126. Genius of the East Sea
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"Let me go as someone who created something so wonderful with you!" Bao Qinlian squeezed Yin Luyue's hand, and tears ran down her face.
Luyue shook his head as he raised a hand to wipe her tears.
"It's not fair..." His voice trembled as he clutched Qinlian's hands tighter, as if holding her tight would stop fate from tearing her away.
His eyes were now raw with grief, as an unbearable pain settled in his chest, and he looked between her and the child.
"I refuse... There has to be another way! Lord Medicine!" He turned sharply to the old deity. "You've lived for almost a millennia! Is there really no other way?!"
Lord Medicine sighed heavily, his gaze filled with sympathy. "I am not cruel... If there was even the slimmest chance, I would say so..."
"What if I give my own core? My own life?!" Yin Luyue asked as a final hope.
"No...!" Qinlian weakly protested.
However, Lord Medicine shook his head gravely.
"The culprit didn't want you dead." He said to Luyue.
"They wanted your wife dead. If I'm not mistaken, they essentially gave their life for this poison, filling it with their hate.
The mer essence within will absorb any spirit energy directed at your wife, dispersing it into nothingness, and if it's forced, it will kill her at once! This poison requires a powerful grudge.
"Even the strongest immortal might not be able to exchange their life for hers..."
Luyue's hands clenched into fists. He was the ruler of the vast East Sea, feared and respected. Yet now, he was powerless.
A tiny cry broke through the air, as the child stirred, and Qinlian carried him, cradling him in her arms. "My little *Bailong..." She held him before Luyue.
(*White Dragon)
"A-Yue... look at him." Her voice wavered. "This is our son... The first pure dragon for millennia! Can you bear to let him die?"
"I can't bear to let you die!" Luyue snapped. "How do I raise him without you? How can I look into his eyes every day, knowing I let you die?!"
She gave him a sad smile. "You are stronger than you think, and he will need you."
She raised a hand to caress his cheek, her expression full of love. "You once promised me," she whispered, "that you would protect whatever was most precious to me. A-Yue, this is my final request..."
But as Luyue looked at the child again, his heart ached, torn between selfishness and sacrifice.
It was a bitter choice indeed... One no husband or father should ever have to make.
"Save the child." He said turning his head away, his voice barely a whisper.
Lord Medicine gave a solemn nod. He held out a hand and a brilliant pill appeared in his palm- a pill which looked like it was made from pure light.
He touched the pill to the baby's lips, and it was instantly absorbed.
Qinlian smiled at the child one last time, whispering, "Bailong..."
And then her eyes fluttered closed, her breath already weakening.
Luyue did not move from her side. He held her hand as her warmth slowly faded, his fingers trembling as he pressed her palm to his forehead.
The sea beyond the palace trembled, waves crashing violently against the shores, as the East Sea itself mourned.
On land, Golden Rain fell amidst sunshine to signify the birth of a new Dragon, but under the sea, Yin Luyue, King of the East Sea, let out a roar so sorrowful that the waves swept ashore with fury...
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After Bao Qinlian's death, it wasn't hard for Yin Luyue to find the culprit.
Only one mermaid hated Qinlian to the point of killing themselves.
His wife, the East Sea Queen.
By this time, the pretty mermaid was fading away as well, having given her essence for the poison, but she smiled in triumph as Yin Luyue barged into her bedchamber.
"Husband! what brings you?" *cough cough* "I didn't realize you still knew the way to my chambers!" She taunted.
"Why?!" Yin Luyue raged. "I gave you two sons! My first two children... Weren't you content?!"
But she had sneered. "Don't sound like you did me favours. You only touched me because our marriage agreement requires at least one Merman heir... If our first son turned out to be a merman, would you have approached me again?"
The first son, Yin Shuilong, was a sea dragon like his father, while the second son, Yin Zhi, was a merman, like his mother.
"After A-Zhi's birth, you've not even spared me a glance!" She continued. "Twenty thousand years... I watched you endlessly pine for that shameless witch, and once the agreement period was over, you didn't hesitate to marry her in!
"What wife can take it?!" She cackled. "I was tired... I wanted my life to end, and I will live a year at most. But I also wanted you to feel my pain, so I dragged that witch as a companion to the Fate Sea!"
In the end, Yin Luyue could do nothing to harm her, so he locked her away to die alone in a far and remote section of the sea.
And then he had brought in a young Carp to be his wife, knowing it would severely piss her off before her death.
After that, Luyue named the child Yin Xiaolong because he couldn't bear to use the name 'Bailong' that Qinlian had given him.
But Luyue and Qinlian, and even Lord Medicine, had underestimated the child's power.
Even as a newborn, the child was already sentient beyond his years, and he had cried that day in protest, willing his father to pick his mother over him.
However, his mother's love was too strong, and his father had chosen to save him...
But as he watched his mother slip away, he secretly picked the name 'Bailong' for himself, vowing to cure any ailment he came across in his lifetime!
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Two thousand years passed, and in contrast to the Sky Emperor, Yin Luyue loved his third son, Yin Xiaolong the most, despite his wife's death.
Meanwhile, Yin Xiaolong, or rather, Bailong, was a rare genius, surpassing all his peers, and even his older brothers...
There was simply nothing he touched which he did not conquer, and rumour had it he had even bested several of the mermaids at weaving YueGuangJin - the process of creating a sea-blue luminescent fabric using their own shed scales!
But he never confirmed anything, and the Mermaids certainly didn't have the face to admit it!
Before his thousandth year, Bailong had already bested his elder brothers in swordsmanship, seahorse racing, poetry, music, and other arts.
The 1st Eastern Sea prince, Yin Shuilong, didn't mind at all!
A dragon like his father, he was fair-faced and mild-mannered, playing with Bailong whenever he had the chance, and encouraging his growth at every turn.
But the second prince...
The 2nd prince, Yin Zhi was a bitter lemon from birth, and had always been jealous of his elder brother for being a dragon, while he was a Merman.
But then Bailong had come around, drawing all Yin Zhi's hate...
Bailong wasn't just a dragon, but a pure blooded one, and a genius at that, who seemed to acquire skills and knowledge as easily as picking up sea pebbles.
"That unnatural freak!" Yin Zhi often raged to his aide. "Son of a homewrecker... Will I wait and watch him sit on my head?!"
It was hard for Yin Zhi to hide his emotions around Bailong, and Bailong learned to steer clear of him.
A little later, in a night of drunkenness and sorrow, Yin Luyue and the Carp... 'exchanged pleasantries'... and a pair of twin carps were born afterwards.
A boy and a girl called Yin Xing and Yin Yue, which only increased the warmth in Bailong's life, and for their first thousand years, he cared for the two little fishes like they were his own, feeding them, chatting endlessly with them, and taking them on swims.
Thus, it was only natural that after assuming human form, none of them spared him, and they endlessly followed him around!
"Eiss! Don't you have classes to go to?! Be gone! You were more adorable when you were little carps!"
"That's because we couldn't follow you around!" Yin Xing would grin.
"Bai gēge! Don't you want us anymore...?" Yin Yue would give him a sad look with the biggest eyes Bailong had ever seen, and he would end up giving in!
Apart from the twins, Yin Bailong loved his family, was a dutiful Son, and a dutiful grand nephew to Old Man Bao, who often came to visit and train him.
In Immortal Bao's absence, he insisted on learning under his first brother, though it was clear he didn't need it.
Bailong, "You're the older brother! It's your responsibility to teach me!" He pestered Yin Shuilong to no end!
Yin Shui, "You don't need anything else! You just enjoy pestering me!!"
Yet the same Bailong would run off and hide to escape the twins' endless torrent of questions! Though he would eventually let them find him so he could train them...
And then there was Yinying, Yin Luyue's mount... A loud-mouthed shadow tiger who Bailong annoyed at every turn, leading him to chase Bailong all around the East Sea Palace till Bailong gave up and admitted his wrongs!
But for most of his time, Bailong could be found studying various pills and herbs, and whenever Lord Medicine visited the East Sea or its surrounding areas, Bailong would seek him out, frustrating him with his own 'endless torrent of questions'!
In the deep beautiful swirl of the cold blue sea, five thousand blissful years went by like that.
But the peace was shattered after Luyue chose Bailong as his successor...
Bailong flatly refused!
"You ungrateful brat!" Yin Luyue accused. "Don't you know that with great power comes great- ?!"
"Eisss..." Bailong cleaned out an ear. "That seems like a line stolen from somewhere else!"
Yin Luyue, "You-!"
Bailong, "Father, calm down... You should have no succession worries... There are two talented sons above me!"
Yin Luyue, "You've surpassed both of them!"
But Bailong turned serious. "Father, saying things like that will lead to conflict and bloodshed. Elder Brother Shui is okay, but your second son is another matter... You know he's recently amassing followers."
They both sighed and Bailong continued.
"East Sea citizens will complain to no end if you suddenly make your third child successor, especially since I'm coincidentally the only child of your one true love. It won't matter that I'm stronger. Yin Zhi will accuse you of playing favourites and turn the mermans against you,
leading to unnecessary bloodshed in the future."
He grinned. "And besides, I will never surpass Brother Shui as a Leader. He is everything you're looking for... Strong. Kind. Wise. He's beloved by the people, and as your first son, no one will be able to point a single finger!"
Yin Luyue sighed. "Must you be so stubborn, yet reasonable...?"
Bailong grinned. "Didn't my father raise me well?" He shrugged. "Also, I have no desire to rule. I long to wander the vast realms and pursue my love of medicine!"
Yin Luyue, "You -! I've ignored your endless obsession with herbs and pills, but you're extremely gifted in warfare, and I won't watch you throw away your potential and future! If you're not ruling here, I'll speak with the Sky emperor! You must become a Sky General, and eventually a deity!"
"Father! Calm yourself! Think of your meridians...!"
But though Bailong had turned down the throne, the damage had already been done because word of it had drifted into Yin Zhi's ears...
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