The Amnesiac, Sickly Beauty Is Pregnant With My Dragon Cub - Chapter 3

 The sensation of a warm, soft touch combined with a faint, elegant fragrance struck her. Under this double assault, Cang Lan lost control and cried out, “What are you doing!”

Cang Lan felt as if she had been struck by lightning, her mind left charred and numb by the moist sensation on her chin. Her hands trembled as she covered the spot where Yu Xuanji had just kissed her; in her nervousness, she nearly transformed into her dragon form and bolted into the sky.

“What is wrong?”

Yu Xuanji held Cang Lan with a look of worry, leaning against her shoulder and asking softly, “Did you get caught in the rain? Are you feeling unwell?”

Cang Lan originally wanted to say that mere rain could never cause her to catch a chill. However, the next sentence out of her mouth was: “Yeah, it was windy and rainy outside, and I was even struck by lightning on my way back, so that’s why…”

“You were struck by lightning?”

Before her voice even faded, a hand pressed against Cang Lan’s soft abdomen, stroking her continuously from top to bottom.

Cang Lan was so anxious she called out the other’s full name: “Yu Xuanji!” Her abdomen tightened sharply. She gripped Yu Xuanji’s wrist tightly and cried out in alarm, “You are not allowed to touch me anymore!”

Yu Xuanji stared intently at Cang Lan’s profile, watching as her originally snow-white face gradually became stained with a faint shade of pink.

She asked worriedly, “Are you hurt? Where were you hit? Is it serious? Are you bleeding?”

Cang Lan looked down and saw that Yu Xuanji’s wrist had been pinched red by her grip, the soft skin deeply indented. She hurried to let go, stammering, “I… I’m fine… Why did you… you…”

The words “kiss me” simply could not escape Cang Lan’s mouth. With a red face, she glared at Yu Xuanji and pressed her lips together in silence. In contrast, Yu Xuanji asked with a look of total confusion, “What?”

Cang Lan shook her head. “Nothing. I’m fine. I’m not a mortal, how could anything happen to me?”

Yu Xuanji breathed a sigh of relief, but then she caught the scent of a heavy burnt odor. She frowned, staring at the pot in front of them that was billowing thick black smoke.

Cang Lan hurried to open the lid. A dense smell of burnt food rushed at her, making her cough uncontrollably. “It’s burnt!”

With a wave of her hand, streams of clear spring water poured into the charred, pitch-black iron pot. After a loud sizzle, the burnt stench became even more unpleasant.

She gave another light wave of her hand, but this time, the pot and the lid flew together into the sky.

Cang Lan fanned away the white smoke in front of her and turned back to look at Yu Xuanji with a guilty expression. “Our dinner is gone.”

To ensure Yu Xuanji could eat her fill, she had specifically chopped up two large cabbages and thrown them in, along with two of the fattest and largest silver fish to stew into a soup.

Seeing Cang Lan looking so dejected, Yu Xuanji gently patted her own flat stomach and consoled her softly, “It’s alright, I’m not hungry. The pot didn’t burn your hands, did it?”

Hearing Yu Xuanji’s voice, which was as gentle as water, the tone of Cang Lan’s own voice involuntarily softened a few degrees. “No… no.”

She had finally managed to get hold of two rare and precious cabbages, yet she hadn’t even tasted a single leaf before they were turned to charcoal by her dragon flames.

It was all Yu Xuanji’s fault!

If Yu Xuanji hadn’t come into the kitchen to cause a distraction, causing her to lose focus and fail to control the heat, this pot of food wouldn’t have met such a fate.

But… it didn’t seem to be Yu Xuanji’s fault either.

Forget it.

Who was she, Cang Lan? The Old Phoenix said she was the last true dragon in the world. Since she was a true dragon, how could she get entangled with a mere mortal over such a trivial matter?

“I’m going out to hunt. You will definitely eat vegetables today.”

Cang Lan pressed down on Yu Xuanji’s soft fingers, warning her not to get handsy. “From now on, you aren’t allowed to get too close to me, nor are you allowed to hug me from behind without a sound.”

Cang Lan looked at the frail, pitiable woman before her and felt that her words might have been a bit too harsh. However, if she didn’t set rules for Yu Xuanji, the woman would keep touching her, leaving the dragon’s heart in a state of utter confusion.

To Cang Lan, Yu Xuanji seemed to possess an extremely seductive magic.

Cang Lan didn’t like having much physical contact with other living creatures. Even when encountering monsters trying to seize her territory, she only used her sharp claws to tear through their flesh and bone. Yet, facing Yu Xuanji, Cang Lan felt a desire to transform into her dragon form and coil around this woman from head to toe, binding her tightly and seamlessly.

But humans were too fragile. She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to control her strength and would hurt this human’s soft and delicate skin.

Dammit!

Cang Lan felt she was truly going crazy. Originally, this woman was supposed to be just her rations. But now, a feeling was faintly growing in her heart—an illusion that she wanted to raise and care for this woman properly.

Yu Xuanji slowly raised her eyes. She gently reached out her right hand, stroking the corner of Cang Lan’s eye and following the smooth, perfect curve of her profile down to her chin.

Cang Lan stared into Yu Xuanji’s eyes, unable to read the emotions hidden within them, so she simply turned her face away stiffly.

“It tickles.”

Yu Xuanji’s lips curled into a smile. “Alright. Go and return quickly. I will always be home waiting for you.”

Cang Lan had never lived with anyone before, nor had she ever heard anyone speak words of tender affection to her. For a moment, she felt a certain strangeness in it.

Her forehead began to itch again, and her body felt hot. Realizing something was wrong, she fled in utter panic, transforming into her dragon form.

Standing in the kitchen, Yu Xuanji watched through the small ventilation hole in the ceiling as Cang Lan’s figure grew smaller and smaller. She stroked the little black dragon on her wrist, lowered her head slightly to reveal a section of her long, fair neck, and stared at it, whispering softly to herself.

Cang Lan arrived at the residence of the nine-tailed fox on the neighboring mountain.

The nine-tailed fox was named Tushan Bai. She had come to the Barren Lands over a thousand years ago and had a bit of a friendship with Cang Lan.

“Why do you have the scent of a woman on you? Have you gone behind my back to find some other little fox spirit?”

Cang Lan couldn’t stand the way this white fox’s tail kept sweeping back and forth, so she simply stepped on one of them.

Tushan Bai transformed into human form and sat opposite Cang Lan. Seeing her looking as miserable as if someone had plucked her reverse scale, the fox found it quite amusing.

“How can a dragon like you not know how to cherish a tender blossom? You’re so bad-tempered today; could it be that your little lady gave you the cold shoulder?”

Cang Lan held her breath. “Something like that. Today I personally cooked for her, using the method you taught me a while ago, and as a result…”

Tushan Bai tilted her head and laughed. “You didn’t burn your Dragon Pond down along with that little lady, did you?”

Cang Lan snapped, “What nonsense are you talking!”

Tushan Bai shrugged with a smile. “If the lady isn’t dead, I can’t imagine why the great Black Dragon King would show such an expression.”

Cang Lan got even angrier. “Your lady is the one who’s dead!”

Tushan Bai smiled dismissively. “My lady died a long time ago.”

She pulled out a piece of wood and filed her rounded nails, saying as she worked, “Oh right, we haven’t settled the bill for the pots, pans, and bowls you swiped from me last time.”

Tushan Bai produced a broken abacus from nowhere and began clicking it with one hand. “One iron pot is two gold coins; two bowls are ten each…”

Cang Lan snatched the abacus from Tushan Bai’s hand and shook it up and down a few times, her jaw nearly dropping. “Wait, wait, wait! One broken bowl for ten gold coins? You’re robbing me!”

Tushan Bai smiled and said, “Those two bowls were antiques. Ten gold coins is already the ‘friendship price’ I’m giving you.”

Seeing Cang Lan gripping the broken abacus until it creaked, Tushan Bai was forced to take back her words. “If you won’t give me money, then… consider them a gift.” After a moment, her eyes darted around and she smiled. “But that means you owe me a favor.”

Cang Lan gave a cold snort.

Tushan Bai looked at this arrogant and unreasonable dragon, feeling a thousand types of anger in her heart, but in the end, she could only swallow her pride. She changed the subject: “The ‘ladylike walk’ I taught you recently—have you learned it?”

Cang Lan, who had been sitting without any proper posture, immediately sat up straight upon hearing Tushan Bai’s words. However, no amount of ladylike disguise could hide the arrogant aura of this vicious dragon.

At the mention of this, Cang Lan said indignantly, “It was completely useless!”

Tushan Bai looked surprised. “How could the things I teach be useless?”

Cang Lan said angrily, “She asked if I had been possessed by some dirty thing. When I tried to give her ‘come-hither’ eyes, she actually said my eye was twitching and wanted to take me to see a doctor!”

Tushan Bai’s expression gradually became a bit strange. She pinched her own thigh hard, looked at the stupid dragon in front of her, and coughed twice.

Then, she stammered, “This… this…”

Cang Lan flew into a rage again. “What ‘this’ and ‘that’? You’re just useless!”

Tushan Bai finally found a chance to curl the corners of her stiff mouth. “Fine, fine, fine, I’m useless.”

Cang Lan casually pried a gemstone from her belt and tossed it to Tushan Bai. “I didn’t bring any gold coins today, so I’ll owe you for now.”

Tushan Bai had a pretty good handle on this dragon’s character by now.

Wealthy, but stingy.

Cang Lan saw that Tushan Bai’s home was stripped bare and there was nothing left to take, so she prepared to try her luck at the Old Phoenix’s place.

Tushan Bai stared at Cang Lan’s back and stroked her soft, fluffy tail. She sighed and offered a piece of well-intentioned advice: “I’m telling you, there is no good ending for those who stay with humans.”

Cang Lan turned her head and couldn’t help but say, “Who is ‘with’ her? I just think she’s pitiable.”

Tushan Bai: “Really?”

Cang Lan: “Really.”

Tushan Bai tilted her head and smiled. “Really?”

Cang Lan: “…”

Tushan Bai rested her chin on her hand, holding her one remaining fox tail, and tapped the table lightly with her other hand. With a face full of sorrow, she said, “Back in the day, I was a Nine-Tailed Fox.”

She sighed. “I’ll give you a piece of advice: hide your Heart-Protecting Scale well. Don’t let someone with hidden motives pluck it away.”

“My Heart-Protecting Scale…” Cang Lan murmured, shaking her head. “It’s growing perfectly fine, how could anyone pluck it?”

Tushan Bai took a sip of tea and smiled. “This is advice for you, little dragon, from a fox who has been through it. Listen to it or not. The human heart is more terrifying than any demon or ghost.”

Cang Lan, however, said dismissively, “Rest assured. I’ve checked her inside and out; she’s just a weak, ordinary human. Forget a Heart-Protecting Scale—she couldn’t even pluck a single hair.”

Tushan Bai frowned. “Do you have hair?”

Cang Lan: “No.”

After leaving the fox cave, Cang Lan remembered her promise to Yu Xuanji that she would bring back something delicious. If she returned empty-handed, wouldn’t she lose face in front of the human?

If word of such a thing got out, her resounding title of the great Black Dragon King would become a laughingstock.

There wasn’t even a single hair to be found at the Nine-Tailed Fox’s place, and Cang Lan thought about trying her luck at the Old Phoenix’s. But she had been caught and lectured by the Old Phoenix not long ago; if she was caught again, she feared she’d truly be skinned, cramped, and de-boned to serve as food for that stinking cat.

Cang Lan circled the sky but couldn’t find the little rabbit demon’s carrot patch, nor could she see a single vegetable leaf.

This damned place!

Cang Lan cursed in her heart, landed on the ground to transform into human form, and quietly returned to the Dragon Pond cave.

The stone bed was empty; Yu Xuanji was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, the little dragon Cang Lan had created from her own scale could tell her exactly where Yu Xuanji was located.

Cang Lan slipped into the kitchen and saw Yu Xuanji washing a bowl of carrots with spring water.

Using the knife that Cang Lan had notched, Yu Xuanji deftly scraped the scales off a silver fish. She gutted it and removed the internal organs, rinsed it clean, and then her pale, slender hands skillfully sliced the snow-white fish meat into thin fillets.

Cang Lan watched Yu Xuanji’s busy back in the kitchen, tilting her head with a gaze full of confusion.

Where did the carrots come from?

No. The carrots weren’t the main point. The point was, how did Yu Xuanji manage to get up and cook for her? Looking at her, her fish-cutting technique was extremely practiced. Could she have been a chef before she lost her memory?

A chef is good; a chef is good. Cang Lan licked her lower lip; the more she thought about it, the hungrier she became.

Yu Xuanji was wearing an animal-skin apron. From behind, her waist looked even more slender than usual, and her legs were longer and more beautiful.

Cang Lan’s face flushed. She clutched her chest, where her heart was thumping wildly—she could almost hear the deafening sound of her heartbeat in her ears. She covered her ears to cover up her embarrassment, but the heartbeat only grew stronger. However, Cang Lan belatedly realized that it seemed something was missing from her body.

The Heart-Protecting Scale…

She seemed to have never had such a thing.