Chapter 45: Azure Luan
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Being surrounded by seawater was a strange and wonderful feeling. Lin Su felt as though he had entered another world—one without gravity, where sunlight was swallowed inch by inch, and only the hollow whisper of the current filled his ears. But he wasn’t nervous. In fact, he felt oddly relaxed, like a weary traveler finally shedding his burden. Even his soul seemed to drift aimlessly with the tide.
Shi Wenze continued to guide him deeper, toward another section near the coast. There weren’t any dolphins to see, of course—nor a certain crabby boss—but Xu You was there. He wasn’t always cast as the torpedo boat of the group; once in a while, he could serve as a decent wingman too. Even though the Monster Affairs Commission had been pushing for monster equality for years, the fact remained: when a half-dragon showed up, underwater monsters still got a bit twitchy.
So, naturally, everyone responded to Xu You with excessive politeness, repeating things like, “Sure, no problem at all,” over and over.
Shi Wenze’s actual request was pretty simple. He just wanted a few pretty, glowing fish and friendly sea creatures to make Lin Su’s first dive more romantic. But Xu You figured that if they were going to go all out, they might as well really go all out. Otherwise, it’d look stingy.
Thus, he zipped around the seafloor like a hyperactive community manager, hollering at every underwater household like he had a megaphone in hand. In less than ten minutes, he had assembled a massive, bustling group of sea creatures and monsters, all headed toward the shallow waters.
Lin Su spotted a tiny, glowing fish nestled on a reef. He tried to approach it carefully, motioning for Shi Wenze to take a picture. But before he could strike a pose, the fish darted away. A moment later, the water around him began to tremble ever so slightly. Startled, Lin Su instinctively turned to look for Shi Wenze—only to be met with a sudden burst of dazzling, multicolored light.
At first, it was just a broad blur, like spilled paint mixing with sunlight underwater. But soon, the scene came into focus. Countless glowing fish swirled around, accompanied by small monsters bearing odd-shaped seaweed and coral arranged to look like bouquets.
Before he knew it, Lin Su had become the glowing heart of the entire scene. Even with his boundless imagination, he had never envisioned anything quite like this. Amazed, he turned in a slow circle, taking in the view. More monsters were arriving by the second—though thanks to the chaotic word-of-mouth, most had no idea why they were even here. Some heard rumors about an underwater supermarket handing out coupons, others thought there was a live performance happening, and a few were convinced it was a wedding—why else would they only invite the cute, non-threatening ones?
Xu You had to wrestle a giant sea beast by the whiskers. “No, you can’t go! Your whole vibe is way too scary!”
The sea beast churned up the sand with its tail, wailing, “This is discrimination based on appearance!”
Meanwhile, the other monsters had already broken out into song and dance, fully embracing the idea that this was a wedding. Sure, there was no reception table, but they hadn’t brought red envelopes either—so it balanced out. Hand in hand, they surrounded Lin Su and Shi Wenze, loudly humming the wedding march before launching into a spirited folk dance performance. Clearly, even on vacation, the northeastern aunties of the sea did not slack off from their cultural duties.
Shi Wenze, watching the scene, realized this wasn’t quite the romantic ambiance he had envisioned. But thankfully, Lin Su looked genuinely delighted. And that was enough. Romance or not, joy was joy.
As the sun dipped slowly below the horizon, painting the sea in deep golds and reds, Lin Su sat on the beach while Shi Wenze helped him remove the heavy diving gear. His body still felt like it was floating. As he stretched his arms and shoulders, he was surprised to find the usual ache in his neck completely gone.
“Well,” he murmured, rolling his shoulder a few more times, “should I report this medical discovery to Huaxi Hospital?”
One second ago, they were humming the wedding march—now they were advancing spinal research. That was his wife all right: even his cotton shorts had to be Xinjiang cotton. Always thinking big. Shi Wenze slung an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a gentle recline. Together, they lay back to watch the golden-red sky above.
Just then, Chiwen peeked his head above the water’s surface—only to immediately dive back down with a “blub.” He decided this scene was far too sweet for a single sea beast to witness. Might as well grab a quiet bite at a local seafloor café instead.
And this wasn’t some cheap knockoff with glass tanks—it was the real deal seafloor café, serving a wide variety of algae. He’d eat plants for the sake of his brother’s love. Who else could say that? Still, as he chewed on the forced greenery, Xu You made a mental note to order ten trays each of tripe, fatty beef, and ox aorta the moment he got back to Chengdu for hotpot. It was the only way to heal from this emotional trauma.
The fish running the café had no idea its customer was chewing in quiet suffering. With a cheerful flourish, it handed him a skewer of sea grapes. Xu You took it without complaint, crunching his way back home. By now, night had fully fallen. In the living room, Shi Wenze was on the phone. When Xu You stepped inside, Shi Wenze tapped the speaker button.
On the other end, sister Ya said, “Flight lands at eight tonight.”
Xu You frowned. “Who?”
“Cheng Facai,” Shi Wenze replied.
“What, he ran off somewhere?” Xu You asked. “Where does an 8 p.m. flight even take you?”
Before sister Ya could explain, the doorbell chimed. Shi Wenze looked at the familiar face on the video monitor, his brow twitching. “He’s here.”
“…Seriously?” Xu You muttered. The chicken-feet tycoon hadn’t run off. His 8 p.m. flight was a direct one to Qiong City, and from the moment he landed, he headed straight to his own hotel. Now, holding a bottle of vintage red wine, he stood at their door with his signature “Hey, little bro! Surprised to see me?” look, beaming infectiously as he launched into a rapid-fire greeting: “Hey there! Hope I’m not interrupting! So what do you think of the house?”
“It’s great. We haven’t had the chance to thank you properly,” Shi Wenze said politely, stepping aside. “Come in. This is my colleague, Xu You.”
Xu You eyed the man before him. Carefully styled mustache, glittering eyes, floral board shorts, slicked-back hair, and shades perched on his head… It was hard to imagine that this man had once been paired with Dou Yixuan in a romantic onscreen couple.
“Another guest satisfaction survey, Mr. Cheng?” Shi Wenze asked. Cheng Facai’s expression turned serious. “No. I’m here to file a report!”
Lin Su came down the stairs just in time to hear the conversation. He had originally planned to call Xu You in for a tutoring session, but hadn’t expected to run into the chicken feet restaurant owner. His heart immediately sank—wasn’t this man one of the suspects in their ongoing investigation? Cheng Facai immediately protested. “It’s not me, I swear! Don’t make stuff up!”
He went on, “I suspect my ex-girlfriend is involved in illegal activities.” The ex-girlfriend in question was none other than the domineering CEO, Dou Yixuan.
Back then, Cheng Facai had fallen for her at first sight and launched a passionate pursuit. He’d expected a long and arduous romantic campaign, but to his shock, after just a week of daily flower deliveries, their relationship jumped straight to mutual declarations of love and sugar-sweet affection like something out of a bubble tea ad. The chicken feet boss had been floored—stunned and smug all at once—convinced that it was his damned irresistible, mature charm at work.
In a grand gesture of love, he purchased an entire floor of an ocean-view apartment building. But to his dismay, Dou Yixuan seemed entirely uninterested in the luxurious property and flat-out refused to even look at it. Confused, Cheng Facai had asked, “I thought you were the kind of person who loved money?”
Dou Yixuan had raised a brow and said, “I want the old villa your family owns in Hucheng.”
Cheng Facai had flashed her a knowing smile. He should’ve known this little sweety only went for the best. No problem—he’d book a private flight immediately.
Xu You, observing from the side while secretly recording, was getting a crash course in the strange world of the rich. Is this really how wealthy people fall in love? So pragmatic?
The two of them lived in the Hucheng villa for a while, then moved to an old family estate in Chengdu for a bit longer—and then broke up, just like that.
Xu You blinked. “That’s it? Just ended like that?”
Cheng Facai let out a weary sigh. “She never loved me.”
Shi Wenze frowned. “Then why did she agree to date you?”
Still sounding mournful, Cheng Facai replied, “Because she wanted to rob my family’s ancestral tomb.”
Lin Su fell into a stunned silence. Despite his punk-rock appearance, Cheng Facai was actually a qingluan—a mystical, elegant species in the same ancient lineage as phoenixes. Back in the old days, qingluans and phoenixes often flew together, and their resting places were usually near one another. Shi Wenze asked, “So Dou Yixuan was after phoenix bones?”
“I’m just guessing,” Cheng Facai said. “At first, she was unusually obsessed with the study in my old villa. She’d spend hours there flipping through everything. I thought she was just a nerd who loved old books. But then I realized—she thought ‘White hair floating on green water’ was written by Li Bai. She also thought The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival was by Li Bai.”
Lin Su: “…”
Xu You agreed. “Yikes. Total academic disaster.”
After finding nothing in Hucheng or Chengdu, Dou Yixuan switched tactics and started fishing for information with casual conversation. Cheng Facai, caught between his emotions and suspicion, insisted he didn’t know anything. “Why are you asking me all this?”
Shi Wenze asked directly, “So do you know?”
“I don’t. All that stuff’s been with my great-great-great-grandfather for generations. Besides, I’m practically on the verge of being disowned by my dad.”
So, despite all her efforts—charm, pressure, and manipulation—Dou Yixuan hadn’t gotten what she wanted. Their love story went from sweet bubble tea to bitter espresso. Cheng Facai sighed again. “I’m tired. I just want to bury my feelings now.”
“Have you two been in touch since the breakup?” Shi Wenze asked.
“No. I never contact my exes. Breaking up is like dying—I never give a broken mirror the chance to come back together.”
Still, just because they didn’t talk didn’t mean Cheng Facai was naïve. He had been wary. As much as he liked the powerful CEO, her suspicious motives kept him alert. He wasn’t about to let her rummage through his things unchecked.
“So how did you protect yourself?” Shi Wenze asked.
“Well, I figured she might be after my trade secrets, so before we broke up, I did a little swap of my own. I opened her safe.”
To his surprise, the safe didn’t contain anything business-related—just some diagrams he couldn’t make heads or tails of. They looked like anatomical sketches with semi-metal structures, maybe written in Latin or some other language. It all seemed impressive and ominous, but clearly had nothing to do with hotels. He didn’t look too closely. Just snapped a few photos on his phone and put everything back the way it was.
“And you’re only reporting it now?”
“I didn’t realize any of it was illegal,” Cheng Facai said honestly. “Until recently, when I was planning some upgrades for the haunted house at my amusement park. I suddenly remembered that creepy half-mechanical autopsy creature she had, and thought, hey, maybe I could borrow that design.”
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