Qiao Ci now saw Yingxue not just as a peerless beauty, but as a mountain of gold and silver.
Yingxue shook her head incessantly, covering her ears with her hands and murmuring, "I didn't, I didn't."
It seemed she hadn't noticed she had silently lost her mermaid magic.
Qiao Ci felt embarrassed for her with that "covering ears to steal a bell" act.
"So? Are we getting married or not? If not, I'm leaving?" Qiao Ci paid no mind to their affectionate display, her expression and voice indifferent, as if she weren't the one in a predicament.
Yingxue's back stiffened slightly. She looked at Chen Ning, accusingly, "So, you lied to me about everything? Just to trick my cousin into coming? Do you have intentions towards my cousin? Do you think my cousin is prettier than me and want her?"
Chen Ning playfully pinched Yingxue's nose. "How could that be? I only love you. We'll have the wedding later, and your cousin has other arrangements. If you truly love me, will you just listen to me?"
"What do you want to do to my cousin?" Yingxue looked at him hesitantly.
"You'll know in a moment. You'll always be on my side, won't you?" Chen Ning was pleased that Yingxue hadn't reacted too strongly, his conditioning over the past few days seeming successful.
She had promised him countless times when expressing her love that she could defy the entire world for him, even the mermaid tribe.
"Yes, I love you. For you, I'm willing to defy the world." Yingxue then cast a guilty glance at Qiao Ci. "Cousin, Chen Ning won't harm you. Whatever he asks you to do, please cooperate, okay?"
Qiao Ci simply gave her a single, indifferent word: "Scram."
Yingxue felt her dignity was wounded, and her expression soured.
"Miss Qiao, is it? My name is Chen Ning. A friend of mine is very interested in you, and I hope you'll accompany me." Chen Ning extended a very gentlemanly invitation to Qiao Ci.
He was full of confidence now, because Yingxue had told him that as long as the dried kelp touched a mermaid or they smelled it, mermaids would quickly lose their magic, becoming like ordinary people.
Now, the entire church was almost filled with dried kelp powder. These two mermaids, one big and one small, were surely doomed today.
He assumed Qiao Ci had already lost her mermaid magic and was merely feigning composure.
The elder one would be given to his friend, and the younger one, he heard, was the future ruler of the mermaid tribe. Once she came of age, she would inherit the throne and become the controller of the sea. If he found a way to control the young mermaid, wouldn't the entire sea be his?
"But what if I don't want to go?" Qiao Ci crossed her arms, striking a defiant pose.
"To this point, and you're still being stubborn. Are you feeling weak all over? Have you already lost your mermaid magic?" Chen Ning glanced down at Qiao Ci's legs. "Before long, those slender, beautiful legs of yours will turn into a fish tail. Do you want us to carry you then?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yingxue's legs instantly transformed into a fish tail, while Qiao Ci and Lan Ye showed no change.
"What's happening?" Chen Ning quickly embraced Yingxue. Qiao Ci and Lan Ye had been exposed to the dried kelp earlier than Yingxue, so why did Yingxue transform first?
Yingxue clung to Chen Ning in front of everyone, looking a bit embarrassed. She said with some difficulty, "My cousin and the future Sea King have stronger magic than me, so they will last longer."
Among mermaids, her magic was considered weak, and she knew few spells, nor did she wish to learn them. Facing her cousin who was better than her in every way, she felt envy and jealousy.
That was why, when she decided to leave the mermaid tribe with Chen Ning, she deliberately told Qiao Ci as such, as if only then could she prove she wasn't as outstanding as Qiao Ci, but she possessed love.
At first, she didn't understand these feelings, but gradually she realized she was simply jealous of Qiao Ci, jealous of everything about her. Therefore, even knowing Chen Ning had ill intentions towards Qiao Ci, she still invited Qiao Ci.
Chen Ning looked at Qiao Ci with surprise and uncertainty.
He had witnessed Yingxue's magic; it was magical but lacked any destructive power. How much stronger was this other mermaid?
"How much stronger than me?"
Afraid he would dislike her, Yingxue instinctively replied, "Not much stronger! And, mermaids temporarily lose their magic upon contact with dried kelp powder; they can't even maintain human leg shapes."
Qiao Ci was almost amused by the two of them, especially Yingxue. She looked up at Yingxue and directly exposed her inner ugliness, "Knowing Chen Ning would harm me, you still called me here. Did I ever mistreat you in any way?"
"No, I didn't, cousin, please don't misunderstand me." Yingxue, not wanting to tarnish her image in Chen Ning's eyes, vehemently denied it.
"Don't call me cousin. From now on, I am no longer your cousin." Qiao Ci's cold eyes swept over her, and she said without hesitation, "Having a cousin like you is truly unlucky."
Lan Ye, standing silently nearby, had been still since he learned the dried kelp powder had no effect on him.
Seeing Qiao Ci about to sever ties with Yingxue, he stepped forward and looked at the ugly, selfish, and foolish mermaid. His grandmother's voice, however, carried infinite coldness, "In the name of the Sea King, I hereby permanently expel Yingxue of the mermaid tribe from our kind. I will reclaim the magic and endless lifespan bestowed upon you by the mermaid tribe."
With that, he formed complex hand seals and, to Yingxue's terrified expression, struck her forehead.
"No!" Yingxue shrieked. She hadn't expected the future Sea King to expel her; such a thing had never happened in the mermaid tribe.
"From this moment on, Yingxue is no longer a citizen of our mermaid tribe and can never set foot in the ocean's domain!" With each word Lan Ye spoke, his brow furrowed slightly, as if he were suppressing some pain.
Qiao Ci sighed and placed her hand on his back, channeling magic to him.
He wasn't the true Sea King yet. Expelling a mermaid was a right only the Sea King could exercise. As the future Sea King, he could do it, but it would come with some backlash.
She knew Lan Ye was defending her; he was such a foolish child.
Yingxue was struck as if by lightning. She felt the magic within her – it was gone.
The dried kelp powder could only suppress a mermaid's magic, not completely eradicate it. So, had she really been expelled? How would she be able to transform into beautiful, slender legs in the future?
What if Chen Ning wanted to… do things with her… then what?
Only then did she truly panic. She broke free from Chen Ning's embrace, fell to the ground, and pleaded with Lan Ye, "Please, don't expel me. No one has ever been expelled from the human race. This is unfair to me… You can't do this to me~"