Chapter 73: A Stubborn Elm Lump Impervious to Oil and Salt

At this moment, inside the study of Hei Yi Ren Jin Tong.

He was flipping through the book in his hand, looking for a way to detoxify.

He did not dare to fully trust the female named Su Mo; that woman was very cunning.

"Watch her closely, don't let any mistake happen. Best not to let people have too much contact with her; this female is quite full of schemes!"

The subordinate frowned and said: "Gate Master, I still think keeping her is a liability; her several fiancés are not easy to deal with. Now you are injured and have been poisoned with a new toxin. I and Zuo Xuan are also injured; if they come..."

Hei Yi Ren tilted his head and glanced at him; the warning in his eyes was self-evident: "I know my limits, get out!"

"Yes!" The subordinate lowered his head slightly, turned and left.

Jin Tong flipped through the book in his hand titled "Soul-Devouring Poison"; a hint of malice flashed in his eyes.

At that time, over by the East Sea.

While Ye Yuan's subordinate was patrolling, they discovered that the strongest scale of His/Her Highness had fallen to the seabed, and immediately brought it back to the Dragon Palace.

At this moment, Ye Yuan was holding that scale in a daze; wasn't this the scale he gave to the Wife Master? How could it be at the seabed?

Could it be that the Wife Master doesn't like his gift?

Sniffle, the Wife Master probably really doesn't like him……

Just thinking of that possibility, Ye Yuan's eyes reddened, and his light-blue pupils instantly dimmed.

His slender fingers lightly stroked the scale, tear after tear pattering down and rolling onto the scale.

In an instant, the scale emitted a blinding light, and faintly appeared on it the characters "Wife Master, danger, hurry to save!"

In a moment, Ye Yuan's tearful gaze vanished, his grip on the scale tightened, and a dim blue light flickered in his pupils.

Is the Wife Master in danger?!

He frowned at the person opposite and said: "Besides picking this up, do you have anything else?"

Two subordinate clownfish holding pitchforks froze for a few seconds; one reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle, handing it over.

He stammered: "His/Her Highness, I think this thing is useless, so I didn't give it to you just now."

Ye Yuan snatched it up and examined it; he didn't know what it was, but since it fell together with his scale, it must be useful!

"Call the underwater guards, come with me to find the Wife Master! Show this to them; if they spot anything similar, report immediately!"

"Yes!" The attendant took the item from his hand, transformed into a little sea fish, and swam away.

Soon the patrol also found some strange little things elsewhere; Ye Yuan stared at them for a while, then took out an underwater terrain map to study.

The elder Lord Jian Yi looked at the soldiers' marked directions, frowned and said: "It seems Miss Su has been kidnapped; they passed through the East Sea. So Miss Su threw His/Her Highness's scale into the East Sea to alert him; these strange objects are likely the tokens she tossed along the way."

Ye Yuan's brows knit tightly: "Adjust another squad, and let's go ashore to continue searching!"

As long as we continue searching along the direction of the objects the Wife Master tossed, we will surely find her trail!

"Wait!" Lord Jian Yi frowned: "We still don't know who abducted Miss Su, nor her situation; His/Her Highness must act cautiously, lest the enemy discover our moves and harm Miss Su."

After listening, Ye Yuan pondered a moment and said: "Then select a few with strong martial prowess to go with me."

Lord Jian Yi nodded, then looked at the underwater commander Jing Ming beside him: "You will arrange this."

Shortly after, Ye Yuan led the carefully selected soldiers out of the underwater.

Following the East Sea direction, the troops split into three routes, quietly searching along the way.

The direction was soon confirmed.

All the way they reached the village where Su Mo was locked up; the outside was heavily guarded.

Jing Luo disguised himself to scout, then returned and reported: "This place is neither near the North Wing nor the Tiger Clan. It's unclear which tribe's people these are; the beastmen in the village are of mixed composition, highly vigilant, and there are not a few high-ranking beastmen. Asking too much might arouse suspicion."

"The top priority now is to confirm whether Miss Su is really inside; if so, we should immediately return, gather forces, and storm in! If not, we risk startling the snake."

Ye Yuan raised his hand to stop him, frowned and said: "Stay calm, take the people and find a hidden place to hide. I have my own way to confirm."

Having said that, he flashed away to another place.

Others didn't know, but he could hear the Wife Master's inner voice.

If the Wife Master is truly inside, as long as the distance is close, he can naturally confirm it.

Ye Yuan silently patrolled around the village perimeter.

Meanwhile, Su Mo was chatting in the room with Xiao Jiu.

That night, the attendant of Hei Yi Ren, following her instructions, delivered some medicinal herbs to her.

At this moment she was in the room researching detoxifying pills for Jin Tong.

Su Mo had already checked the detox formula in the System Laboratory; of course it couldn't be that easy to detoxify him.

However, to let that pervert lower his guard, her medicine still needed to have some effect.

She swapped a few important medicines to alleviate his symptoms and get through the night smoothly.

Su Mo tossed the herbs into the laboratory and told Xiao Jiu: "Adjust the settings; as long as he doesn't die from eating it for a while, that's fine."

"Alright, Host!"

Xiao Jiu fiddled with the controls, and soon a few pills dropped in front of Su Mo.

Su Mo picked one up, glanced at it, lightly sniffed, and was extremely satisfied.

After finishing, she lay on the bed with her legs propped up.

"Why haven't those few come looking for me yet? Ye Yuan really is something—I threw him a scale, and he still hasn't reacted?"

Xiao Jiu: "Host, don't rush; believe the little Highness will sense it soon. Even if he comes over, not knowing the situation, he shouldn't act rashly. Let's wait a bit more~"

Su Mo pursed her lips: "That would be best; I'm not really familiar with that fish, and I don't know if he's willing to come save me~"

Xiao Jiu: "He definitely will! He's utterly devoted to you; after all, he gave you the merfolk's strongest heart-protecting scale!"

"It's just a scale—how could it be so mystical?"

Xiao Jiu's tone turned serious: "It's really not an ordinary scale; to the host it's nothing special, but to a merfolk it's the hardest scale protecting the heart. Such a thing isn't casually given away. Usually, at marriage, some beastmen bring it as the most precious dowry. Once the scale is given and accepted, the merfolk will sense it when the recipient faces grave danger."

"The meaning is: I use my heart scale to protect you for a lifetime without harm."

"I heard that many years ago, a commander from another sea region once used a Heart‑protecting Scale to save a beloved person. So the Heart‑protecting Scale is far more than just a single scale."

Su Mo fell silent for a while after listening: "Then I definitely shouldn't take it; such a precious thing is better kept on his own body. Returning it to him now is just right."

Xiao Jiu: "……I've been talking for ages, and you didn't even grasp the point?!"

Su Mo, expression speechless: "Weren't you the one who said the Heart‑protecting Scale is important?"

"That His/Her Highness gave you such a precious item, and you have no clue about it in your heart?!!!"

"Exactly because you know its value, you should return it."

Xiao Jiu, a system, gritted his teeth in fury: "Stubborn block of elm that won't take oil or salt! You have not a single romantic cell! Even using you as firewood would be a waste of time! In your past life you stayed single until death, and that makes sense…"

Su Mo: "……"

A system, and it even learned to launch personal attacks?!

This is really way too much!!!

Outside the village, Ye Yuan strolled around a circle finding no clues; just as he was about to return, he heard intermittent sounds coming from beyond the wall, and his steps suddenly halted.