FBWCFCBH 72

Chapter – 72 

Struggle

As he spoke, Xiao Ziye grabbed her hand and prepared to leave. He looked around for a moment and finally decided to go to the left.

Li Qingqing quickly stopped him and pulled his arm.

“Hey, where are you going? If you go that way, we’ll just walk back to where we came from.”

Xiao Ziye looked at her with shock and disbelief.

“You’re here for the first time too, right? How do you know the way?”

Li Qingqing couldn’t explain the system, so she simply brushed it off.

“Ahem… I remembered the way when we came earlier.”

As she spoke, she pulled Xiao Ziye and walked in the opposite direction.

Along the way, their legs attracted the attention of many mermaids.

“If this continues, we’ll definitely be discovered sooner or later. Walk faster!” Li Qingqing jogged lightly while urging Xiao Ziye behind her.

A grown male was still moving so slowly.

He came to rescue her, yet he was almost dragging her down instead.

【Host, don’t think about our baby Ziye like that.】

Xiao Ziye seemed to notice Li Qingqing’s dislike. For a moment, he felt wronged.

“I came to the sea for the first time just to find you, and now you’re already嫌弃 me?”

Li Qingqing shook her head so hard it almost looked like a rattle drum.

“Is this really the time to talk about that?”

Suddenly she thought of something and abruptly stopped. Xiao Ziye bumped straight into her.

“What’s wrong? Why did you suddenly stop?”

“How did you find Atlantis?”

She already had an answer in her heart, but she still hoped it wasn’t what she thought.

“Su Han brought me here. He said we should split up to search.”

Li Qingqing glanced at him.

“Why didn’t you say that earlier? Now that the two of us ran away, he doesn’t even know we left. What is he supposed to do staying there alone?”

Xiao Ziye didn’t care. There was anger and disdain in his eyes.

“If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have been kidnapped here. Besides, he originally belongs to Atlantis anyway. At most, this just counts as him going back home.”

“But Li Mujin wants to kill him!” Li Qingqing said urgently.

“Li Mujin?”
It was the first time Xiao Ziye heard that name. He murmured it and suddenly remembered something.

“Isn’t that Su Han’s brother? Why does he have a name like that? He even has the same surname as you.”

Li Qingqing struggled in her heart but did not answer.

If she left now, Su Han might die here.

But if she stayed to find him, she might be caught by Li Mujin again.

【Host, how about canceling the mission about Li Mujin?】

Li Qingqing: That’s possible? Why didn’t you say it earlier? Yes, yes!

【But there is a punishment. Your ability level will return to the initial level.】

Li Qingqing: …

Of course the system had bad intentions.

It was clearly forcing her not to abandon Su Han.

But the system guessed wrong.

Even if she had to train her abilities again, so what? As long as her prestige value reached the maximum, she could get spirit stones as rewards and reach full level again easily.

Li Qingqing: Then hurry up and punish me.

【I said it wrong just now. Let me correct it. The punishment is that all your beast husbands’ favorability will reset to zero.】

Li Qingqing froze instantly.

Seeing her suddenly stop moving, Xiao Ziye quickly shook her.

“What’s wrong with you?”

System… you’re really ruthless.

【Host, I know you wouldn’t abandon Su Han. I’m just giving you a reason to take him away with you.】

Li Qingqing took a deep breath and then accidentally swallowed a big mouthful of seawater. The water rushed out through her nose.

Because of her water ability, she didn’t feel uncomfortable.

After a long moment of inner struggle, she finally made her decision.

“No. Which direction did he go? I have to bring him back.”

Xiao Ziye looked at her like she was crazy.

“Are you insane? We’re not familiar with this place. If that Li Mujin comes, everyone here is his people. We’ll be dead in seconds!”

“We already dug a cave for him. That means he’s one of the Silver Tiger Tribe.”

“Besides, he barely escaped Atlantis with his life before. If it weren’t for me this time, he wouldn’t have come back again.”

Xiao Ziye’s chest rose and fell with anger.

“So what? If you hadn’t saved him in the first place, he would have died in the sea already. He owes you that.”

Li Qingqing frowned.

“Stop saying that. I chose to save him. This is karma.”

Seeing that she had already made up her mind, Xiao Ziye didn’t say anything else.

He lowered his head, though unwillingness still filled his eyes.

Li Qingqing reached out and held his horn.

“Brother Ziye, which direction did he go?”

At that moment, Xiao Ziye thought about many things.

He couldn’t understand why she could go this far for someone she had known only a few days.

But then he remembered that day in the Xuanming Forest.

When he was beaten until he was nearly dead, she had also risked her life to save him.

Fortunately, both of them survived.

Suddenly, he hugged Li Qingqing tightly. His arms were very strong.

“I’m sorry… I’m just afraid of losing you.”

His voice almost choked with emotion.

“Promise me you will never marry him.”

Since Xiao Ziye first became aware of himself, he had been a wandering black snake.

It was Li Yue who saved him and raised him.

He never understood why Li Yue’s daughter—the female who should have been like a sister to him—hated him so much.

Later, Li Yue arranged their marriage.

He knew he had no right to refuse because he owed Li Yue.

Until later, when Li Qingqing’s personality completely changed. He had clearly noticed she was no longer the same Li Qingqing as before.

Yet he still chased after her like a moth to a flame.

He couldn’t escape that light.

In the Xuanming Forest, he finally understood his own feelings.

And now, seeing her running around for another male made him lose control.

If it were one of the other four beast husbands, he might be able to convince himself.

But this time, he truly couldn’t.

Li Qingqing could feel his body trembling. She gently patted his back.

“I promise you. I will never break my word.”

Like a child who had just received candy, he immediately smiled.

“Alright. He probably went that way.”

Li Qingqing looked in the direction he pointed. The map in her mind told her that path also led toward the palace.

So after all this… they still had to go back?

“Let’s go. If we wait too long, he might die again. That mermaid is really weak,” Xiao Ziye said while pulling Li Qingqing’s hand and walking in that direction.

Their hands were tightly clasped.

In truth, he was a very kind person—just a little childish sometimes.

Li Qingqing led him quietly back into the place she had escaped from.

When they passed the previous room, they heard voices talking around the corner.

It was Li Mujin.

“The marriage must be completed today.”

Another voice said nervously,

“City Lord, that doesn’t follow the rules of Atlantis. When we marry a bride, we must pave the whole city with the finest pearls. The ceremony lasts three days and three nights.”

“How could it possibly be finished today?”

Before they walked closer, Li Qingqing quickly pulled Xiao Ziye into the room.

She hid Xiao Ziye inside a giant shell.

Then she closed the shell.

The people outside were still talking.

“Can’t do it? If it can’t be done, then throw all of them into the Guixu Sea Eye.”

Li Mujin’s voice was cold and merciless…