Once they landed in the cave, Shang Hongyu left Zu An’s arms.
The cave was likely the abandoned nest of a giant bird. Shang Liuyu moved some bones to the side for fear that throwing them out would end up alerting others. This kind of cave was really bad-smelling, but she had somehow made it so that there weren’t any strange smells at all, and the place had a faint delicate fragrance instead. There was a layer of hay piled on the giant rock to the side. It was quite tidy, but the entire cave was too crude. It didn’t match the Mermaid Queen’s identity at all.
“I’ve shown you a poor side of me. Sit anywhere you like. There's no tea here, so I can't entertain you properly,” Shang Liuyu said, using her messy hair that had been blown all over her face to hide her blush.
“I have some.” Zu An casually grabbed at empty air, and a tea set quickly appeared. He chose some spiritual tea ingredients, and placed them into a pot before pouring in some spiritual springwater gifted to him from the various sects. His finger produced a small flame, which quickly brought the tea to a boil.
Shang Hongyu watched with a stupefied expression. A while later, she said, “That seemed to be a true flame just now. If the people of this world knew that you were using such a precious true flame to cook tea, they would curse you for wasting resources recklessly.”
As the Ocean races' empress, her knowledge was naturally special. True flames were birthed naturally by the world, and each one was extremely powerful. More importantly, they could be used to refine weapons and pills that ordinary flames couldn't. However, true flames were really difficult to control. The slightest mistake and one would end up hurting oneself, and yet Zu An was actually able to control it so effortlessly to prepare such a small pot of tea. This level of skill really was incredible.
“Aren’t all of these things meant to make life more convenient, for life to be more blessed? Otherwise, you'd only become a slave to your own tools.” Zu An chuckled and poured her a cup of tea.
“You have a point,” Shang Hongyu said, then picked up the teacup and took a sip. She felt a refreshing feeling penetrate deeply into her heart before scattering. Her mood was calmed quite a bit, and her injuries even stabilized a bit. She took a few sips, surprised. This tea was really special!
She couldn't help but secretly give Zu An a look. At first, she'd thought that he was a bit too frivolous and indulgent in his behavior, and hadn’t really approved of it. But only now did she realize that he was doing this for her. She couldn't help but sigh, thinking that it was no wonder her usually proud and arrogant little sister would treat him so differently.
“Can your highness tell me exactly what happened now?” Zu An asked with a curious look. He had way too many questions right now. Just what was this couple playing at? There was no way he was just being messed around with in a game they were playing, right?
“Something bad happened to the Dragon King. The current Dragon King is an imposter.” Shang Hongyu’s very first sentence was already earth-shattering.
“What?!” Zu An exclaimed in shock.
After all, the Dragon King’s cultivation wasn’t inferior to the late Fiend Emperor's or Zhao Han’s. How had something suddenly happened to him? Besides that, what was going on with this fake Dragon King? There were so many powerful individuals among the Ocean races. How could he possibly be impersonated?
Shang Hongyu continued, “A few days ago, the Dragon King went out on a trip, but he was acting a bit strange when he came back. Now that I think about it, that was probably when he was replaced by another.”
“Where did the Dragon King go?” Zu An asked. After his initial shock passed, he trusted Shang Hongyu’s deduction. After all, they were husband and wife, and she was someone of distinguished temperament. How could she possibly joke around about this kind of thing? As such, he asked some questions to see if he could learn anything.
“To the Clam Lady,” Shang Hongyu said with a frown.
“The Clam Lady?” Zu An asked, stunned. This touched upon a blind spot of his knowledge. “Are there any dangerous areas over there?”
“No, but he was only going there to have fun. The Clam Lady is really affectionate, so which man in the Ocean races wouldn’t like that?” Shang Hongyu said with a sneer.
Zu An was speechless.
This is awkward... I only wanted to ask about what dangers happened to the Dragon King, so how did it end up becoming a situation of jealousy?
“You don’t need to feel embarrassed about that,” Shang Liuyu said, as if seeing through his thoughts. “The Dragon King is known for being lustful. No matter the race, not a single woman can escape his harem as long as they're pretty.” She gave Zu An an ambiguous smile as she said that, then continued, “It's been rumored that the regent is similar in style, yet I feel as if you're much more fresh and pure. I've heard about those sweethearts of yours too. Compared to the Dragon King’s women, it isn’t even on the same level.”
Zu An was speechless.
I was just enjoying someone else’s drama, and yet it ended up turning on me instead?
However, the Dragon King really was ridiculous. He had nine main sons, and they had all been birthed by women of different species. They were all completely different in appearance.
Hm? Wait, a female ghost, a talisman, a fox-spirit...
I’m not really all that much better myself...
Shang Hongyu put away her smile. “Every few days, he runs off to another woman to flirt with them, and I’ve already gotten used to it. It doesn’t really bother me. But this time, when he returned, he seemed to have become a completely different person.”
“What kind of changes were there? Don’t tell me that none of the Ocean races’ numerous experts saw through the issues with the Dragon King?” Zu An asked about the thing that was bothering him the most.
“Those people all interact with him from a distance, so how could they know him as well as us women? How could a woman not understand her own husband?” Shang Hongyu replied coldly.
“Oh...” Zu An looked as if he now understood something.
Shang Hongyu was stunned, and her face turned red. She exclaimed, “What are you thinking?! I didn’t let him take advantage of me! It’s just that after being married for so long, I'm just too familiar with him. That's why I immediately noticed that something was wrong as soon as he came back.”
She didn’t know why she felt as if she suddenly had to explain that to him.
Zu An felt a bit awkward. He was the one whose thoughts had gone in the wrong direction. At first, he'd even felt that it was a bit pitiable. He asked, “Do you know anything about that person’s origins?”
Shang Hongyu shook her head slightly and said, “I don't. To be honest, it is a bit strange. That person didn’t reveal any gaps or holes in their speech and behavior. If not for the fact that I'm so familiar with the Dragon King from having been around him for so many years, even I might have had a difficult time telling him apart.”
Zu An thought to himself, Could it be an appearance changing skill? But normal appearance changing skills aren’t that amazing, let alone trying to impersonate someone that powerful. Could the imposter also know Face of a Thousand Identities?
“Try to think about who among the Dragon King’s enemies would be the most likely to be able to do something like this. After all, with the Dragon King’s cultivation, how could an ordinary person possibly injure him?” Zu An asked.
Shang Hongyu quietly thought to herself for a bit. In the end, her eyes landed on Zu An and said, “After thinking back and forth about that, I concluded that the only possibility was you."
Zu An was dumbfounded.
Shang Hongyu then explained, “The Dragon King’s cultivation is even higher than the people of the world think. Out of everyone in the world, the only ones he still regarded as rivals were the human emperor Zhao Han and the late Fiend Emperor. Those two have already died, so the only one who could still harm him in this entire world is you.”
Zu An was speechless.
Shang Hongyu chuckled in distress before saying, “Even though I had that suspicion before, when I thought about your relationship with Liuyu, I felt that it couldn’t be you. Now that I've met you myself, the last bit of doubt has been directly erased.”
When Zu An heard that, he quickly asked, “Then what about Shang Liuyu? If your arrest was ordered, doesn’t that mean she's in danger too?”
“Don’t worry, she rarely remains in the Dragon Palace. A few days ago, she went out to obtain some lost ancient songs and said she wouldn’t be back for some time, so she isn’t in danger. She’s a smart woman, too. Now that she's heard about my arrest order, she definitely won’t rashly return to the Dragon Palace, and will secretly investigate this matter instead,” Shang Hongyu replied.
Shang Liuyu appeared in Zu An’s mind and he reflexively nodded. She was indeed that kind of reassuring person. He said, “Since no one in this entire world could harm the Dragon King, it seems the enemy must have come from outer space."
Shang Hongyu’s pretty face had a look of surprise as she asked, “Are you talking about those alien monsters?” Zu An had previously informed the Fiend races and Ocean races’ higher-ups through various channels, so she naturally knew about the invaders.
Zu An voiced his confirmation. “That’s right. I've had quite a few dealings with them in the past. Those monsters are really strong and many of them are stronger than the late Fiend Emperor. I thought I had already dealt with most of the hidden dangers in the sealed land, and didn’t expect there to be more in the Ocean races' territory.”
The Ocean races’ territory was extremely vast, but they normally didn’t have much contact with humans. They liked to remain close to their own territory, so that was why they hadn't left too big of an impression on him. But what if the chaos in the sealed land and on the human side had been nothing more than a ruse to distract the strongest beings of the world from noticing the invaders' plot in the Ocean races? With the Ocean races’ size and numbers, if the alien monsters got their way, just how terrifying would that be?
Zu An broke out into a cold sweat when he thought of that.
“That is indeed a possibility. The Yaksha Ocean Patrol we encountered just now was strange. I've never seen the black miasma coming out of their bodies before,” Shang Hongyu said.
“It's a kind of death energy, but it is a bit special. It seems to be especially pure and concentrated,” Zu An said gravely. He had fought against many kinds of departed spirits, but this was the first time he had encountered such pure death energy.