What Matters Is You— Not The State Of You

Everything goes silent. No one dares to move after Xie Lian yells his accusations towards the Emperor. Jun Wu glares at him for a while, but when he doesn't hear any doubtful comments from behind, he smiles.

“Xie Lian is so sick he got delirious,” Jun Wu mocks, but it seemingly goes unnoticed by anyone but Xie Lian.

“I— I'm not!” Xie Lian doesn't give up, even when he's feeling like he's slowly suffocating. He looks up at the guards gathered behind Jun Wu, desperately trying to catch eye contact with someone. “Please… y-you have to… believe me! They… they are cephalopods!”

He sees the uncertainty in Feng Xin's eyes, among the utter shock. When it comes to others, they seem to be lost in the situation as well. Only Pei Ming keeps up a serious face, frowning as he listens to Xie Lian’s desperate pleas.

The claret-scaled merman approaches the Emperor slowly, tightening the grip on his spear.

“The accusations you are throwing are ones of great seriousness,” Pei Ming says, looking Xie Lian up and down from behind Jun Wu’s shoulders. Xie Lian’s tail and fins convulse in pain every now and then, even though the merman tries to stay strong. “Are you sure you don't want to go back on this statement?”

Xie Lian shakes his head, feeling like he's about to faint. Jun Wu’s gaze burns his skin, but Xie Lian couldn't be bothered by it when the invisible tentacles of venom are trying to choke him to death. Hugging his neck doesn't help much either, but it surely draws Pei Ming’s attention.

“What's with your neck? You keep massaging it and you can't speak properly,” Pei Ming points out, stealing a short glance at Jun Wu. The Emperor seems as calm as ever.

“He put… a co-collar on… me, from… his v—,” Xie Lian tries to click, but his voice gets weaker and weaker.

“Enough,” says Jun Wu, waving his hand. “Let's take him to my chambers.”

“Wait, Emperor. I want to examine him.”

Jun Wu seems taken aback by Pei Ming’s lack of immediate obedience. However, it doesn't show on his face much, apart from a small twitch of his left eye.

“There's nothing to examine, general Pei. Medic Elders will take care of him when we take him back,” Jun Wu speaks up again, signing to the two of the guards that Xie Lian suspects of being tentacle monsters as well. “Let’s hurry, we shouldn't leave our guests alone for too long.”

The two undercover monsters approach Xie Lian quickly, as he gives Pei Ming the last desperate look.

The claret-scaled merman sighs and then whispers to himself something along the lines of ‘I'm going to regret this later’, before he swims in between the guards and Xie Lian.

The two stop in their tracks, confused and a little scared. They know better than to pick a fight with one of the strongest mermen in the pod. They turn to Jun Wu, who finally loses some of his cool, frowning in anger.

“Are you doubting me, general?” The Emperor asks, visibly displeased with how the situation has unfolded.

“I haven't, until the Emperor refused to let me examine Xie Lian’s neck. Now it does seem suspicious. Aren't you concerned about this one's well-being, when he's visibly in pain and can barely speak? It doesn't look normal to me.”

Pei Ming swims closer to Xie Lian to brush his neck with his fingers. When he feels the small, almost unnoticeable bump of the collar, his eyes shoot open in shock. He quickly gathers his composure and turns to face Jun Wu.

“However… his symptoms do look like an octopus venom poisoning to me.”

Jun Wu, for the first time in front of everyone, appears furious. Pei Ming’s expression tells him all he needs to know - this merman cannot be fooled anymore. Unluckily for the Emperor, most of the guards trust Pei Ming unconditionally, being involved with him in different actions, hunts and battles through the years. He knows there's no more acting now.

“Very well,” the Emperor says, as his golden tail slowly unfolds into eight, terrifying tentacles, earning fearful gasps and clicks from the unaware mermen around him. “Let us see if you live long enough to witness my venom killing him.”

The other monsters waste no time. The commotion breaks out immediately behind Jun Wu when the unsuspecting mermen get attacked by their fellow guards. Feng Xin is one of the few who don't get bitten instantly, however he still struggles to parry the vicious force of two monsters who attack him at once.

Pei Ming gets a better hold of his spear and charges at Jun Wu, leaving Xie Lian behind. However, before he can reach the Emperor, who waits for him with a mad smile on his lips, something bursts from the sea bed, forming a wall between the claret-scaled merman and the monster.

Xie Lian blinks a few times before he clearly sees what's happening. Even then, he can't believe his eyes.

There's hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny, colourful jellyfish, forming a living barrier. They surround every tentacle monster and attach to them, stinging the enemies. Xie Lian has no idea where they came from, but he doesn't get to think about it for long, when he sees more jellyfish-like creatures resembling Yin Yu making their way from the great hall, travelling above the rock formations of the capital to avoid getting into the center of the battle.

Now Xie Lian understands why it was none other than Yin Yu who was appointed to rescue him - the jellyfish was simply… the least standing out among his kin.

The jellyfish-like creatures come in all colours of the rainbow, radiating their aura in the water around them. In the middle, clearly leading the group, travels the biggest, turquoise blue jellyfish, most likely a female. Her hat is almost transparent, with greenish emblems blending into the light blue of her skin. Her hair and cinda are way longer than those of Yin Yu, probably causing her to be more dangerous but also unforgettable.

The rest of the group isn't as impressive in terms of the cinda size, however the amount of different colours would make one dizzy if marveled over for too long.

The leader of the jellyfish swims up to Xie Lian and Pei Ming, reaching out to the white-scaled merman’s neck with her slim fingers painted blue.

“Don't be afraid,” she says, her tone so calm and kind that if Xie Lian had any doubts about her intentions, they evaporate immediately. “I can neutralize the beast’s venom for a while, but the pain will come back soon.”

The merman nods, closing his eyes when he finally feels a hint of relief after the jellyfish’s hand catches on his invisible collar. He mumbles a quiet ‘thank you’, right when he feels somebody put their arms on his shoulders to spin him around.

Xie Lian comes face to face with Mu Qing’s worried expression as he quickly examines the white-scaled merman's neck.

“Thank you, Master Yushi,” Mu Qing clicks, but the jellyfish-like woman only nods slightly with a smile, turning around to the wall of tiny jellyfish that slowly gets distributed by the tentacle monsters’ desperate attempts of fighting them off.

“I will aid the merfolk here. I hope I can count on you for providing the antidote for those of my kin that suffer injuries from this encounter,” Master Yushi says to Mu Qing, waving her hand as she ascends above the tiny jellyfish to let her cinda fall on some of the tentacle monsters.

Xie Lian isn't sure who Master Yushi is or how Mu Qing got to know her. However, it seems like it's all part of a plan, so he doesn't question anything until the purple-scaled merman looks around, clearly looking for something.

“Where is that damn shark boy when you need him?” Mu Qing curses. “Yizhen! Yin Yu!”

As soon as the merman yells, the two creatures he mentioned emerge slowly from between the rock formation that Xie Lian sent them into. Some of Yin Yu’s cinda are tangled and he's still trying to untie them, but the shark seems fine, apart from the burn marks all over his usual black stripes.

Only then it occurs to Xie Lian that by shoving them together so harshly, he not only caused them to tangle together, but also made Yin Yu sting the shark all over.

“I'm so sorry, I didn't think this through,” he says as he approaches the poor jellyfish and the shark-mer. “Are you both alright?”

“I'm fine, shixiong’s cinda are nothing to me, I have thick skin,” Yizhen assures, smiling at the white-scaled merman. This smile drops quickly though when he remembers his shixiong did get affected by their collision. “Shixiong is going to be alright too, he just needs more time to untangle himself in peace.”

Yin Yu nods, still preoccupied with carefully working on untangling himself.

“Xie Lian,” Mu Qing interrupts, bringing his friend's attention back to himself. “Go with Yizhen, he will quickly take you to Hua Cheng’s territory. The siren is still the only one able to reach the algae and it's going to be essential to get you back to full health, but also for anyone injured here.”

“Come with me, we will bring more together,” Xie Lian proposes, but Mu Qing shakes his head.

“Master Yushi said they won't last long. It's only a matter of time when I will have to fight too. Go and come back with that siren of yours, if he's willing to help us.”

Xie Lian nods, biting his lips.

So much has happened. He got to know of so many dark secrets about not only the tentacle monsters but also himself. How will he even look the siren in the eyes, knowing that the blood of the kin that killed San Lang’s mother circulates in his veins? Maybe the siren won't even be willing to talk to the pitiful half-breed he is?

What if San Lang will not care about him anymore? What if he's going to hate him forever just like the monsters?

At this thought Xie Lian’s heart stings more than any venom collar ever could.

“Don't overthink it. He's waiting for you,” Mu Qing adds, calming his friend down. “Now, go.”

“Thank you, Mu Qing,” Xie Lian smiles weakly, deeply wishing the other merman was right. “I will be back shortly. You can count on us."

Mu Qing nods and turns around to help Feng Xin in the fight. The brown-scaled merman is struggling visibly against the tentacle monsters who are clearly grouping to target the strongest merfolk now. The surprise attack from Mu Qing catches them off guard and grants the two mermen an upper hand in the fight for a while.

“You two should hurry up,” Yin Yu says, distracting Xie Lian from watching the fight unfold. When the merman turns back to the jellyfish and shark, he quickly nods. “We will need the antidote soon. Please, come back quickly and in one piece.”

Xie Lian agrees quietly and looks at Quan Yizhen, who has already turned his back to the merman, hinting on being willing to give him a ride. The merman quickly swims up to the shark-mer and wraps his arms around Yizhen’s neck, trying to get into the most comfortable position to travel, but the shark’s tough backfin is being a little bit of an obstacle. Before he can settle though, Yizhen takes off with an impressive speed, swimming closer to the surface to better see the passage of time.

Traveling like this with San Lang was way more pleasant.

However, they both don't care about pleasantries right now. The only important thing is to get the merman into the siren's territory as soon as possible. Knowing it's going to be quite a long swim, Xie Lian closes his eyes to prevent them from getting flooded with the upcoming water at such a high speed.

Even if he didn't close them, he still probably wouldn't notice the hint of golden shimmer following them in the darkness of the sea floor. The masters of hiding rarely let themselves be seen anyway.

***

Dun dun dun~~ I'm really sorry for the wait, everyone! I hope you liked this chapter, it's quite long for me, but I wanted to make up for the time when I was buried in the uni work!