In the depths of the night, his intense emotions and the love he had long suppressed within his heart were laid completely bare.
He kissed her lips again and again.
He had only planned to be away for a few days. He merely wanted to retrieve a few things so that she would no longer have to work so hard. Yet the dragon who had always been accustomed to walking alone through the darkness had now become greedy and insatiable.
He did not want to leave her.
He truly, truly could not bear to leave.
He rose and put on the clothes she had bought for him. His slender fingers fastened the white fur cloak, making him resemble an invincible general donning his armour.
His movements were very light as he tucked the blanket around her, just as she had done for him countless times before.
Mengmeng’s nest and the paper and brushes she used for her notes lay on the table.
Mr. Dragon gently opened her notebook. He wanted to leave her a few words, telling her that he would return soon.
He flipped through a couple of pages, searching for an empty space, but then caught sight of her elegant handwriting in the corner of one page.
“Mr. Dragon, you truly are a good dragon.”
The small line of writing was nestled among Mu Wanwan’s analysis of impurities in various materials, completely different from everything else on the page.
His long phoenix eyes widened slightly, surprise flashing through them. Panic surged within his chest, and Mr. Dragon’s face, covered in black and crimson curse patterns, instantly turned bright red.
Judging by the dried ink, she had written it quite some time ago.
Then…
Did that mean his wife already knew that Mengmeng had not been the one to ruin those spirit plants?
His face burned, and his heart pounded wildly. Countless plausible guesses nearly made Mr. Dragon so embarrassed that he turned into a braised dragon on the spot. *(:3」∠)*
She had known all along.
She had known for a long time that he was awake.
Then did she also know about everything he had done at night back then?
The handsome dragon’s face was scarlet. He covered it with one broad hand, leaving only his fluffy ears exposed. They twitched uncontrollably, betraying the turmoil in their owner’s heart.
His blood seemed on the verge of boiling.
So she knew.
She had known all along.
Yet even then, she had remained so gentle. She had completely taken his feelings into consideration and had never exposed him. She had simply continued to silently tolerate and accommodate him.
Perhaps all the luck he possessed in this lifetime had been spent on meeting her.
His eyes filled with a surging love that could no longer be restrained, like floodwaters bursting through a dam.
A low, hoarse laugh sounded in the dark room, immediately startling Mengmeng awake.
It opened its large eyes, kicked its thin little legs, and flipped nimbly onto the table.
Then it met a certain dragon’s glowing golden eyes.
Mengmeng’s feathers instantly puffed up in terror.
This dragon was terrifying!
He had most likely gone insane!
There was actually a smile on his frightening face—a smile that the little chirp could not understand at all. He looked terrifying when he smiled, and golden light kept pouring from his eyes!
Ahhh! Baby Chirp was going to die of fright!
“Shh.”
Seeing that the little fluffball was about to cry, Mr. Dragon quickly pinched its tender yellow beak.
He was in such a good mood that he said in a low, hoarse voice, “You’re a man. What are you crying for?”
Mengmeng stared at him with watery, trembling eyes.
Mr. Dragon looked at its pitiful appearance. The feathers on its head were still bald, making it far uglier than before.
Even so, his heart did not soften in the slightest.
A flash of light appeared at his fingertip, and he tapped it against the little fluffball’s head.
“While I’m away, protect Wanwan properly.”
Mengmeng only felt as though the terrifying evil dragon had suddenly stuffed a vast amount of information into its tiny head.
Its two thin legs kicked out.
Then it fainted.
Mr. Dragon’s lips curved slightly.
Holding the brush, he began writing on the paper with a red face.
He paused for a long time after every stroke. It was unclear whether he was considering what to write or trying to work out how to make his handwriting look slightly less ugly to his wife.
The ugly dragon carefully wrote her name, stroke by stroke, more seriously than he had ever done anything else.
After finishing the two characters, he could not resist quietly returning to the bedside and kissing the corner of her lips.
Then, very wickedly, he stuck out his tongue and licked her soft lips.
Mu Wanwan did not feel a thing.
Meanwhile, he was nearly dying of embarrassment.
After dragging things out for most of the night, the dragon finally left.
…
Early the following morning, when Mu Wanwan woke up, she habitually glanced to her side.
However, the dragon who usually lay beside her with his eyes half-closed, awkwardly waiting for her to greet him, was nowhere to be seen.
The space beside her was completely empty.
There was nothing there.
Mu Wanwan had still felt a little sleepy, but now all traces of drowsiness immediately vanished.
Where was her dragon?
She rubbed her eyes and confirmed that Mr. Dragon truly was not lying on the jade bed.
A little panicked, Mu Wanwan reassured herself that perhaps he had recovered enough to take his wheelchair into the courtyard by himself.
She hurriedly climbed out of bed, only to discover that the wheelchair was still parked neatly beside it.
The clothes and shoes she had bought for him were gone.
Where had he gone?
Why had he not told her?
Mu Wanwan only had time to throw on an outer robe before she began searching everywhere for him.
However, even after searching the entire palace, she could not find any trace of Mr. Dragon.
“My Lord…”
Mu Wanwan walked to the entrance in a daze. Her eyes began to sting against her will.
Her dragon was gone.
He was nowhere to be found.
“Where did you go?”
Panic spread through her heart as Mu Wanwan walked back into the room, distracted and lost.
She sat beside the table, intending to speak to Mengmeng, only to discover that the little fluffball was behaving abnormally today and had remained unconscious the entire time.
Something seemed to be trapped beneath its chubby little body.
“Mengmeng.”
Mu Wanwan called its name and pulled out the piece of paper from beneath it.
Her hands trembled as she opened it.
Several crooked lines of writing were scrawled across the paper.
Mu Wanwan’s heart settled slightly. Her eyes were so full of tears that she could not even see what that hateful dragon had written.
She wiped away her tears and finally made out his ugly handwriting.
“To my wife, Wanwan:”
“Going out for a trip. Will return in three to five days. Will bring back gold coins—” The words *gold coins* had been crossed out. “Spirit stones. Do not worry.”
“Also, do not worry about Fat Qiu—” The wrong character had been crossed out. “Chirp.”
“Husband,”
“Dragon, left this.”
Mu Wanwan carefully read the short letter several times.
When she reached the signature, which was actually just “Dragon,” she could not help laughing through her tears. *qwq*
What was that supposed to mean?
“Dragon”?
Her husband was a dragon, so he did not even bother leaving his name?
Come to think of it, she truly did not know Mr. Dragon’s name.
But then why did Mr. Dragon know hers?
After seeing the note he had left behind, Mu Wanwan was no longer panicked. Her heart gradually calmed.
She gazed at the characters spelling “Wanwan,” which were noticeably prettier than the rest of the writing, and felt both amused and worried.
Mr. Dragon’s handwriting really had not improved much over all these years. At most, it was only slightly neater.
He was also a little illiterate. He had needed two attempts just to write the “chirp” in “little fluffball.”
Still, would he truly be safe while he was away?
Could Ao Qin discover him?
However, since it was Mr. Dragon, he had probably already made his plans.
And when had he recovered enough to move about on his own?
Was the curse no longer a problem?
The pills she had given him were not enough.
Her gaze fell upon the plants on the windowsill, and Mu Wanwan frowned.
Why had he not brought some spirit fruit with him before leaving?
Was going hungry supposed to be fun?
Mu Wanwan could practically picture a certain dragon fainting from hunger along the road.
She sighed and rubbed her head, forcing herself to pull herself together.
Honestly, he had gone out and still managed to make her worry so much.
Also, if he had already recovered earlier, why had he never moved by himself?
Why had he still made her wash his hair and support him?
He truly was a very bad dragon.
Remembering some of the things she had done over the past few days for the supposedly “incapacitated” Mr. Dragon, Mu Wanwan felt a little embarrassed.
Still, aside from her worry, she had regained some confidence.
Mr. Dragon was gradually recovering. Perhaps he had gone out this time because he wanted to find a way to change their current circumstances.
Maybe she could look forward to seeing what he would bring back.
Mu Wanwan pulled herself together, picked some spirit fruit, and placed them beside Mengmeng. After quickly tidying herself up, she prepared to leave.
She had already been delayed by more than an hour.
Today was the day she had arranged to meet Uncle Zong.
She still needed to earn money.
Mu Wanwan put on her veiled hat, closed the courtyard gate, and walked for a while before spotting Hongye, who had been waiting nearby for quite some time.
“Madam is a little late today,” Hongye said politely, as always. “Where are we going today?”
Mu Wanwan placed her new carrying basket onto the ox cart and smiled at her.
“To the market shared by the human and dwarf tribes.”
…
While Mu Wanwan was travelling, Uncle Chen and Uncle Zong were waiting anxiously.
“Why hasn’t the girl arrived yet? Could something have happened to her?”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Auntie Yun glared at Uncle Zong. “Nothing could have happened.”
Auntie Hua was also somewhat worried.
“I hope nothing has happened. The demon tribes have also been growing increasingly restless.”
Uncle Zong fell into thought before slapping his thigh.
“Those people do nothing but scheme and plot every day. Can’t they ever live peacefully?”
Uncle Chen shook his head.
“Let’s keep waiting. From what I’ve recently heard, the dragon clan seems to be preparing something. Haven’t you noticed that there have been far fewer dragons in several of the markets?”
“On this advance-order list, there are only Jin Yan and Bai Huan, the two who were previously injured. The dragon-clan alchemists also seem to be occupied with something.”
“Logically speaking, we spread the news far and wide this time. There’s no way those dragon alchemists wouldn’t know. They’re most likely being held up by something else,” Uncle Chen analysed calmly. “Also, more members of the witch and demon tribes have recently been entering and leaving the capital.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed dark red beast markings gradually appearing across Zong Lei’s face.
“Damn it. If I ever run into that accursed witch again, I’ll crush him to death.”
Auntie Yun’s expression also became unpleasant.
Back then, if she had not been too impatient and fallen into a witch’s trap, her current strength might have been far greater than even Uncle Zong’s.
“Uncle Zong?”
A voice came from outside the door, breaking the heavy atmosphere in the room.
Auntie Hua’s eyes lit up. She opened the back courtyard door and saw Mu Wanwan standing outside with a basket on her back.
A smile appeared on her face.
“Little Qian, you’re here.”
Mu Wanwan acknowledged her.
During their previous meeting, Uncle Zong had given her the address of this courtyard and told her not to enter through the shop this time, so she had come directly here.
“Come in quickly.”
Uncle Zong suppressed his anger and welcomed her inside.
As usual, they calculated the quantities of pills and spirit fruit she had brought. Mu Wanwan then handed Auntie Yun a newly refined second-rank Snow Condensation Pill.
“Auntie Yun, please accept this second-rank Snow Condensation Pill as a gift from me. Thank you and Uncle Zong for taking such good care of me.”
Mu Wanwan spoke sincerely.
Unfortunately, no one’s attention was focused on the fact that she wanted to give Auntie Yun the pill.
Instead, they all exclaimed, “A second-rank Snow Condensation Pill?!”
Uncle Zong’s voice was extremely loud, startling Mu Wanwan into taking a step backwards.
“Ah, yes. It’s second-rank.”
“Then those Spirit-Restoring Pills you mentioned earlier—are some of them second-rank too?”
“These two bottles are. There are five pills in each bottle,” Mu Wanwan explained.
Uncle Chen’s gaze also became complicated.
He stepped forwards and patted Mu Wanwan on the shoulder.
“Little Qian, you’re about to become rich.”
Mu Wanwan: “?”
Uncle Chen briefly explained how pill prices had recently been driven up.
Mu Wanwan found it difficult to believe.
“So you still owe me seven mid-grade spirit stones from the previous sale?”
Uncle Chen smiled.
“That’s right. Calculate what you’ll receive this time. The first-rank Spirit-Restoring Pills alone will earn you twenty-eight mid-grade spirit stones. That doesn’t even include the second-rank pills or the Snow Condensation Pills.”
“If your Uncle Zong and I didn’t possess some savings, we might not even have been able to advance you the spirit stones.”
Mu Wanwan suddenly felt as though she had become wealthy overnight and could not help smiling.
Uncle Chen did not waste any time. He quickly finished calculating the spirit stones, then took out a sparkling high-grade spirit stone.
“Little Qian, this is a high-grade spirit stone. Do you want it?”
Mu Wanwan’s eyes immediately lit up.
A high-grade spirit stone!
This was the first time she had ever seen one.
It was considerably smaller than a mid-grade spirit stone, but its colour and brilliance were far more beautiful. The spiritual energy inside it must also be much more abundant.
If she gave this spirit stone to Mr. Dragon, would he immediately recover completely?
Thinking about the expression that dragon might make, Mu Wanwan grew even more excited.
In the end, she exchanged her earnings with Uncle Zong for one high-grade spirit stone, eleven mid-grade spirit stones, more than twenty low-grade spirit stones, and some loose coins.
“Oh, right.”
Uncle Zong sighed and handed Mu Wanwan the advance-order list.
“Girl, do you remember the Lan siblings?”
Mu Wanwan accepted the list and instinctively touched her neck.
Of course she remembered the Lan siblings.
“The incident before was carried out on the orders of two of the dragon clan’s close retainers,” Uncle Zong told her. “As for the Illusion Grass, Lan’er was forced into it. The siblings have already left the capital.”
Mu Wanwan was briefly shocked.
She looked into Uncle Zong’s brown eyes and felt slightly flustered.
Uncle Zong knew her identity!
He also knew what had happened with the Illusion Grass.
Mu Wanwan quickly calmed down.
She had never expected to conceal her identity from Uncle Zong forever.
She and Uncle Zong had both helped one another. Even for Auntie Yun’s sake, Uncle Zong would not do anything to harm her.
More importantly, she was willing to believe that the Uncle Zong who had always helped her was a good person.
“I’m not telling you this because I want you to forgive them,” Uncle Zong said. “I only want to ask whether you’re willing to sell pills to those two dragons. If you don’t want to, I can remove them from the list.”
His large hand patted her shoulder.
“Your Uncle Zong is still somewhat capable, and your Uncle Chen is not weak either.”
“If something happens to your husband, come and find me and your Auntie Yun.”
Mu Wanwan lowered her head and looked at the names Jin Yan and Bai Huan on the list.
In her mind, she seemed to see the elf with a birthmark on his face smiling as he called her Senior.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Uncle Zong,” Mu Wanwan said. “As expected, I still don’t want to sell the pills to them.”
The fact that Lan’er had deceived her and planted the Illusion Grass on her was a wound she had never truly overcome.
After learning what the Illusion Grass did, she found it even more impossible to forgive her.
Upon seeing the names of the two dragons on the list, Mu Wanwan could already make a rough guess about what had happened.
They had wanted her, Mr. Dragon’s wife, to see the memories he least wished to confront.
They had probably wanted her to hate Mr. Dragon.
At that time, he had been conscious but unable to move. If she had bullied him, who knew how deeply that sensitive dragon might have been hurt?
They had wanted to make a joke out of her husband, and they had even used weak and innocent people around her to accomplish it.
No matter what, she could not forgive them.
“It’s fine.” Uncle Chen smiled pleasantly. “They’re only two dragons. We’re not afraid of them.”
“You’re not afraid. I am,” Uncle Zong retorted, rolling his eyes at Uncle Chen. “You and Sister Hua are both so powerful.”
Their interruption improved Mu Wanwan’s mood.
After arranging the date of their next meeting with Uncle Zong, she said goodbye and prepared to leave.
As soon as she stepped out of the back courtyard, she began calculating what she needed to buy.
Mr. Dragon would not return for another three to five days. She would continue working hard at refining pills until then.
Should she also buy some different ingredients and make something delicious when she returned?
She had not been thinking for long when she passed a relatively quiet alley and came face-to-face with a strange wooden mechanical dog.
Mu Wanwan blinked.
The mechanical dog had appeared suddenly on the ground. It was roughly half a person tall.
It shook its head at her, then spat a small cloth pouch out of its mouth.
Afterwards, it jumped several times, as though signalling for her to pick up the pouch lying on the ground.
Mu Wanwan: “??”
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