None of the merpeople who entered the alter room were new to Mei. She had known Ai, Qing, and Lín since they were children while Ruǎn yù and Zhihao were guards who were present during her induction ceremony as the new High Priestess of the Yellow Sea. Yìngyù had been trained under the same master as her but followed the path of a temple guard instead of becoming a priest.

Mei raised up her head as she spoke "So? Why did the Queen send you all to see me?"

Ai swam forward and fiddled with her index fingers as she said "Well… You see…"

After Ai finished explaining the whole story about how she attempted to save a human, failed, met the human's guardian angel, then sought the Queen's permission to aid Kǎi, Mei had a thoughtful expression as she looked down.

"So, that's why there's been a strong aura of death on the outside lately."

"Will you please~ help us Mei?" Ai held her hands together and begged as if she was still a child.

Mei rose up "Of course. The Queen requested my assistance. This is probably the only way we can reduce the aura of death in our sea."

"Thank you, Mei!" Ai replied with closed eyes and a smile.

Ruǎn yù turned to Yìngyù then said, "You can feel what she's talking about right?" He dropped his spear then shook Yìngyù by the shoulders "How are you still ok? Are you ok? Are you ok?"

Ai had an exasperated expression as she placed her hands on the sides of her tail and asked "Ruǎn yù, haven't you had enough fun torturing Yìngyù outside?"

"Nope. Once is not enough. Besides, we barely see him unless it's to escort the High Priestess or at festivals."

Yìngyù replied "Well of course I'm ok. I have my endurance since I'm a temple guard you know."

Mei retorted "Liar. We have charms placed around the temple on the outside which keeps a barrier to hold the death aura at bay."

Ruǎn yù playfully pushed Yìngyù away "So much for Mr. Endurance."

Yìngyù sighed with a pained expression as Mei bruised his ego.

After Mei told the twin junior priestesses to take care of the temple in her absence, Ai reminded everyone that they shouldn't waste any more time and that they should start heading out to look for Kǎi.

As the group sped off, the yellow sand particles scattered and made the waters cloudy.

Mei shivered and Yìngyù closed his eyes from discomfort due to the aura of death they sensed as they got closer to an area where there were many human corpses falling towards the seafloor. Then, suddenly both Mei and Yìngyù widened their eyes.

Qing who noticed their change in expression asked, "What is it?"

Yìngyù said "I sense something strong and not of the sea."

Mei added "An extremely powerful aura. A divine one."

Ai asked, "Could it be?"

Mei turned to Ai and said, "Most likely."

As they got closer, they saw a pair of wings and silver hair.

Everyone except for Ai and Mei widened their eyes and had their mouths open.

Ai couldn't help but smirk at Ruǎn yù and Zhihao "See? Now do you guys believe me?"

Ruǎn yù and Zhihao both said "Uh… Uh-huh."

Kǎi who had been absorbed in his task finally registered the familiar female voice as well as the unknown male voices behind him. He had not expected to see her again and was currently not in much of a mood to see her again.

He used his wings to propel himself towards Ai and said, "I thought I told you that this was my task and my task alone."

Ai couldn't help but feel like a scolded hatchling as she lowered her head out of awkwardness but then Ruǎn yù put a hand on Ai's shoulder and intervened by saying "Well, Ai's our friend and we all came here because we wanted to help her."

Even though that may have not been the exact truth, Ai couldn't help smiling when she heard Ruǎn yù say that.

Zhihao smirked and said "Besides, when Ai told us she saw an angel, we just had to come see."

Kǎi frowned. There was something in that expression and attitude of Ai's yellow-green eyed friend that irritated him.

Yìngyù placed a hand on Ai's shoulder and said "I'm sure she understands that your task is very important, but she didn't want you to shoulder it on your own. Your task is difficult for anyone to handle by themselves."

Mei spoke up "Besides, this is our sea. We have to do our part to take care of it."

Lín happily exclaimed "Yeah! There's no way we can sit back and do nothing."

Qing said "We're all happy to help. Really."

Kǎi exhaled through his nostrils as he closed his eyes. Were merpeople usually this pushy? When he reopened his eyes, he said "I suppose it would be impolite for me to send you back the way you came."

Lín and the mermen closed their eyes, smiled, and replied in a playful tone "Of course. ~"

Kǎi narrowed his eyes. Were mermeople usually this brazen?

Soon Ai and her friends set off to work.

Yìngyù laid down his spear, touched a male corpse, then shuddered. "Ugh. Luckily our kind don't leave any remains behind when the time comes."

Kǎi who was intrigued, looked over at the blonde merman near him, and said "Really? That's right. The bodies of merpeople become seafoam when they reach their time just as the bodies of humans return to becoming dirt."

Yìngyù looked thoughtful as he finally gathered the courage to hold the corpse's legs and pull it towards Kǎi.

"Interesting. But merpeople turn into seafoam quicker than it takes for humans to turn into dirt it seems. Speaking of which, you're an angel right? What happens to your kind? You know, when the time comes."

Kǎi answered "If we reach the end, all that remains of us is our souls. Our bodies turn into the air, so nothing remains of our body."

"If? What do you mean by if?" Yìngyù laid the body on the seafloor.

"My kind is not bound by a lifespan. If our bodies receive considerable damage then we die, otherwise we're practically immortal."

Yìngyù nodded before swimming off to gather another corpse.

Suddenly, Kǎi got the feeling that a bunch of eyes were on him. When he looked behind him, Ai's friends were bringing corpses towards him.

Lín was holding two human corpses by their waists while Ruǎn yù slung two corpses over his shoulders and held them by the legs. Ai and her other friends lifted their one corpse as they hooked their arms over the corpse's underarms. He had to admit, he was impressed by the strength the merpeople had. Particularly, the brunettes.

He couldn't help but smile a little as Ai headed his way.

"You have good friends."

All this time, Ai had been beginning to believe that the angel was incapable of smiling but that subtle smile on his face was so… Endearing. Her heart began fluttering at the sight, and she couldn't help smiling brightly as she replied, "They're the best."