CRACK! The door burst open as Ling Yue and Long Fei rushed in, their eyes scanning the room. His gaze immediately settled on the King, who was slumped, his breathing ragged.
Ling Yue rushed to help the sovereign up, her eyes wide with concern. "Your Majesty!"
The sovereign grimaced, a strangled laugh escaping him. "It's too late... She should reach the surface by now."
Long Fei placed his hand on the monarch's shoulder, pressing his fingers to the ruler's wrist to check his pulse. He must have transferred some of his essence to the princess. "Must you go that far?" he asked, meeting the ruler's tired, defeated gaze. "You've sacrificed too much."
The King rubbed the back of his neck and muttered, "I had no choice. She wouldn't leave if I told her the truth. This is the only way she would go."
Ling Yue shook her head in disbelief. "How will we keep this a secret? What if she finds out?" Her voice cracked with frustration as her hands gripped her hair tightly.
Long Fei's chest tightened at the raw emotion in her tone, but he remained silent. The King's words hung heavily in the air.
"You must keep it from her," the monarch said, his voice faltering. "She can never know that I transferred my essence to her. If she does, she will never be able to live with herself."
Long Fei glanced at Ling Yue as her tears welled up, but she nodded, her lips trembling. The King weakly moved his hand, patting her head as his expression softened. "I'll be fine. Just go to Shui Yi. She's never been out of the ocean. I wrapped the Elder's cloak around her. Follow his scent."
A soft, almost imperceptible flicker caught Long Fei's attention as the amulet around his neck stirred, dislodging itself from his skin. It fell into his hand with a faint hum. "We need to go now," he said, the urgency in his voice cutting through the tension.
Ling Yue grabbed his arm without hesitation and dragged him as they swam toward the opening in the ceiling. "Call me if you need me, Your Majesty," she said, shooting a final glance at the broken sovereign.
As they torpedoed through the roof, she transformed into her whale form and opened her mouth for him to swim inside. He could not help but feel responsible. He wished that the Sacred Pearl would leave him.
The world inside the whale's mouth was a disorienting experience for Long Fei. His body pressed against the slick, warm surface of her tongue. The rhythmic movements rocked him gently, making it difficult to keep his balance. The cavernous space around him pulsed like a living world, filled with muffled echoes of water rushing and the subtle scent of brine.
"Master, you good back there?" her voice boomed, overwhelming him.
He winced, his teeth clenched against the force of her voice. He brought his hands to his ears in a futile attempt to block out the deafening volume. "Could you… perhaps lower your voice a bit?"
There was a slight pause in her movements, followed by a soft shudder beneath him. He could feel it rippling through her as if she had rolled her eyes, though he couldn't see a thing.
"Ah, my bad. You're not used to it, are you? I sometimes forget how loud I can be."
"Sometimes?" he asked. The rattling through his body made it hard to focus.
Her chuckle echoed around him, teasing yet warm.
"Alright, alright. I'll turn it down a notch. How's this?"
"Better," he grumbled, clutching her giant tooth for balance. "Loud and clear. Just not deafening."
A small sigh resonated through the whale, and the vibrations beneath him seemed to soften. "Got it. So, you think His Majesty will be alright?"
His thoughts drifted briefly to the aftermath of his experience from his fall from grace. "He'll survive physically," he said, his voice distant. "But the emotional wound... that will take longer to heal."
A shudder passed through her again, more pronounced this time. Her voice softened. "Master… you're talking about yourself, aren't you? I knew Long Yan was up to no good, but you kept telling me I shouldn't suspect your younger brother. And now look what happened."
His jaw tightened as memories of Zhen Hua's and Long Yan's treachery flashed through his mind. The trust he had once given them lay shattered, leaving a void in his chest. "Long Yan should have just talked to me. He didn't need to go that far. I can't believe I didn't see it coming."
Silence enveloped them for a moment, save for the rush of water surrounding him. He tightened his grip on her canine, his fingers pressing into the gap between her teeth. "We were like family for millennia. I always thought Zhen Hua would be my sister-in-law because she was supposed to marry Long Yan. They may have betrayed me, but they are still family."
She snorted, the sound rumbling beneath him. "Family? The kind that poisons you and throws you off the Celestial Realm? With a family like that, who needs enemies?" Her voice was thick with offense on his behalf. "Well, I'm not the forgiving type. Let me at 'em."
He shook his head. "We must not stoop to their level. Let them be."
"Well in that case, since you prepared that treasure island as a dowry... can I have it instead?"
"I told you, that island is for the mini-trolls and they're under my protection."
"Ahh, no fun." She sighed, her breath washing over him, stirring his hair. "Fine, fine. But what about the former princess? I haven't met her yet. What's she like?"
The mention of the princess caused his chest to tighten. He took a deep breath, unwilling to reveal too much of his turmoil. "She's… quite a character," he said cautiously.
The whale's voice lightened with amusement. "That's a change. I thought you preferred avoiding females, but you landed on her by 'chance'?" she said incredulously. "Did you squish her when you fell from the Celestial Realm? Is that how you ended up with the Sacred Pearl?"
He refused to engage with her jest.
"Wait, why haven't you met the Princess?"
"Oh, the King forbade me. Something about bad influence..."
"Really?" He raised a brow.
"I know you're giving me that look. Alright, I confess. I may have traumatized the King when I was babysitting him. So, he doesn't want me to babysit his precious daughter..."
"What did you do?"
"I swear by the Sea, that I was just training him to be a warrior."
"He would have only been three years old then..."
"Well, if you can swim, you can fight. That's my motto. Learned it from you—that was the age you started training me in my first human form, just to burn off my excess energy."
He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. He closed his eyes, trying to center himself. He reached deep within, testing the faintest stirrings of his qi. The familiar hum was muted, like a distant echo of what he once commanded. The rush of wind he could usually call upon was absent, replaced by a sluggish energy that barely flickered.
The whale tensed, and he could feel the slight change in her movements as she responded. "Master, are you trying to tickle me?"
"I'm adjusting," he muttered. His fingers curled into a fist, sending a surge of energy through his body, pushing his qi into a small strike. It rippled a subtle pulse that gently reverberated. The sensation was uncomfortable to him—no sign of elemental magic—but some power still ran through his body, a remnant of his former strength.
"It's certainly different," he said. He could feel the vibrations of his strike, but it didn't have the same impact as before. It felt like hitting something soft that absorbed the force.
"Yeah, looks like you've got a huge downgrade. Feels like you're punching the air, but in slow motion..."
He remained silent, his mind focused on the diminished power. He would have to adapt—he had no choice. The loss of his air elemental powers was a significant blow, but he still retained his martial arts prowess. It was not ideal, but it was enough to keep him alive and protect those around him. It would have to be enough.
A sudden jolt ran through his body. His senses sharpened, the energy crackling in the air, and he immediately felt the change.
"What's wrong? What's going on?" His neck stiffened, tightening his grip on her canine. His heartbeat quickened, the tension in his chest growing. Something was off.
"I can't sense her anymore," she muttered, a cold wave of panic creeping in. "She's gone… vanished."
He felt the whale's movements slow, the water pressing against him as her body shook in response to something.
"Remember to focus your senses on my cloak. The princess will have a different scent now without her tail."
His heart pounded. Had they already failed?
"Of course. I was following your immortal scent." Her voice softened. "That cloak reeks of you, Master. But now…" Her tone shifted to concern.
His eyes narrowed, a surge of urgency flooding his veins. "Hurry. The princess must be in trouble."
She sighed, her body speeding up again. "This former princess... she just can't stay out of trouble."