The Instant Noodle Lid That Caused a Bloodbath

Facing the interrogation from this uninvited guest before him, Jiang Mian's heart was utterly unperturbed. In fact, he was almost tempted to laugh.

He looked Ao Juan up and down, his gaze eventually landing on that black-and-gold long robe that looked "expensive and high-maintenance," silently tagging the man in his mind: a fastidious person who can't take care of himself.

"Obviously," Jiang Mian drawled lazily, shifting into an even more comfortable position as he floated more leisurely. "It's just the right size, the right weight, and it even glows. What else would I use it for if not to weigh down my instant noodles? Was I supposed to enshrine it?"

A flicker of indescribable anguish flashed through Ao Juan's golden eyes. He took a deep breath, as if trying to calm his temper that was about to boil over.

"You... do you have any idea what this is?" His voice was somewhat low from the effort of suppressing his fury.

"Little Bright," Jiang Mian answered without hesitation.

"Little Bright?" A vein seemed to pulse on Ao Juan's temple. "It has a name! It's called the Sea-Calming Pearl! It's an ancient divine artifact, the Treasure of the Dragon Clan! It maintains the balance of the Four Seas and holds back the torrent of Guixu! And you... you call it 'Little Bright'? And use it to weigh down..."

"Instant noodles," Jiang Mian helpfully reminded him, glancing at the still-steaming shell. "Oh, it's about time. My Deep-Sea Devil Squid Noodles should be ready soon."

As he spoke, he reached out to move that "Sea-Calming Pearl."

"Stop!" Ao Juan bellowed. In a flash, he appeared right in front of Jiang Mian, moving so fast that only an afterimage remained in the water.

Startled, Jiang Mian froze. It was the first time he had seen anyone—no, any dragon—move so quickly.

Ao Juan stared fixedly at the pearl, his eyes a mixture of fury, heartache, and an almost devout glow. Slowly, he extended his hand to pick up the Sea-Calming Pearl from the shell.

But the moment his fingertips were about to touch the Sea-Calming Pearl, the bead's surface suddenly flared with brilliant light. With a hum, a gentle yet irresistible force repelled his hand.

Ao Juan was stunned. He stared at his hand in disbelief, then back at the Sea-Calming Pearl still resting securely on the shell.

"What's going on?" he murmured.

Jiang Mian had seen everything clearly. He blinked his sea-blue eyes and said with a hint of schadenfreude, "Looks like my 'Little Bright' doesn't like you very much."

With that, he reached out, easily picked up the Sea-Calming—Little Bright—Pearl from the shell, and the light emanating from the pearl in his hand seemed much gentler.

The aroma of instant noodles burst forth. Jiang Mian took a blissful sniff, grabbed a fork made of seaweed beside him, twirled a strand of noodles, blew on it, and was about to bring it to his mouth.

"You!" Ao Juan's expression changed completely. If before he had been angry, now he was in shock. "What did you do to it? Why does the Sea-Calming Pearl actively reject me yet feel close to you?"

He lunged forward and grabbed Jiang Mian by the wrist. His grip was strong, like iron pincers. Jiang Mian winced in pain, his brows furrowing.

"Hey! What are you doing? You're hurting me!" Jiang Mian protested. "What do you mean, what did I do to it? All I do is use it to weigh down my instant noodles every day! How am I supposed to know why it's gotten chummy with me?"

Ignoring his protests, Ao Juan fixed his golden dragon pupils on Jiang Mian's wrist, sending a thread of pure magical power into Jiang Mian's body. In an instant, his face turned even darker.

He could clearly sense that the vast, ocean-like spiritual energy of the Sea-Calming Pearl was now flowing like a gentle stream through Jiang Mian's limbs and bones, already interwoven with Jiang Mian's own spiritual energy, forming an unbreakable symbiotic bond.

This... this was a sign of Man-Pearl Unity!

But how was this possible? The Sea-Calming Pearl was the Treasure of the Dragon Clan. Only an heir with the purest Dragon Clan bloodline, after undergoing a complex ritual of acknowledgment, could possibly earn its recognition. And this lazy-to-the-bone merperson in front of him had merely used it to weigh down his instant noodles for a few days!

Could it be... that the core secret of the Dragon Clan's millennia-old acknowledgment ritual was... weighing down instant noodles?

This absurd thought flashed through Ao Juan's mind before he shook it off forcefully.

He released Jiang Mian's hand, his face dark enough to drip water.

"The spiritual energy of the Sea-Calming Pearl is already bound to you," he said, word by word, as if pronouncing a cruel verdict. "Now, unless you voluntarily dissolve the contract, no one can forcibly take it from you."

Jiang Mian rubbed his reddened wrist, listening to his words. He blinked, processing the information.

"Oh, is that so?" He thought for a moment, then reached a conclusion. "So that means 'Little Bright' is mine now?"

Ao Juan's fists clenched, his knuckles cracking audibly.

"Don't you understand?" he said through gritted teeth. "This is the treasure of my clan! It must be returned to its rightful owner!"

"But it likes me now." Jiang Mian shrugged innocently, shaking the Sea-Calming Pearl in his hand. "See how well-behaved it is in my hand. Besides, you said it yourself—unless I do it willingly, you can't take it. But why would I do that willingly? Where else am I going to find such a good instant noodle lid?"

Ao Juan felt dizzy. He had roamed the Four Seas, was supremely talented, considered himself a standout among the younger generation—what grand scene hadn't he witnessed? Yet he never imagined that one day he'd be driven to utter exasperation by a merperson, over a Treasure of the Dragon Clan and the matter of an instant noodle lid.

He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Forcibly taking it was out of the question. The only way was to make this merperson named Jiang Mian voluntarily give up the Sea-Calming Pearl.

How could he make him do it voluntarily?

Threaten him? Looking at his "even if the sky falls, I'll use it as a blanket" attitude, intimidation probably wouldn't work.

Bribe him? The Dragon Palace had no shortage of treasures, but when he used even the Sea-Calming Pearl as a noodle lid, ordinary treasures likely wouldn't catch his interest either.

When Ao Juan opened his eyes again, his golden pupils had regained their calm and rationality.

He looked at Jiang Mian, who was about to continue eating his noodles, and suddenly spoke. "I understand."

Jiang Mian paused mid-slurp, looking up at him in confusion. "What do you understand?"

"Since the Sea-Calming Pearl can't be retrieved for now," Ao Juan said in a steady voice tinged with undeniable resolve, "starting today, I will live here."

"Huh?" Jiang Mian almost dropped the noodles from his mouth. "What did you say?"

Ao Juan looked at him with an "I'm doing this for your own good" expression and said with righteous solemnity:

"With the Sea-Calming Pearl on you, you're a walking treasure vault. An innocent man with a jewel is a target. To protect you and the Sea-Calming Pearl, I, as the Crown Prince of the Dragon Clan, have the duty and responsibility to protect you personally. Until you voluntarily dissolve the contract."

Jiang Mian stared at him blankly, unable to speak for a long time.

Only one thought echoed wildly in his mind:

Great. My slacker life... looks like it's about to be completely ruined by this instant noodle lid creditor who fell out of the sky!