Chapter 209: Mermaid Reef 10

Gu Feng's blood-red eyes locked onto Ye Xi'an; in the next second he puckered his lips, about to press them to Ye Xi'an's lips, his whole body like an out-of-control ferocious beast, his strength astonishing, and Ji Jiangci beside him couldn't pull him away no matter how hard he tried.

"You can't abandon me!"

Gu Feng's voice was hoarse, his body radiating the scorching breath of having just broken free from a nightmare, mixed with the icy cold of the deep sea, surging straight at Ye Xi'an's face.

His target was her lips, carrying an unstoppable madness and possessiveness.

Ye Xi'an's violet pupils contracted sharply, yet there was not a trace of panic within them, only a sheet of icy calm.

Her movement was astonishingly fast.

Her slender hand shot out like lightning, precisely gripping Gu Feng's neck.

The warm sensation from her fingertips contrasted sharply with the scorching heat on Gu Feng's skin.

Ye Xi'an exerted a slight force with her arm, and the bull-like Gu Feng froze mid‑air in an instant; then he felt an irresistible force surge through him, his body flung uncontrollably away.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, he slammed into the coral reef wall beside him, kicking up a spray of fine white dust that drifted in the seawater before slowly settling.

Seawater rushed into his mouth and nose, choking him into violent coughing.

The pain of the impact and the icy seawater instantly doused the madness in his eyes.

Gu Feng slowly pushed himself up to sit, his face still bearing a bewildered look, not knowing what had happened.

Ye Xi'an hovered in the water, drifting over leisurely, her posture showing no trace of embarrassment; her purple hair flowed gently in the water, each strand clearly visible.

Awake?

Gu Feng's gaze cleared the instant he saw Ye Xi'an, and he quickly nodded: "I'm awake."

What did you dream about?

Her voice was soft, yet in this quiet underwater cavern it was unusually clear, calm without a ripple.

Gu Feng embarrassedly lifted his head, meeting Ye Xi'an's probing gaze; faced with her such calmness, he instead grew flustered.

What did you dream?

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

That nightmare was too beautiful, yet also cruel.

In the dream, he finally got his wish to marry Ye Xi'an, join her family, and even fathered their first offspring with her—but the offspring... also had horns on its head.

Ye Xi'an despised the offspring, and consequently expelled both it and him from the family.

He remembered himself humbly begging, and even at the dream's end he tore off his own horns with his hands, blood streaming, just begging her not to abandon them, father and son.

A violent shudder surged from the depths of his soul.

Gu Feng instinctively raised his hand, touching his forehead.

The pair of hard, slightly warm qilin horns remained intact, standing there as before.

Even now, he still wanted to pull those horns out.

As the recollection ended, an overwhelming shame that could not be dispelled followed.

How dare he fantasize that Ye Xi'an was pregnant with his offspring? Was it Yi Yang who gave him the gall?

Gu Feng abruptly lowered his head, unable to look at Ye Xi'an any longer; warm vapor rose from the dim horn patterns, heating the surrounding seawater until it bubbled.

Ye Xi'an silently watched him, her cat‑like eyes revealing no emotion.

The slight tremor in his fingers, his evasive gaze, and the motion of shielding his horns were all clearly reflected in her eyes.

She did not press further.

Some pain is not suited to be repeatedly brought up.

If you don't want to talk about it, then don't.

She turned her head to Gu Feng: "By the way, Gu Feng, do you have mermaid tears in your mouth?"

When Ye Xi'an said that, Gu Feng finally noticed the substance in his mouth; he instinctively spat it out, but just as he was about to show it to Ye Xi'an, seawater rushed into his mouth and nose—fortunately Ye Xi'an was quick, snatched the tear away and shoved it back in.

Having returned to normal, Gu Feng felt ashamed and dared not lift his head—he had nearly drowned himself! What a loss of male face!

Ye Xi'an recalled the size of that tear just now and said: "Your tears are almost gone; I estimate it will be three hours in another ten or so minutes, so you should go up first."

Gu Feng immediately said: "And what about you?"

We still need to go find the Heart of the Ocean.

Gu Feng stared at Ye Xi'an with a hint of sorrow, but he knew he indeed had to leave: "Then I'm going; you protect yourself."

After Gu Feng left, Ye Xi'an was finally able to attend to proper business.

She turned toward this dim, expansive merfolk nest.

The Heart of the Ocean has been shaped into coral, but with so much coral, which one is the Heart of the Ocean?

She seemed to be talking to herself, yet also as if speaking to Ji Jiangci.

Are we splitting up, or…

I'll go with you.

Ji Jiangci's voice was low, carrying an undeniable insistence, as he pulled Ye Xi'an and said: "I must protect you!"

Ye Xi'an's delicate eyebrows rose, a hint of teasing: "You protect me? Then we might as well hurry and split up to search."

Ji Jiangci froze, realizing the difference between himself and Ye Xi'an now, and immediately changed his words: "But I'm scared; I want my wife to protect me."

Ye Xi'an enjoyed closing her eyes; this was exactly what she wanted to hear.

Go!

She agreed.

After Ye Xi'an finished speaking, she took the lead, swimming toward an unexplored deep opening inside the stone pillar.

Her posture in the water was incomparably agile; her purple silhouette quickly merged into the darkness ahead.

The mission to find the Heart of the Ocean officially began.

Ye Xi'an carefully searched for coral that might be the Heart of the Ocean while paying attention to the strange underwater surroundings.

The deep sea here is a world completely different from the land, full of the unknown and strange.

The minerals embedded in the cavern walls emitted a faint blue light, illuminating the water ahead.

She quickly noticed a strange algae clinging to the rocks, its body transparent yet inside countless tiny points of light flickered like stars in the night sky.

Ye Xi'an lightly gathered some samples, carefully stored them in her space, thinking she might actually be able to create a small ocean back home and raise some seafood.

She paused, a bold idea forming in her mind; Ji Jiangci noticed something off with Ye Xi'an, tossed the genuine coral aside, swam to her side, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Jiangci, do you think I can create a big sea in Xiao Shijie? Anyway, the planet Mermaid Reef is ninety-nine percent ocean, so making a small sea in Xiao Shijie should be fine, right?"

Ji Jiangci's eyes lit up: "I think it'll work!"

"Then let's find a more remote place with abundant flora and fauna, so we don't destroy anyone's nest."

After they agreed, they retraced the path the Mermaid King had shown them, and finally, in a spot close to the sea surface, they discovered a coral reef where the seabed was thick with plants and countless strange animals darted about.

"Jiangci, keep an eye out for me and give me a heads-up if anyone comes!"

"Sure, go ahead and operate."

Ye Xi'an took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and after searching a while in Xiao Shijie, her gaze finally settled on a canyon.