CH 105

Second Cub flew to the stream, cleaned his body well, met Third Cub who came behind him, and cheekily asked him to dry his neck hair with fire. Third Cub didn’t want to care about him, but he was so annoyed that he threw a fireball at him.

The fireball was wrapped in wind magic and stopped burning in mid-air. Second Cub dried his neck hair before the fireball went out. He finally picked a wide leaf at the stream and brought a handful of water to Fifth Cub.

When he returned, Seventh Cub had just finished his food and was tilting his head so Eldest Cub could wash his face. Eldest Cub was the most experienced in taking care of young dragons, and she was so gentle and attentive that in just one meal, she became Seventh Cub’s favorite dragon other than Ning Chu.

Ning Chu came late to the party and found that he didn’t need to worry about them at all. He fed Seventh Cub his first meal after breaking his shell, and Ning Chu was still his “father” in Seventh Cub’s eyes.

Second Cub, who was holding a leaf for Fifth Cub to drink, quietly glanced over but didn’t move. Ning Chu picked up Seventh Cub, who rubbed against him and tried to go down to play again.

As soon as he was placed on the grass, he met the eyes of Second Cub. Second Cub was still holding a leaf in his mouth, his back was straight, and his soft neck hair was fluttering in the wind.

Seventh Cub took a step back and turned his head to look for Eldest Cub. He had mistaken Second Cub for his dad during the day, and Second Cub’s dislike and rejection were too obvious.

Seventh Cub could also feel that Second Cub didn’t really hate him, but he didn’t understand Second Cub’s mindset yet. In contrast, Seventh Cub would prefer to follow a gentle and caring dragon like Eldest Cub. Sixth Cub was very curious about him and followed him everywhere, and Sixth Cub was very active and lively, so the two dragons became familiar with each other and soon played together.

With the lights on in the residential area, Ning Chu sat not far away and watched the  group of little dragon cubs, but was soon pulled in by Wuuth.

There were more and more dragons, three of them not yet adults, and Wuuth didn’t want Ning Chu to spend too much energy on taking care of the young ones. In the end, the dragons were not really Ning Chu’s children, and Wuuth treated them more like siblings and brothers, while Ning Chu was his mate, so of course he should keep his eyes on him.

Ning Chu was fine when he was taking care of Sixth Cub, but now that he and Wuuth had gone through the courtship period together, it was certainly not the same as before, and he didn’t want Ning Chu to feed another dragon every day.

Wuuth even covered Ning Chu’s ears to keep him from listening to the distant sounds.

Ning Chu spoke up just then, “I can draw three more dragon eggs. Seventh Cub has already broken his shell, and Little Eight should also appear…”

And Little Nine and Little Ten, now each dragon had different attributes and talents, and for Ning Chu there was a kind of joy of collecting cards to light up the catalog.

Wuuth didn’t understand this pleasure, he kissed Ning Chu until the other couldn’t breathe, then backed off a little and said, “You can have the dragon eggs, let them take care of them.”

“They” was referring to the other dragons. Ning Chu stared at Wuuth for two seconds and couldn’t help but laugh. He rubbed the sides of Wuuth’s face with both hands and said, “You seem to be saying that I can have children, but you won’t raise them.”

Wuuth was silent for a moment and responded, “Right.”

But if it was really Ning Chu’s baby… That was still different.

Wuuth’s eyes moved slightly, then he hugged Ning Chu to keep him from moving, nuzzled the tip of his nose, and whispered, “If you give birth for me, I’ll raise them.”

If only Ning Chu could give birth to his little dragon cubs.

This thought struck a nerve with Wuuth, and he knew it couldn’t happen to Ning Chu, but it made him vaguely expectant.

Ning Chu’s cheeks turned red and he glared at Wuuth, “I can’t give birth.”

“I know,” Wuuth kissed him, taking his hand and wrapping it around his waist, “Ning Ning is a baby dragon himself.”

The two made a symbiotic pact, so according to the age of a dragon, Ning Chu could immediately reach adulthood, otherwise there was no telling how long it would take for him to grow up.

Ning Chu raised his foot and kicked Wuuth’s calf, annoyed, “Not because of that!”

Wuuth, of course, knew that, and he picked up Ning Chu and let his legs dangle in the air as he walked inside with him, covering the door with a dash of dragon breath on the way.

— 

After a few more days, Ning Chu realized once and for all that he really didn’t need to worry about Seventh Cub at all. After spending a long time in his egg shell, Seventh Cub came out not only bigger than the average young dragon, but also smarter.

Sixth Cub still needed Ning Chu to feed him every time when she first broke her shell, but Seventh Cub just followed the other dragons and ate a little, and had a moderate amount of sleep which was just right.

But when he saw Ning Chu every day, he would come over to rub Ning Chu’s hand and let himself be spoiled, but the rest of the time he was with the other little dragon cubs. He liked to follow Eldest Cub the most, hanging out and sunbathing with her, and he was learning to fly quickly.

However, Eldest Cub sometimes had to go to the other Dragon Islands to check on things, so she couldn’t take Seventh Cub with her all the time, and would leave Seventh Cub to other dragons.

In addition to Eledst Cub, Seventh Cub’s closest friend was Sixth Cub, the small golden dragon cub that resembled her color, and Seventh Cub liked her very much. But Sixth Cub wasn’t much bigger than him, and was also a small dragon cub that needed to be taken care of, but was also more dominant.

In the afternoon, Sixth Cub and Fourth Cub played with the rattan ball, and Seventh Cub wanted to join them, but he wasn’t very good at it, and was soon abandoned by Sixth Cub. Sixth Cub hopped away with the rattan ball in her mouth, and Fourth Cub followed her, leaving Seventh Cub and Third Cub lying near a rock, wondering what they were doing.

Seventh Cub crouched in a daze and looked around, thinking of going to Ning Chu. Knowing that Ning Chu always came out of the other room, he got up and ran there with his short legs.

Halfway there, a figure suddenly flew over and stopped in front of Seventh Cub, and he was so startled that he almost fell head first.

The one in the middle of the road was Second Cub, who slowly stomped on the grass and retracted his dragon wings, and when he saw Seventh Cub standing on his own, he retracted his front claws that had just poked out a little.

Seventh Cub looked at Second Cub in front of him, “Woo?”

He opened his black and round eyes and tilted his head to show a puzzled look.

After so many days, he had long forgotten about Second Cub’s dislike for him, but his body still reacted, and when he saw Second Cub, he wouldn’t take the initiative to rub against him like with the other dragons.

This little dragon cub with white neck fur… did he want to play with him?

Second Cub’s eyes were cold, and he examined Seventh Cub up and down. His scales were a little dark, like they had been burnt, and his dragon horns were the same black as Old Third’s.

His body also didn’t have any hair… But excluding these, he did look quite similar to him. Second Cub withdrew his eyes, and his tail came around from behind to the front, with a rattan ball hooked on the end.

Seventh Cub’s eyes lit up and he called out happily, “Aowu!”

He went up and sniffed the rattan ball, carefully held it in his mouth, and took it off Second Cub’s tail. Seeing that Second Cub didn’t stop him nor did he move, it was obvious that the rattan ball was specially brought to Seventh Cub.

Seventh Cub put down the ball and wagged his tail while circling around Second Cub, rubbing his neck hair affectionately.

Second Cub was uncomfortable at first, fearing that Seventh Cub would call him dad again when he opened his mouth. When he turned his head, Fifth Cub was lying on a tree branch not far away, and she looked up and made a licking gesture in the air. Second Cub turned his gaze back as he reluctantly licked the scales between Seventh Cub’s forehead.

The author has something to say: 

Second Cub: It feels good to be a father!