Volume One: Hidden in the Azure Depths Chapter Fourteen

Geng Yuan lifted his gaze to the person beside him, his expression displeased. “You should leave. Don’t come looking for me again.”
The two understood, hurriedly paid their respects, and replied, “Understood.”
After bowing to Jinli as well, they quickly departed.
Geng Yuan set down his teacup, not raising his eyes. “Didn’t you go to see your little lover? Why have you come back?”
Jinli regarded him quietly, a subtle anger flickering in her eyes. “They are not lovers.”
The young man had no desire to concern himself with the chaos of her private life, nor did he care. Yet, just this morning after he returned, Yunxiang had told him Jinli hadn’t come back for several days, prompting him to lose all sense and rush to Yanhe Studio, as though catching someone in an affair.
This was not like him. The Beauty Gu not only manipulated his emotions but now seemed to govern his reason as well.
“I don’t care who they are, but I ask that you, Lady, refrain from speaking so carelessly in the future, and do not make promises to others lightly.”
The young woman pressed her hands against the table, fixing her gaze upon him. “I’ll say it again—they are not lovers.”
He finally looked up at her, his eyes cold and indifferent. “Why should I care?”
How perfectly indifferent.
She suffered his unprovoked anger for no reason, yet he had the nerve to act as if she was in the wrong. In her own frustration, she swept everything from the table with a single motion—the sharp noise of shattering porcelain rang out.
“Fine, since that’s how it is, I hope you’ll stop meddling in my affairs.”
With that, she turned and left.
Geng Yuan slowly set his teacup aside. The pure white pear-blossom cup fractured in his hand.
He stood and hurried after her.
He must be mad.
He seized Jinli’s hand before she could react and, with a sudden movement, pinned her against a tree trunk.
Her back struck the rough bark, pain shooting through her as she frowned.
“What are you doing?!”
Without heeding her struggles, he wrapped a large hand behind her head and crushed her angry words with a kiss.
Jinli stiffened, her mind whiting out.
At this moment, the person who had just argued with her was now pinning her to a tree, kissing her.
Or rather, it could hardly be called a kiss—it was more like a bite.
She could feel her lips no longer belonged to her, a faint taste of blood seeping into both their mouths. Her lip had broken—actually torn.
Slowly, the young man released her lips and moved to her neck, grazing her skin with his teeth.
She pushed at him but could not budge him in the least.
“Are you part dog?”
A deep red mark appeared where he had sucked at her neck.
Only then did he finally let go, burying his face in the crook of her neck, his voice hoarse, “Can’t you… just look at me alone?”
His hot breath melted her resistance in an instant.
“…Fine… fine… but let go first.”
Only then did he release her. Jinli looked into Geng Yuan’s eyes, dark and dangerous as midnight, a hint of peril in his blossom-shaped gaze.
His eyes lingered on her lips. He lifted his hand and gently touched them, his voice now husky and thick with desire. “Does it hurt?”
Jinli wanted to be angry but couldn’t summon the will.
“What do you think?”
Of course it hurt—what kind of person kisses by biting?
He dipped his head and once again covered her lips, but this time, a warm and gentle tongue slid over the wounded skin.
He let her go, his eyes innocent, coaxing softly, “Don’t be angry anymore, all right?”
Just a moment ago he’d been as wild as a stray dog—yet now he looked so aggrieved it was as if she had wronged him.
“Fine.”
Jinli touched her lips; at least they were no longer bleeding.
Her face reddened furiously. “I’m going to put on some medicine.”
She hurried out of the South Chamber as if fleeing.
As soon as she returned to the North Court, she ran into Yunxiang. “Lady, what happened to your lips?”
“Bitten by a dog.”
Yunxiang looked puzzled, unsure what to do with the scroll in her hands.
It had just been entrusted to her by Sangli, who insisted Jinli read it herself.
She was about to leave when Geng Yuan called out to her.

“Yunxiang.”
“Young Lord.”
“What’s that?”
“A document, to be delivered to the Lady shortly.”
“Give it to me, I’ll take it.”
“Very well, I’ll trouble you with it.”
With that, Yunxiang departed.
The young man’s eyes darkened as he gazed at the scroll.
Opening it, he discovered it detailed his own actions and past.
Jinli had investigated him? Did she suspect him?
His grip on the scroll tightened; after altering a few entries, he went to the North Court.
“This is the scroll Yunxiang just brought.”
Jinli recognized the unique brocade cord—it was from Sangli.
“Thank you, Young Lord.”
She took it, her lips barely parted, the medicine pale upon them.
“Is there something else?”
Geng Yuan shook his head and left.
After he was gone, Jinli unrolled the scroll to find a record of the ancient massacre of the South Sea Mermen Clan…
The Mermen Clan’s extermination… She had read of this before in the annals of antiquity, but those records claimed that the Geng family had been destroyed for defying the will of Heaven—at that time, the Ninefold Emperor was not yet emperor.
But why had Sangli sent this?
She suddenly recalled Sangli warning her to be wary of Geng Yuan.
Could Geng Yuan be a descendant of the South Sea Mermen?
Impossible, surely.
Or was it?
Yet not all who bore the surname Geng belonged to the Mermen Clan.
She needed to investigate further. As she stepped outside, she saw Geng Yuan watering flowers in the courtyard.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m off to Heaven. I’ll be right back.”
But Geng Yuan caught her hand, pressing, “Exactly when will you return?”
“I’ll be back in an hour.”
She gave a perfunctory answer and hurried out.
Jinhua Manor.
Yun’an had been waiting outside. Seeing Jinli arrive, she bowed. “Greetings, my Lady.”
“No need for ceremony. Is Lord Sangli in?”
“His Highness is in conference with the Heavenly Lord and has not yet returned.”
“I’ll wait for him then.”
Yun’an invited Jinli inside and offered her tea.
She had just lifted her cup for a sip when voices rang out beyond the hall.
“Yun’an, make way!”
“Princess Late Listening, forgive me. His Highness has forbidden entry to anyone. Please don’t make things difficult for me.”
“Yun’an.”
Jinli called Yun’an’s name and stepped onto the corridor, gazing at Bai Wanting, who stood by the palace gates.
Bai Wanting’s eyes flickered evasively, her head bowed in guilt.
“My Lady, what are your orders?”
“Why is the princess here?”
“I wish to see His Highness.”
“I’ll take my leave then. If Sangli asks, tell him I was here.”
“Yes.”
Jinli left the palace, glancing indifferently at Bai Wanting. As she was about to walk on, Bai Wanting grabbed her cloak and pleaded, “My Lady, could you please ask Brother Sangli not to send me to guard the River of Forgetfulness?”
“Late Listening, that isn’t my concern. I cannot interfere with the affairs of the Celestial Clan. I’m sorry.”
“Jinli! Please help me! Brother Sangli listens only to you. If you speak for me, he’ll agree. I don’t want to go to a place like that.”

Bai Wanting’s voice was desperate, nearly kneeling.
Jinli looked at her anxious, pitiable face, unsure what to say. In the end, she gently freed her cloak from the princess’s grip. “I’m truly sorry. Perhaps after going to Wangchuan, you’ll change in ways you never expected.”
With that, she walked away, utterly unmoved by Bai Wanting’s collapse and helpless weeping.
She walked along the cloud path, pondering the unsolved mysteries of antiquity. As she reached the Southern Heavenly Gate, Beiting approached.
“Peace to you, my Lady.”
“Prince Beiting.”
He smiled slightly and spoke, “Did you know the Heavenly Lord is soon to name a crown prince?”
“The affairs of the Celestial Clan are not for me to meddle in. What do you mean by this?”
“Then allow me to be frank. It is said the Divine Maidens have a marriage pact with the Celestial Clan. Is it with Sangli or with the crown prince?”
Jinli gave a faint smile, her gaze unwavering. “No matter who it is, the clan of Divine Maidens will not break their word.”
With that, she turned to go, but Beiting seized her arm. “And if it were me? Would you help me?”
Her eyes dropped to his hand, cold and sharp. “Prince Beiting, you overstep the bounds of decorum. I trust the Heavenly Lord will decide who shall be crown prince.”
Though he smiled, his eyes were icy. “Then I hope you’ll help me win the title.”
“Jin.”
Both were startled as Geng Yuan approached, his brows furrowed, his expression shadowed.
Beiting released her, his smile unchanged but with a hidden blade behind it.
“What are you doing here?”
“You said you’d return in an hour, but you didn’t come back.”
Beiting interjected, “The young lord of the South Sea is truly devoted—not willing to be parted from the Lady for even a moment. The Lady is most fortunate.”
Jinli stepped in front of Geng Yuan protectively. “Prince Beiting, you’d do better to mind your own affairs, rather than always watching over mine.”
Beiting made to step forward, but Geng Yuan quickly pulled Jinli behind him and moved ahead. Seeing the two stand so closely together, Beiting knew it was useless to linger.
“The Lady’s rebuke is well-received. I have learned my lesson.”
With that, he departed.
Geng Yuan watched Beiting’s retreating figure, his gaze dark and gloomy.
Jinli called him, but he didn’t respond.
“Geng Yuan?”
“Geng Yuan.”
He snapped out of his reverie. Jinli asked, “What are you looking at?”
He shook his head and smiled. “Let’s go home. I made your favorite—shrimp stewed with chicken wings.”
“Let’s go.”
Jinli looked at his broad, warm hand.
The ancient Mermen Clan—annihilated.
It was the first great turmoil of the Four Seas, and the Sea God perished as a result.
But Geng Yuan was only a little over seventy thousand years old—by age, he could not be a descendant of that clan.
The problem was, when a merman loses his tail, it means he can never return to the sea.
Geng Yuan could never go back… but perhaps she could heal his tail.
Several days later, after poring over ancient texts, Jinli finally found a way to cure his wound.
When she was ready to give him the medicine, she found Geng Yuan holding those ancient books, his expression complicated as he looked at her, his eyes full of pain, his gaze drifting to her chest.
In three swift steps he reached her and swept her into his arms.
Jinli was startled, but Geng Yuan gently set her on the table, bracing his arms on either side, drawing them close.
“You used the blood from your heart to save me?”
Jinli froze, awkwardly shoving the medical texts aside, unsure what to say.
Geng Yuan seemed angry; with a wave of his hand, the door closed.
“Forgive me,” he murmured, then reached out and pulled open her collar. The white gauze wrapped her wound, and as he looked on, a single tear fell and turned to pearl.
Lotus Heart Blossom?
It was her very heart.