After Teasing the Crazy Mermaid, He Actually Deceived Me into Marriage - Chapter 26

That exquisitely ethereal and stunning face spoke such ordinary gentle words, making Si Tang repeatedly doubt whether her hearing had deceived her.

“What did you say?” Si Tang’s uncertain, startled gaze fixed on his face.

Yet the deity’s expression remained cold as he lifted his eyelids to look at her. Word by word, as if stating the most natural thing in the world, he said:

“It means you will stay with me forever.”

“And not just in this lifetime.”

Si Tang felt a buzzing in her ears. No freedom? Not just this lifetime? How many lifetimes did he want? Was he insane?

“What do you mean?” Si Tang asked in alarm. “Why?”

“Heh, what do I mean?” Fan Yi seemed to find it amusing and actually let out a soft laugh. His face loomed closer as he leaned forward slightly, watching her with leisurely composure. “Tang Tang, as a human with normal emotions and desires, you should understand this better than I do.”

Si Tang felt as if struck by lightning. After the initial shock, she looked dazedly at him and realized that the deity’s blue eyes, fixed upon her, were no longer detached and desireless.

As if wanting her to see more clearly, he took a few steps closer, pressing the young girl almost against the tree trunk in a posture of complete control, leaving no room for escape.

In her flustered gaze, Si Tang clearly saw the blatant desire for plunder and possession in Fan Yi’s deep eyes sticky and gloomy like a spider’s web, thick with madness, as if vines were entangling her, dragging her down to drown alongside him. It terrified her.

Si Tang: ??? The sky is falling.

The vague unease she had felt over the past few days was now absurdly confirmed. Si Tang felt as if she were in a dream, everything was too disruptive to her thoughts and understanding.

She had no idea how things had escalated to this point.

Trembling, she tried to reason with him.

“Have you gone mad? Fan Yi, I am human, you are a god. How could we, how is it possible.”

Her mind was in chaos, as if a storm had swept through, and she began to stumble over her words.

Fan Yi raised his hand and gripped her chin, taking in her panicked expression. His deep blue eyes held a hidden authority, brimming with danger and madness as he retorted with a single question:

“Why not?”

Si Tang was shaken by the intensity in his gaze and tried to push him away. But the hand she raised was caught firmly by the wrist, the cold touch feeling like the chill of shackles.

“I don’t want this! Fan Yi, I don’t want to stay here forever. And I don’t know what kind of misconception led you to believe you have feelings for me that go beyond the norm, but to me, you are just a friend!”

Si Tang didn’t believe he truly “liked” her perhaps he merely saw her as a favored plaything.

Seeing her vehement reaction, Fan Yi’s expression darkened instantly. Without giving her a chance to argue, he tightened his grip on her wrist, pulled her waist firmly against him, and, with a cold laugh, released her chin only to clamp his hand around it again, ignoring her futile struggles and forcing her to meet his gaze.

“Friend?” His voice was icy, then gradually softened, carrying a hint of suggestive intimacy. His cool fingertips brushed her lips as he spoke slowly, “Do you mean the kind of friend who spent five days and nights indulging in passion with me?”

Si Tang’s eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at him, utterly stunned.

He knew perfectly well it was forced by circumstances because of his “mating season.” It was her last resort, her only option.

“Of course you’re my friend, Tangtang. But I also know that offering friendship is just your way of leaving this place, isn’t it?” A faint, dangerous smile curled at his lips.

His Tangtang was always so clever, yet always so naively adorable.

In the deity’s eyes lay the ease of one who held all control.

The cool back of his fingers gently brushed the maiden’s cheek, so close that Si Tang could catch the strange, cold fragrance clinging to him, a scent that clouded the mind. He lowered his head, his breath grazing her ear, his tone deceptively tender, darkly lingering.

“But you were the one who said you wanted to be with me forever, Tangtang. Once you provoke me, there’s no escape.”

“Even in death, your soul belongs to me.”

Si Tang: “…”

She had said eternal friends, when had she ever mentioned being together forever?

Yet, gazing into those narrow, deep blue eyes shrouded in darkness, Si Tang found herself unable to utter a single word of protest. Because of his obsession, his absolute certainty.

It was as if her soul truly belonged to him.

Seeing that neither preserving her life by his side nor threats and incentives could make her stay, he had simply stopped pretending.

Si Tang weakly lowered her eyes.

She felt regret, a regret deeper than any she had ever known.

Fan Yi noticed the maiden in his arms trembling, tears glistening on her lashes like a frightened little creature, and let out a soft click of his tongue.

“What are you afraid of?” He chuckled lightly, as if unable to comprehend. His fingers elegantly twirled, a white light flickering effortlessly at his fingertips as he spun the glowing dots with leisurely ease. “Stay with me, and you can have anything you desire. I can accomplish what ordinary people cannot. Is there anything I cannot give you?”

In the deity’s eyes lay an arrogance that dismissed all else.

Si Tang was utterly convinced he did not “like” her or rather, he had no understanding of what “liking” even meant.

“I want freedom. Can you give me that?” Si Tang said.

He raised a brow slightly, feigning thought. “Tangtang, now you’re giving me a difficult task. You know perfectly well I cannot leave this sea.”

After a moment of contemplation, however, he smiled and looked down at her.

“But don’t worry too much. A hundred years from now, when your mortal life ends and my confinement period is over, no matter which world you’re reborn into, I will find you beforehand. If you wish to remain in the mortal realm, I will live with you there as an ordinary couple.”

Si Tang: No, I’m not worried at all. I’m absolutely terrified.

She understood every word he said, yet when strung together, they felt so alien and horrifying.

What kind of devil had she provoked? One who would haunt her for all eternity?

As her expression reflected in his eyes, his smile gradually faded.

Since there was no need to keep up the act, he directly bound her and carried her back to the cave. His darker nature resurfaced as he sealed the entrance tightly with a barrier, as though only then could he truly feel at ease.

No one understood better than Fan Yi himself: all that had come before was merely to coax her into staying willingly. Unfortunately, she remained stubbornly unyielding.

The candlelight illuminated the dim stone cave. He carried the maiden to the bed adorned with pearls and amber, a smile playing on his lips. Si Tang, still lost in her emotions, resembled a flower withering in the rain. Yet her despondency seemed to have no effect on him.

The deity’s fingers wantonly traced the soft contours of the maiden’s brows and eyes, as though he could never get enough.

Si Tang turned her face away listlessly, but in the next moment, her chin was gripped and forced back. That cold, peerlessly handsome face filled her vision, his features taking on a bewitching allure as wickedness crept into his expression.

“Be good, Tangtang.”

Staring at this face one that no amount of lavish praise could ever do justice, her teeth trembled slightly. Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with utter despair and desolation as she spat out bitterly,

“You’re locking me up again, Fan Yi!”