The group split ways once they arrived at the Temple of the Azure Dragon and the remaining merpeople headed towards the palace. After having dinner, they did their report to the Queen and while Ai and Lín headed to their rooms to rest, Qing tapped on Zhihao's shoulder to get his attention and the two of them swam towards the library.

Ruǎn yù yelled with a hand next to his face as he yelled. "Don't forget guard duty!"

Zhihao yelled back "Of course not!"

Qing giggled. "The two of you are very good friends, aren't you?"

Zhihao grimaced. "I suppose you can say that for a simpleton who relies on his muscles most of the time, he isn't so bad."

Qing giggled before saying "Do you know what the opposite of hate is?"

Zhihao smirked "Indifference."

Qing gave a slight look of amazement. "Oh wow, normally people would say…"

"Hatred, am I correct?" Zhihao interjected.

"Correct. Although I should've expected it from you, you always had clever things to say."

Zhihao's face reddened a bit, he didn't expect her to give such a cheeky response considering how demure she seemed. But he figured that there had to be more to the quiet mermaid.

He smiled as he lowered his eyelids. "Well, it seems I am still yet to match your wits."

Qing blushed. "Oh no, Ai couldn't get the riddle when I told it to her. She thought the answer was hate."

Zhihao snickered. "An amateur response. While hate may seem to be the opposite of love as it is a fixation on a negative emotion while love fixates on a positive emotion. But even love itself can drive others to madness. Both are obsessions while indifference is the lack of."

Qing nodded. "Indeed, elegantly put Zhihao."

Zhihao could not help but smile, it seemed that he was definitely well on his way to impress her.

Eventually they arrived at the doors to the Royal Library and with a flick of her wrist, the doors opened by themselves, moved by the water currents from the inside.

Zhihao winked as he remarked "Impressive. Now I'm even more eager to see the scroll."

Qing gave a modest smile, and she swam towards the section of the library containing scrolls that contained knowledge of many types of magical skills. She gently pulled out the scroll, held it with the palms of her hands, and swam back towards Zhihao to place it into his hands.

"Thank you very much." Zhihao gave a genuine smile.

Qing tilted her head as she smiled with her eyes closed. "It's my pleasure. Please make sure to return the scroll within one week."

"What? One week? And…Many techniques to learn?" Zhihao spoke with a complaining tone.

Qing winked. "You're a smart man. I'm sure you can figure it out."

Was that a challenge? Well, if there was anything Zhihao enjoyed, it was a challenge.

Zhihao swam towards the doors and smirked "I'll be sure to return this to you within a week."

Qing replied, "I can't wait to see what you've learned then. Have a good evening Zhihao."

With a flick of her index finger, the water inside moved to push open the doors.

"Thank you and sleep well." He looked at her with a smile that gave her bubbles in her stomach.

"You're welcome and thank you."

When they left, Qing closed the library doors using the water currents.

~Inside Ai's Dream~

Ai swam a loop around the Kun-Peng then mused out loud. "It's strange… Lately, it seems like I've been dreaming about you lately huh?"

The creature gave no answer.

She swam back up over the Kun-Peng's head. "But… I get this feeling that I'm connected to you even though I've only seen you in my dreams. They say if you dream about something more than once, it's sure to come true. Does that mean we'll meet soon?"

After a moment of silence, Ai continued speaking. "But you know, lately I've also met someone. He has the same eyes as you…" Her midnight blue eyes wondered. "Could it be you and him are connected somehow?"

For a moment, it seemed like there was a glimmer of surprise in the creature's eyes.

Ai gave a dismissive wave. "Nah. It doesn't make sense. I mean, aside from Kǎi and his mission here, I doubt that guy wanted anything to do with the mortal world aside from watching over it let alone the sea."

The creature's eyes resumed its default intense gaze as if what Ai mentioned earlier had not even disturbed him.

She swam near the Kun-Peng's silver eye. "I'd ask Mei what my dreams of you mean. She knows a lot about recurring dreams, but she'd say I'm just obsessed with your kind and call them ridiculous. You primordial creatures are rare let alone actually meet. But… My sea has been growing bigger thanks to the flooding so maybe we can meet soon. What do you think?"

Naturally, the great fish continued to be silent. From the moment Ai began dreaming of the Kun-Peng, she had always been the one to talk to it, but the fish had always remained quiet.

"You sure are a quiet fish aren't cha'? No offense, but I've met chatty fish and conversational whales. But it's ok, some fish and merpeople happen to be quiet. You're already kind enough to spend time swimming with me in my dreams. Just… Promise me we'll meet eventually?" Her voice sounded goofy as she pretended to voice the Kun-Peng. "Yes Ai, I promise we will meet in real life one day."

The Kun-Peng seemed to agree though as he appeared to smile.

She reverted to her regular voice as she smiled and said, "It's a promise."

Up in heaven, a silver-haired angel was holding his middle and index fingers as he channeled his golden energy into a mirror that showed the Kun-Peng and Ai swimming nearby.

He had a slight smile as he said, "Silly girl, we've already met."

Note: Thanks to HeavenlyPearl for helping me with dialogue and NelwynP and Sandy for helping me with a plot detail. Also, yes, I added a blatant quote from Disney's Sleeping Beauty.