Chapter 2428: Don’t Tell Me You’re a

“Anger, hatred, and ultimately a complete war with the Fiend races that would not end until the other side was thoroughly crushed.” The Mermaid Queen’s expression changed.

There had never been a shortage of people with bad ulterior motives around her, so that was why she understood human nature extremely well. Not everyone in this world was rational. Many people would be affected by all kinds of emotions and act unreasonably.

At first, perhaps, there would still be some people who knew what was really going on. But if more and more people came to believe that it was the Fiend races doing these things, the few intelligent individuals wouldn’t be able to reverse the situation anymore.

Furthermore, there were many people with ulterior motives who would continue to fan the flames behind the scenes. So if such a thing happened, the Ocean and Fiend races would most likely be swept along by the masses and everything would plummet toward a bottomless abyss.

“Then what should we do now?” the Mermaid Queen asked. “Should we tell the Dragon King so he can prepare for it?”

Zu An shook his head. “People can live as scoundrels for a thousand days, but how can one guard against scoundrels for a thousand days? Besides, the Ocean races' territory is so large, and it’s impossible to protect against everyone. We might even end up triggering the other side's vigilance as a result. What we need to do is to wait. As long as Mojard does something, there will be some traces. We can then track him down to retrieve the Peacock Princess.”

“Alright.” The Mermaid Queen approved of this plan too.

Now that they'd already decided on what to do about the Peacock Princess, however, the room entered a strange silence.

The Mermaid Queen really wanted to ask about where Zu An came from. Even if he didn’t tell her that, it would be good if she could at least see what he really looked like. But she didn’t dare to mention such a thing. Even though she didn’t know what Zu An was worried about, she knew that if she made this request, he would leave her.

She naturally wouldn’t just fall for someone in such a short amount of time, but this was the first time that she had ever been so curious about a man in all these years. There had never been a man who would make her worry so much about their relationship either.

Fortunately, Zu An said, “By the way, I passed by a deep-sea mountain range on my way here, and there seems to be a bottomless marine trench in that area with many Dragon race guards. The defensive formations there seem to be many levels higher than the Dragon Palace’s as well.”

The Mermaid Queen sighed in relief. What she'd been most scared of was that there would be nothing for them to talk about. They could have ended up being completely silent and ultimately part ways. Now that there was something to talk about, she could only answer, “That is our East Sea’s Eye of the Ocean.”

“Eye of the Ocean?” Zu An was surprised. He had heard many legends surrounding the Eye of the Ocean.

In the mythological stories on Earth, there was said to be an Eye of the Ocean in the depths of the sea. When Emperor Yu the Great controlled the floods, he'd used a steel rod that was capable of freely lengthening or shortening, casting it down to suppress the Eye of the Ocean. Later, Sun Wukong looked for a weapon that was suitable for him and ran all the way to the Dragon Palace to cause trouble. In the end, he'd taken the rod as his personal weapon, and it was known as the celebrated Ruyi Jingu Bang[1].

But shouldn’t the abyss of this world be the entrance to the Underworld? Why is it the Eye of the Ocean?

As if seeing through his confusion, the Mermaid Queen explained, “I don’t know what exactly is in the Eye of the Ocean either. That has always been a forbidden area for the Ocean races that no one is allowed to approach. The reason why the Ocean races have guarded that area is to make sure evil does not travel through and bring disaster upon the world.”

Zu An thought to himself for a bit. The abyss was connected to the Underworld, so if the creatures on the other side were known as evil, that was understandable.

But are there divine ghosts working in the Underworld of this world?

When she saw him deep in thought, the Mermaid Queen suddenly grew a bit worried. “You didn’t come from the other side of that abyss, did you?”

Zu An couldn't help but chuckle when he saw her look at him as if he was a great enemy. “You’re overthinking it. I didn’t come here because of that.”

“You’re not lying to me?” the Mermaid Queen asked.

“Of course not.”

“You already tricked me so much before. It’s hard for me to believe you anymore.”

“...”

Zu An was a bit embarrassed. He had fooled her quite badly, and worst of all, she'd continued the act all on her own for so long. If he were in her place, he would definitely be extremely embarrassed.

Peach barely managed to hold in her laughter. She had watched everything from the perspective of an outsider and more or less figured out what was going on.

The queen had even pretended to be that maid Suyin, thinking she could easily control the situation. Only later had she found out that she was the little clown.

In all these years, Peach had only seen the queen toy with those pitiful pursuers. This was the first time she'd seen the queen end up such a sorry state.

As expected, it has to be a greater man who can subdue our queen! I’m shipping these two more and more!

When she saw the grin on the corners of Peach's lips, the Mermaid Queen shot her a look. Only then did she say to Zu An, “Since we have to wait for news about the Peacock Princess, you should just stay with me in the meantime. I doubt you have anyone else you are close to in the Dragon Palace.”

In the end, she didn’t ask for his name because she knew that Eddie Peng or whatever was a fake name. If he wasn’t willing to tell her, asking any further would just get her another fake name.

After some hesitation, in the end, Zu An still said with a nod, “Alright.”

He indeed needed a place to wait for information, and he understood just how famous and influential the Mermaid Queen was among the Ocean races. People from all kinds of different factions loved to approach her to try and obtain her favor. Someone like that was definitely a rich source of information. Whether it was finding out the Aurora Poison Dragon’s whereabouts or information about the Eye of the Ocean, both would be much, much easier.

The Mermaid Queen then ordered Peach to arrange a side room for Zu An to rest in. While she did so, Peach continuously snuck looks at Zu An’s face.

Zu An couldn't help but tease, “You keep staring at me. Are there flowers on my face?”

“The queen said this isn’t your real face. I want to see just what kind of mask is so amazing that I can’t even detect the slightest flaw!” Peach was surprisingly straightforward.

Zu An couldn't help but chuckle. He didn’t bother explaining anything.

Peach sorted out his bed while asking curiously, “Are you not from the same world as the rest of us?”

Zu An voiced his agreement.

“What kind of beauty standards does your world have? Don’t tell me larger girls are more beautiful? Or that grotesque appearances are more attractive?” Peach continued to chirp noisily. She wasn’t like a quiet cherry, and was instead more like an oriole eating the cherries.

“Why are you asking about this?” Zu An replied as he stood by the window. He looked at the quiet Dragon Palace and wondered to himself just how many things were stirring tonight.

“Why else would you reject our queen? Our queen is so beautiful. Forget about the Ocean races, even the Fiend, Demon, Beast, and Human race experts are completely infatuated whenever they see her. They all want to gouge out their own hearts to offer to her, yet you continue to avoid her as if our queen eats people.” Peach’s expression suddenly changed. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to loosen the reins to capture her even easier?”

Zu An chuckled. “What do you think?”

“Nah.” Peach continued to pace around him. “There were others who tried that to get close to her, but no matter how hard they tried to hide it, they still couldn't hide the lust in their eyes. But you’re different. Your eyes are very clear, as if you're not affected by our queen at all. Wait, could it be that you’re...”

When he saw her appalled and inconsolable expression, Zu An asked curiously, “Could it be what?”

Peach’s expression was a bit strange. She seemed to be struggling with something as she said, “You can’t get mad if I say it.”

“Then don’t say it.”

“No, I can’t hold it in! Are you a eunuch?”

“???”

“If you aren’t, why do you keep ignoring the queen’s good will? You’re avoiding her as if she’s a scorpion or snake... Ahhh, don’t kill me... Ah...!”

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

In the end, Peach was turned into a ball and tossed out the window. She rubbed her sore bottom and stared at the tightly shut door with a sullen look.

Did I jab at a sore spot? Is that why you’re so angry?

Should I share this discovery with the Mermaid Queen?

Will the queen also give me a beating...

...

Inside the room, Zu An laughed in self-mockery. It was no wonder that Peach had such thoughts. His behavior was indeed a bit unreasonable.

He remembered what Mojard had said today. He used his soul power to call out, “Master empress, hurry and wake up. There’s something I have to ask you about!”

1. This can be translated as "As-you-like Gold-Banded Staff" in reference to its ability to change as the user wishes. ☜