The Love-Hate and Grudges Between Me and the Mermaid - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

“Does it have a fishtail, Sister?”

“No.” Bu Yan gave a wry smile and put down the sculpture.

Seeing this, Ian quickly took a handkerchief and meticulously wiped the sculpture, muttering, “Thank goodness it’s not broken or dirty.”

But Yan’s movements paused. Ian, seemingly realizing something, hurried to set the item down and embraced Bu Yan. She began gently patting her back, comforting her:

“Sister, we all said the Alien God doesn’t have a fishtail. You must have seen wrong back then. Don’t overthink it, okay? Hmm?”

Bu Yan’s thoughts involuntarily began to drift. It took a few seconds for her to snap back, and she nodded: “Okay, I won’t think about it.”

Ian showed a slightly surprised and dazed expression, then hummed a response, her smile turning meaningful. “Sister, why don’t you rest for a while?”

Rest? She still had things to finish.

But Yan wanted to argue, but the words wouldn’t come out. After a long daze, she returned a simple “Okay.”

In an instant, her mind suddenly relaxed. Fatigue swept through her entire body; every cell was scrambling to lie down.

Bu Yan let out a long breath and said, “Then I’ll rest for a few hours. Remember to wake me up at exactly five p.m.”

“OK~” Ian nodded obediently, watching Bu Yan walk into the bedroom and close the door.

Almost the moment the door shut, Ian’s nerves tightened violently.

Her slender, pale fingers clenched tightly; her body leaned weakly against the table.

Her head throbbed painfully. She didn’t know when it started, but she was always having headaches lately.

At first, it was just a dull ache hard to ignore but bearable. At the very least, she looked normal to outsiders.

But now… if she had to pinpoint a time, it was probably that night the blue eyes appeared in the sky.

That night, after Bu Yan stood under the night sky against the crowd, Ian felt a strong sense of fragmentation. Something seemed to be calling her from the shadows.

It felt as if her body was no longer her own!

When she next became conscious, a sea appeared before her eyes.

An endless ocean surged under the gaze of the blue eyes. Looking out, there was no land; only the sea was everywhere.

Perhaps due to the distance, the color of the sea in the distance was the same as the sky, a deep blue shimmering with black light nearly merging into one at first glance.

It was the environment she loved and craved.

In the middle of the sea was a massive reef, and Bu Yan was there.

With her was a mermaid. The mermaid sat on the reef, her sea-like hair spread across it, her beautiful, dreamlike fishtail soaking in the water. Every time she lifted her tail, it drew lovely compliments from Bu Yan.

A series of them non-stop and non-repeating.

The mermaid seemed to be swayed by the flattery. She actually trusted the hypocritical human, placing her precious tail on the smooth but slightly uneven reef, allowing the human to touch, observe, and appreciate it, judging its value.

[“So beautiful,”] Bu Yan said, her eyes flashing with excitement as she looked at the mermaid.

[“This is truly a masterpiece of nature!”]

But Yan couldn’t help but press her face against the tail to feel the pulse there. Like a human wrist, temple, or neck, the tail was connected to the mermaid’s heart; one could easily feel the rhythm of the heartbeat.

[“Is this your most important part?”] Bu Yan’s gaze was misty as her fingertips obsessively stroked the tail from bottom to top.

The movements were light and slow, everything timed perfectly.

[“Every scale is a different color…”]

[“So beautiful. This is the most beautiful piece of art I’ve ever seen!”]

[“If this were at an auction, you couldn’t buy a single scale for less than ten million!”]

[“Wow, it’s so hard. That’s good; this way it can protect you. You won’t get hurt.”]

[…]

Until—

Until Bu Yan’s finger touched a small, soft, wet area.

But she didn’t seem to realize the gravity of the situation. She continued to reach forward, even finding it amusing that this spot was soft unlike the hardness elsewhere, and gave it a squeeze.

With that squeeze, a flow of water that did not belong to the ocean seeped out. It traveled down her finger, pooling in her palm and leaving a faint, viscous residue.

The mermaid let out a thick, syrupy gasp. Her overly pale face flushed, and an unnatural red surfaced on her body.

She gripped Bu Yan’s arm, shaking her head gently. Her sharp, keratinous teeth bit into her lip, her eyes rippling as if pleading.

At that moment, she looked like a human.

But Yan also seemed to notice something; her expression changed. She looked left and right for a water source to wash her hand, but at the last second, she lowered her head to sniff it.

It was blood.

The scent of salt and rust invaded her nose.

[“Do mermaids have… physiological cycles too?”] Only then did she realize what she had just done; she had accidentally touched the mermaid’s most vulnerable spot.

She hurriedly apologized, asking in a low voice, [“Then how do you… handle this underwater?”]

Before the mermaid could process the question, Bu Yan slapped her forehead, murmuring to herself as if enlightened, [“Oh, I forgot, I forgot. You’re a girl, just like us.”]

[“Since you live in the deep ocean, you must have your own ways. It was my big mouth, sorry, sorry…”]

Her voice was extremely soft, as if afraid others would find out she had made such a stupid mistake.

But how could this be hidden from a mermaid? Their hearing was highly developed; they could sense the subtle movements of prey thousands of meters away. Once discovered by them, there was no escape.

They could swim to their prey in seconds to complete the kill.

[“Girl… child.”]

The mermaid tilted her head, repeating the three words that interested her most in human language.

Vile third party!

Ian cursed inwardly, but she knew exactly why the mermaid repeated those words.

Because it was the most beautiful title in the world.

It represented youth, vitality, life, and health.

“Girl.” Ian lowered her head, unable to stop herself from repeating it as well.

Furthermore, when Bu Yan said those three words, she was clearly excited. Her pupils dilated for a moment, and her expression shifted from confusion to tenderness. Even her strokes on the mermaid became much gentler. She rubbed her hands together until they were warm before placing them on the mermaid’s abdomen, gently massaging her.

Shameless! I’ve never even enjoyed that kind of treatment!

Ian was dying of anger, but she couldn’t move; she could only curse in her mind.

So angry, so angry, so angry!

If she could move, she would definitely fight the mermaid!

Trying to steal her wife was the mermaid even worthy?!

Perhaps Ian’s internal turmoil was too loud to ignore.

The mermaid’s gaze shifted past Bu Yan and landed on Ian.

Ian didn’t have time to react before she was caught in that gaze.

Their souls crossed vast time and space to converge at this moment. Ian looked into the mermaid’s eyes. It was like looking up at the blue eyes in the sky.

She wanted to surrender, to give her everything, even at the cost of death.

After a long time, she heard the mermaid ask in a curious and surprised tone: “Are you the future me?”

“Then… is she my mate?”

…

Bu Yan woke up shortly after three.

But she could not get up no matter what.

Something was pressing down on her. She couldn’t see it, but she could clearly feel breath near her ear.

Her speech system was a mess; she couldn’t utter a single complete character. Her brain stalled, unable to control her body.

She watched helplessly as her own hands reached out, spreading her arms toward the white ceiling as if embracing something.

This situation lasted until five p.m., only ending when Ian pushed open the bedroom door.

“Bu Yan,” Ian sat at the bedside. Seeing her awake, she called out softly, “It’s time to get up. It is now past seventeen-hundred hours. You are thirty-three seconds late.”

“Forty-one seconds.”

“Forty-six seconds.”

“…”

There was a trace of unnatural stiffness in her expression, mechanically and numbly calculating the time for Bu Yan.

Bu Yan rubbed her aching shoulders and rose when the countdown reached one minute and nine seconds.

“Give me my phone.” But Yan raised his hand.

Ian seemed to react suddenly. She stood up and rummaged through the room. Her facial expressions gradually became vivid and natural again. After another minute, she finally felt the phone under the bed.

She handed it to Bu Yan, her thoughts unconsciously starting to drift again.

To avoid getting lost again and entering that world of nothing but ocean…

She focused her attention, staring at Bu Yan with unblinking, clear azure eyes that looked like glass beads.

Staring at her exclusive human, her wife, her mate.

She put all her energy into her.

Monitoring her every move, analyzing every word and sentence she spoke.

Obeying her, trusting her, giving herself to her without reservation.

Bu Yan pulled the invoice from under her pillow and called the mall manager, telling them they could start delivering the items.

After finishing the instructions, she was about to put the phone down when she saw Ian staring blankly out of boredom. She thought for a moment and added: “If there are any educational toys, books, dolls… bring those too. Also, bring all the chips, cookies, candies and little snacks like that. I’ll pay extra.”

“Oh, and bring a small cake on the way. Hmm, strawberry cake… I’ll reimburse the delivery fee.”

Hearing the words “small cake,” Ian’s eyes lit up. Her previous worries and fears were replaced by joy.

But Yan buying her a cake meant she still cared about her and liked her!

In human marriage law, a person is only allowed one partner.

But Yan already had her.

So the mermaid…

Ian grew excited. As soon as Bu Yan hung up, she pounced over, cooing sweetly to say thank you: “Thank you, Bu Yan~”

“You’re so good.” She paused for a second and added, “I really, really like you.”

But Yan acted indifferent on the surface, but her heart was blooming with joy. After all, what woman could refuse a confession from a “sweet younger sister” type?

She let Ian rub against her until it became too much, finally reaching out to push her away. “Gently…”

Even the push was feather-light, like water, posing no threat at all.

“Mm-hmm.” Ian buried her head in Bu Yan’s arms, hugging her. While humming and nodding, she continued to sniff deeply, continuing her confession:

“Bu Yan, you smell so good. Why do you smell so good? I like you, I like you so much, I love you…”

Ian smelled the scent of food sweet, soft, delicate, and smooth. She wanted to open her mouth and reveal sharp teeth to bite Bu Yan, to leave a permanent mark on her.

If she could taste her, it would be even better.

But the human body was too fragile to withstand such treatment.

Ian looked up and saw that the marks she left on Bu Yan yesterday had disappeared again, making her feel a bit angry.

No wonder that mermaid was so blatant about stealing her person it turns out she had bitten too lightly!

If she bit harder next time, would Bu Yan stop encountering the mermaid?

Would her position be more stable then?