Chapter 415 Lingering Blues
A beautiful night is unimportant; pearls are the ultimate prize.
Huali nodded three times in succession:
"That's easy to say, I can do it, it just depends on whether you can."
"..." Yan Xi was genuinely stunned, and after a few seconds of silence, he let out a laugh of annoyance: "I'm not good enough?"
"Mmm." Huali replied randomly.
She feels like she's passing by a jewelry store one day and happens to be there during a free purchase event—she doesn't have to spend any money and isn't afraid of going to jail.
Who could resist?
Karin couldn't resist at all.
She was about to rush down the slope as if she were on fire, but just as her hair brushed against Yan Xi, she was pulled back by her waist.
Huali turned her head: "What's wrong? You're not getting married?"
"I'll marry you." In his mermaid form, Yan Xi was much taller than usual, completely enveloping Hua Li. "How about I be your only 'bride' for the rest of my life?"
The overwhelming emotional value immediately made Hua Aotian straighten his back. "Okay."
A dark glint flashed in Yan Xi's eyes, "Then...would it be alright if my little benefactor only considered my one and only 'groom'?"
Huali was about to speak when she realized what she was doing and immediately shut up: "..."
What a huge sugar-coated bullet! The troublemaker is at it again!
That was close! I almost fell for it.
The little girl's feigned ignorance made Yan Xi's teeth itch, so he could only bite her earlobe in frustration, saying, "You little ingrate."
Huali rubbed her ears and began to seriously doubt whether mermaids had a legendary mating season.
She glanced casually at the smooth lines of his waist, "Is it because it's the right season...?"
Yan Xi easily grasped Hua Li's thought process, burying his face in the crook of her neck, feeling both amused and exasperated.
After petting and rubbing for a while, before the little girl's patience completely ran out, he gave her a light bite on the neck:
"Little money-grubber, come on, I'm giving you all my dowry. My little benefactor, you must treat me the best from now on."
"I love you the most right now. If you have treasures in the East China Sea, do you have any in the West China Sea, South China Sea, or North China Sea?"
Guess~
*
"I can't guess."
At the vast sea, Prime Minister Turtle gazed at Li Yuan, who sat on the throne with his eyes closed in meditation, and exchanged a glance with Guan Lan. "A man's heart is like the clouds in the sky."
Hearing footsteps, Li Yuan opened his eyes. "Has Hua Li come today?"
He specifically instructed Guanlan to keep an eye on Huali's movements, and to report to him immediately if she contacted him.
"He didn't come," Guanlan replied, shaking his head truthfully.
Moreover, according to reports from the lobster's front line, not only will Huali not come today, but it won't come the day after tomorrow, the day after that, or even for ten or a hundred years.
Your Highness is the first person to be able to scare people away with just a confession.
Li Yuan's eyelashes cast a cold blue shadow on his cheekbone. Hearing this, he crushed the pearl between his fingers: "It's alright, as long as the pearl is there, she will come eventually."
"Have you found the mother-of-pearl and giant clam shells I asked you to prepare last time?"
The Turtle Prime Minister bowed and said, "As Your Highness requested, they were all placed around that coral reef."
Li Yuan nodded.
That coral reef was where he and Karin first met... If there had been no offering, would everything have been different?
...It's alright.
He said he wouldn't give up, and he never will. The path to immortality is long, and time is the one thing he has in abundance.
After the two had both left, Li Yuan's wide sleeves fluttered, scattering the mermaid gauze that filled the hall.
Countless paintings fell like snowflakes, each depicting the same person. They were plucking flowers, chasing waves, and even the smallest details, like the hair ornaments adorning their hair, were rendered with exquisite precision.
Seeing this, the attendant silently brought over a jade plate. Li Yuan picked up a silver wolf-hair brush and placed the tip on the newly planted mermaid silk.
Although he never possessed her for a moment, he captured every detail of her through his paintbrush.
In terms of love, he was no less than anyone else.
*
As the moonlight pierced the sea, Huali had already reaped a bountiful harvest.
She lay on the soft seashells sheltered from the wind on the reef, her legs dangling as she counted her spoils.
Meanwhile, Yan Xi casually strung the last purple pearl with his fingertips, his arm encircling Hua Li from behind, "Don't move, let me see if it's suitable."
Karin turned her head: "Is it all better?"
The mermaid lowered her head, bit a strand of the mermaid silk thread with her teeth, and let out a soft "hmm," her warm breath passing behind her ear.
Huali was ticklish and couldn't help but shrank her shoulders.
"If you move again, it'll be crooked." The cool beads pressed against Huali's collarbone. Yanxi lowered his head, grinding the loose threads with his canine teeth, his lips occasionally brushing against the back of Huali's neck.
Huali tilted her head back obediently, letting him slowly and deliberately loop the newly strung beaded necklace around his throat.
If Chief Steward Ao were here at that moment, he would surely scoff at the brothel tricks of the Nose Bird Consort.
They're cultivating immortality now, why would they need to dawdle and bite through a broken wire? Their real intentions are elsewhere.
Unfortunately, Meow Meow King was already achieving financial freedom, so Huali didn't even realize that something was wrong.
Xiao Niao's aesthetic sense has always been on point. Most of the clothes she's wearing now, and the hair ornaments she's wearing in her hair, were made by him. As she looked at them, Hua Li also got itchy to make her own.
Suddenly, she rolled over, turned over and rested her head on Yan Xi's fishtail, and began to do handicrafts.
In no time, a pearl necklace adorned with purple gemstones was freshly made. Huali waved to Yanxi, "Little bird, move down a bit."
Yan Xi looked at the little girl who had inexhaustible energy when collecting pearls, but became lazy as soon as she got ashore, and obediently bent down.
Then, the necklace was gently placed around his neck.
“We’re a couple,” Huali said with a smile. “This is a betrothal gift for you.”
Yan Xi's eyes lit up. He touched it tenderly and then leaned down to kiss Hua Li's lips.
The giant clam beneath the two was like a small house. Whenever the tide came in, the entire clam bed, covered with a soft blanket, would sink slightly, like a cradle gently pushed by the waves.
Her rose-red robes were spread out in the cold white light. Looking up at the slanting rays of light, she sighed:
"Waves, moonlight, rocks, a gentle breeze... such scenery, if accompanied by some music, would create such a wonderful atmosphere."
Yan Xi paused, his tail fin pausing as he stirred the water, a dark glint flashing in his eyes. "Atmosphere?"
He had only heard the word not long ago.
So the beautiful mermaid quickly moved closer, a seductive whisper escaping her throat, and extended her hand in an inviting gesture: "In that case, my little benefactor, I'm ready..."
"Splashing and clattering—"
Peanuts and melon seeds were rummaged out of the Qiankun bag. Huali casually handed him a handful of peanuts, then turned and took out this year's newly brewed osmanthus wine, shaking it:
"I've prepared something too. Ta-da! A little drink under the moon, isn't that a surprise?"
Yan Xi: "......"
She picked up a peanut, tossed it into the air, and caught it in her mouth. Huali raised an eyebrow at him triumphantly, "How about that? Pretty impressive, huh?"
Yan Xi: "......"
Peanuts coated in honey are fragrant and crunchy, a delicious and addictive snack that you just can't stop eating.
After eating a few, she felt a bit dry, so Huali took a sip of her wine and asked, "Little bird, why aren't you eating? Don't you like them?"
Yan Xi looked at the round peanut in his palm, the tempting treat he was about to take was cruelly shattered on the ground.
He took a deep breath, “...I like it.”
Ocean waves, moonlight, reefs, a gentle breeze, a lone man and woman...
All the ambiguous elements have been gathered...
But who would have thought that the two of them would be crunching peanuts under the flowers and moon?
Yan Xi: "...Ha."
King Pear didn't hear the sound of Consort Bird's heart breaking at all; he just kept crunching away, looking at the moonlight that seemed within reach, and asked curiously, "Is this really the closest place to the moon?"
"It looks really big."
Yan Xi then looked in that direction.
Life goes on endlessly, generation after generation, but the moon over the river looks the same year after year.
What's so interesting about the moon? It's just because of the person he's looking at the moon with.
From the moment I met the little girl—
The days of licking old wounds alone late at night seem like a thing of the past.
"A lost ship...the lighthouse is decayed..."
"Warm currents are an illusion... Cold peaks conceal gentleness..."
"Who will deliver me... from this prison of darkness..."
As the ethereal singing voice rang out from behind her, Karin was trying to catch the falling moonlight.
The mermaid's voice was like pearls polished into thread, entwined with the rhythm of the sea breeze and the tides, each note stirring the silver light on the water's surface.
Huali turned around, her gaze suddenly fixed.
Yan Xi leaned casually against the seashell, her long, silver-blue hair cascading down her silvery tail fin. As her Adam's apple bobbed, the pearl on her neck trembled slightly, like a swan raising its head, or like a crescent moon.
His face was already extremely beautiful, but at this moment it was like jade that had been soaked in water, and even the moonlight became a mere backdrop to his beauty.
Perhaps due to the effects of the alcohol, Huali belatedly realized that the little bird seemed...exceptionally beautiful today.
"Gathering fragments of moonlight...weaving a new song..."
"Waiting to sing, and smell the pear blossom on the shore..."
Yan Xi looked tenderly at the little girl before him, "If it would lower its eyes... even the abyss has day... um..."
Finally seduced, King Pear pounced directly on Consort Bird.
The pearls around their necks clinked together, making a soft tinkling sound. Huali nuzzled Yanxi's face and said, "Wow, little bird, you look so beautiful today."
Yan Xi: "..." Neither sad nor happy, quietly waiting for the next chapter to unfold.
But instead of the following, something else came along.
Huali gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, then on the eyes, then on the bridge of the nose, and finally, a series of kisses on his slightly parted lips.
It's kind of funny, and Huali is giving me another "kiss kiss~"
Their eyes met... After a few seconds, a crimson hue, more vibrant than coral, suddenly spread from the corners of the beautiful mermaid's eyes. "My little benefactor, what is this...?"
Feeling a little embarrassed by his gaze, Huali suddenly felt a bit awkward.
She instinctively pulled back a little, but ultimately didn't go against her heart and confessed, "I just think...you're so beautiful, I like you so much, and I just want to kiss you."
Before she could finish speaking, Huali was suddenly pulled back by Yan Xi, who grabbed her waist and kissed her with his magnified handsome face.
His kiss was extremely light, like pearls rolling across silk, his sharp teeth carefully retracted, only his tail fin stretched like a bowstring under the waves.
Instead of attacking or being assertive, they handed over all the initiative to Karin.
This was the first time that Karin had taken complete control at a time like this.
She mimicked how Yan Xi used to kiss her, trying to pry open his teeth with the tip of her tongue.
Yan Xi's eyes darkened, and his body slid lower and lower, drawing her to deepen the kiss.
The moonlight, like silver radiance, slanted across the small space. The beautiful mermaid lay supine in the giant pearl oyster like Satan under the moon. Although she was in a low position, her eyes were full of seductive allure that tempted people to fall.
Yan Xi looked at the little girl on his head.
He let her awkward, light kisses fall continuously, his Adam's apple bobbing as a triumphant ripple spread across his eyes.
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