Chapter 2172: Chapter 2120: The Side No One Knows

Zu An’s face heated up. He'd actually forgotten about that! He quickly turned around.

“You'd better not use your divine senses to peek at me,” Shang Hongyu said teasingly from behind him.

“Alright, alright. Are you going to wash up or not?” Zu An replied in annoyance.

“I was kidding. I don’t need to take off my clothes. Sigh, sometimes, you really are like a pure little boy. I really wonder how you ended up getting the reputation of being a playboy.” Shang Hongyu’s pretty laugh filled the air. Her mood had clearly improved after she got the opportunity to move through the sea freely.

Zu An turned around when he heard that. Sure enough, Shang Hongyu was still fully dressed, but she jumped straight into the water and fully submerged herself with a twist of her waist. Zu An was stunned. He quickly expanded the range of his screening barrier by more than a mile to give her more room to move around in.

Just then, there was a splash, and a mermaid leaped out from the water like a dolphin.

Shang Hongyu was quite different from before. Her upper body was incredibly beautiful. She was no longer dressed in the plain clothing she'd worn at the restaurant, but rather a piece of garment that resembled both a suit of armor and a swimsuit made of red scales. However, it only covered her chest and exposed a large amount of milky white skin. She had delicate collarbones and a slender waist, which made her look just like a young lady. Only her deep cleavage exposed that she was already an extremely mature woman.

Even so, Zu An’s eyes were fixated on her lower body. Her legs had already disappeared without a trace, now replaced by a large, beautiful fish tail. Under the sunlight’s radiance, every scale shone like rubies. Unlike Shang Liuyu’s sky blue color, Shang Hongyu was mainly red. She was fiery and gorgeous.

“Do you like what you’re seeing?” Shang Hongyu asked as she wandered unhurriedly through the water. After swimming back and forth a few times, she returned to thesurface. She propped her chin up on her arms, and her beautiful tail swayed leisurely in the water. The droplets on her cheeks were like pearls under the sunlight.

“I do,” Zu An said with sincere praise. She really was beautiful, and her current mermaid form gave him an even greater visual shock.

“Is this the first time you’ve seen a mermaid? Has little sis never shown you before?” When she saw the shock in his eyes, Shang Hongyu felt quite proud of herself. Which beautiful person didn’t want others to acknowledge their beauty, let alone the fact that this was no ordinary man at all?

“I already said that Liuyu and I were only friends,” Zu An said in annoyance. He had actually encountered an ancient mermaid queen in a secret dungeon, but after all, that one had already died. How could she compare to the lively living one in front of him?

“Haha, then I’ll try to find a chance to show you again in the future.” Shang Hongyu did a turn. She swam leisurely on the water surface while looking at the man in the sky, calling out, “Do you want to come down for a swim too? It feels really good.”

Zu An shook his head. Even though a sea this beautiful was a bit tempting, the other person's status was special. It wasn’t appropriate for them to bathe together.

“Tsk, what is a grown man like you getting all embarrassed for? Just what are you thinking about? The sea is so big, and it’s just swimming together,” Shang Hongyu said with an ambiguous smile.

Zu An said impatiently, “You’re acting way too different from when we first met.”

“How so?” Shang Hongyu asked curiously. She didn't bother inviting him in anymore.

“At first, you were really reserved and dignified, giving off a virtuous and warm feeling. That was how the other customers described their queen too. Now, you seem a bit...” Zu An immediately stopped. He didn’t know how to describe it.

“A bit flirtatious?” Shang Hongyu harrumphed with a frown.

“Not necessarily.” Zu An chuckled. “A bit daring, much more fiery and passionate than I had imagined.”

“That mouth of yours is pretty sweet indeed. No wonder so many women like you.” Shang Hongyu’s ice-cold face finally seemed to melt. “Who says that a virtuous and warm queen can’t be fiery and passionate too?”

“Uh...” Zu An was now left at a loss for words.

“That’s just what you men think. You all probably wish for every woman to be sweet-tempered and reserved, to the point that they won’t even take a single step outside of the rules, and yet you yourselves love to go skirt-chasing and tease all kinds of pretty women.”

Zu An’s expression became strange. It seemed that the Dragon King’s constant playboy behaviors had left the queen with a lot of resentment.

Shang Hongyu looked at Zu An and said, “I didn’t know who you were, so of course I’d treat you like everyone else. But now that I know who you are and we’re all our own people, of course you get to see my real nature.”

Zu An suddenly seemed to understand a bit when he looked at the queen's beautiful red figure. It seemed that Shang Hongyu had also been a young lady full of liveliness, someone who dared to love and dared to hate. But eventually, once she joined the Dragon Palace and became the queen of the Ocean races, she had been forced to follow the palace’s rules, and had no choice but to face everyone with that mask. After all these years, she had been really successful, and everyone in the Ocean races praised her for being a virtuous queen. But who knew what she was really feeling inside? It was only now that something happened to the Dragon King, pushing her to flee for her life, that she was able to drop her usual act and completely return to her true self.

When he thought of that, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pity. He said, “Your highness really must have felt wronged all these years.”

“You’re calling me 'your highness' like a stranger again.” Even though that was what Shang Hongyu said, she was actually really happy, because she could feel the admiration in his expression. She immediately felt as if she was chatting with an intimate friend. Her tail suddenly patted the water surface to draw the attention of the man in the sky as she asked, “Do you and Liuyu really not share any romantic feelings?”

“What are you suddenly asking this for?” Zu An asked curiously.

“It’s nothing much...” Shang Hongyu smiled and entered the water again. She swam around happily.

Zu An was telling himself not to look at her disrespectfully, but in the end, he still couldn't help but give that faintly discernible figure in the ocean another look.

Beautiful things should be admired in the first place. Yeah, that’s right.

“Are you really not coming down?”

“Nah.”

“I won’t tell Liuyu.”

Zu An was speechless.

“The Dragon King won’t find out either.”

“Are you really talking about swimming at this point?”

“Heheh~”

Soft and gentle laughter continued to fill the air. It sounded like an elegant instrument, a sound that was difficult to forget.

...

After who knew how much time had passed, Shang Hongyu swayed her tail in the water, and then rushed out. A sparkling curtain of water appeared around her to block Zu An’s sight. Then, she began to rapidly spin. The beautiful tail turned into long and slender legs, and the red scales gradually faded, turning into a red dress that wrapped around her. A ribbon was tied around her waist, making her figure look even more graceful and elegant.

Zu An continued to nod inwardly. This was an outfit that matched her more. Now, she no longer had the crude air of a working-class woman from the restaurant, nor did she have the delicate appearance of the legendary queen. Instead, she had a valiant and formidable air, with no lack of tender beauty within.

“It’s been so long since I’ve felt so comfortable.” Shang Hongyu gradually sorted out her clammy hair. Since she was being pursued, she had always tried to rush herself when she entered the water; it was nothing like her current condition, in which she had been able to completely relax and enjoy the feeling of the sea on every inch of her skin.

“Are we returning to the cave now?” Zu An asked.

“I’m not going back. Why would we go to that shoddy place?”

“Makes sense. Then how about we go straight to the Dragon Palace? I can carry you while flying, so you just need to show me the way,” Zu An proposed. “Which way?”

However, Shang Hongyu said, “We're going to the port to ride the ship.”

Zu An was confused, asking, “Didn’t you say that we didn’t need that ship anymore?”

After all, at first, he'd been planning to take it because he didn’t know the way. He could only follow the way everyone else took. But now that he had Shang Hongyu with him, why would he still choose such a slow method?

“I changed my mind, alright?” Shang Hongyu smiled sweetly. “Don’t you know that women are the best at that?”

Zu An frowned and said, “I really am in a rush to save someone.”

“It still isn’t time for the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons to open, so it’s useless even if you go there earlier,” Shang Hongyu said to appease him. “Besides, didn’t I say that even though you can look and sound like the Dragon King, your bearing and behavior are still too far off? We can use this journey to train you.”

When Zu An thought about how the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons wasn’t open yet, he realizedthere was indeed no need to rush. “I guess it’s fine. I’ll just listen to you this time.”

...

Then, the two flew along the shore. When they were about to arrive, Zu An gave the glamorous Shang Hongyu a look, asking, “Aren’t you going to change your appearance? You’ll end up causing a huge commotion if you look like this.”

“It’s fine. I don’t want to keep being that ugly anymore. You don’t know how gross I felt whenever I looked at all those bumps in the mirror,” Shang Hongyu said in disgust.

Zu An was speechless. “Then how did you even endure it for so long? From my perspective, it looked as if you were actually kind of having fun.”

Shang Hongyu rolled her eyes. “That was because I had no choice. It was a matter of life and death, and I had the secrets of the fake Dragon King too. I couldn't just let myself die. But now that you’re here, I don’t need to suffer like that anymore.”

Zu An was speechless. He really couldn't figure out just what kind of logic she was using.

Even so, she had already showed that appearance here before, so using it again wasn’t too appropriate. When he realized that, he took out a thin mask and handed it to her, saying, “Put this on then. Even though it’s not pretty, it won’t be ugly either.”

Whether one was too pretty or too ugly, it would leave a strong impression. This mask would turn someone into a completely normal person, one that others would forget after a single look. Now that Zu An thought about it, this was the spoils he had received from that bandit boss in Brightmoon City, and yet it had helped him quite a bit. He was pretty thankful to that... Hm? What was that Blackwind Stockade guy surnamed? Chen, or was it something else? Forget it, it’s not important.

Shang Hongyu took it from him. “Hm? This mask is pretty interesting. Is this what you were wearing yesterday?” She put the mask onto her face while speaking, and her stunning features quickly became ordinary. Then, she looked at Zu An with a smile, asking, “Did you use this mask before? Does this count as an indirect kiss then?”

Zu An was stunned. Why did he always feel as if he was being harassed lately? She seemed to enjoy it to the point where she would never get tired of it. But this was Shang Liuyu’s older sister, so he could only let her have her fun.

“Oh my, I was just kidding! Don’t be so serious.” Shang Hongyu spun around in front of him before asking, “So? My disguise should be fine now, right?”

“We need you to change your clothes. Your ordinary face and such pretty clothes clearly don’t match,” Zu An said after giving her a look.

“I’ll just take it as you praising me~” Shang Hongyu spun a few more times; the vibrant red of her dress disappeared, and it turned into a simple and common outfit. “What about now?”

Zu An was a bit surprised. “How are your clothes changing like this? Why does it turn into something else with just a spin?”

“This is my magic treasure. It can change into all kinds of clothes. Otherwise, how do you think I was able to avoid being caught after that bounty was placed on me?” Shang Hongyu sounded quite proud of herself.

“Can you give me one set of these clothes? I can trade another treasure for it.” Zu An thought to himself that his ‘Pin Ru’s Wardrobe’ just happened to be lacking clothes. It would always be helpful to have a few more sets.

But Shang Hongyu’s cheeks turned a bit red, and she replied, “I can’t give you that, or else I’ll end up being completely naked!”

Zu An was stunned.

When she saw his expression, Shang Hongyu laughed loudly. “Silly little brother, these clothes are made from mermaid scales. Even though they can turn into all kinds of clothes, they're still only a single set in the end. If I give them to you, then won’t I have nothing left?”

Zu An was a bit embarrassed. “Sorry, I really didn’t know and was too rude.”

“That’s not a big deal at all. You didn’t do it on purpose.” Shang Hongyu moved closer. Her bright eyes revealed a curious look as she asked, “Aren’t you a veteran playboy? Why do I feel more and more like you’re a pure and innocent little boy?”

Zu An was speechless.

“I was just messing with you. Do you think there’s anything else I need to fix?” Shang Hongyu asked with a serious expression. She didn’t want there to be any holes in her appearance on their trip to the Dragon Palace.

As he examined her entire body, Zu An propped up his chin with his hand. In the end, his eyes landed on her astonishing waist and bottom, saying, “You need to conceal your figure too, or else what happened last time might happen again.”

Shang Hongyu couldn't help but grit her teeth when she remembered that experience, saying, “That damned Hai Daniu really was despicable. If it had been in the past, I would have already made him regret being born in this world.”

“The world always praises the queen for being gentle and virtuous. Now, it seems as if that’s not necessarily the case,” Zu An said with a laugh.

“It wouldn't be a big deal if it had been for other reasons, since they didn’t know, but that guy was just too despicable. He’s not worthy of sympathy.” Shang Hongyu rolled her eyes. “Besides, everyone in the world says that whenever you go to a new place, you sleep with someone new. Humans, fiends, female warriors, distinguished daughters; all of them, you’ve slept with. Is it really true?” She had heard gossip surrounding the regent in the restaurant too. Now, just thinking about it made her want to laugh.

Zu An was speechless. He didn’t know what to say.

Shagn Hongyu said in a vexed tone, “My figure isn’t something I don’t want to change, but that’s just how it is. There’s no way to change it... I don’t know any transformation skills either. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been that gap in my appearance.”

“How about this?” After thinking to himself for a bit, Zu An took out two buns from the Brilliant Glass Bead and shoved them into her clothes. That way, her soft and thin waist immediately swelled up. He nodded and said, “It’s solved. That’s more like it."

Shang Hongyu jumped back in alarm, and she clenched her clothes tightly. “Don’t you know that guys and girls should keep their distance? How can you just shove things in other people’s clothes?”

Zu An said in annoyance, “I didn’t even take off your clothes. Besides, you were wearing much less when you were swimming in the ocean. What, now you suddenly know how to be scared?”

She needs to be disciplined a bit, or else she’ll never stop harassing me.

After her initial alarm, Shang Hongyu returned to normal. She said, “So it was revenge. But I’m a woman. I can tease you, but you can’t cross the line, or else I’ll tell Liuyu.”

Zu An was speechless.

This woman’s logic seems to be quite self-serving.

...While they were chatting, the two of them had already arrived at the restaurant from before. Compared to before, there were many more guests, and they all looked at the two of them unkindly. More eyes were on Shang Hongyu. They weren’t convinced when they saw her face, but when they examined her chest and waist, they pulled back their gazes.

“I really should thank those buns of yours, or else there might have been more trouble,” Shang Hongyu secretly said. She sounded quite glad.

“Yeah. The atmosphere here is different from yesterday,” Zu An replied.

Soon after, the two arrived at the bar counter. They looked at the dispirited and downcast turtle bartender and asked, “Are there still tickets to the Jadewave Region?”

The Jadewave Region was where the Dragon Palace was. Normally, anyone who went to the Dragon Palace had to first ride the ships at the designated ports to the Jadewave Region before anything else.

“There are. One room is one heaven-grade ki stone,” the turtle bartender replied lazily.

“It’s that expensive?” Zu An frowned. It wasn’t that he couldn't afford it, but it was much more expensive than he thought. He didn’t want to be taken advantage of.