In the banquet hall, some had already become lost in thought.
Su Liumeng was known inside the Su family as ruthless and coldhearted. In any secret realm, anyone who offended her never got a chance to explain—they were beheaded on the spot. When had she ever shown such helpless yet doting eyes?
The girl gently rubbed the fuzzy hair below. “Alright, it’s my fault. Next time, I won’t say a word to her. Everyone’s watching. Are you sure you want to bite again?”
Hearing this, I realized where I’d bitten and blushed, lifting my head a little embarrassed.
Luckily, some strands of hair fell over my face, hiding my awkward expression.
I silently scolded myself for learning to bite from hearing Zhizhi say it so often, even though I always said I wouldn’t.
No one paid much attention to these little incidents.
Not being from the Su family, I wasn’t bound by so many rules.
The leniency of noble families was fully evident in this outsider.
After the banquet, Su Liumeng held my small hand on the way back and tilted her head to say, “Baby, did you hear what the Grand Elder said? We’re already allowed to get married.”
“When the Fourth Elder returns, we can set the date properly.”
Get married?
A very unfamiliar word.
It seemed just yesterday it was far away from me, and today it was about to happen.
My gaze was a little dazed, then a sweetness bloomed from my heart.
Yet my innate tsundere personality stopped me from agreeing immediately.
Instead, with a light hum, I lifted my chin, “You didn’t even ask if I’m willing to marry you.”
“How could you say that?” Su Liumeng pouted slightly, seeming a bit unhappy. “I haven’t agreed yet, how can you decide on your own?”
“Alright, then let me ask you properly.”
Su Liumeng lifted my slender hand, slowly placing it to her lips and kissed it. “Miss Si Xinyan, will you become my Dao Companion? From this life on, live and die together, never parting?”
Feeling the warmth on the back of my hand, I couldn’t hold back my restraint any longer. Like a swallow returning to its nest, my small body flew straight into her embrace. My clear voice trembled with emotion, “I will.”
“Of course, I will.”
Su Liumeng pressed my head down and kissed the rosy spot before us. At first gentle, the kiss deepened into fierce possession. The air seemed to vanish, and I forgot how to breathe.
Even though it wasn’t our first time, I still wasn’t used to kissing and often got dazed, my hand that instinctively gripped her back growing weak from lack of oxygen.
“Wait—”
“Don’t, don’t kiss me anymore.”
I weakly pushed her away, my loving eyes mixed with a bit of coquettish chiding. “If you kiss me again, you’ll kiss me to death.”
My lips swelled a bit, looking wet and alluring. My curved body took deep breaths, then I lifted my head, declaring stubbornly, “Let’s make three rules. This is rule number one: next time you kiss me, don’t kiss so long. At most…”
Tilting my head, I thought, “At most three minutes. If it goes over that, I’ll punish you by making you eat my egg tarts.”
At the mention of egg tarts, Su Liumeng’s face darkened noticeably.
This was her second culinary experiment after the fish soup.
Unlike the first success, desserts obviously required more skill, and I had failed miserably. Heaven only knew what courage Su Liumeng had to eat that blackened mess.
In short, she didn’t want a second round.
I laughed, twirling around, “How about that? Scared? I haven’t thought of the other two rules yet. I’ll tell you when I do.”
Her natural scent wafted into Su Liumeng’s nose, who couldn’t help but reach out and pull this lively sprite into her embrace. “Whatever my wife says, how could I not obey?”
“Who, who’s your wife…?” I stammered, glaring at her harmlessly and added with a hum, “You never act serious, and we’re not even married yet.”
“And don’t always say such ambiguous things. You’re still my wife.”
“Alright, alright, I’m your wife.”
On the empty path, only the sounds of the two laughing and playing remained. The breeze didn’t take away their scent, which lingered on the white jade stone pavement. The path still held traces of their warm daily moments.
Su Liumeng wanted to show me around the Su family ancestral home for a few days. Plus, she had things to handle recently, so I stayed to rest with her.
Entering the room the Su family had long prepared, I looked around at the antique décor and clicked my tongue. From the canopy bed to an ancient vase on the side, the room was filled with the noble air of an official’s daughter.
A hundred or so years ago, this was probably the style of a wealthy family’s daughter’s boudoir.
I lifted a side of the sheer curtain and sat on the bed’s edge, pressing down lightly. It felt comfortable—not at all stiff as I had imagined ancient materials would be.
“Is this the only room?” I tilted my head, eyebrows arching, knowingly asking.
“Of course, my baby.” Su Liumeng tilted her head to match mine. “I’ve told everyone you’re carrying my child. How could I let you stay alone in another room? If others saw, it would blow the whole lie.”
My smile never left today.
Since arriving at the ancestral home, I’d been very happy.
I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before.
I pulled Su Liumeng beside me and leaned on her shoulder. “Tell me, how did you come up with this excuse that made everyone in the Su family accept me? I was mentally prepared to be looked at with suspicion.”
“I was surprised for a long time when I heard you say that.”
“Thank you, baby. I’m really happy. You’ll get a reward.”
Su Liumeng’s eyes lit up. “Any reward?”
“Anything.”
I tilted my head, looking at her seriously.
“Then I can’t decide casually. Let me think carefully and tell you when I’ve decided.”
“You can tell me later. No matter what it is, I’ll say yes.”
I enjoyed our private warmth, slowly closing my eyes until I fell asleep. Su Liumeng listened to my suddenly soft breathing, still a little uncomprehending. Then she realized I must be utterly exhausted after dealing with so many people today and had just been holding on.
Su Liumeng helped me onto the bed, changed me into pajamas, and covered me with a brocade quilt.
Fifteen minutes later, I slowly opened the door. In the darkness, a figure had been waiting for some time.
Su Liumeng bowed respectfully, then lifted the illusion that had hidden her unusual features. “Grand Elder, what exactly is happening to me?”
The faint light from the room shone on her cool face, where two shallow protrusions appeared on her forehead.
The Grand Elder stroked his beard. “This is the inevitable result of your bloodline improving. As one’s dragon blood purity increases, do you still think the person can be called human?”
“Evolving toward a true dragon means losing some human traits. This is an unavoidable process.”
In the dark, Su Liumeng’s faint shadow flickered, gradually stretching longer as the illusion lifted.
“How can I fix this? I don’t want to become like this.”
Her voice sounded a bit dispirited.
“For now, there’s no way to reverse it. Unless you reach ninety percent dragon blood purity, then your human form will be your transformed state. You’ll have a semi-dragon form at will, and these worries will vanish.”
“Basically, you’re forced to endure the gradual transformation into a semi-dragon form. Because you can’t fully transform yet, you can’t change this state. When your dragon horns fully grow, that will be your true semi-dragon form. The whole process may last a few months, varying by individual constitution.”
“I see.” Hearing this, Su Liumeng touched her protrusions and finally sighed in relief. “So my current appearance is a future semi-dragon state. Once I can transform fully, I can switch back and forth between human and dragon forms.”
“Exactly. Well summarized.”
The Grand Elder paused and added, “Your semi-dragon form hasn’t matured yet. When your horns are complete, the process will end. It depends on the person, of course.”
“I’m curious—since you’ve merged so many kinds of dragon blood, what will your true dragon form look like?”
“Could it be the golden dragon you favor most?”
The Grand Elder chuckled and waved his hand. “Go back soon. Don’t keep the young lady waiting alone in bed. Since you’ve decided to marry, you should act more like newlyweds. Wandering out at midnight and leaving a young girl alone in an empty room is hardly appropriate.”
Su Liumeng cast another illusion, hiding her unusual features again. “Grand Elder, your advice is noted. Yuxi will not disappoint.”
On the way back, Su Liumeng was already thinking about how to obtain the last dragon marrow and how to merge it to push her blood purity to ninety percent. She had some ideas, but the problem of the marrow remained.
She had tried ordinary dragon marrow before, but failed.
After much thought, she realized the problem was that the marrow’s strength was insufficient to complete the final refinement. She needed a strong true dragon marrow to push her purity past ninety percent.
When that time came, all her worries would vanish.
Su Liumeng stared at the faintly glowing room ahead. After a deep breath, she gently pushed open the wooden door.