Chapter 271
Chapter 271: The Second Little Brat Is Born, Makes Trouble For His Mom, And Fights The First
Chong Ming’s sudden arrival, like a bolt of lightning from the sky, shocked Jiang Tea Tea so much that she instinctively tried to stuff the dragon cub in her hand back under the covers.
Chong Ming’s breathing turned shallow as he raised both hands: “Jiang Tea Tea, don’t be afraid. I won’t try to take the dragon cub from you.”
Jiang Tea Tea stared at Chong Ming, her heart pounding like a drum, her mind screaming: [That little bastard loach Little Brat was just born like this?]
From the moment her stomach started to hurt to when she sat up, it had not even been three minutes in total. She had only felt a rush of heat slide down, and then it was born?
[Even a chicken laying an egg isn’t this fast, right?]
[Really, like father like son. All he does is make me mad, always hitting me when I’m not ready, leaving me not knowing what to do now…]
[Good? Good my butt!]
She had five cubs in her belly. One had just come out. Was she supposed to give birth to the other four right in front of Chong Ming?
[Damn it!]
Jiang Tea Tea swore in her heart. Now she finally understood what it meant when plans could not catch up with changes, and the heavens did not follow a demon’s wishes.
“Jiang Tea Tea.”
Seeing the wariness in her eyes as she looked at him, her whole body tense, her hand with the dragon cub stuffed under the covers, Chong Ming bent down. His deep voice became slow and soft, like he was afraid of startling her.
He said: “Don’t be afraid. The dragon cub is yours. I won’t fight you for it or try to take it. You just gave birth to a youngling. Your body needs to recover, and the youngling needs to be checked.”
He went on: “I’ll have Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue come over again to mix a healing solution that suits your body and bring a healing pod. After giving birth, lying in the healing pod will help your body recover faster.”
He promised: “I can guarantee you that the youngling and I will not leave your sight. Every check on it will be done right under your eyes, alright?”
Jiang Tea Tea looked at him. She had thought her stomach would keep hurting and she would keep giving birth, but her stomach no longer hurt. It felt like the spiritual power that had disappeared had come back by about twenty percent.
The dragon cub under the covers was tightly wrapped around her finger, as if it knew it had done something wrong by suddenly being born and was pretending to be pitiful.
Jiang Tea Tea felt like the little dragon Little Brat was going to make her die from anger. Right now she could not hit it, and she could not scold it.
She let out a deep breath. The dragon cub had already been exposed in front of Chong Ming. She could not hide it anymore. She slowly pulled her hand out from under the covers.
The dragon cub was shorter than the length of her two middle fingers put together. It was wrapped around her finger, with four tiny dragon claws gripping her hand. On its head were two small meatball-like nubs of horns, and two thin golden whiskers like soft fluff.
Its eyes were already open, round little bean eyes, shining gold. But its body had no scales yet. It looked like a small golden loach.
Looking at the little golden dragon Little Brat so close up, Chong Ming’s breathing grew even more shallow. His blood felt like it was freezing. It was small. It was way too small.
The egg that was supposed to be laid in ten to fifteen months, and then still needed to be incubated, had skipped both the egg and incubation stage. It had directly turned into a preterm little dragon cub.
Yet all of this came from that one kick he had given Jiang Tea Tea. Self-blame, guilt, and heartache tangled together in his eyes.
He did not reach out to grab the little golden dragon Little Brat. Instead, he flipped his hand and took out a clear hatchling incubator from his space knob storage device. He set it by Jiang Tea Tea’s side and said: “The youngling can rest in this box first.”
Jiang Tea Tea gave her hand a shake. The little golden dragon Little Brat, as if frightened, dug its tiny claws into her finger even tighter and refused to come down.
When she shook harder, the little golden dragon Little Brat let out soft whimpering sounds and even spat out a few tiny sparks of flame light to show its anger.
“Flame light?” Jiang Tea Tea lifted her hand: “Chong Ming, did you just see it spit out those tiny sparks?”
Chong Ming had seen it. Inside, he was deeply shocked, but his face stayed calm and showed nothing. He said: “I saw it. It might have awakened a fire element ability from birth, a natural supernatural ability.”
Jiang Tea Tea reached out her other hand and poked the little dragon Little Brat on the head. Her motherly love did not explode, but her pride did: “No wonder it’s my cub. It’s just like me. So powerful.”
The little dragon Little Brat still did not want to go into the box. Chong Ming set the box aside and agreed with Jiang Tea Tea: “Yes. It’s like you. Very powerful.”
Jiang Tea Tea giggled: “Of course. My cubs will definitely take after me.”
She thought about taking five dragons back to the Demon Realm. One would breathe fire, one would spray water, one would call lightning, one would draw electricity, and one would ride the clouds and fly. Just thinking about it fired her up. Very fired up.
She and her five dragon cubs were about to become a legend across the Five Realms of human, demon, heaven, devil, and ghost. Anyone in the Five Realms who saw them would have to praise how awesome she was.
Chong Ming made a low sound of agreement: “Yes. Your cubs are like you. Very much like you. They also really like you. It doesn’t want to go into the box, so just hold it for now. I’ll have Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue come over. Here is dragon blood. Drink it.”
Before he made the call, he had poured a cup of dragon blood for Jiang Tea Tea. The hand holding the cup was shaking, exposing how he was not as calm and carefree as he looked.
Jiang Tea Tea saw his shaking hand, and the corner of her mouth curled up in secret pride. She took the cup, drinking the blood as she moved her spiritual power to probe her own belly.
The other four Little Brats in her belly had huddled together. There was no sign at all that they wanted to be born. They had curled up into a pile and gone to sleep.
“…”
[What is this? This is way too ridiculous, right?]
[Who else has one pregnancy with five and only one comes out?]
[Is this supposed to be some kind of demon-only benefit?]
[To hell with that big shot benefit.]
[They are playing with me. Aren’t they afraid I’ll get so mad I cut myself open and drag them out myself?]
One of Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue had gone back to the Imperial Military Headquarters laboratory. The other had gone back to the academy. One was silently calculating in his mind, based on Jiang Tea Tea’s data, when her Little Brats would be born. The other had just finished showering and was ready to lie down and sleep.
One of them had not fallen asleep yet. The other had not finished his calculations yet. Then both received a call from Chong Ming, the commander in chief.
Jiang Tea Tea had given birth. The dragon cub was born. The third-in-line heir apparent of the imperial clan golden dragon had been born. Then there would be the fourth heir apparent, the fifth, the sixth…
Neither of them felt sleepy anymore. One changed clothes and rushed out the door. The other charged into the healing department of the Imperial Military Headquarters, hoisted up the most advanced healing pod and stuffed it into his space knob storage device, then grabbed every kind of healing solution he could.
After finishing the call, Chong Ming asked Jiang Tea Tea: “How are you feeling? Do you want something to eat?”
Jiang Tea Tea had just drained the cup of blood: “I’m not hungry. I don’t want to eat.”
Chong Ming took the cup, went into the cloakroom, and came back with a set of pajamas: “After you give birth to a youngling, there will be lochia. Let me help you change your clothes, alright?”
On Jiang Tea Tea’s legs, on her pajama pants, and on the place where she sat, sticky, fishy-smelling lochia had already spread. She lifted the quilt and said: “I’ll go to the bathroom to wash up a bit…”
Chong Ming pulled the quilt back over her: “No. Your body has not been checked yet. Before there is any healing, going to the bathroom isn’t safe. I won’t feel at ease.”
Jiang Tea Tea had already used spiritual power to nourish her whole body, check her whole body, and heal herself. Other than giving birth to a youngling, she was not different from before. There was no such thing as it being unsafe.
She insisted: “It’s fine. I’m a healing master myself. I know my own body.”
Chong Ming still did not agree. He said: “Jiang Tea Tea, a mother’s body is weak right after giving birth. It isn’t suitable to go wash.”
He added: “Change into clean clothes and bear with it for a little while. Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue will get here within fifty minutes.”
Jiang Tea Tea frowned: “I know very well what state my own body is in. Chong Ming, you said you would never force me to do anything. So don’t use ‘for my own good’ as an excuse to stop me from doing things now.”
As a Great Demon Stage being, pregnant with five cubs, without even a little tea tree spirit to help, she had become a living delivery tool. It was really suffocating. Yes, very suffocating.
And now he still wanted to stop her from washing.
Her temper flared up in an instant.
Struggle flashed in Chong Ming’s eyes. Then he bent down and picked her up: “Alright. I’ll take you in to wash.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes widened: “?!!!”
[Wait, I’m washing myself. I don’t need him to wash me. We’re not that close.]
Carried into the bathroom, Jiang Tea Tea was just thinking about how to drive him out. She did not expect him to set her down, fuss over her with a lot of worried reminders, and only then leave the bathroom.
Chong Ming closed the bathroom door but did not go far. He stood right outside the door, back straight, eyes deep and heavy, his heart pounding in his chest like thunder.
[Partner, youngling. He had never thought about them. He had never even hoped for them, but in less than a year, he now had both.]
Jiang Tea Tea, this bad-tempered Great Demon Stage, was just about to undress and wash when the little golden dragon Little Brat wrapped around her hand suddenly leaped into the bath. In the huge bath, it started dog paddling, splashing the water as it rolled and flipped around.
Jiang Tea Tea let out a small laugh and walked over. The little golden dragon Little Brat rolled once in the big bath, stuck its head out of the water, and made a series of “awoo awoo” sounds at her, as if inviting her to hurry up and come down to bathe together. It was so cute it exploded her heart.
She had come in planning to wash anyway, and now her own cub was inviting her. Jiang Tea Tea took off her clothes and stepped straight into the bath.
The water in the bath was at room temperature, neither cold nor hot. For her, a tree, it was acceptable.
Seeing her come down, the little golden dragon Little Brat happily swam back and forth in the bath, drifting here and there.
Its tiny body, tiny whiskers, and thin, long tail all looked good and pleasing to Jiang Tea Tea no matter how she looked at it.
When she stretched out her hand, it swam right over, hugged her hand with its little claws, pressed its body against it to cuddle, and rubbed its head against her hand.
With it sticking to her and rubbing on her, Jiang Tea Tea’s old tree heart melted into a puddle.
She suddenly understood her ten-thousand-year-old tree spirit maternal grandmother a bit. Back in the Demon Realm, when her grandmother had turned into a tree and stood on the Mountain Estate, no matter what little demon climbed on her or played tricks under her branches, she did not mind and did not find them noisy.
Why? Because she thought they were cute.
[Oh my god, oh my god, now she could completely see how cute her own little hatchling was.]
One little hatchling was this cute. She had five. That meant she would have five times the cuteness. Just thinking about it felt wonderful.
Happy in the bath, Jiang Tea Tea started to chase her little dragon cub, playing with it in the water. But as they played, all of a sudden, a cramp twisted through her belly. Her movements stopped at once: [Crap, no way, I’m giving birth again?]
Just as she felt she was going to give birth, the little dragon Little Brat that wanted to come out did not give her any time to catch her breath. The same familiar rush of heat as when she birthed the first little golden dragon Little Brat poured down with another sharp pain in her stomach.
The bathwater grew cloudy and bloody. Right after that, a small golden dragon Little Brat burst out from under the water, searching for Jiang Tea Tea.
Jiang Tea Tea was dumbfounded: [What is this, what is this, what is this? No warning at all and it just popped out. I’m a demon, not a chicken. How can another little golden dragon Little Brat just come out with a “splurt” like that?]
The first little golden dragon Little Brat saw the second little golden dragon Little Brat rubbing against its mother, and rushed over at once, slamming into it with its head.
The second little golden dragon Little Brat was knocked aside, but even though it had just been born, it was fierce. It bared its toothless dragon mouth, let out an “awoo,” and rushed back to bite, clamping right down on the first little golden dragon Little Brat.
The first little golden dragon Little Brat was bitten and bit back at once. The two golden Little Brats, about the same size and length, bit onto each other. Their tails wrapped together too. You bite me once, I scratch you with a claw. Neither would back down. They just kept fighting.
Like waking from a dream, Jiang Tea Tea finally reacted. She reached out to pull the two golden Little Brats apart, but she did not expect that the two golden Little Brats, biting and twisting into a ball, somehow had so much strength that they shot out of the bath with a bang and smashed into the wall.
Two little golden Little Brats, tiny bodies, huge strength, hit the wall with a clear crash that made the wall shake. It startled Chong Ming, who was standing at the door. He pushed the door open and rushed in: “Jiang Tea Tea, are you alright?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s face changed. She grabbed a bath towel, wrapped it around herself, climbed out of the bath, and used her body to block the two little golden Little Brats that were stuck in the wall, not letting Chong Ming see them: “I’m fine. I finished washing.”
Chong Ming really did not see the two little dragons Little Brats that had been smashed into and embedded in the wall. He only saw Jiang Tea Tea. He said: “Didn’t you say you were just going to rinse off? How did you end up soaking in the bath, with your body like this…”
Jiang Tea Tea quickly cut him off: “My body is fine. I just bumped myself by accident. Hurry and go out. I’ll be ready in a moment.”
Chong Ming did not leave. He took two steps forward and said: “I’ll carry you out…”
With a thud, before Chong Ming could finish speaking, the two little golden Little Brats that had been stuck in the wall rolled free, dropped out, and fell to the floor as a ball.
Chong Ming’s gaze dropped down.
Jiang Tea Tea stepped back, lifted her foot, and kicked the ball of two little golden Little Brats away. She snapped: “What are you looking at? I don’t need you to carry me out. Hurry and get out.”
Chong Ming frowned slightly: “Jiang Tea Tea, the bath towel on you is already wet. You need a dry one.”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded: “I know. If you go out, I’ll change right away.”
Chong Ming still did not go out and took another step forward. He said: “Jiang Tea Tea, are you hiding something from me?”
Behind Jiang Tea Tea, the two little hatchlings bit and rolled around, making loud rustling sounds. It was way too obvious.
Jiang Tea Tea stepped back, her voice going higher: “No, I’m not hiding anything from you. Just hurry and go out.”
She felt way too guilty.
From head to toe she was covered in the words “I’m hiding something from you.”
Chong Ming tried to look past her and asked: “What is making noise behind you?”
Jiang Tea Tea swallowed: “The little hatchling is rolling on the floor. It’s fine. I can handle it…”
She had not finished speaking when the ball of golden Little Brats that had been biting and clawing at each other behind her rolled out from there and ended up at her feet.
Chong Ming’s pupils tightened at once. His gaze shifted downward and locked straight onto the ball of golden Little Brats at Jiang Tea Tea’s feet.
Two younglings. Two identical golden dragon clan younglings.
Jiang Tea Tea ground her back teeth. She could not hide it anymore. If she was going to do it, she might as well go all the way. She bent down, scooped up the ball of golden Little Brats, and smacked each Little Brat once with her hand.
The two little dragons Little Brats were not very strong, but not weak either. They were about the same size. After being smacked, they let go of each other and turned into two little licking dragons, twisting over to wrap themselves around Jiang Tea Tea’s hand.
Jiang Tea Tea had five fingers on one hand. Each little licking dragon wrapped around two of her fingers, and then, to fight over the last finger, they started grabbing and scratching at each other again.
Jiang Tea Tea lifted her hand to show Chong Ming and laughed dryly: “Chong Ming, what a coincidence. Before, when you said I had two cubs in my belly, I still denied it. I didn’t expect that while I was taking a bath, another one popped out, hahaha!”