After Teasing the Crazy Mermaid, He Actually Deceived Me into Marriage - Chapter 20

“I like it.” she finally conceded under his expectant gaze. “But in the future. could you refrain from turning living creatures into specimens so casually?”

“Why?” Fan Yi genuinely seemed puzzled. “This way, it can stay with you forever.”

Si Tang found it difficult to explain in just a few words. “Because I prefer seeing them alive, dancing freely between heaven and earth.”

“Oh, is that so.” Fan Yi lowered his eyelashes and didn’t press further.

“Well then, I’ll accept this for now.”

Feeling it would be impolite to return it, Si Tang glanced around awkwardly before placing the butterfly specimen on the table behind her.

Thus, she missed the quiet words murmured by the man behind her.

“Tang Tang likes them, but I don’t. Rather than watching them flutter freely, I prefer them forever frozen in the palm of my hand.”

Fan Yi’s long lashes cast shadows beneath his eyelids, concealing the darkness in his eyes.

After setting down the butterfly specimen, Si Tang turned around just as he offered her a gentle smile, appearing completely amiable.

“Fan Yi, I get quite bored in the cave every day. Could you allow me to come and go freely?” Si Tang ventured cautiously.

Fan Yi subtly clenched his fist, his snow-white lashes slowly veiling his eyes, making his expression unreadable.

After a moment, under her pleading gaze, he replied softly.

“Tang Tang, this barrier is here to protect you.”

Si Tang was reminded of the wild beast she encountered during her first escape attempt.

She lowered her head. “Alright then. It’s just that I’m so bored. Could you at least prepare some art supplies for me? I’d like to paint to pass the time.”

Si Tang was a student in the design school of the prestigious University A, and the Si family ran a world-renowned jewelry enterprise. Nurtured by her mother from a young age, Si Tang possessed remarkable talent in painting and design. After her mother passed away, she vowed to carry on her legacy. The Si family must never fall into that woman’s hands.

“Of course, no problem,” Fan Yi replied.

He then closed his eyes, as if sensing the ships on the sea. Soon, the cave was filled with palettes, paints, brushes, easels, and paper.

“Fan Yi, you’re amazing.” Si Tang gazed at him with sparkling eyes. “Did you gather these from ships too?”

Fan Yi curved his lips. “There happened to be a cargo ship carrying these supplies.”

Eagerly, Si Tang organized the art materials, her mood lifting considerably.

Fan Yi used his divine arts to help arrange everything beside her. Sunlight spilled over the scene, like a poem from bygone days, filled with warmth.

Once everything was in place, Si Tang began sharpening her pencils and laying out paper.

Meanwhile, Fan Yi sat on his obsidian throne and quietly started reading.

Si Tang glanced over, finding it peculiar. This deity, whose temperament could hardly be described as pleasant, actually enjoyed something as cultivating as reading.

However, this time the book’s cover was slightly yellowed, resembling an ancient human storybook, yet it bore no title.

Curious, Si Tang approached. Sensing her near, Fan Yi swiftly closed the book.

But Si Tang had already caught a glimpse of its contents. Her face flushed instantly, and she pointed at him in disbelief.

“Fan Yi, you were reading ”

Fan Yi coughed lightly, his expression unchanged as he said, “Although as a deity, I have no desires or wants, it wouldn’t hurt to learn a little in advance to make my future mating seasons more bearable.”

This time, it was Si Tang who was left speechless.

“Does your library have any decent books?” Si Tang’s skeptical gaze fell on him.

Fan Yi paused, silently rummaging through his spatial storage.

After a long while, under Si Tang’s curious and expectant gaze, he pulled out. a manual with a blank cover.

“What’s this?” Si Tang leaned in curiously to take a look.

“I don’t know either,” Fan Yi replied. He tried to open it but found that the manual required a password.

With his memory impaired, he truly had no idea where every item in his library came from.

This was undoubtedly something he had left behind in the past, but. what was the password? Fan Yi entered his birthdate wrong.

Fan Yi and Si Tang exchanged a glance. Si Tang found it strange and pointed at the incorrect password Fan Yi had just entered. “You even forgot the password?”

Fan Yi sighed softly and told her the truth, “I’ve lost my memory. The gods said I had committed too many killings, so the Chief Deity imposed divine punishment. For some reason, my memories were lost during that punishment. I only remember the last three hundred years in Atlantis.”

Si Tang was taken aback. “You mean, that strange lightning when I first met you?”

Fan Yi nodded.

She paused for a moment before continuing, “Then do you know how old you are?”

“I forgot, but according to 8856, I should be around three thousand years old.”

“Three thousand years old?!” Si Tang exclaimed. But then, considering that deities were usually tens of thousands or even billions of years old, wasn’t this one in front of her practically a divine infant?

To confirm her thoughts, Fan Yi said, “I am the youngest among the deities.”

“And who is 8856?” Si Tang asked curiously. This was the first time Fan Yi had opened up to her about his “past” and “background.”

Did this mean he truly regarded her as a friend now?

“8856 is the divine envoy who governs the laws of the heavenly way in this world,” Fan Yi said, taking the opportunity to reveal the deepest secret of this world to her. “Actually, this world is a massive deception.”

“What do you mean?”

“Every person’s life is a pre-programmed script, a fate line written by the Goddess of Destiny. You could say the world is made up of novels.”

This idea completely overturned Si Tang’s understanding. But then again, the existence of this fish-like being was already beyond comprehension.

“I see. But no matter what the truth of the world is, the feelings we experience in this moment are real. That alone makes our experiences meaningful,” Si Tang said.

Fan Yi didn’t know if he found her perspective naive, but he chuckled softly.

“You’re right. But what if, from the very beginning, you were handed a terrible script?”

“What?” Si Tang was stunned for a moment before understanding his meaning.

Indeed, if life was a pre-written fate line, then some people were born as protagonists, some as supporting characters, some as NPCs, and others lived miserable, uncontrollable lives commonly known as cannon fodder.

Why should that be?

Si Tang thought in a daze.

If this were true, how tragic it would be.

“Alright.” Fan Yi gently patted her head, interrupting her train of thought. “I won’t let you become the protagonist in a poorly written script.”

Si Tang blinked, lifting her gaze to meet his earnest eyes fixed upon her.

Little did Si Tang know that this conversation with Fan Yi would become a defining thread woven throughout the rest of her life.