The boy emperor sat on the damp, chilly beach.
Suddenly, a sea breeze swept over him. His soaked robes clung to his back, making him shudder.
But he had no time to mind the cold. His mind was filled with the figure he had seen within that sphere of blue light underwater.
He struggled to his feet, staggered a few steps, and gazed out at the sea. The waves were calm, the water blue and clear.
“Sea Goddess, was it you who saved me?”
No one answered.
The waves kept surging onto the beach, then receding.
In the end, they left behind only a layer of white foam.
The boy emperor stood there for a long while.
It was not until his legs began to go numb that he finally drooped his shoulders in dejection and turned toward the interior of the island.
The small boat Marquis Ningyuan had found for him had been destroyed by the waves. There was no way he could escape the isolated island on his own.
At this point, all he could do was pray that Marquis Ningyuan and his daughter, Third Miss Shen, were safe. Otherwise, he would truly be isolated and helpless on this island, completely at the mercy of others.
Yun Shu, who had concealed her presence, stood not far away, thoughtfully watching the boy emperor’s frightened appearance.
According to her original plan, she would first trap the boy emperor and the others on the island. Once everything in the north had been arranged, she could take advantage of the momentum created by the boy emperor’s journey to Northguard Prefecture to propose marriage, put on a convincing show of fury, and seize the south in one stroke, unifying the realm.
Who could have imagined that plans would never keep pace with change?
She had no idea what had happened on the island, but somehow the boy emperor had fallen into the sea and nearly lost his life.
She had been careless, too. She had assumed that with the blue whale watching over the island, nothing could go wrong, so she had not asked the system to monitor it.
Just as Yun Shu was preparing to change into the Rewind Mirror outfit and read the boy emperor’s memories to learn what had happened, the system suddenly began shouting frantically in her ear.
“Host, this is bad!”
Little Fox came running over, panting for breath.
“You need to go take a look! Marquis Ningyuan and that young girl named Shen Ying are in grave danger!”
Hearing that Marquis Ningyuan and Shen Ying were in danger, Yun Shu paused midway through changing outfits.
“Did that Imperial Preceptor named Guo Rong send people to the island?”
“Host, you really are clairvoyant!” Little Fox gazed at Yun Shu with open admiration. But soon, its expression changed to one of furious indignation. “It’s all that silly fish’s fault! You told it to watch over the people on the island, but it doesn’t distinguish between good and evil at all. It not only let all the people sent by the Imperial Preceptor onto the island, it even gave them fish to eat!”
Yun Shu pressed on. “Why would the Imperial Preceptor choose this moment to send people to kill the boy emperor and Marquis Ningyuan’s daughter?”
Little Fox told her what it knew.
“The Imperial Preceptor discovered that the boy emperor had secretly left the palace with Marquis Ningyuan. So he decided to go all the way and sent people to the island, intending to force the boy emperor to write an abdication edict and install a new emperor.”
It glanced at the boy emperor, who was walking toward the depths of the island’s forest, and said worriedly, “Host, shouldn’t we help the boy emperor? If he’s deposed, the marriage proposal will definitely be delayed, and our plan to head south will be ruined.”
Yun Shu thought for a moment, changed into the Rewind Mirror outfit, and quickly read the boy emperor’s memories.
“System, tell me where Marquis Ningyuan and his daughter are. I’ll lead the boy emperor to them.”
Neither the divine identity she had been playing nor the Sea Goddess identity the boy emperor and the others had mistakenly attributed to her was suitable for appearing in person.
If she wanted to save the boy emperor and the others while ensuring that the marriage proposal proceeded smoothly, she would have to find another way.
“Host, go another nine hundred meters.”
The path on the island was difficult to navigate.
Vines sprawled everywhere, and thorns grew in tangled clusters. The earth beneath his feet had been softened by the previous night’s rain. The boy emperor trudged forward, sinking deep with every other step, water dripping from his clothes all along the way.
“A-Yue.”
A familiar voice sounded beside his ear. The boy emperor froze for a moment, then his face lit up with overwhelming joy.
“Mother, is that you?” His voice was filled with barely restrained excitement and longing. “Where are you? Why can’t I see you? Mother, I’ve missed you so much. You’re not by my side, and they all bully me…”
By the end, his eyes had reddened. He looked just like a child who had been mistreated outside and had come running to his parents for comfort.
“My poor child. You’ve suffered.”
Using the Thousand Voices Soul component of the Ten Thousand Forms, Nothingness outfit, Yun Shu created a voice identical to the one belonging to the boy emperor’s mother in his memories.
Although she could also use the Ten Thousand Forms, Nothingness outfit to recreate his mother’s face, she had no intention of doing so.
No matter how good her acting was or how flawless her disguise, it was still possible to reveal a flaw when facing someone’s close family member, someone they had lived with day and night.
There was no need for her to take that risk.
“Mother, why won’t you show yourself?” The boy emperor searched everywhere for the familiar figure from his memories, but found nothing.
“I’m useless. I couldn’t avenge you and Grandfather. Are you angry with me?”
The more he spoke, the more dejected he became.
Yun Shu let out a soft sigh and slowly said, “A-Yue, it isn’t that Mother doesn’t want to see you. It’s that I cannot.”
“Mother has already returned to the Underworld. If the Underworld Emperor had not shown mercy and allowed me to exchange my own merits for a chance to return to the mortal world, my child, you would surely have lost your life today.”
The boy emperor could not see her, but his tears continued to fall uncontrollably.
“Mother, it’s all my fault. I’ve made you worry about me even from beyond the grave.”
“Do not say such things. A-Yue, I cannot remain in the mortal world for much longer.” Yun Shu finally revealed the purpose of her visit. “You must remember every word I am about to say.”
“The Divine Lady of the north is a disciple of the Celestial Venerable who has descended into the mortal world. Her powers are boundless. You must never make an enemy of her, nor may you show her the slightest disrespect.”
“Otherwise, even Mother will not be able to save you!”
The boy emperor’s face instantly paled.
“Mother, are there truly gods in this world? I… I thought the common tales claiming that the Divine Lady of the north could move mountains and overturn seas were nothing more than exaggerated rumors. I never took them seriously.”
As he spoke, a trace of panic flickered through his eyes.
“And I already promised the Imperial Preceptor in the grand hall that I would go and propose marriage to the Divine Lady. Mother, what should I do?”
If she had merely been a regional warlord, he could have used the marriage proposal to negotiate with her, offering half the realm as a bargaining chip in exchange for her help in killing the Imperial Preceptor and the others.
But she was a true god.
Let alone negotiating terms, the moment news of his proposal reached Northguard Prefecture, that Divine Lady might bring down divine punishment and strike him into oblivion.
She was a god, after all. How could a mortal offend her?
“My child, do not panic.”
Yun Shu continued to deceive the boy emperor.
“You did not mean to offend her. As long as you can find Marquis Ningyuan and Third Miss Shen, there may still be a way to resolve this.”
“Mother, you’re right. I’ll go find Marquis Ningyuan and Third Miss Shen now and have them escort me back to the capital.”
The boy emperor could not help feeling somewhat relieved.
Fortunately, he could still turn back and return home.
It seemed that having his boat destroyed by that enormous fish and being stranded on this isolated island had been a blessing in disguise!
