Inside the elven market—
It was still very early. The sky was grey and overcast, and the temperature had steadily dropped. It looked as though snow might fall.
Uncle Zong had recently begun opening the shop later than usual. He operated for only two hours each afternoon, devoting the rest of his time to preparing the items needed for the auction.
But today, someone knocked on the shop door early in the morning.
The beastman, who was unafraid of the cold, wore only a thin animal-hide garment. Holding his wife, whose condition had improved considerably in recent days, in his arms, he frowned.
“Who is it this early in the morning?”
A little colour had returned to Yun’er’s face. Perhaps because she had experienced such dramatic turns at the boundary between life and death, there was now an added sense of carefree openness about her.
“Brother Lei, I’ll go and have a look with you.”
Uncle Zong could only give in to her. He climbed out of bed, wrapped a thick fur coat around her, then opened the shop door with an unhappy expression.
“Uncle Zong.”
Feng stood outside carrying a bundle on his back, while his other hand tightly gripped Lan’er’s arm. His clothing was thin, and blue-purple bruises covered his face, making him look particularly frail.
Surprise flashed through Uncle Zong’s eyes as he pulled the door open.
“Why are you here? Hurry inside. It’s cold out there.”
Feng shook his head. When his gaze landed on Aunt Yun beside Uncle Zong, he smiled.
“Aunt Yun.”
“Aunt Yun.”
Lan’er, who was being held by Feng, poked half her head out. Her cheek was red and swollen, and tears filled her eyes as she greeted her in a tiny voice.
When Aunt Yun saw the child’s reddened eyes, her heart immediately ached for her, despite her somewhat plain little face.
“Oh, why are you crying? Hurry and come inside.”
Feng firmly shook his head.
“Aunt Yun, Uncle Zong, we came here today to say goodbye.”
Uncle Zong immediately bristled.
“Goodbye? What goodbye? Are you planning to go somewhere else?”
Feng and Lan’er were only ordinary elves. Aside from being somewhat better at growing vegetables, neither possessed any cultivation talent. At most, they lived longer and were stronger than ordinary humans.
The outside world was dangerous…
But judging from the injuries on their faces, had they recently been bullied?
The moment this thought crossed his mind, Uncle Zong felt deeply guilty.
During the previous period, Yun’er’s condition had been extremely poor, while his younger brother had constantly caused trouble. He had barely had any time to look after the siblings.
Now, it appeared that they had probably encountered something that made it impossible for them to continue living among the elves.
“Were you bullied by someone?”
Uncle Zong’s expression instantly became fierce, and the beast markings on his forehead faintly appeared.
Feng shook his head.
“No. I just feel that the elves are proud and look down on unblessed people like us. We might as well leave and find somewhere where life is less difficult.”
He spoke lightly, even smiling faintly.
“If someone doesn’t dislike my leg, perhaps I might even find Lan’er a sister-in-law.”
But the blue-purple bruise at the corner of his smiling lips made his words seem bitterly ironic.
Lan’er could no longer hold back her tears.
“Brother, I’m sorry. I was wrong! I don’t want to leave!”
Feng merely tightened his grip on her hand. The corners of his lips, which he had struggled to lift, sank once more.
“Stop making trouble!”
After being scolded by him, Lan’er no longer dared to speak.
She had never expected her brother to become so angry.
After that terrifying dragon left, her brother had awakened and beaten her.
Her brother had never hit her before.
Even when she had once stolen money from their home to buy meat buns because she wanted to eat meat, he had not struck her.
Lan’er had matured early. How could she not understand why her brother was furious?
She simply had not expected him to become this angry—so angry that he had even decided to abandon their home.
That was their home.
Although they had previously sold it to the rouge shop to pay for their father’s medical treatment, it was still their home.
She had lived here for seven or eight years and did not want to leave at all.
But she did not dare say anything or argue because she had done something wrong.
“You…”
Uncle Zong wanted to say more, but Feng interrupted him.
“Uncle Zong, please stop asking. Nothing really happened.”
Seeing the resolve in his eyes, Aunt Yun stopped Uncle Zong, who was nearly unable to restrain himself, and shook her head.
Uncle Zong sighed.
“What about the rent? Did they return it to you?”
“They said we were leaving early, so they wouldn’t refund it,” Lan’er sobbed. “Brother, can’t we stay?”
Feng could no longer force himself to smile. He tightly gripped her hand and remained silent.
Uncle Zong looked at the two children who had grown up beside him over the last two years. In the end, his heart softened.
“How about this? There’s an auction the day after tomorrow, and I’m short of an assistant. Help me this once, then leave after the auction ends.”
Feng understood his intentions and looked at him gratefully.
“Thank you, Uncle Zong. But I think today is a good day to begin our journey.”
Since he had already said that much, Uncle Zong could no longer persuade him.
He exchanged a glance with Aunt Yun.
“Wait here for me.”
He turned and entered the shop.
After some time, he returned with a small spatial pouch and forcibly stuffed it into Feng’s pocket.
“Your uncle doesn’t have anything particularly valuable. Consider this a small token of my regard and use it as travelling expenses.”
“If you still remember us in the future, bring Lan’er back to the market to visit.”
His large hand stroked Lan’er’s head.
“Lan’er, you won’t forget Uncle Zong and Aunt Yun, will you?”
“I won’t! I won’t forget!”
Lan’er’s tear-streaked face had become a mess. She threw herself into Uncle Zong’s arms.
“Waaah! I don’t want to leave!”
Feng clutched the spatial pouch in his hand.
No matter what, he could not bring himself to voice the words of refusal.
He felt utterly despicable.
He had come here partly to say goodbye, but another part of him had also hoped to receive something that could protect their lives from this beastman who was like an elder to them.
He did not feel humiliated by Uncle Zong’s kindness.
He only felt ashamed of himself.
Feng pulled the crying Lan’er away. After taking one final, deep look at Uncle Zong and his wife, he left.
He carried his parents’ ashes on his back, while his young sister walked beside him.
The road ahead of them was still very, very long.
…
“They’ve already gone far away. Stop looking.”
Uncle Zong irritably closed the shop door and pulled Yun’er back inside. He picked a Hundred Treasures Fruit and handed it to her.
“It’s time to eat your fruit.”
Yun’er rolled her eyes at him.
“Go and investigate what happened. Tell that ungrateful younger brother of yours outside to keep an eye on them.”
Uncle Zong scratched his head.
“I would have done that even if you hadn’t told me. Their father treated us well in the past.”
Lan’er and Feng’s father had once helped them.
Although it had been only a small favour, Uncle Zong and his wife had secretly assisted the siblings throughout the past two years.
But this time, the moment he stopped paying attention, they had been driven away.
How could he possibly avoid investigating what had happened?
“Mm.”
Yun’er was still in a poor mood.
After eating one fruit, she felt exhausted again. Uncle Zong settled her down before leaving the shop.
Not long after the siblings departed, another cold spell arrived.
The many consecutive days of gloomy rain finally ended, and fine snowflakes began falling from the sky.
The auction proceeded as scheduled.
Uncle Zong blended into the crowd of cultivators and cautiously altered his appearance and build, making himself resemble a wolf beastman.
The auction did not last long.
Uncle Zong emerged with an unpleasant expression while still disguised as a wolf. Coincidentally, he bumped into the dragon Jin Qiang, whose face was glowing with satisfaction.
“Tch, a wolf.”
Jin Qiang held a beautiful fox slave he had just purchased in his arms and looked down at Uncle Zong through his nostrils.
“Hurry and apologise to this lord!”
“Master, don’t be angry.”
The fox slave possessed a seductive appearance and spoke softly with her cherry-red lips. Her delicate hands gently pressed against Jin Qiang’s chest, immediately suppressing his anger and igniting another kind of desire.
Uncle Zong had only bumped into him accidentally and had no desire to cause trouble.
“Senior, I apologise. I failed to watch where I was going.”
“Hmph.”
Jin Qiang kicked him.
“Get lost.”
Uncle Zong immediately left without hesitation.
Feeling triumphant, Jin Qiang loudly kissed the beautiful woman’s cheek.
He had spent an enormous amount of money to purchase this seductive little temptress.
But that did not matter.
Lord Jin Yan had also attended this auction. After satisfying his urges, Jin Qiang would go and ask Lord Jin Yan for a reward.
He had done such an enormous favour for Lord Jin Yan. Surely he deserved some compensation?
Jin Qiang’s fantasies were certainly pleasant.
Unfortunately, he lacked connections and did not understand how to gather information.
Naturally, he was unaware that Lord Jin Yan, whom he believed would certainly reward him, had already returned three days earlier.
He and Bai Huan of the white dragon tribe had escaped from a secret realm together, carrying the poison and demonic energy of abyssal monsters inside their bodies.
Inside an estate far from the dragon market, Jin Yan’s body was enveloped in dense black demonic energy.
His skin cracked open from time to time, revealing bloody scales beneath it. Half dragon and half human, he looked utterly wretched.
He was nearly dying from the pain.
His once-handsome and rugged face had become hideously twisted.
“Where are they?!” he roared. “They still haven’t returned?!”
“My lord, the people who attended the auction have returned!”
A maid’s delighted voice came from outside.
Jin Yan could not wait another moment. He rushed outside and drove his dragon claws directly into the subordinate who had attended the auction.
“The pills!”
The subordinate golden dragon’s face turned pale with pain, but he did not dare show the slightest resentment.
He swiftly took out what he had obtained.
“My lord, Lord Bai Huan also sent people there. We didn’t bring enough money, so they purchased half of the Jinjiang Grass…”
Jin Yan’s expression twisted as he snatched a bottle of fourth-rank Snow Condensation Pills from the subordinate’s hand.
He shoved several into his mouth.
A moment later, he spat out a mouthful of black blood, and some of the dark mist surrounding him dispersed.
Only then did he feel slightly better.
He sneered.
“Heh. That brat Bai Huan…”
He did not finish his sentence.
Instead, he seized the high-grade spatial pouch from his subordinate and waved his hand.
“Get lost.”
Blood dripped steadily from the subordinate’s shoulder, but his expression remained respectful as he withdrew.
Jin Yan pulled several high-grade spirit stones from the spatial pouch.
After a short while, his previously cracked skin gradually healed.
He summoned his spiritual cloud and used his spiritual consciousness to inspect the treasures inside the pouch. A trace of pain and loathing crossed his face.
Then, riding his spiritual cloud, he headed towards the residence of the golden dragon tribe’s highly respected guest alchemist.
Within the white dragon tribe’s territory, Bai Huan’s condition was no better.
In fact, his injuries were even more serious than Jin Yan’s.
During this expedition to a secret realm left behind by a senior of the demon race, he had not obtained any precious cultivation technique. Instead, he had encountered a sixth-rank witch expert and a group of fourth-rank abyssal monsters.
He had nearly lost his life inside.
“Jin Yan…”
Black blood leaked from the corner of Bai Huan’s mouth.
Clutching the pills his subordinate had won at the auction, his eyes burned with rage.
Once he recovered, he would definitely settle the score with Jin Yan.
Setting aside how the two poisoned dragons intended to kill one another, Mu Wanwan was currently facing a difficult problem—
The fluffball enjoyed stepping all over Mr. Dragon whenever Mu Wanwan was not paying attention, and it refused to change its behaviour despite being repeatedly taught otherwise.
The fluffball was highly intelligent.
It had also been fed quite well recently. Its feathers had grown fuller, and its little scarf was brighter than before.
It had been extremely proud of itself over the past several days.
Only three chicks had ultimately hatched from the spirit-chicken eggs they had purchased.
Miraculously, every chick that hatched had survived.
After eating spiritual fruits for several days, they had already grown soft down.
The spirit-chicken chicks were slightly larger than ordinary modern chicks. Their bodies were covered in a mixture of creamy white and pale-yellow fluff, making them extremely adorable.
Even more remarkably, all three firmly believed that the fluffball was their mother. →_→
Every day, they followed behind Mengmeng and learned how to walk.
Because they were still very young, Mu Wanwan had simply placed a large basin inside the room to serve as their nest.
The spirit-chicken chicks were not particularly dirty, but they could not compare with the cleanliness-loving fluffball.
They jumped around on the ground every day and inevitably picked up some dirt.
As a result, an awkward scene occurred—
The weather was pleasant today.
Mu Wanwan took the quilt covering Mr. Dragon outside to air in the sunlight.
Wanting to enjoy the sunshine herself, she decided to cultivate seeds in the courtyard.
After working for two or three hours, she returned to the room.
She discovered Mengmeng leading the three chicks as they jumped all over Mr. Dragon’s body.
Their feet were covered in mud, and their tiny wings were dusty.
Mu Wanwan even saw one chick suffering from diarrhoea directly on his chest.
Mu Wanwan: “…”
“Mengmeng!”
Mu Wanwan became genuinely angry.
She quickly grabbed the bouncing fluffballs and angrily tied them inside the basket.
Even when the culprit, Mengmeng, opened its enormous eyes and chirped cutely at her, it could not escape punishment.
Mu Wanwan tied it beside the chick that had diarrhoea so it could learn what it meant to share both hardship and stink together. 🙂
Afterward, she walked towards the bed.
She looked at Mr. Dragon’s pale face, his tightly furrowed brows…
And the filth covering his body.
She was immediately confronted with a cleaning dilemma.
She had been here for more than a month but had never truly given him a bath. She usually only wiped him down, though fortunately, he had never been particularly dirty.
But this time, Mu Wanwan felt she would be unable to live with herself if she did not bathe him.
Not to mention that she would have to sleep beside him that night.
“Mr. Dragon, how about I give you a bath?”
Mu Wanwan looked at his fluffy ears, which had been dirtied by all the little feet, and quietly considered her words.
A certain dragon, who had just awakened and had been forcibly suppressing his disgust towards the fluffballs, was instantly dumbfounded—
In such an awkward situation, should he wake up and bathe himself?
Or should he pretend to remain unconscious and allow Madam to bathe him?
( ω )
—
**Author’s Note:**
Mr. Dragon, twitching his ears while wearing a solemn expression: “I am a respectable dragon. Therefore, I choose to pretend to be asleep!”
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