“Cough cough, Cousin Brother-in-Law, if you find it too much trouble, your Cousin Sister can handle it for you.”
Seeing Cousin Sister Yudie looking so persistent, Yan Zhen found it amusing and gave her an OK hand gesture.
“I’ll trouble Cousin Sister with it later then. I’m taking her back to my room first—let’s go, Long Ying.”
Yan Zhen took the Loli Dragon Girl’s little hand, and together they left the elder’s office, heading back to his own room.
Long Ying looked up at Yan Zhen’s profile. This familiar angle stirred something deep in her heart.
—How nostalgic~
Ever since she had returned to her clan and smoothly restored her original body, he had never held her hand again.
Moreover, now that she had become the clan leader of the Dragon God Clan, Yan Zhen rarely let her transform back into her true form to serve as his mount.
His attitude toward her hadn’t changed at all, but Long Ying always felt like something was missing inside her—until she finally realized the truth. She didn’t just see him as her “follower,” nor merely as her “master.” She liked him. That was why she wanted to get even closer to him.
Yet Long Ying knew full well that, in Yan Zhen’s heart, she was still just that little girl who never grew up, forever crying “Hungry, food.” He treated her like a little sister—or even a “bro.” He had seen her naked body and shown no reaction at all.
The only ones he truly admired were Sister Cai Lian, Sister Xunyi, his first love Holy Lord Yun Xiu, and that demoness Jiu Youyue who had passed away.
So Long Ying had no choice but to bury her feelings deep inside and keep playing the role of his loyal “bro,” staying by his side.
What she never could have imagined was that she would be inexplicably reborn more than a dozen years into the past, turning back into that egg from long ago and reuniting with Yan Zhen.
Judging by his reaction, he clearly hadn’t reborn like she had.
That gave Long Ying an idea: Since she couldn’t change the image she held in Yan Zhen’s mind, she would simply start their relationship over from scratch.
This time, she wouldn’t ask him to be her follower. She wouldn’t serve as his mount either. Instead, she would make people recognize her feminine charms and slowly draw him to like her.
She was quite confident in her original mature big-sister image. Even Yan Zhen had personally complimented her beauty.
First things first, she couldn’t be some gluttonous rice bucket. Her rapidly growing body desperately needed energy, so she had to eat more—but there were refined ways to do it. For instance, stick to high-quality pills over ordinary meals so she could eat less volume. And she had to eat gracefully, without wolfing everything down in one bite…
“Gurgle.”
Her little belly let out a loud rumble. Long Ying’s cheeks flushed an adorable pink in an instant. She hurriedly covered her stomach with her hands to muffle the sound.
“You downed a whole bottle of Fasting Pills and you’re still hungry?” Yan Zhen looked utterly speechless. Still, he pulled out another bottle of Fasting Pills and handed it over. “Here, have one more bottle.”
Long Ying said stubbornly,
“I-I won’t eat it! I’m not hungry! I’m not a glutton!”
Yan Zhen almost thought he’d misheard.
—Was that my imagination? The Rice Bucket Loli claiming she’s not hungry and won’t eat?
According to the script, the Long Ying who had just hatched was a glutton among gluttons. She devoured every Fasting Pill he had on him and still wailed “Hungry, food!” That forced Yan Zhen to take her to the dining hall for real food.
The dining hall meals were relatively cheap. For just 100 points on a Level 1 Courtyard Card, you could get a lavish spread with wine and meat.
But Long Ying nearly burned through the remaining 500 points on his Level Two Courtyard Card. She ate so much that the dining hall master rushed out, convinced some foolish student was wasting food. Instead, he found a pink-haired loli practically buried in a mountain of bones—and Yan Zhen, whose face had turned as black as charcoal.
“You really won’t eat?”
Long Ying put on a haughty, tsundere front.
“I said I won’t, so I won’t!”
She wasn’t some child anymore. She was a graceful, poised dragon phoenix beauty!
—Gurgle.
She had barely finished her bold declaration when her body betrayed her.
For the past year and more, she had survived by absorbing stray Mystic Qi from the world and the medicinal power of the Nirvana Fruit. Fresh out of the egg, her body craved massive nourishment. How could she not be starving?
“Go on and eat. The Grand Elder told me to take good care of you.”
Yan Zhen pressed the pill bottle into Long Ying’s small hand. She pouted in dissatisfaction before slowly tipping out pill after pill. She chewed each one with deliberate grace before swallowing, putting on quite the “elegant” display.
She had picked up this trick from Sister Xunyi. If anyone embodied “elegance,” it was her.
Yan Zhen snuck glances at her now and then. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this Loli Dragon Girl was nothing like the one in the script. She was eating far too little—like some cheap knockoff.
Without that all-important “rice bucket” trait, was this even Long Ying?
Lost in these thoughts, Yan Zhen had already led Long Ying by the hand back to his room. He opened the door and ushered her inside.
Long Ying blinked her lively big eyes as she took in the room’s furnishings. Waves of nostalgia washed over her.
In her previous life, she and Yan Zhen had lived here together for more than half a year. Aside from cultivating in the Firmament Nine-Story Tower, they spent most nights sleeping side by side in this very room.
Back then, she had viewed Yan Zhen purely as her “human follower,” with zero reservations. She had even drooled on him in her sleep, earning his complaints more than once. Looking back now, she deeply regretted not sneaking a kiss while he was out cold.
—Not this time. I absolutely won’t make the same mistake. I’ll show him my ladylike side and leave him utterly enchanted!
Yan Zhen guided Long Ying to a stool and had her sit, then took the seat beside her. He picked up the teacup from the table and poured two cups of water, handing one to her.
“Have some water. Still hungry?”
Long Ying cradled her teacup in both hands and gulped it down before replying,
“Not hungry.”
—Good grief, claiming she’s not hungry again? This has to be a fake Long Ying.
“I’ve got one last bottle of Fasting Pills here. Take it—you can eat them if you get hungry.”
“If you give them all to me, what will you do?”
“I can refine more myself.”
“Oh.”
In her previous life, one big reason Long Ying clung to Yan Zhen was that she had seen his Extreme Flame and pegged him as a powerful Pill Refiner. Sticking with him meant endless pills.
Of course, the main reason was that Yan Zhen had used the Great Crimson Heaven Flame to help her complete her nirvana. She felt an extraordinary bond with him because of it.
Long Ying uncorked the bottle, shook out a single pill onto her palm, and popped it into her mouth with refined poise.
The more Yan Zhen watched, the stranger it seemed—like a raging alcoholic who always pounded bottles bare-chested suddenly appearing at a fancy Western restaurant, dressed to the nines and delicately sipping from a tall-stemmed glass.
—So… do I even need to take her to the dining hall for a massive feast anymore?
At that moment, System-chan’s voice chimed in Yan Zhen’s mind:
【Ding! Detecting early encounter between host and key character ‘Long Ying’. To avoid major deviations from the script for the sake of plot progression, issuing emergency task.】
【Role-Playing Requirements: ① Feed Long Ying until she’s satisfied; ② Bathe Long Ying and help her change into clean clothes; ③ Accompany her for a proper nap.】
【Note: “Long Ying” is the source of the third drop of Body Refining Divine Blood, as well as a key ally in evading Cloud Heaven Palace’s pursuit after the Two-Year Battle Pact. Host, please do your utmost to build a strong relationship with her.】
