The Little Mermaid and the Merman Hooked Up - Chapter 16

Si Jisheng opened the communication interface with his adjutant and typed a single line: “Check if the Council of Elders has ever researched my identity.”

Message sent.

Si Jisheng didn’t turn off his optical computer. He sat at the entrance of the dim cave, staring at that communication log for a long time. It wasn’t until the sky grew bright that he swam back into the nest. He glanced at the sea snake carcasses tied up with seaweed at the cave entrance and paused.

The silver-tailed merman extended his sharp claws. In silence, he methodically sliced off every venomous fang from the heads of the sea snakes. After meticulously processing them, he tossed the fangs into a remote corner outside the nest where few creatures swam. Only then did he lie down on the seaweed in the corner to close his eyes and rest.

The nest remained quiet until nearly noon when movement finally stirred. The giant shell was nudged open just a crack. The fluorescent jellyfish, which truly adored Deng Xi, immediately squeezed inside, flickering and glowing within the dark shell.

Dazed, Deng Xi squeezed his eyes shut against the light, rubbed them, and couldn’t help but let out a small laugh when the jellyfish’s tentacles poked him. In the quiet nest, Deng Xi’s soft laughter was incredibly distinct. Startled, he immediately clamped his mouth shut and cautiously peeked out of the shell to look at the seaweed in the corner.

The silver-tail was fast asleep.

Deng Xi breathed a sigh of relief. He put a finger to his lips and gave a very soft “shush” to the jellyfish, silently saying, “Don’t wake up the little mute.” The fluorescent jellyfish seemed to understand; it drifted up and down in the seawater, no longer using its tentacles to tickle him.

Deng Xi was a bit hungry. He swam out of the shell and picked up the bundle of sea snakes. He tried to recall how the little mute had processed them before eating. Just as he was about to use a sharp shell to slice the snake skin, he saw a snake head with its mouth wide open.

The venomous fangs were gone.

Deng Xi froze. They had definitely been there yesterday. They had brought back five snakes in total; Deng Xi checked them one by one. Every single fang had been pulled out clean. Deng Xi swore he had been sleeping in his shell until now, so it wasn’t him. That only left—he glanced at the silver-tail on the seaweed.

The little mute did it.

Deng Xi then remembered the sea snake that had been alive but toothless before. He blinked blankly, a sudden realization hitting him. So, all that food before was actually found by the little mute?! And I was swimming back every day to show off, saying I caught them!

Deng Xi’s face instantly flushed a dusty pink, the color spreading all the way to the corners of his eyes. He buried his face in his palms, wishing he could find a crack in the seabed to crawl into. Even if the little mute hadn’t inherited the mermaid’s song, he could still survive in the ocean. While he might not be able to handle massive fish, he was certainly much stronger than Deng Xi. Catching small fish and shrimp would be no problem at all.

I’m so useless, Deng Xi thought dejectedly.

The little mute could catch fish without him. Moreover, his injuries were healed now, he could speak, and he had learned the mermaid’s song. The little mute no longer needed his protection. Instead, it was Deng Xi who needed the protection of his tribesman. The little mute found the food, found the new nest, and saved him when he was snatched away by the sea snake.

Only Deng Xi was the one who truly needed protection.

Will our agreement be canceled? Will the little mute leave me?

He can’t!

Deng Xi bit his lip. The little mute had already promised to stay; he couldn’t go back on his word. After a long while, Deng Xi comforted himself—this was all just his speculation. What if… what if the little mute didn’t catch them? Deng Xi took a deep breath, no longer in the mood to eat. He chewed on some edible seaweed and waited quietly for the silver-tail to wake up.

He didn’t have to wait long. Si Jisheng always controlled his sleep to within six hours. Having gone to sleep in the morning, it was time to wake up by noon.

Naturally, it was lunchtime.

Si Jisheng glanced at the blue merman sitting at the nest entrance, head down, picking at his fingers while unconsciously waving his tail fin. Today, the other was exceptionally quiet. Si Jisheng also silently processed yesterday’s sea snakes. Sitting at the cave entrance, he sandwiched a slice of snake meat with some seaweed to remove the fishy smell and handed it to Deng Xi.

Deng Xi took it quietly. This was the quietest and most oppressive lunch they had shared since meeting. Both were thinking the same thing: Let’s talk after we finish eating.

When lunch ended, Si Jisheng tossed the remaining bones and skins out of the nest. Upon returning, he didn’t swim to Deng Xi’s side to sit. Instead, he swam in front of him, his silver tail hanging down as he floated in the water, looking at Deng Xi face-to-face. He clearly had something to say.

Is he here to discuss leaving?!

Deng Xi curled his palms, looked up at the silver-tail, and suddenly squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to refuse: “You can’t! I don’t agree!”

A long silence followed.

Deng Xi pricked up his ears. Cautiously opening his blue eyes, he saw a large palm spread open before him. In the center was a familiar black iron ring. Deng Xi’s pupils dilated slightly as he stared blankly at the silver-tail, who tilted his head in an expression of confusion.

“I… I thought you wanted to…” Deng Xi trailed off, his head drooping dejectedly. “I’m sorry.”

Si Jisheng pressed his lips together, expressionless. He stubbornly lifted the ring in his palm, presenting it before Deng Xi’s face.

Explain.

Deng Xi didn’t understand and tilted his head. “What is it?” He took the black iron ring from the silver-tail’s hand and poked it randomly with his finger. “I remember I threw this in… I think I threw it in the sharks’ territory. How did it end up in your hand?”

Si Jisheng’s silver eyes narrowed slightly, and his fingertips tightened.

Deng Xi poked it for a long while before hitting the correct spot, and the familiar blue screen reappeared. He acted as if he had no idea what it was—which was perfectly normal for a blue merman born and raised on this primitive, technologically backward planet.

Si Jisheng’s tense fingers relaxed.

Deng Xi poked the blue screen curiously. “How did you find it? I thought it was broken because it stopped lighting up, so I threw it away.”

After being poked, Deng Xi accidentally tapped something, and the interface suddenly changed. “It can change! That’s amazing.” Deng Xi remembered that hideous human from that day and looked back up at Si Jisheng, saying seriously, “But inside this… there’s a bad person! That big villain is very, very ugly, and he says a lot of strange, stupid things.”

Si Jisheng’s silver eyes curved slightly, a faint smile appearing in their depths. He nodded to show he understood, reached out to take the black iron ring back, and shut off the blue screen.

Deng Xi stared blankly at the little mute’s practiced movements. Belatedly, he realized he had found this ring in the area where the little mute had fallen. So…

“Is this the little mute’s thing?”

Si Jisheng nodded slightly. He adjusted the ring into a finger-ring and fitted it perfectly onto his thumb joint. Under Deng Xi’s surprised gaze, he touched a certain spot, and the blackness of the ring vanished, turning transparent. It was invisible to the naked eye.

Deng Xi had to poke the silver-tail’s thumb with his finger to feel its presence. “That’s amazing. What is this exactly? Why don’t I have one?” Clearly, they were both mermen who had hatched on this planet; why did the little mute have one while he didn’t?

Deng Xi was perplexed. Si Jisheng’s language system hadn’t fully recovered, so he couldn’t speak to explain; he simply shook his head.

Deng Xi’s curiosity faded quickly. He nodded and suddenly swam into the nest, brought out the remaining sea snakes, and asked with blinking blue eyes, “Did you pull out their venomous fangs?”

Si Jisheng nodded in admission. Deng Xi’s heart skipped a beat. He held his breath and asked nervously, “Then… before we moved, all that food was caught by you, right? And in the deal we agreed on—the one for a hundred fish—you already caught them all for me, didn’t you?”

So, the deal is over, right? Deng Xi asked silently in his heart.

Si Jisheng remained silent for a long time. He lowered his silver eyes, quietly looking at the blue merman who looked fragile enough to cry. He remembered his adjutant asking when he could be picked up to return to the Imperial Capital, so the Marshall could appear publicly and give everyone an account of this war.

This deal would eventually end, sooner or later. This was a good opportunity.

Deng Xi looked up. The silver-tail’s silence made his heart increasingly frantic. He dropped the sea snakes and grabbed the silver-tail’s forearm—which was exceptionally cold due to his low body temperature. Taking a deep breath, his eyes curved into a smile again: “It’s okay, little mute. You can say it.”

Even though he was smiling, a reddish tint that signaled he was about to cry appeared around his eyes. What does it feel like for a fish to cry in the water? Their tears vanish into the sea, invisible to everyone. This means that only the fish itself knows it is sad, grieving, and unwilling to let go.

The frequency of Si Jisheng’s translucent silver gills fluttering slowly decreased. He parted his lips slightly and, for the first time without the help of a listening shell, slowly made a sound: “…”

A meaningless, muffled syllable. A sentence no one could understand.

Deng Xi blinked his confused blue eyes. Si Jisheng raised his fingertips, leaned down, and very, very gently wiped Deng Xi’s eyelids. His throat worked, and his vocal cords vibrated as he croaked out words with extreme difficulty: “No. Not.”

No, he didn’t catch them.

So, the deal is not over.

Deng Xi was momentarily stunned before breaking into a tearful smile, his blue eyes curving slightly. “The little mute wouldn’t lie to me, right?”

Si Jisheng’s chest heaved heavily, and he gave a very slight nod. Deng Xi’s smile grew wider, soft dimples appearing at the corners of his mouth. “Little mute, then let’s go find a shell that you can sleep in too!”

Si Jisheng closed his eyes and nodded.

Si Jisheng’s tail alone was nearly two meters long. Finding a shell that was three or four meters large was nearly impossible. Even the shell Deng Xi usually slept in was only about two meters; he had searched for a very long time to find it, and it was barely large enough for him to curl his tail inside.

In the deep sea, the maximum size for most bivalves is typically two meters. These giant clams are called Tridacna, and they are generally distributed in shallow coral reef areas.

Deng Xi was clearly experienced. He didn’t take the silver-tail to search the coral reefs on the undersea cliffs. Instead, he swam to the surface first, circling the area to get a general idea of where the reefs were distributed before preparing to search them one by one.

They were lucky. In the first area of withered coral reef, they found a Tridacna shell, but it was only a little over a meter long—far too small. Si Jisheng didn’t mind; his silver tail could just hang outside the shell, and it didn’t matter if the lid could close.

But Deng Xi disagreed. “The little mute has to sleep for a long, long time. You can’t sleep uncomfortably like that.”

In the second coral reef area, they found another Tridacna shell of a suitable size—over two meters long. When Si Jisheng lay inside, only his tail fin would hang outside. Deng Xi was very satisfied.

But Si Jisheng stopped him, looking at the colorful mantle of this giant clam with a complex expression. It had a pink outer shell, and the part near the opening was a deep peacock blue. As the clam opened and closed to breathe, the colors inside were even more vibrant.

For a beautiful, bright silver tail, it was a nightmare.

Deng Xi loved colorful, sparkling things and gasped in wonder. “It’s so beautiful! Little mute, let’s move it home, okay?”

Si Jisheng shook his head. Deng Xi touched the large shell with some regret but didn’t ask further. “Okay, let’s go to the next reef area.”

The subsequent Tridacna shells were either too small or too vibrantly colored. Deng Xi and the silver-tail searched for an entire day without finding a suitable large shell. Instead, Deng Xi himself became exhausted. He was determined to put a perfect end to today’s conversation.

But he seemingly couldn’t do it.

Deng Xi lowered his eyelids dejectedly. He took the dinner the silver-tail handed him—thinly sliced fish meat. He didn’t eat it, thinking with a crumpled face before his eyes lit up: “Little mute, why don’t you sleep in my shell?”

Si Jisheng’s fingers, which were processing the fish meat, paused slightly. He shook his head. Deng Xi ate the fish; because it was so delicious, his eyes curved. “It doesn’t matter! If we can’t find a suitable one, I’ll just give mine to you and find a new one for myself.”

Si Jisheng didn’t need Deng Xi to compromise, but in the end, he nodded in agreement.

They moved the colorful Tridacna shell from the second reef to a rock on the surface, planning to let it slowly die under the sea breeze. Until the new shell was ready, Deng Xi would still sleep in his old shell. Tonight would pass slowly, and tomorrow would be a new day.

In the night, Si Jisheng handled government affairs that had been out of his hands for nearly a month—matters the military required his personal decision on. At that moment, his adjutant sent another communication request.

Upon connecting, the adjutant’s solemn face appeared on the blue screen. “Marshall, we’ve found it.”

Si Jisheng’s movements paused. He glanced surreptitiously at the nest entrance and signaled for him to wait. He temporarily cut the communication, swam to the nest entrance to check if Deng Xi’s shell was tightly closed, then swam away from the nest to the surface to resume the call.

The audio statement released today had achieved great results; the public’s emotions had stabilized slightly, but a louder cry had emerged—they wanted to see their Imperial Marshall with their own eyes.

After a brief report, the adjutant asked, “Marshall, when will you return to the Capital Star? The military has confirmed that the Council of Elders interfered in our war with the Federation.”

Si Jisheng’s breath hitched. Without warning, the names of over a hundred thousand martyrs flashed through his mind. A long-absent fury surged in an instant, and his silver vertical pupils tightened. Suppressing his emotions, he signaled for the report to continue.

“It seems the High Elder already knows you are not human. The military is urgently investigating who leaked it, but it’s also highly likely the secret experimental data from the Research Institute was stolen.” The adjutant’s eyes were also filled with suppressed rage. Recalling the data found today, he couldn’t maintain his composure even before the Marshall and cursed, “We suspect those old fogies from the Council have colluded with those dogs from the Research Institute.”

The only people who knew Si Jisheng was not human, aside from his few confidants in the military, were a few high-level researchers who had been studying the Marshall’s genes.

“Marshall, this war was not your fault! It was a trap set against you! I know you took all the responsibility upon yourself for your merman transformation on the battlefield, but that transformation was likely engineered by the Council.” The adjutant pleaded, “You can’t let the brothers who followed you die in vain. The reconnaissance team hasn’t rested for months, day or night, just to recover the black box data from your battleship.”

“But the Council and the Royal Family are watching. If you don’t return, as long as the black box is snatched away, you and those hundred thousand people will be falsely blamed to death!”

Si Jisheng’s expression was icy; he said nothing. Even the adjutant didn’t know what he was thinking. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, his eyes bloodshot. “Marshall, make a decision.”

This was a fact known to both the adjutant and Si Jisheng. The power of the merman transformation had led the Marshall to his high position today, yet this identity was also like a Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Not to mention, the side effects of the transformation were incredibly dangerous.

For years, the Marshall had controlled the side effects well, even working secretly with a few researchers to try and eliminate them. The adjutant was one of the people who knew about this experiment. When did the Council learn of the Marshall’s identity? Did they induce his transformation on the battlefield? The damaged black box was a Pandora’s box containing the answers to these questions; once opened, they would know if there was conclusive evidence inside. If it were snatched away, the data could be arbitrarily tampered with by the Council even if recovered.

Si Jisheng rubbed the sea shell he had just brought from the nest, using the slight texture against his hand to keep himself calm and his thoughts clear. After a long while, he finally shared his galactic coordinates with the adjutant.

The adjutant’s expression was instantly invigorated. “The military will immediately send a secret starship!”

Si Jisheng typed a line: “No. Do not alert the enemy. First, build up public opinion that I am seriously injured. Before sending the starship, I want you to investigate one thing.”

“Did the Research Institute ever steal my genes before to perform human experiments?”