Chapter 205
Chapter 205: Twining in Her Hair, Happy Like a Child
Jiang Tea Tea responded with an “Oh”: “So that’s how it is. How often do you shed your scales now that you are grown?”
In the Demon Clan, the weak were prey for the strong. It was the law of the jungle. Whoever was stronger took the bigger mountain territory. Whoever had higher spiritual power and harder fists and did not fear death would not be provoked by other demons.
Chong Ming had been born into the Golden Dragon Imperial Clan and was one of the heirs apparent of the Empire, so he had naturally endured far more than others.
She understood. She understood very well. From the day she transformed into a demon, she had also been fighting, snatching, and grabbing. It was all very normal to her.
Chong Ming wrapped the end of her hanging hair around his index finger, secretly pleased. His voice was as before, low and hoarse: “After I turned thirty, I shed my scales once every twenty or thirty years.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s black eyes shone like the fire inside a gem: “So that means you’ve already shed your scales four or five times?”
Chong Ming nodded: “Yes.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes were full of longing for dragon scales: “What happened to all the scales you shed? How were they handled?”
The flower blooming on her head and the fragrance from her body filled the small lounge. She seemed unable to smell it herself and felt nothing, her eyes full only of desire for his scales.
Sitting so close, Chong Ming was covered in her scent. He liked the smell and wanted to sink into it: “The scales shed by the Dragon Clan are all gathered and stored. On the day we die, if we fall on the battlefield and our bodies are gone, the dragon scales take the place of the body in the tomb.”
“If we die a natural death and the bones remain, the dragon scales are burned with the bones, buried together, or scattered to the wind.”
Cremation.
Burned to ash.
What a waste of a heavenly treasure.
Jiang Tea Tea put her hand on the scales on his neck: “You…”
“You want my scales?” Being touched, golden scales covered every part of his neck except where she had bitten him. Each scale was the same yet different.
Jiang Tea Tea nodded hurriedly and asked in uncertainty: “Can… can you give them to me?”
Because he was controlling himself, his golden eyes did not narrow into beast pupils: “Yes. How many pieces do you want?”
Jiang Tea Tea paused: “Let’s start with ten pieces?”
In her world, every part of a dragon was a treasure. Forget ten scales. Even if a dragon fell to the ground and spat on a blade of grass, once that grass absorbed the spittle it could gain sentience and cultivate into a demon.
Chong Ming asked again: “Do you want me to peel them directly from my body, or do you want the scales I’ve already shed?”
[Good grief, peeling scales right off his body? He was way too generous, too fierce!] She could never call him stingy again.
Of course Jiang Tea Tea knew that the fresher something was, the better, but she could not say that shed scales were bad either, so she said: “The ones you shed. Let me take a look at those first.”
Chong Ming nodded: “Okay. After the space Weapons Expo ends and we return to the Capital Planet, I’ll bring them to you.”
Getting his promise, Jiang Tea Tea immediately jumped off his lap: “Good, good. It’s happily decided then.”
“Well, I won’t bother you with work. I’m going to the warship’s school cafeteria to pack some food to take to Sui Xuan Chu and Huang Da Zhuang and the others. See you later…”
“Jiang Tea Tea.” Chong Ming called out to stop her as she turned to leave and reminded her: “Put on a hat.”
Jiang Tea Tea found that strange, but she answered with a casual “Oh” and left his lounge.
She was already a regular on this warship. The guards on board all greeted her when they saw her.
Today she smelled especially fragrant. As she walked past, the guards all straightened up, and their spiritual seas felt as if they had been combed smooth.
It was not until she reached the school cafeteria and the cook there had packed her food and asked what perfume she was using that she was reminded.
Only then did Jiang Tea Tea realize she had bloomed again and had been walking around with a tea flower on her head for everyone to see.
She stormed into the school cafeteria’s bathroom, wrapped herself in spiritual power, used a concealment technique, turned her head into a tea tree branch, and plucked off the fully opened tea flower along with the other three buds.
By pulling off even the buds, she did not have to worry about blooming for no reason at any time.
Without the open tea flower, she shook off all the floral scent, painted patterns on her face, put on her hat and sunglasses, and left the ship.
When Huang Da Zhuang and the others saw her, they acted as if she had just come back from a life-or-death parting. Some hugged her arms, some hugged her calves.
A few males plus one female howled: “Sister Tea, you are back, you are finally back. If you had not come back soon, we were going to threaten Idol, our heartthrob idol, with our deaths until he brought you back.”
“Sister Tea, next time Idol, our heartthrob idol, sends you on a mission, bring us along. We will be your flunkies, your human shields. Don’t leave us behind. We cannot live without you.”
“Right. The Insectoid Race can live without a queen, but we cannot live without you. Ten days, a full ten days, I truly learned what it means for each day to feel like a year.”
“Wah wah, Sister Tea, let me hug you. You are my big backer, my sky-high connection. Without you, I am just a useless pastry.”
Looking at how exaggerated they all were, Jiang Tea Tea said: “Alright, alright, get up. I brought you good food and drinks.”
The ones clinging to her arms and legs let go at once. Every pair of eyes turned into puppy eyes, staring at her, waiting to be fed.
Jiang Tea Tea took out the food containers, two big boxes with five meat dishes and five vegetable dishes, five kinds of fruit, and small drinks and sweet beverages.
This rest area was where the 59th Encampment rested. Once the food was brought out, the smell spread and immediately drew others over to join the food-snatching army.
In an instant, it was like a storm sweeping through the clouds. Everyone was scrambling for food and drink. Whoever’s hands were slow or short got less and ate less.
In the blink of an eye, more than an hour of lunch break passed. Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu’s group of eight split back into two teams and began patrolling the space exhibition again.
The wind, rain, thunder, and lightning she summoned had not only drenched the Monke Great Grasslands but had also spread to the area of the space Weapons Expo.
However, the Monke Great Grasslands had torrential rain, while here it was only a fine drizzle. Jiang Tea Tea and her team wore waterproof combat suits, hats, and sunglasses, so the light rain was no problem for them.
The ordinary citizens attending the expo either held umbrellas, wore hats, or simply walked through the rain as they moved between the various exhibition zones.
The bugs Aceras had sent out had been searching for people to tail Sui Xuan Chu and his group. When the spies finally spotted the unit number they were looking for, 59311, they immediately reported back to Aceras.
It took ten days for Aceras to hear that Jiang Tea Tea had been found, and there were only ten days left before the space Weapons Expo ended.
He did not want to wait even a moment longer. He gave orders to the bugs under him: “No matter what method you use, within one hour, lure unit 59311 into the Insectoid Race’s Weapons Expo area for me!”
“If you succeed, each of your accounts will receive one hundred million. If you fail, you and your families will all die.”