Into The Sea

“You’ve adopted another sworn sister?”

The bear demon stared at Ji Lingyue for a moment, “You seem to have quite a few sisters.”

Yao Zhu covered her mouth with a hand, giggling coyly. “What are you saying, Brother Bear? They like me so much, they insisted on calling me ‘big sister.’ It’s not my fault, right, Xiao Yue?”

Ji Lingyue, nudged by Yao Zhu, forced a stiff smile and complied, “Yes, Big Sister.”

After enduring the humiliation of saying those two words, she instinctively glanced at Lan Wu, only to find the woman standing aside with her arms crossed, looking on like a detached spectator.

She had promised to help!

Ji Lingyue frowned, shooting a disgruntled glare at Lan Wu. Lan Wu blinked, as if finally realizing something, and quickly plastered on a smile. She moved to Yao Zhu’s other side. “That’s right. You have no idea how much Xiao Yue has missed you. She could barely sleep at night, always talking about wanting to see her big sister Yao Zhu. That’s why I brought her here to find you.”

Yao Zhu laughed, her body shaking like a willow branch in the wind. “Really?”

She turned to face Ji Lingyue, who was clearly in shock. Without holding back, she pinched her cheek, delighted. “Xiao Yue, I didn’t know you missed me so much.”

Ji Lingyue blinked, forcing a smile. “Not that much.”

“Oh, now you’re being coy with me,” Yao Zhu teased, tilting Ji Lingyue’s chin up and pulling her toward the tent behind her. “It just so happens that I’m free tonight. We have plenty of time to catch up. Don’t you think?”

As they disappeared into the tent, Lan Wu gave the bear demon an awkward smile and hastily followed.

Pushing aside the curtain, warm candlelight washed over her face like a gentle stream. Lan Wu instinctively looked up, noticing that just a few steps away, Ji Lingyue had twisted Yao Zhu’s arm behind her back, her voice filled with annoyance. “Enough already!”

Yao Zhu yelped in pain. “Let go, let go! You ungrateful brat! If it weren’t for me just now, you’d be in big trouble!”

Ji Lingyue scoffed. “Who are you calling a brat?”

“If you’re not a brat, then what are you?” Yao Zhu struggled but couldn’t break free, her entire arm going numb from whatever pressure point Ji Lingyue had found. “Lan Wu, aren’t you going to do something?!”

Lan Wu snapped out of her daze and instinctively said, “Ah Yue…”

Ji Lingyue whipped around, glaring at her. “Don’t talk to me!”

“…” Lan Wu froze, confused. “Huh?”

“Huh?” Ji Lingyue’s voice rose, even more agitated. “You… you’re worse than her,” she finally let go of Yao Zhu and stomped over to Lan Wu, fuming. “You’re nothing but a lying, bad fish!”

Lan Wu blinked, glancing at Ji Lingyue’s furious face before slowly raising her eyes to the flattened cat ears on her head. She finally couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You can still laugh?” Ji Lingyue was shocked. She was about to continue her tirade when Lan Wu gently stroked her head. “How can you be so cute?”

The aggrieved accusations caught in her throat. Ji Lingyue seemed stunned, her eyes wide as she stared blankly at Lan Wu.

“Don’t be mad,” Lan Wu gently rubbed the reddened cheek where Yao Zhu had pinched her. “Just think of it as an apology. Let her vent her frustration, and we can move past this. Or do you really want her to keep scolding you?”

Before Ji Lingyue could respond, Yao Zhu’s voice called out from the front, “Hey, I can hear you.”

Lan Wu chuckled, smoothing out Ji Lingyue’s messy hair and coaxing her a bit more before leading her over to Yao Zhu. “It’s been a while.”

“Has it?” Yao Zhu said casually, shaking out her numb arm. “Didn’t we just see each other a few days ago?”

Lan Wu gave an awkward smile. “That was too rushed. We barely had time to talk. How could that count?”

“True,” Yao Zhu eyed her suspiciously, unable to resist asking, “So, without your mermaid pearl, how are you still alive?”

“That’s… a long story,” Lan Wu sighed. “But right now, we have something more important to ask of you.”

Yao Zhu raised an eyebrow and leaned back into her chair, resting her chin on her hand. “You came all the way here to find me. It must be important. Go on, what is it?”

“I need you to deliver a message to the Demon Queen.”

Yao Zhu was taken aback. “The Demon Queen? A message?”

“Yes.”

Yao Zhu frowned, annoyed. “What do you think I am? Do you think I can just waltz in and see the Demon Queen whenever I want?”

Lan Wu hesitated. “Isn’t your sister some kind of an official?”

“Official, huh?” At the mention of it, Yao Zhu sat up straight. “After the mess you two caused back then, you just left without a care, and she had to deal with the fallout. Ah Tang isn’t an official anymore. She’s just an ordinary demon now, like me. We can’t just go see the Demon Queen.”

Hearing this, Lan Wu felt a pang of guilt. “I see. I’m really sorry.”

“Forget it. It’s been so many years,” Yao Zhu waved her hand dismissively, leaning back again. “So, what’s this message you’re so desperate to deliver to the Demon Queen?”

“It’s important,” Lan Wu said softly. “It might completely change the current situation, maybe even… save Xuan Yu.”

Yao Zhu froze, sitting up abruptly. “Xuan Yu? Really?!”

Ji Lingyue, standing nearby, glanced at her and muttered. “I thought you’d forgotten about Xuan Yu, considering that bear demon said you have so many good sisters now.”

Yao Zhu glared at her. “What do you think I’m doing here? If Ah Tang hadn’t found out that Xuan Yu was with the Demon Queen, I would have left the demon realm ages ago. Why would I want to hang out with a bunch of smelly demons?”

“So, in all these years, you haven’t done anything?”

“Of course, I couldn’t do anything openly. Ah Tang is permanently banned from entering Wanxiang Gate, and I can’t even get close to the Demon Queen’s palace. What could a weak demon like me do?”

“Openly?” Lan Wu mused. “So, you’ve been working in secret?”

Yao Zhu chuckled, a hint of pride in her voice. “To be honest, my sworn sisters include a rabbit demon, a rat demon, and a pangolin. They’re all different, but they’re all experts at digging tunnels. Wanxiang Gate is heavily guarded with layers of barriers, but no one pays attention to what’s underground.”

After a moment of silence, Ji Lingyue’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You didn’t… you didn’t dig a tunnel, did you?”

“What’s with that face?” Yao Zhu grumbled. “It might be a crude method, but it works. Besides, it wasn’t easy to dig. The ground in the demon realm is made of extremely hard granite. Even a slight movement could alert the eagle guards. We couldn’t even use our demon powers, we relied solely on our claws to dig bit by bit until we reached the bottom of the Demon Queen’s palace.”

Ji Lingyue was shocked. “But why would your sworn sisters do this for you?”

Yao Zhu curled her lips into a smug smile. “Because I’m irresistible, of course.”

Ji Lingyue was speechless.

She couldn’t take it anymore and closed her eyes, crossing her arms and walking to the other side.

“So you can actually enter the Demon Queen’s palace,” Lan Wu’s heart leapt with hope. “Then you can see the Demon Queen.”

“Don’t get too excited,” Yao Zhu coughed lightly. “I put in all that effort to save Xuan Yu. I won’t act unless I’m absolutely sure. Besides, I’ve been inside the palace a few times since finishing the tunnel, but I haven’t found any trace of Xuan Yu. If you want me to deliver a message to the Demon Queen, you need to tell me why a single message can save Xuan Yu.”

“It’s a long story…”

“Then make it short.”

Lan Wu pursed her lips, hesitating. “Do you know… why the Demon Queen captured Xuan Yu?”

Yao Zhu shook her head. “How would I know?”

“The Demon Queen is actually my aunt.”

Yao Zhu blinked. “What?”

Lan Wu continued, “She wants to revive my dead mother, and Xuan Yu is the perfect vessel she chose for her.”

After a long pause, Yao Zhu’s face contorted into a look of utter disbelief. “What?!”