Chapter 63: I Am a Mermaid, Not a Jiaoren

"Force it out?" Mu Qingyun raised an eyebrow, surprised by his words. "How do you force it out? Won't using fire just burn her to ashes?"

"I will give her medicine to protect her body," Kazel replied lazily, lifting his chin. "Your fire will only burn her water ability. Water and fire abilities are natural opposites — the stronger the fire, the purer the water it forces out. Your fire ability is powerful enough to ignore the natural countereffect. The water ability burned out by your fire will be the purest."

Hearing this, Mu Qingyun wasn't too surprised. She had long suspected Kazel was only being nice because she had something he wanted.

Well, it was better to have it out in the open — it saved her from staying on guard.

"Okay," she nodded without hesitation. "I want pearls. Cry fifty of them for me as payment for this."

Kazel gave a helpless twitch of his mouth. "What do you take me for? You think I can just cry pearls for you?"

"A mermaid," Mu Qingyun shrugged confidently. "A mermaid's tears can be pearls, right?"

"You're illiterate," Kazel snapped with a bitter laugh, no hesitation in his mockery. "Those who cry pearls are Jiaoren. I'm a mermaid — I only sing, I don't shed pearls."

At that, she glanced sideways at Kazel with clear disdain, deliberately dragging out a sarcastic "Oh."

"Well, then sing me a song — no, ten songs — as your collateral."

"So fond of me, and you insist on hearing me sing?" Kazel raised his eyebrows, eyes sparkling with teasing. He even cleared his throat dramatically.

"Not now," Mu Qingyun quickly covered his mouth with her hand. After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "Is it rare for mermaids to sing?"

"Yes," Kazel answered, "mermaids generally don't sing unless it's for someone they love."

He didn't say the last part aloud, but silently added it in his mind.

The warmth from Kazel's breath brushed her left palm, and she frowned, quickly pulling back and subtly wiping her sleeve.

"That's good," she said, looking down at the steel bars arranged on the ground. Using her hands to prop herself up, she added, "Hurry up and fix these in place. When the time is up, the live stream will automatically turn on."

"Got it." Kazel nodded and picked up the bars, helping her secure the important points of the house.

They worked with the clock — once the hour was up, they quickly closed the stream. Repeating this several times, they exhausted all chances to close the stream for the day.

After a whole night's work, the house was finally reinforced.

Coincidentally, the live stream turned on automatically then.

[Finally it's on! I've only seen Mu Ge's live stream as a black screen, I'm fed up. What is he doing? Why won't he show us?]

[Wait, is that... Kazel next to Mu Ge?]

[No way, have they been together this whole time?]

[Guys, Kazel's stream has also been black. I can't see anything!]

[Whoa, is this the house Mu Ge was building? They've been here all this time?]

[Ahhhhh, what have they been doing here? I hope it's not what I think.]

[Of course not! Two guys, what could they possibly be doing? Stop imagining things. Maybe they just ran into each other.]

...

Kazel glanced at the comments on the screen and chuckled lightly. He shook his head before looking up at Mu Qingyun.

"Shall we go?"

"Let's go."

They stepped outside. Mu Qingyun pinched a handful of orange peels in her palm and casually put them into her storage bag.

"I'm going back to the cave. I won't move her for now. Wait for my signal," she said softly, glancing at Kazel.

He nodded and smiled before heading toward the sea.

[Are they going their separate ways?]

[They definitely have something going on. Look, the streams closed at the same time, and just as the streams reopened, they were together. Now they barely spoke and parted ways again.]

[Is anyone else wondering who "she" is? What does Mu Ge mean by not moving her for now and waiting for a signal? What are they scheming?]

...

Dawn was breaking when Mu Qingyun looked excitedly at the nearby cave.

She had accomplished a big project overnight, and with the deal made with Kazel, she felt energized rather than exhausted.

Suddenly, a soft sobbing sound reached her ears.

Though they say one shouldn't speak of monsters or spirits, a sudden woman's crying this early in the morning, so pitiful, inevitably stirred uneasy thoughts.

Frowning, she instinctively pulled out a dagger from her waist and quietly moved toward the source of the sound.

Behind a pink figure, she found herself inexplicably familiar.

"What are you crying for?"

"Ah!" Bai Feifei, her face still smeared with fake tears she painted herself, was startled and screamed uncontrollably.

Though she was supposed to be guarding Mu Qingyun and had planned to cry only when Mu Qingyun returned, the sudden voice behind startled anyone.

"Bai Feifei?" Mu Qingyun frowned helplessly. What trouble was this woman up to this time?

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Before Bai Feifei could answer, Xiong Ruoyou's voice came from nearby — the sound arriving before she did.

Damn.

A cold glint flashed in Mu Qingyun's eyes. She had hoped for a moment alone with Kazel, but the black bear was already awake.

[Hey, Bai Feifei — why is she here?]

[No idea, she's crying outside Mu Ge's cave. Mu Ge has good nerves — I'd be scared stiff.]

"Bai Feifei?"

The four who ran out were also surprised to see Bai Feifei.

Xiong Ruoyou was puzzled. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a fight with Deng Yijie. I don't want to go back," Bai Feifei pouted, eyes fixed on Mu Qingyun, not sparing a glance at the others.

"So?" Mu Qingyun raised an eyebrow, asking calmly.

Hearing this, Bai Feifei shyly lowered her head.

"I want to come with you."

"What?"

Mu Qingyun hadn't even processed that yet, but Xiong Ruoyou was already on edge.

Come on, all women, and this one's intentions are clear as day to her.