"Is it worth it?"
A soft voice rose. Fu Xuan tilted her head upward to gaze at Mo Huang. The dense stubble on his chin pricked against her forehead, tickling and tingling, yet she cherished nothing more than that sensation. She shifted her head slightly, nuzzling gently as if trying to brand the feeling into the deepest reaches of her soul.
Mo Huang's rugged face was filled with tender affection. He reached out to caress her cheek and offered a faint smile. "A kingdom as beautiful as a painting—how could it compare to that single cinnabar dot between your brows?"
Fu Xuan's luminous eyes shone with extraordinary brightness.
Mo Huang grinned. "Li Wuyi once said something like that. I just borrowed it."
Fu Xuan giggled. "So it was Wuyi's words after all."
Mo Huang sighed. "I'm sorry for all the suffering you've endured these years."
Fu Xuan shook her head. "I always anticipated this. There's been no suffering. Haven't we reunited today?"
Mo Huang declared solemnly, "This time, I will absolutely never let you leave my side again!"
"That would mean making an enemy of all of Dragon Island." Fu Xuan rested her head against Mo Huang's broad chest, listening to the beat of his heart—yet it sounded like the most beautiful celestial music in the world. A blissful smile bloomed across her face.
Mo Huang snorted. "From the very day we first met, I had already made up my mind to stand against Dragon Island."
Back in those days, they had both been in the prime of youth. He was bold and untamed, and the moment he laid eyes on her, he recognized that proud beauty for what she was—a member of the Dragon Clan. The Beast Martial Great Emperor commanded all beasts under heaven, yet he had never had the experience of subduing a dragon. His heart stirred with restless excitement, and once the idea took root, it became unstoppable. After repeated schemes to get close to her—even resorting to force in the end—he finally brought her to his side. What he hadn't expected was that he would tumble headlong into that land of tenderness, never to extricate himself, and in doing so, forge an enmity with the Dragon Clan that no outsider fully understood.
Reflecting on those times, a warm smile surfaced on Mo Huang's face. That had been the wisest decision he had ever made.
"How is Little Seven?" Fu Xuan asked suddenly.
"She's all grown up now, just a bit spoiled. You really ought to come back to Spirit Beast Island with me to put her in line."
Fu Xuan said, "She doesn't know about her identity, does she?"
Mo Huang shook his head. "I haven't told her yet. Hmm, speaking of that girl, she's been a bit troubling lately as well."
"What happened?" Fu Xuan starteled. After all, that was her own flesh and blood. Though she had never once seen her since giving birth, the bond between mother and child meant she couldn't help but worry.
"Some punk has got that girl all lovestruck," Mo Huang said darkly.
Fu Xuan blinked, then broke into laughter.
"What are you laughing about?"
Fu Xuan stifled her laughter. "Let me think—Little Seven is about that age, isn't she? It wouldn't be strange for one or two young men to catch her eye."
Mo Huang shook his head like a rattle drum. "No, no, no. She's far too young. It's not the time to be thinking about such things."
Fu Xuan said in a leisurely tone, "I may have given birth to her, but I never had the chance to raise her. You'll need to worry about her matters on your own. Just make sure she doesn't come to resent you."
Mo Huang started. "She'd resent me because of that punk?"
Fu Xuan pressed her lips together and smiled. "You never know. Daughters grow up and tend to become quite independent."
Hearing this, Mo Huang's face darkened further, and a sudden anxiety began to gnaw at him—fearing loss even before he had anything to lose.
"Enough of that. Let's go over and have a look."
Mo Huang frowned. "Don't bother. Let's just stay here and talk for a while. We'll see those two old fellows once they've finished sorting out the Dragon Clan's affairs."
Fu Xuan looked up at him. "Take me to see. They are my kin after all."
She wore that delicate, bird-like expression of reliance on him, and Mo Huang could never resist it. He nodded repeatedly without hesitation. "Fine, fine, fine. Since you put it that way, we'll go take a look." After a brief pause, he smiled. "If we're lucky, we might even get to see that punk."
The words had barely left his mouth before he was already carrying Fu Xuan into the air.
Fu Xuan froze for a moment, then belatedly realized. "Are you saying the man Little Seven has her eye on is also on Dragon Island?"
"That's right. The reason I was able to slip in undetected this time is largely thanks to him." Mo Huang nodded. If Yang Kai hadn't caused such an upheaval on Dragon Island, drawing the attention of Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun, he would never have been able to sneak in quietly.
Under normal circumstances, the moment he set foot on Dragon Island, Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun would have detected him immediately.
"Is he a member of the Dragon Clan?" Fu Xuan's brow furrowed slightly. As a dragon herself, she knew all too well how dissolute the private lives of male dragons could be. If her daughter had fallen for one of them, things would be truly difficult to handle.
"He's not a dragon. Just a human," Mo Huang replied, shaking his head.
"A human..." Fu Xuan grew even more puzzled. "How could a human enter Dragon Island? And what business does he have here?"
The corner of Mo Huang's mouth twitched, and he uttered two words: "Bridal kidnapping."
Fu Xuan's face was a picture of astonishment.
Only after her persistent questioning did she learn of the earth-shaking deeds Yang Kai had carried out inside Dragon Island. She gasped in amazement one after another, thinking this fellow was far too audacious. But on second thought, wasn't this Yang Kai's situation eerily similar to Mo Huang's own?
Both were humans. Both had taken a dragon woman as their wife. Both had faced fierce opposition from Dragon Island. Both had been driven into enmity against the Dragon Clan.
Fu Xuan suddenly found herself feeling a measure of sympathy for that Yang Kai.
Mo Huang was one of the Ten Great Emperors, yet even he had been unable to take her away from Dragon Island back in the day. This Yang Kai certainly wouldn't succeed either. This love between human and dragon was destined to end in tragedy. The stubbornness of the Dragon Clan had long been proven.