Shang Liuyu initially tensed up in response to Zu An's tight embrace, but his familiar scent caused her to relax quickly. She had been feeling inexplicably melancholic and lonely in recent days, but for some reason, when he embraced her, those emotions dissipated into thin air. She raised her arms and returned the embrace.
A long time later, sloshing sounds suddenly echoed from the side. Shang Hongyu was slapping the waves out of boredom.
“Oi, are you done hugging yet?” Shang Hongyu had initially been overjoyed to see Zu An’s return, but the latter rushed to hug her little sister right away.
She'd initially consoled herself by inwardly saying that those two knew each other first, and she would be next once they were done hugging. To her frustration, those two had refused to let go of each other. Zu An showed no inclination to hug her at all, stoking her jealousy. We’re supposed to be the closer ones!
Startled, Shang Liuyu pushed Zu An away. Her face was so red that it resembled the evening afterglow. Even though she had feelings for Zu An, they had yet to reach that point yet, not to mention there was someone else around. She felt embarrassed.
Zu An looked at Shang Hongyu and recalled that she was likely to be Xihe’s reincarnation. Unable to hold back his feelings, he rushed over and hugged her too.
“Hey hey hey! You only remember me now. I don’t want this kind of charity.” Shang Hongyu pouted in dissatisfaction.
“It’s so good to meet you again,” Zu An said.
“Using the same line twice. How insincere.” Despite her grumbling, Shang Hongyu could still feel Zu An’s overflowing emotions from his embrace. Her expression slowly became gentler.
A while later, it became Shang Liuyu’s turn to feel uncomfortable. She couldn’t help but remember how Zu An and Shang Hongyu had already gotten intimate before, whereas she felt like an outsider here.
Thus, she stood up and said, “You two chat. I’ll be heading off first.”
“Ey, why are you leaving?” Shang Hongyu anxiously stopped her. It feels as if I’m chasing her away. This is so weird.
Zu An also reached out to grab Shang Liuyuu's waist and pulled her toward his body. “Don’t go. We've already been apart for far too long.”
He hugged her tightly. Just remembering the parting they had in the Celestial Court world was enough to fill his heart with pain.
The two sisters exchanged looks. They could sense each other’s awkwardness. They were close sisters, and they were both in love with Zu An. However, it still felt terribly awkward for their lover to embrace the two of them at the same time. They thought of struggling free, but they saw the pain on their lover’s face and their hearts shuddered.
Both of them asked in unison, “Ah Zu, what happened?”
“It’s nothing. Let me hug you a while longer. Just a while is enough...” It hurt Zu An each time he had to recount what happened at the Celestial Court world. His heart was already filled with holes.
Shang Hongyu looked at her little sister worriedly. She had never seen him like that before. Shang Liuyu was worried as well, and asked her older sister what they should do with her gaze.
Shang Hongyu didn’t say a word. She gently wrapped Zu An’s body with her beautiful red tail and rested her body on his. “Ah Zu, we’ll be with you no matter what happens.”
Shang Liuyu felt terribly embarrassed, but she also embraced Zu An and said, “Yes, we’ll always be with you.”
Zu An sighed. The Mermaid Queen and Xihe had wanted to be with him too, but there were far too many things that weren’t within their control.
Sensing his low spirits, the two sisters became even more worried. Something must have happened in the spacetime fragment for him to act like that, but what could it be?
Shang Hongyu suddenly blinked as a smile formed on her lips. “Ah Zu, let’s make a bet. You’ll have to tell me what happened if I can lift your spirits.”
Zu An chuckled. “Just seeing the two of you is enough to raise my spirits.”
“Tsk, how insincere!” Shang Hongyu noticed her little sister’s confused gaze. “Little sister, let me teach you a trick to raise your lover’s spirits.”
Shang Liuyu immediately perked up like a diligent student. She watched as Shang Hongyu straightened her posture and pinned up her wavy hair. Much to her confusion, the latter suddenly dove into the water.
What she witnessed next shocked her. She quickly averted her gaze with a reddened face.
Zu An gasped. He gadn’t expected Shang Hongyu to be so bold as to do it in front of Shang Liuyu, though he had to admit that it was extremely effective. It was hard for him to remain in low spirits in such a situation.
Shang Liuyu tried to leave out of embarrassment, but her hand and waist were being firmly held by Shang Hongyu and Zu An respectively. She bit her lips as her face heated up. These two are really a match made in heaven!
Shang Hongyu, as a mermaid, was capable of breathing in water. The way her beautiful tail fin moved in the water was truly mesmerizing.
“Wuuuu!” Shang Hongyu pinched her little sister as she whispered something to the latter.
Shang Liuyu pretended not to understand her words. I’m not going to join my big sister in this madness!𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
To conceal her awkwardness, Shang Liuyu hurriedly changed the topic. “Ah Zu, can you tell us what happened now?”
Zu An was conflicted. It wasn't a problem for him to share the story, but doing it under such circumstances felt weird. However, considering how the two sisters had already gone this far to console him, he felt that it wouldn’t be right for him to not speak up. Thus, he told them what had happened in the spacetime fragment.
The two sisters had weathered countless storms with Zu An, but they were still shocked when they heard about what happened in the spacetime fragment and the Celestial Court world. In particular, they were left with complex feelings when they learned about Xihe and the Mermaid Queen.
Just as they were reaching an entertaining part of the story, Shang Hongyu suddenly stood up with a red tinge on her face. She rubbed her cheeks as she directed a begrudging look at Zu An. “My cheeks are getting numb...”
She nudged Shang Liuyu. “You do it. I’m totally exhausted.”
“Ah? Me?” Shang Liuyu was flabbergasted. This sort of thing...
Even though Zu An didn’t think that the usually poised Shang Liuyu would agree, he'd gotten so riled up by Shang Hongyu that he couldn’t help but look at her with hopeful eyes.
Shang Liuyu’s heart beat furiously as her mind went blank. However, Shang Hongyu went ahead to pull her over, not giving her time to think.
Shang Liuyu ultimately still couldn’t bring herself to do what Shang Hongyu had done. Instead, she raised her slender hand and said, “I... I’ll help you like that...”
Shang Hongyu knew better than to push Shang Liuyu too far. She first guided Shang Liuyu’s hand to its destination before she settled down beside Zu An and smiled. “Tell me, Ah Zu. Does the Sun Goddess really resemble me? Which of us do you think looks better?”