Chapter 62: I Don’t Care
"Cleaning?" Nan Zishi asked, curious.
She then watched as the mermaids picked up sharp tools made of coral and shells, scraped barnacles off the whales, and then scrubbed their bodies with seaweed.
Little Fu followed suit, starting to scrape the barnacles off a large whale next to her.
Nan Zishi joined Little Fu, handing her a scraper. Together, they used their tools to pry off the barnacles.
Surprisingly, working together like this was incredibly stress-relieving, relaxing, and enjoyable.
Although Lanxing was working not far away, his gaze never left Nan Zishi and Little Fu.
Little Fu happily swished her chubby golden tail as she worked.
Nan Zishi followed along, swishing her own beautiful, long, seven-color tail.
Then she burst into laughter with Little Fu.
Watching from the side, Lanxing was momentarily mesmerized by the sight of Nan Zishi’s radiant smile and the way she swayed her beautiful, large tail.
"Prince Lanxing," Yu Lang called to him.
He immediately lowered his head, muttering to himself, ’Lanxing, have some backbone. Stop looking at her.’
But to his surprise, the Mermaid Princess Chuchen and the Mermaid Princes Luochuan and Mu Yang, who had come from afar, were also secretly sizing up Nan Zishi while they worked.
"Eldest Sister, look," Luochuan said. "That beautiful, colorful mermaid seems to be Lanxing’s female master."
Chuchen was quite pleased. "Where did Lanxing get such fish-crap luck to have bonded with such a beautiful female mermaid?" she said. "And she gets along so well with Little Fu. Little Fu adores her."
The moment Mu Yang saw Nan Zishi, his eyes suddenly lit up!
*
Yu Lang watched Nan Zishi with admiration, then tried to console Lanxing, saying, "Prince, Princess Little Fu told us that you and the Princess have had a small disagreement."
Lanxing turned his gaze. Among the mermaids under his command, Yu Lang was the most flamboyantly dressed, with an equally flamboyant and wild personality. He had never particularly liked him.
In contrast, Yu Chen had a completely different personality from Yu Lang; he was so low-key he could blend into the dust, focusing only on working hard.
That was why Lanxing had always been close to Yu Chen; he genuinely enjoyed being friends with him. He didn’t like Yu Lang, only looking after him out of duty as a Mermaid Prince to his people.
Yu Lang said, "Prince, please don’t mind my bluntness. I think that since the Princess has given birth to a little princess for you... that’s already incredibly rare at the bottom of the sea."
"As a male, even if there’s conflict, you should just give in to her."
"What’s more, she’s so beautiful. You need to be careful she isn’t stolen away by another mermaid."
Yu Lang swam a cheerful lap and added, "For example, I like her very much!"
"Prince, if she’s really stolen away, you’ll regret it."
Nan Zishi’s radiant smile at Little Fu and her beautiful seven-color tail leaving brilliant trails of light under the sea mesmerized many of the male mermaids.
"What a beautiful mermaid!"
"The Princess is simply too beautiful!!"
Seeing all this, Lanxing still stubbornly said, "What do I care? I don’t care at all."
Just as he spoke, an extraordinarily handsome, crimson-tailed male Royal Merfolk swam over from the distance. The male mermaid actually started showing off his strong muscles in front of Nan Zishi and began a courtship dance.
"The Crown Prince! It’s Crown Prince Mu Yang!"
"Crown Prince Mu Yang is actually performing a courtship ritual for the female master of the young Prince Lanxing."
"Heavens, this is the first time I’ve ever seen Crown Prince Mu Yang perform a courtship ritual."
"It’s not that surprising. We don’t know which sea the Princess is from, but she’s just so beautiful!"
"This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a beautiful female mermaid, too!"
"Anyway, a female can form a pact with multiple male mermaids. It’s not out of line for Crown Prince Mu Yang to want to share a female master with the young Prince Lanxing. Besides, didn’t the young Prince Lanxing have a fight with his Princess Consort?"
Lanxing froze, momentarily forgetting to move.
In the depths of the sea, schools of fish swam by, colorful and magnificent.
When Nan Zishi saw a male mermaid dancing in front of her, she initially just watched with appreciation, her little golden-tailed mermaid cub Little Fu by her side.
But as she kept watching, she started to feel that something was a little off.
The crimson tail kept splashing waves in front of her, performing spiral leaps, and showing off muscles, as if he were flaunting himself.
’This couldn’t be... a courtship dance, could it?’
Goosebumps erupted all over Nan Zishi’s skin!
After the male mermaid finished his dance, he swam elegantly and nobly before her, his gaze extremely eager.
"Hello, I am Mu Yang, Crown Prince of the East Sea Merfolk Clan. May I ask, beautiful mermaid maiden, would you be willing to mate with me?"
Nan Zishi was completely stunned. "..."
’Wha? What the hell????!!!!’
A flash of blue-violet light suddenly appeared in front of Nan Zishi. Lanxing had blocked the mother and daughter, facing his own elder brother. "Big Brother!"
Only then did Mu Yang look at Lanxing, saying excitedly, "Lanxing, move aside! I’ve found a sister-in-law for you!"
Lanxing: "..."
Lanxing stiffened his neck. Even though he was young, he would not back down on this matter.
"Big Brother, she is my female master, and she is Little Fu’s mother!"
Mu Yang: "..."
Mu Yang: "?"
Fish are very gossipy.
The gossip about the Mermaid Royal Family’s affairs spread from one little fish to another.
Chuchen and Luochuan swam over from a distance.
Mermaid Clan Eldest Princess Chuchen, Crown Prince Mu Yang, Second Prince Luochuan, and the Mermaid Clan’s young Prince Lanxing—the Eastern Emperor Royal Family Merfolk were all gathered.
The other mermaids also pretended to work while secretly watching the drama unfold.
Even the whales in the great sea grew quiet, their eyes swiveling toward the Mermaid Royal Family.
’Ooh, gossip! Let’s watch secretly!’
The Mermaid Royal Family had always held themselves in high regard.
Mu Yang and Luochuan had lived for several hundred years without ever bonding with a female, and thus had no offspring.
Chuchen had already taken ten Mermaid Beastmen, but because she didn’t want to give birth, she had no offspring either.
Therefore, the only member of the Mermaid Clan’s next generation was Little Fu, the female cub of the recently-matured Lanxing.
Chuchen had originally just swum over to see her little brother’s female master, but when she saw the seven-color-tailed mermaid Nan Zishi up close, her eyes shone even brighter.
She immediately pushed Mu Yang aside and enthusiastically hugged Nan Zishi!
Chuchen’s enthusiasm didn’t wane as she held Nan Zishi and snuggled up against her.
Nan Zishi: "..." Ah...
’I think I’m being taken advantage of by a beautiful female fish.’
"So beautiful! You’re so beautiful!"
"What’s your name? I like you so much!"
"Forget about my stinky little brothers, let’s bond with each other!" Chuchen planted several loud kisses on Nan Zishi’s face.
Nan Zishi pushed her away. "...Wait, we’re both female."
"What does that matter! I can ask the Witch to turn me into a male fish!" Chuchen said earnestly.
All the other mermaids: "..."
The Mermaid Clan were the overlords of the deep sea, an ancient race with many special forms of witchcraft.
A male fish could not choose to become female, but there was indeed a form of witchcraft that could turn a female into a male.
However, females within the Mermaid Clan were already extremely rare. The male-to-female ratio was as high as one hundred to one!
There were so many males that most of them were bachelors.
To finally have a female, and a Mermaid Princess at that—who wouldn’t treasure her!
But this Mermaid Princess, upon seeing the beautiful Seven-color Mermaid Nan Zishi, had the first reaction of wanting to change her sex!
"No!" Mu Yang, Luochuan, and Lanxing all shouted at the same time.
"Why not! Any beautiful mer-mer-mermaid is fair game to pursue!" Chuchen said, refusing to let go of Nan Zishi.
The corner of Nan Zishi’s mouth twitched. She made a placating gesture to the males, then turned to Chuchen and said, "Wouldn’t it be better if we were best friends? Why be partners?"
Nan Zishi continued, "Look, I already have seven male partners. How many do you have?"
"I have ten," Chuchen answered honestly.
Nan Zishi nodded. "See? The bond between partners isn’t necessarily as strong as the one between best friends."