"Yes." He smiled at her, his lips a cherry red. He looked much better than he had the past few days.
Ah Ze led her into the room by the hand. He then transford into his true form and, after carefully examining his tail, plucked off a scale and gave it to her.
Sang Luo didn’t know what he ant, but she accepted it anyway. ’This scale is beautiful. It would make a lovely necklace.’
"eting... Sang... makes Ah Ze... very happy..." He gently cupped her face with both hands and solemnly pressed a kiss to her lips.
Sothing cold and wet dropped onto her face. Sang Luo froze for a mont, then a smile touched her lips. " too."
He gave a gentle smile. "Sang... help Ah Ze find... a Blue Flower..."
Sang Luo assud it was a dicine that could cure his injuries, so the next day, she went to the apothecaries in the city to ask about it. She learned that the Blue Flower was a very precious dicinal herb and that it was likely sold in a more prosperous capital city several hundred nautical miles away.
The round trip took her two days, but she found the Blue Flower.
When she returned to the inn, what she found was a cold corpse.
Sang Luo wasn’t afraid. She walked over and spent a long ti confirming it. He was lifeless. ’So he wasn’t actually getting better that day. It was just a final burst of energy before the end. Well, it’s a release, in a way... He probably didn’t want to use my blood to prolong his life again. To him, that would have been a tornt more painful than death. That’s why he deliberately sent away—he didn’t want to witness the mont he died.’
Sang Luo looked at the Blue Flower in her hand and finally understood the deeper aning behind the apothecary’s words. This flower grew in the abyssal depths of the sea and blood only once every three years. For the Deep Sea Beastn, it had a very romantic aning in the language of flowers: precious love.
Many males would present this flower when courting a female they admired.
’So that’s what he ant.’
Her heart a tangle of emotions, Sang Luo looked at the rmaid curled up on the bed, lost in an eternal sleep. She gathered him into her arms. ’He’s so light.’ He used to weigh over three hundred pounds, but now he felt like he was barely half that.
Sang Luo kissed his forehead, left Yansha City, and found a secluded spot at the base of a cliff. Even Sea Beasts rarely ventured into such a remote area. She dug a pit several ters deep and buried him.
At the inn, she had rummaged through a bundle, hoping to see if Ah Ze had left any ntos. She discovered it was filled with all the little trinkets she had given him during their ti together. Since he had cherished them, she placed them in his hands and buried them with him.
As for the Blue Flower, Sang Luo kept it. She would let it mark the end of her fantastical, fleeting romance.
After all was said and done, Sang Luo left the Deep Sea.
...
The mont she returned to shore, Sang Luo was shocked to see a cordon along the coastline. She froze, watching the Beastn in Imperial military uniforms bustling back and forth.
’What’s going on? Did sothing big happen?’
A Beastman’s eyes lit up when he saw her. He hurried over. "Noble female Sang Luo, we’ve finally found you! Please wait here and don’t worry, we’ll report the news to the Young Master imdiately!"
Before Sang Luo could even ask a question, a group of Beastn ford a protective circle around her, anxious to prevent any harm from befalling her.
Soon, she saw a familiar, tall figure. The man’s eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in many days.
"Luoluo!"
The man rushed forward and pulled her into a tight embrace, the force of it almost enough to crush her bones.
"Hey, easy, easy..."
Duotu took several deep breaths before letting go of Sang Luo. He spun her around, confirming that she was back in one piece and completely uninjured. Only then did his trembling heart finally settle.
His handso face imdiately tensed, and he scolded her in a cold voice, "You snuck out of the palace without telling a soul! Do you have any idea what I’ve been going through? I was terrified that you... that sothing terrible had happened to you!"
She blinked. "Are you yelling at ?"
Duotu’s face stiffened. "I am not."
She rubbed her ear. "You’re so loud, you’re making my ears hurt."
His tone softened. "Sorry. I was just so worried about you."
She was the one who had run off on her own, disappearing for over a month without a word. He had spent all that ti consud with worry... and yet, *he* was the one who had to apologize. Duotu was so frustrated he could grind his teeth, but he simply couldn’t bring himself to be angry with her.
Seeing her safe and sound was all that mattered.
A red-haired Beastman in a military uniform ca over, crossing his arms with a chuckle. "The Young Master hasn’t been able to think about anything else. Just to find you, he seized supre command of the military and requisitioned the entire Empire’s satellite surveillance network. That’s how he spotted you appearing near the Yaxili Strait. The mont he did, he dragged us here overnight to find you! We traveled day and night to get here. He wouldn’t even stop to eat or drink."
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