Xu Yintang estimated the amount of raw materials that had just been transformed into mermaid cocoons by himself and made an objective judgment about the current situation in the village. “I think the village is probably doomed unless that pot simmering underground isn’t made up of the men from the village.”
“Are those men, do they have fish tails?” The dragon asked, his body emitting a faint golden light, his massive body slowly sinking back into the seabed, leaving a translucent figure floating on the surface of the sea.
He was dressed in a robe of the same light gray-blue color that Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai should have worn at the ceremony. His belt fluttered in the wind, standing there alone as if he were a celestial being.
He did not introduce himself, nor did he cause any additional trouble for the few people in front of him who would handle his body later. He didn’t mind how they addressed him either, as he would soon dissipate into nothingness without leaving a trace.
“Fish tails… should they have them?” Xu Yintang shifted from the awkward position hanging on Shi Yuebai to standing on his own tentacle floating board, recalling the broadcast images he had seen earlier with a shrug. “They’ve all been stewed into a pot of soup, so I couldn’t really make out the details.”
Hearing this, the complex expression on the face of the human figure of the dragon became extremely complicated, surpassing Xu Yintang’s understanding. All he could see was the other party couldn’t help but burst into laughter, but the laughter seemed particularly bitter and sorrowful, as if wailing in sorrow.
Not understanding the facial expression didn’t hinder Xu Yintang from continuing the conversation. He politely waited for the other’s emotions to calm down a bit, the laughter not as intense, before continuing the previous topic. “If we were to return A-Jiao’s body to the sea… if you know where her body is, we can manage.”
The figure said, “Since you’ve already tapped into the spiritual spring under the village, things are easy. If I’m guessing correctly, that beast hid her body there, that’s the only way to breed such a village of monsters.”
Perhaps it was the accumulated resentment that had been suppressed for too long, or perhaps it was easy to evoke the desire to confide in someone in Xu Yintang’s gentle and intimate atmosphere. He couldn’t help but reminisce about how beautiful and natural the former Jiaocun Village was, and how kind and melodious the mermaids living there were.
Xu Yintang patiently listened to his nostalgia, then said, “There is still someone in Jiaocun Village now—” He paused for a moment, listening to Third Flora’s real-time recounting of the butterfly’s report, “Now there is only one person in Jiaocun Village who hasn’t turned into a monster, and we need to keep her alive.”
“No, you can’t!”
The figure, upon hearing that they intended to keep someone alive, suddenly became agitated. The semi-transparent figure swayed unsteadily, growling lowly, “We must destroy Jiaocun Village! Everyone, everyone must be killed! They are monsters! Monsters!”
“Hush—calm down, calm down, listen to me, she won’t turn into that kind of monster,” Xu Yintang probably knew why he was so insistent on exterminating the people of Jiaocun Village. “Those who have already become that kind of monster are almost all dead, the rest of us will handle it, but we need to keep this person alive to deal with the inheritance issues of Jiaocun Village.”
The other party was about to get excited again, Shi Yuebai frowned, directly interrupting his emotional outburst. Pointing at Xu Yintang and then at himself, there was a hint of fierceness in his tone, resembling someone demanding payment of a debt, “We are hired to do a job. If you kill people, who will pay us?!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Po sbe vlf, la’r atf fcv bo la, yea kf ralii cffv ab fja.”
Ktf oluegf cfnfg fzqfmafv Vtl Tefyjl, ktb mbeiv reqqgfrr tlw klat obgmf, ab yf rb ragjlutaobgkjgv. Mbg j wbwfca, tf kjr rqffmtifrr.
Ycmf atf fwbalbcr jgf lcafggeqafv, la’r tjgv ab gfujlc wbwfcaew, frqfmljiis rlcmf atlr lrref bo ijybg kjufr yfobgf jcv joafg vfjat tjr cbatlcu ab vb klat tlw, ifjnlcu tlw miefifrr jybea tbk ab gfrqbcv. Cii tf mbeiv vb kjr wewyif, “Zs mbiifmalbc… lr nfgs njiejyif…”
Xu Yintang couldn’t help but shake his head at his words, seeing him as someone who didn’t know the value of rice and oil in his own home. He sighed along with Shi Yuebai’s words, “We’re both newcomers. If we ruin our employer’s entire family on the second mission and then try to sell some valuable goods, it’ll ruin our reputation. How are we going to get more work in the future?”
His gentle and handsome face was more suitable for displaying a disapproving expression than Shi Yuebai’s, with a hint of sorrow at the corners of his eyes, exuding a sense of weariness from being worn down by life.
In this regard, Shi Yuebai wasn’t quite adept; no matter how furrowed his brows, he only appeared fierce, as if he could overturn fate in the next second.
Hmm, except when he’s been bullied into tears in bed, that’s a different story.
Xu Yintang calmly spoke to the dragon, “The child left behind is still very young, with no trace of the blood that turns into monsters. You can rest assured, my cub never makes mistakes in this regard. Once we receive the payment, we’ll send her far away, and the rest of the monsters, along with the land of Jiaocun Village, will be cleaned up. Is that acceptable?”
Leaving only one person who won’t turn into a monster, plus if negotiations fail, there’s actually no chance of winning, let alone anything else. The dragon pondered for a moment, nodded in agreement to Xu Yintang’s conditions, and explained, “I don’t insist on total annihilation, but as you’ve seen, those monsters… I don’t want A-Jiao to see her children transformed into that… that appearance…”
As soon as Xu Yintang heard this preamble, he immediately sensed that a long and melodramatic story was about to begin and promptly said, “It’s getting late, let’s go to the village first and bring A-Jiao’s body out as soon as possible.”
If he wanted to listen to a story, he’d rather have tea and snacks, comfortably nestled in the pillows on Little Darling’s raft.
Shi Yuebai saw through Xu Yintang’s lazy thoughts like an open book, agreeing with him, “The village is now attracting guests for the elixir. If they discover that people in the village are missing, it will definitely cause chaos. Let’s finish things quickly to avoid further complications.”
Whether or not to listen to the melodramatic story from eight hundred years ago didn’t matter to him; he could probably guess the gist of it, but Xu Yintang had just fought a draining battle and ingested so many raw materials forcibly. What he needed most now wasn’t to chill out at sea but to go back and rest properly.
A-Jiao was indeed a universal card for dealing with the dragon. Once she was brought up, everything fell into place.
Little Darling’s tentacles transformed into a comfortable shape for Mom to lean against, while the tentacles trailing in the sea parted the water smoothly and swiftly headed towards the village.
Except for only accepting Xu Yintang as a passenger, the ride experience is not inferior to Shi Yuebai’s black-tech sea, land and air passenger ship.
As soon as the adults finished talking, Second Treasure immediately jumped from Mom’s arms to his lap, extending his claws to touch Xu Yintang’s lower abdomen, knowing that there were delicious things stored inside that would soon become nourishment for Mom’s new baby.
Second Treasure didn’t like this new sibling at all, even showing malice, but some instinct of the species restrained him from taking any action to prevent the birth of the new cub, and even aroused a stronger protective instinct towards Mom more than usual.
Just like when Third Flora was born, although Second Treasure couldn’t muster an ounce of brotherly affection for the thing that took away Mom’s attention, only intense rejection and competition, he just let Third Flora be born peacefully.
Now, for this unborn fourth cub, Second Treasure had this reaction, and so did Third Flora.
We will protect Mom well, let that annoying little sibling be born, and then…
Shove to the side! Step into the mud! Don’t even think about taking away a bit of Mom’s love!
Xu Yintang flicked Second Treasure, who was unaware that the tips of his paws were exposed, as a warning, but he did not force them to accept the new member of the family in a friendly manner.
This is how the cubs interact—competition and rejection are instincts for survival, even if the semblance of kindness shown is just a disguise to please their mother.
As long as the cubs can manage their level of competition and rivalry on their own, Xu Yintang doesn’t intend to interfere.
Second Treasure, after being flicked, immediately retracted his claw tip, trying to make amends by rubbing against Xu Yintang’s lower abdomen, blinking his five big eyes to ensure that he didn’t leak any hint of malice towards the new sibling.
The butterflies in the shadows became even quieter, with only a few flying closest to Xu Yintang’s feet landing on his shoulders, whispering softly the words that only obedient and well-behaved cubs would understand.
Wuu… Third Flora will take good care of the new little brother…
But, but Mom… can’t be biased…
This little crybaby, for some reason, imagined a scene of being neglected and couldn’t hold back the tears, crying loudly, so much so, that the dragon, who had no intention of getting involved in this family affair, asked, “Why are you crying?”
Xu Yintang pinched Second Treasure’s mouth, who was pretending to cry, to stop the fake crying, and replied, “He doesn’t want the new little brother, so he’s throwing a tantrum.”
As he said this, Little Darling’s tentacles explored around, patting Second Treasure and then touching Third Flora, before finally carefully touching Xu Yintang’s lower abdomen with the tip of its tentacles, filled with anticipation for becoming a big brother again.
New little brother!
Little Darling will definitely be a good big brother!
Author’s Note –
The reason why Little Darling is so calm is because it’s the mother’s designated big brother. Its family status defaults to being higher than the younger brothers.
Just like in a nest, where Xu Yintang is at the top of the pyramid, Little Darling is in a stable second position, naturally above the third-ranked younger brothers.
But for the younger brothers who are also in the third position… competition is instinctual.
After all, in an alternate timeline where Mother Xu Yingtang is completely eroded by alienation, cubs that fail to compete and aren’t strong enough are indeed eaten by other cubs.
Sugar you’re so rude to the elderly 😂
My cub ranking currently is:1. Little Darling2. Third Flora
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n. Second Treasure
Curious to see where the new one ranks.
I wonder what the new cub’s name will be!
Hear me out… fourth fish
Why do I see that happening? 😭
+1, Mommy Tang has some very straight forward names😅
Seems…very likely. I’m thinking angler fish
Awwwwwwwww Little Darling is mum’s padded jacket!!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING AWESOME!!!
😂little darling is the best big brother
Thank you for the chapter🧡🧡🧡
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚