Huan Chao: Jiao Ji

"..."

"Po'er doesn't really understand."

Tang Po felt lost over that hazy, indistinct relationship—he could sense it, yet could not pierce through it.

Su Mutian kindly patted Tang Po on the shoulder. "Child, having special tastes isn't frightening. What's frightening is not daring to admit it."

Tang Po: "???"

"Young God brother, I just think Jiao Ji's singing sounds nice, and she helped my mother, so..."

Su Mutian gave Tang Po a meaningful look. "You're not being honest."

"I am."

Tang Po obediently lowered his head, but still explained, "But I don't have any special tastes."

"I understand."

Su Mutian understood everything.

Tang Po, oh, Tang Po.

I watched you grow up.

Wasn't it just that you were too embarrassed to face it?

Why deny it to me?

It wasn't as if I didn't know your family had a soft spot for romances with Soul Beasts.

"No, Young God brother, you don't understand."

Tang Po felt a little wronged.

You can't wrong me just because I'm honest, can you?

"So you don't like that mermaid called Huan Chao Jiao Ji?"

For an instant, Su Mutian was a little confused.

Could Bo Saixi's investigation have gone wrong?

Matters of affection really did make people prone to misunderstanding.

Perhaps if you walked down the road and politely said a few words to someone of the opposite sex, acquaintances would mistakenly think the two of you had an improper relationship.

Let alone when Tang Po often ran to the mermaids' forbidden zone.

Tang Po shook his head. "I like her."

You fucking...

Su Mutian's expression changed instantly.

Are you fucking messing with me?

"I want to..."

Tang Po looked at Su Mutian, hesitated, then continued, "I want to ask Young God brother for one thing..."

"What is it?" Su Mutian said irritably.

"Mother hasn't had an episode in a very long time. The pharmacist said Mother has more or less recovered. I want to ask Young God to remove the shackles from Ji'er, and let her return to the sea and grow freely again."

Tang Po spoke with considerable sincerity.

"Was that what she expressed to you?"

This was beyond Su Mutian's expectations. If this mermaid's ideological awareness was truly that high, then she was already not far from the great Hundred-Thousand-Year bottleneck.

Understanding human nature was something very few Soul Beasts could accomplish.

"Not exactly, but I often see Jiao Ji looking out over the sea and sighing. Recently, her singing has also been full of melancholy. I think having her freedom restricted must make her feel uncomfortable all over. That's far too cruel."

An imprisoned life did indeed torment both body and mind.

However, this matter was not Su Mutian's responsibility. It was under Sea Star Douluo's management.

Sea Star Douluo had always been responsible for a series of affairs on Sea God Island and maintaining order. He was the first assistant under Bo Saixi.

But to be reasonable, Huan Chao Jiao Ji was a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and not everyone on Sea God Island was a Soul Emperor or Soul Sage.

If she were not restricted and some accident happened, it would also be extremely bad.

In truth, the sea area Sea God Island had granted Huan Chao Jiao Ji to swim in was not small. She was only specially summoned over when they needed her.

Su Mutian said, "She was originally sent over by the Sea Charm Tribe to soothe your mother, and she also belongs to you. You have the right to decide whether she stays or goes."

What was more, back then, the Sea Charm Tribe had also intended to release Huan Chao Jiao Ji.

"However, can you really bear to let her leave?" Su Mutian asked.

Tang Po froze.

If he put it that way...

If Huan Chao Jiao Ji suddenly left Sea God Island, it would be very hard to meet her again in the future.

Tang Po suddenly felt a little sad.

A little reluctant to part with her.

Perhaps they had spent too much time together, and he would not be used to it all at once?

"I..." Tang Po could not speak.

"Little Po! There are many choices in a person's life. You must choose a path that brings peace to your heart, such as caring about the people around you and paying attention to their thoughts."

As someone who had spiritually lived for thirty or forty years, Su Mutian could still casually pull out a couple of lines that sounded at first like truths about life.

However, Tang Po was no longer surprised.

For twelve years, Young God brother had always taught him like this.

In his heart, Su Mutian had already become the representative of erudition, benevolence, and greatness.

"Po'er will remember," Tang Po said.

The corners of Su Mutian's mouth suddenly lifted in a smile. "But, Little Po, you're already eighteen. Shouldn't you consider the important matter of your life?"

Tang Po's face reddened. "Po'er... Po'er was cultivating soul skills yesterday and discovered some parts I still haven't mastered. I'll be going first!"

After that, he fled in embarrassment.

The funniest part was that after Tang Po had not even taken two steps, he remembered Su Mutian's teaching, stumbled, then shut the door on his way out.

Elegant and polite.

"Sigh... still a child. He doesn't understand the beauty of love between men and women. Young, far too young!"

Su Mutian was the pot calling the kettle black.

Still, Tang Po was at least working hard to cultivate soul skills.

Yet in these twelve years, Su Mutian's own martial soul had not progressed quickly. He had barely raised the Chaos Divine Sword to just over level fifty, and the Soul Power of his other martial souls had only increased slightly.

Fortunately, with his clone supporting his conviction, Su Mutian felt a good deal more at ease.

It was not that his talent was poor. It was that in these twelve years, none of the various plotlines had seen any major events, so naturally there were fewer rewards.

That was why Su Mutian was so urgently hoping Tang Po would find a wife and have a child. That way, he could activate Tang Hao's line and max out the Assault System martial soul as soon as possible.

Then, paired with his clone's demigod body, utterly crushing a Limit Douluo would be no problem.

In that case, he could feel secure about surviving on the Douluo Continent.

...ʕ๑•ɷ•๑ʔ❀

Huan Chao Jiao Ji was restricted within a coral forest not far from Tang Po's residence. Half of her fish body was submerged in seawater, while her upper body reclined beneath the sunlight.

After Tang Po hurriedly went to the priest hall to meet Su Mutian, he came straight here.

"Ji'er, I have something good to tell you!" Tang Po leaped to Huan Chao Jiao Ji's side, though it was hard to tell whether he was happy or sad.

"?"

Huan Chao Jiao Ji showed a puzzled expression. Her fish tail flopped in the seawater, and her hands gestured; these were all body language she used to communicate with Tang Po.

Her mouth also made beautiful murmuring sounds, but ordinary people could not understand them. Tang Po, however, watched with great interest, even nodding as if he half understood.

"You're this happy—is it because your Soul Power broke through again? Or did you gain a new understanding of a soul skill?" Huan Chao Jiao Ji gestured for quite a while before finally making her meaning clear.

Seeing Tang Po shake his head, Huan Chao Jiao Ji mumbled again, "Then what is it? I can't guess..."

Only then did Tang Po rub the bright scales on Huan Chao Jiao Ji's head and gesture as he said, "I just spoke to Young God brother about letting you leave Sea God Island and return to the sea. As long as you're willing, I'm willing to give you freedom. That way, you won't have to be confined to this coral forest. You can swim freely through the entire ocean."

"I often saw you looking out at the sea and sighing before. Now that you've learned this news, you're happy, right?"

"But I'm both happy and unhappy. Because you'll be free, I'm very happy. But once you leave, it might be very hard for me to see you again, and I won't hear your singing anymore either."

Tang Po was somewhat dejected.

As soon as she heard this.

Huan Chao Jiao Ji immediately panicked.

Her fish tail thrashed wildly without any rhythm, her expression flustered, and she waved her hands again and again. Clearly, she was anxious.

"I don't want to leave Sea God Island!!!"

"You don't want to?"

Tang Po was startled and said strangely, "Why?"

Huan Chao Jiao Ji looked pitifully at Tang Po and signaled, "You... want to drive... me away?"

"No, no, I don't want you to leave!"

Tang Po hurriedly denied it:

"I just think you shouldn't be bound by me and my mother for your whole life."

"Not at all!"

Huan Chao Jiao Ji shook her head fiercely, then nuzzled her head against Tang Po's chest and explained:

"I'm very willing to stay on Sea God Island. This place is wonderful!"

"Sea God Island is a place every one of us sea Soul Beasts yearns for. Many Soul Beasts want to come here, but they're all mercilessly driven away by a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Being able to live here makes me very happy. And with your company, I'm willing to remain here."

That Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was naturally the Demon Soul Great White Shark guarding the Sacred Pillar Stone of Sea God Island.

"Also, Sea God Island radiates the Sea God's protective light. This is greatly beneficial to us Soul Beasts when breaking through the Hundred-Thousand-Year boundary. At that time, maybe I'll be able to shed this fish body..."

The look Huan Chao Jiao Ji gave Tang Po was shining.

Whether mermaid or true human, Tang Po was the gentlest person she had ever met. Being with him gave her an inexplicable sense of security.

Seeing this scene.

Su Mutian quietly left and returned to Sea God Hall.

Sure enough, his guess had not been wrong.

Although Tang Po had not lied to him, in truth, even Tang Po himself had not figured it out. The relationship between him and Huan Chao Jiao Ji was not that pure.

They were walking further and further down the road of love.

The crystallization of their love was also slowly condensing.

"When the time comes, if I give them another push, these two should be about ready to become a pair."

Su Mutian seriously pondered how to make Tang Po have a son.

...ʕ๑•ɷ•๑ʔ❀ Divider: Tang Po and the mermaid Soul Beast's development story will continue only after the conflict between Ah Yin and Qian Jixun is finished.

In other words, the next chapter will immediately switch to the continent line!

Weakly, may I ask for a tip, qwq? Please give recommendation tickets, please give anything, ahhh...