Note: Thanks to NelwynP for helping me through a plot detail.

Mei and Yìngyù said "What?" in unison. Yìngyù's great idea didn't seem feasible now…

After recovering from the initial shock, Mei furrowed her brows and held out her palms as she asked, "The Queen commanded us to prepare multiple wards for every home in the Yellow Sea, why didn't she ask us for some wards?"

Qing replied. "The palace is the Queen's jurisdiction. She wanted to handle it herself instead of troubling you any further."

Mei didn't have any retort to respond with. The Queen didn't need to burden herself had she commanded they provide the palace with wards… It wasn't like she hated the Queen's courtesy towards her but…

Qing added "Like I said, it wouldn't hurt to ask the Queen. Just don't expect the Queen to come to our aid so soon if she does accept."

Ruǎn yù butted in and said "Qing said the water should be high enough to reflect the heavens down here. We can worship the moon tonight and if you'd like, I can read the stars to check in on the Queen situation."

Mei bluntly replied, "I'm fine with worshipping the moon but I'd rather ask the Queen herself so no thanks."

Ruǎn yù muttered "Party pooper!"

Lín put a hand over his shoulder and smiled with her eyes closed even as she sweated. "Well, it doesn't mean you can't read the stars to try to find out how long this flood will last."

Kǎi typically liked to stay quiet during these breaks unless Ai or Yìngyù engaged him in conversation but even his curiosity was peaked when he learned of Ruǎn yù's ability. "You can read the stars?"

Ruǎn yù closed his eyes as he proudly said. "It's more like I can hear the knowledge they have to offer."

Yìngyù replied "He was born with it and he seems to be pretty accurate."

Ruǎn yù gave him a noogie. "I am not pretty accurate, I am accurate."

Yìngyù groaned. "God, you sound like what Zhihao said earlier."

Zhihao and Ruǎn yù objected in unison. "Do not!"

Yìngyù winked as he said "See.~" Which earned him another noogie on the head.

Once Ruǎn yù released his hold on Yìngyù, he held out an open hand and asked "Why don't you join us tonight Kǎi? See for yourself?"

Kǎi had a slight look of disappointment mixed in with his usual sterness. "Thank you for the offer but I'm afraid not, it's not convenient to come back to the Heavenly Realm at night. I cannot return at any time as I please."

Ruǎn yù replied "Oh… I see…" He had forgotten that Kǎi always left when the sun was starting to set. It made sense though that the Heaven Clan would hassle him if he came back at a bad time.

Kǎi replied "I'll take your word on your ability though as well as Yìngyù's."

Ai poked her head in and said, "You can take my word for it too!"

Ai's remark prompted Kǎi to chuckle a bit. Ai couldn't help but smile. The times Kǎi allowed himself to laugh were far and few and when he did, it was such a rich sound.

Ruǎn yù couldn't help but smirk knowingly, it seemed the stoic angel was rather taken with Ai. It wasn't the first time Ai got Kǎi to laugh a bit and as for Ai, well he wouldn't be surprised if Ai was already starting to have a crush on the angel. The girl was easily prone to getting crushes although Ai seemed rather passionate in helping the angel as well as encouraging him.

Kǎi put a fist near his mouth as he cleared his throat then resumed his default expression. "But yes, please do let me know what the stars tell you in regards to the flood."

Ruǎn yù smiled "Will do." Then he put a hand over the angel's shoulders and began swimming forward.

Kǎi frowned. "W-What are you doing?"

"Just wanted to have a man-to-man talk is all."

Kǎi replied "You don't have to pull me along with you."

Ruǎn yù released his arm and said "Whoops, sorry, just figured we needed some space before we have our little talk."

The angel observed that they were at a good distance before asking "So? What is it that you wish to talk to me about?"

Ruǎn yù grinned widely as he spoke in a voice that could only be heard between the two of them. "You like Ai, don't you?"

Kǎi blinked. He had a feeling Ruǎn yù was talking about how he felt towards the orange-tailed mermaid but decided to play dumb in hopes of diverting the merman. "I don't dislike her. She's well-meaning and amiable."

Ruǎn yù gave a bit of a slap on Kǎi's shoulder. "Oh, come on, Kǎi, you know what I'm talking about."

"Please don't touch me." Kǎi's voice lowered in displeasure.

"Sorry." Ruǎn yù raised his hands defensively. Guess Kǎi hated physical touch. He hated to admit it, but the angel was very intimidating at times aside from looking like a gloomy serious guy.

Ruǎn yù put his hands on his sides as he resumed grinning and talking "But yeah, you know what I'm talking about. It's not even a matter of liking her." He turned his head just to make sure that no one was looking at them before turning back to face the silver-haired angel. He whispered, "You love her."

Kǎi needed to keep in mind not to let his guard down in front of others like that. He didn't want the whole group to know how he felt about Ai. But still, he had to put up a front. Who knows if someone from Heaven was spying on them at this very moment? "Even if I didn't deny your bold claim, what exactly is the intention of your statement?"

Ruǎn yù held out his open palms. "Just saying, I think you should tell her how you feel."

"And why should I?" Kǎi's tone became mixed with annoyance and coldness.

"Ai's a nice girl. A little stubborn and she gets her sayings mixed up but she's friendly, cheerful. I wouldn't be surprised if she feels something for you, what with how she got all determined to help you and always encourages you. The thing is, she's shy when it comes to love. She can talk your ear off about a crush she has but she won't go through with it."

"Even if I do love her as you insinuate, it's still not a good idea."

"And why not?"

Ruǎn yù was ridiculously persistent, wasn't he?

"I think the fact that Heaven was soon aware that I was trying to save lost souls makes it clear that regardless of what I do, I am being watched. Plus, she and I are from different worlds. That makes it all more reason not to confess even if I happened to have feelings for her."

Damn. Ai had to pick someone hard to get with. Things weren't exactly easy on Kǎi's end either. "Well, no disrespect but obviously, my Gods don't always act of the highest moral caliber and your Gods are currently reducing their human worshippers as we speak even if it's to teach them a lesson. I don't know, I guess even if Lín was from another world, I'd go up on land just to be with her. It's not every day you find someone you really love, and I don't think there's a crime against falling in love. You don't plan to compromise her purity, do you?" Ruǎn yù's brows lowered.

For a minute, there was a glimpse of mortification in those silver eyes. "Of course not."

Ruǎn yù shrugged "Then we should be fine. Even if you two can't be together forever, I think a moment of love is much more worth it than a lifetime of never knowing. Those memories will stay with you a lot longer than the time you were together, even if there's hard times, there's good times and remembering the good times will make you think, hey it was worth it." Ruǎn yù began swimming back to Lín and looked over. "Just think about it ok?"

Kǎi didn't expect Ruǎn yù to have such words of wisdom and now he was left to ponder over them.