Chapter 2146: Insomnia Pt. 1  

“It’s nothing, just some nourishing medicine.” Shang Hongyu panicked. If it really was the Dragon King she was using the medicine with, it wouldn’t even be a big deal, but this was the man her little sister was always thinking about! And yet as the older sister, she had swallowed up the man her little sister had formed a good impression of first. She was a bad sister no matter how she thought about it, right?

“Nourishing medicine?” Shang Liuyu repeated with an inquisitive look. “But I saw a bit of red mist come out just now.”

Shang Hongyu was speechless. She said helplessly, “That’s because of the medicinal qualities.”

Shang Liuyu looked at her calmly. She didn’t say anything, but her expression seemed to be saying ‘do you take me for an idiot?’.

Shang Hongyu felt a bit guilty. Helpless to do anything else, she could only say, “This is Desires Unleashed Dew.”

“I can read.”

“Uh… It’s that kind of medicine. It’s something refined from the mucus of a Kraken’s tentacles.” Shang Hongyu was too embarrassed to be too direct.

A bit of redness immediately appeared on Shang Liuyu’s face. Thankfully, she was wearing a mask, so she didn’t look too embarrassed. “That Ka Qier gave you guys that kind of drug?” Even though she didn’t know anything about this stuff, she wasn't stupid. She immediately realized what it was for, and was both embarrassed and upset.

Shang Hongyu quickly stopped her from continuing. After looking around, she pulled her sister into the room.

“Did brother-in-law ask him for this drug?” Shang Liuyu immediately asked when she entered the room.

“It’s not your brother-in-law’s fault. He… He had no choice either,” Shang Hongyu stutered.

Shang Liuyu was now completely lost. “Just what is really going on?”

Shang Hongyu then continued, “Back then, your… brother-in-law changed positions with the fake Dragon King, right? In order to track down your whereabouts, he ended up drawing suspicion from the enemy. He didn’t know that you had already been captured, so that was why Ka Qier used the Desires Unleashed Dew to test our relationship. The fake Dragon King already lusted after me and sought out Desires Unleashed Dew to make me submit. If he was the fake Dragon King, he would never have given up on that chance.”

Shang Liuyu’s expression grew strange. “So in order to gain the imposters’ trust, you and he…?” “He is your brother-in-law, after all.” Shang Hongyu said guiltily.

Considering my current relationship with Zu An, there’s no real issue with calling him brother-in-law either.

Shang Liuyu couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. “No wonder you were able to ascertain that he was the real brother-in-law.”

As husband and wife, they had already done all of that, so how could she not be sure?

Shang Hongyu’s face reddened. She had no idea how she was going to explain things in the future. She could only say, “Get some proper rest here. You’ve been a captive all this time, so you probably weren’t able to get any proper sleep.”

There was a small bed in the outer room specifically for the maids to rest so they could always be on call. They were the people who served the Dragon King and queen directly. Even if it was a smaller bed, the conditions were still better than in most homes.

Shang Liuyu voiced her agreement. Even though she looked calm on the surface, she was still really anxious inside and had almost never slept. She had been alerted if there was even the slightest activity. Now that her big sister brought it up, she realized that she indeed had to get some proper rest.

When she saw her big sister bring the drugs inside, she couldn't help but ask, “Are you still going to use those drugs?”

Shang Hongyu was so embarrassed she wanted to dig a hole to hide in forever. However, she still replied, “In order to dispel Ka Qier’s suspicions, even if I don’t really want to, we can only do what we must.”

Shang Liuyu was immediately filled with deep respect. She said, “You’ve worked hard, big sister.”

Unfortunately, she couldn't help with that kind of thing even if she wanted to. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her big sister.

Shang Hongyu felt even more sorry. She opened her mouth and wanted to explain to her little sister, but she didn’t know what to say. In the end, she could only say, “I hope you won’t blame me in the future, little sis.”

Shang Liuyu was a bit confused. “Big sis, you saved me and you made such a great sacrifice. I don’t even have enough time to be grateful for you, so why would I blame you?”

The two sisters normally had a great relationship, so she naturally knew what kind of a relationship Shang Hongyu really had with the Dragon King. Her sister was only doing this to help the Mermaid race; she normally spent very little time with the Dragon King, and yet for someone she didn’t love, she had to… service him. She really was being wronged.

Shang Hongyu didn’t want to explain any further. After a sigh, she went into the inner room.

Inside, Zu An was seated in meditation. When he sensed her arrival, he opened his eyes and said, “When I drew away those guards earlier, I used the chance to investigate some of them. They're all being controlled by Heart-Devouring Demon Spiders.”

“Heart-Devouring Demon Spiders? Are they the alien monsters that you informed all of the different races about last time?” Shang Hongyu asked, stunned. She realized what was going on.

Back then, Zu An had used his identity as the human regent to inform the entire world, telling them to be careful of Heart-Devouring Demon Spiders. The Ocean races had naturally received news of that as well.

“That’s right. I examined their bodies when I faced them. Their hearts were already occupied by Heart-Devouring Demon Spiders. I’ve fought against those creatures before, so I immediately sensed it,” Zu An said gravely. “It seems they’re already dead. I was always suspicious about how those imposters managed to impersonate our Ocean races’ members so quickly.” A bit of worry flashed across Shang Hongyu’s face as she said, “I wonder if Ka Qier is also controlled by a Heart-Devouring Demon Spider.”

Zu An shook his head. “Judging from our interactions, it doesn’t seem like it.”

That Ka Qier gave him an extremely mysterious feeling, and the degree of the Heart-Devouring Demon Spider’s control had a limit. There was no way it could control someone that strong without causing any suspicion.

“Apart from Ka Qier, that fake Dragon King wasn’t controlled by a Heart-Devouring Demon Spider either. He was another kind of mysterious being.” Zu An recalled that faceless person. But because there was no time, he had only thought about wiping away all traces. He hadn't gotten any chances to investigate the corpse.

“Maybe they're a kind of being that can perfectly imitate someone else.” Shang Hongyu recalled the past Dragon King as well, and couldn't help but feel a bit horrified. “Those guys really are hard to guard against. They’re even more terrifying than the Heart-Devouring Demon Spiders.”

“Our main goal now should be to deduce who's been replaced and who's normal,” Zu An said seriously. “Once we're certain, I'll then make my move. I won’t give them the chance to react at all.”

WIth his current strength and experience in all kinds of dangerous events, there was no need for him to fear these beings at all. The only thing he was worried about was that they were hiding too many things, so if he couldn't deal with them in one go and let some slip away, things would be tricky once they gathered again and make a comeback.

“Yeah. So far, we can only confirm one person who isn’t one of the imposters.” Shang Hongyu nodded.

Zu An laughed. “That Ao Yong who likes you?”

Shang Hongyu immediately complained playfully, “I really don’t have anything to do with him! But if he were one of the imposters, he wouldn’t have wanted to approach me so badly before.”

“I agree with you. The only reason why he even dared to so brazenly sneak into the palace to find you and ended up being pursued by Ka Qier is that he isn’t one of them.” Zu An had a smile as he continued, “Additionally, judging from my interactions during the previous banquet, the duchess I danced with and the other young misses should also be normal.”

Shang Hongyu was a bit surprised. “So you weren’t just groping them for fun back then, but examining their bodies.”

They had been quite close to Zu An before, so there were indeed many chances to examine them.

Zu An replied, “Erm… strictly speaking, examining their bodies was secondary. They really did feel quite good.”

“Do you want to die~” She had clearly been the one egging him on back then, and yet when she heard him say that now, Shang Hongyu still felt a bit of jealousy and chased him around.

Shang Liuyu smiled when she heard the laughter coming from inside the room.

Big sister and brother-in-law’s relationship seems to have gotten much better.

But that made sense as well. After experiencing something like 'that', it would be stranger if there was no progress in their relationship.

Soon, the two were tangled around each other from all the play-fighting. Zu An suddenly noticed the two bottles in Shang Hongyu's hand and asked with a strange expression, “Why did you bring those two bottles inside?”