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Deng Xi lives on a planet comprised entirely of vast oceans with no dry land. On this entire world, he is the only mermaid. Holding his large tail and counting the days on his small fingers, the lonely little mermaid grows up day by day.
One day, he discovers another “mermaid”!
The stranger is injured, bleeding incessantly, and looks pale and weak extremely pitiable! Deng Xi decides that he must protect this hard-won member of his own kind. However, the stranger seems to be a “little mute” and never speaks to him.
Deng Xi painstakingly nurses the “little mute” back to health. But once the injuries heal, he discovers to his sorrow that the little mute has vanished. The stranger left him, and Deng Xi is all alone once again.
A long, long time later, the mermaid is captured by interlopers who break into the planet. Interstellar pirates broadcast a live auction of this mermaid—the only one of his kind in the entire universe. Inside a cramped water tank, a chain is locked around the mermaid’s neck as he curls up pitifully in a small corner.
Various factions are in an uproar; who will win the bid for this breathtakingly beautiful new species? Just as the sky-high transaction is about to be finalized, the door of the starship is blasted open. A man with features as cold as a blade enters, wielding heavy artillery.
The Imperial Marshal, whose name strikes fear into the hearts of many, captures all the pirates and takes the little mermaid home as his trophy of war. Gently, piece by piece, the Marshal teaches the little mermaid everything about the interstellar era. The sight of the Marshal’s eyes softening with tenderness causes the entire universe to drop its collective jaw.
On the first day Deng Xi is taken back, he discovers that the Marshal also has a large tail. He splashes forward and hugs him in a pleasant surprise: “Little Mute!”
Deng Xi is overjoyed to have found his kin again, failing to notice the man’s slightly strange expression. Si Jisheng takes Deng Xi’s hand, swimming slowly in the pool. He says in his heart: Actually, I am not your kinsman.
I am not a Mermaid; I am a Jiao-ren (Eastern Merman).
The Eastern Jiao-ren are incredibly powerful, their entire bodies built as killing machines. In contrast, the Western Mermaid is perceived as soft and powerless essentially a “beautiful useless thing.”
