Chapter 250: Chapter 250: You Don’t Understand

Xijing’s voice held a bewitching power, compelling her to obey.

The moment she closed her eyes, Xijing appeared before her. He looked at her slightly parted lips and slowly leaned in.

Qiao Xixi felt a cool breath against her lips, and an instant later, a pearl was slipped into her mouth.

Xijing’s clear voice sounded in her ear. "Swallow it."

After Qiao Xixi did as he said, she felt a sudden itchiness spread across her body. It felt like she was undergoing a strange transformation. She opened her eyes and looked down.

’Oh my god!’ She had actually grown a blue fishtail. She looked up at Xijing, stunned.

"This is..."

A faint smile played on Xijing’s lips. His fingertips slid down to rest on her fishtail as he pulled her closer.

"Xixi, give it a try."

Qiao Xixi was utterly shocked, yet also filled with curiosity about the new sensation. She gently swished her fishtail, and her body suddenly felt incredibly nimble. Even her ears had changed shape.

With a flick of his finger, Xijing dispelled the protective barrier around her, and seawater immediately rushed in.

Qiao Xixi panicked for a moment, but she soon discovered she could breathe freely underwater. It was as if her whole world had lit up.

With a flick of her tail, she shot upward.

Xijing swished his own tail and swam beside her. He was like a spirit of the sea, constantly circling her. His massive fishtail occasionally brushed against hers in a gentle, lover-like caress.

Finding the experience novel, Qiao Xixi playfully tapped his tail with her own. The two blue fins glowed with a soft luminescence in the deep sea, a brilliant, dazzling display.

When she grew tired of playing, Qiao Xixi rested against a reef on the seabed, panting softly. Xijing’s massive tail remained coiled around hers, rubbing against it gently. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Qiao Xixi felt her body strangely heat up. ’But we’re in the ocean, and the water is freezing.’ She figured it was just from exerting herself so much. She didn’t notice that Xijing’s breathing had grown heavy and ragged.

"Xixi, are you having fun?"

Though they were both in merman form, Xijing was much larger than Qiao Xixi. When he leaned against her from behind, he could almost completely envelop her in his embrace.

"It’s amazing! Being able to swim freely at the bottom of the sea is so exhilarating."

"Once we’ve bonded and you have the mark, you’ll be able to naturally grow a fishtail whenever you enter the water."

Qiao Xixi was taken aback. "Really?"

Xijing smiled and nodded. "Yes, it’s very convenient. Just tell me whenever you want to bond with me."

"Okay."

The word had barely left her lips when she realized something was wrong. ’Wait, I can’t just agree to bond with Xijing so I can get a fishtail. That would be completely unfair to him.’

"We’ve been out for a while. We should head back."

Sensing the shift in her mood, a dejected look flashed across Xijing’s face. He quickly composed himself, however, and began swimming back with her in his arms.

Feiyan was on the shore holding the tiger cub, waiting. He was practically turning into a statue from waiting so long for them to return.

The tiger cub had gotten hungry from the wait, too, and was constantly nibbling on Feiyan’s fingers.

’Meaty, want meaty!’

Just as an anxious Feiyan was about to go search for them, Xijing finally broke the surface with Qiao Xixi.

"Feiyan, I’m back!"

Feiyan stepped forward happily, but his expression fell the moment he saw Qiao Xixi’s fishtail splashing in the water.

"Xixi, why do you have a fishtail?"

"Oh, this? Xijing just let me borrow it for a while. I don’t really have a tail."

Qiao Xixi had just finished speaking when Xijing said, "Xixi, I need to take it back now."

"What?"

Before Qiao Xixi could react, Xijing’s lips met hers, and he gently retrieved the pearl with his tongue.

The instant the pearl was gone, her long tail transformed back into two slender legs.

The fur on Feiyan the fox all but stood on end.

’He did that right in front of me!’

The fuming fox couldn’t be bothered with anything else. He stormed into the water, swept Qiao Xixi into his arms, shot a warning wave of pressure at Xijing, and then turned to leave.

Qiao Xixi leaned obediently against Feiyan. ’It’s always best to soothe a jealous husband right away, otherwise the problem just gets bigger and bigger!’

Qiao Xixi planted a kiss on Feiyan’s pouting face.

’Hmm, that seemed to calm him down a little. Better give him another one. And another, and another.’

’There, the fox has been thoroughly placated with kisses.’

"You’ve been waiting long, haven’t you? You have no idea how hard it was for me to find that thing."

The proud fox huffed. "Was it that hard to find, or were you having so much fun with that old merman in the water that you forgot we were waiting for you!"

Ahem.

"Of course not!"

By the time they got back to the cabin, Qiao Xixi had finally managed to smooth her bristled fox’s ruffled fur.

By then, Sunxiao and the others had also returned with the cubs.

When Xiya saw Qiao Xixi, she immediately ran over. She sniffed at Qiao Xixi with her little nose and then exclaimed in surprise, "Mama, why do you smell like Father’s Jue Pearl? Did you eat Father’s Jue Pearl?"

Qiao Xixi was a step too late to cover her little one’s mouth.

’It’s over. Tonight is definitely going to be a long night...’

The males’ gazes were so intense they could have bored holes right through her. The fox she had just managed to pacify was bristling all over again.

Jin Ling’s expression remained gentle. "Xiya, what’s a Jue Pearl?"

"Huh? The Jue Pearl is Father’s life-bead. It’s really important! It’s also the key to how mermen have babies... MPHH MPHH..."

Qiao Xixi quickly clamped a hand over the little one’s mouth. "Oh, my, I’m starving! Xiya, come on, come on, Mama will take you to get some fruit."

The ever-curious Sangqi piped up, "Huh? Isn’t the key to making babies mating... MPHH—"

"Sangqi, you won’t grow tall if you keep spouting nonsense! Inside, inside! Mama will tell you all a story."

The cabin door SLAMMED shut, instantly cutting off the sight of the males’ murderous glares.

"What’s this? No one’s prepared dinner yet? Are you short on food? Well, that’s perfect. I brought plenty of fish-beast meat."

The moment Xijing appeared, he became the target of everyone’s hostility.

But as he faced the crushing pressure radiating from the other males, his expression showed no sign of retreat.

"The Jue Pearl is indeed a male merman’s life-bead. And it was Xixi herself who retrieved mine for me back then. You probably wouldn’t understand."

A dense black mist instantly enveloped Xijing. In the darkness, a pair of mismatched eyes locked onto Xijing’s white Jue Sha, and a fierce hostility erupted.

"Is that so? In that case, I can’t wait to crush it!"

A blue luminescence and the black mist tangled together. The two figures moved so fast they became a blur.

Curious about the commotion outside, Qiao Xixi opened the door just in time to see a figure fall from the sky, landing in a hard heap at her feet.

"Xijing? What happened to you?"

Xijing had just opened his mouth to speak when he coughed up a spray of fresh blood.