Chapter 61: Chapter 61: The One in the Imperial City Wants You, Dead or Alive

Lan Yin closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the watery blue of his pupils had faded, replaced by an enchanting blood-red.

He curved his lips into a smile, reached out to pull Yu An into his embrace, and whispered against her ear, "Female Master, long time no see."

Yu An hesitated. "Lan Yin, you..."

"Call me Lan Ying. You may not remember, but I remember the grace of my Female Master’s assistance."

Lan Ying chuckled lightly. "That time you drugged Lan Yin in the Imperial City, he was trying to permanently seal me within this body. Thanks to my Female Master’s interruption, I had the chance to slowly take it over."

"A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring. How about I repay my Female Master by giving myself to you?"

"What about Lan Yin?" Yu An paused. "What is your relationship with him?"

’One body, two souls, or a split personality?’

"Why bring him up?" Lan Ying swept her up into his arms. "My Female Master is only allowed to have me in her heart."

He plucked Xiao Yu from Yu An’s arms and casually summoned a small red fish.

"Be a good Zaizai and go play with it. Your Beast Father has some things to discuss with your Female Mother alone."

Xiao Yu looked up at Yu An. Only after she nodded did he leave with the little red fish.

"Speak," Yu An said directly. "What did you want to say to me?"

Lan Ying didn’t beat around the bush either, getting straight to the point. "Help me. I need your superpower to help me seal Lan Yin’s soul."

’So it is one body, two souls.’

The corner of Yu An’s mouth twitched. "Why should I help you? Logically, if I were to help anyone, it should be Lan Yin. After all, he’s my Beast Husband and Xiao Yu’s biological father."

"But we share the same body," Lan Ying said, his voice tempting. "Female Master, Lan Yin has always wanted to take Zaizai back to the Treasure Pearl Sea. I’m different. The Treasure Pearl Sea isn’t my home. For me, the only place that is my home is wherever my Female Master is."

"If my Female Master helps me, I, Ying, swear here and now to serve you with all my heart and have no divided loyalties..."

He suddenly leaned closer, the blood-red pupils seeming to be shrouded in a layer of mist, luring one to fall into them. "Female Master, I can give you everything I have, as long as you want it."

His cool, smooth tail swept lightly across Yu An’s waist. Lan Ying took her hand and kissed it gently, the meaning behind his action self-evident.

"Really? You’ll give me anything?"

As if she had been tempted, Yu An cupped his face with both hands, their foreheads touching.

Their breaths intertwined, one cold and one warm, gradually mingling.

"Really. I’ll give you anything..."

"Alright then," Yu An murmured in a low voice. "Then... give me your life!"

A dagger appeared in her palm. Without the slightest hesitation, Yu An stabbed toward Lan Ying’s heart. With a SHLICK, the sharp blade plunged into flesh and blood.

The Illusion Technique broke. Lan Ying didn’t even frown as he pulled the dagger out, giving the bleeding wound on his chest a casual glance.

"Why?" he asked, somewhat baffled. "Is Lan Yin that important to you? You clearly have no feelings for him, so why not choose me, the one who likes you more?"

"Like me?"

Yu An sneered. "You like me, so you conspire with outsiders to harm me?"

"What is my Female Master talking about?" Lan Ying asked, looking confused. "Isn’t Lan Yin the one who colluded with outsiders? I didn’t even have control of the body back then, how could I have harmed you?"

"You were the one who created the Poisonous Fog on the shore," Yu An said, grabbing his hand. "Just now, you tried to use the same trick to bewilder me, to lure me into agreeing to help you."

If Lan Ying hadn’t just used the Poisonous Fog, she wouldn’t have been certain who was actually colluding with outsiders.

As far as she knew, members of the Merfolk Clan would awaken a Talent Ability, but each Merfolk would only awaken one. Lan Yin’s Talent Ability was Instant Teleportation.

That meant the Poisonous Fog had to be Lan Ying’s Talent Ability. And since he said he had been slowly taking over this body, it seemed he had reached some kind of deal with Lord Han without Lan Yin’s knowledge.

Yu An deduced, "Even though you didn’t have control of the body, you influenced Lan Yin’s mind, making him mistakenly believe he was the one colluding with outsiders."

Lan Ying stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly chuckled. "As expected of the female who moved his heart. To think you could deduce all this."

"You’re more or less right. Lan Yin also sensed something was off and wanted to send you and Zaizai to the Merfolk Clan before I gained complete control of the body."

"Unfortunately for him, he was one step too late."

He sighed. "Female Master, why did you have to expose me? It wouldn’t cost you anything to help me; you’d only gain an even more powerful Beast Husband."

"How about this? I can act as if nothing happened. What do you say?"

Yu An was unmoved. "What about Lord Han’s demands? He helped you hold back Mo Yan and Ao Wu, and even sent people to deal with me. He must be asking for quite a lot, right?"

A flicker of light crossed Lan Ying’s eyes. "It’s nothing. He just wants me to help him take over the Merfolk Clan after everything is done."

"To Lan Yin, those Merfolk are his people, but to me, they are my enemies. So I agreed."

Seeing the undisguised hatred in Lan Ying’s expression, Yu An thought for a moment. Based on her experience from reading countless novels, she guessed that the Merfolk Clan must have helped Lan Yin seal him away.

One body, two souls, and both souls with completely different temperaments. They were bound to fight one day.

’Hmm, so he’s fighting himself?’

Yu An didn’t know what happened back then, nor was she interested in finding out. All she knew was that Lan Ying was planning to move against her.

"I won’t help you," she said sternly. "This is between the two of you. I’m not getting involved, and I don’t want to get caught in your crossfire."

’Winning or losing depends on their own abilities. Of course, I’d much prefer it if Lan Yin could regain control of his body. After all, compared to the hard-to-read Lan Ying, Lan Yin is far more reliable.’

Lan Ying chuckled in amusement. "And what if I insist that you help me?"

"Then you can try."

Yu An was fearless. "Try and see if you can force me to use my superpower."

Lan Ying truly had no way to force her. After all, he had never known that something like a superpower even existed in this world before.

He had only discovered that whenever Yu An was near Lan Yin, some unfamiliar power would drift into Lan Yin’s body, gradually weakening the force that sealed him.

"Then we’ll just wait it out," Lan Ying said with a shrug. "Lan Yin can’t come out for the time being. I’m not in a hurry. I’ll let you go whenever you agree to help me."

"Oh, right. Besides asking me to help him get the Merfolk Clan, Han Fengyun also demanded to have you. His payment was to use his family’s ancestral secret technique to put Lan Yin into a deep slumber. I just didn’t agree."

He blinked. "But if I really can’t get an answer from you, I suppose I’ll have no choice but to agree to his terms."

"I heard he’s working for some big shot in the Imperial City. That person specifically asked for you, dead or alive. My Female Master was once a Princess of the Imperial City; I wonder what kind of person you offended to make them capable of ordering a City Lord to do their bidding."

"Han Fengyun said he can help me whenever I change my mind."

Yu An clenched her fists and sneered, "Then you’d better not let me out of your sight for a single second. Who knows, I might just escape when you’re not looking."

"You should be able to hear the commotion outside. You may be tough, but it’s four against one. Don’t come begging for mercy when we all jump you!"

"Don’t worry," Lan Ying said, lifting a strand of her hair to his nose and sniffing it lightly. "None of the things my Female Master is worried about will happen."

"Because you, my dear, are not getting away~"