When the girls were swimming and diving, they naturally had to find a secluded area and have many guards around them. After all, they were all grown maidens. After putting on the tight-fitting diving suits, their delicate figures become somewhat more apparent.
The reef beside the cliff, where Yu Xiaocao used to gather seafood, was the most secluded area. Every time she went to the sea, she would choose to get into the waters here. Xiaocao, who had put on a black sharkskin diving suit, jumped into the waters from the reef like a nimble little dolphin.
Little dolphin? The noble maidens on the reef seemed to have thought of something. Yu Wanqing eagerly asked, “Older Sister Yu, will your little dolphin friend come today? I have never seen a dolphin before ah!”
The others subsequently nodded to express that they wanted to see the little dolphin that was full of spirits. Of course, Yu Xiaocao wouldn’t let them down. She called out towards the depths of the ocean, “Xiaobu——"
Yu Wanqing looked at the surface of the sea in the distance. Her eyes were full of expectation as she asked from time to time, “Older Sister Yu, the sea is so big, can the little dolphin hear your voice? Is the little dolphin big enough to carry a person while swimming? What does the sea floor look like? Is it the same as the Dragon Palace in the legends, with shrimp soldiers and crab generals and shell palace maids?”
The others were amused by her childish words. He Wanning, who had changed into a diving suit, took a deep breath and dived into the waters. When she came out, she pretended to be surprised and exclaimed, “Wow! I saw a tortoise prime minister!”
“Where is it? Where is it??” Only Yu Wanqing, the naïve fellow, was fooled and hastily rushed over. She didn’t even care that her embroidered shoes got wet and only cared about seeing what the tortoise prime minister looked like.
He Wanning couldn’t hold back anymore. She laughed and said, “I lied to you! How can there be any shrimp soldiers, crab generals, Dragon King and dragon maidens? Those are all mythological characters, so how can we see them in real life?”
Her words led to fits of laughter. Yu Wanqing pouted and stamped her feet, “Older Sister He is so mean. I’m not playing with you—Ah! Dolphin, is that a dolphin? There are so many!!”
Everyone looked towards the direction that she pointed at. Sure enough, a group of sea elves jumped out of the water from time to time. They had pointed mouths and backs with graceful lines. What elegant and cute creatures!
“Older Sister Yu, that’s Older Sister Yu, right?!” Yu Wanqing saw a head surrounded by the dolphins and screamed out in surprise. It turned out that, at some point, Xiaocao had swam far away and met up with the pod of dolphins!
Among the dolphins, Xiaobu had already grown into ‘Big Bu’. Xiaobu was very excited because it hadn’t seen its good friend, Xiaocao, in a long time. It swam around her, jumped out of the water beside her from time to time, and let her head rest on top of its head.
Xiaocao dripped a drop of mystic-stone water into its wide opened mouth. Seeing Yu Wanqing Li Mengqi desperately waving their hands at her, she climbed up onto the dolphin’s back and had it carry her towards the group of people, like when she was younger.
Xiaobu often played with Xiaocao, so it wasn’t scared of humans. It obediently swam to the shore, and soon the crowd on the reef were able to clearly see its appearance: blue back, sharp dorsal fin, shiny ‘skin’, and a pair of bright, black eyes that shined with life.
“So pretty!” Yu Wanqing couldn’t help but exclaim. The others were also mesmerized by the cute appearance of the little dolphin.
He Wanning tried to get closer to Xiaobu with her measly dog paddle swimming skills. Xiaobu tilted its head and looked at her curiously with a friendly and gentle expression.
“Dolphins are kind creatures that are lively and playful. As long as you don’t have any ill intentions, it will be happy to accept you as a friend!” Yu Xiaocao introduced her little dolphin friend to her close friends.
He Wanning slowly stretched out her hands, trying to feel Xiaobu’s shiny bald head. Suddenly, she felt something in the water push against her waist. She was so scared that her face turned pale and she forgot how to dog paddle. Her limbs flapped in confusion and she seemed to be sinking into the sea. The girls on the shore screamed repeatedly, feeling worried for her.
After drinking two mouthfuls of salty sea water, He Wanning suddenly felt herself being lifted. She thought that it was Xiaocao who saved her. She pitifully squeezed out a grateful smile at her, but she found out that Xiaocao was two arm’s length away from her. ‘Huh? Then who saved me?’
Xiaocao motioned her to look in the sea. It turned out that Xiaobu was pushing her with its head, letting her body surface above the waters. Xiaocao said with a smile, “The legend of dolphins saving people is widely known around the seaside. Fishermen will never hunt these mystical little creatures because they will probably have to rely on the dolphins to save them when they encounter dangers at sea. Haha, so it was you, this little guy, who was causing trouble ah!”
Yu Xiaocao plunged into the sea and saw a little dolphin that was even smaller than the Xiaobu that she first met. It swam around He Wanning, and from time to time, it would curiously push her with its rostrum. It was because of this little guy that He Wanning had nearly drowned in fear earlier.
Seeing Yu Xiaocao swim over, the little fellow wasn’t scared. It hovered around Xiaobu and looked at her curiously with a shy expression of wanting to approach but was embarrassed to do so.
Yu Xiaocao swam closer to it, stroked its smooth back, and bribed it with a drop of mystic-stone water. The little fellow finally got close to her and swam around her. It rubbed its small head against her and didn’t even struggle when Xiaocao held onto it.
Xiaocao carried the little guy to the surface of the sea and grinned at He Wanning, who had already climbed ashore, saying, “Older Sister He, you’re so timid. You’re afraid of such a small baby dolphin!”
“Wow—it’s adorable! Can I touch it?” Yu Wanqing excitedly screamed as she rushed in front of the others.
The water level near the reef was too shallow for a.d.u.l.t dolphins to swim over, but it was different for the mini dolphin that Yu Xiaocao was holding. After Xiaocao let it go, it didn’t swim away and swam around in the shallow waters while flapping its tail.
Just like how the young maidens onshore were curious about it, it was also full of curiosity since it was its first time meeting human girls. Seeing Yu Wanqing put her hands into the sea water and called it warmly, the little fellow swam over in a silly manner and put its head on her palm, asking to be stroked.
“So cute. The little dolphin is so cute. I really want to take it home to raise as a pet!” If it wasn’t for the fact that she knew that dolphins couldn’t leave the water like fishes, Yu Wanqing would hold it in her arms and kiss it.
Royal Princess Minglan disproved her, “The little dolphin needs to live in the water. Do you have seawater at home? Moreover, even if your family has the financial ability to transport seawater back every day, would the dolphin be happy after leaving its friends in the ocean? It’s like…you’re suddenly able to breathe underwater. The little dolphins made you stay in the ocean and won’t let you back go ashore. Would you be willing?”
“Of course not!” Yu Wanqing immediately retorted.
“See? The little dolphin doesn’t want to go home with you. The ocean is their paradise!” Royal Princess Minglan squatted down, and the little dolphin swam towards her, which accidently led to a tragedy—it ran aground on the reef.
Xiaocao hastily carried it back to the deep sea, and the little fellow, who got frightened, immediately swam back to Xiaobu to be consoled. Xiaocao, who had an alert mind, pointed at the little guy and asked Xiaobu, “Xiaobu, this little fellow wouldn’t be your child, right? You’re a mother now?”
As if it could understand Xiaocao’s words, Xiaobu nodded its head that had come up on the surface of the water. It caressed the back of the little dolphin with its fin, and a sense of affection could be seen within its black eyes.
“Then let’s call him Little Xiaobu. Little Xiaobu looks actually the same as when you were younger, and it’s also just as bold!” Yu Xiaocao remembered the Xiaobu from a few years ago. It was slightly bigger than Little Xiaobu now, yet it dared to approach her. They swam freely in the sea, and even dared to tease those big sharks.
Under the guidance of Xiaocao, He Wanning swam for a while and learned to dive. She picked up a small crab in the shallow sea and was so excited that she nearly drowned again. After she played for a while, she went ashore to dig mussels and pry barnacles with Yuan Xueyan and the others.
“Watch me catch a few large lobsters as dinner for you guys!” It had been a long time since Yu Xiaocao swam in the bottom of the sea to her heart’s content. Seeing that her friends were playing happily on shore, she called out to them and plunged into the water, diving into the azure blue sea.
With the little divine stone’s escort and Xiaobu’s guidance, she soon arrived at the deep sea. The gorgeous corals, which she had not seen in a long time, rippled with the waves in various forms. The colorful school of fishes formed a net as they swam, frolicking. A big sea turtle slowly swam past Xiaocao and looked curiously at her…
The treasures of the seabed appeared in front of Xiaocao. She grabbed huge lobsters one after another; picked up lazily squirming sea cuc.u.mbers one after another; dug out fist-sized abalones one after another…
She had gained a full harvest at the bottom of the sea. The people on the shore became anxious when they saw that she hadn’t floated up for a long time. Even the indifferent-looking Yuan Xueyan had a worried expression on her face, “Xiaolian, I heard that there are many undercurrents and dangerous shoals under the sea. Xiaocao has gone down for so long. Did something happen?”
Upon hearing her words, Xiaolian, who was helping her younger sister entertain the pampered guests from the capital, shook her head and said with a smile, “It’s okay. Younger Sister has come back safe after diving for an even longer time than now. You guys can rest assured!”
“Don’t you think it’s strange that she hasn’t come up to breathe for so long?” Royal Princess Minglan tried to hold her breath on the shore and couldn’t hold it for a long time.
Xiaolian, who was born in a fishing village, had heard many stories about pearl divers. She told them that some people were born with the talents for diving and could hold their breath underwater for more than twenty minutes without a change in their faces. If Xiaocao was here, she would definitely recall that, in her previous life, the record holder of the Guinness World Records held his breath for twenty-two minutes!
As they spoke, they saw a head appear in the distant sea. She waved at them, and then dived down again. Yu Xiaocao quickly gathered a bag of seafood. She found an extremely bright red coral, which was as dazzling as the red clouds in the sky. It looked l.u.s.trous and transparent. Hence, she was attracted to go over.
