Chapter 78 (Extra 1)
A small underground stream flowed through the Seven Strings Cave, the water moving slowly and reflecting a mottled light off the stone walls. On a jade platform by the stream, a man in a blue robe rested one hand behind his head and held a booklet in the other. A moonlight lamp floating in mid-air illuminated the surroundings, allowing him to clearly read the words on the booklet.
These were all the strange and interesting stories from the six realms that Quze had collected for him.
“Your Majesty, Emperor Haowei has come again.”
From outside the cave, Quze’s voice suddenly rang out.
This was the third time Quze had said such a thing today.
Si Lan’s expression hardened, his eyelids drooping. “Tell him I don’t want to see him right now. If he keeps bothering me, I’ll find a place to hide where he can’t find me.”
Quze received the order and left, but returned shortly after to report back.
“Your Majesty, Emperor Haowei said he wants to apologize to you in person and won’t bother you again after that.”
Si Lan put down the booklet in his hand. “Fine, let him come in.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Haowei’s voice echoed from outside the cave.
“Si Lan, are you… are you okay?”
“Thanks to you, I’m doing just fine,” Si Lan replied sarcastically.
The person outside seemed to freeze, then after a moment of silence, spoke again with a hint of apology, “I’m sorry. Next time, if we do it together again, I’ll make sure to get your consent first.”
Just hearing these words made Si Lan feel a tearing pain throughout his body. The experience from a few days ago made him feel as if he had endured the most brutal torture.
He couldn’t help but move his body, lifting himself from the waist down. Despite having used magic to erase the marks and soreness on his body, he still felt pain in his heart.
Previously, when they dual-cultivated in their spiritual forms, they had occasionally done it together, but it only left him feeling mentally exhausted, with no physical discomfort.
After they got married, they had never tried such a thing in their human forms until a few days ago, when Haowei, overcome by his dragon nature, put two in together in his original form, causing Si Lan considerable suffering.
Although Haowei later explained that it was due to the demonic energy from his spirit platform taking over and causing him to lose control, Si Lan was still furious. In a fit of anger, he returned to the Demon Realm, lay in the Seven Strings Cave, and announced his seclusion.
Haowei had been coming every day, three times today alone.
Si Lan blushed furiously. “Shut up. Are you… is there anyone with you?” Haowei had spoken so bluntly, and he was afraid Quze and Xie Li would hear.
Haowei looked around. “No one is here.”
Hearing this, Quze wisely retreated silently, pretending not to have heard anything.
Si Lan continued, “Go back. Don’t come over the next few days.”
“Alright. If anything happens, remember to contact me through our spiritual connection.”
Si Lan ignored this last statement, picking up the booklet again to read. He and Haowei had been bonded for six years, their days having returned to normalcy.
Perhaps it was this normalcy that led Haowei to act as he did last time.
Men, at their core, loved excitement.
Si Lan thought angrily, unable to focus on the words in the booklet. He took off his clothes and transformed into his original form, a Yujia bird, before jumping into the stream.
Most birds feared water, but he was different, enjoying the feeling of being in the water. He swam a couple of laps, feeling tired, then transformed back into human form, lying on the water’s surface with his eyes closed to rest.
His breathing gradually steadied.
At the moment his breathing steadied, a huge white dragon tail emerged from the silent stream, the silver scales overlapping like jade and frost. The tail gently moved, bringing the floating man into its embrace.
The silver tail slowly wrapped around Si Lan’s waist, bringing him closer.
Seemingly infatuated with the other’s scent, the giant dragon nuzzled Si Lan’s lips with its head. Si Lan murmured drowsily, and the dragon quickly held its breath, casting a spell to put Si Lan into a deeper sleep.
Only then did the dragon become “bold,” transforming into a human form with a smooth, muscular upper body. He held Si Lan in his arms, standing up from the water as the stream cascaded down. The silver-white light flowed between them, drying their bodies.
For the past few days, Haowei had been sneaking in through the stream while Si Lan slept.
He didn’t dare to enter through the cave entrance, as it was warded and would leave traces.
He placed Si Lan on the jade platform, looking at his sleeping face with a mix of helplessness and affection. “How can you sleep in the water every day without worrying about harming your body?”
After all, Si Lan wasn’t an aquatic creature, and sleeping in the water would let the cold seep into his bones, which wasn’t good for his injuries or his health.
Haowei reached out and held Si Lan’s hand, transferring some spiritual energy to warm his body.
He estimated that Si Lan was about to wake up, so he gently placed him back into the water and transformed into a small white dragon, swimming away.
Si Lan had intended to rest his eyes for a moment, but unexpectedly slept for a long time. Fortunately, he felt no discomfort when he woke up.
He increasingly felt that, though he wasn’t a fish, he was even more suited to living in water than a fish.
Truly, he was a lazy fish.
He held his breath, focused his mind, and sat cross-legged to meditate.
Once he started, he was completely absorbed, training for forty-nine days in the Seven Strings Cave.
After finishing his cultivation, he felt his spiritual power had grown much stronger, his internal breath steady and orderly, though still somewhat lacking compared to Haowei.
Thinking of Haowei, he suddenly remembered that since he had driven Haowei away last time, Haowei hadn’t come to see him even once.
Forty-nine days had passed…
Si Lan pushed aside the booklet, stood up, his expression not looking good. He walked to the entrance of the Seven Strings Cave, reaching out to open the door, but after some hesitation, he turned back and continued meditating on the white jade platform.
He wanted to see if Haowei would still come.
However, after cultivating for more than ten days, Haowei still hadn’t come to see him.
With a stern expression, Si Lan paced inside the cave, then suddenly thought of something and sent a message to Quze: “Quze, has there been anything unusual outside the cave recently?”
“Your Majesty, nothing unusual has been observed outside the Seven Strings Cave.”
“Oh,” Si Lan replied, dragging out the word.
Quze seemed to understand what he was asking, pausing for a moment before adding, “Your Majesty, Emperor Haowei seems to have been very busy with affairs recently and hasn’t come to the Seven Strings Cave.”
“Alright, I understand.”
Si Lan’s fingers unconsciously tapped on the white jade platform as he thought about the longest time he had been apart from Haowei since their marriage. It was during the time when Quze was undergoing his carp-to-dragon transformation.
At that time, Si Lan had guarded Quze within the formation for eleven days. When he emerged, Haowei acted as if they had been separated for eleven thousand years, meticulously checking and kissing Si Lan all over before feeling satisfied.
Thinking of this made Si Lan’s face flush slightly. But now, Haowei could endure forty-nine days without seeing him?
After his anger subsided, alarm bells rang in Si Lan’s mind. Thoughts of those melodramatic stories from novels filled his head, and he couldn’t help but frown, growing increasingly uneasy.
Something was wrong.
Haowei wasn’t that kind of person.
Even though they hadn’t known each other for ten years, Si Lan knew Haowei’s character very well. So why hadn’t Haowei come to see him?
Could he be in trouble?
With this thought, Si Lan no longer hesitated. He left the Seven Strings Cave and flew to the Heavenly Realm.
At the foot of Zhuyun Peak, Quze, who had grown into the appearance of an adult man, was holding Xie Li’s hand, looking up at the sky.
Xie Li said, “Senior Brother, I won the bet. His Majesty went back to the Heavenly Realm on his own, so you have to get me some candy.”
Quze smiled helplessly. “Alright.”
He had lost the bet.
He thought that Si Lan, being so angry, would stay in the Demon Realm for a longer time and that Emperor Haowei would personally come to bring him back. But he didn’t expect Si Lan to return on his own.
Xie Li hadn’t told Quze that although it seemed like Haowei hadn’t come, he actually did come every day. Haowei was just sneaking into the Seven Strings Cave through the stream.
Xie Li had seen the giant dragon in the stream when he was washing his candies.
The dragon was about to threaten him as usual, to turn him into a pig-headed kid, but Xie Li had wised up. “If you bring me the best candy from the Heavenly Realm every day, I won’t tell His Majesty.”
He could feel Haowei’s expression growing extremely complicated—angry, helpless, exasperated, and somewhat collapsing. It seemed unimaginable that an emperor would be threatened by a kid.
Haowei didn’t say anything, but since then, he brought Xie Li a candy every day. Then Xie Li deliberately bet with Quze to win more candies.
He really was a clever little imp.
—
After arriving in the Nine Heavens, Si Lan went straight to the administrative hall of the Jade Purity Palace.
He didn’t see Haowei there, only two incense burners sending up curling smoke. This meant Haowei was still in the Jade Purity Palace; otherwise, the incense wouldn’t be lit.
So Haowei wasn’t in trouble.
Si Lan’s tense expression relaxed a bit. He walked to the desk and saw a particularly beautiful plate of fruits. The fruits were shaped like dolls, appearing as translucent as jade, and exuded a faint wild fragrance, looking extremely delicious.
Si Lan picked up one of the wild fruits, curiously examining it, as he had never seen such a fruit before. He tentatively took a bite.
The fruit tasted quite good, sweet and sour.
After eating one, he was still hungry and ate another.
When Haowei walked in, Si Lan was eating his fourth wild fruit. Seeing this, Haowei’s face tensed slightly. He stepped forward quickly but hesitated to speak.
Si Lan wiped his hands, his gaze falling on Haowei, scrutinizing him from head to toe.
This person was indeed safe and sound.
It seemed he had truly forgotten about him in the Demon Realm.
After all, they had been bonded for several years and had become like an old married couple. If he didn’t return, Haowei might even forget that he had a wife in the Demon Realm.
Haowei asked, “How many of those fruits did you eat?”
Si Lan’s expression stiffened. They hadn’t seen each other for almost two months, and the first thing Haowei cared about was how many fruits he had eaten!
Could this life get any worse?
Fuming, Si Lan shouted, “Four!”
“…”
Haowei fell into a strange silence, his gaze slowly lowering to Si Lan’s abdomen.
Si Lan was infuriated by his behavior and continued shouting, “What’s wrong? Do you want me to pay for them?”
Haowei knew Si Lan had misunderstood, so he moved his lips to explain, “Si Lan, do you know what those fruits are?”
“Oh? What prestigious fruits are they? Tell me.”
“It’s a fertility fruit, also known as a child-bearing pill.”
“…”
The anger on Si Lan’s face visibly vanished.
T/N: First extra! And wow, was NOT expecting to see M-preg pills. I thought they’d conceive through some magical Dao/Qi, but apparently pills it is!~
There is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~
If you like my translations, feel free to donate to my ko-fi!
I really, really appreciate all the support from my readers <3 It goes a long way and motivates me lots!
Also, check out the other series we have on HoH!
If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield
If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’
How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection
What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love
How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep
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