After I Dumped 7 Beast Husbands and Ran

Mu Yang and Chuchen arrived at Lanxing’s palace for a visit.

Chuchen said as she cracked open a sea urchin, "Volcanic eruptions are actually a common occurrence in the ocean."

"Common?" Nan Zishi asked.

"Yep!" Chuchen tasted a bite of wasabi. She shed a generous tear—a literal pearl—and performed an elegant, spiraling ascent through the water.

Her eyes then lit up. "Wow, this stuff really packs a punch! I want more!"

The Mermaid Prince, Mu Yang, gazed at Nan Zishi with undisguised adoration. Lanxing subtly moved to block his line of sight, shooting his older brother a warning glance.

"Little Star, don’t be so possessive," Mu Yang said. "If we serve the same female master, we can still be brothers."

Mu Yang continued, "Besides, if we serve the same female master, you’ll have an older brother to help you in the future struggles between Beast Husbands.

And come on, look at me, your big brother. I’m over six hundred years old, and I’ve finally found someone I’m taken with. You’re my favorite little brother, you have to help me, right?"

Lanxing crossed his arms over his chest, completely on guard. He drew a hard line. "Brother, I don’t think we’re that close. It’d be better if we just didn’t see each other anymore."

Mu Yang’s eyes widened in disbelief.

’Just for a female master, my little Lanxing is disowning his own brother?’

Chuchen was rendered speechless by her two foolish brothers. She just focused on eating her wasabi.

Lanxing turned to Nan Zishi. "Sister, after a volcanic eruption, the volcanic ash makes it very difficult to survive in that part of the sea. It takes a long time for life to gradually return."

Hearing him call her "Sister," Chuchen teasingly cut in, "Lanxing, who are you calling sister? Am I your sister, or is she?"

Lanxing shot Chuchen a cold glare. "Chuchen, are we that familiar?"

Chuchen shot back, "That’s enough out of you! Have your fins hardened? How dare you speak to me like that!" ’He actually used my name directly. This is outrageous!’

After some bickering, Chuchen asked Lanxing and Nan Zishi, "So what are your plans for the future? Are you going to live in this palace? You’re both so young, you could have plenty of mermaid cubs."

Nan Zishi pried open a small shellfish, ate the meat, and said, "Tomorrow marks the seventh day. I promised Lanxing I’d sever our mate bond with him."

Lanxing: "..."

The young merman’s heart clenched, and his face instantly went pale. He whipped his head around to look at Nan Zishi, his expression panicked.

Chuchen really wanted to laugh at her brother.

’Who was it that was so absolute before? Insisting on severing the mate bond and all that.’

’It’s only been a few days, and he’s already eating his words.’

As an eight-hundred-year-old mermaid, Chuchen could see what both Nan Zishi and Lanxing were thinking in a single glance. She asked Nan Zishi with exaggerated shock, "You really have to sever it?"

Nan Zishi nodded. "When I first came to the seafloor, I made a promise to Lanxing. If he served as my Beast Husband for seven days, I would use your mermaid Magic to sever our mate bond. That way, he wouldn’t be harmed."

"Lanxing has done a great job these past few days. He’s been very responsible and has done everything I’ve asked. He’s caught every fish I’ve wanted to eat. I have no reason to go back on my promise."

"Sister!" Lanxing was truly frantic now. His heart twisted into a knot as he grabbed her hand in a panic.

"Are you really going to sever our mate bond?"

"Look at him," Chuchen whispered to Nan Zishi. "He’s completely beside himself."

Nan Zishi turned to Chuchen and chuckled softly.

Chuchen said, "This brother of mine... he does such impulsive things without thinking them through. Asking you to sever the bond, just like that. It’ll be good to teach him a lesson. Sui Sui, you should scare him a bit more."

"You’re a real model sister," Nan Zishi said.

"Naturally."

Nan Zishi whispered, "Don’t worry, Sister. As long as he doesn’t want to end it, I won’t either. I’m just teasing Lanxing."

Chuchen laughed. "He’s your Beast Husband, so tease him all you want. You could even drag it out for a few more days."

When Lanxing saw that Nan Zishi was ignoring him, he grew even more flustered.

’I know I was prejudiced and said some terrible things before,’ he thought. ’I must have made my female master angry.’

Lanxing stayed obediently by Nan Zishi’s side, tightly gripping her hand.

He looked terrified that she might actually cast him aside.

When it was time for Chuchen and Mu Yang to leave, Lanxing practically threw them out.

Then he rushed back inside.

The young merman’s brow furrowed in deep distress.

’What should I do?’ he thought. ’This whole mess is my own fault.’

’Why did I have to be so absolute?’

’Saying I’d never fall for her.’

’Saying I absolutely had to sever the bond.’

’And she heard it all.’

’What am I going to do?’

Lanxing spotted the little golden mermaid, Little Fu, playing with small fish outside and quickly scooped her up.

"Little Fu, Little Fu. My dear little cub."

The mermaid cub looked at her beast father, dazed. "Daddy, wha’s wong?"

"Your mommy is mad at Daddy," Lanxing said, his expression complicated. "Little Fu, if Mommy doesn’t want Daddy anymore, then you won’t have a mommy either. You’ll help Daddy, right?"

Little Fu’s eyes went wide.

’No, no! Fufu can live without Daddy, but Fufu can’t live without Mommy!’

Little Fu nodded, her eyes welling with worry. She looked like she was about to cry.

Her little expression was a perfect mirror of Lanxing’s.

"Help Daddy. We’ll try to cheer Mommy up together and get her to forgive us. We can’t let her kick us out of our home, okay?"

Little Fu nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh!"

’Fufu wants to be with Daddy and Mommy forever!’

...

The little golden mermaid baby, adorned with beautiful pearls, swam unsteadily toward Nan Zishi, clutching a lovely outfit and accessories made of shells and pearls.

"M-Mommy! Pwetty cwothes," the little mermaid baby babbled.

"For me?" Nan Zishi took the beautiful mermaid dress the little one was offering.

Having spent so many days on the seafloor, she had developed an eye for the quality of shells and pearls.

The materials used for the outfit and accessories Little Fu had brought her were the very finest the ocean had to offer.

This Jue Sha, too, looked as if it had been woven by the mermaids’ own hands.

"Wear it, wear it," Little Fu said, looking up at Nan Zishi with anticipation.

Nan Zishi no longer needed to smear diatomaceous mud on her face, and her skin had returned to its former delicate smoothness.

As she held the dazzling little outfit, her vanity was stirred, and she felt an itch of excitement.

"Did Fufu bring this for Mommy?"

Little Fu glanced toward the doorway.

Lanxing was leaning against the outer wall, looking anxious.

Little Fu turned back and nodded vigorously at Nan Zishi.

"Good girl, Fufu." Nan Zishi smiled gently, patting Fufu’s head.

’This little girl is just adorable,’ Nan Zishi thought. ’So sweet and precious. I love her.’

She took the beautiful little outfit behind the large shell bed to change, then swam back out.

When Nan Zishi emerged, she was wearing the brand-new, beautiful outfit of pearls and shells, looking so stunning it was almost blinding.

"Pwetty!" Little Fu swam up to Nan Zishi, cupped her face, and planted a big kiss on her cheek. "Mommy’s pwetty!"