Note: Thanks to MercurianAmi(Sandy) for talking with me which helped me with my thought process for this chapter.

The room went deadly quiet as the Queen began to ponder over the High Priestess's words as she tilted her forehead and placed a hand upon it but after a moment, Queen Ning replied. "I understand that I have burdened you all with such a difficult task and Heaven isn't making things any easier on us."

Mei interjected "Forgive me Your Majesty, that was not my insinuation."

Queen Ning added "Even if you all do not feel burdened with this task which I appreciate you all for taking on with such grace, it does not change the fact it is a difficult task. And as the Queen of the Yellow Sea, it does bother me that aside from permitting you all and requesting that you perform this arduous work of helping the angel cleanse our sea that I have not yet done anything of importance to help our realm yet."

Qing added "But Your Majesty, the palace is your jurisdiction, and you are the ruler of the Yellow Sea so there are a great many things that you must deal with."

Queen Ning smiled. "Thank you for your understanding, Qing but nonetheless, I must still protect our sea and not just the palace."

The Queen looked at Mei. "It may be a little reckless of me but wait until 10 days and I will use the power of the Silver Moon Pearl to cleanse the death aura and purify the sea. On that day, we should gather many merpeople to help us gather the dead bodies. However, not only will using the power of the pearl strain my powers once more but I imagine it may be too much for the angel to dissolve all those bodies. The angel must lend his powers to the Silver Moon Pearl, and I will ask the Dragon Kings if they are willing to lend us their powers as well. I am willing to take the risk as long as our sea is filled with the natural balance of life and death energy it once had. It all depends on whether the Dragon Kings and the angel accept. I could take council with Hebo* on this matter as well but I fear he is enjoying the drowning of human lives."

Mei bowed, and the others followed her as they spoke in unison. "Thank you for your wisdom and guidance, Your Majesty."

"You are all too kind, but this is merely a plan that has yet to be executed and we do not know how long this flood will continue to last. Although…" Her silver eyes began looking at one brunette merman.

"Perhaps you could enlighten us on such matters, Ruǎn yù, after we worship the Moon." Queen Ning held up an open palm.

Ruǎn yù bowed before smiling "It would be an honor, Your Majesty."

The Yellow Sea was now the same color as the night sky, reflecting every single star as if it was the sky's water mirror.

The Queen and the merpeople joined hands in circle as they began to sing their praises to their moon for illuminating their world and providing them with plentiful life water.

When they stopped the worshipping ceremony, Ruǎn yù swam underneath the reflected images of stars and closed his eyes as he murmured to himself "Celestial orbs… Grant me your mystical powers. Allow me to know Heaven's will as your light shines upon the heavens and guides those at sea. How long will this flood last?"

The star light shone upon the center of Ruǎn yù's forehead. He stopped tilting his head upwards then looked forward before opening his eyes.

Queen Ning looked at him with concerned eyes. "So? What did the stars divulge with you?"

Ruǎn yù shook his head. "It has only been the 12th day and since the human who transgressed against the gods is stubborn and refuses to repent, this flood will continue to last for many, many, many days."

Queen Ning's eyes widened in shock, but she remained tight-lipped. "I see, thank you Ruǎn yù."

She then turned around to face her subjects as she announced. "Ruǎn yù has read into Heaven's will through the stars and he has seen that the gods intend for this flood to last for much longer."

After that announcement, it was clear that the merpeople began to look disheartened.

The Queen resumed speaking loudly. "Even so, I will do what it takes within my power to maintain the power to make sure we stay safe and…" She gestured to the group. "These young individuals have been doing their part to make sure the death aura is steadily decreasing."

The palace staff clapped and whooped to acknowledge the group's efforts which made Qing and Lín bashful while Ai, Zhihao, and Ruǎn yù basked in the attention and Mei and Yìngyù simply bowed.

After the applause died down, Zhihao whispered in Qing's ear which made her feel a tingling feeling all the way down to her spine. "No one knows that you're the one who came up with a brilliant plan to help us with gathering the corpses to reduce the death aura, you should enjoy the praise a bit more."

Qing reddened as she replied "T-That's alright… T-The others don't need to know about it, the Queen does, and-and that's good enough."

Zhihao couldn't help but smirk at the humbleness and timid nature of the blue mermaid. For some reason, Qing noted that seeing Zhihao's smirk made her belly feel warm… If she was being honest with herself, Zhihao was good-looking in an androgynous way. He could be considered handsome and beautiful at the same time. He had bright yellow-green eyes and tied back pale blond hair that was well-kept. The man was also clever to boot.

Qing asked, "So… How far did you get on "The Art of Water Manipulation?"

"Well, I've gotten to the art of learning how to boil water."

Qing was amazed, that meant that he only had two more categories of water manipulation left to learn! She smiled "Well, I'm glad to hear that you were serious about learning the art of water manipulation."

Zhihao raised a brow as he smiled "Well, of course I was. Besides, you technically challenged me when you said I could figure it out."

Qing couldn't help but giggle as she confessed "Yes, I suppose so." She then held up a finger. "But you can slow down now because now that I see that you are serious, I will extend your loan time by one week."

Zhihao remarked "That's quite generous of you Madam Librarian."

Qing giggled before saying "Well, after we all part ways how about you show me what you've learned so far?"

Zhihao smiled, "I'd love to."

Note: Hebo is the God of the Yellow Sea. Ruǎn yù's incantation to read the stars is the similar to the incantation he uses in the 90's.