Lan Yue nodded sadly. "You’re right. Dragons do not exist now. But the legends of my people say our city was founded by a true Dragon Beast in the ancient times. That is why we carry the name."
Su Qinglan felt a jolt of electricity run through her veins at the mention of the word "Dragon." It sounded so legendary, so powerful. She immediately closed her eyes for a split second, calling out to her system.
"Xuyu," she whispered in her mind. "Does a Dragon truly exist in this world?"
The System’s response was instantaneous, and it wasn’t the scholarly explanation she was hoping for but an entirely different answer.
[Why, Host? Do you want a Dragon husband now? Is the fox not enough? Is the tiger too boring? Are you looking to add a scaly upgrade to the collection?]
Su Qinglan: "..."
"I am asking a serious question about the world geography and ancient history!" she hissed back internally, her mental voice dripping with anger.
[Host, don’t worry,] Xuyu replied with a tone that sounded suspiciously like a used-car salesman.
[Even if this world has none, I will find one for you from a different world! I have a high-quality database. We can search for ’Ancient High-Tier Drakes’ or ’Eastern Divine Sea Dragons.’ Whatever fits your aesthetic!]
Before she could scream at him to stop, Xuyu added with a shameless lilt,
[Actually, if Host could sleep with an ancient dragon, the essence transfer would be so massive you would definitely cross the threshold of your power from your previous life. Your cultivation would go through the roof!]
Su Qinglan felt the anger climbing to her head, her face turning a deeper shade of red than the chili on her potato.
"You pervert! Answer me honestly and stop trying to pimp out your Host! Why are you more worried about my mating life than I am? Don’t tell me you’re enjoying a live stream in there!"
The system was suddenly filled with the sound of a digital screech.
[HOST! How could you blame me?!] Xuyu’s voice rose to a panicked, high-pitched wail.
[I am one hundred percent innocent! A pure, untainted System! I don’t want to see any of this R-rated content! My sensors... they... they automatically blur the pixels! I am a professional!]
"Oh? Is that so?" Su Qinglan smirked internally, realizing she had finally poked a hole in his shameless armor.
"Then why did you know exactly how much I would gain from the fox last night? And why did you suggest a ’Dragon’ for the power boost? You seem very well-informed for someone who ’blurs the pixels.’"
[That...that is just data analysis!] Xuyu stammered, his digital voice flickering.
[I was just... looking at the energy bars! The bars were very high! I didn’t see anything! I was looking at the ceiling! I was busy... defragmenting my hard drive!]
The more the System tried to explain himself, the more he tripped over his own logic. Su Qinglan could practically see a tiny, existence sweating and waving its hands in embarrassment.
"Defragmenting, huh?" she teased, feeling a sense of victory.
"Let’s see who embarrasses whom from now on, you perverted system. If I catch you ’analyzing’ my bedroom data again, I’ll ask the Beast God to give me a mute button for my System."
[Host is so cruel! I am just a humble guide!] Xuyu whimpered, finally going quiet in a fit of sulking.
He was rendered speechless by his host! He would never tolerate such baseless accusations...where is the proof? How could she blame him?
Su Qinglan finally opened her eyes back to the real world, a satisfied glint in her gaze. She had finally won a round against the most annoying System in existence.
"Dragon Beast City..." she repeated softly, her curiosity now tempered with a bit of a headache. "It sounds like a place full of mysteries."
Hu Yan realized that neither he nor Han Jue had traveled very far from the forest in their lives. Their world was the mountain and the surrounding valleys. If anyone knew about the complicated politics of the great cities, it was the fox.
"Rong Ye! Get in here," Hu Yan called out toward the other house.
Rong Ye strolled in, still looking a bit disheveled from his earlier "lesson" with Han Jue, but his pride was already recovering.
He was so focused on making a grand entrance that he forgot to retract his fox ears. They stayed perched atop his head...vibrant, fluffy, and tipped with a very distinct, rare shade of deep purple.
Lan Yue, who had been quietly sipping her stew, suddenly looked up. Her eyes went wide, and the stone spoon clattered against the bowl. She stared at Rong Ye’s ears as if she were seeing a ghost.
"You..." she breathed out, her voice trembling. "You are from the Fox Beast City, aren’t you?"
The change in Rong Ye was instantaneous.
The playful, smug expression he always wore vanished. His body went rigid, and a chilly, suffocating aura suddenly filled the warm room.
His violet eyes, usually full of mischief, turned as cold as ice as he stared down at Lan Yue. It was the look of a predator who had just been cornered.
Su Qinglan felt the sudden drop in temperature. She immediately grabbed his arm, her fingers holding his palm.
"Rong Ye? What’s wrong? You’re shaking," she whispered, her heart racing at the sight of this new, dark version of her husband.
Rong Ye snapped out of his trance. He blinked, the coldness retreating just as quickly as it had appeared, and he instantly retracted his ears into his hair.
"I am not," he said shortly, his voice flat. "You are mistaken, female."
Lan Yue was stunned. She shook her head, her gaze still fixed on where his ears had been.
As a high-ranking female from the Dragon Beast City, she was intimately familiar with the royal families of the other great cities.
"How can I be mistaken?" Lan Yue whispered, her voice filled with disbelief.
"Only the Royal Family who rules the Fox Beast City has those purple-tipped ears. It is the mark of their bloodline, their very identity! The princes of that city are so proud of them they never hide them. They are famous across the beast city."
She looked at Rong Ye’s face again, her eyes scanning his features...the sharp jaw, the violet eyes, and the high cheekbones.
"I was supposed to mate with the new City Lord of the Fox Beast City before the attack," she continued, her voice gaining strength.
"I have seen him. You... you look exactly like the royal line. You look almost identical to the new Lord."
The room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence. Hu Yan narrowed his eyes, looking at his "little brother" with a new, suspicious intensity.
Su Qinglan felt her mind spinning. Her playful, lazy, seductive fox husband was actually a runaway royal?
Rong Ye didn’t look at any of them. He just stared at the floor, his hands clenched so tightly his knuckles were white.
The "pampered prince" joke the husbands made earlier suddenly didn’t feel like a joke anymore.