After eating until they were completely full, Su Qinglan leaned back with a long, satisfied sigh.
Han Jue, Hu Yan, and Rong Ye had all eaten with her, stuffing themselves with meat and dumplings until even their expressions were filled with satisfaction.
Su Qinglan happily patted her belly, feeling calm and sleepy, but before she could drift too far into relaxation, her thoughts returned to her sleeping husband above.
She lifted her head and looked toward Hu Yan. "Shouldn’t he wake up by now? It has been so long... Should I go check on him?" Her voice carried a soft worry. She did not want to disturb him, but ignoring him made her uneasy, as if her heart kept tugging her back toward him.
Hu Yan, who normally stopped her from moving too much, did not protest this time. After all, Xuan Long had said if she wanted to meet him, she could come anytime.
So it was better if she could see him, because he was not going to wake up soon.
"Alright," he said, standing quickly. "I will take you upstairs. You can see him, but he is not going to wake up so soon."
Su Qinglan immediately brightened. She picked up the bowl she had purposely saved for him and held it carefully in both hands.
When Hu Yan lifted her into his arms to carry her up to the upper floor, she hugged the bowl close to her chest, like a small offering meant for someone she cared about. The air above was cooler and filled with the faint scent of rain and the warm breath of a slumbering beast.
As they reached the upper floor, she froze completely.
There, curled around almost the entire space like a giant guardian beast, was a massive sleeping snake...her dear beast husband. His scales glimmered faintly even in the dim light, and his huge tail was wrapped lazily around the room. He was so enormous that the floor looked too small for him.
Su Qinglan stared, speechless for three seconds.
Hu Yan calmly set her down and dropped into a squat. "If you need me, just call," he said quickly. "I will come pick you up immediately." Then, without waiting for her response, he backed off like he did not want to disturb the giant snake.
She nodded silently, still holding her bowl of dumplings, and slowly approached the sleeping Xuan Long.
Should she say something?
Should she wake him?
Or should she leave quietly?
In the end, she made the gentlest choice. She walked forward on silent feet, carefully placed the bowl beside his head and made sure it was within reach for when he woke up. If he felt hungry later, he could eat right away.
Then she slowly leaned down, brushed a hand over his forehead, and pressed a soft kiss there, light enough not to disturb him. A small affectionate gesture, nothing more. After that, she stepped back without a sound and walked toward the hole where Hu Yan was waiting.
He lifted her again and took her downstairs, relieved that Xuan Long had not opened his eyes even once. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
Once they were back below, Su Qinglan suddenly felt the weight of the day hit her all at once. The exhaustion, the emotions, the fullness of her stomach... all of it pressed on her like a warm blanket pulling her into rest.
So she simply lay down in her small warm nest, curled up comfortably, and soon drifted into sleep, with Hu Yan accompanying her for sleep.


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