"Thank you to our honored guests from the land, who have co so far. It is thanks to your help that we were able to weather this oceanic disaster together."
"It wasn’t just for you; it was for us as well," An Jin said with a light laugh. "But this trip has been truly fruitful. I was able to witness the prosperity of your underwater city and its abundant resources..."
How could Yi Yue miss her underlying aning? He quickly said, "If you’re willing, our two cities can establish a trade agreent. We have many precious resources that only we possess. We can sell them to you at a low price!"
And so, the two parties formally established a trade agreent. It was then that Yi Yue and the other rmaids learned that An Jin and her companions were from Sheng’an City. The rmaids were all dumbfounded.
This was a city renowned far and wide!
Though it wasn’t a particularly large city, and was rather unremarkable compared to other major cities, its strength lay in its many precious and unique resources.
—such as bolts of cloth, sugar cubes, and delicious flour-based foods.
Never mind the ocean, not even the other races and cities on the continent had these things!
That was why every year, their city sent quite a few rmaids to Sheng’an City to trade.
At first, Yi Yue had felt he’d gotten the short end of the stick, but after hearing this, he realized they were the ones who had co out on top!
"My boy, I never thought you had it in you! You have to do whatever it takes to beco this female’s mate! If you can’t, then don’t even think about coming ho." For the first ti, Yi Yue felt his silly son had such good taste.
Xi gave him a helpless look, utterly disdainful of his silly father’s tendency to change his tune with the wind. Still, he nodded, his lips curving into a smile. "Of course I’ll do my best to beco Ah Jin’s mate!"
Yi Yue leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Your mother has seen the little female, too. She spied on her from outside the window! She said she really likes this pretty little female. She’s sure the two of you can give us a school of beautiful little fry!"
"Father..." Xi grew shy again, his face turning as red as a braised fish. The thought of having little fry first required...
F-f-f-first... doing sothing so intimate!
Xi covered his face, not daring to think about it any further. With a flick of his fish tail, he swam away from Yi Yue.
...
After resting in the city for two days, An Jin suggested it was ti for them to leave. Yi Yue imdiately led all the rmaids in the city to personally see them off. The massive scene, resembling the migration of a giant school of fish, was truly a spectacular sight.
A loud SPLASH broke the surface.
Three soaking wet heads erged one after another from the water’s surface in the shallows.
"I haven’t breathed air this fresh in so long!" An Jin sighed.
She desperately missed the fresh, cool oxygen of the land. She took a huge, satisfying gulp, nearly choking on it.
Gu Yin chuckled and patted her back. "Slow down. The air is still cold, don’t breathe in so fast."
After they erged from the sea, they were t with a vast expanse of white snow. The forest, piled high with snowdrifts, was completely desolate. It was only then that she rembered the land was still in the depths of winter.
Flakes as large as goose feathers drifted down, landing on their hair, their eyelashes, and their skin... In just a few minutes, the three of them had nearly turned into snown.
Xi and Gu Yin were the first to get out of the water.
An Jin was lifted from the water by the thick, black-and-red snake tail wrapped around her waist. Gu Yin then bent down, scooping her into his arms. He pried a large piece of bark from a sturdy old tree in the nearby woods and held it over her head.
"It’ll take a full day’s travel to get back, at the very least."
Seeing the snow fall heavier and heavier, Gu Yin lowered the large piece of bark to better shield her head and asked with concern, "Are you hungry?"
Xi quickly chid in, "Ah Jin, if you’re hungry, I can go catch so octopus, scallops, fish, and shrimp while we’re still close to the shore. It’ll be enough to tide you over."
It was incredibly difficult to hunt for prey in the forest during this season. There was a high chance they wouldn’t be able to eat at all during the day-long journey ahead. If they wanted food, this was their only opportunity.
"I’m actually okay..." An Jin patted her stomach. She had already eaten in rmaid City before they left.
Still, it was better to eat sothing before hitting the road, just to be safe. She had no desire to arrive ho famished.
...
anwhile, in Sheng’an City, dozens of Beastn stood atop the towering city walls, straight and unyielding as pines, patrolling the surroundings with bows in hand.
High above the city, well-trained Eagle Beasts frequently circled.
A tall, imposing, silver-haired Beastman stood upon the wall, gazing into the distance, trying to spot a familiar splash of color against the snow-covered forest.
Ling Hong had been waiting here for ten straight days.
He had been counting since the day An Jin left.
Whenever he was free, he would wait on the wall by the gate, day after day, waiting for her to co back. Yet each ti, he returned disappointed.
Ten days wasn’t a long ti, nor was it short. The large-scale hunting expeditions he led out of the city sotis took half a month. Yet, to him, these ten days felt longer than the entire deep winter.
’She didn’t co back again today...’ he murmured. Disappointnt flickered across his stern, handso face, but he quickly masked it.
’The al prepared for her back in her room will be getting cold again.’
Just as he turned to leave, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in the distance. He imdiately spun back around, overjoyed.
"Open the city gates—"
He bellowed.
The Beastn on guard finally noticed the distant figures and imdiately shouted with glee, "The Lord City Lord and her party are back! Open the gates! Open the gates! Tell the Beastn in the ss hall to prepare food to welco the City Lord!"
She was still several hundred ters from the city and hadn’t even thought to wave or call out, yet she saw the great gates swing open.
An Jin, "..."
’No wonder,’ she thought, looking up to see Ling Hong there.
Before she even reached the city, Ling Hong ran over and swept her into a hug. He brushed the snowflakes from her face, his voice low and forlorn. "How have you been these past few days? I was constantly worried you were in danger..."
An Jin’s face was already fair and smooth as snow, her cheeks normally tinged with a delicate pink that made her look adorable. But now, nipped by the bitter cold, her face seed even paler. The white snowflakes landing on her skin only made her appear more wan and fragile.
Ling Hong’s heart ached for her. He had been sick with worry during the days she was away.
Before An Jin could speak, Gu Yin swatted his hand away. "I take perfectly good care of Jin’er," he said, his voice cold and distant.
"And this is what you call ’perfectly good care’?" Ling Hong retorted with a bitter laugh.
"If it were you, I doubt you would have done any better."
Gu Yin’s eyes narrowed. He despised being provoked, especially by a love rival he found more and more insufferable by the day. A hint of killing intent laced his words. "I will, of course, look after my own mate. Now move, before you force my hand."
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