The sun had risen; last night had been Silent Night.
Zhu Qiu seemed to be having a sweet dream, crawling onto Zhu Xiaxia’s body and whimpering softly.
“Mmm, Mother, your body is so warm, tee-hee—”
‘How can there be such a warm bed in the world? I want to nestle in these covers forever.’
“Nuzzle, nuzzle, nuzzle…”
Zhu Xiaxia felt the touch against her chest and slowly opened her eyes.
Zhu Qiu was lying on top of her, using her as a bed.
It was clearly a day off, so why was her daughter waking up so early? Wouldn’t sleeping in be better?
For Zhu Qiu, her rest period lasted two days a week, but because of her status as the Dragon King, Zhu Xiaxia was more self-disciplined and only gave herself one day.
Therefore, today was a shared day off for both Zhu Xiaxia and Zhu Qiu.
Zhu Xiaxia didn’t need to work today and could spend the whole day accompanying Zhu Qiu.
“My precious daughter, sleep a little longer—”
Zhu Xiaxia cast a small spell, causing Zhu Qiu to drift back into a deep sleep.
This way, she could hold Zhu Qiu and enjoy the warmth of the bed together.
However, while one was happy, another was troubled. The Sword Spirit loli suddenly barged into Zhu Qiu’s dream, pointing the Holy Sword at her.
“Zhu Qiu! You’re a big liar! You kept saying you would take your revenge, but in the end, you threw yourself into the Evil Dragon’s embrace! Get up right now!”
In the dream, Zhu Qiu lay alone on a giant bed, whimpering and mumbling things like, “I love Mother the most~”
She didn’t look like the Human Sword Saint at all, and she completely ignored the Sword Spirit’s warnings.
The Sword Spirit couldn’t take it anymore. If she didn’t get serious, Zhu Qiu was probably going to be completely ruined.
“Sword Saint User! After my many days of observation, you have already grown into the shape of an Evil Dragon. You have completely fallen. Now, I shall represent the Human Sword Saint and eliminate you, this most heinous Evil Dragon!”
“HOLY LIGHT FINAL SLASH!”
The Sword Spirit raised the Holy Sword and chopped toward Zhu Qiu’s tail without hesitation.
“Waaaah!!!”
In reality, Zhu Qiu clearly felt the pain coming from her tail. She launched upward like a rocket, taking the blankets with her into the air, nearly hitting the ceiling.
When she fell back down, it was lucky that Zhu Qiu had that Wind Element Crystal with her.
The Levitation magic helped her descend slowly; otherwise, Zhu Xiaxia, who was still on the bed, would have suffered.
“Wooo… it hurts…”
Zhu Qiu sat on top of Zhu Xiaxia, clutching her tail and crying helplessly. This sudden commotion woke Zhu Xiaxia up.
“My precious daughter, why are you crying? Come, Mother will give you a hug.”
“Wooo… I want a hug…”
“Mother’s got you. Don’t cry, don’t cry. Did you have another nightmare?”
“Wooo…”
Zhu Qiu didn’t answer anything; she just kept hugging her tail and crying.
It took quite a while of comforting before she calmed down. Looking at her surroundings, her eyes were a bit dazed.
“Huh?”
“What is it, my precious daughter?”
“What happened last night?”
“Last night, my daughter fell asleep at the door to Mother’s room, so I carried you inside. You were hugging your pillow, so weren’t you planning to sleep with Mother anyway?”
‘I actually fell asleep?’
“So nothing happened last night?”
“Nothing. After we got into bed, you kept nuzzling Mother. You even said you loved Mother and wanted to be with me forever.”
‘LIAR!’
This meant that not only had her plan failed, but she had also actively thrown herself into Zhu Xiaxia’s arms and said a bunch of outrageous things.
This was no Human Sword Saint! If someone didn’t know better, they would think she was just Zhu Xiaxia’s clingy daughter!
‘No, no, I still have one more chance.’
To reclaim her dignity, Zhu Qiu started working on a new little scheme.
Today was the last day. She had to find an opportunity during the day, not just at night.
‘Zhu Xiaxia, just you wait to be punished by the Human Sword Saint!’
‘Success is the only option; failure is not allowed!’
Zhu Qiu made a vow in the depths of her heart.
‘That hateful Zhu Xiaxia, I will make you lose all face!’
“I’m getting up.”
“Alright. Mother is still a bit sleepy and needs to sleep a little longer.”
After getting up, Zhu Qiu began wandering around the Dragon Race Imperial Palace.
Her behavior left Xiaguang, who was slacking off, completely stunned.
Zhu Qiu knew that with the amateur magic she had learned, she couldn’t defeat Zhu Xiaxia during the day.
She could only try her luck at night. Therefore, she needed some help—for example, obtaining some items with special effects.
“Xiaguang, what is your job?”
The Little Princess arrived on the first floor and asked a question that shook Xiaguang’s soul.
“Princess, I am a maid of the Dragon Race Imperial Palace. Do you need something from me?”
“You’re in charge of eating, right?”
Xiaguang was confused.
“Does the Princess mean in charge of cooking?”
“That’s right, cooking. Do you know where the Imperial Palace usually stores its ingredients?”
“The palace’s ingredients are all in the Magic Refrigerator in the kitchen. If the Princess is hungry, you can go in there and look for something to eat.”
“I’m not talking about that. I mean, besides the Magic Refrigerator, where else is food stored? Like, in large quantities.”
“In that case, it’s in the Ingredient Storehouse on the first floor.”
“Then take me there quickly.”
Zhu Qiu grabbed Xiaguang’s hand, signaling for her to lead the way.
“Princess, may I ask what you’re going to do in the Ingredient Storehouse?”
“Nothing much. I’m just curious about what dishes we’ll be eating for the next few meals.”
“Alright then.”
Xiaguang held Zhu Qiu’s hand, walked through a corridor, and arrived at the Ingredient Storehouse at the very end.
“We’re here, Princess.”
“Thank you, Xiaguang. You can go back to your work now. Don’t worry about me.”
“I should still remind the Princess that it’s very cold inside the storehouse. Please be careful.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll be careful. Hurry up and go.”
Xiaguang was pushed away by Zhu Qiu. She felt like something was wrong, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
Zhu Qiu grabbed the door handle and pulled hard. The next moment, a blast of cold air from the storehouse hit her face.
It made her shiver violently, and she squeezed her legs together, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.
‘Hiss—how is it so cold? No, I can’t quit. For victory, I’ll endure it.’
Zhu Qiu boldly stepped into the storehouse and closed the door.
‘Now, let me see if there are any special ingredients. Hiss—cold, I have to be fast.’
Inside the storehouse, boxes of ordinary ingredients were stacked together, with the name and appearance of the contents marked on each box.
Other ingredients unique to the Dragon Race were piled in a corner in large crates.
At first, Zhu Qiu wanted to find something useful among the unique ingredients, but she suddenly realized she didn’t know what any of them did.
There was no other choice; she had to look for conventional ingredients.
After looking around, Zhu Qiu chose an entire box of dried longans and carried it away.
‘Hiss—it’s really cold. I’m never coming back here again.’
Returning to her room, she went to the kitchen to grab a basin. She peeled all the longans and picked out the pits.
Since they were dried, they were quick to peel, but because of the large quantity, this single step still took over one hour.
“I’m exhausted, but to make Zhu Xiaxia lose face, it’s all worth it. Next, it’s time to use the skills I learned before!”
This skill involved using the dried longans to produce a substance that inhibited the central nervous system, which could make someone’s brain muddled.
“Aww—”
Zhu Qiu decided to enjoy the fruits of her labor first.
“I have to say, these dried longans are really tasty. They’re just as good as candy.”