Chapter 45: The Crybaby

When Sang Ying woke up, it was already dark outside. She fluttered her eyelashes, slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was a fair collarbone.

Her hair, as black as brocade, was covered with many scattered teeth marks, which disappeared into her collar.

Still a little groggy from just waking up, she tried to move her arms to rub her eyes, but her hands were too weak to lift. Instead, the movement caused her body to ache, and she couldn't help but let out a soft moan.

...What's wrong? I'm so tired, I have no energy at all, it's like I've been practicing kung fu for days, even breathing feels tiring.

The young man holding her noticed her movement, rested his chin on the top of her head, and asked in a cold but lazy voice, "Junior sister is awake?"

Hearing Xie Lingyu's voice, Sang Ying blinked her hazy eyes. Oh, it's Xie Lingyu. After a few seconds, she realized what was happening and immediately looked up. "Xie Lingyu, what are you doing in my room!?"

An incredulous look crossed her face, followed by a blush and annoyance as she exclaimed, "You pervert! You actually climbed into my bed while I was sleeping!"

Xie Lingyu: "..."

I got a little carried away last night; it seems I kissed him until he was completely confused.

Warm fingertips turned her face, parting the red gauze bed curtains to reveal the bedroom's decor. Xie Lingyu chuckled, "Junior sister, take another look. Whose room is this?"

Before her eyes was an unfamiliar room, the wedding candles had burned out, leaving only the candlesticks, and the red silk reflected in Sang Ying's eyes, creating a red glow.

It definitely wasn't her room. Sang Ying blinked twice, a sense of self-doubt creeping in. Could it be... that she had sleepwalked into Xie Lingyu's room?!

A strand of her hair was twirled around the young man's finger. He looked at her bewildered expression and asked slowly, "Junior sister, don't you remember what happened last night?"

The breakthroughs in her cultivation realm had left her mind foggy, dizzy, and disoriented. Her consciousness was a jumbled mess; she couldn't remember anything from yesterday, and even the events of the previous few days were hazy. Last night…

Sang Ying tried hard to recall, her weak hand supporting her dizzy forehead, but the pain in her mind was unbearable. She frowned, "Did I get into a fight with you?"

She moved her hand down to her lower abdomen, which felt very full when she woke up. Sure enough, it was bulging. She paused, then suspiciously guessed, "...Did you have a big meal after the injection?"

As she spoke, she herself felt that this conclusion was absurd, and was about to try to think of something else, but the young man in front of her chuckled and gave a lazy "hmm".

He took her hand, pulled it close to his eyes, and rubbed his fingertips against the gold ring on her wrist. "Junior sister certainly had a good meal."

Sang Ying was taken aback when she saw the conspicuous red pattern on the golden ring. He had told her before that the red pattern on the dragon clan's binding ring represented the number of times they had practiced together.

But he didn't have those red markings before, which means... he has already done the combined cultivation!

Sang Ying suddenly widened her eyes and looked up at him.

Xie Lingyu lazily propped his chin on his hand, his dark eyes meeting hers. Seeing the complex emotions of shock and doubt slowly unfold in her eyes, he couldn't help but chuckle, "Junior Sister finally wants to..."

"Xie Lingyu, you actually went outside to eat together!"

Xie Lingyu: ?

Sang Ying felt like the sky had fallen. She was both angry and sad. He had only been allowed to recuperate for half a month, and he couldn't help but seek out someone else.

Her head was spinning, and she was furious. "You bastard Xie Lingyu, you can't even tolerate this for half a month! You cheated on me without even hiding it, and you're doing it so openly in front of me, right now you're with..."

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

She glared at him fiercely with her watery eyes, mumbling, "What are you doing? You dare to steal my turn and not let me have a turn?"

The young man in front of him ripped open his collar with one hand, revealing a mess of teeth marks on his shoulder, and pointed to each one, "This is the one my junior sister bit me at the beginning, and this is the one she bit me when she begged me to kiss her..."

...Did she bite him?

Sang Ying blinked in confusion, her mind filled with doubt, but her consciousness truly followed his words, and some familiar images surfaced.

The azure dragon swayed, and as he kissed her, she glanced at it unintentionally; the dragon's tail disappeared among the water lilies.

And then, she sat in his lap, and he took her hand to touch the empty dragon tail, which burned her fingertips.

Sang Ying's dizzy head gradually recalled those memories, and her ears instantly turned red. She... she actually did such a thing with Xie Lingyu?

The young man in front of me clearly rolled up his sleeves with his fingernails, revealing scratches and pinch marks on his arms.

"And these are from when my junior sister couldn't take it anymore..."

Before Xie Lingyu could finish speaking, Sang Ying rushed over and covered his mouth, her ears burning hot. "Shut up!"

In her haste, she forgot her own condition; she was weak and aching all over. With a whimper, she collapsed softly to the ground.

Xie Lingyu pulled her into her arms, gently rubbing her lower abdomen with her palm. "Are you feeling better?"

His hands were warm, and as he rubbed his lower abdomen, the soreness and bloating felt much relieved.

Sang Ying leaned listlessly against him, too weak to even lift a finger.

The usually cunning and bright little fox was truly bullied this time. Her eyes were filled with wet mist, and the tip of her nose was a little red. She looked extremely pitiful.

Xie Lingyu looked at her and couldn't help but kiss her little face. "Junior sister, do you know who I cultivate with now?"

Given all this, how could she not remember?

Sang Ying was furious, but she was too weak to confront him. She could only lie there limply, sniffling pitifully, and squeeze out a sentence in annoyance: "You promised to cultivate only once, but you broke your promise."

The young man behind her rested his chin on the top of her head and nodded, "Junior sister, you should always have evidence to back up your words."

Sang Ying said in a low voice, feeling annoyed, "I remember it was already dawn when we finished our joint cultivation. You must have cultivated a lot, otherwise how could I be so tired?"

As she spoke, she looked down at the gold ring on her wrist, trying to find "evidence," but after turning it twice, she only saw a red mark.

Sang Ying: "...?"

He actually wasn't lying to her; he meant it every time he said it.

But isn't this cultivation session taking way too long? The cultivation method that the Cloud Cloud Cave Master gave her clearly stated that the general cultivation time was between 15 minutes and half an hour. Could it be that the Dragon Clan is different in this regard?

Hmm... that's certainly possible. Dragons also have a hot flash period that humans don't experience, and they need to rely on binding rings to suppress it.

Thinking of this, Sang Ying suddenly felt that the golden ring in her hand had become a hot potato, so she quickly took it off and put it back on his dragon tail.

One session of cultivation nearly killed her; if he couldn't resist and did it again, she wouldn't be able to get out of bed tomorrow.

Xie Lingyu noticed her flustered movements and chuckled, "Junior Sister, you have energy again?"

Sang Ying quickly pretended to be dead, pulling up the quilt to bury her head.

"I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep."

Not long after, she poked her head out again, her ear tips red, and asked in a low, puzzled voice, "Xie Lingyu, why do I feel so strange?"

"What's strange about it?"

Xie Lingyu held her in his arms and, upon hearing this, was about to lift the quilt to check, "Is your wound hurting?"

"No! It's just..."

Although the wound was indeed uncomfortable, I could feel that medicine had been applied. It felt cool and refreshing, just a strange sensation, and I couldn't say it hurt.

What really puzzled her was something else. Sang Ying pulled his hand and placed it on her bulging belly, her little face contorted with worry: "I feel so full, like I've eaten a lot, but it doesn't feel like food."

"..."

The girl before me was pure and innocent, simply expressing her troubles and confusion, completely unaware of what she was saying.

Xie Lingyu wanted to kiss her again. Although this thought had never stopped, it was incredibly strong at this moment.

However, she was too weak; she became extremely weak after just one night, and her face looked listless.

She was also prone to crying, and he didn't know how she shed so many tears. He kissed away countless hot teardrops, and the dragon's tail drank so much lotus dew time and time again.

Last night, he was worried that she would be dehydrated and uncomfortable, so he picked her up and fed her warm water several times.

Now her voice is hoarse from crying, and she speaks with a nasal tone, muffled and soft. She looks so pitiful, like she's been bullied.

Xie Lingyu suppressed the thought, restrained herself, and gently stroked the surface with her fingertips, "Junior Sister, have you forgotten what I said at the hot spring last time?"

Sang Ying blinked, recalling what happened back then, her mind replaying the conversation from that time. What did he say again...?

A cultivator's vital energy is very important; abundant yang energy is beneficial to cultivation, so it must be fully utilized...

Sang Ying's eyelashes fluttered, "So what I ate was... was yours..."

The young man nodded slightly and lightly stroked his fingertips. "Junior sister, haven't you noticed? Your cultivation has increased."

Sang Ying was so focused on feeling unwell when she woke up that she didn't pay any attention to her cultivation level. Now that he reminded her, she finally realized she needed to look.

You won't believe it until you see it, and what you find will shock you.

"Eighth level of Foundation Establishment?"

She was only at the third level of Foundation Establishment yesterday, and in just one night, her cultivation level has increased by five levels?!

Come to think of it, she did vaguely remember that he had been helping her refine elemental spiritual power last night.

Sang Ying was surprised. So the cultivation speed of joint cultivation is so fast?

As if sensing what she was thinking, the young man spoke up: "Only during the first joint cultivation session will your cultivation level increase significantly after absorbing the primordial yang. In subsequent joint cultivation sessions, it will return to normal."

Sang Ying nodded in understanding. No wonder the female cultivators of the Hehuan Sect all targeted cultivators with primordial yang energy; so that was the reason.

However, she still didn't understand the underlying principle. Yesterday, she was so sleepy that she couldn't open her eyes at all, and she didn't see where he took it from or how he fed it to her. Was it poured down her throat like medicine?

Never mind, it's not important.

Sang Ying leaned listlessly against him, "When will it be able to absorb it all?"

The young man held her, his chin resting on the crook of her neck, gently massaging her lower abdomen to help her absorb energy, his voice languid, "Not feeling well?"

Sang Ying nodded. "Mmm, I'm so full."

Why do you have so many?

Xie Lingyu narrowed her eyes slightly, pinched her cheek with her fingertips, and said in a gloomy tone, "Junior Sister has seen other people?"

"..."

What's wrong with his thought process? Sang Ying grabbed his hand and bit it. "Who could I have met? Even the female cultivator in that book I saw yesterday didn't eat this much, so it's strange."

The heavy atmosphere around them finally eased, and the young man nuzzled her shoulder, explaining, "Dragons are naturally less fertile, so they have extra fertility to increase the chances of conception."

Sang Ying was completely unaware of these things. Her father and senior brother would never tell her these things, and she had been busy with the Chamber of Commerce since getting married. It was only today that she learned from him that this was what pregnancy was all about.

Thinking of this, she touched her swollen belly with her fingertips, somewhat bewildered, "So, am I pregnant with Xiaolong?"

"Won't."

The young man behind her replied firmly and hugged her tightly. His dragon tail also wrapped around her, completely trapping her in his arms. He rested his chin against her neck and gently kissed her neck.

His voice was deep and slurred, carrying a distinctly gloomy and morbid quality, "Junior sister can only be mine."

"..."

Seeing his expression, Sang Ying immediately thought of what happened last night. As they kissed, she suddenly asked him why he knew that Xu Baishen had a small mole on his back.

Sang Ying turned her head and glanced at him.

It happened so long ago, she had almost forgotten, yet he still remembered. What a petty dragon.

The young man stepped back slightly, raised his eyes, and met her gaze.

"But it's almost fully absorbed."

The young man put his hand around her waist and lifted her up. Sang Ying didn't have the strength to wrap her arms around his neck, so she could only grab his clothes.

"Xie Lingyu?"

The young man carried her behind the screen in the bathroom and had her sit on the table. Sang Ying struggled to sit up, holding onto his arm, and looked at him strangely with her amber eyes.

"Xie Lingyu, what are you doing?"

"Junior sister said she wasn't feeling well, so of course it is..."

A cool, gentle touch spread her fingers from her knee, and the sandalwood scent in the air intensified. Her long fingers carefully probed the wound and removed a lotus seed.

Xie Lingyu calmly raised her eyes, and saw that the girl's face was already flushed, her watery eyes shimmering.

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

"...help my junior sister get it out."

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Thanks to the sofa user for the rocket launcher, and to Yano Rinsa for the landmine! [cat paw emoji]