novelraw Chapter 154
Chapter 154
Chapter 154: The Evil Dragon Rewards the Brave Hero
Thick clouds dyed the night sky ink-black.
Winter in Sichuan Province was humid and cold, and the moisture in the air seemed to make the wind viscous.
Xia Li lay in bed, listening to the sound of water pattering in the bathroom, unable to fall asleep.
His heart was restless, like waves churning endlessly.
Every sound of water from the bathroom conjured up corresponding images of smoothness in his mind.
It’s normal to crave someone you love, right?
He tossed and turned.
Xia Li felt like something was lingering in his mind.
That piece of shimmering dragon scale… Hopefully, Lucia would be gentle when washing her face and not scrub the scale off.
It was the only one he had managed to get.
Compared to Wuqi, also a transmigrator, appearing before him, the subtle changes happening to his girlfriend were what Xia Li found more intriguing.
That tough yet soft touch was gradually awakening Xia Li’s memories of the Azure Continent.
It was also reminding him.
The girl living in his house was not a helpless, fragile girl.
But a pureblood Silver Dragon capable of swallowing mountains and rivers.
After waiting for more than ten minutes with his head resting on his wrist, the oncoming drowsiness finally overwhelmed Xia Li.
Half-awake and half-asleep, Xia Li saw a pair of silvery-white horns swaying in his vision.
The shape of the horns resembled slender deer antlers, rising upwards on either side of her head, their tips slightly curled, with intricate and ancient patterns on their surface.
The horns emitted a bright, white light, shrouded in mist before Xia Li, as if separated by a layer of mystical and dreamy gauze.
Xia Li knew what they were.
These were… dragon horns?
It reminded him of his time in the Azure Continent, when these horns were something he yearned to cut off.
Dragon horns are the embodiment of power; severing a dragon’s horns would strip them of their immense strength.
“Come closer.”
Xia Li was drowsy, his limited consciousness unable to discern whether what appeared before him was real or an illusion.
But one thing he was certain of.
The little dragon, fresh from her bath, was climbing onto his bed.
He carefully pulled the evil dragon closer.
When he touched the horns, Xia Li gently squeezed them. Unlike before, he had no desire to cut them off. Instead, he wished he could protect both the horns and the evil dragon in his arms.
“…Huh?”
The hard touch of the horns sparked a hint of confusion in Xia Li’s mind. His blurry vision struggled to focus on what was in front of him.
Now, Xia Li saw not only the horns but also a slender, snake-like… tail covered in silver scales?
The biggest difference between a dragon’s tail and a snake’s tail is that a dragon’s tail is not completely smooth. It has fin-like spines similar to those of a fish.
This tail also had spines.
But the spines weren’t sharp. Their tips looked round, even a little cartoonish.
Xia Li’s hand touched the delicate long tail, and his drowsiness vanished instantly. He was wide awake.
He subconsciously propped himself up on his arm and retreated, but his back hit the wooden headboard.
In the unlit room, flames flickered before Xia Li.
The heat blew on his face, and the intense light made it difficult to open his eyes.
Xia Li was now fully awake.
Countless possibilities flashed through his mind…
Just a small dragon scale appeared, could it be that the evil dragon had fully recovered her abilities??
Dismissing each conjecture in his mind, Xia Li looked at the figure behind the flames, subconsciously comparing it to Lucia’s face.
There was no tall, mature outline, no sharp and arrogant gaze.
The girl had lively, innocent eyes, and her slightly childish face was flushed. Her expression was as innocent as a naive girl who had just been confessed to by her boyfriend.
“…Happy birthday.”
Lucia’s voice was tense and hoarse.
She held out the strawberry cake in her hands, bringing it closer to Xia Li.
“Make a wish~”
The evil dragon said in a soft and gentle voice.
Xia Li: “…”
Xia Li froze, feeling the cold touch of the bed board against his back. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
He looked again at the flames before him.
It was actually a candle.
Because the surroundings were pitch black, the small flame was magnified in Xia Li’s eyes into a raging inferno.
“…”
Xia Li let out a breath.
Seeing this, Lucia quickly brought the candle closer.
“Blow harder!”
“…Who eats birthday cake in the middle of the night?” Xia Li said, somewhat exasperated.
He was truly happy, but he was genuinely startled by the evil dragon’s series of actions.
Xia Li reached out, grabbing the dragon tail on the bed sheet again.
The tail was indeed shaped like a dragon’s tail, but when he held it in his hand, he couldn’t feel the smooth, delicate scales. He could only feel a softness…
The thing was stuffed with cotton!
The corners of Xia Li’s raised lips twitched.
“It’s midnight. According to the time in this country, today is your birthday.”
Lucia held the cake, kneeling on her knees in front of Xia Li.
The cake was too fragrant. The sweet smell of cream and the heat from the candle wafted into her nose, making Lucia’s mouth water.
“Usually, birthdays are celebrated in the evening. It’s rare to celebrate at midnight…”
“Just blow it out!”
“Alright, alright.”
The evil dragon was impatient, so Xia Li sat up and accepted the surprise.
Looking at the bright flame in front of him, Xia Li closed his eyes.
Make a wish…
The last time he celebrated his birthday on Earth, he wished to graduate smoothly.
The time before that, he wished to make money from his part-time job…
Before that, it was to get rich, win the lottery, and do well in the college entrance exams.
It’s said that the wishes people make with their eyes closed are all about expressing their desires.
But after thinking about it, Xia Li realized he didn’t seem to have any desires.
Good health?
He squinted, stealing a glance at Lucia.
Lucia, behind the candlelight, wasn’t looking at Xia Li. She was staring at the cake.
“Done.”
After blowing out the candle, Lucia quickly turned on the light.
Her eyes were bright, brighter than the stars outside.
“What did you wish for?” the evil dragon asked eagerly.
Xia Li shook his head. “It won’t come true if I say it out loud.”
Lucia pouted and didn’t ask again.
They went to the dining table one after the other. Lucia went to get plates, while Xia Li cut the cake with a plastic knife.
The cake was small, only six inches in diameter, a common size from a regular cake shop.
Lucia had only been out shopping for a morning yesterday, so there wasn’t enough time to order a custom cake. She could only choose a regular one.
Xia Li was still touched by this.
So, the dragon god had been acting mysteriously all day because she wanted to hide the cake and surprise him?
Placing a small slice of cake on a plate, the evil dragon leaned over, thinking it was for her, and eagerly reached out with her dragon claw.
Xia Li swatted her dragon claw.
“Over there, the rest is all yours.”
He pointed to the remaining larger portion of the cake.
“I get to eat this much?!” the evil dragon exclaimed in shock.
“The great Silver Dragon Queen can’t even finish a small cake?”
“Of course, I can!!”
Lucia’s spirits soared. She took a big bite, her face instantly lighting up with happiness as she closed her eyes in contentment.
“Delicious…”
Zhou Anqi didn’t lie to her. Celebrating Xia Li’s birthday was truly a joyous thing for a dragon.
It was the anniversary of a human’s birth, once a year, a very important day.
Lucia lowered her head and continued eating the cake. It was late at night now. The light rain outside had stopped at some point, and the air was filled with a damp and chilly aura.
After finishing his small slice in two bites, Xia Li propped his head on his hand and observed the evil dragon in front of him.
In his memory, he had celebrated his birthday twenty times.
Half of them were spent with his family, and the other half with friends.
This time was the most special.
Although it wasn’t lively, just one person, one dragon, one cat, and a palm-sized cake, and it was even in the middle of the night.
But the sense of satisfaction it brought Xia Li was unprecedented.
Xia Li discovered that as long as he was with Lucia, his restless heart could easily find contentment.
Content, yet always wanting more.
He extended a finger, dabbing it on the last bit of cake before Lucia could inhale it.
◈◈◈
Lucia looked at him in confusion.
After a moment of hesitation, Xia Li wiped the cream from his fingertip… onto his own face.
Lucia thought Xia Li wanted to play the ‘cream-smearing’ game with her.
Zhou Anqi had told her about this game. It was an essential part of their birthday celebrations in the past.
But Xia Li smeared the cream on his own face?
What did this mean?
Had the brave hero not woken up properly and suddenly attacked himself?
The evil dragon didn’t understand.
After finishing the last half of the strawberry, Lucia was satisfied and began clearing the trash from the table.
“There’s still some here.”
Xia Li suddenly pointed to the cream on his face.
Lucia: “…”
So that was the trap!
“That cake wasn’t cheap, was it?”
Seeing the evil dragon hesitate, Xia Li continued.
“Wasting food is bad, Miss Lucia Sivana.”
The brave hero smiled like the foolish son of a landlord, both mischievous and cunning.
The evil dragon wouldn’t fall for such a trick…
But, but.
Before going to bed tonight, Xia Li had licked her face, and Lucia hadn’t retaliated.
This was a chance for her to strike back…
Lucia nervously gripped the edge of the table, leaning her graceful body forward.
The girl’s chest puffed out slightly, and there was still some cream on her delicate nose. Her amber eyes flickered with unease due to her nervousness.
She was afraid that when she kissed, she wouldn’t be kissing Xia Li’s face but his lips.
This bad brave hero liked to play tricks at the last moment.
However, even after she extended her small tongue and gently licked off the cream, Xia Li remained motionless, his head slightly tilted.
The brave hero didn’t pull a fast one.
This actually made the dragon, who had been on high alert, a little dissatisfied.
She smacked her lips.
The last bit of cream was sweet. Because it had melted from the brave hero’s body heat, it turned into sweet syrup the moment it entered her mouth.
It seemed sweeter than every bite she had gobbled down before.
“…Hmph, hmph.”
Cunning human!
Lucia cleaned up the trash, packed it up, and threw it in the trash can.
Mianhua in the cat bed was awakened by the commotion and came out to stretch.
Lucia petted Mianhua and squeezed out a cat treat stick for her, muttering, “Today is the bad brave hero’s birthday. We eat cake, you eat cat treats!”
Xia Li sat at the table, watching this scene, a smile unconsciously spreading across his face.
He hoped the wish he had just made would come true…
“After eating sweets, you have to brush your teeth. I’ll watch you brush.”
Yawning, Xia Li said to the evil dragon on the ground.
Lucia turned her head and continued to grumble at him, “I only had two bites!”
“Even if you only had half a bite, you still have to brush. Girls need to be clean.”
“I’m a dragon girl!”
“Dragon girls need to be clean too.”
Lucia never liked humans’ tedious and complicated cleaning procedures.
She went to the bathroom, grumbling, and brushed her teeth. Xia Li watched her bustle about, unable to take his eyes off her silver dragon tail.
Back in bed, they each got under their own blankets.
Xia Li’s heart itched. He turned over and reached into the evil dragon’s blanket, feeling around.
After touching the smooth… but fabric-feeling dragon tail, Xia Li finally remembered.
“…This tail of yours.”
“I bought it at the mall.”
Lucia turned over under the blanket.
It was pitch black, and Xia Li saw the shimmering silver scale on her soft cheek.
So, in the end, the horns and tail were fake, and only the scale was real?
“Why did you buy this…” Xia Li said helplessly.
It almost made him think his girlfriend had turned into a little dragon girl!
“Because you said you didn’t like cats or foxes… so I didn’t buy those ears.”
Lucia mumbled, “I searched for dragon horns and tails for a long time. Even Zhou Anqi said your tastes are unique.”
Xia Li: “…”
What a misunderstanding!
The reason he said he didn’t like cats or foxes, only dragons… wasn’t it because he was afraid the evil dragon would get jealous!
At the time, Xia Li thought the dragon was setting a test for him, so he answered the question without hesitation.
It turned out the stinky dragon was really asking that kind of question.
He should have answered, “I want them all”!
He reached out and pinched the cold, hard horns, tapping them with his finger.
Xia Li discovered that the things were actually made of plastic.
“Does it hurt to wear…”
He was about to ask Lucia if it was uncomfortable to wear and if she wanted to take them off for bed.
Lucia’s face turned cold, and she swatted the brave hero’s smelly hand away.
“Don’t touch my steering wheel!”
Xia Li: “???”
Wait, where did the dragon learn that phrase?
He didn’t know if it was the netizens on Bilibili who taught her, or if it was Zhou Anqi.
But Zhou Anqi shouldn’t be teaching Lucia such inappropriate things…
So it could only be that the evil dragon learned it herself.
Moreover.
Wasn’t that his steering wheel?
“So, is this my birthday present?”
Xia Li grabbed the horns, forcing Lucia to lean closer into his arms.
She didn’t like being held by the horns like this. Even though they were fake dragon horns, being held by Xia Li like this gave her a strange tingling sensation.
“Your birthday present… I already ate it…” Lucia said softly.
For some reason, she had wanted to contradict Xia Li ever since earlier.
No matter what Xia Li did, she wanted to disagree.
This feeling was similar to when she first met Xia Li.
It was a rebellious feeling, like, “If I do what you say, wouldn’t I lose face?”
But it wasn’t exactly the same.
Tonight’s feeling was mostly due to Lucia wearing the dragon tail and horns.
Zhou Anqi said this was something couples should do, that it added a little… spice to life.
Lucia didn’t understand what that spice was, but she knew this was rewarding Xia Li.
The evil dragon rewarding the brave hero.
This kind of behavior was embarrassing for a dragon.
“My present is the cake? But the cake doesn’t count as a present.”
Xia Li said discontentedly.
“Then what do you want!”
The brave hero was being difficult.
It was late at night, and he wouldn’t sleep properly. His hands were wandering, making the dragon nervous.
Xia Li thought for a moment and said, “How about you?”
“How do you want me?”
Lucia burrowed further under her blanket, only her bright eyes showing.
The brave hero’s words sounded nervous too.
“Didn’t the cake packaging have a ribbon? Wrap the ribbon around yourself, and then wear the horns…”
Xia Li opened his eyes and saw the evil dragon’s expression becoming increasingly strange. She was looking at him like he was a pervert.
He quickly shut up and rephrased his request.
“You’re already mine. There’s no such thing as wanting or not wanting…”
He pulled the evil dragon, along with her blanket, into his arms.
“Alright, alright, let’s sleep.”
“Save your energy. We still have a date tomorrow…”
After listening to Xia Li’s rambling, the evil dragon shifted her body and snuggled closer to him.
Xia Li closed his eyes, feeling the stirring in his heart.
He thought back to the wish he had just made…
“I hope I can marry Lucia next year.”