Chapter 93: I Will Be a Good Brother to Youyou.

"Shang You?"

He Zhimo's damp eyes brightened slightly. He sniffed, wiping the lingering tears from his cheeks. He climbed down from the giant shell bed and almost immediately ran to the stone door. He clapped his hands vigorously and called out, "Shang You... Shang You, is that you?"

No one responded.

Still unwilling to give up, He Zhimo raised his tiny toes and pressed his ear against the stone door again to listen.

Beyond the stone door, a heavy, low ocean current flowed slowly around his ear.

The more he listened, the more unsettled he became. Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, he suddenly heard the faint, almost imperceptible cry of a young chick, as if wrapped in the shimmering waves of the sea...

He Zhimo rubbed his eyes, confirming that he hadn't just been hallucinating from his heartbreak. Instead, he had truly heard Shang You's voice.

Shang You was imprisoned there too?

He Zhimo bit his lip tightly, immediately wiped away his tears, and his face perked up.

He couldn't keep crying endlessly like this.

Although he hadn't forgiven Shang Youqing yet, it was an undeniable fact that Shang Youqing was his mother.

Now that he knew Shang You might also be imprisoned in this place, as one of Shang Youqing's babies, he had the responsibility to protect Shang You for his mother.

Thinking of this, He Zhimo clenched his fists, looked at the stone door in front of him, and began to think of a plan to leave here.

The stone door would only open when food was delivered to him at a specific time.

He had to sneak away when the two monsters came in to deliver food.

He Zhimo blinked at the coral bead curtains on both sides of the stone door, and then looked towards the jellyfish lamp where he had hidden every time the monsters came in.

His eyes, as moist and bright as black jade, turned a few circles, and soon he thought of a way. He Zhimo carefully took off his small jacket and piled it haphazardly under the jellyfish lamp, deliberately exposing a little of his clothes.

After completing this task, He Zhimo hid himself behind the coral bead curtain beside the stone door until it finally opened again. He held his breath, practically burying his head in his chest.

Through the gap in the curtain, he saw a thick black tail dragging along the ground. He nearly fainted from fear again. His lips trembled, and he bit his little finger desperately, afraid to make even the slightest sound.

Once the two monsters circled the curtain and reached the main hall, He Zhimo clutched the cumbersome hem of his clothes, got down on his hands and knees, and crawled out from under the curtain.

The last time he ran out, He Zhimo fainted instantly from the monsters. This time, He Zhimo was mentally prepared, determined not to scream, no matter what terrifying things he encountered.

However, when He Zhimo raised his head with trepidation, he was greeted by a shimmering, dreamlike underwater world.

The water shone with a dazzling, cold, iridescent light, and schools of fish, like deep-sea creatures from a fairy tale, flitted past him.

What struck He Zhimo as most incredible was that he, too, was underwater, yet his breathing remained normal, unaffected. It was as if his entire body was isolated by the current.

He Zhimo was stunned for several seconds by the scenes before him, which were beyond his comprehension. But then something clicked, and with a quick thought, he quickly peeled back the massive coral reef near the stone gate, towering over him. Without

looking back, he sprinted forward. But he was still in the water, and after a while, he was tripped by a turbulent wave and fell tumbling beneath the coral. He scrambled to his feet in pain.

It was then that He Zhimo's ears perked up, and he heard Shang You's faint phoenix cry again.

And, perhaps because they were getting closer, he could now detect Shang You's scent, drawing ever closer.

Fearing the two monsters would discover him, He Zhimo dared not shout. Instead, he strained his nose, following the scent of his kin.

Finally, as He Zhimo struggled to push aside the coral that blocked his view, he suddenly froze, his eyes widening as he saw

Shang You, curled up in a ball, hugging her calves, her head buried in the corner of a coral patch. Spots of blood clung to the coral.

He Zhimo was about to approach, but Shang You, startled by him, didn't even raise her head, her breathing trembling as she began to crawl into the cave behind the coral. He Zhimo urgently grabbed her hand, "Shang You, it's me!..."

At his words, Shang You, still dreading the shock, raised her face in panic, her mouth trembling, "He Zhimo..."

He Zhimo squatted before her, reached out his hand to wipe her tears, and told her about his time trapped in a crystal palace.

He, too, had been terrified for months, yet now, in front of Shang You, he acted calm and reliable, as if he were her brother.

Shang You tilted her little face up and let He Zhimo wipe her tears. After listening to his experience, her eyes became red again and she choked softly: "Me, me too..."

"I escaped from there... But, after running a few steps, my legs were broken and I couldn't stand up..."

"Where is broken?"

He Zhimo was so worried that he tightened his face and wanted to check, but Shang You covered her calves with her hands and wanted to hide them.

"Shang You... Youyou," He Zhimo couldn't help but tell her the secret that he was actually Shang Youqing's phoenix baby. He took her little hand very steadily and said, "I will be a good brother to Youyou and protect Youyou. Youyou, don't be afraid."

Shang You's face was stunned for a long time when she heard this. Thinking that she had just crawled here after smelling the scent of her relatives, she believed it a little more. She looked at him with moist amber eyes and called out hesitantly, "Are you... really my brother?"

"Really!" In order to make Shang You completely let down her guard, He Zhimo scratched the back of his little hand a few more times. Soon, a short and soft feather fell off. He spread it out and showed it to Shang You, "Look, I can drop the feathers of a baby phoenix."

Seeing this, the vigilance and uneasiness on Shang You's face finally relaxed a little. She then moved her little hand slightly, moved her two legs forward a little, pointed her little finger at the faintly visible ice-blue scales on her legs, and told He Zhimo with misty eyes: "

I don't know why this happened. I was running just now and suddenly fell... I couldn't stand up, and strange scales grew on my legs..."

Shang You's voice became trembling as he spoke, "I'm obviously a baby phoenix, why did I grow scales? I, have I become a monster..."