After Teasing the Crazy Mermaid, He Actually Deceived Me into Marriage - Chapter 7

Si Tang had lived honestly and dutifully for half a month.

At least, that was how Fan Yi saw it.

She seemed to have truly accepted reality and given up on leaving this place. Yet, without that stubborn resilience, Fan Yi found it somewhat bland, as if something was missing.

As a result, Si Tang noticed that his gaze was growing increasingly dangerous. Every time he brought her food, the look in his eyes, the one that treated her as prey gradually resurfaced and intensified day by day.

The unending fear and despair gnawed at her sanity relentlessly.

One day, Fan Yi, as usual, brought two sea fish and placed them on the stone table. But today, Si Tang unusually did not take them to grill. Instead, she stared motionlessly at the fish.

Noticing her unusual behavior, Fan Yi paused his departure and looked at her with interest.

“What’s wrong?”

Si Tang wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt his gaze was filled with a certain anticipation, as if he was curious about what she would say next.

Swallowing hard, she looked into his deep eyes and spoke slowly, “Don’t you think. they’re pitiful?”

Fan Yi: “???”

Si Tang parted her lips and continued, “I mean them, they’re pitiful, aren’t they? Being treated as food.”

Fan Yi tilted his head slightly, staring at her with a puzzled expression, as if trying to analyze this strange human behavior.

He couldn’t understand it.

Of course, not only did he not understand, even Si Tang herself couldn’t make sense of it. But she persisted nonetheless.

“Little fish are pitiful, aren’t they? They never asked to be treated as food. Besides, all living things have souls. What did they do wrong to be treated like food by me.”

Fan Yi’s confused expression did not fade.

Si Tang twitched the corner of her lips, trying her best to put on a sorrowful and regretful expression.

“Such adorable little creatures being eaten. isn’t that just pitiful.”

(Author’s note: Even I felt awkward writing this part, haha.)

Fan Yi simply stared at her for a long while without speaking, as if scrutinizing every subtle change in her expression. Si Tang’s voice gradually trailed off. She felt her embarrassment was about to overflow into the air, and she wasn’t sure if Fan Yi had caught the underlying meaning in her words.

As she nervously awaited his reaction, Fan Yi suddenly let out an unexpected low chuckle, which soon escalated into laughter.

Si Tang: “…”

Is this some kind of joke?

But, this fish’s laughter was just too captivating.

The sinister aura around him vanished completely. When the corners of his lips curled up, his deep blue eyes seemed to ripple like moonlight, stirring something deep within her heart.

Nearby, the idle trident trembled in shock. Good heavens, was it seeing things? Lord Fan Yi was actually laughing! Since its creation, following Lord Fan Yi, it had never seen him laugh like this. When Lord Fan Yi laughed. it usually meant someone was about to face misfortune.

After laughing heartily under her awkward and flustered gaze, Fan Yi finally stopped and retorted, “Are you telling me to have pity on food?”

Si Tang didn’t respond but blinked at him, as if trying to convey her innocence, just like the two little fish.

Fan Yi’s expression remained unmoved.

“Oh. if that’s the case, then this will be your dinner tonight.”

His lazy words fell, and the two sea fish vanished, replaced by a string of plain mushrooms and a few blades of green grass.

Si Tang: “…”

He took a few seconds to appreciate her frustrated expression, and once he’d had his fill, he stood up to leave. As if suddenly remembering something, he turned back to look at her and said meaningfully, “Human, you’d better stay this interesting.”

Si Tang: “…”

A chill ran down Si Tang’s spine.

Si Tang truly began living a captive life.

Apart from mealtimes, when Fan Yi would arrive punctually at the cave to deliver food and tease her like a pet with a few words, she had little interaction with him.

In truth, she had no desire to engage with him at all. But Si Tang wasn’t foolish, she had pieced together a few things. To maintain the “perverse amusement” he seemed to derive from her, she forced herself to endure her fear and play along with him every day.

That day, Fan Yi came late at night. Though he had delivered food just an hour earlier, he felt inexplicably bored and decided to check on what his captive human was up to.

In front of the cave entrance was a simple swing Si Tang had made herself with ropes, entwined with green vines and dotted with a few harmless purple flowers. Every afternoon, sunlight would stream through the open cave entrance and fall precisely on the swing.

Each day around noon, Si Tang would sit on the swing, gazing out from the cave at the world beyond the barrier, lost in thought.

Humans liked sunlight. At least, the one he kept did.

But perhaps humans were social creatures, which meant this one also yearned for freedom.

Not that it mattered. If needed, he could always catch a few of her kind from the ship to keep her company.

Unbeknownst to him, Fan Yi’s desire to eat her had already faded significantly.

Not spotting Si Tang at the cave entrance, Fan Yi strode inside expressionlessly and without concern. He had no fear of her escaping on this island, she had no chance of getting away.

He could have teleported directly into the inner chamber, but for some inexplicable reason, Fan Yi chose to walk leisurely along the candlelit path.

As his view opened up before him, Fan Yi’s expression suddenly paused, turning subtly peculiar.

The open stone chamber was filled with rising steam, and the faint sound of flowing water could be heard. Layers of mist, thin as gauze, enveloped the hot spring, vaguely outlining the figure of a woman leaning against the stone wall inside the spring.

That human was bathing.

In the eyes of a deity, there was no distinction between male and female, nor any concept of shame.

Even though Si Tang had reminded him before, who was Fan Yi to care? He always did as he pleased.

The mist, of course, could not obstruct his vision. So he could clearly see Si Tang scooping up a handful of water and letting it trickle down her chest, every curve visible to his eyes. She tilted her head back, eyes lightly closed, her cloud-like dark hair loosely tied at the back. Her delicate face, flushed from the steam, looked as if touched with rouge. Her skin, smooth as frozen jade, rivaled the deep-sea pearls Fan Yi had once toyed with in his fingers.

She really was far too delectable.

His gaze swept over her unabashedly. To him, she was nothing more than a plate of food.

So tempting. Such a sweet soul.

Fan Yi couldn’t resist licking his lips.

Tsk, he really wanted to devour her in one bite.

Si Tang was lost in thought, enjoying the sensation of the warm water enveloping her.

Come to think of it, she owed it to that fish. Life wasn’t exactly harsh now, she had spent over a month on the island safe and sound, with food, clothing, and necessities all well provided by Fan Yi. The only threat came from the fish himself.

But things couldn’t get any worse, could they? Whether she lived or died didn’t matter surviving until tomorrow was enough.

With a soft sigh, Si Tang opened her eyes and reached toward the shore for her clothes, but before her hand reached its destination, she unexpectedly touched the fabric.

Someone had handed them to her.

Si Tang jolted violently. Her drifting thoughts snapped back to reality as she looked up in disbelief. A face of divine beauty appeared before her like a ghost, his deep blue eyes devoid of emotion calmly fixed on her.

Startled, Si Tang instinctively shrank back into the hot spring, turning her back to him as she let out a scream.

“Ah! You pervert!”

Fan Yi raised an eyebrow slightly at her terrified reaction, his gaze unwavering. He watched with mild amusement as her face flushed crimson and she curled up, shielding her chest from his view.

His eyes didn’t shy away, showing no trace of embarrassment even when this human had hurled an unfamiliar insult at him.

Pervert?

He took a second to search his memory for the meaning of the word and found it strangely refreshing.

Tossing her clothes onto the bank beside her, his voice was detached and devoid of warmth.

“Get dressed.”