Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Must Find a Way to Protect Oneself

Translator: 549690339

Song of Tides?

Jiang Cheng frowned and thought to himself, “How would the little girl know about the Song of Tides?”

“Have you ever seen the Song of Tides?” he asked.

“Mhm,” Ao Lian nodded.

“What does it look like?”

“A pearl this big, it feels slippery to the touch,” Ao Lian gestured.

“Where did you see it?” Jiang Cheng asked again.

“At my home.”

Having seen the Song of Tides, having touched the Song of Tides, the Song of Tides being at her home.

Then she is…

Jiang Cheng’s eyes slowly widened.

If he hadn’t guessed wrong, could this little girl be a young dragon maiden who had run away from the deep-sea Dragon Palace? Although at her age, she would only be considered a “very young dragon maiden.”

The Dragon Palace was at least a hundred thousand li away from Liang Kingdom. Could the Fishing Talisman have drawn a young dragon maiden from a hundred thousand li away to shore?

The current scenario was challenging the limits of Jiang Cheng’s understanding.

Bai Xiaohe looked at Jiang Cheng and said, “Jiang Cheng, do you know her?”

“I suppose so,” Jiang Cheng said uncertainly.

“That’s great, then could you help me take her home later? I need to hurry back to the Task Hall now.” Bai Xiaohe entrusted Ao Lian to Jiang Cheng and then immediately rushed back to work.

In the Wuyue Residence, now only Jiang Cheng, Ao Lian, and Liu Qing were left.

Because Ao Lian was a bit afraid of Liu Qing, she subconsciously moved closer to Jiang Cheng.

But the closer she got to Jiang Cheng, the more Liu Qing stared at her, forcing her to get even closer to Jiang Cheng.

Eventually, this looping process was interrupted by Jiang Cheng when she hugged his thigh.

“What is your name?”

“Ao Lian. Lian as in evoking pity.”

“Hmm. How did you get here?”

“I swam over.”

“From where did you swim over?”

“Wuhuan.”

Wuhuan, a place Jiang Cheng had not heard of, was probably some sea tribe city.

“Is it far from here?”

“Not too far.”

“Then I’ll take you back,” Jiang Cheng suggested.

“Um…” Ao Lian glanced back at Liu Qing.

Her survival instinct told her that this beautiful sister was very dangerous.

Jiang Cheng noticed Ao Lian’s hesitation and looked toward the window behind Liu Qing, where the sunset lay, and said, “Indeed, it’s already getting dark, and traveling at night is inconvenient. How about this, you stay here tonight, sleep with this sister, and when it’s bright tomorrow, we’ll go back, alright?”

“No, no, no, no…”

Ao Lian clung to Jiang Cheng’s thigh and shook her head desperately!

Her survival instinct once again warned her that if she were alone in a room with the beautiful sister, she might very well get eaten.

Jiang Cheng tried to ask, “So should I take you away now?”

“No, no, no, no…”

Ao Lian continued to shake her head.

Her survival instinct for the third time told her that a weak cub separated from its group was very likely to be preyed upon by predators.

Jiang Cheng stroked his chin and thought deeply.

Neither this nor that worked. Was dealing with a very young dragon maiden this troublesome?

“Jiang Cheng.” Liu Qing spoke up.

Jiang Cheng then looked up at her.

“She’s scared.”

“Scared?”

“Yes, scared.”

Scared?

Jiang Cheng carefully recalled the settings of Immortal Gods and realized that monsters indeed tended to be more susceptible to fear than humans.

That was because there was a theory of bloodline suppression among monsters.

Higher-ranked monsters can suppress lower-ranked ones by causing innate fear in the latter, ensuring their obedience to the former.

With that said, if Ao Lian is afraid of Liu Qing, then it would make sense.

But would a dragon be afraid of a snake?

Or is the gap in their cultivation levels too large?

Regardless of the reason, Jiang Cheng finally found the root of Ao Lian’s unusual behavior.

He tried to pry Ao Lian off his leg and push her towards Liu Qing’s location. As expected, Ao Lian clung to his leg like glue, absolutely refusing to get close to Liu Qing.

“Don’t be scared, sister Liu Qing is a good person, probably.” Jiang Cheng said uncertainly.

Consequently, Ao Lian became even more frightened.

Jiang Cheng glanced at Liu Qing and gestured her over: “Come here, sit on the sofa.”

Liu Qing did so accordingly.

Jiang Cheng told Ao Lian, “You see, sister is very nice.”

Ao Lian still held onto Jiang Cheng’s leg and didn’t let go.

After some thought, Jiang Cheng dragged Ao Lian to sit next to Liu Qing and then playfully punched Liu Qing’s arm.

“Sister has a good temper. She won’t get angry even if you hit her.”

Ao Lian clung to Jiang Cheng’s leg, blinked, and found that what Jiang Cheng said seemed quite true.

This beautiful sister, despite triggering her innate sense of danger, was indeed emotionally stable, a hundred times more so than her third uncle.

Jiang Cheng took the hair from the back of Liu Qing’s head, brought it to the front, and told Ao Lian, “Look, it’s okay to mess up sister’s hair.”

“If you’re thirsty, sister will pour you water as well.”

Jiang Cheng gave Liu Qing a look, and she went to pour some water.

Jiang Cheng held out the water Liu Qing poured for him to Ao Lian, saying, “Sister has poured water for you. Didn’t I tell you the truth?”

Seeing Ao Lian seemed less afraid of Liu Qing, Jiang Cheng pressed his advantage: “If you want some snacks, you can ask sister to fetch some for you. What would you like to eat?”

“Anything, anything,” Ao Lian whispered softly.

Jiang Cheng told Liu Qing, “Just grab any two bags.”

“Okay.”

Liu Qing got up from the sofa, picked two bags of her favorite snacks from the drawer where she kept them, and handed them to Ao Lian.

Ao Lian took them with caution.

“What else do you want sister Liu Qing to do for you? Sister is very capable and easy to talk to.”

Holding the snacks in one hand and clutching onto Jiang Cheng’s thigh with the other, Ao Lian asked curiously, “Jiang Cheng, can we make sister do headstands, splits, and turn in circles?”

Jiang Cheng: ?

You’re not right!

In the early morning over the surface of Chuanqi Sea, a cluster of Sea Tribe powerhouses hovered.

It was indeed a cluster.

At the Nascent Soul Stage, there were two: an elder with a long beard, Ao Qi’s bodyguard, and the General Qi Chi, the military commander of Wuhuan.

In the Core Formation Stage, there were sixteen. This included four of Ao Qi’s personal guards; seven military leaders and advisors of the Wuhuan defense forces; four guards of closely related nobles; and the last Core Formation was Ao Qi himself.

The territory of the Sea Tribe was vast and their strength robust. Just from Wuhuan alone, the warriors assembled could match the force of a mid-sized human dynasty.

However, even with all their efforts, after sweeping nearly thirty cities downstream of Ming River over the course of an afternoon and a night, they had not found a single scale of Ao Lian.

At this moment, Qi Chi and Ao Qi had to start preparing for the worst.

If Ao Lian truly was gone, how were they to explain this to the old Dragon King and the eldest son of the Dragon King?

Neither Qi Chi nor Ao Qi desired to become a meal on someone else’s plate.

The Advisor Bai Ao stepped forward, “Third Prince, General, may I have a word in private?”

Qi Chi and Ao Qi exchanged a glance and followed Bai Ao to a secluded spot.

“Advisor Bai Ao, what do you want to say?”

“General, at this point, I’ll speak frankly. If anything did happen to Commandery Princess Ao Lian, I’m afraid not only you, General, but all of us will not escape death.”

“We are among ourselves here; speak freely.”

Bai Ao wiped his sweat, glanced at Ao Qi, and said, “Then I’ll speak plainly. With the way things stand, we have only one way to survive.”

“What is it?” Ao Qi and Qi Chi asked at once.

“Fight! Only by fighting! If we fight as if our lives depend on it, covered in wounds and scars, barely escaping with our lives, then we might have a chance to survive.”

Qi Chi was thoughtful, but Ao Qi did not understand.

“Old Advisor, what exactly do you mean?”

“Third Prince, you didn’t lose Commandery Princess Ao Lian; it’s those humans who are too cunning! They lured the princess ashore with a Fishing Talisman and then brutally mishandled her, ultimately causing her demise. Our fierce fight is in revenge for the princess!”