Chapter 2399: Social Death

"Don't worry, you are definitely not the Mermaid Queen's type!" The Mermaid Queen snorted with a straight face. How could this guy be so irritating?

Rage points from Gong Suyin: 119119119…

"Are you the Mermaid Queen?" Zu An suddenly stared at her.

"Of course not!" The Mermaid Queen's heart skipped a beat, wondering if she had given herself away.

"Since you're not, then why are you so sure the Queen wouldn't like someone like me?" Zu An's lips curved slightly. It felt good to hide his identity; he could say and do anything without any psychological burden.

The Mermaid Queen was speechless for a moment. She couldn't admit she was the Mermaid Queen, nor could she admit the Queen would like him.

"I am the Mermaid Queen's maidservant, so of course I know her preferences," she said, momentarily flustered, quickly finding a plausible excuse.

Anyway, she was heading back to the bedchamber, so she needed a believable reason.

*I'm so clever, to think of such a plan.*

"Maidservant?" Zu An eyed her with a strange expression. "It seems your Mermaid Queen's beauty is a bit overrated."

The Mermaid Queen was stunned. "Why?"

It seemed she had never cared so much about someone's opinion of her appearance before.

"Think about it. If the Mermaid Queen were truly beautiful, why would she choose an ordinary-looking maidservant like you to stand beside her as a foil? Perhaps the world thinks she's peerlessly beautiful only because you're there to highlight her. Frankly, she should be paying you more."

Zu An replied earnestly, secretly adding in his mind, *Hate me, quick. I'm a superficial, sharp-tongued, tasteless man.*

Mermaid Queen: "???"

Her teeth itched a little. This guy always managed to provoke her emotions so easily.

But she couldn't reveal her identity directly, so she could only seethe internally.

Rage points from Gong Suyin: 666666…

Meanwhile, Mogad, who had given chase, followed the scent and found the seahorse they had used earlier, but the two were nowhere to be seen.

Furious, he ripped the seahorse in half.

Seahorse: "???"

The Dragon King, who had just arrived, saw the showering blood and his eyebrows twitched. He quickly gave a fawning smile. "What happened to make King Bulun so angry?"

He had just been enjoying fine wine with beautiful concubines in his palace, admiring the dancing clam girls, pondering which lucky one to invite to his bed that night.

But after considering many, finding each to have her own unique charm, he finally decided to have them all.

*After all, I am the Dragon King; it would be a shame not to fully enjoy this status.*

Suddenly, shouts were heard outside. He went out to investigate and found the Square Pavilion ablaze.

This was no small matter; a fire in the deep-sea Dragon Palace was certainly serious, so he rushed over, arriving just in time to witness the scene.

Mogad looked at him coldly. "That's a question I should be asking you. We are guests in your Dragon Palace, yet under your heavy guard, first, an assassin killed our chief envoy, and just now, another assassin came with ill intentions. I'm starting to suspect these assassins were sent by you."

The Dragon King broke into a cold sweat, his previous pleasant thoughts of beautiful concubines vanishing. "King Bulun, you misunderstand. Those assassins have absolutely nothing to do with me."

As he spoke, he kicked the stomach of the nearby guard captain. "Useless fool! I tasked you with ensuring the safety of the envoy, yet mistakes keep happening repeatedly!"

The guard captain also broke into a cold sweat. He got up to explain, but Mogad suddenly said, "Since he's useless, there's no need to keep him."

With that, he extended his hand. Many people nearby saw a flash, and the next moment, the guard captain's head was in Mogad's hand, dripping blood that stained a large area around them.

Everyone: "…"

The Dragon King swallowed, thinking, *King Bulun's cultivation is indeed terrifying. But if it appeases him, the death of a general is a small price to pay.*

"The Dragon King won't mind me overstepping, will he?" Mogad casually tossed the head aside and said indifferently.

"How dare I? He was negligent in his duty; he got what he deserved," the Dragon King replied with a fawning smile.

Hearing his words, the other generals who had accompanied the Dragon King exchanged glances, then silently lowered their eyes.

"This King will personally lead a team to hunt down those assassins," the Dragon King quickly declared, worried about truly offending Mogad.

"No need. I already have a good idea who these assassins are," Mogad said, taking out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his hands.

"Who?" The Dragon King was startled. He was also curious about who dared to cause trouble in his territory.

"If the Dragon King is interested, you can come with me to see," he said before heading directly towards the Mermaid Queen's bedchamber.

On the other side, the Mermaid Queen brought Zu An to a stop near the bedchamber.

"When we go in, just pretend to be one of our mermaid guards. Don't speak carelessly, or if you expose yourself, not even the Queen can save you," the Mermaid Queen cautioned him.

Zu An felt a bit frustrated. He had deliberately angered her so much just now, yet she still clung to his wrist, not letting him go.

He couldn't use his power to shake her hand off; even if she were foolish, she would realize something was amiss.

"You seem very down?" Zu An thought to himself. *Could it be that my words just now hurt her?*

*No, that can't be. She's not truly an ordinary-looking maid. How could she be sad because I said she looked ordinary?*

Sometimes, lies don't hurt, but the truth is a sharp blade.

"I failed to rescue Princess Kongnan this time; I'm afraid I won't have another chance," the Mermaid Queen sighed, wondering how Princess Kongnan was doing now.

Also, what was the "ritual" the demons mentioned?

"Princess Kongnan…" Kong Nanwu's image appeared in Zu An's mind.

*Why did I have to encounter their ancestor?!*

"Was she the assassin from before?" Combining various pieces of information, this conclusion was not difficult to guess.

The Mermaid Queen looked at him suspiciously. "You're a Dragon Palace guard, and you don't know?"

Zu An's heart skipped a beat; he had been careless.

But he reacted quickly: "Such confidential information is not accessible to a low-ranking soldier like me."

The Mermaid Queen didn't suspect him. The Dragon King had intentionally concealed the truth about this matter. In a way, this junior guard was quite pitiful, sent to guard the Square Pavilion without even knowing what was going on.

"Indeed, she was the previous assassin. She assassinated the demon envoy, hoping to force a rift between the Sea Race and the demons. Unfortunately, she didn't expect King Bulun to also be hidden among the envoy group."

Hearing this, Zu An was no longer as calm as he had been initially.

He genuinely didn't want to affect the historical timeline, but knowing that Princess Kongnan was so courageous and isolated, how could he stand by and do nothing?

At worst, he just wouldn't reveal his true identity.

"The Sea Race and demons have allied?" Zu An asked a crucial question. If the Sea Race had sided with the demons in this era, he couldn't see any chance for the entire world to turn the tide.

The Mermaid Queen opened her mouth but ultimately did not answer: "These are not things a small guard like you should know. Sometimes, the more you know, the more dangerous it becomes."

Zu An: "…"

*Darn it, I acted too convincingly just now.*

"Aren't you just a maidservant yourself? What are you so proud of?" he provoked intentionally.

The Mermaid Queen raised an eyebrow. "Hah, my cultivation is much higher than yours."

Zu An was speechless. *You pretended earlier; now you have no comeback.*

"Is this your Queen's intention? Is she more inclined to ally with the demon race?" Zu An continued to ask.

"How could the Queen, such a beautiful and intelligent person, openly participate in such matters? This is merely my personal action; you must not let anything slip later," the Mermaid Queen reminded him.

Zu An looked at her with a complex expression. *You're getting more and more into character now, but when you know the truth, you're going to be mortified…*