Chapter 102: Lactation

Saying one wants an egg is one thing; the possibility of Xiu actually carrying an egg is another.

Even if dragons didn’t have the habit of taking care of children, Wen Chu couldn’t possibly ignore the egg belonging to him and Xiu.

After the dragon egg is born, it needs patient incubation, care for the little dragon to grow up, finding territory for the little dragon after it grows up. Now that dragons are extinct, whether the future child can find a partner is also a problem…

Xiu and he would have to divert at least half of their attention and money to this unknown life.

If the little dragon was obedient, it would be fine, but if a dragon like Alice appeared…

In just half a second, Wen Chu thought of countless possibilities for the future, his vision darkening again and again.

Xiu had stopped dry heaving by now and was standing up to go to the bathroom to clean up.

Seeing Wen Chu staring at him with a pale face, Xiu thought Wen Chu was frightened by him, and patted Wen Chu’s cheek amusingly: “Snap out of it. I was just nauseous for a moment, not really sick. Why that expression?”

Wen Chu came back to his senses, looked at Xiu, and answered in a trance: “…Oh.”

Pregnancy happening overnight was indeed a bit fantastical.

Maybe he was just overthinking?

Thinking this, Wen Chu followed Xiu all the way to the bathroom, and only after being locked out by Xiu did he continue to ponder the century-old question: “Pregnant or not?”

Last night, he broke into Xiu’s reproductive cavity.

But that place had degenerated and had no reproductive ability at all. He didn’t stuff anything messy into Xiu’s stomach either.

Logically speaking, there shouldn’t be conditions for pregnancy.

Wen Chu was letting his imagination run wild.

Just as he was about to convince himself, a clatter came from the bathroom again.

“Wen Chu…”

Xiu’s voice rang out.

Unlike the fierce-on-the-outside-but-weak-on-the-inside attitude when locking him out just now, Xiu’s voice sounded somewhat bewildered.

Wen Chu’s heart sank, and he pushed the door open: “What’s wrong?”

Inside the bathroom, Xiu was leaning against the wall, surrounded by the shower gel and shampoo he had swept onto the floor.

Still covered in unrinsed foam, he dazedly lifted his tail, showed the closed scales to Wen Chu, and held his belly in disbelief.

“I cleaned it out,” Xiu murmured, “Why hasn’t the belly gone down?”

The current situation was clearly beyond Xiu’s comprehension. A rare look of confusion and helplessness appeared on his cold face.

?!

Wen Chu walked up quickly, pushed open the bathroom door further, and reached out to touch Xiu’s belly: “Cleaned it all out? I opened your reproductive cavity last night; is that cleaned too?”

Xiu’s expression went blank.

“Reproductive cavity…?” He repeated Wen Chu’s words.

So the place that opened at a touch just now was his reproductive cavity.

Everything yesterday was too chaotic, so much so that Xiu didn’t remember where exactly he was opened up, only remembering Wen Chu’s beautiful face and the pleasure that sent him to the clouds and made him fall.

This place, degenerated to almost nothing, could still be opened and hold so much stuff.

Ignoring the shame, Xiu nodded: “Cleaned it.”

Wen Chu didn’t speak, reached out to touch Xiu’s scales, and checked personally.

Only when Xiu’s tail went limp again did Wen Chu confirm it was truly cleaned out inside.

The feeling of unease grew stronger.

Thinking of his earlier guess, Wen Chu hesitated no more and said decisively: “Xiu, let’s change clothes and go find Lance to check. You might be pregnant.”

Before Xiu could react, Wen Chu had already started adjusting the water temperature to wash off the foam on his body.

Xiu took the shower head from Wen Chu’s hand half a beat slower, even more dazed: “…Pregnant? Aren’t I a male dragon?”

Living for so many years, had he been mistaken about his gender all along?

Wen Chu was firm: “You are a male dragon. Don’t know where the problem is. Is Lance reliable? If not, I’ll go catch another doctor for you. Anyway, let’s find a doctor to check first.”

“Just find Lance,” Xiu looked at Wen Chu’s pale face trying to hold on, somewhat worried, “Are you really okay? Don’t be too nervous; maybe it’s just some magic spell.”

Wen Chu forced a smile with a pale face: “En.”

It’s best if it’s a misunderstanding. If he’s really pregnant…

Wen Chu took a deep breath.

He has to take responsibility, take good care of Xiu and that troublesome child.

But just thinking of the future scene of a family of three, Wen Chu felt a bit breathless.

He found it hard to imagine stepping back for a child and giving up Xiu’s embrace.

Everything about Xiu was his. Xiu was clearly only good to him. This was the preference he had fought hard for; how could he give it away?

Wen Chu lowered his eyes, hiding the thoughts within.

Anyway, find a doctor first.

.

The two quickly got ready and went out.

To cover the already showing belly, Xiu wore a loose cloak, holding the hand of Wen Chu, who was obviously more nervous than him and walking with synchronous limbs, as they went out.

They left yesterday morning.

It was already the morning of the second day.

Neither of them felt hungry, heading straight for the meeting room with heavy hearts. Sure enough, they saw Lance inside.

Also Juliana and Alice.

All three looked at Wen Chu and Xiu, who suddenly pushed the door open, with surprise.

Alice spoke first in surprise: “You guys are so fast?”

Xiu had no time to beat the brat, ignoring Alice directly, and said concisely: “Lance, come with us alone.”

Lance glanced at Juliana, and after receiving a nod from his mother, left his seat and followed Xiu out.

Click.

They entered an empty office next door. Lance closed the door and looked seriously at the tightly wrapped Xiu and the wandering-minded Wen Chu, his heart sinking slightly: “Did something happen?”

To make even Wen Chu absent-minded, could it be that something big happened last night when they didn’t disturb them?

Wen Chu first carefully helped Xiu sit down, then stammered: “Do you… know how to judge if someone is pregnant?”

Lance: ?

Lance was full of question marks but still nodded: “Yes, why do you ask this?”

Wen Chu chose his words carefully: “It’s just that I have a special situation here…”

“I might be pregnant,” Xiu spoke first.

He took off his hood, his tone very fierce, saying this sentence with the momentum of “I’m going to kill you,” so much so that Lance paused for several seconds before reacting.

“Ah?”

A crack finally appeared on Lance’s face, which always wore a gentle and unfathomable smile, emitting a confused single syllable.

The roots of Xiu’s ears hidden under his long golden hair were red, but his tone became even fiercer: “I said, I might be pregnant. Check for me, and keep it confidential.”

Lance: …?

Lance suspected he was dreaming.

Under the evil dragon’s fierce gaze, Lance braced himself and said: “Then please extend your hand; I’ll check for you.”

Until he put his hand on Xiu’s wrist, Lance hadn’t come back to his senses.

This is too weird.

The weirdness level is no less than seeing a child walk out of an arthritis operating room holding a critical illness notice asking him whether to save the adult or the child.

When a green light representing new life emitted from Xiu’s wrist, the expression on Lance’s face became even more dazed.

“…Switch hands.”

Xiu gave the other hand to Lance.

Still the same green light.

Lance began to doubt his medical skills.

“So what is it?”

Seeing Lance silent for a long time, Wen Chu lost his patience first and asked: “What’s going on?”

Lance: “Seems like, possibly pregnant?”

With the guess confirmed, Wen Chu couldn’t tell if the stone in his heart had landed or become heavier.

From the beginning until now, whether intentionally or unintentionally, he was always the weaker party in front of Xiu. No matter what, just following Xiu was right.

This was his first time about to become a father, a real husband.

This was an experience Wen Chu had never had. His mind went blank, and he started calculating how much money he still had.

Xiu, on the contrary, was more rational.

After Lance spat out this shocking news, he was stunned for a moment, then pressed: “Can you tell how many months?”

Lance was even more baffled than Wen Chu: “About… five or six months?”

Xiu fell silent.

Judging by his showing belly, it really was a child of five or six months.

Even in the entire history of dragons, there was no precedent of being pregnant for five months overnight, let alone a male dragon.

If not for everything in front of him being too logical, Xiu would almost suspect he was still in the infinite egg-laying dream and hadn’t come out.

Lance wasn’t the type to joke about such things either.

Present were a dragon who committed all kinds of evil, an elf prince devoted to politics, and a little nightmare not yet proficient at being human.

The three combined didn’t have half a mother’s experience, yet had to face such a magical thing.

For a moment, the room fell into silence.

Finally, Lance spoke carefully: “How about I invite my Queen Mother? Her medical skills are superb, and she is one of the few elves who has given birth, so she has more experience in this regard.”

Neither Wen Chu nor Xiu had any objections.

So Lance went out to find reinforcements, leaving only Wen Chu and Xiu in the room.

Xiu frowned at his belly, unable to figure out how he got pregnant with an egg just by sleeping for a night.

He didn’t mind carrying an egg for Wen Chu to play with, but the follow-up of raising a dragon wasn’t so wonderful.

Just raising Wen Chu alone was enough; Xiu had no interest in raising anything else.

How about throwing the egg to the Elven Race right after birth?

Xiu once again had the thought of outsourcing childcare.

Anyway, giving birth and raising it were small matters; it was just that moving around while pregnant with an egg inevitably required some caution.

He originally planned to arrange Alfred’s fake death, but now because of this sudden egg, he had to postpone it.

Thinking of his identity, Xiu couldn’t help but think of last night’s dream and Wen Chu’s disgusted look.

He pursed his lips, somewhat irritable.

If I knew earlier, I would have acted sooner.

Now it’s great, carrying an egg and haven’t solved the trouble yet.

Wen Chu was already anxious. Seeing Xiu frowning at his belly, his heart was even more unsettled.

He reached out, gently touched Xiu’s belly, and said carefully: “I will work hard to support you. If you don’t like it, we’ll find a solution…”

Xiu raised his eyebrows, subconsciously saying: “If it’s already five months, we can only induce labor.”

Wen Chu’s scalp went numb at the thought of that bloody scene. He already began to regret his behavior of insisting on pouring into Xiu’s reproductive cavity last night.

He hugged Xiu’s waist gently, his voice muffled: “Too damaging to the body. How about giving birth? I can earn money to support you guys. I will be responsible for you and the child.”

Looking at the young man’s slender and beautiful hands, Xiu suddenly felt that without considering the consequences of raising a cub, just carrying an egg for Wen Chu was actually quite nice.

Mainly because Wen Chu trying hard to be responsible was also very cute.

His voice contained a smile: “Support me? How?”

Wen Chu himself is still a baby; how can he support him?

Wen Chu seriously stated the plan he just thought of: “I can hunt monsters to earn crystal cores, learn magic to draw magic circles for others, or help people create dreams for sleep aid… Does this continent have marriage laws? Can same-sex couples marry? If so, we’ll get married; the child can’t be without a household registration.”

“Oh right, before getting married, let me return the property rights of the castle to you? Then sign a prenuptial property agreement. I will leave enough assets for you and the child.”

Sixth-tier monsters, as long as they don’t appear in groups, he can beat them.

Moreover, he knows magic now. Even if they appear in groups, he can pull them directly into a dream.

Xiu looked at Wen Chu, who was calculating seriously, his gaze becoming softer and softer.

So stupid.

Are his cave full of gold, silver, and treasures just decorations? He won’t covet his money at all, still thinking about earning those few pennies outside.

But undeniably, Wen Chu’s words completely hit the softest part of his heart.

A slight noise came from the door. Wen Chu was still frowning and talking non-stop:

“Also, the child’s education is a problem too… Mmph?”

Wen Chu widened his eyes, looking in astonishment at Xiu who suddenly kissed him.

Wh-wh-why start kissing suddenly?

Xiu didn’t give him a chance to ask.

He kissed very deeply, lips and tongue entangled with Wen Chu, as if wanting to eat Wen Chu clean like this, leaving no room.

Wen Chu was kissed until his face turned red, and it took a long time before he was released.

Both their lips were stained with bright water sheen.

Wen Chu panted slightly. Just as he wanted to ask what madness Xiu was suddenly up to, he heard Xiu’s low and hoarse voice: “Baby, why so obedient?”

Does this count as obedient?

Wen Chu felt that no matter from which angle, letting Xiu get pregnant out of wedlock wasn’t “obedient” behavior.

But if Xiu thought so, then so be it.

Wen Chu blinked and whispered: “Then if I’m always obedient, can you… not like the child that much?”

He also knew his request was rude, his voice getting quieter as he spoke.

“I will be very responsible. I’ll take care of the child. Don’t like him so much, okay? Just like me the most forever.”

Things had reached a point where they couldn’t be changed; at this time, he could only try hard to salvage a bit.

Xiu laughed muffledly, as if amused by him, his chest vibrating.

“How could I like him? If you don’t want him, we’ll ind… throw him to the Elven Race to raise.” Xiu saw Wen Chu’s not-so-good face upon hearing “induce labor” and changed his words directly.

He hooked his lips, pressing his forehead against Wen Chu’s: “I only raise you.”

“Cough cough.” Awkward coughing came from the door.

Wen Chu was sitting with his back to the door, unable to see behind him. Looking back at the sound, he realized Lance and Juliana had been standing behind him for who knows how long.

And an Alice watching the spectacle.

Wen Chu’s pupils quaked.

Alice, never thinking the drama was big enough: “Eeew—I only raise you, baby—”

Lance looked away.

Juliana covered her mouth gently, smiling at them.

Wen Chu blushed instantly from face to neck, burying his whole self in Xiu’s arms.

With this bump, he happened to hit Xiu’s chest.

A strange soreness came from Xiu’s chest. His movement paused, then continued as usual, patting his back amusingly to soothe him: “Now you know to be shy?”

Isn’t Wen Chu easy to tease? Why so shameless in bed?

Wen Chu finally reacted, looking up and glaring at Xiu: “You saw them long ago. You did it on purpose.”

Xiu smiled lazily: “En, on purpose.”

He kissed Wen Chu on purpose only because he saw the movement at the door.

Wen Chu: “…Bad person.”

Xiu corrected: “I am a bad dragon.”

“Cough cough.” Lance coughed lightly again.

“Shall we… do business first?”

Don’t treat the three of them as air anymore. Didn’t they realize the three of them were bright enough to illuminate the entire Continent of Light?

Wen Chu hid behind Xiu with a blushing face. Xiu, having mentally prepared himself, extended his hand generously to Juliana.

Juliana, after a night of recuperation, was in much better condition now.

She held Xiu’s wrist, concentrated for a while, then spoke, much firmer than Lance: “Indeed pregnant.”

Xiu nodded and said calmly: “If it’s only five months, it doesn’t affect our plan.”

Alice would take at most a month to reach the Royal Capital. Helping to attack a city while six months pregnant, and reverting to the most thick-skinned dragon form at that, Xiu didn’t think it was difficult.

Wen Chu poked his head out from behind Xiu, finally accepting the fact: “Then what should we do now? Are there any medicines and supplements for preventing miscarriage? And Xiu felt nauseous and had morning sickness this morning. Is there anything to relieve morning sickness? And dishes pregnant men can eat…”

“Wen Chu.” Xiu interrupted his endless words helplessly, “I just threw up once, no need to be so nervous.”

Wen Chu stared at him insistently, pursing his lips without speaking, looking as if he had suffered a great grievance.

Xiu: “…”

Xiu backed down: “You continue.”

Wen Chu chattered with Juliana holding her hand for a long time, finally getting a whole storage ring of potions and ingredients, plus Juliana’s experienced advice.

“No need to be so nervous. If there’s really a problem, you can come to find me anytime.” Seeing Wen Chu so tense, Juliana couldn’t help comforting him.

Although Alice had guesses about the two’s positions yesterday, having it confirmed in such a worldview-shattering way today, she was still a bit dazed.

They actually rolled together five months ago?

And got pregnant?

No, how did a male dragon get pregnant??

And if Xiu gives birth to an heir dragon, won’t her previous calculations completely fall through???

Alice went to doubt life with Lance.

Wen Chu listened to Juliana’s words seriously, and couldn’t help asking upon hearing this: “Then why did you give birth to Lance back then? Aren’t elves all born from the Tree of Life?”

“That’s right.” Juliana said gently, “But there are special circumstances. Elves have the ability to conceive. At that time, the condition of the Tree of Life wasn’t good. I already had the thought of using myself to maintain the Tree of Life, but there were no outstanding newborn elves in the clan.”

“Therefore, I took the leaves of the Tree of Life to nourish my body, found a male elf to keep the child without the father, and personally gave birth to Lance. After raising him, I used myself to maintain the prosperity of the Tree of Life.”

Xiu looked thoughtful upon hearing “leaves of the Tree of Life.”

He said: “I drank the sap of the Tree of Life yesterday. Is it related to that?”

Juliana had already been informed of this by Lance. Hearing this, she wasn’t too surprised but followed the thought: “There might be a certain connection. We never knew the Tree of Life had sap before, nor were we clear about its effects. If you don’t mind, I can take a tube of blood for research.”

“No problem.” Xiu didn’t care.

Lance brought the blood collection needle, and Juliana skillfully took the blood.

Watching her movements, Xiu suddenly remembered Lance also took a tube of Wen Chu’s blood, but before any results came out, Wen Chu woke up himself.

He opened his mouth, just wanting to ask Lance if there was any progress before, when he was interrupted by an anxious voice.

“Your Majesty! Bad news! After the news of Louis’s disappearance spread, many people testified that they were once chased by a giant dragon into the Forging Dukedom. Now the King is using this as an excuse to send troops to the wasteland. The army has to pass through the Moonlit Forest and is coming towards us ahead of schedule!”

The faces of everyone present changed.

According to the original plan, they should have rested for half a month after the Tree of Life recovered before sending troops to the human empire.

Now the sudden dispatch of troops disrupted all their rhythms.

Alice reacted first. She put away the expression of watching a spectacle on her face and stood up quickly: “I’ll go gather the army now. Must hit back before they leave the city.”

Lance echoed: “Too many soldiers are hidden in the Moonlit Forest, and the Tree of Life recovered early. Their army passing by will inevitably discover clues. We’d better strike first and take the initiative—wait for me, the coordination between your soldiers and elf archers still needs a little adjustment.”

The two left in a hurry. Juliana stood in place, looking solemnly at the Tree of Life that had just regained vitality: “War… is finally coming?”

Xiu stood up: “I’ll go help too.”

Wen Chu was anxious: “You haven’t eaten yet!”

Juliana also looked at him disapprovingly: “Lance told me their plan last night. It’s not yet time for you to be busy. Recovering your health is the most important thing for you now.”

Xiu was just putting on a show, and followed the advice readily: “Okay, thank you for your concern.”

After talking with Juliana and others, confirming he was really pregnant, Wen Chu and Xiu returned to the bedroom again.

This time, they returned with a storage ring full of supplements and pregnancy meals Juliana asked the kitchen to cook.

The staple food was white honey bread with fresh berries of various colors, tasting sweet and sour. Then there was the Elven specialty Moonlight Soup and creamy fruit paste, plus fruit salad.

Nutritious but bland, and all carrying an inexplicable milky scent.

Xiu felt like he was marinated in milk after a few bites.

His chest began to ache faintly again, forcing him to stop his chopsticks.

But the dishes suited Wen Chu’s taste very well. Of the two portions, Wen Chu finished his own first.

After finishing, Wen Chu looked up to see Xiu hadn’t moved his chopsticks much, and asked worriedly: “Uncomfortable? Shall I feed you?”

Xiu pursed his lips.

He wanted to raise his hand to take the chopsticks, but this movement intensified the soreness in his chest, forcing him to stop.

“I…”

Just as Xiu was considering how to tell Wen Chu about the strange feeling on his body, he suddenly felt his clothes on the chest wet.

The scent of milk spread out.