Thanks to AdriannaSharp for helping me with Kunzite's characterization and Smokingbomber with Rei's characterization.

Zhihao smirked, "Ah, so I was right."

"And what of it?"

"It's not like there's anything wrong with it but you need to loosen up." Zhihao smirked. "All that stress must make your wings stiff."

Kǎi stretched one of his wings lightly which made Zhihao snort.

"Alright, maybe I was wrong, maybe you're not such a stick in the mud."

Kǎi smirked before retorting. "Like I said earlier, it's not like I'm made out of stone."

"Alright I admit, you at least have a bit of a sense of humor."

"Indeed."

~Meanwhile~

Ai looked in the direction where the males were talking. "I wonder what they could be talking about."

Qing replied. "It's not really our business Ai."

The blonde mermaid smiled at the blue-haired one with her eyes closed. "Either way, it's nice to see them spending time with each other don't you think?"

Qing smiled "Yes, it is nice to see Kǎi familiarizing himself with the rest of our group."

The blue mermaid then giggled with her head lowered. "Even if Zhihao forced the bonding time. He always seemed interested with interacting with Kǎi more than he usually did."

Minako smirked. "I see… Zhihao sounds curious."

"Curious or perhaps intrigued to understand Kǎi better would be a more fitting term."

"I see." Ai nodded her head with her eyes closed, pretending to have a mock stern look.

"Besides, as nice as it is to spend time with Zhihao, he can be a little too much with his…" Qing blushed.

"Oh?" Ai smirked. "Do tell."

"He, he's already aware but… Please don't tell him let alone the others I told you this." Qing covered her mouth with a fist out of bashfulness.

Ai raised an arm as she closed her eyes. "I won't say a word. This is between us girls."

"He, he can be too much with his affections at times."

Ai leaned her head in. "Oh! Like flirting and complimenting you."

"Yes, exactly that." Qing uncovered her mouth.

She tilted her head as she smiled. "That sounds like him alright."

"I see… Given his playful nature, correct?"

"Exactly."

Before they knew it, Kǎi's voice rang out, telling them that their break was over.

"Well, it's not like you two are attached by the stomach." Ai remarked as she started turning around.

Qing giggled as she put her fist near her mouth. "The fin, you mean it's not like you two are attacked by the fin."

Ai gave a dismissive wave. "Whatever, at least you got a bit of a break from him.

Qing giggled before they resumed working on gathering corpses before Kǎi dissolved them in golden light and their souls filled the area before rising upwards. This continued until it was time for their second break of the day.

The curly blond merman asked the raven-haired priestess. "Mei, is there anything wrong? You seemed a bit lost in thought when we were doing water manipulation to gather the corpses."

Mei grumbled a bit under her breath, irritated that Yìngyù could see through her easily. Granted, they were spending time together during their task as secret lovers but still, it wasn't a pleasant thing for anyone let alone a merman see her reveal a bit of weakness.

Mei inhaled and exhaled before replying to Yìngyù. "It's just that… The Queen…"

"You're worried about her upcoming plan." The blond merman gave her a concerned look with his blue gray eyes.

The priestess gave him a solemn look. "Yes, it's not that I don't trust her judgment but even she admitted that the plan may be reckless. Wouldn't it be more effective to cultivate for 50 days or more than that?"

"While that is true and even so, I'm sure the Queen is aware that should we wait for her for 50 days or 100 days, the death aura still steadily increases even despite our efforts to aid Kǎi in cleansing our sea day after day. Besides, she was originally planning to cultivate for 10 days in order to regain some strength given that she's been erecting a barrier around the palace."

Mei exhaled. "I thank you for your explanation, I understand Queen Ning's intentions better now. Her plan is the only way to at least make some significant progress early on before the death aura could accumulate further."

She held her hands into fists and shut her eyes tightly. She wanted to scream at the unfairness of this situation, but she knew doing so would only upset the group's morale. Even though Kǎi didn't let it show, he was probably more frustrated at it all given that he was purifying human corpses daily without the aid of anyone else from the Heaven clan as the Heavenly Emperor allowed the angel to resume this task on that condition. Everyone shared the same sentiment that it was unfair of the Heaven clan to do such things. They took mortal lives without remorse by allowing this flood to happen and with disregard to those who resided in the sea who would be exposed to the death aura. Today was the 14th day of the flood. They were all disgusted and horrified by the human corpses when they first began this task. They all pitied the humans, especially the young ones who had yet to live their lives. It was fortunate that no one had seen a severely decaying corpse given that they worked every day to aid the angel in cleansing their sea. But the repetitiveness of the task had numbed their feelings about it all because if anyone allowed their feelings to take over like she did, they would be extremely frustrated like she was.

Mei softly gasped as she felt Yìngyù's chest press against her back as he gently yet firmly embraced her from behind. "I know you're upset, all of us are, even if we choose not to dwell on it."

He softly chuckled. "If it wasn't for Lín keeping Ruǎn yù in check, I'm sure we'd be hearing him yell or we'd see him punch something."

In spite of herself, Mei couldn't help but softly laugh.

"I'm glad I can make you laugh. I know it's hard Mei but right now, all of us are just focusing on the fact our task isn't completely meaningless. That taking action is better than nothing. That we're all surrounded by friends and the people we love."

Mei nodded as she felt the anger leave her, feeling safe in her lover's embrace, and comforted by his words. She nodded before he reverently kissed her shoulder which made her gasp and blush. "Y-You!"

Yìngyù closed her eyes as he rested his chin on her shoulder, looking content. "Don't worry, I'm a patient man, I won't go any further than this."

Despite her reaction earlier, the priestess had to admit she liked the feel of his lips against her skin and she smiled as she turned to look at him. Perhaps one day…

When the sun began to set, Kǎi addressed the group. "Thank you all for your hard work. I understand this task is wearisome and that for some others, it may even be frustrating."

He looked to Mei and Ruǎn yù.

"But please understand that I am grateful for the work you all have done in aiding me and even if others do not know about our work, I am sure the other denizens of the sea are grateful as well."

The others gave him a nod of understanding and they exchanged greetings of farewell before he took to the sky.