Chapter 84: Chapter 84: What Does a Pink Pearl Represent?

Yu An said helplessly, "You were the one who said you wanted to go home. I was just reminding you."

"You said it yourself that night—that you were going back to the Tiger Clan in a few days."

Feng Xuan’s face flushed red. "I did say that, but then you forced yourself on me! I—My innocence is gone! You have to take responsibility!"

"That’s not right," Yu An said with feigned precision. "To be accurate, you lost your innocence back in the Imperial City. Why didn’t you ask me to take responsibility then?"

"I... I..."

Feng Xuan was speechless.

’Back then, he’d just thought he was unlucky. If Yu An hadn’t gotten pregnant with his Zaizai, he would have taken the cub back to his clan and used their secret technique to break the contract long ago.’

Ostensibly, the contract could only be broken by the Female Master, but all the great clans had secret techniques unknown to the average Beastman.

But after spending these past few days with her, Feng Xuan felt that Yu An wasn’t as vicious and tyrannical as the rumors claimed.

His heart had started to drift toward her without him even realizing it. By the time he recognized he had fallen for her, it was too late.

"I don’t care," Feng Xuan stammered, finally managing to get the words out. "We even have a Zaizai together, so you can’t just get rid of me!"

Yu An asked, intrigued, "Are you saying you’ve fallen for me?"

Feng Xuan blushed and instinctively avoided her gaze.

But on second thought, he met Yu An’s gaze again. "It’s you who’s fallen for me! Otherwise, you could have chosen someone else that night. Why did you have to force me, of all people?"

The more Feng Xuan thought about it, the more sense it made. A strange sense of secret delight welled up inside him.

’So in Yu An’s eyes, I’m more attractive than the other four!’

The corner of Yu An’s mouth twitched. ’If I tell him it was for the Origin Core Fragment, isn’t Feng Xuan going to fly into a rage?’

For the sake of domestic harmony, she went against her conscience and said, "Mhm, yes, that’s right. I’ve fallen for you."

"Alright, alright, you should go back to your room and rest. Good night."

With that, she stood on her tiptoes, planted a quick kiss on his lips, and turned to go back into her room.

Feng Xuan was a little dazed.

After dazedly stumbling into his room, he belatedly realized the ambiguity in Yu An’s words.

’What did she mean, she’d *fallen for* him?’

’That lecherous female!’

Lan Yin had heard what Yu An said, but after Feng Xuan cut in, he didn’t go over to disturb them.

This made Lan Ying, inside their shared body, start cursing him out for being so disappointing.

Even though Yu An had wanted to talk to Lan Yin, they shared a body. In a sense, they were natural allies; no matter which of them Yu An favored more, it was a win-win.

But since the other party was so utterly useless, Lan Ying could only sulk in silence.

"The Female Master said she wanted to talk to you. You’re not going to take the initiative and are just going to wait for her to come find you?"

"Since when were you so magnanimous? You don’t even care that someone else stole her attention. You useless thing, you might as well just give me the body!"

Lan Ying continued to curse, but Lan Yin acted as if he didn’t hear, silently using his spiritual power to drill holes in pearls.

Merfolk were clever and deft with their hands, and the males were especially skilled at making jewelry from pearls to win their Female Master’s favor.

Lan Yin had already finished a special piece of jewelry, except it wasn’t meant for Yu An to wear.

His face grew hot as he thought of the illustrated book he had once seen.

’So that’s what Yu An likes... He had tried it on himself, and it was just too...’

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

"Lan Yin, may I come in?"

Lan Yin’s hand trembled, and pearls scattered across the floor. He paid them no mind, rushing to open the door at once.

Seeing Yu An outside his door, he was in disbelief. "You... Weren’t you with Feng Xuan...?"

"We just talked for a bit," Yu An said with a smile. "I told you earlier I had something to discuss, so I came to find you as soon as we were done."

"Shall we talk inside?"

"Okay," Lan Yin said, quickly stepping aside. "Please, come in."

Yu An had never been inside Lan Yin and Lan Ying’s room before. Since the two had reconciled, the room had been split down the middle, with each of them occupying one half.

Neither of them wanted to sleep in the other’s bed, despite sharing a body, so there were two beds in the room.

Seeing the pearls scattered on the floor, Yu An asked in confusion, "What’s this?"

Lan Yin hurriedly explained, "I was making some jewelry and accidentally dropped them."

"Please have a seat. I’ll clean this up right away."

"Let me help," Yu An said, casually picking up a large, round, pink pearl. "It’s so beautiful. Is this one you cried?"

Lan Yin nodded. "Yes. Do you like it?"

"I love it!"

Yu An couldn’t put it down. "The pearls Xiao Yu cries are always white. I thought Merfolk could only cry pearls of a single color."

"That’s not the case," Lan Yin explained. "A youngling’s pearls are white, but they can cry pearls of various colors after they grow up."

"Red when angry, blue when sad, happy is..."

Yu An listened with relish. ’It’s just like the hair of a Mary Sue protagonist, changing colors with her mood.’

"Then what about pink?"

She asked curiously, "It seems like this is the only pink one."

At the thought of something, Lan Yin stiffened. He mumbled that it represented happiness.

"Right, what did you want to see me about?"

"I almost forgot," Yu An said, tapping her head. "I just wanted to ask, you came to take our Zaizai back, just like Feng Xuan. You haven’t returned to the Treasure Pearl Sea in so long. Won’t your clan members be worried?"

"Also, with Lan Ying awake, will the elders who originally sealed him find out? What if they try to seal him again?"

Before Lan Yin could answer, Lan Ying was already moved. ’SOB, I knew the Female Master cared about me the most!’

"I’ve already sent a message to the elders," Lan Yin said, forcibly suppressing Lan Ying so he wouldn’t be disturbed. He then explained, "The message explained the situation. The elders won’t seal him again."

"Actually, the elders never wanted to seal him. But some of his actions were too extreme, so to prevent the Merfolk Clan from being annihilated, they..."

"It was that serious?"

Yu An was stunned. "What did he do?"

Recalling the past, Lan Yin sounded a bit helpless. "He wanted to conquer the continent and have the Merfolk Clan replace the Imperial Family."

Yu An: "..."

’Okay, that was a bit extreme. The Merfolk Clan’s population is small, and every single Merfolk is a treasure to the clan. How could the elders possibly let him carry out such a crazy plan?’

"Also," Lan Yin added with a light cough, "the elders actually told me to bring both you and Xiao Yu back. I was a little reluctant at the time, so... so I didn’t mention it to you."

"And what about now?" Yu An asked, propping her chin on her hand as she looked at him. "Are you going to take me with you now?"

Lan Yin’s eyes lit up. "An’an, you want to return to the Treasure Pearl Sea with me?"

No male wants to share his Female Master with others. As the Merfolk King, Lan Yin was entitled to possess a female all to himself.

But all of Yu An’s Beast Husbands were exceptionally powerful. Monopolizing her was something he could only dream about at night.

But if Yu An wanted to settle down in the Treasure Pearl Sea, then as its king, he could have her all to himself for a while.

Yu An waved her hand. "I can visit and stay for a few days, but I can’t live there permanently."

Lan Yin was slightly disappointed. "Then I’ll take you when I have the chance. The Treasure Pearl Sea is breathtakingly beautiful."

Yu An agreed with a beaming smile, handed the pink pearl back to Lan Yin, and prepared to return to her room for a good night’s sleep.

Her physical exhaustion had vanished, but the mental fatigue remained. She needed a proper night’s sleep.

Lan Yin stood up as well, reaching out to take her by the wrist.

Yu An instinctively tried to pull away. "Lan Yin, I really want to rest tonight..."

"It won’t keep you from your rest," he said nervously. "I just want to show you something. Y-You should like it."