Chapter 193

Chapter 193: Heat season. Restless all over. I’ll have you come over as a punching bag to beat up.

Jiang Tea Tea leaned back in the command chair, eyes locked on Chong Ming’s smooth neck—still without a single bite mark. Her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl. Her body betrayed her with craving.

Her mouth went dry. She swallowed and forced herself to speak against her own instincts. “Actually… I don’t have to bite your neck. You can just give me blood.”

Chong Ming raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you like drinking it fresh and gnawing a bit of meat too? Am I remembering wrong?”

He wasn’t wrong.

But he was thick-skinned. She could bite through the skin, sure, but she couldn’t tear off meat. Before, she mostly drank blood and used his flesh to grind her teeth. She’d never gotten a single shred.

Now he was tempting her again, teasing her again. What a scheming Old Loach.

Seeing her go quiet, Chong Ming straightened slowly, retreating just enough to lure her. “Alright. Maybe it’s been half a month and I really remembered wrong. I won’t force—”

“You didn’t remember wrong.”

Hunger beat pride. Jiang Tea Tea cut him off and sprang up. “I like fresh blood and fresh meat. Go, go, go. Where’s convenient?”

Chong Ming pressed down the smile trying to rise. “My room.”

Jiang Tea Tea strode ahead of him. “Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up.”

Not drinking dragon blood when it’s offered is being a turtle. Not gnawing dragon meat when it’s offered is being an idiot.

Even if she couldn’t gnaw it, using it to grind her teeth was fine. Not every demon got to run into something so pure and perfectly yang—a tonic like that.

Chong Ming watched her quick steps, then glanced at the command cabin staff. They all looked busy, but their ears were clearly up, listening to their Commander-in-Chief flirt.

Once Chong Ming left, the staff finally felt like a mountain had been lifted off their backs. They traded looks—watching the Commander-in-Chief chase someone was thrilling.

And they couldn’t talk about it. They couldn’t discuss it. They could only exchange looks and understand silently. Painful and happy and exhilarating, just like the legends said.

Chong Ming brought Jiang Tea Tea to his lounge. He took off his coat, unbuttoned three buttons, and sat on the neat bed with his legs spread wide, open and unapologetic.

Jiang Tea Tea froze.

He was shamelessly forward.

He didn’t think her drinking blood and gnawing meat was wrong at all. He fed her like it was the most natural thing in the world.

God. If she’d met a dragon like this back in the Demon Clan, she would’ve clung to him and dragged him into her mountain, never letting go.

Seeing her stand a few steps away, Chong Ming asked, “Jiang Tea Tea, are you going to stand there and stare at me until you’re full—without drinking blood or gnawing meat?”

Jiang Tea Tea snapped out of it, flashed a bright smile, and walked over like a dutiful lackey. “I just didn’t want to rush you. If I come over and hug you, pin you, and start gnawing, isn’t that… not great?”

[Chong Ming thought: I’d love it if you hugged me, pinned me, and gnawed. If you stripped my clothes for me too, even better.]

Wanting was one thing. Reality was another. This road was long, rough, and far.

Chong Ming tilted his head, offering his neck. “It’s only us. Hug me and gnaw. Pin me and gnaw. No one will see.”

Jiang Tea Tea stepped close. Craving and his indulgence pushed her forward. She swung a leg over and sat on his lap.

Chong Ming held her waist and leaned in, pushing his neck right to her mouth. His tone was pure pampering. “Go on. Bite.”

Jiang Tea Tea narrowed her eyes. One hand hooked behind his neck; the other pressed lightly to his throat. “Chong Ming, scales are sprouting on your neck again. Are you not letting me bite? Not letting me drink?”

He was already thick-skinned. If scales covered his neck too, she’d break her teeth and still wouldn’t crack them.

Chong Ming tightened his grip and lied with a straight face. “I’m not refusing. Not at all. Maybe my abilities are agitated and my mental sea is uneven. When I relax, the scales sprout.”

“You can’t bite where the scales are. Bite somewhere without scales. I said you can bite. I said you can drink. Bite anywhere you want.”

The spot she liked was covered in golden scales, each nearly the size of her fingernail, spreading across his neck.

Her fingers brushed them—cool, metallic, oddly pleasant. The problem was they blocked her from drinking blood.

But it didn’t matter. He said anywhere. So she didn’t hold back. She opened her mouth and bit down on his Adam’s apple.

Chong Ming’s muscles went taut. Scales sprouted not just on his neck, but on his face and chest too.

She ground her teeth until the skin finally split. Blood welled.

She pressed against him as she drank. The more she drank, the better she felt. The tighter she clung, the tighter Chong Ming’s grip became. His eyes darkened, deepening into something dangerous.

The golden scales spread faster and faster, out of control. Except for that tiny patch she’d bitten, the rest of him was nearly covered.

Jiang Tea Tea was stubborn. She fought for blood and fought for flesh, too focused to notice what was happening to him.

Only after she’d had enough and let him go did she finally see his face. She gasped. “Chong Ming, your ability turbulence and uneven mental sea are pretty serious. Your whole face is covered in golden scales.”

A face covered in golden scales with only those golden eyes exposed—wild and fierce. Jiang Tea Tea’s heart pounded. It was exactly her taste.

Chong Ming forced his willpower down, holding back beast pupils. “Ever since the last time you smoothed my mental sea and calmed my turbulence, my level went up again.”

His level went up again?

His level was already higher than the official reports claimed.

Now it rose again. As expected of him—a Big Golden Dragon.

A Big Golden Dragon this gifted… if she buried him under her roots and digested him whole, maybe she’d go from tea tree demon to tree immortal, ascend to the heaven realm, bless a region, and become a Demon Clan legend.

Chong Ming caught the hunger in her eyes and said in a hoarse voice, “If you haven’t had enough, you can keep drinking.”

“Today’s enough, today’s enough,” Jiang Tea Tea said quickly. “Do you want me to calm your abilities and smooth your mental sea?”

Chong Ming’s hand slid from her waist to the back of her neck. His other arm wrapped around her, and he fell backward onto the bed.

Jiang Tea Tea landed on top of him. Her pupils tightened, and she struggled instinctively.

Chong Ming released her, spread his hands, and said in a hoarse, fragile voice, “My head hurts. I have no strength.”

Jiang Tea Tea stopped trying to get up. She touched his forehead. Scales were there too—and they were burning hot.

She didn’t overthink it. She lay against him, drew on her magic power, entered his mental sea, and soothed it.

Chong Ming’s golden eyes stayed dark and deep. He loosened his grip and asked softly, “I feel awful. Can I hold you?”

Jiang Tea Tea really thought he was suffering. “Hold me, hold me. Just don’t squeeze too hard.”

The moment she said it, Chong Ming wrapped her up without hesitation. Ability turbulence? Uneven mental sea? None of that existed.

When she soothed him before, it hadn’t cured the root. This time didn’t either—not because she couldn’t, but because she only had thirty percent of her magic power back. She couldn’t give him everything.

After half an hour, the scales on his face, neck, and body faded a little. Jiang Tea Tea withdrew her hand, propped herself on his chest, and sat crookedly on the bed. “How do you feel?”

“Much better,” Chong Ming said.

Her magic power had still been drained a bit.

If he wasn’t better, she would’ve knocked him on the head.

Jiang Tea Tea nodded. “Good. Oh right—how many hours are Sui Xuan Chu and the others training?”

Chong Ming asked, “How many hours do you want them to train?”

Jiang Tea Tea hesitated. “Can you add five or six more hours, and I’ll go hide somewhere for a bit?”

“You’re not feeling well?” Chong Ming’s golden eyes narrowed.

His mental power poured out, wrapping her, soothing and nourishing her. Regret hit him late—she was carrying cubs. He shouldn’t have let her spend her strength on him.

Jiang Tea Tea waved a hand. “I’m fine. I’m just suddenly sleepy.”

Chong Ming didn’t fully believe her. “Really just sleepy? Nothing else wrong?”

“Nothing,” Jiang Tea Tea said.

Chong Ming rolled off the bed. “Sleep here with me.”

Jiang Tea Tea blinked. “Sleep here?”

“Yes.” Chong Ming bent down and started taking off her shoes. “No need to go to another room and make me run around just to soothe you.”

“Running back and forth wastes time. You sleep here. No one comes in. Once you’re asleep, I’ll go check on Sui Xuan Chu and the others.”

Jiang Tea Tea’s magic power was low. And after half a month without his soothing, suddenly being wrapped in his mental power again—plus fresh blood—sleepiness slammed into her.

“Okay.”

She yawned, took off her coat, and flopped onto the bed in a small camisole. She pulled the blanket up and tucked herself in. The blanket smelled like Chong Ming, and it wrapped around her instantly.

The cubs in her belly seemed to know she was sleeping in their dad’s nest. They got lively and rolled around, but it didn’t stop her from falling asleep.

Chong Ming watched her curl up like a dumpling. With the remaining scales still on him, he turned off the lights, leaving only a small lamp, and went into the washroom.

With his clothes off, scales covered most of his body. Ice water—below freezing—poured down. He washed for ten minutes before the golden scales finally rinsed away.

Even after the scales were gone, his desire for Jiang Tea Tea didn’t ease. He injected himself with a suppressant for heat season, forcing down the rut that surged whenever he was near her.

Then he stayed under the ice water for another five minutes before drying off, changing into clean combat uniform, and walking out.

Jiang Tea Tea was asleep, her breathing steady in the dim room. Chong Ming sat at the bedside.

In that small space, his mental power filled everything.

He made sure that no matter where she was, she and the cubs in her belly would be soothed.

He sat there for nearly a quarter hour before rising. Even when he closed the door, he did it without a sound.

The moment the door shut, Jiang Tea Tea opened her eyes. Wrapped in the blanket, she turned over, rested a hand on her belly, felt the cubs moving, and fell back asleep.

In the warship’s training grounds, everyone from Camp 59 was either sprawled on the floor gasping or swaying on bruised legs, exhausted and swollen, barely holding on.

As they struggled, their Commander-in-Chief arrived.

Chong Ming wore combat uniform, blond hair tied up, and moved from one ground to the next.

Abilities or fists—it didn’t matter. As long as someone could hit him or even touch him, it counted.

But across four training grounds with over a thousand people, not even the hem of his uniform got dirty.

The medical department got busy. Broken arms, broken legs, blood vomited, ribs cracked. Without a medical pod, they couldn’t recover quickly.

Chong Ming still wasn’t satisfied. The violent restlessness inside him didn’t fade. He opened his lightbrain and sent Zhong Li He a message.

Zhong Li He had shifted into beast form on his own ship and was being fed by Kong Que. He was eating bamboo rice.

The bamboo rice Kong Que picked was plump, each grain distinct, looking delicious.

When Zhong Li He’s lightbrain pinged, he didn’t lift his head. Kong Que took it, checked, and said, “Chief Executive, Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming sent a message. He’s asking if you’re free. He wants to spar.”

Zhong Li He instantly shifted from phoenix to human. His loose clothes exposed a clean chest. He snatched his lightbrain. “No way. Kong Que, am I seeing things? Chong Ming really wants to spar with me?”

“You’re not seeing things,” Kong Que said respectfully, “but I don’t recommend going.”

“Why?” Zhong Li He demanded.

Kong Que said, “Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming is extremely busy. To come see his mate and cub, he must have worked overtime for many days.”

“After arriving, he didn’t go see his mate right away. He wandered snack streets and specialty streets, then went to see his mate.”

“Once he sees his mate, he’ll definitely get affectionate. With his ability level and stamina, one session should take at least an hour and a half—two hours minimum.”

“But judging by the timing, he doesn’t seem to have been affectionate that long. And now he’s messaging you to spar. That means he’s not satisfied and needs an outlet. If you go, you’ll be a target dummy.”