Now that the atmosphere between the two mermaids seemed to have softened, Ruǎn yù exclaimed "What are we waiting for? Let's pick up the pace! Those two probably have swam many miles on us already!"

Qing and Lín chuckled then Lín exclaimed "Alright then! Let's move!"

Ruǎn yù said "On the count of three… 1…2…3, go!"

And as soon as Ruǎn yù finished counting, the three of them dashed off, leaving a stream of a multitude of bubbles, and scattered yellow soil.

The three of them were neck to neck and Lín told Qing "Well, I'm glad to hear you got your humor back."

Qing smiled and replied, "I can't help it, Ruǎn yù's exuberance speaks volumes I suppose."

Lín laughed, "He sure does have a lot of energy."

Ruǎn yù exclaimed "Thanks for the compliments ladies but I'm not going to lessen the pace just because you're buttering me up!"

Lín playfully scoffed before she retorted "Wouldn't dream of it!"

Ruǎn yù pumped his tail even harder which made Lín exclaim "Come on Qing! We can't let him beat us!" The brunette mermaid picked up her pace soon after.

"Right!" chimed Qing as she swam faster, adding onto the massive stream of bubbles the brunette couple was making with their speed. The three of them were neck to neck then Qing pushed herself further, putting her in the lead. This made Ruǎn yù push himself some more since he didn't want to lose! This put Lín in the rear. However, Qing could see Ai and Zhihao coming into view which made her, and the others stop in their tracks!

Although their stops were sudden, thankfully, they didn't crash into Ai and Zhihao.

Ai held the back of Zhihao's neck hard and asked him "So... What were you saying earlier?"

Zhihao smirked despite the pain "I said… You easily fall in love but your infatuations with mermen typically don't work out."

Ai's hold on the back of Zhihao's neck became more painful. "Maybe you didn't get it the first time. I asked you, what were you saying earlier?" Her tone sounded more menacing compared to earlier.

"I…I mean…I'm sorry… Let go of me please…"

"That's a good boy." Ai finally released Zhihao's neck.

Ruǎn yù sighed as he asked "Zhihao, when will you ever learn not to mess with people?"

Zhihao retorted "Shut up."

Lín sighed before saying "Come on, everyone, let's head to Mei's temple, we're wasting time."

Qing nodded. The group began swimming soon after then gathered Mei and Yìngyù before swimming to the spot where they usually met Kǎi at. They started using water manipulation to gather the bodies then while the angel was releasing souls from the dead bodies, Lín swam near Qing as she said "So… I haven't forgotten what we spoke about earlier so, what is it? What's been eating at you?"

Qing sighed then after some time, she began hesitantly speaking "…Did you ever have.. Doubts? Before getting in a relationship with Ruǎn yù?"

"Doubts?" Lín shrugged her shoulders. "Not much… We both work in the palace, it's just that I lost my parents so if we ever wanted to get married… But Li took me in as one of her own so she could substitute for my mother when we pay respects to our familial figures. Besides." She giggled. "Ruǎn yù said I was getting ahead of myself thinking about marriage when he only offered to court me. But other than that, we were so in love, we were sure things would work out."

Qing smiled until Lín asked "…But what about you and Zhihao, are you getting doubts?"

Qing flushed. "How… How did you?..."

Lín made a pfft noise. "Well, Zhihao has had the biggest crush on you for ages. You just didn't pay any attention to him until, recently that is." She then clapped her hand over her mouth.

Qing's cheeks burned even redder as she replied. "I'm aware of his feelings for me. Does Ruǎn yù know about this?"

Lín giggled nervously.

Qing asked, "Do the others know about this?"

Lín simply tilted her head as she had a nervous smile.

Qing sighed.

Lín hesitantly asked, "Does the fact he has feelings towards you… Bother you?"

"No!" Qing exclaimed, which made her clap her hand over her mouth and her face was as red as the setting sun.

Lín teased. "Oh~, so you enjoy his —."

"Stop." Qing replied with a firm tone which made Lín apologize.

Qing felt ashamed of her earlier attitude and replied "Well… It's not that you are wrong. In fact, you are right about everything. I do… Enjoy…"

Lín gave a knowing smile.

"…The attention he gives me. And… I have doubts… About him and I…"

"But why?"

Qing then confessed about her fears that she would lose Zhihao's love as she had seen her mother's heart break and how long it took to recover. She did not wish to suffer from heartache.

Lín gave Qing a reassuring smile. "Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?"

"Huh?" asked Qing.

"You guys aren't even in a relationship yet. Honestly, Zhihao has liked you for so long and trying his best to interact with you when he can. I doubt he would break your heart. Even if you two do argue, you can get through it. Ruǎn yù and I argue sometimes but we figure it out and we say sorry. …You can't be sure Zhihao could break your heart. What if he doesn't and he's a keeper but you missed out just because you were afraid."

"I… I never thought of that… Thank you Lín."

"Of course, what are friends for? But don't just talk to me, you better talk to him and apologize for how you treated him earlier after. Tell him about your fears. It's important to be honest in any relationship."

Qing nodded. Lín told her not to forget and she said she wouldn't. She joined in the next round of water manipulation to gather the dead bodies for Kǎi to dissolve using his golden light then waited for break. After the angel decided to dismiss them, she decided to look for Zhihao.

Note: Thanks to nimiane04 for talking to me which helped me figure out a plot detail. Hi all, sorry it took me ages to post again! I just recently broke out of writer's block... Been distracted with many things too. Hopefully I'll find the muse to keep going!