Chapter 211: Mermaid Reef 12

Ye Xi'an waved her hand, indicating the past was too painful to recall: "Fine, let's hurry and pick the Heart of the Ocean."

According to the method introduced on Light Brain for judging the age of the Heart of the Ocean, the virtuous husband Ji Jiangci quickly selected a batch of well‑aged ones from a boundless red Heart of the Ocean.

Ye Xi'an reclaimed it into space and also checked Xiao Shijie's situation, but found that despite the seawater having surged for so long, she stood at the canyon edge and still couldn't see any trace of water.

"Whoa, how deep is this canyon really?"

Ye Xi'an wiped the non‑existent sweat from her forehead, and her spirit body sprang out of Xiao Shijie.

Ji Jiangci handed her the last handful of well‑aged Hearts of the Ocean; his cool brown wavy hair was damp, and his teal eyes reflected her slightly puzzled profile.

He spoke in a warm voice, with a barely perceptible concern.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Ye Xi'an shook her head, about to suppress the thought.

At that moment, a shrill female scream, sharp enough to pierce the eardrum, rang out unannounced from deep within the mermaid nest.

Ye Xi'an and Ji Jiangci exchanged a quick glance, then both swam swiftly toward the mermaid nest.

A group of mermaids with differently colored tails gathered in one spot, their vague murmurs of "how tragic" could be heard; Ye Xi'an grew more curious, squeezed left and right until she finally got in.

Peering inside, she saw a stunningly beautiful female mermaid lying on the cave floor, covering her face and sobbing; this cave was the same one where Ye Xi'an had previously found Gu Feng.

Ye Xi'an suddenly got a bad feeling.

The Mermaid King arrived at that moment; the female mermaid, seeing the king, cried even more miserably, collapsing into his arms, her beautiful tail limp and hanging, her body trembling continuously, emitting intermittent wails.

The king's normally dignified face was now filled with anxiety and fury; he whispered soothing words to the mermaid in his arms, yet could not quell her overwhelming sorrow.

Ye Xi'an felt a bit guilty; the mermaid's tears seemed unrelated to Gu Feng—Gu Feng had fled, so at most she had lost a meal.

"Mermaid King, what… what happened here?"

The king lifted his head, saw her, and his tightly clenched jaw relaxed slightly, though his tone remained heavy.

"One of our females—she… her chosen Beast Husband has disappeared."

Ye Xi'an's heart skipped a beat; the Beast Husband vanished? If he's gone, just find another, why is this mermaid crying so badly?

Ye Xi'an sensed it wasn't simple, so she asked, "What happens if the Beast Husband disappears?"

The king's expression grew solemn: "Our merfolk find only one partner in a lifetime; once chosen, it cannot change until death."

"Although merfolk are highly fertile, females are extremely scarce, so each offspring is especially precious."

"When a female selects a Beast Husband, the merfolk protect him to ensure he can stay with her till old age, but her Beast Husband has vanished…"

"In other words, she will never be able to reproduce again."

The female mermaid in his arms heard this and wept even more sorrowfully.

She choked, letting out intermittent angry cries.

"King, you must speak up for me! My Beast Husband is clearly still in a dream, he couldn't have fled; he must have been stolen!"

"King, you must help me catch that thief!"

The Mermaid King certainly wanted to catch him, but the ocean is vast; a thief could hide anywhere, it's not easy to find.

Someone in the crowd muttered, voice low but audible in the quiet: "Who could the thief be? Could there be a traitor within our merfolk stealing others' Beast Husbands!"

"That's impossible; it must be those two‑legged beasts on land using our tears!"

At that, everyone's voices halted, and they all turned to the only two bipeds present—Ye Xi'an and Ji Jiangci.

Ye Xi'an's back stiffened, a chill spreading to the back of her head; she hadn't expected Gu Feng to be so important to this mermaid.

But even if she realized it, she still had to save Gu Feng; she couldn't just watch him remain as a pitiful little husband.

"Why are you staring at me? We haven't seen any Beast Husband you speak of." Ye Xi'an still has a request from the merfolk, so she can't break off so quickly.

But the female clearly didn't believe it; she rose from the king's arms, her beautiful eyes fixed on Ye Xi'an: "You came and my Beast Husband disappeared, yet you say it's not you!"

Though Ji Jiangci didn't understand the mermaid's words, seeing her snarling face made it clear she wasn't holding back; his eyes darkened as he stepped forward, shielding Ye Xi'an behind him.

"Mind your manners when you speak!"

Ye Xi'an stuck her head out from behind Ji Jiangci, looking at her grief‑stricken form, feeling a pang of sympathy, yet still pretended ignorance and asked, "What does the Beast Husband you speak of look like?"

The female refused to talk to Ye Xi'an, but the Mermaid King answered: "He is a tremendously powerful fire‑type beastman; though he rarely speaks, we can feel the terrifying power within him. On his head… he has a pair of beautiful horns that never retract."

"Oh~~"

"Have you seen him?"

"Never seen him!"

Mermaid King: ".... never seen your 'Ao' what."

"I've been staying nearby ever since I went to sea, how could I have a chance to steal a Beast Husband? Even if I did, he'd surely be hidden nearby. Mermaid King, if you don't believe me, you can search."

The Mermaid King looked at Ye Xi'an skeptically, raised his hand, signaling the surrounding merfolk to disperse and begin searching for the Beast Husband.

Watching the king already issue orders, dispatching most merfolk for a comprehensive search, Ye Xi'an's thoughts raced.

They could look for the Beast Husband, but she had limited time and couldn't endure such delay.

Changing the subject, she said, "Mermaid King, I don't have much time; we must go rescue the fish fry, don't forget our agreement."

The king was startled, looking at the grieving female, and felt that rescuing the fish fry was indeed more important.

"Zhenna, we're going to rescue the fish fry now; I'll find your Beast Husband later, okay?"

Zhenna is the female mermaid who lost her Beast Husband.

Originally grieving over her missing partner, Zhenna calmed when she heard the words "fish fry," her face showing a worried expression.

"King, you needn't worry about me; go ahead and rescue the fish fry."

The Mermaid King smiled with satisfaction, no longer hesitating, and abruptly turned, issuing a new command in his loudest voice.

"All merfolk, hear the order! Cease the search, depart with me immediately, rescue the fish fry!"

With that command, the atmosphere of the entire mermaid nest instantly shifted from chaotic panic to a unified, solemn resolve.