Chapter 2512: I Am Willing to Pay Any Price

"Could someone be trying to frame him?" Yu Men Beiqing couldn't help but ask.

Yi waved his hand. "That's unlikely. What kind of person is the Third Prince of Golden Crow? If someone stole his feathers, how could he not know?"

Hearing his words, Yu Men Beiqing fell silent. He did have a point.

Then, Yi cupped his hands. "Thank you both for the information. I'm going to track the soul of that pig-head now. If you find Chang'e, please notify me, or you can also notify the Chang clan."

As he spoke, he took out a jade piece and handed it to Zu An. "If you discover anything, you can contact me through this jade."

Zu An put it away and smiled awkwardly. "Alright."

Yi thanked them both again, then swiftly flew away, clearly anxious to find his missing fiancée.

"You seem particularly concerned about the Third Prince of Golden Crow?" Zu An looked at Yu Men Beiqing with a half-smile.

Yu Men Beiqing smiled naturally. "After all, I was the Demon Clan Saintess for so long and fought alongside the Golden Crow clan for many years. Naturally, I wouldn't want him to be the mastermind."

Then she asked, "By the way, are you really not going to tell Yi about Chang'e's whereabouts? What if he finds out you lied to him in the future? You might become enemies."

Hearing this, Zu An couldn't help but feel a headache. "I can't hand the Mermaid Queen over to him. For now, I'll have to take it one step at a time."

Due to the Mermaid Queen's identity, Zu An didn't dare to call her back to the deck and instead hurried back to his room.

The Mermaid Queen was already restless in the room. Seeing him arrive, a slight smile finally appeared on her face. "So that was Yi. You actually know him."

"I met him by chance; I happened to encounter him on his way to propose and gave him a ride," Zu An recalled. The whole thing still felt quite incredible to him. "By the way, how exactly did you get here?"

Hearing his question, the Mermaid Queen blushed slightly and stammered, "I don't know either. One day, I suddenly heard a female voice saying she could fulfill my wish and asking if I was willing to pay a price..."

Zu An immediately grew anxious. "What price?"

The Mermaid Queen pursed her lips. "There wasn't really any price. Maybe she just pitied me and decided to help me. Then I opened my eyes and suddenly found myself in this world, and... and I actually saw you."

She recalled the situation back then: after parting ways with Zu An, she returned to the Merfolk clan and distributed the antidote to her people.

Watching the merfolk regain their vibrancy, she, however, felt exceptionally lonely.

One day, she came to a reef on the ocean surface and gazed at the moon, silently expressing her feelings for Zu An.

Unfortunately, she knew that they were not from the same space-time and were destined to have no future.

The more she thought about it, the sadder she became, until she finally couldn't help but cry.

She didn't know how long she had cried when she suddenly heard an ethereal female voice asking if she truly wanted to be with her Elder Brother Zu.

The Mermaid Queen naturally nodded yes. Then the voice asked her, "If I can help you fulfill this wish, are you willing to pay a price?"

"I am willing!" The Mermaid Queen said, and though it sounded absurd, she didn't hesitate at all at that moment.

The female voice was clearly a little surprised. "You're willing to answer without even hearing what the price is?"

"As long as I can be with Elder Brother Zu, I'm willing to pay any price." The Mermaid Queen actually knew herself that two people from different space-times could never truly be together, so even if the female voice was deceiving her, she still wanted to hear more.

"Foolish child..." The female voice sighed. "But if it requires you to endure endless years of loneliness, just to be together for a short time, would you still be willing?"

The Mermaid Queen was also stunned, but she wasn't hesitating about the question. Instead, she was increasingly feeling that what the other party said sounded very real.

After all, she was an experienced and intelligent person and couldn't help but ask, "Who exactly are you?"

"You don't need to know who I am. I'm just asking if you're willing," the ethereal female voice replied.

The Mermaid Queen's expression also became firm. "I am willing!"

She also knew that even if what the other party said was true, it would be worth it to pay such a price to be with Elder Brother Zu.

Moreover, she thought it was probably all fake, and she really wanted to investigate the other party's origin.

Who knew that after she answered "willing," her whole being felt a dizzying blur? When she came to her senses, she had already appeared in the Chang clan, become some kind of Saintess, and had an imminent fiancé who was coming to propose.

This shock was no small matter. She couldn't understand why she had appeared there.

But she didn't have much time to think, as the arrival of her fiancé made everything so urgent.

It wasn't that she hadn't considered whether the fiancé named Yi could possibly be Elder Brother Zu, but she didn't dare to gamble; if she lost, everything would be over.

So, she decisively chose to flee the marriage.

Soon after escaping, she ran into a group of people chasing her. She used all her skills to temporarily shake off her pursuers.

She even thought she would never have the chance to see Elder Brother Zu again, but the next second, that familiar crystal boat appeared.

She cried out in disbelief; who knew that Elder Brother Zu, whom she had longed for day and night, actually appeared before her? At that moment, she was so happy she almost fainted.

She recounted all of this in detail, naturally omitting some things that made her feel embarrassed and not telling him the specific price.

Originally, if only Elder Brother Zu had been present, after experiencing so much, she wouldn't have minded speaking her heart freely. However, there was also a Demon Clan Saintess beside them, and the two of them looked like a couple, making many things difficult for her to say aloud.

Even so, Zu An and Yu Men Beiqing were incredibly shocked after hearing her story.

"Who exactly was that female voice, to be able to transport you directly to this world?" The shock in Yu Men Beiqing's heart was a thousand times greater than what she showed; such an ability was beyond her even in her prime.

The Mermaid Queen shook her head slightly. "I don't know where that female voice came from. After arriving in this world, I tried to contact her, but unfortunately, that voice never sounded again."

"Female voice..." Zu An's heart stirred, and he already had a faint guess. "Can you imitate that female voice?"

"I should be able to." The Mermaid Queen was a natural musician with an absolute sensitivity to melody and sound. She closed her eyes, recalled the situation, and then slowly imitated what the mysterious woman had said.

Others might not have been able to mimic it so perfectly, but being the Mermaid Queen, her throat moved slightly, and she replicated the voice exactly.

Upon hearing that voice, Yu Men Beiqing's expression changed. It was her!

Zu An also wore a complex expression. After a long time, he sighed. "I probably know who the other party is."

Hearing this, Yu Men Beiqing was stunned. She looked at Zu An with confusion, seemingly not expecting him to know.

"Who is it?" the Mermaid Queen asked anxiously. This was what she was most curious about: who exactly orchestrated all of this, and did they truly have the ability to help her?

Zu An took a deep breath and slowly uttered a name: "Empress Houtu."