The Little Mermaid and the Merman Hooked Up - Chapter 6

This wordless chant, a song that made even the ocean fall away as mere accompaniment, was so beautiful that one couldn’t help but fall into a deep slumber.

Ever since Si Jisheng crashed onto this planet, his tightly wound nerves suddenly relaxed. It was as if he had fallen into a soft foam of cream; the sweet, thick atmosphere surrounded him as he sank deeper and deeper.

Si Jisheng’s eyelids fluttered shut. His powerful frame swayed precariously a couple of times before he fell headlong onto Deng Xi.

Deng Xi hurriedly tried to support the “little mute,” but he was dragged down toward the seabed by the heavy weight of the silver tail. He looked dejected. “I forgot.”

He hadn’t meant to knock the little mute unconscious.

The mermaid race’s song possessed an inherent charm, but at their first meeting, the little mute hadn’t been enticed by Deng Xi’s voice. Deng Xi found it a bit strange; logically, since the little mute was of his kin, the influence should have been very slight.

It wasn’t until they sank further down that the scent of blood grew stronger at Deng Xi’s nose. Looking down, he realized that the silver tail’s abdomen was continuously bleeding.

At some point, the side of Si Jisheng’s torso had been slashed open by a Great White Shark’s teeth—a startling wound with mangled flesh and steady bleeding. The seawater had been dyed a pale pink by the spreading blood.

In addition to the mermaid’s song, Si Jisheng was suffering from excessive blood loss. He had held on until he reached his absolute limit; his bodily functions simply couldn’t take it anymore, causing him to black out.

How pitiful.

Deng Xi looked at the wound and panicked. “I told you not to run over here.” He then muttered, “See? Injured again. That’s what you get for not listening to me.”

The silver-tailed merman was very, very heavy, but Deng Xi worked hard to prop him up. He had thought it over carefully; he couldn’t just stand by and watch his only kinsman die.

This was why, even though the silver tail’s attitude was so terrible, Deng Xi could never bring himself to leave him behind.

The ocean floor was too vast and far too quiet. Deng Xi wanted a companion who could understand him when he spoke.

Besides, this companion was different from him. Because the little mute couldn’t speak and lacked a mermaid’s song, the fact that he could survive in the dangerous sea meant he must be much stronger than Deng Xi!

If he saved the little mute, then once his wounds healed, maybe he’d have a kinsman to catch fish for him to eat!

As for things like “humans” or “star coins,” Deng Xi had never heard of them. That species he’d never seen before must be lying to him! Trying to drive a wedge between him and his kin!

Deng Xi nodded his head with certainty.

Deng Xi returned to his old trade, huffing and puffing as he towed the little mute toward his nest. Like a busy little bee, he finally managed to flutter his tail enough to bring the silver-tailed merman home.

Like stowing a treasure, he tucked the little mute into the seashell he usually slept in.

Si Jisheng’s silver tail was truly too long, completely incompatible with Deng Xi’s small shell. Deng Xi tried to bunch it up but couldn’t fit it in, so he had to leave the silver tail draped over the edge of the shell.

Taking advantage of the other’s unconsciousness, he couldn’t resist petting him a few times. “Little mute, be good and wait for me to come back, okay?”

Deng Xi swam out of the nest, preparing to hunt. The little mute couldn’t move anymore, so the great responsibility of finding food for the “tribe” temporarily rested on his shoulders.

Deng Xi had lived in the ocean for many years; when he got serious, catching a fish was actually quite easy.

The first rule of hunting: camouflage.

Deng Xi chose a prime spot near the territory of the Great White Shark from earlier. Only there were there any fish; going anywhere else would require swimming a long, long way.

Deng Xi lay in ambush near a coral reef on the seabed, lying perfectly still on a rock. The seawater flowed gently; as long as he waited long enough, he would find a silly, lost little fish that would wander right into his hands.

A long time passed. Deng Xi’s eyes began to flutter open and shut. He was so sleepy; he was about to lose his hold. Why hadn’t a fish come yet?

Were there so few stupid fish lately? Deng Xi thought dizzily.

Smack.

Deng Xi was jolted awake. His eyes went wide as he realized that, at some point, a little red fish with yellow stripes had appeared in front of him—and it had just slapped his face with its tail!

You’re finished! Stinky fish!

Deng Xi lunged forward with an “Awoo”—and bit nothing but water.

That hateful, stinky fish flicked its tail, its movements agile, and swam away triumphantly.

Deng Xi puffed out his cheeks in anger, and his translucent golden ear-fins trembled with rage. “Don’t think you can run!”

A great chase broke out. The mermaid species weren’t fast swimmers—they couldn’t even outpace a small fish. Most of the time, Deng Xi would flick his tail fin and use the momentum of the seawater to lunge forward suddenly.

The small fish was exceptionally agile; it would dart away the moment it sensed danger.

After a long while of exertion, Deng Xi hadn’t even scraped off a single fish scale, and his body was covered in green and purple marks. There were too many coral reefs here; every time Deng Xi lunged, he would crash into them. His pale arms were covered in red marks, and the butterfly bones on his back had developed dark purple bruises that hurt at a touch.

The bedraggled little mermaid looked dejectedly at his own blunt, flat claws. The little mute’s hands weren’t like his; they were large and long, with terrifyingly sharp fingertips.

Looking at Deng Xi’s small hands, they would turn red at a touch—soft and weak, without a shred of strength.

Seeing that Deng Xi had stopped chasing it, the small fish actually turned around, flicking its tail curiously as it swam closer.

Deng Xi saw it out of the corner of his eye, and his eyes lit up, but he maintained a dejected appearance on the surface, his tail fin moving with languid, weak effort.

However, the moment the fish got close, Deng Xi flicked his tail, pounced forward, and bit right into the fish’s belly!

The fish struggled violently in Deng Xi’s mouth. Deng Xi gradually tightened his teeth until the metallic scent of fish blood filled his mouth and the fish stopped moving. Only then did Deng Xi let go, wiped his mouth, and huffed, “I wasn’t playing with you.”

Having caught the fish, Deng Xi went to gather some edible seaweed and medicinal red water plants before returning to the nest, panting for breath.

Si Jisheng had been awake for quite a while, but because of the wound on his torso and the broken tailbones inside his tail, he couldn’t move at all. Fortunately, the powerful healing abilities of a Jiao-man had already stopped the bleeding.

The nest was very dark. Only the seashell he was lying in glinted with silver light, emitting a bit of visible luminescence. This shell looked very exquisite—it must have been specially sought out. It shimmered with a pearly white luster, and the interior was padded with soft seaweed; it was even decorated with beautiful red coral attached with clay.

It was decorated very beautifully.

It also made Si Jisheng feel exceptionally out of place. He had the illusion that he had intruded upon someone else’s warm little home, like a shameless bandit. He didn’t fit in.

“I’m back!” Deng Xi had returned with his haul.

The blue-tailed little mermaid swam in through the entrance, clutching a large pile of things. He looked ready to collapse from exhaustion as he let everything go. Seaweed, medicinal herbs, and a fish that had died with its eyes open all floated together in the seawater. Deng Xi waved them all aside.

He leaned against the upright side of the seashell, resting his chin on his hands as he looked down. “Little mute, let’s get things straight first.”

Si Jisheng knit his brows in confusion.

Deng Xi counted on his fingers. “First, I’m allowing you to live in my nest, and I will help you heal your wounds.”

“Second, I want ten fish… um, no, no, I want you to catch a hundred fish for me!”

The golden-haired, blue-tailed little mermaid’s eyes crinkled into crescents as he rested his chin on his hands. “How about it? Let’s make a new deal.”

“My only kinsman.”

Si Jisheng looked at Deng Xi for a good long while before nodding slightly in agreement.

Deng Xi’s blue eyes lit up. “No backing out!”

He swam over, grabbed the dead fish with its rolling eyes, and swam back to place it in the little mute’s hands.

Deng Xi straightened his back and folded his hands behind him, his curly golden hair floating behind him and hiding those bruised injuries.

He said with a smile, “I caught this. It was super easy!”

“I’m incredibly amazing, right?”

Si Jisheng looked hesitantly at the single fish in his hand, then looked steadily at Deng Xi.

Deng Xi somewhat flusteredly grabbed a handful of seaweed. “I’m eating this. I already ate fish today; I need some sweet seaweed to cut the greasiness.”

Si Jisheng withdrew his doubt and looked away, using his sharp fingertips to peel open the fish’s belly and beginning to eat with slow deliberation.

As a member of the Jiao-man race, catching a fish was indeed no difficult task.