Lin An's body stiffened slightly under the covers.
Gender wasn't absolute?
What did that mean?
"Does that mean only the strong deserve to be men?"
Lin An's voice came from under the covers, dry and flat.
"More or less."
Gu Yue nodded earnestly.
"After all, pregnancy means giving up a large portion of your Origin, which greatly weakens you for a time. You might even lose strength, so most powerful dragons don't want to get pregnant."
She spoke with complete conviction, utterly unaware that Lin An had gone stiff as a plank beneath the covers.
"But if it were with you..."
Gu Yue's voice suddenly softened.
A gentle light shimmered in her violet eyes, and her voice carried the weight of a solemn promise.
"I'd be willing."
The air fell silent for three whole seconds.
"Then how do two male dragons have children?"
Lin An's voice came from under the covers, strained.
Gu Yue blinked, looking perfectly matter-of-fact.
"Why can't a male dragon have children?"
She asked in return.
After all, she herself had split off from the Dragon God.
How could the Dragon God's might be bound by something as trivial as gender?
There was no sound at all from beneath the covers.
Lin An's vision went black.
He was certain of one thing.
Good grief.
That bastard definitely wanted to drag him back and make him give birth to her little dragon hatchlings.
That had been the plan all along.
"Lover from a past life," "reunion across life and death"—all excuses.
At her core, she was no different from those men who wanted to add him as a friend and drag him home.
It was just that this stupid dragon was more cunning and better at putting on an act.
He'd almost been fooled.
He'd even felt sorry for her in the dream just now, and thought maybe he could give it a try.
Give it a try, my ass.
Try it, and you'd die.
Gu Yue looked at the boy trembling beneath the covers.
Only then did she belatedly realize she might have said something wrong.
She hurried closer and cautiously reached out, wanting to embrace the mound of blankets.
"Wifey..."
Her arm had barely touched the edge of the covers when Lin An recoiled as if electrocuted.
Wrapped in the blankets, he rolled all the way to the far side of the bed, nearly crashing into the wall.
"Don't touch me!"
Lin An's voice came muffled and frantic from deep beneath the covers.
Gu Yue's hand froze in midair.
She looked at her empty palm and pressed her lips together.
A mist of hurt welled in her violet eyes.
She'd already said she was willing to be on the bottom. Why was this little brat still acting like that?
But she only sniffled, edged closer with great care, and spoke gently.
"All right, don't be scared."
Her voice was very soft.
"If it's you, wifey, I'm willing to be on the bottom. I'll give you lots and lots of little dragon babies..."
As she spoke, her face drifted toward the blankets of its own accord, gently rubbing against them through the fabric.
So fragrant.
The Dragon Queen's scent.
"Then what was your first sense of your own gender? Are you a male dragon or a female dragon?"
Lin An suddenly asked.
A corner of the blanket lifted, revealing half his face.
His eyes were red, whether from anger or fright, but his wariness was plain.
Gu Yue froze.
The question struck right at the heart of the matter.
Her first form when she transformed had indeed been female.
But the Dragon God's memories, the Dragon God's will, the Dragon God's instincts—
When it came to Lin An, the fragments left deep in her soul held only one thought.
Push him down.
Claim him.
Make him belong to her completely.
At her core, she still wanted to be on top.
Gu Yue hesitated.
She didn't know what to say.
"You hesitated."
Lin An's voice turned cold.
He watched the hesitation on Gu Yue's face and the conflict that flashed through her violet eyes, and understood everything.
Just as he'd thought.
In this stupid dragon's eyes, he was a little female dragon.
A little female dragon who needed to be protected, possessed, and finally made to obediently give her little dragon babies.
Lin An remembered his face in the mirror.
The peerless beauty bestowed upon him by his Succubus Physique.
His skin was so pale it was nearly translucent, and his delicate features looked almost unreal.
That frail, sickly pallor, paired with this face—anyone would find their heart racing after looking at him for too long. Even he did.
If this weren't his own face,
Lin An was certain he'd chase after it, even if it cost him everything he owned.
It was too damn beautiful.
As for Gu Yue, the great heroine, compared with his face, she was nothing.
As expected, he was the most irresistible one.
But the problem was... he'd become that person.
And that made it not appealing at all.
Every dragon wanted to fuck him.
Every. Single. One.
They all wanted to pin him beneath them and have their way with him, make him give birth to little dragon babies, and hide him away so he'd belong to them alone.
Even if they were female dragons, deep down they still wanted to be on top.
That feeling was terrifying as hell.
Lin An abruptly pushed Gu Yue's approaching face away and sat up in bed, the covers sliding down to his waist.
His eyes were still red, but his expression had gone cold.
"I'm not the person you knew."
"Nor could I ever be."
Gu Yue froze.
"In your eyes, I'm just a substitute for the Dragon Queen."
Lin An looked at her. There was no anger or resentment in his eyes, only a calmness close to exhaustion.
"You want to be good to me because you think I'm the Dragon Queen. You want to protect me because you've mistaken me for your lover from a past life."
He paused. His voice was quiet, but every word was clear.
"But I'm not called the Dragon Queen. My name is Lin An."
"I'm nobody's substitute."
The air fell silent, as if it had congealed.
Gu Yue stood rooted in place, slowly clenching her fingers.
She wanted to say that wasn't true.
But when the words reached her lips, she found she couldn't say them.
Because what Lin An said was true, to some extent.
She had approached him of her own accord because of the Dragon Queen's familiar aura on him, an aura that made her soul tremble.
But now, looking at Lin An's clear yet distant eyes, she suddenly realized something.
Whether or not he was the Dragon Queen's reincarnation, the person standing before her had his own name, his own memories, and his own life.
He wasn't anyone's shadow.
Her throat moved with difficulty, but in the end, she said nothing.
She only swore silently to herself.
Sooner or later, she would win over the Dragon Queen.
Sooner or later, he would willingly stay by her side.
And when that day came...
She'd make him give birth to lots and lots of little dragon babies.
And she herself would shoulder the great responsibility of reviving the Soul Beast Clan.
The next morning, in the Eastsea Academy administration office.
Long Hengxu sat behind his broad desk, staring expressionlessly at the three people before him.
Wei Xiaofeng's head was wrapped in bandages from his forehead all the way to the back of his skull.
He'd needed several stitches beneath the bandages, and his entire face looked as pale as paper, his lips cracked and peeling.
Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi stood on either side of him with their heads bowed, not daring to breathe too loudly.
The only sound in the office was the ticking of the clock's second hand, each tick striking at their nerves.
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