Life After Being Claimed by the Disabled Dragon Lady - Chapter 60

Long Ling took the Moon Shadow Rabbit back home, retrieved a small bamboo basket, lined it with soft cotton and fabric, and placed the Moon Shadow Rabbit beside her bed.

The little rabbit felt fluffy and emitted a pink light, like a cute little night light. With the little rabbit accompanying her, it was indeed easier to fall asleep than before.

Beside the bed was the mushroom given to her by Aeloris, which smelled of the tranquility of a forest after rain.

As soon as Long Ling closed her eyes, those colorful spores seemed to still float before her.

A dancing rabbit, glowing spores—from that moment on, she fell in love with the mystical and unique forest.

She really liked the rabbit dance the Moon Shadow Rabbit performed, and to invite the little rabbit to stay with her, she fed the pink Moon Shadow Rabbit all the Moon Shadow Carrots she and Aeloris had found that night.

Mo Dai saw that she liked keeping the rabbit so much, and accompanied her to the forest to search for Moon Shadow Carrots.

Since both Long Ling and Mo Dai were dragons and were unfamiliar with the forest, they only found a few Moon Shadow Carrots that had been nibbled by rabbits.

When Shirley saw the mother and daughter return home as if defeated, she offered them a tip for finding Moon Shadow Carrots, suggesting that Long Ling buy a bottle of magic potion from the High Priestess.

After midnight, Long Ling and Mo Dai drank the potion together, granting them sharp vision.

Under the moonlight, everything that glowed in the darkness seemed to be outlined by a paintbrush. The subtle breeze moved the grass blades, the pale purple carrot leaves swayed slightly, and tiny specks of light dragged arcs in the breeze. Everything became slow and easy to capture.

Long Ling imitated Mo Dai’s diving posture, swooped down, her sharp dragon claws grabbing a patch of Moon Shadow Carrots, lifting a pile of carrot leaves, and with her inherent wind power, blew away all the dirt from the carrots.

Thump, thump, thump. A large pile of carrots was dropped into a cloth bag. Two carrots accidentally fell out, were discovered by a few light-blue Moon Shadow Rabbits, and they hopped over to pick up the leftovers.

The group of little rabbits holding carrots was surrounded by two silver-white giant dragons. The large dragon’s icy-blue eyes showed an unfriendly glare, but the smaller dragon shook her head at the large dragon. The large dragon did not chase the rabbits away but watched the little rabbits eat the carrots alongside the small dragon.

Only after the Moon Shadow Rabbits finished the carrots on the ground did Long Ling hang the cloth bag on her dragon claw. It felt quite heavy, roughly half a bag of carrots.

Mo Dai saw her bag was a bit empty and poured all the carrots she had dug out into Long Ling’s bag.

Long Ling returned home with a full bag of carrots. With such abundant reserves, she could watch the little rabbit dance every day and invite it to sleep with her.

Because she had drunk the magic potion, when she opened her eyes in the morning, before the effect had worn off, the surroundings were a blur of bright light. Long Ling thought she was going blind and was almost scared stiff.

Her grandmother came over, told her to rest with her eyes closed for a while, helped her feed the rabbit, and brought her a handmade, smooth fried egg pancake to eat.

In the days that followed, Mo Dai took Long Ling on daily tours of the Elf Tribe. Most of the elves here had their own jobs: some specialized in weaving, some in farming, some in brewing and forging, and some were very lazy, just napping in the trees.

After one of these lazy elves woke up, Long Ling curiously asked, “If you don’t work, how do you sustain yourselves?”

The elf smiled and said, “The forest will sustain us. We can eat berries; the forest has endless berries all year round, and the bow and arrow in our hands can help us hunt enough prey.”

Long Ling greatly envied the elves’ life. When she saw an elf selling hand-woven fabric, Long Ling felt the exquisite patterns and meticulous workmanship and couldn’t resist buying it for her grandmother and mother.

However, when Long Ling took out the gold bar her mother had given her, the elf refused to accept it.

The Elf Tribe was different from the outside world; they only accepted the primitive form of barter.

Because they lived deep within the dense forest, rarely communicated with the outside world, and loved peace, they had a very good reputation among the various races.

After Mo Dai followed Shirley to live in the Elf Territory, she discovered that the artifacts crafted by the elves were exquisite. She was proficient in different continental languages and texts and realized that the Elf Territory bordered multiple continents. Coupled with the fact that only elves could move freely through the Mist Forest, with the help of the elves, she could successfully establish trade routes leading to various countries.

Relying on her business acumen, Mo Dai quickly accumulated initial wealth, purchased many assets in various places, and also brought practical and fashionable tools from the outside world to the Elf Tribe.

Every day, many elves would greet Mo Dai and ask about Long Ling’s background. Mo Dai would introduce her daughter to them.

When Mo Dai was about to take out her gemstone pocket watch to exchange for something her daughter liked, Long Ling actively held her mother’s hand.

“Mom, my carving skills are decent. Let me exchange with her.”

Long Ling picked up a piece of Huili wood suitable for carving from the woods, carved a small rabbit ornament, painted it with colors that elves would like, and braided it into a beautiful bracelet.

When the elf saw the endearing little rabbit, she immediately agreed to the exchange request with Long Ling.

The elf immediately put the small rabbit bracelet on her wrist. Later, many elves, upon seeing the beautiful bracelet, inquired about where it was exchanged.

Long Ling gave the exchanged fabric to her grandmother and mother. The next day, her mailbox was overflowing.

Long Ling opened the letters; many elves wrote requesting to exchange their own creations for her wooden carved little rabbit.

Long Ling unexpectedly discovered a letter from Aeloris. Aeloris wrote that she knew Long Ling would be very popular among the elves, hoped Long Ling could make more friends, and also stated that she wanted a cute little rabbit bracelet, asking Long Ling what items she liked so she could exchange with her.

Long Ling thought Aeloris had helped her a lot and didn’t plan to ask for anything from her again. Instead, she decided to make a complete set of wooden carved little rabbits for Aeloris.

She focused on carving beside the bed. Shirley was recuperating in bed and recorded the items the elves proposing an exchange needed to provide, letting Long Ling choose for herself.

Mo Dai thought this might help Long Ling make friends in the Elf Tribe, so she helped her buy a batch of wood suitable for carving, making it easier for Long Ling to obtain materials.

Long Ling received many Elven Tribe specialties in exchange for her wooden carved little rabbit bracelets: green flour, novel vegetables, beautiful fabrics, special cheese, and a treasured knife gifted by Aeloris.

Her mother had taken her out to play and eat many Elven Tribe delicacies during this time, and she hadn’t cooked for a long time. Yet, Aeloris still remembered her hobby and gave her such a thoughtful gift.

The knife Aeloris gave her was forged from Mithril, inlaid with silver and gold on the back, and engraved with magic runes on the handle, set with the dragon’s favorite gemstones. It sliced meat like cutting paper, and cutting through bone did not dull the blade. Even the imperial-bestowed knife in her original world didn’t have such fine craftsmanship.

Even Lady Mo Dai, upon seeing the Mithril, couldn’t help but exclaim that it was the best material on the continent and told Long Ling to keep such a valuable gift safe.

She knew that the value of gifts could not be the sole measure of friendship.

Long Ling was very grateful to Aeloris. She used the mushrooms dropped by the Moon Shadow Rabbit, hollowed out the central stem, added some seasoned chopped onion and garlic, fried the mushrooms in butter, and shared them with Aeloris.

As Aeloris had mentioned, after eating these little mushrooms, her sense of smell became more sensitive than before. Aeloris could smell the strawberry pheromones on her, and she could also smell the scent of sunshine and grass on Aeloris.

However, the disadvantage was that Long Ling could not go out until the little mushrooms’ effect wore off. The earthy smell of soil and the scent of naturally decaying leaves in the air became extremely strong, a disaster for her sense of smell.

Aeloris saw that she didn’t want to go out, so she stayed with her in the wooden house and brought her some Elven Tribe picture books.

Through the picture books, Long Ling gained a better understanding of the world and the history and origin of the elves.

Every elf was born from the Mother Tree. The Mother Tree would bestow blessings on the elves every year. After receiving the Mother Tree’s protection, the elves’ magical abilities would increase. The elves, grateful for the blessings bestowed by the Mother Tree, would hold a grand celebration. The Mother Tree Festival was the biggest festival of the Elf Tribe.

“Long Ling, in half a month, the Elf Tribe will celebrate the Mother Tree Festival. All elves will return to pray under the Mother Tree, and a banquet will be held. Would you like to dance with me under the tree?”

Long Ling looked at Aeloris’s emerald eyes, surprised that she would suddenly invite her.

“Me?” Long Ling had learned the ‘Nee-chang-yu-yi’ Dance from her aunt in the palace before she was assigned to the Imperial Kitchen, but she knew nothing about the dances of this world. “Aeloris, I might not be good at dancing.”

Aeloris said gently, “I will teach you. Long Ling, you have half elven blood. If you pray under the Mother Tree, the Mother Tree will also bless you.”

Long Ling’s eyes lit up: “Okay. Grandmother is returning to the Arnold family in a couple of days. I need to see her off. If I can get back in time, I will attend the Mother Tree Festival celebration with you.”

Aeloris extended her fair little finger towards her. Long Ling looped her little finger around Aeloris’s, making a pinky promise.

Their fingers met, and a warm sensation passed between them. Their eyes met unintentionally.

Aeloris gazed into Long Ling’s icy-blue eyes: “I will come and pick you up on the day of the Mother Tree Festival.”

Long Ling nodded: “Alright, we’ll attend it together then.”

Not long after Aeloris left, Mo Dai knocked and entered, bringing Long Ling the magic potion the High Priestess refined to treat leg injuries, asking if she wanted to find someone to send it to Violet.

Long Ling held the heavy potion bottle in her hand. If she had an elf send this medicine to Violet, she didn’t know if Violet would accept it.

If she went to deliver it herself, she was afraid Violet would capture her.

Mo Dai saw worry clouding Long Ling’s brow and stroked Long Ling’s head: “Why don’t you wait a few more days, think about it, and then go send it? In the meantime, I need to purchase some magic fireworks, festive lanterns, and some magic stones for blessings. You can help me with the procurement first, and then we’ll exchange them with the elves.”

Long Ling knew her mother had many businesses, and such small tasks no longer required her personal attention. In the past, purchasing these items was handled by her subordinate merchants. Doing this was just to distract her.

Long Ling hadn’t decided how to deliver the medicine yet, and she lifted a brilliant smile: “I haven’t been to other places yet. After seeing off Grandmother, I can help Mom with the procurement.”

Mo Dai hugged her: “My precious daughter has grown up; you’ll surely be a great helper to Mom.”

Long Ling and Mo Dai chatted about the procurement route, and then she saw her mother out of the room. She lowered her head, looked at the magic potion for a while longer, and put it away safely.

Meanwhile, Violet was sleeping late at night, resting her head on her pillow, with Long Ling’s pillow placed beside her.

The heartless little strawberry dragon, a month had passed, yet why hadn’t she come back crying, full of regret, looking for her?

Violet looked at her crimson dragon tail. Before, it would have been tightly wrapped by the silver-white dragon tail, circling around and around, and the dragon tail would have been tapping her body.

The strawberry pheromones on the pillow were also fading. Her little strawberry dragon seemed truly not coming back.

Violet picked up the stemmed wine glass and poured the strawberry fruit wine from the bottle into the glass.

She sipped the wine with her cold, beautiful lips, tilting her neck back. The strawberry fruit wine had very little alcohol content, yet it still choked her slightly. Her eyes were rimmed with a faint red, and the blush on her cheeks was very captivating.

Not enough! The strawberry flavor in the fruit wine was not strong enough, completely different from the ones the little dragon gave her!

Violet finished the wine, raised her hand, and smashed the glass wine bottle onto the floor. The remaining scent of the strawberry fruit wine instantly permeated the entire secret chamber.