Shh, Can We Make Peace?

"Little Guga, are you gone?"

"They must have left."

Just then, Jiang Lan and Doro's voices came from the cave.

Immediately afterwards, two little heads peeked out and looked around furtively.

"It seems they really are gone." Jiang Lan lowered her voice, her two little hands gripping the edge of the hole, about to climb up.

Then he saw Qian Renxue in front of the clothes rack.

Qian Renxue had only untied half of her bath towel, her fingers still gripping the edge, her long golden hair cascading down her smooth back. Hearing the sound, she slowly turned her head, meeting two pairs of wide-open eyes at the entrance of the cave. Their eyes locked, and the entire bathroom was so quiet that you could hear water droplets sliding off flower petals.

"..."

"..."

"Little Guga."

"Aaaaaaah--!"

Qian Renxue wrapped the bath towel tighter than she had ever done in her life, grabbed a potted plant next to the clothes rack, and threw it at Jiang Lan. The flowerpot drew an angry arc in the air, soil flying everywhere, and was shattered by Jiang Lan's reflexive punch, with broken porcelain and soil scattered all over the ground.

"Didn't you leave?!" Qian Renxue's voice was no longer a scream, but a desperate roar on the verge of collapse. Her beautiful face was flushed red, and the shame and anger in her phoenix eyes almost solidified. "Why are you back again?!"

"I forgot my things!" Jiang Lan retreated back into the hole, leaving only her hands sticking out, one of which held a small shovel. "Take it and go! Auntie, you can continue! We didn't see anything!"

"Yeah! We didn't see anything!" Doro also shrank back in, his voice muffled from inside the cave, "We only saw a tiny bit!"

"How much is 'a little bit'?!" Qian Renxue felt the veins on her forehead about to burst.

"Just... the back view?" Jiang Lan's voice carried a clear hint of guilt. "Really, just the back view! Auntie, you have so much hair, it completely covers your back, so I couldn't see anything at all. It's like you're wearing a thick sweater!"

Qian Renxue closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then took another deep breath.

She felt that all her refinement, composure, and patience in her life had been completely exhausted tonight by this penguin chick.

Qian Renxue came to Jiang Lan and Doro and picked up the two little ones.

"Shh, can we make peace?" Jiang Lan asked Qian Renxue with a fawning expression.

Qian Renxue brought Jiang Lan and Doro to eye level with her. The penguin chick on her left had a fawning look on its face, while the white ball on her right was stuffing Ju Zi into its mouth. Both pairs of eyes blinked at her, their expressions more innocent than the other.

"Reconciliation?" Qian Renxue's voice was as gentle as a spring breeze across a lake. "You dug up my bathroom floor, saw my true face, and crawled out of the hole twice. Now you're asking if we can reconcile?"

"Yes!" Jiang Lan nodded vigorously, the mud stain on his cheek swaying with his movements. "My Mom Bo Saixi, said that a good child is one who admits their mistakes and corrects them! I'll correct them! I'll correct them right away! I'll fill in the tunnel as soon as I get back!"

"Yes! It's filled!" Doro nodded in agreement, Ju Zi dripping from the corner of his mouth and landing on Qian Renxue's fingers.

Qian Renxue looked down at the Ju Zi on her fingers, then looked up at the human and the soul, before slowly speaking, each word seemingly squeezed out from between her teeth. "Do you think that filling in the tunnel is the end of it?"

Jiang Lan and Doro exchanged a glance, then turned back at the same time and nodded frantically in perfect unison.

"This isn't over." Qian Renxue's smile grew even brighter, so bright it sent chills down one's spine. "Since reconciliation is impossible, let's try another method. From this moment on, both of you are officially under my command."

Jiang Lan tilted her head. "No, I need to get the treasure."

Qian Renxue eyes slightly, carrying a person and a soul as she walked out of the bathroom.

She stepped barefoot on the cold stone slabs, her long golden hair still dripping wet, but her expression had already regained the composure and sharpness befitting the young master of the Spirit Hall.

"A treasure?" Qian Renxue tilted her head to look at the reluctant penguin chick in her hand, a meaningful smile playing on her lips. "What treasure could possibly make you dig a tunnel all the way to the Crown Prince's Residence in the middle of the night? Tell me, maybe I can help you find it."

Jiang Lan was lifted into the air, her short legs dangling a couple of times. Her eyes darted around, and then she said in a serious tone, "What I'm looking for is the accessory for the Sea God's Trident, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. My older brother said it's a national treasure of the Heaven Dou Empire, hidden in the imperial palace treasury."

Qian Renxue stopped in her tracks.

The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.

Of course she knew what it was: the national treasure of the Heaven Dou Empire, a legendary sacred object related to the Sea God, which had always been enshrined in the deepest treasury of the imperial palace.

The Xue Ye valued it even more than the Imperial Seal of the State. What did this penguin chick want it for?

And what did he just say?

The Sea God's Trident's accessories? His older brother?

"Who is your older brother?" Qian Renxue lowered her voice by three-tenths.

His gaze swept back and forth across Jiang Lan's small face, which was covered in mud, trying to find a trace of lying in her large, clear eyes.

"The Sea God," Jiang Lan replied matter-of-factly.

Qian Renxue, upon learning of Jiang Lan's connection to the Sea God, harbored her own secret thoughts.

It should be known that very few people have the opportunity to contact God.

One is Bo Saixi Sea God Island, the other is his own grandfather, and unexpectedly, an evil Little Penguin appears.

If this is true, then the little one she's holding in mid-air isn't just any ordinary six-year-old genius, but a genuine relative of a deity.

Even if someone who can be on friendly terms with the Sea God looks like a penguin, he should never be treated like an ordinary child.

But what if that's false?

A six-year-old child boasts that he is the brother of the Sea God; who would believe him?

The problem was, the faint aura emanating from this kid made her feel that he was unusual.

Qian Renxue loosened her grip slightly and gently placed Jiang Lan and Doro back on the ground.

She gathered her still slightly damp golden hair, and instead of rushing to put on her outer robe, she simply wrapped herself in a bath towel and squatted down, her gaze level with Jiang Lan's.

The gentle smile that belonged to Crown Prince Xue Qinghe reappeared on that exquisitely beautiful face, but the shrewdness in his eyes was even more pronounced than during the day.

Qian Renxue said softly, "Little brother, would you like to come with your older sister?"

Jiang Lan shook her head and said, "No, you're too shameless. You're clearly an auntie, yet you call yourself an older sister."

Qian Renxue's smile froze instantly.

cheeky?

Aunt?

She's already been called "Auntie" three times by this penguin chick tonight, and now she's been added "shameless" to the list.

"Say it again." Qian Renxue's voice was still gentle, but the flames burning in her phoenix eyes were enough to make any normal person back down.