Chapter 45: Crybaby

When Sang Ying woke up, it was already dark outside. Her eyelashes fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw being a patch of fair collarbone.

It was partially concealed by silky black hair, scattered with numerous bite marks that disappeared beneath the collar of his robe.

Still groggy from sleep, she tried to move her arm to rub her eyes, but her hand was too weak to lift. The movement only stirred her sore and limp body, causing her to let out a soft whimper.

…What happened? She felt so tired, completely drained, as if she had been training for days. Even breathing felt exhausting.

The young man holding her sensed her stirring and rested his chin against the top of her head, his cool voice tinged with laziness. “Awake, junior sister?”

Hearing Xie Lingyu’s voice, Sang Ying blinked her bleary eyes. Oh, it’s Xie Lingyu. A few seconds later, it dawned on her, and she immediately looked up. “Xie Lingyu, what are you doing in my room?!”

Her face showed disbelief, followed by a mix of embarrassment and anger. “You perverted dragon! You actually snuck into my bed while I was asleep!”

Xie Lingyu: “…”

He hadn’t held back much last night—it seemed he had kissed her into a daze.

Warm fingers turned her face toward him as he pulled aside the red gauze bed curtain with one hand, allowing her to see the layout of the bedroom. Xie Lingyu chuckled softly. “Take another look, junior sister. Whose room is this?”

The furnishings before her eyes were unfamiliar. The wedding candles had burned out, leaving only the candlesticks. The red silk reflected in Sang Ying’s eyes, casting a crimson glow.

It definitely wasn’t her room. Sang Ying blinked twice, beginning to doubt herself. Could it be… she had sleepwalked into Xie Lingyu’s room?!

A strand of black hair twirled around the young man’s finger as he watched her bewildered expression and asked unhurriedly, “Junior sister doesn’t remember what happened last night?”

Her cultivation realm had advanced too much, leaving her mind muddled, dizzy, and heavy. Her Divine Sense felt like a tangled mess, making it impossible to recall what had happened yesterday. Even events from the past few days seemed hazy. Last night…

Sang Ying tried hard to remember, her weak hand pressing against her throbbing forehead, but her Divine Sense ached too much. She frowned tightly. “Did I… fight with you?”

Her hand moved down to rest on her belly. She had felt unusually full upon waking, and sure enough, it was slightly swollen. She paused, voicing her suspicion hesitantly. “…And then we had a big feast after fighting?”

As she spoke, even she found the conclusion absurd and was about to try recalling something else when the young man before her chuckled softly and lazily hummed in agreement.

He took her hand and brought it before his eyes, his fingers tracing the Golden Ring on her wrist. “Junior sister did indeed have quite a feast.”

Sang Ying stared at the prominent Red Pattern on the Golden Ring, momentarily stunned. He had told her before that the Red Pattern on the dragon clan’s Binding Ring represented the number of Dual Cultivation sessions.

He hadn’t had it before, but now there was a Red Pattern—meaning… he had engaged in Dual Cultivation!

Sang Ying’s eyes widened abruptly as she looked up at him.

Xie Lingyu lazily propped his chin on his hand, his dark eyes meeting hers. Seeing the complex mix of shock and suspicion slowly shatter in her gaze, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Junior sister finally remembers—”

“Xie Lingyu, you actually went out to cheat on me!”

Xie Lingyu: ?

Sang Ying felt as if her world had collapsed, her heart filled with anger and sorrow. It had only been half a month since she asked him to recuperate, and he couldn’t resist finding someone else.

Her mind was foggy, and she was furious. “You scoundrel, Xie Lingyu, couldn’t you even hold out for half a month? Sneaking around and not even bothering to hide it—you even flaunted it right in front of me! Now you’re already with…”

Suddenly, her little face was pinched, and Sang Ying’s cheeks puffed out like a little squirrel’s.

Her watery eyes glared at him fiercely, her words muffled: “Wha’ are you doin’? Daring to sneak around and not let people talk?”

The young man before her pulled open his collar with one hand, revealing a messy array of bite marks on his shoulder. He pointed to them one by one. “This one was bitten by you at the very beginning. This one was bitten when you begged me to kiss you…”

…She bit him?

Sang Ying blinked in confusion, her heart filled with doubt, but her Divine Sense truly followed his words, conjuring up some familiar scenes.

The Qinglong swayed, and as he leaned in to kiss her, she inadvertently glanced over—that dragon tail had vanished among the Water Lotuses.

And then, she sat in his lap as he guided her hand to touch the empty dragon tail, the heat making her fingertips shrink back.

Sang Ying’s dazed mind gradually recalled those memories, and her ears instantly flushed red. She… she had actually done such things with Xie Lingyu?

The young man before her rolled up his sleeve, revealing rows of nail scratches and pinch marks on his arm.

“And these, they were when you couldn’t take it anymore…”

Before Xie Lingyu could finish, Sang Ying lunged forward to cover his mouth, her ears burning like fire. “Shut up!”

In her haste, she forgot her current condition—weak and aching all over. With a soft whimper, she collapsed limply again.

Xie Lingyu caught her in his arms, his palm resting on her belly as he gently rubbed it. “Feeling better now?”

His hand was warm, and as he massaged her belly, the soreness and bloating seemed to ease considerably.

Sang Ying leaned listlessly against his chest, utterly drained, unable to lift even a finger.

The usually cunning and radiant little fox had truly been bullied to the brink this time. Her eyes brimmed with misty tears, the tip of her nose slightly red, looking utterly pitiful.

Xie Lingyu watched her, unable to resist kissing her cheek. “Do you remember now who I Dual Cultivated with?”

After all this, how could she not remember?

Sang Ying was furious inside, but she truly lacked the strength to settle the score with him. She could only lie there limply, pitifully sniffling as she squeezed out a complaint: “You promised we’d only cultivate once. You didn’t keep your word.”

The young man behind her rested his chin on the top of her head and nodded. “You need evidence for that, Shimei.”

Sang Ying grumbled softly, “I remember it was already dawn by the time we finished cultivating. It must have been you who cultivated extra—otherwise, how could I be this exhausted?”

As she spoke, she glanced down at the Golden Ring on her wrist, hoping to find “evidence.” But after turning it twice, all she saw was a single Red Pattern.

Sang Ying: “…?”

He really hadn’t lied to her—one time truly meant one time.

But wasn’t this one cultivation session way too long? She remembered reading in the cultivation manual Cave Master Cai Xia gave her that the usual cultivation time ranged from a quarter of an hour to half an hour. Could it be that the dragon clan was different in this regard?

Hmm… it was possible. After all, the dragon clan had the Tide Heat Period, which humans didn’t experience, and they even needed Binding Rings to suppress it.

At this thought, Sang Ying suddenly felt the Golden Binding Ring in her hand had become a hot potato. She quickly took it off and pulled his dragon tail over to slip it back on.

One cultivation session had already taken half her life. If he couldn’t hold back and went for another round, she wouldn’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow.

Xie Lingyu noticed her flustered little movements and chuckled, “Does junior sister have energy again?”

Sang Ying quickly pretended to be dead, pulling the brocade quilt over her head.

“I’m sleepy, going to sleep.”

Not long after, she peeked her head out again, her ears tinged red, and asked softly in confusion, “Xie Lingyu, why do I feel strange?”

“What’s strange?”

Xie Lingyu held her and, upon hearing this, was about to lift the quilt to check, “Does your wound hurt?”

“No! It’s just…”

Although the wound was indeed uncomfortable, she could feel that medicine had been applied—cool and soothing—but it was a strange sensation, not exactly painful.

What truly puzzled her was something else. Sang Ying took his hand and placed it on her slightly bulging belly, her small face scrunched up in confusion, “I feel so full, like I ate a lot, but it doesn’t seem like food.”

“…”

The girl before him was pure and naive, merely voicing her troubles and confusion, completely unaware of what she was saying.

Xie Lingyu wanted to kiss her again. Though this thought had never truly ceased, it was now overwhelmingly strong.

But her body was far too weak, already frail after just one night, her small face now listless.

She also loved to cry, and he had no idea how so many tears could flow. He had kissed away countless scalding teardrops, and his dragon tail had drunk so much Lotus Dew time and again.

Last night, he had worried she might suffer from dehydration, so he had held her up and fed her warm water several times.

Now her voice was hoarse from crying, her words muffled and soft, her entire appearance pitifully disheveled.

Xie Lingyu suppressed the urge, restraining himself as he gently stroked her with his thumb, “Has junior sister forgotten what I said last time at the hot spring?”

Sang Ying blinked, recalling the events of that time, retrieving the conversation from her memory. What had he said…?

A cultivator’s Primordial Yang is very important. Abundant Yang Qi is beneficial to one’s cultivation base, so it must all be…

Sang Ying’s eyelashes trembled, “So what I ate was… yours…?”

The young man nodded slightly, his thumb gently brushing her cheek, “Hasn’t junior sister noticed? Your cultivation base has increased.”

Sang Ying had been too preoccupied with her discomfort upon waking to pay attention to her cultivation base. Now, reminded by him, she finally checked.

Not checking was one thing, but checking startled her.

“Eighth Layer of Foundation Establishment?”

She had only been at the Third Layer of Foundation Establishment yesterday. After just one night, she had advanced five layers?!

Come to think of it, she vaguely remembered him helping her refine elemental spiritual power throughout the night.

Sang Ying was astonished. Was Dual Cultivation really this fast?

As if reading her thoughts, the young man spoke, “Only the first time during Dual Cultivation, when absorbing Primordial Yang, will one’s cultivation base increase significantly. After that, it will return to normal.”

Sang Ying nodded in understanding. No wonder female cultivators of the Huanhe Sect targeted cultivators with Primordial Yang—this was the reason.

Still, she didn’t quite understand the principle behind it. Yesterday, she had been so drowsy and muddled, unable to keep her eyes open, that she hadn’t seen where he had taken it from or how he had fed it to her. Was it poured down like medicine?

Never mind, it wasn’t important.

Sang Ying leaned against his chest, listless, “When will it be fully absorbed?”

The young man held her, his chin resting against the crook of her neck as he massaged her belly to help absorb the energy, his voice lazy, “Uncomfortable?”

Sang Ying nodded, “Mm, so full.”

“Why do you have so much?”

Xie Lingyu narrowed his eyes slightly, his knuckles pinching her cheek, his tone turning gloomy. “Has junior sister seen others’?”

“…”

What kind of twisted logic was he following? Sang Ying grabbed his hand and bit it. “Whose could I have seen? It’s just that yesterday, when I saw that book, the female cultivator in it didn’t eat as much as I did, so I found it strange.”

The oppressive atmosphere around them finally eased. The young man nuzzled his chin against the crook of her neck and explained, “The dragon clan is naturally less prone to pregnancy, so there’s more to increase the chances.”

Sang Ying was completely clueless about these matters. Her father and senior brother never spoke of such things, and after getting married, she had been busy with the merchant guild’s affairs. It was only today, from his words, that she learned how pregnancy actually worked.

Thinking of this, she touched her rounded belly with her fingertips, feeling somewhat bewildered. “So, am I going to have a little dragon?”

“No.”

The young man behind her replied firmly before holding her tighter. His Dragon Tail coiled around her as well, completely trapping her in his embrace. His chin rested against the hollow of her neck as he gently kissed her throat.

His voice was low and sticky, filled with a gloomy, morbid possessiveness. “Junior sister can only be mine alone.”

“…”

Seeing him like this, Sang Ying was reminded of last night’s events. While kissing, he had suddenly asked her how she knew about the small mole on Xu Baishen’s back.

Sang Ying turned her head to glance at him.

That was so long ago—she had almost forgotten, yet he still remembered. What a petty dragon.

The young man leaned back slightly and raised his eyes, meeting her gaze.

“But it’s almost all absorbed now.”

His hand slipped around her waist as he lifted her up. Sang Ying didn’t have the strength to wrap her arms around his neck, so she could only clutch his clothes.

“Xie Lingyu?”

The young man carried her behind the screen in the bathing room and set her on the table. Sang Ying steadied herself by holding onto his arm, her amber eyes looking at him curiously.

“Xie Lingyu, what are you doing?”

“Didn’t junior sister say she was uncomfortable? So of course…”

Cool, slender fingers parted her knees. The scent of White Sandalwood in the air grew stronger as a long finger carefully probed the wound, retrieving a lotus seed.

Xie Lingyu calmly lifted his gaze. In his line of sight, the young woman’s face was flushed crimson, her watery eyes trembling.

He leisurely placed the lotus seed into a jade dish and continued speaking.

“…I’m helping junior sister take it out.”