to his peak, he would no longer fear fighting any dragon one-on-one.
However, even after his shattered origin core was reconnected, cracks would still remain. Its condition would only worsen as time passed.
If he wanted to give her a peaceful, ordinary life—if he wanted to walk openly beside her without worrying about those detestable dragons—then he had to obtain even greater power.
At the thought of her, Mr. Dragon’s normally icy expression softened slightly.
His battle with the sea monster had consumed some of his physical strength and spiritual sense. Combined with the injuries caused by his cultivation, he should have taken some time to recuperate. Madam had also been in poor condition at the time, which was why he had decided to build a small house on this island and rest here before continuing their journey.
However—
Mr. Dragon raised his head and glanced at the clouds, which were gradually becoming gilded by the sunlight. A trace of warmth crept over the tips of his ears.
Madam had broken through.
Those pills and the tiny motes of light that seemed filled with vitality had eased the pain he had secretly concealed from her.
His heart stirred, and he changed his plans slightly.
Judging by the time, the merfolk tribe’s winter market should be taking place around now. It would not take long to reach it at his speed. There should also be a Xianqing Pavilion there, where they could gather more information and determine whether they truly needed to travel to the Demon Realm.
The future was uncertain.
He might still die.
In the past, he had never feared death.
He had even believed that death might be a form of release for him.
Although he did not understand why he had always struggled so desperately to survive whenever he was on the verge of death, perhaps that had merely been his instinct to live.
But now, he was afraid.
He was afraid that he would no longer be able to see her the moment he opened his eyes.
He was afraid that she would forget him.
When he was not in front of Mu Wanwan, Mr. Dragon was not sweet in the slightest. Perhaps he had never truly been sweet. His dark eyes were filled with undisguised gloom.
He had always been so contradictory.
He wanted her to face danger alongside him, yet he could not bear to see her injured.
Ever since she had come to his side, he had never stopped struggling with himself. He went back and forth so many times that even he found himself irritating.
At the very least, he wanted to forget all of that today.
In the end, he was still selfish.
Before everything came to an end, he wanted to weave a beautiful dream together with her.
A faint, self-mocking chuckle sounded in the air. A moment later, a murmur that was almost too soft to hear followed.
“Madam.”
…
When Mu Wanwan saw Mr. Dragon returning through the sunlight that day, she did not see the familiar bag of food in his hands.
That was right. Mr. Dragon was a respectable and particular dragon who intended to support his family. Whenever he returned from hunting, he would always clean the ingredients thoroughly before placing them neatly inside a bag and bringing them home.
It was therefore rather surprising that he had returned empty-handed this time, even though neither of them needed to eat very much anymore.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dragon saw his delicate little wife standing outside the door, “frailly” holding a fluffy ball in her arms as she waited for him.
The moment she spotted him, her eyes curved into crescents and a bright smile appeared on her face.
She looked as though she had been eagerly awaiting his return.
Warmth spread through his heart, accompanied by an indescribable feeling.
Mr. Dragon quickened his pace and arrived beside Mu Wanwan in an instant. His large hand naturally closed around hers.
When he felt the slight chill of her fingers, he spoke with a mixture of complaint and unmistakable happiness that even he failed to notice.
“Why were you waiting outside?”
His palm was warm. Mu Wanwan moved her fingers slightly, sliding them across the rough surface of his palm as her face reddened.
“I’m not cold.”
She truly was not cold. After all, she was now a fourth-rank cultivator. Although she had not awakened a single combat-related talent, she also had Mengmeng, who was practically a fluffy hand warmer.
He was simply a little heavy.
“Mm.”
Mr. Dragon warmed her hand between his palms before averting his gaze slightly.
“I remember there’s a market nearby. Would you like to go?”
Mu Wanwan looked confused. “What?”
A strand of long hair had fallen beside her temple. Mr. Dragon instinctively reached out and brushed his fingers over her cheek, finding it warm and soft beneath his touch.
“A market,” he repeated, his face turning slightly red. Her reflection filled his dark eyes. “It opens at night and sells little trinkets.”
“And sweets.”
Mu Wanwan was silent.
Perhaps her expression was somewhat difficult to describe, because Mr. Dragon hurriedly added, “They’re delicious.”
Mu Wanwan remained silent for a moment before answering, “All right.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, the dragon standing before her looked at her with an extremely obvious expression of delight. The word *anticipation* might as well have been written plainly across his phoenix eyes.
“W-what is it?” His behaviour suddenly made her feel a little nervous.
He leaned closer until his forehead rested against hers, then whispered, “Will you wear something sparkly?”
Mu Wanwan was speechless.
Wear something sparkly?!
Those clothes were so mortifying that even if she had nothing else to wear—even if she had to run around naked or make a bikini out of Mengmeng’s feathers—she would never agree to wear them!
Absolutely not!
“But I can cast a spell so that only I can see it,” her delicate husband began his offensive.
Mu Wanwan desperately defended herself.
“It looks beautiful,” he said.
Aggrieved attack, number one.
Mu Wanwan remained silent.
“Madam.”
Aggrieved attack, number two.
She continued to resist.
“I want to see it.”
Aggrieved attack, number three.
“J-just once,” Mu Wanwan finally surrendered.
“All right.”
The delight in the ending of his words was completely undisguised. Mr. Dragon took her hand.
“Which one would you like to wear?”
Mu Wanwan had nothing to say.
…
When Mu Wanwan emerged from the room draped in all the colours of the rainbow, she received Mr. Dragon’s most sincere praise.
Unfortunately, she could not feel happy about it at all.
“Come here.”
He wore a deep-black robe that Mu Wanwan had chosen for him. His long hair was simply tied back with a pale ink-coloured ribbon, while the breeze lifted the loose strands over his forehead, revealing the scattered curse marks that remained there.
His dark brows swept sharply towards his temples. His narrow eyes stared unwaveringly at her, and his voice was as clear and cool as spring water. A faint smile rested upon his lips, giving him the air of an overbearing CEO.
Mu Wanwan glared at the dragon irritably.
To be honest, although the clothes looked somewhat hideous, the material was excellent. They were not as uncomfortable as she had imagined and were still easy to move around in.
Mr. Dragon cast a spell over the two of them.
When Mu Wanwan lowered her head again, she could no longer see the suffocating colours covering her body. She then looked at Mr. Dragon, but he appeared unchanged in her eyes.
“Beautiful,” Mr. Dragon praised her again.
Mu Wanwan’s entire face turned scarlet.
What was this terrible feeling?
Was this some kind of humiliation play?
Unable to endure the embarrassment, Mu Wanwan simply gave up resisting and launched a counterattack.
“My husband is even better-looking than I am.”
Mr. Dragon’s eyes widened slightly.
He instinctively raised a hand to cover the scattered curse marks on his face, his eyes filled with surprise that he had failed to conceal.
He quickly realised that his reaction was inappropriate. He lowered his head and fell silent.
Mu Wanwan froze.
She had never known that he felt insecure about his appearance.
Thinking about it carefully, she did not seem to have ever told him directly that she liked the way he looked or that she loved him exactly as he was.
She had assumed he understood.
Yet had she not also felt insecure in front of him?
He had once been one of the strongest beings on the entire continent. Although he had now fallen into such a miserable state and was facing the threat of death, perhaps anyone who fell in love would inevitably begin to worry about gaining and losing that love.
Even though he was so battered and dishevelled now, the filter through which she saw him was as thick as eight hundred panes of reinforced glass.
As she had gradually fallen in love with him, how many unspoken thoughts had she hidden alongside her own uncertainty and lack of confidence?
She simply had not known that he felt the same way.
He was even more fragile than she was.
Her heart ached with both bitterness and distress.
Mu Wanwan truly wanted to pin this undergarment dragon to the ground and rub him against it a few times, just to see how many more things he had hidden inside his heart.
She felt completely helpless.
Standing on tiptoe, she raised her hand and gently touched his cheek.
“Mr. Dragon, you’re the most handsome dragon I’ve ever seen.”
“You’re not ugly at all.”
Mu Wanwan bit her lip as her heartbeat grew faster.
She raised her eyes and saw Mr. Dragon staring intently at her. A clear layer of moisture shimmered in his dark, ink-like eyes, making him look rather undignified for a dragon.
She threw herself into his arms and made the first confession of her life, finally revealing the feelings she had kept hidden inside her heart.
“I like you very much.”
“You’re already my husband.”
She had never thought he was unattractive.
She had always liked him.
“Mm.”
Mu Wanwan felt his arms tighten around her.
“This dragon also adores Madam.”
“More than Madam adores this dragon.”
His low, hoarse voice sounded beside her ear, and Mu Wanwan’s eyes embarrassingly began to redden as well.
His response carefully wrapped around and protected the vulnerable pride she had exposed to him.
“All right.”
Mu Wanwan smiled and blinked away the moisture in her eyes.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to go to the market? Let’s go.”
“All right.”
Mr. Dragon bent down and kissed the corner of her eye before his lips slowly moved down to hers.
Their breaths intertwined in a lingering kiss.
After their confessions, the intimacy between them felt different from before.
For an adult and a dragon, there was never a wrong time for a deep kiss.
As for their plump, fluffy little hand warmer, Mengmeng had already been tossed into the mustard-seed space by his irresponsible adoptive parents to look after the spirit-chicken chicks.
The merfolk market was not far from the island, and Mr. Dragon and his wife arrived when it was at its liveliest.
Because of the spell, the merfolk saw them as an affectionate married merfolk couple who enjoyed wearing brightly coloured matching outfits.
As for exactly which colours they were wearing…
One only had to consider Mr. Dragon’s terrifying sense of fashion.
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