Part 3
Setting aside his mind for a moment, at the very least, he couldn’t be a renyu; he had to be a normal person.
Otherwise, even if he looked the part when he appeared, one word from the Crown Prince about him being an impostor would be enough to block all the Second Prince’s paths.
Zong Hao remembered that Ning Yunyi had already tried and failed to restore him just now. “His condition… is there still a possibility of salvation?”
Ning Yunyi nodded. “At the beginning, the Jinqian Turtle said he had no jingshenli from the moment he appeared, so I used Mu Jiayi’s healing power. Since he originally had jingshenli, I’ll try something else a bit later to see how it works.”
Without jingshenli, consuming more lingli wouldn’t change anything, so he hadn’t tried at the time. Plus, the Jinqian Turtle was still there. but now that he knew it wasn’t the case from the start, there was still a chance to try.
Zong Hao fell silent after hearing this. “How about… I stay tonight? To help out?”
Ning Yunyi looked at him suspiciously. “The Jinqian Turtle is here.”
Zong Hao lowered his eyes to hide his emotions. “The Jinqian Turtle just arrived and can’t be trusted yet. It’s better not to let him know everything.”
The subtext was: I’m different. We already share secrets. But that turtle… he’s shifty, lazy, slippery, and he tattles. He’s not an honest turtle. How can he be as reliable as me?
Of course, the most important point was that in case of a sudden successful recovery, it wouldn’t be convenient for Ning Yunyi to face a naked merman-turned-human alone. He could help by covering him with a blanket or blocking Ning Yunyi’s view to prevent him from seeing something he shouldn’t.
Ning Yunyi felt that this fellow’s gaze was a bit off, but then he also felt that the Jinqian Turtle was indeed hiding quite a bit. Could someone he just met a few months ago make him risk his life just to follow him to an auction? After all, a value of five million wasn’t low, but given the auction prices for banshouren, if he had really run away, those people might have turned a blind eye.
Thinking that if the renyu really recovered later, he would need to discuss follow-up matters with Zong Hao, Ning Yunyi agreed.
As Ning Yunyi stood up, Zong Hao reminded him before turning back into a big cat, “What about my big bowl…”
Ning Yunyi waved his hand. “I know. I’ll get you a new one tomorrow. Actually, pearls can be used in medicine, for treating insomnia, or healing wounds. There’s nothing wrong with using a bowl to hold them.”
Zong Haoās face was stiff, and he was very insistent. If it were anything else, it would be fine. but thinking about those pearls being formed from the tears of that whiny renyu… [Yuck!] He didn’t want to touch it at all, okay?
Ning Yunyi understood his reaction in an eerie way. “Fine, fine, fine. I’ll change them all for you.” Later, when he made a necklace out of those pearls, heād better not be greedy or ask for one.
By the time Ning Yunyi went downstairs, the renyu had stopped crying, but the bowl the Jinqian Turtle was holding was still full.
Hearing the movement, the renyu looked up and splashed the water. It hit the Jinqian Turtleāwho happened to have his head downāright in the face. The turtle glared at him, but seeing the renyuās silly face, he took a deep breath: Heād endure. The younger generation was just a bit rowdy; he was still cute, so he should be tolerant.
Immediately after, the renyu tried to prop himself up on his arms to get closer to his approaching Master. Since he couldn’t see, he gave a massive flick of his tail. This time, the Jinqian Turtle was completely drenched.
The turtle was so angry he raised the bowl, intending to slam it onto the renyuās head, but Ning Yunyi stopped him. “His head is already not working well. If you hit him again and he becomes truly brain-dead, won’t it be more of a hassle for you to take care of him?”
The Jinqian Turtle was stunned. “Me… take care of him?”
Ning Yunyi, along with the big cat behind him flicking its tail, looked at him. “Look at me, the cub, and the big cat. Which one of us looks like they can take care of this large renyu?”
The turtle held the bowl. “Is there not a single servant in this huge house? Not a single one?” He missed his life as a turtle for the past several decades. He didn’t expect that in his old age, he would become a turtle-slave. Bah, a turtle-servant.
The more he thought about it, the more tragic it seemed.
Ning Yunyi looked calmly at the Jinqian Turtle, who looked as if the sky had fallen. He took the bowl of pearls from him and comforted him: “Although things are a bit tough at home, we provide room and board.”
The Jinqian Turtle cried even harder. He originally had an entire lake to live in; who wanted to live here? And as for food, what was so good about nutrient solutions? He had hidden in the lake of a desolate planet precisely because they tasted too bad. At least he could occasionally find and munch on some exotic fish; the taste was divine.
The renyu and the Jinqian Turtle stayed on the first floor. For ease of care, the turtle lived in the room next door.
After everything was settled, Ning Yunyi let the dejected Jinqian Turtle go to rest first. He then took Zong Hao to the renyuās room.
Inside was a large bathtub, enough for the creature to swim in. Sensing the movement and sniffing the air, the renyuās silver pupils shifted, and he immediately swam over. His eyes were bright. “Master…”
Ning Yunyi found the renyuās appearance quite rare. “Look at him. Even in his renyu beast form, he can still speak. It would be so much more convenient if you could talk.”
Zong Hao flicked his tail and glanced at Ning Yunyi upon hearing this. If he really started talking like this, Ning Yunyi wouldn’t be saying that. Heād probably look at him weirdly and tell him to shut up. That scene would be unbearable.
Ning Yunyi first used lingli to set up a barrier around the room. Then, he took out a blackout cloth and handed it to Zong Hao. “Here. Didn’t you want to help? Surround the bathtub with this, and cover the top with the rest.”
He might as well use the free labor, and Zong Hao had offered to help anyway.
Not only did Zong Hao not find it troublesome, but a light even appeared in his beastly eyes. He quickly took the blackout cloth in his mouth, bit one corner, used a paw to fix it in place, and began circling the tub. The renyu was so scared he splashed about, looking toward Ning Yunyi with teary eyes. “Master, I’m scared…”
Ning Yunyi moved quickly to bring over a basin and catch the falling pearls. When the renyu heard the pa-da sound and looked up blankly, Ning Yunyi smiled gently and patted his head. “Be good. Here, hold it yourself.”
He had spent over a hundred million, after all. He had to earn back what he could. Pearls were natural treasures, and they might fetch a high price in the future, so they couldn’t be wasted.
The renyu held the basin blankly, feeling his Master place a palm on his head. Soon, he felt a very comfortable light enveloping him, slowly seeping into his body. It felt as though every scale on his body was about to open, and he couldn’t help but let out a hum.
It was a low, soft humānot unpleasantābut it caused the surrounding lingli to fluctuate. Ning Yunyi’s eyes brightened. It was working! There was finally a reaction from his jingshenli.
Ning Yunyi believed in taking things step by step and stopping while he was ahead. As long as he was certain the creature could be saved, after a couple of days of recovery, he might restore his human form.
Ning Yunyi comforted the renyu, picked up the basin with about a dozen pearls, and went out with the big cat. “You can go back now. It will probably take two or three more times before there’s a real change.” By then, his body would be healed, but it was unclear if his mind would recover. However, as long as he regained his human form and didn’t expose his renyu identity, they could have the Second Prince appear in public and pressure the Crown Prince to let them see His Majesty. They just needed to discuss it later; they needed an occasion where the Crown Prince couldn’t refuse.
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