195 chapter 19The Mer scoffed. âstuâpid!â he said and went back to pushing the boat.
Hearing his soft whisper, Raijin gasped. âMâmater, he spoke. He can really speak!!â he said cheerfully.
âThat is not what is important thought,â Long Ki tiredly said. He held firmly onto the rails as their ship tilted to the right speedily. He took a deep breath and shouted, âyaa, you down there. I want to talk!! I want to talk and get it!! Get your leader or someone, someone with authority!!â
The green Mer below glanced at him with a glare. âneâver,â he said in a slight child like voice.
âWhy not? Iâm just asking you to listen to me? What is wrong with that, huh?â he shouted all of a sudden.
The Mer paused. âYou...invade, territory. No good.â He said in broken words.
Long ki growled loudly. âI jumped because my SON is down there. And you..... You have kidnapped him!!!!â he shouted in anguish.
The Mer glanced at him sceptically. âYou, no father. The prince not dragon like you,â he said and went back to pushing the boat with vigour.
âPrince? I donât know any prince. Iâm talking about my child!! Little red egg, he is my one and only child,â Long ki shouted in frustration. He really wanted to blast them away, but he did not really have the heart to hurt Yukiyaâs species. âListen, please return my child, we will go our way, we will never sail your waters,â he said.
.....
Long Aotian heard this from the other side of the boat. He loudly howled and pushed the ship brutally to the other side, balancing the ship. âWhat the hell? If we donât sail these waters how can we find Xia, what is he promising so recklessly,â he gritted his teeth loudly.
Long ki heard his growl, but he decided to ignore them for now. He leaned down and glanced at the creature. âPlease, return my child to me. We will leave... or, or if you want to punish me, I can accept ay kind of punishment. Just give me back my child,â he pleaded softly.
The Mers did not look up but they slowed down exponentially. The one who was leading them, the green tailed Mer, started panting softly. He jumped into the waters and disappeared.
âWait, listen,â Long ki shouted, but the other Merâs followed after him and disappeared into the deep ocean.
âShit, what do we do now?â he whispered, raking a hand through his wet hair.
Aotian jumped on board and swiftly put on his pants. âWhat happened? Why did they go away?â he whispered confusedly.
âI think..... I think master was right. They seemed to unable to breathe properly in salty water. I saw the green tailed Mer panting before he dove in.â Raijin said softly.
Aotian walked up to his brother and held his trembling shouldered. âwe.... we will find a way brother,â
âWe have to, Iâm worried for my childâs safety,â Long ki whispered tiredly. The wounds on his back were slowly healing, but they hurt like hell. He had already lost a lot of blood with his previous battle with that mysterious Mer. âXiao Tian, do you have any other ideas? Anything,â he said, sobbing softly.
Aotian swiftly pulled him close and hugged him tight. âDonât cry.... donât cry, brother. Weâwe can dive in and try to talk to them again. We can do that,.â he said firmly.
âLetâs do that then,â Long ki agreed, wiping his tear-stained face. He got close to the rail and was about to jump down when all of a sudden he felt something coil around his waist and pull him back. A long golden scarf entangled his body into a small cocoon.
âWhere are you going in such a hurry?â a soft feminine voice whispered from above.
Aotian glanced up in shock. This was a voice he was well familiar with. On top of the mast a woman, dressed lavishly in a golden frock, glanced down at him. Her beautiful yellow red eyes peered down at him with a small smile in them.
âMother!!!â he shouted aloud.
Long ki who was trying to untangle himself from the scarf glanced up as well. âmâmother, what....what are you doing here?â he mumbled.
âMajesty!â Raijin bowed deep.
âMommy, what are doing here?â Aotian repeated his brotherâs question again.
The woman softly hummed a song and peered at him. âWhy shouldnât I be here? My two cute sons are here; my daughter-in-law is here. My little charge is here, and who is that?â she pointed to the ghoul who was manning the wheel.
âThat is Pan Mu,â Aotian added. âBut mom, where is dad?â he whispered and glanced around.
âI came alone,â the beautiful woman shrugged.
âThatâs not possible,â Aotian refuted immediately. As far as five thousand years of observation, his father had always been like a puppy following after his mother anywhere she went. How was it possible for him not to follow her here? âMaybe something happened between them,â
âDid something happen? Didâdid you both fight?â he whispered hesitantly.
The beautiful woman scoffed. She skilfully jumped down from the mast and landed in front of him. Her jade like hands reached for him. Aotian happily ran close, but her hand reached directly to his ears and pinched.
âOuch, mom, that hurts,â he whined.
âHow can you even assume daddy and I fought, huh? You have developed a vivid imagination skill after coming down to the human realm,â she whispered with a wide smirk. âDonât you think so, Ki~,â
Long ki nodded silently.
âWhy are you so silent? Wonât you usually scream and run away from just my sight?â She hesitantly glanced down at him. She pulled Aotian close by his neck and tussled his hair. âWhat happened to him? He looks dispirited?â
Aotian sighed loudly. âMom, his child he had adopted has been kidnapped by the Mers,â
âWhat? Thatâs it, he is glum for such a simple thing,â she whispered and let go of him. Aotian massaged his aching neck and peered at his mother. âMom, donât say it like that. He loved the child as his own,â
âohh, I see, I see,â she nodded thoughtfully and walked over to him. Long ki refused to look up at her. âki~ why wonât you look at mommy?â she whispered and nudged him softly with her scarf.
Long ki snapped his face away from her. âFor you...â he mumbled something inaudibly.
âWhat? What was that? I didnât quite catch that? She said and pulled his face facing her directly. âCan you repeat?â
âI said, it might be insignificant to you, but that is MY CHILD. MY ONE AND ONLY CHILD WAS KIDNAPPED RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES. And...and I donât know how to get him back peacefully,â he whispered, putting his head down.
âWell then, Iâll help you,â she cheerfully whispered.
Long kiâs head shot up. âYou can?â
âI can and I said it was a simple thing because it is very simple for me. Get up now, crying and sobbing does not suit you,â
She pulled him up by his shoulders and adjusted him so that he stood straight. âhold your chest high, you are a mighty crown prince of the heavens realm, of you let such a little thing bring you down how will you handle an entire realm.â Long ki dejectedly put his head down.
She softly held his chin and glanced up at him. âYou are young, but you have a lot to learn, so donât give up either. Mother and father are on your side, hmm,â
She patted his shoulders and walked over to the side of the ship. âHmm their leader is well hidden,â she whispered with her hands on her chin.
âAha, why donât I use that,â she swiftly pulled out a jade carving from inside her jacket. A small golden dragon was carved on it.
âMOM!! You.... you seriously brought the royal seal here!!â Aotian shouted and dashed to her. âDoes dad know?â he whispered softly. âDonât worry I wonât tell him, but keep it safe, donât lose it,â
âahhh, donât worry so much, your dad was the one who gave it to me. He said it was our âvalentines presentâ. Iâm not even sure what that is,â she shrugged nonchalantly. âLittle black, do you have something to tie this?â
âWhy?â Aotian doubtfully inquired.
âBecause Iâm going to lower it down, thatâs why! Stop asking so many questions and bring to it me,â she said and shooed him away.
But before he could, Long ki ran over and gave her a long golden scarf. âYours,â he said with a blush.
âaww, how could I forget? I already have my scarf,â she whispered and pinched his cheeks lovingly. âKids, this is todayâs lesson, Iâm gonna teach you how to fish,â she said with a gleeful laughter.
The royal seal that was safely tied to her scarf was lowered down.
Aotianâs mother cleared her throat and shouted, âPRISILLA, COME UP, ITâS YIN LONG HERE!!â
The water vibrated violently, along with it the boat also rocked softly.