PRINCE JING WAS STILL watching the fish intently when Wang Xi
handed him both boxes of fish food. Wang Xi's eyes were filled with
anticipation.
Having served Prince Jing for many years, Wang Xi knew exactly
what his master wanted without the prince having to say a single word.
Smiling, he said sincerely, "Your Highness, this old servant has a few things
to take care of, but the fish still seems to be hungry. Could you help me feed
the fish?"
Mu Tianchi paused for a second, surprised.
Wang Xi pushed the boxes toward him and continued very seriously,
"There are two kinds of feed. The red one tastes like fish-flavored shredded
pork, and the green one is mushroom and greens. This servant thinks the
little carp seems to prefer the red one."
Mu Tianchi couldn't help but agree. The little carp did seem to have a
little more life when it ate the red feed.
Mu Tianchi silently accepted the red-feed box. Wang Xi smiled until
his eyes looked like two crescent moons. After reminding Prince Jing not to
overfeed the fish, he made up some excuse and left the two of them alone.
Mu Tianchi hesitated, holding the box of fish feed. After all, he was
treading in unfamiliar waters here. Down below, Li Yu waited and waited,
but when it didn't seem like Wang Xi was going to
feed him anymore, the hungry little carp swam up to the water's
surface, waiting expectantly.
Li Yu and Prince Jing, fish and human, stared into each other's eyes.
Li Yu was startled—he hadn't expected to see Prince Jing. Then he
remembered he was merely a fish. It didn't matter how long he stared at
Prince Jing; the prince probably wouldn't notice.
What…was Prince Jing about to do?
Li Yu couldn't figure it out. The tall, imposing youth couldn't speak,
always keeping his thoughts hidden behind those dark, fathomless eyes.
Mu Tianchi stood in front of the tank for a full ten minutes before he
threw a handful of red pellets into the water with a little too much force,
nearly pelting Li Yu with the torrential downpour of fish food. Li Yu gaped
at Prince Jing in shock. He almost couldn't believe it.
By the time he realized what had happened, his body had already
instinctively launched itself at the fish food Prince Jing had tossed in.
Turning in a beautiful curve in the water, the little carp carefully held the
food in his mouth. In his chest, his heart went pit-a-pat.
Not only had the tyrant saved him—he had even personally fed him!!
As soon as he swallowed the fish food, the system, which had been
silent up until now, suddenly came to life. ‹Congratulations, user. You have
completed the second part of the Moe Pet System main quest: 'Tyrant's
Priceless Pet Fish—Interact with the Tyrant.' Congratulations! You will
now receive the corresponding reward!›
Li Yu could have burst into tears. So this was what "interacting"
meant!
In one big gulp, he devoured the last of the food that Prince Jing had
tossed in. Belly full and fit to bursting, Li Yu drifted down to lie on the bed
of snowy white rocks to take a quick nap. Anyone, human or fish, would
feel sleepy after eating a full meal.
Now that the second task was taken care of, Li Yu didn't think it
would be too late if he waited to collect his reward and took a little nap
first. Thankfully, although the experience had been frightening, nothing
dangerous had happened.
Li Yu couldn't fall asleep wherever he wanted when he had been
human, but he had no such problem now. As a fish, he could sleep however
he wanted, upright or lying down. Very soon, Li Yu fell into the embrace of
a dream.
Recalling what Wang Xi had said, Prince Jing glanced at the little
carp, then tapped on the tank with two fingers. Li Yu, who had been
teetering on the precipice of sleep, was jolted awake by the sound.
What is it? I want to sleep. Some people still have injuries to recover
from…
If it hadn't been for the quests, Li Yu wouldn't want to have anything
to do with the tyrant at all.
Having noticed that the fish was still lying limply on the rock, Prince
Jing extended a hand. Li Yu, who was still attempting to fall back asleep,
felt the water move.
What's happening??
Li Yu was immediately wide awake, his terror chasing away any
notions of sleep. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Prince Jing's hand
reaching into the tank.
Li Yu flinched, fighting the urge to swish his tail. He was still injured,
for one thing, so moving his tail hurt. And secondly, daring to swish his tail
in Prince Jing's face would only mean one thing: a dead fish! Li Yu felt like
his heart was strapped into a roller coaster—but, to his surprise, Prince Jing
did not immediately grab him. Instead, he nudged him lightly off the bed of
snowy white rock.
Did Prince Jing not want him to go to sleep?
Li Yu was utterly confused as Prince Jing's finger pushed him
forward. Prodded by the prince's finger, Li Yu swam around nearly the
entirety of the tank. He didn't know what Prince Jing wanted. Fear slowly
crept over his heart. But after a while, he realized the prince seemed
perfectly content with nudging him around and didn't seem to want to do
anything else. Li Yu's pulse gradually calmed down. Occasionally, he'd
give a few lazy swipes of his fins as a show of cooperation. Inevitably, his
soft, tender fin would brush against Prince Jing's finger.
Mu Tianchi froze. His stare drilled holes into the insolent fish, who
was completely unaware of what it had just done. If a person had dared to
be so impudent, Prince Jing would have them torn limb from limb without
question.
But this was a fish, not a person. There was no need to be so harsh.
Prince Jing's defenses were lowered, and he smirked, the corner of
his lips lifting mischievously.
Li Yu was splashing around in the water with his fins when the tip of
his tail felt hot. Immediately, he felt an unnerving sensation emanating from
back there. He turned his head to look. The tyrant's expression was
impassive as always, but his hand, the same hand that would kill without
hesitation…what was it doing?!
Ow, d-don't curl my tail around your finger! My private area is right
there! It tickles! Don't just touch wherever you want… Hey!!
The little carp's tail trembled violently. Help! He didn't think the
tyrant would pet a fish!
With Prince Jing pushing him along, Li Yu made several laps around
the tank and steadily felt more and more energetic. At last, the prince finally
stopped and let him go. Li Yu swam by himself for a while and soon
realized his stomach no longer felt bloated.
Was Prince Jing forcing him to swim to give him a chance to digest
the enormous meal he had just eaten? There's no way, right? he thought,
amused. He was pretty sure Prince Jing wasn't the kind of person who'd
look out for a little animal. Li Yu added this incident to his collection of
other unsolved mysteries, where it joined Prince Jing in saving his injured
and unconscious self.
Prince Jing raised his eyebrows slightly as he realized his sleeve had
gotten wet.
Li Yu thought Prince Jing would change immediately. After all, he
was a prince, accustomed to a life of luxuries and riches. There was no way
he'd allow himself to wear dirtied clothes, even if it was just a wet sleeve.
Prince Jing left shortly after, just as Li Yu expected. Li Yu could no
longer see his face peering at him from above the tank.
But, oddly enough, Li Yu didn't hear the sound of a door opening and
closing. What kind of master would change by himself? Servants were
always at their beck and call to help with things like that. Although Prince
Jing couldn't speak, he could still open the door and order for someone
outside to wait on him.
Li Yu waited and waited, but he didn't hear anything. After the nap
he'd taken, his tail didn't throb as much, and he felt a lot better. It seemed like fish recovered faster than humans. Either that, or it was because he had
the system. Li Yu decided to try using his tail again.
Unless Prince Jing walked over himself, it was practically impossible
to see the prince from Li Yu's position inside the fish tank. Li Yu wanted to
confirm that the prince wasn't in the room anymore before collecting his
reward from the Moe Pet System, just in case the prince wanted to play
with him again, only to find an unconscious fish.
Li Yu tested his tail, swishing it back and forth a few times. It really
didn't hurt anymore. He summoned every bit of power he had and, with a
swoosh, managed to launch himself high into the air. Before his leap of
faith, Li Yu had already mentally prepared himself to take a good look at
the world outside of his tank. The room was just as he imagined: ornate and
magnificent, befitting a prince.
There's Prince Jing! He's still in the room!
The moment he leapt into the air, he spotted Prince Jing's figure,
standing only a few meters away. His black robes had yet to be fastened
completely, so Li Yu had an unobstructed view of the smooth lines of his
muscles. Dark eyes gazed toward the little carp, shocked and stunned.
For a moment, man and fish stared at each other.
…Oh no! How did he manage to catch Prince Jing in such a state of
undress? H-he thought he would've finished changing by now…
In addition to overestimating how quickly Prince Jing would get
changed, Li Yu must have been confused and underestimated the
complexity of historical clothing. Now it looked like he was some pervert
spying on a beautiful man!
Li Yu quickly took it all in—everything he was supposed to see, as
well as everything he wasn't. His face burning, he twisted his body and
dove back into the fish tank with a little splash.
Why didn't this Prince Jing hide behind something if he was going to
change?!
…All right, fine, there was only a fish in the room with him, there
was no need for him to hide anything.
Li Yu darted under his leaf blanket as soon as he heard Prince Jing's
footsteps approaching. Prince Jing may not have realized Li Yu had been
looking at him, but he wasn't blind: he definitely would've noticed a fish
jumping straight out of the tank, right?
The prince definitely noticed!
Li Yu lay there, heart in his throat, trying his best to pretend he was a
normal fish. By now, Prince Jing had already arrived at the tank. Once
again, he felt the uneasy sensation of the prince's piercing gaze on him. It
felt like there was someone pointing a blade at his back. Li Yu discreetly
turned around so that his tail was facing Prince Jing, in an effort to cover up
what he just did.
"Your Highness, Your Highness!" Before Prince Jing could do
anything, Wang Xi's anxious call came from outside. Li Yu let out a sigh of
relief.
Prince Jing fastened his jade buttons and took one last, long look at
the suspicious little fish. Then he strolled to the door and pulled it open.
Wang Xi greeted him respectfully, "Your Highness. The emperor has
sent someone."
The emperor was Prince Jing's father. The prince's expression turned
serious as he followed Wang Xi out to accept the imperial edict.
Prince Jing was finally gone!
Li Yu was delighted, but he stayed as still as a statue, pretending he
didn't understand anything that was happening outside his fish tank. After
the sound of footsteps faded into the distance, he swam to a quiet corner of
the tank and quickly entered the system.
The second part of the "Priceless Pet Fish" quest was complete,
which meant he could finally collect his reward of inventory space. And
while he was at it, he also had to take a look at what the third step was. At
this rate, he'd surely be turning back into a human any day now! Li Yu was
very pleased with himself.
He had just entered the system when a prompt popped up, asking him
if he would like to check out his inventory. Li Yu selected "yes," overjoyed, and his inventory immediately opened up before his eyes, giving him a
clear view of the inside.
All Li Yu's praises caught in his throat as soon as he laid eyes on it.
He thought his inventory would at least be the size of a storage room, but
this was about the size of an adult's palm.
No way! What's the point of having such a tiny space? So stingy!
The system replied: ‹Since the user thinks the space is too small,
would you like to give up your reward?›
Li Yu had almost forgotten the system could read his thoughts and
shook his head hurriedly. ‹No, no! It's better than nothing.›
‹There is currently only one inventory slot,› the system informed him.
‹Side quests can increase inventory slots.›
‹That's more like it. As long as I can get more…›
But this was all the space he had for now. What could he put in it? At
most, he could probably fit one or two things in there.
Despite having only been a fish for a few hours, Li Yu had been
entertaining a lot of secret daydreams about this space. He had envisioned
being able to store an enormous pile of fish feed, a bunch of medicine for
his injuries, or even a large tank of fresh water for emergencies. That way
he could be a rich and carefree fish. But there were two problems. First, he
hadn't managed to acquire any of those things, and second, it turned out he
only had a tiny amount of space. For a moment, he was at a loss for what he
could even do with the little resources he had. Meanwhile, Prince Jing had
stepped out to receive an imperial edict, but who knew when he'd be back?
He didn't have much time, so he just had to accept the space now and figure
it out later.
A ray of light shot out from the inventory, landing somewhere near Li
Yu's left fin. When he took a look after the light had faded, he realized one
of the scales beneath his fin had changed into the color of jade.