CH 108

After getting covered in mud, Second Cub took Seventh Cub to the stream to clean up. The two little dragon cubs were caught by Ning Chu as they were sneaking past the two houses in the residential area.

“What are you doing?” Ning Chu’s face was stern, with a gloating Third Cub crouched over his shoulder and Wuuth standing behind him.

The unaware Seventh Cub ran forward and spun around to show Ning Chu the dirt he was covered in, “Awou!”

He just thought it was a game, because his two “big brothers” were doing it as well, he didn’t see any problem with it.

Ning Chu’s expression broke down and he bent down to pick up the cub, but he had too much mud on him, so he tried to use a cleaning spell first.

Wuuth stopped him, “No, let Little Seven wash himself.”

Although Seventh Cub had just hatched for less than a month, his physique was similar to other magic dragons at three or four months, so rolling around in the mud wasn’t a big deal. As a magic dragon, he wasn’t that delicate.

Hearing him say so, Ning Chu retracted his hand and gently pressed the tip of Seventh Cub’ nose, “Was it fun?”

Seventh Cub wagged his tail, “Awooo!”

Seeing how happy he was, Ning Chu looked at Second Cub with a softer gaze and got up, “Take Little Seven to clean up first, and then come back to me.”

Second Cub obediently responded and led Seventh Cub away, glancing at Third Cub with a murderous look in his eyes as he was leaving. He knew that Third Cub must’ve tattled, as Third Cub flew up in the air, did a head-down pose, finishing it up with a head shake. Second Cub almost wanted to go over and give him a smack, but Ning Chu didn’t see Third Cub behind him and urged, “Hurry up, you’re covered in mud.”

Second Cub had thin skin, but Ning Chu’s words must be listened to. He secretly made note of this grudge and planned to pay it back next time, not even remembering that he was the one provoking. He and Seventh Cub arrived at the stream, jumping into the water with a big splash. Seventh Cub dodged the splash and carefully entered the water.

He had learned to swim, and knew how to make himself float on the surface, but it hadn’t been that long, so he was still a little afraid of the deeper water. The two little dragon cubs swam in the river for a while, the mud on their bodies were almost washed off, the turbid water moving down the stream, gradually regaining its clarity. There was a circle of white stuff floating on the surface of the water, which was the remainder of Seventh Cub’s scarf. The white fur of the scarf had a lot of mud stuck to it, which wasn’t as easy to clean as the scales, so Seventh Cub rubbed it with his paws, making several hairs fall off.

He was too scared to move again, so he took the scarf in his mouth and went to Second Cub for help, but Second Cub’s own neck fur was more easy to handle, so he dived into the water and flung it around a few times and it was almost clean. He stared at the dirty scarf on the surface of the water, and then looked at the helpless Seventh Cub who was looking at him with round eyes, and resigned himself to pulling the scarf over.

The fur tied up with thin rattan strips was already fragile, so he had to be more careful when washing it. He was about to put it back on for Seventh Cub when he realized that the collar was still wet. His own neck hair could be shaken a few times, but if this collar was shaken a few times, the hair would all fall out.

The best way would be… to ask Third Cub for help. If he could spit out a fireball, it wouldn’t take much time to dry. However, they had a fight not long ago, so Second Cub wouldn’t go to him for help. He put away the scarf for the time being and planned to hang it on a branch to dry for a while, so it would be dry by the time the evening meal was served.

But Seventh Cub didn’t want to wait. He wanted to put it on right away or he wouldn’t look the same as Second Cub. Either that or he would wait around and not leave it, then take it when it finally dried. This was the first time that Seventh Cub was so stubborn.

Of course, Second Cub wouldn’t leave the little dragon alone, but he still had to return to Ning Chu, and he had already delayed some time washing the scarf. If he waited for it to dry, Ning Chu would probably be more angry with him. 

For the first time in days, Second Cub felt the trouble of taking care of a baby dragon. After all, they weren’t the same two individuals, their thoughts were always different, and it couldn’t understand why Seventh Cub just wouldn’t leave their scarf half a step. But if it were him, if he could take off his own neck fur… he would also wear it wet! What if it was stolen by another dragon?!

Second Cub certainly couldn’t let Seventh Cub wear wet things, or he would catch a cold. So he took the scarf off the branch, put it on himself, and told Seventh Cub he would keep it for him for a while.

Seventh Cub then reluctantly agreed and followed him back.

Outside Ning Chu’s door, Third Cub was lying on a stone at the door, squinting. When he saw that Second Cub and Seventh Cub had finally returned, he stared at the wet collar around Second Cub’s neck. Second Cub wanted to leave the scarf outside to dry and go in alone to find Ning Chu, but when Third Cub took a second glance, he decided not to stop and just go in like that.

Third Cub saw that he didn’t want to talk to him, so he turned his head away and stopped looking.

Inside the house, Ning Chu and Wuuth were talking, saying something about not getting a drop from the draw again.

Wuuth reassured Ning Chu, “It’s okay, try again next time.”

Second Cub and Seventh Cub came in together, and Ning Chu also saw what Second Cub was wearing around his neck. He frowned lightly before reaching out to signal Second Cub to come over and take off the scarf, “Why is this… still wet?”

Ning Chu could also use fire magic, but he had turned off his contract service for the last few months, no longer relying on magic that didn’t belong to him, and used his own light element when casting spells. He called out to the door, “San San, come in for a moment.”

Second Cub’s spine tensed up and he lowered his head deeply. In the end, Third Cub had to be called in. Third Cub flew in and saw the scarf in Ning Chu’s hand and knew what was going on right away. He didn’t say anything, just took the scarf awayand led Seventh Cub out first on Ning Chu’s instructions.

Once the door of the room was closed, completely blocking the view and sound inside, Seventh Cub crouched curiously at the door, and the next moment he was attracted by Third Cub’s fire. The reddish flame was bubbling with red light and heat, and Third Cub held his scarf close to shake it, and it dried out quickly. He extinguished the fire and moved awkwardly to put on the scarf for Seventh Cub, adjusting its position.

Third Cub opened his dark eyes, “Awooo!”

Amazing! And he could  breathe fire!

Third Cub’s tail was raised and wagged uncontrollably. Of course, he was much more powerful than Second Cub. When Second Cub came out of the house, he saw Third Cub and Seventh Cub playing together. Both dragons’ horns were black and different in color from their scales, and even though Seventh Cub was wearing a scarf that had dried, the image of him and Third Cub together silenced Second Cub.

Seventh Cub was watching the fireball and didn’t notice Second Cub coming out. Second Cub squatted silently in the doorway for a while, before leaving quietly by himself.

When he returned to the house, Fifth Cub asked him why Seventh Cub wasn’t with him.

Second Cub said, “He will find something to do by himself, he doesn’t need me to lead him around.”

Fifth Cub figured out what was going on as soon as she heard that, she lay down in the dragon’s nest and thought about it, moving half of the nest to the side to let Second Cub in.

A yellow and a green dragon cub were huddled together, and Fifth Cub smoothed Second Cub’s neck hair with his claws, “Having a fight?”

Although all the dragons were adults now, they were still not grown up, only Wuuth changed from before. In Fifth Cub’s eyes, Second Cub wasn’t much different from Seventh Cub. Second Cub didn’t want to talk about it, so he rolled over, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep. In fact, he was too embarrassed to say anything. Ning Chu talked to him in the room, probably about how to take care of the young dragon properly and not to let Seventh Cub follow him in fooling around.

Ning Chu’s words weren’t too harsh, and at the end he even stroked his head and praised him for his overall good work. But Second Cub still felt like a failure, especially today when he was overpowered by Third Cub. And Seventh Cub, who turned his head and forgot about him as his godfather!

Second Cub had mixed feelings and turned around again, his limbs clinging to Fifth Cub and licking her forehead. Little Five was still great, both considerate and cute.

After the nap, Seventh Cub didn’t look for Second Cub all afternoon, so he probably stayed with Third Cub, the two dragons finding somewhere to play. Second Cub was even more angry, and didn’t want to find them, so he was alone in the house, and only when Fifth Cub came in later in the day to keep him company did he barely recover. It wasn’t until dinner time that Third Cub appeared with Seventh Cub.

Seventh Cub seemed to be starving and gobbled his dinner up before running towards Second Cub. After each meal, he followed Second Cub to the stream to wash his face and paws, which became a daily habit, but Second Cub flew away from him. Seventh Cub rushed to follow and struggled to flap his dragon wings.

When the two dragons came to the stream to clean themselves, Seventh Cub approached Second Cub again. Second Cub blocked his view with one of his dragon wings, when he felt it being bitten and pulled. He dropped his dragon wing and pretended to be indifferent, “What are you doing?”

Seventh Cub was vaguely excited, “Awooo!”

He wanted Second Cub to follow him to a place, so he could show him something.

Second Cub’s curiosity was immediately piqued, but because still angry, his voice stiffened, “Why don’t you take Old Three to see it?”

Second Cub’s eyes showed confusion, then he crouched aside and didn’t know how to answer. In the end, Second Cub couldn’t bear to refuse, and he was secretly a little happy that Seventh Cub came to him first. So he followed Seventh Cub to the back of the hill. At a glance, he saw a pile of something standing on the grass, similar to a stone, yet not at the same time.

When he flew closer, Second Cub was shocked to find that this pile of earthy yellow seemed to be him. It was made of mud, and although it looked very rough, and the left and right eyes seemed to be crooked, the mounds on the neck were his neck hair.

Seventh Cub were both excited and apprehensive, whispering, “Awo?”

He had been following Third Cub all afternoon before he could barely control his ability to make Second Cub out of mud. He wanted to make Ning Chu, but Ning Chu was really tall and his clothes and hair were so complicated that he gave up immediately after only one attempt.

Second Cub circled around the “statue” that was exactly the same size as him, came close to sniff it, and then stretched out his front paws to touch the dragon horns made of clay carefully, and then hurriedly stepped back.

He moved very gently, afraid to break the mound of dirt.

“It’s not really good,” Second Cub said haughtily as he crouched next to the mound of dirt, “But it’s very similar to me.”

The tail wagging behind him revealed his true emotions, and he couldn’t wait to roar for all the dragons on the island to come and check it out.

The author has something to say: 

Little Seven has filial piety