Life After Being Claimed by the Disabled Dragon Lady - Chapter 10

Long Ling could only use her dragon claws to firmly grip the ground to cushion the impact wave she created. Even so, her massive body still pushed many large rocks a long distance, like a bulldozer.

Fortunately, her dragon scales were extremely tough, like armor. Even when crashing into the sharp edges of the rocks, only a few shallow scuff marks appeared.

It was a close call. Long Ling shook off the mud stuck to her chubby dragon tail, then patted her pure white belly. Now, no dirt could be seen at all.

However, two scales on her belly were scratched. Although it didn’t hurt or bleed, there must be a red mark left on her underlying skin.

If Violet saw it, how would she explain the fact that a dragon couldn’t fly and had a slight fear of heights?

It’s best not to let Miss Evil Dragon know.

These dragon scales were equivalent to her soft armor, indestructible. Without the scales, she would have definitely been injured and bled from hitting those large rocks just now.

Long Ling wiped the scratches on her scales with her claw. They didn’t disappear. She breathed onto her palm and rubbed it twice more. The scratches became even more noticeable.

Awoo, it seemed like it wouldn’t work.

The path she had just cleared was now entirely exposed, with the earthy-yellow ground bumpy and uneven. Some areas, after prolonged rain, had formed muddy puddles.

If the carriage passed over it, the wheels would sink, and she would then need to rescue the carriage.

This meant she had to either fly or walk to get there.

Long Ling gazed at the setting sun in the distance. The sunset glow illuminated the brick-red rooftops in front of the forest, marking the location of the tavern that was about to belong to her.

Walking would take a very long time. By the time she returned to the Illidari Manor, it would be almost dark.

Miss Evil Dragon might get angry if she returned home and didn’t see her.

“Yul, watch the carriage. I’ll go ahead alone to check on the tavern’s situation.”

“Miss Long Ling, are you alright? How was the fall just now?”

Yul was shocked when he first saw the giant dragon falling from the sky but dared not rashly approach.

He had previously served in another noble family where the young lady was a fierce dragon. When he went to help her up, he was whipped by the young lady dragon with a horsewhip.

However, Miss Long Ling gave humans the feeling of a gentle spring breeze in March, not a dragon with a bad temper.

So, he hesitated for a moment, picked up his flying wool hat, put it on, and ran over, enduring the cold wind of the canyon.

“I’m fine. Just keep an eye on the carriage.”

The massive giant dragon lowered her head to look at him, then flapped her dragon wings and flew away into the air.

Long Ling tried hard not to look down at the ground. After flying for a while, she finally arrived at the tavern’s entrance.

Just as the owner of the tavern and general store had said, it looked like it had been abandoned for many years from the outside, surrounded by lush, green plants.

The side walls were completely covered in these plants. The intertwining vines were growing vigorously, and some had even climbed recklessly onto the rusted lock.

After being washed by the spring rain, these green plants presented a vibrant, eye-catching green.

No matter how beautiful, if the door couldn’t be opened, it would just remain an abandoned tavern.

Long Ling wasn’t wearing protective leather gloves. She could only turn her hands into sharp dragon claws to first pull away the obstructive plants on the door.

A large section of vines was cut down by the sharp dragon claws. Tiny creatures frantically jumped over her claws.

Accompanied by rustling sounds, it sounded a bit like crickets or similar small insects.

Green plant sap slowly flowed into the crevices of her claws along the severed stems. Long Ling felt a wet stickiness and carefully wiped her dragon claws clean with a handkerchief. Still, there was a strong, grassy fragrance.

She wiped her claws several times, ensured they were clean, and then took out the tavern key from her skirt pocket.

Long Ling used her dragon claw to clean the rusted keyhole, picking out the dry, yellow mud with the tip of her claw. Dirt crumbs fell away, allowing the key to be inserted snugly into the lock.

Turning it was a bit difficult. Fortunately, she was a dragon now, with enough physical strength. After struggling with the rusted iron lock for a while, she finally heard a ‘click’.

The key broke.

Long Ling held the half-broken, twisted key and fell into thought.

After two seconds, she sighed and poked the rusted iron lock with a sharp claw tip, placing the other claw tip on the lower end of the lock.

With two ‘cracks’, the sturdy iron lock, in front of the powerful dragon claws, was shredded like a fragile piece of thin paper.

She should have just done this earlier; at least she could have kept a whole key.

But where are there so many ‘should have knowns’…

The iron lock fell onto the grass, making a dull sound.

Long Ling bent down, picked up the iron lock and the key, and placed them on the dusty windowsill next to the tavern. Unless something unexpected happened, they wouldn’t be used again.

The tavern door opened a crack, and Long Ling pushed it open with both hands. The creaking sound of the door intensified.

The spider webs that had existed in the doorway for who knows how long were torn by her, scaring away several small spiders that had made their home there. A smell of mildew and decay wafted through the dust in the air.

The tables and chairs in the lobby were haphazardly arranged, all covered with thick dust.

Standing at the doorway, her excitement had plummeted to an all-time low.

As expected, this was an asset worse than bankrupt.

Long Ling stepped inside, glanced around, checking the damage to the tables and chairs, and seeing what else could be salvaged.

She wiped the dust off one of the tables and tapped it with her knuckle. A crisp thunk-thunk sound came from the tabletop.

Fortunately, the tables and chairs were made of fine oak when crafted, and were coated with tung oil and clear lacquer to prevent insect bites. After many years, the beautiful, smooth grain of the wood was still visible, delicate and soft, making the structure sturdy and firm overall.

Long Ling’s mood lifted a little. At least she wouldn’t have to invest more money in this.

She counted all the intact tables and chairs, finding about forty—more than enough to entertain guests.

A little bit of good fortune flashed through Long Ling’s mind. She turned around and suddenly saw a huge wine cabinet in the corner.

Long Ling’s eyes immediately lit up, and she quickly walked towards it.

If there were still some well-preserved vintage wines inside, she could sell them to make money.

In both her previous world and the current one, wine aged over time provided a completely different texture and taste than ordinary wine.

Wealthy families would be willing to buy it, and she could obtain some initial start-up capital.

The deed to this tavern was now in her hands, meaning it was completely hers, and she had the right to freely manage it.

This large wine cabinet was sealed with transparent glass, offering an unobstructed view. The cabinet had ten shelves. The top three shelves were completely empty. Only the middle two had a few scattered bottles, and the bottom shelves had two neat rows of wine.

Long Ling immediately opened the wine cabinet and first took the wine stored in the middle shelf. The label on the bottle indicated it was wine, but the cork at the bottle’s mouth was missing, and the liquid inside emitted a spoiled odor.

It seemed it was no longer drinkable. Long Ling felt a little regretful but could only set it aside. After checking the wine bottles on the middle shelf one by one, only two bottles were good.

The wine at the bottom of the cabinet, however, had only a few bottles with open corks; they were all well preserved. The vintage year marked on these bottles was not as old as the middle layer, but they were still about several decades old.

Long Ling’s eyes immediately curved into crescent moons. She took all the intact wine bottles out of the cabinet.

Next, Long Ling went to the counter and opened the long-sealed drawer. Several shiny gold coins immediately shone into her pupils.

Long Ling excitedly took them out, wiped the dust off the gold coins, wrapped each coin carefully in a handkerchief, and placed them in her skirt pocket.

She then pulled out the entire drawer and tilted it twice. Sure enough, she found a few silver coins in the gaps.

Long Ling’s heart was filled with happiness. See, this was the power of wisdom. If she hadn’t moved the drawer, she definitely wouldn’t have found these scattered silver coins.

Although silver coins were not as valuable as gold coins, they were still money.

Long Ling felt she had a strong obligation to find a home for every silver coin.

This home was her pocket.

Great, her initial capital had increased again. Life was looking up.

After searching the money drawer thoroughly, Long Ling went to the second floor to search and successfully found some more silver coins scattered in the floor gaps, along with some small, polished gemstones.

Perhaps the original tavern owner fell ill, or for some other reason, fled in a hurry, which is why these things were left behind. Although not much, collecting them could still fill her little treasury.

If she sold the small gemstones she had, she might even gain more gold coins.

Long Ling carefully put away the gemstones in a small flannel bag, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and placed them close to her body.

She hadn’t yet decided what to do with this messy tavern. No one had lived in it for over ten years. She had just taken a look at the roof on the second floor; there were many damaged spots, with red tiles falling to the ground and shattering.

Should she just collect the gold coins and leave it to rot? It wasn’t a particularly good asset, and repairing it would definitely require a large expenditure.

How could she suddenly give up? Since she had come all this way and had nothing else to do, was she going to continue being Miss Evil Dragon’s kept woman?

Long Ling bit her fair knuckles, sinking into difficult contemplation.

She glanced at the darkening sky outside and quickly made a decision. She had to return to the manor first.

The most important thing now was not the tavern but her fiancée—Miss Evil Dragon.

She wouldn’t risk making her fiancée unhappy for an uncertain unknown.

Long Ling found a wooden box, packed all the intact wine into it, and tied the tavern’s front door shut with some wooden vines, securing it several times. She then picked up the vines that had been thrown on the ground earlier to use as camouflage.

This wasn’t a long-term solution. She still needed to go back to the general store to buy a new lock, but that would be for later.

Long Ling brushed the dead grass leaves off her hands, transformed into a giant dragon, and used her dragon claws to carry the two stacks of wine boxes, flying back to the road where the coachman was.

It was more comfortable to ride in the carriage than to fly herself. Although it wasn’t as fast, she could nap in the warm and cozy carriage.

The two boxes of wine weren’t very heavy. They made a clanging noise by her feet, which sounded like a lullaby after a while, making Long Ling feel drowsy.

Her eyes gradually closed. She didn’t know how long she slept until she was woken up by the coachman’s voice.

“Miss Long Ling, we’ve arrived at the manor. You can get off now.”

Long Ling rubbed her eyes to wake herself up.

“Yul, leave the wine boxes with you for now. Please watch over them for me. I’ll come and get them when I need them.”

The coachman immediately responded with a ‘yes,’ and tremblingly helped Long Ling alight from the carriage.

Long Ling was still in a groggy state after waking up and didn’t notice the coachman’s unusual behavior. She crawled out of the carriage and slowly stretched.

A slight sound came from in front of her. Long Ling looked up confusedly and suddenly saw Violet sitting in a wheelchair opposite her.

Violet was staring at her, her narrow eyelids lowered, and the shadows fell deep into her eye sockets. Her delicate features looked profound and cold, revealing a chilling frost.

The story seems to be developing Long Ling’s character as a dragon who is trying to manage an asset (the tavern) while hiding her weaknesses (fear of heights, inability to fly well) from her formidable fiancée, Violet (Miss Evil Dragon). The ending sets up a confrontation or intense moment between the two.