Ch 88: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

Chu Xu didn’t doubt Ying Lou’s explanation either—after all, judging from the merfolk’s attitude these past years, they truly were very xenophobic.

That Ying Luo might be disliked by his people for falling in love with an outsider wasn’t impossible.

But he still refused to give up: “Then what if we don’t go together—what if you went alone, back to your clan?”

One of the main reasons he had pushed against all opposition to make Ying Luo his empress was precisely because of the merfolk clan behind him.

Such a powerful people—if he could win their favor, it would be of immense benefit.

Unfortunately, what he didn’t know was that Ying Lou’s rejection was only partly related to him. The deeper cause lay within Ying Luo himself.

And that was something Ying Luo would never tell him.

Ying Luo shook his head. “My clansmen made it very clear—I’ve already chosen between them and you. From now on, this will no longer be my home.”

Mu Xing stood on the fine sand, his consciousness reaching across the distance, watching that grand ship slowly depart.

The little orb of light, granted temporary leave to linger in his sea of consciousness, spoke with a mocking tone: “See? Didn’t I say so? Keep him around, and every so often he’ll disturb the peace of Shark Island.”

Mu Xing ignored the orb’s words and simply said: “I keep feeling Ying Luo will suffer greatly in the future.”

“In the original storyline, that Chu Xu—did he really love him so much?”

What he had seen in that man’s eyes was nothing but endless desire and ambition. Could someone like that truly be bound by love?

Bang!

Mu Xing winced, clutching his head, and looked up at the sacred pearl floating in the air.

In the distance, a few laughing younglings clapped their hands in delight. “The pearl is amazing! Big Brother Xingxing didn’t even notice!”

The sacred artifact understood their praise; it spun proudly in midair, scattering a halo of rainbow light, looking smug as could be.

Mu Xing was both amused and exasperated. “So this was an ambush you all plotted against me, huh?”

Little Sheng, sucking on his finger, mumbled, “’Cause Brother Xingxing, y-you don’t… don’t play with us…”

At once Mu Xing cast all irrelevant thoughts aside.

With a light snort, he raised his hand. Translated on Hololo novels. A huge jet of water burst from the sea, drenching all the onlooking younglings—those who had schemed against him included.

They froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, shaking their heads hard, spraying droplets everywhere. In the sunlight, the flying mist refracted into rainbow halos.

The little orb of light, still hanging around: “…”

It looked gloomily at Mu Xing happily playing with a group of children, and felt that no matter how hard it tried to stir resentment, in Mu Xing’s eyes, Ying Luo might not even be worth a plate of good food.

…The orb sulked into silence.

Later, Ying Luo came to the seaside again. Perhaps knowing he could no longer return to Shark Island, he called out to his clansmen from the shore.

It was Mu Xing who went to meet him.

Ying Luo asked Mu Xing to bring a few clansmen to the imperial palace to see him.

Mu Xing asked, puzzled, “See you for what?”

Ying Luo looked somewhat troubled, but in the end he spoke frankly: “Chu Xu’s ministers have probably realized my ties with the clan aren’t very good. These days… my life hasn’t been easy.”

In truth, he had already put it very mildly.

The ministers’ memorials to the throne nearly spelled it out: he was unvirtuous and unworthy of being empress, and urged Chu Xu to fill his harem instead.

His quarrels with Chu Xu had grown more frequent. Chu Xu wanted him to compromise temporarily, promising to choose a few concubines but never touch them. Ying Luo absolutely refused.

The two had been in cold war for a long time. As an outsider in the imperial palace, after falling out with Chu Xu, not even the palace servants showed him a kind face.

Sometimes Ying Luo felt lost. When he had given up everything to follow Chu Xu, this was not the life he had dreamed of.

But having come this far, he no longer saw another road to take.

Mu Xing understood what he meant. “You want clansmen to go into the palace and back you up?”

Ying Luo said, “You don’t need to do anything—just show yourselves.”

He knew very well how deeply humans feared and revered the ‘immortals.’

As long as his clansmen displayed a hint of their mysterious powers, no one would dare slight him again.

Mu Xing shook his head. “We don’t wish to get entangled with you—or with the human royal house.”

“And what about me?” Ying Luo said bitterly. “Are you really going to ignore me?”

“You blame us?” Mu Xing looked at him strangely.

Ying Luo pressed his lips together in silence.

“You really are strange. I’ve wanted to say this for a long time.” Mu Xing met Ying Lou’s gaze, his tone cold. “The root cause of your suffering lies with your human partner. Chu Xu, as emperor, cannot manage his own ministers, cannot protect his own empress—that is his incompetence.”

“Yet instead of blaming him, you blame us, who have nothing to do with it? Is it just because your clansmen have always been too gentle with you?”

His words were merciless. Ying Lou’s face turned ugly. “So after all that, you just don’t want to help me. All it takes is showing your faces, and you won’t even do that.”

Mu Xing said calmly, “And why should we do you that favor?”

Looking at Ying Lou’s self-righteous plea, Mu Xing earnestly gave him a suggestion: “Take this very attitude, and argue with Chu Xu. He’s the emperor—if he truly refuses, could his ministers really force a knife to his throat to make him take concubines?”

Ying Luo reflexively protested, “But he’s already so busy every day handling state affairs…”

Mu Xing chuckled. “Then there’s nothing to be done. You pity him, but we merfolk pity ourselves. You can just keep suffering.”

He really felt there was nothing left to say to this person, so he turned to leave.

“Little Xingxing!” Yingluo suddenly shouted his name.

Mu Xing looked back. Ying Lou’s face was dark as iron. “If you refuse to help me, then at least tell me—what is that mysterious power you all have?”

In the past, all clansmen had been the same. He had only stayed in the human world for some years, and now his clansmen had grown so much stronger.

If he too had such power, wouldn’t life be much easier now?

“Oh,” Mu Xing made something up casually, “last time, when the clan lost three people to save you, the Sea God couldn’t bear to see dozens of us perish. He bestowed great power upon us for protection. Otherwise, last time far more than three would have died.”

He looked back at the shocked Ying Luo and added, “This power was bought with our clansmen’s lives. Anyone in the clan can have it—except you. Do you understand?”

As his words fell, the waves nearby roared violently. Ying Luo saw the young merfolk leap into the surge and vanish into the stormy sea.

Ying Luo stood by the shore for a long time before finally turning away.

In the days that followed, the little light orb occasionally reported to Mu Xing about Ying Luo and Chu Xu’s situation.

It said Chu Xu and Ying Luo had a huge fight, because Chu Xu had taken several concubines. Ying Luo even pulled a vanishing act, though he was found quickly and the two reconciled.

Later, one of the concubines became pregnant—supposedly an accident. Chu Xu said the child would be raised by Ying Luo. After some resistance, Ying Luo gave in.

There were also endless trivial squabbles.

Mu Xing found it headache-inducing. “Does he just sit in the harem every day bickering with a bunch of women? Isn’t that boring?” He told the orb not to bother him with such nonsense.

But the orb didn’t listen. It had mellowed over time and no longer tried so hard to incite Mu Xing, but it couldn’t bear to lose even the fun of gossip.

So Mu Xing was forced to listen to its daily chatter about Chu Xu’s harem dramas.

In the end, Ying Luo seemed almost numb.

Child after child was born in the harem. Chu Xu’s words never changed: he only loved Ying Luo, those women were just to appease the ministers.

When Chu Xu was thirty-six, he fell gravely ill. The imperial doctors were helpless.

Ying Luo, dressed plainly, returned once to his homeland.

But when the merfolk heard his purpose, they didn’t even let him step onto the island, and scolded him soundly.

This time, with all the merfolk cultivating and their senses sharp, Ying Luo had no chance at all to steal the sacred artifact.

Later, the orb told Mu Xing that Ying Luo, after finding some ancient prescription, had used his own blood as medicine to prolong Chu Xu’s life.

And it actually worked.

But it only treated the symptoms, not the root. From then on, every three days he had to be bled once.

“How pitiful,” the orb clicked its tongue.

Mu Xing made no judgment. If the man was willing himself, it wasn’t for others to interfere.

Much later, when Mu Xing went to the capital to buy illustrated books for the younglings, someone suddenly called his name from behind.

It was Ying Luo.

He had grown much thinner, pale, still beautiful, but his eyes carried a chilling mix of numbness and a flickering madness.

Like a flower with rotting roots, fragile yet stubbornly blooming.

Ying Luo looked at the things in Mu Xing’s hands and gently asked, “Are those for Sheng and the others?”

Mu Xing nodded.

“How nice.” Ying Lou’s voice carried a trace of envy. He wanted to say more, but coughed suddenly, covering his mouth with a hankerchief. After a moment, he had his guard pay.

Mu Xing refused, but Ying Luo waved it off, his lips stained red from coughing. He smiled. “Little Xingxing, don’t be like that. I mean no harm. I won’t return to the clan anyway. At least you and Sheng grew up before my eyes. We haven’t met for so long—take this as a little gift from me.”

Mu Xing, holding the books, said, “Why do this to yourself?”

Ying Luo smiled faintly. “Yes, I often think so too.”

But Mu Xing felt no sympathy. He only said, “I’m leaving.”

Ying Lou’s gaze softened as he watched the young merfolk’s figure disappear into the crowd. He coughed twice more.

Behind him, a guard said, “Your Majesty the Empress, we should return to the palace.”

The tenderness in his eyes darkened. Ying Luo answered quietly and slowly entered the palanquin.

Not long after, one day while Mu Xing was sleeping, the light orb woke him with a clamor.

“The emperor’s dead!” it shouted.

Mu Xing, still groggy, blinked. “Huh?”

The orb repeated with emphasis: “Chu Xu is dead! Ying Luo killed him!”

Mu Xing shook his head, fully awake now, recalling Ying Lou’s appearance the last time they met.

“Oh.”

The orb: ?

It was stunned. “That’s all you have to say?”

Mu Xing, sprawled lazily, tail flicking twice, said, “Weren’t you always gossiping? With all their messy love and hate, the fact that Ying Luo endured him for so long just proves how much he loved him.”

The orb: … Somehow, that actually made sense.

❣╰(⸝⸝⸝꒳⸝⸝⸝)╯❣

<<<

TOC

>>>