Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Found the Missing Merfolk

"It’s been so long. Maybe Female Mother changed her mind about going to Tianyang City, but Beast Father is still waiting there."

There were a ton of clan matters waiting for the Clan Leader to handle. It wasn’t a solution for Ao Jin to always be away.

Ao Wu’s gossipy side flared up. "Fourth Brother, Beast Father has been looking for Female Mother all these years. Has her attitude toward him changed at all?"

Ao Si shook his head. "No, it’s the same as always."

Ao Jin pesters her relentlessly, and Yu Huang finds it incredibly annoying. She beats him up the moment she sees him.

"Beast Father acts like he can’t feel pain and even asks if Female Mother’s hand hurts. Sigh, love..."

Ao Wu, however, understood. "If An’an were to hit me, the first thing I’d do is worry if her hand hurts."

’Being hit by your lover is a blissful thing. Even the breeze from the slap smells sweet.’

’Beast Father is even luckier. Female Mother only has him as a Beast Husband. Ao Wu didn’t even dare to imagine... if Yu An only had him, what a cheerful and lively little dragon he would be!’

’But that’s impossible. It’s just a nice thought.’

Ao Si: "..."

He shivered and silently shuffled a little farther away from Ao Wu.

Dragon City wasn’t far from Tianyang City, so the group arrived quickly.

After asking around a bit, they soon found out where Ao Jin was staying.

Standing at the gate of a small courtyard, Ao Si knocked on the door with his free hand.

"Beast Father’s place is pretty nice. I want to live on my own too. At least no one would be nagging me to hurry up and find a female to marry."

Ao Si grumbled for a bit. Soon, a childish voice came from inside. "Who is it?"

"Beast Father, it’s me... Wait, no!"

It dawned on Ao Si. "Did we come to the wrong place?"

Ao Wu frowned. "No, this is it."

As he spoke, the door opened. It was opened by a small child.

The moment the door opened, a man’s voice came from inside the house. "Zaizai, who is it?"

Ao Si heard the voice. ’That’s right, it’s Beast Father’s voice.’

He looked at the child again. ’Hmm, don’t know him.’

Coincidentally, Little Serpent didn’t recognize him either, but he did recognize Ao Wu.

"Beast Father Ao Wu!"

Little Serpent’s eyes lit up. "And Big Brother and Third Brother!"

Ao Wu saw his amber-gold pupils and asked tentatively, "Little Serpent?"

Little Serpent nodded vigorously. "It’s me."

Da Hu and Xiao Hu slid out of the two brothers’ arms and circled Little Serpent, staring at him nonstop. "Little brother, you’ve shapeshifted!"

"Little brother, your cheeks are so soft. Let your big brother give them a squeeze."

’So soft, so soft.’ Xiao Hu finally understood why the adults were always squishing his little face.

"Oh, right, there’s a new zaizai..."

Da Hu introduced the Golden Egg to Little Serpent. Just then, Ao Jin also came out of the house.

There wasn’t much to see with his fourth son, Ao Si. The newly returned Ao Wu, however, earned a couple of extra glances from him, but only a couple.

"Xiao Wu is back?"

Ao Wu nodded. "Beast Father, I’m back."

Then Ao Jin’s gaze fell on the cluster of little kids in the courtyard. "These zaizai are..."

Ao Si gave Ao Wu a sympathetic look. "Beast Father, let’s talk inside."

Little Serpent took Da Hu and the others on a tour. Inside, after the three of them sat down, Ao Si cleared his throat. "Beast Father, they are little sister’s children. That egg is little sister’s and Xiao Wu’s..."

Ao Si watched his Beast Father’s face go from calm to dark and grim, and his voice slowly trailed off.

Ao Wu also dropped his previously careless and lazy demeanor and sat up straight.

"Little Four," Ao Jin said calmly, "go see where the little ones have gone to play."

Ao Si agreed. Before leaving, he couldn’t help but offer a word of caution.

After only Ao Jin and Ao Wu were left in the room, Ao Jin finally spoke after a long silence. "The chains between the small island and Suspended Island... was it you who broke them?"

Although it was a question, his tone was certain.

"Yes," Ao Wu didn’t deny it. "We clearly could have used the small island to find An’an. Why make Big Brother and the others search for a needle in a haystack all over the place?"

He had once accidentally seen his Beast Father’s diary. Yu An’s space had originally belonged to their Female Mother, and the small island was part of it to begin with. Before the people from the Invincible Alliance found her, their Female Mother had already foreseen the day she and her daughter would be separated, so she separated the small island to be a tool for finding her daughter.

Ao Jin was silent for a moment. "An’an is safest on the Beastman Continent."

"Safest?"

Ao Wu sneered. "When she’s not right under your nose, how can you be so sure An’an is safe?"

"Someone took An’an away from the Beastman Continent! I don’t even know where she is right now, or if she’s safe!"

"Beast Father, what are you so afraid of?"

Ao Wu didn’t understand. Could the mere Invincible Alliance really make his Female Mother and Beast Father this fearful?

Ao Jin didn’t answer. He sighed. "Forget it. Since An’an is back, we’ll just let nature take its course."

Ao Wu knew that if his Beast Father didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t get an answer no matter what.

"I’m going to find An’an," he said, changing the subject. "Beast Father, do you have anything else that can help find her?"

’Searching blindly everywhere is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Who knows how long that would take.’

’Oh, right, there’s also Xiao Yu. He hasn’t been found yet, either.’

’I wonder where the other four are now, and if any of them have found Xiao Yu.’

...

They recuperated in the space for a few days. It was mainly Han Li who needed the rest; Yu An was full of life and energy by the second day.

A few days later, she prepared to go out and leave the strange glass dome.

The human face flowers seemed to be guarding whatever was inside the glass dome. Yu An was well aware that curiosity killed the cat and had no intention of investigating what it was.

Handing the Golden Egg to Chun Nuan, Yu An took Han Li out of the space.

Yu Huang wanted to go out with them but was refused by Yu An.

She and Han Li weren’t going to fight the human face flowers; they just needed to run far away after getting out. There was no real danger.

The human face flowers were still outside. The moment they appeared, they immediately attracted the attention of all the flowers.

Han Li scooped up Yu An, who had changed back into her beast form, and broke into a run.

The two-legged human face flowers couldn’t outrun the four-legged Han Li. They let out furious roars and pursued them relentlessly.

Yu An peeked her head out to look. ’Yup, with their fangs bared and claws out, the human face flowers are even uglier.’

When they were some distance from the glass dome, the human face flowers’ speed suddenly dropped. Yu An noticed this and had Han Li slow down as well.

Once they were a little farther away, the human face flowers gave up the chase, turned around, and ran back.

Han Li stopped, and the two of them changed back into their human forms.

"Why did they stop chasing? Is there some kind of distance limit?"

"That’s probably it," Yu An guessed. "No matter how bizarre they are, they’re still plants. They probably can’t go too far from where they grow."

In any case, they were safe now. Time to continue looking for the exit to the Mist Forest.

Just as they were about to set off, Yu An heard Xiao Yu calling her from inside the space.

The Shark Pearls, which had been darting about chaotically like headless flies, instantly swarmed around her the moment she entered.

Xiao Yu said urgently, "Female Mother, they’re saying they want to go out! They’ve found their kin!"

Having spent a long time with the Shark Pearls, Xiao Yu could gradually understand what they meant.

Yu An thought for a moment, then let the Shark Pearls land on her hand.

After she brought them out, the Shark Pearls immediately floated up and flew off in the direction the human face flowers had gone.

Yu An and Han Li exchanged a look and gave chase as well.