Chapter 180 Differentiation "Is your differentiation because of me?"...

Jiang Yuhuo eventually delivered the person to Xihua Palace.

In broad daylight, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the people of Xihua Palace watched as their aloof and self-possessed clan leader and a woman rode a bird together and gracefully landed on the ground.

The person who usually wouldn't even let the hem of their clothes be touched was now pressing their palm against another person's waist.

Most of the people working in the Washing Flower Hall still remember the black-clad female cultivator before them. This is simply because very few outsiders come to the Washing Flower Hall, and even fewer are allowed to stay there.

This female cultivator in black was the first one.

This latest development only fuels speculation about her relationship with Lord Zongzi.

Qingping wasn't among the people who came to greet them, so Jia Yue naturally kept her there.

"She might be busy with something. Why don't we wait for her inside the palace?"

He knew Jiang Yuhuo was a person of her word. Since she had promised to come and see him when she left, he felt he had to see her before leaving now that he was here.

The palace doors closed, and the light inside was somewhat dim. Several luminous pearls supported by stands emitted a soft glow, one of which was enormous and resembled the moon.

Jiang Yuhu stared at the beads for a while, and gradually became sleepy.

Seeing her rub her eyes, Jia Yue reached out and placed his hand on her eyelids, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Don't look anymore. These are mirages; looking at them for too long will make you fall asleep." He leaned down and whispered, "Or perhaps you'd like to rest here for a while?"

This is Jia Yue's bedroom. Strangely, even though it was her first time here, Jiang Yuhuo didn't feel uncomfortable at all. The perfect lighting, the perfect temperature, and the faint fragrance of Udumbara... everything made her feel comfortable, as if it were made just for her.

The mermaid's soft, cool palms not only failed to wake Jiang Yuhuo, but the comfortable touch made her even more reluctant to open her eyes.

She struggled to pry his hand away, propped her chin up with her hand, and asked, "Why haven't you gone to the sinkhole to heal your wounds yet?"

Although she asked the question, Jiang Yuhuo didn't expect to hear his answer at all. She was so tired that she could fall asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

The merman looked down at the drowsy person, smiled gently, and said softly, "Because there is already a better medicine than the one that sinks in water."

A pair of arms passed under her armpits, and Jiang Yuhuo suddenly felt lighter as she was being lifted up horizontally. She heard Jia Yue's soft voice in her ear, "It's hard here, go sleep on the couch."

This sound immediately put Jiang Yuhuo on alert. Sleep? No, she couldn't sleep.

She still needed to see Qingping and go to the Western Capital to explain to the Emperor the matter of breaking off the contract with the Li family.

Jiang Yuhu struggled to stay conscious, clenching her teeth so hard that her cheeks bled, finally managing to dispel some of the mirage pearl's hypnotic influence. She opened her eyes and saw Jia Yue's face so close to hers; he had already carried her to the soft couch, and she could still see a pool of water beside it out of the corner of her eye. This reminded her once again that this was his bedchamber.

She came to visit someone, but what's the meaning of her sleeping in his bedchamber?

"I won't sleep, I'm waiting for Qingping to come."

Once she regained some composure, she jumped out of his arms. She didn't look at the luminous pearl, nor at the person behind her who was even more beautiful than the pearl.

"Hmm... Qingping probably won't have time to see you today." The person behind him was silent for a moment. "Qiandeng... encountered a bit of trouble, and she and Baizhen have to stay with him."

"Something happened to Qian Deng?" Jiang Yuhuo turned around in astonishment. She still remembered how this stubborn little mermaid had risked her life to stay with the mortals down the mountain.

Jia Yue frowned slightly. "Sort of, but not quite..."

"Can I go see him?" Jiang Yuhuo asked, after all, she had saved him, so she couldn't help but be a little worried about his condition.

Jia Yue suddenly looked up and stared at her, her eyes a deep blue like phosphorescent flames. "You really want to go?"

Jiang Yuhuo was instantly captivated by his gaze. "If... it's inconvenient, then... I won't bother you."

But the next moment Jia Yue changed, as if the moment just now was just Jiang Yu Huo's illusion.

He lowered his eyes and smiled, then came over and took her hand. "There's nothing inconvenient about it. I'll go with you."

Qingping and Qiandeng were at Shenshui Palace.

This stirred up Jiang Yuhuo's memories of Qian Deng's tragic self-inflicted death. She wondered what this strong-willed little mermaid had done to harm herself again. She was even somewhat relieved that she had come to Tianque, perhaps the mermaid pearl could save Qian Deng's life once more.

The door to the Chenshui Palace was closed. She and Jiayue stood at the doorway. Jiayue hesitated slightly as if she needed to muster up some courage to push the door open.

Jiang Yuhu saw it and pushed it away for him without hesitation.

Inside the main hall, two pairs of eyes turned towards the entrance, while another pair of eyes were half-open and half-closed, with furrowed brows, as if enduring some great pain, unable to look at the uninvited guest who had suddenly barged in.

Qingping's eyes lit up instantly upon seeing the two, especially upon seeing Jiang Yuhuo, she was genuinely overjoyed and called out from afar, "Miss Jiang!" If it weren't for the fact that the Thousand Lanterns in the pond still needed her protection, she would surely be by Jiang Yuhuo's side by now. She had only heard His Highness say that she was still alive, but now that she was in front of her, she truly felt at ease. Looking at the two figures standing side by side, Qingping smiled with relief, "It's so good that you're alright."

Jiang Yuhuo was unaware that they had mistakenly believed she had died in the Spirit-Sealing Array, so she couldn't understand Qingping's joy at seeing her now.

Bai Zhen was also pleasantly surprised to see the two of them, but she quickly turned back, her expression showing more worry.

Jiang Yuhu followed her gaze and it fell on the mermaid in the pool.

In the pool, the little merman's once fair face was now flushed crimson. Through his soaked clothes, the strange crimson could be seen covering his entire body, as if something were scorching him from within. Tiny blue scales were slowly spreading from his neck to his cheeks. Underwater, his fishtail was stretched taut, as if forced to remain so by some immense pain.

Jiang Yuhu stared blankly at the familiar scene before her and asked, "Qian Deng... is he poisoned?"

Seeing her utterly puzzled expression, Qingping couldn't help but chuckle. "It's not poisoning; he's undergoing differentiation. Merfolk will all experience this if they fall in love." She glanced at Jia Yue and teased, "Miss Jiang, haven't you seen this before?"

"Differentiation?"

Jiang Yuhuo felt as if a thunderbolt had struck her mind, causing her thoughts to stagnate for a moment, making it very difficult for her to understand everything before and after her.

The differentiation of merfolk...this is differentiation...

She had seen it before, in Liyue Village, in the bathtub in her room… that merman, his appearance, it turned out, was undergoing differentiation…

“That’s right. Mermaids are born without a gender. If the person they fall in love with is a man, they can differentiate into a woman. If the person is a woman, the mermaid will differentiate into a man. In this way, they can be a good match for the one they love…” Qingping changed the subject and looked at Qiandeng in the pool with pity in her eyes. “However, it is not easy to get through this hurdle.”

“Zhenzhen…”

Qian Deng looked pained and kept calling out Bai Zhen's name.

Bai Zhen had half her body submerged in the water, holding Qian Deng's hand tightly with one hand and placing the other on Qian Deng's back, gently comforting her.

Suddenly, the little mermaid in the pool let out a scream, "Ouch... Zhenzhen, it hurts so much..."

Everyone saw that a tear had appeared in his tail fin, and the shape of two feet could be vaguely seen in the tear.

The real differentiation has begun.

The little mermaid could no longer speak; only tiny pearls fell from the corners of her eyes. Her cheeks behind her ears twitched rapidly as she struggled to breathe, like a dying fish. She could only hold her lover tightly, her knuckles clenched until they turned white, but she carefully concealed her sharp nails to avoid scratching her.

Bai Zhen cried out in distress, large tears streaming down her face. "What should I do, Sister Qingping? Qian Deng is in so much pain, what should I do..." Suddenly remembering something, she turned to Jia Yue and pleaded, "Master Zongzi, please save Qian Deng... please save him..."

The scream made Jiang Yuhuo's heart clench. She had never seen such a stage of differentiation before. She quickly asked the people around her, "Can the power of the mermaid pearl save him?"

Jia Yue shook his head. “No, differentiation is breaking the body, while the power of the Mermaid Pearl is healing. Using the Mermaid Pearl now would only backfire.” He looked at his clansmen in the pool and transformed back into the calm and collected Mermaid Clan Leader. “Submerging in water has already alleviated the pain of his transformation. This was his own choice, and he can only bear it himself.”

Jiang Yuhuo glanced at the merman beside him, his mind involuntarily recalling how he had been in the bathtub, not sinking, not even having enough room to stretch out. What happened to him that night? Did he also cry out in pain from the agony of differentiation?

Bai Zhen's newly kindled hope was immediately extinguished, leaving her helplessly embracing Qian Deng.

Qingping had experienced differentiation herself and witnessed the differentiation process of her own clansmen several times. She knew this was an inevitable process and comforted her, "Don't worry, the incarnation has already begun. At most, his differentiation will be completed in a day and a night. We can't interfere with the rest. Zhenzhen, Qiandeng incarnated because of you. As long as you are with him, he will be much better off."

Qingping's words encouraged Bai Zhen, who nodded with tears in her eyes, "Yes, I will always stay with him."

The sinking palace was left for the two who were inseparable. Qingping still had to prepare medicine for Qiandeng after his transformation. Knowing that the two who had missed each other many years ago must have something to say, she hurriedly exchanged a few heartfelt words with Jiang Yuhuo and then said goodbye.

The two walked one after the other, heading back to their bedchamber, with Jiang Yuhuo trailing behind Jia Yue by a step.

The footsteps behind her suddenly stopped. Jia Yue's heart tightened, and she didn't turn around for a moment. Was she leaving?

"Why didn't you tell me? Back then... it was because of the division..."

Jia Yue turned around and saw the person standing behind her. She stared at him with anger and regret in her bright eyes. "I thought you broke your vow and left me... I thought you never cared..."

"Was it very painful back then...?"

Her eyes were slightly red, and she stubbornly refused to blink, staring at him fiercely as if she hated him to the core.

Jia Yue slowly trembled and shook his head, "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt at all." He smiled slightly, "Do you remember the thing you gave me to eat? It was very useful. It's a pity that I still left, unable to help you. I... am indeed someone who broke my vow."

Recalling the horror of that night, Jiang Yuhuo clenched her hands involuntarily. But could she really accuse him of breaking his vow?

When she left home, Xiao Hai looked exactly like Qian Deng had just seen. By the time she rushed back, the person in the bathtub was gone. She couldn't know his condition at the time, but now she could guess that even if he wasn't in pain, he probably wouldn't be able to do anything more.

Jiang Yuhuo took a breath, looked up at him, and asked, "Was your differentiation because of me?"