“Old Boss, that magic core...”
Red Scale mumbled timidly, pointing at Lin Feng's purse.
Ever since returning to the camp, she had been wandering around restlessly, and anyone with a bit of perception could guess she had something on her mind.
“What is it?”
As she paced back and forth, her gaze remained fixed on Lin Feng. It seemed to take her quite a while to work up her courage.
“Um... That magic core, can you give it back to me?”
Impossible!
Although Red Scale was the one who found it, she was his dragon. Things found by his dragon should belong to him too!
“What do you want that thing for?”
Red Scale’s tail swept back and forth as her wings fluttered slightly. "It looks nice. I want to keep it."
"Don't try to trick me. You didn't say it looked nice when you first found it. It was only after I told you its value that you asked for it back from me."
Panicking at being seen through, Red Scale began throwing a tantrum. "I didn't realize it at first! Come on, Boss, give it back to me... Boo hoo hoo!"
"First tell me, what do you want the magic core for?"
"The magic core means lots and lots of money, and money can buy lots and lots of food. I want to use it to exchange for food."
Lin Feng was rendered speechless.
If she exchanged this magic core for food, she probably wouldn't be able to finish eating it in ten lifetimes.
"Is it just for food? When we get back, you can have as much as you want. I’ll take care of it."
Red Scale tilted her head and thought for a while, but she still felt more reassured keeping the treasure for herself rather than trusting someone else with it.
"No, give it to me!"
Lin Feng gazed at Red Scale with narrowed eyes as she puffed out her cheeks looking extremely cute.
He poked his own cheek. "Give me a kiss and I’ll give it back to you."
The three beastkin girls simultaneously rolled their eyes and got up to leave.
They really couldn't stand this act of deceiving an innocent maiden.
"They... they all left?" Red Scale realized something was off.
"They’re giving us some alone time."
Upon hearing this, Rosa Linda, who was just passing by, gave Lin Feng's butt a kick.
Red Scale scratched her head, not thinking too much of it.
She figured it was just a quick peck on the cheek. No big deal.
But seeing his roguish smile, she had an inkling that she was getting the short end of the stick, though she couldn't pinpoint how.
If she wasn't no match for Lin Feng, she really wanted to give him a good beating.
"No kiss? Then I’m leaving."
Before Lin Feng could take more than a few steps, Red Scale grabbed the hem of his shirt. She then lightly pecked his cheek like a dragonfly kissing the water.
She then held out her palm, asking Lin Feng to hand over the magic core.
"What for?" Lin Feng asked instead.
Red Scale: ???
She felt like she had been duped.
"Boss, you said you'd give me the magic core if I kissed you."
"Huh? Did I say that? Who told you that?"
Red Scale's fists clenched.
But before she could swing at him, Lin Feng slipped away like a slippery eel.
"You're going back on your word!"
Lin Feng ducked behind Yuna and asserted righteously, "Nonsense. I already gave you the magic core and now you want it back. You're clearly the one going back on your word."
Seeing she wouldn't get the treasure back, Red Scale burrowed into the tent, bawling loudly.
But instead of Lin Feng coming to comfort her after crying for half the day, she smelled the tantalizing aroma of meat.
"Stupid dragon, come out and eat or the fish will be gone."
Since she would be going hungry tonight, Red Scale couldn't sit still. She dashed out and sat by the campfire. Although she didn't say anything, her eyes remained glued on the fish in Yuna's hands.
"Weren't you not eating?"
"Eating." Red Scale nodded vigorously.
She had conceded defeat.
Lin Feng wouldn't budge no matter how hard or soft she pleaded. She was out of options.
"Don't worry. From now on, I’ll provide for you. You’ll certainly not lack good food and drink."
As she chewed on the fish, Red Scale bobbed her head up and down.
Clearly, she didn't believe his placating words one bit.
In the dead of night when everyone was fast asleep, Red Scale snuck stealthily into the tent.
She surveyed her surroundings before focusing on the pouch at Lin Feng's waist.
If she remembered correctly, that was where the magic core was kept.
Pushing Emily and Yuna aside, Red Scale squatted down and tried to untie the strings.
But her clumsy hands only pulled the knots tighter the more she fumbled.
"Can't even untie a simple knot. How stupid can you be?"
Lin Feng's voice suddenly rang out, scaring the already anxious Red Scale. She leapt around the tent like she had seen a ghost, waking up all the beastkin girls.
Taking one look at the situation, the bleary-eyed Rosa Linda immediately figured out what was going on.
Old and new debts tallied up, she dragged Red Scale out to give her a good beating.
After that, Red Scale was obedient for several days. Whenever she saw Rosa Linda, she'd walk the other way. She also stopped mentioning the magic core.
"I knew she needed a beating to behave. Just like Emily when she was little." Rosa Linda glared and Red Scale scurried away like a rat.
"Wasn't Emily very well-behaved?"
"She was a terror when she was small, always bullying other kids. I received countless complaints." Rosa Linda threw up her hands helplessly. "Stealing from neighbors’ vegetable patches, setting fire to people's houses—she was a little devil."
???
This...
Lin Feng couldn't see that at all.
That silly rabbit had this side to her too?
When they first met, she had lectured him like a big sister. Turns out she was just a kid playing adult inside.
Rosa Linda nudged Lin Feng lightly with her arm.
"Hmm?"
"Go to bed late tonight."
With this hint, Lin Feng immediately understood.
He had been procrastinating for too long. It was time to turn in his homework.
Carefully recalling, it had indeed been quite a while since the last time.
Lin Feng stroked his chin and glanced at her belly.
"What are you looking at?"
Rosa Linda blinked.
What Lin Feng said next completely exceeded her expectations.
"Why don't we have a baby?"
Stunned, Rosa Linda immediately panicked.
She surreptitiously checked the others' locations.
Seeing Emily and Yuna fishing in the distance, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"You're not joking?"
"Probably not."
Such an ambiguous response earned Lin Feng a whack from Rosa Linda.
"I’m yours now. If you want to, it’s only right to have another. But..."
"But what?"
Covering her belly with her hand, Rosa Linda's face flushed. "I’m almost forty. And the two kids are already so big..."
"So you can't conceive anymore?"
Rosa Linda knocked Lin Feng's head. "Still don't get what I mean?"