The Love-Hate and Grudges Between Me and the Mermaid - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

“So tired—”

After taking a shower, Ian skipped over and flopped onto the bed, crawling into Bu Yan’s embrace. she was impatient for hugs and kisses, pressing herself close to Bu Yan.

But Yan had no strength left; even the shower had been completed only with Ian’s physical support. At this moment, she only wanted to sleep and become one with the bed. She didn’t even want to lift a finger, let alone push away the thrashing, high-energy Ian.

She closed her eyes in exhaustion. When Ian told her to lift her arm, she lifted it; to roll over, she rolled over; to move her head, she moved it; to lift her.

No, no, no, absolutely not!

It had happened many times today already; she absolutely could not allow it again!

“You can’t!” Sensing that Ian was still moving, Bu Yan quickly performed a “carp leap,” rolling up in the quilt and scurrying to the other side of the bed, away from Ian.

Ian’s fingers hooked the air, and she knit her brows slightly in confusion. She asked quite earnestly, “Why not? Bu Yan, you were clearly very happy just now. I could feel it—you wanted me to go deeper, wanted to be held tightly, wanted to be possessed frantically.”

“And didn’t you also say, ‘Wife, can you use me to your heart’s content’?”

Agh! Who taught her those words!

Also, I said a lot of things then, why did she only remember that one sentence!

Bu Yan’s face instantly turned a deep crimson. She bit her lip in shame and indignation, ducking her head under the covers as well.

“Sister…” Ian tugged at the quilt. But Yan remained unmoved and even scooted another inch toward the edge of the bed.

Human emotions truly are complex, Ian thought, sitting there in contemplation. One second she’s calling me “baby” and “wife,” the next she’s throwing me away.

Inexplicably, Ian thought back to Bu Yan who had acted foolishly that afternoon, building a nest out of her clothes, hugging them, her whole body covered in Ian’s scent.

She was so good, so obedient; Ian liked her very much.

But it was enough for her wife to be “foolish” once or twice; she couldn’t be like that forever. Ian also liked to rely on Bu Yan, and clearly, a foolish Bu Yan couldn’t even take care of herself, let alone be relied upon.

She had to strike a balance, gradually letting Bu Yan switch between these two temperaments.

She had to take it slow.

Having reached a conclusion, Ian silently relinquished her control. The deep blue light in her eyes flickered and vanished. She put on a simple, harmless expression once more and whimpered as she burrowed into Bu Yan’s quilt.

“I was wrong, Sister,” she nudged toward Bu Yan, her arm pressing against her body as she grabbed her hand, forcing their fingers to interlock. “I won’t do it like that again.”

“I don’t quite believe you.” By a rough count, in the month and a half since they married, Ian had said this no less than five times.

“Believe me, believe me! Sister, please! I’ll really change~ If Sister goes east, I’ll never go west.”

Acting spoiled was a trick that never failed. Ian understood Bu Yan’s temper and knew her weaknesses. As long as she was shameless enough, piteous enough, and sweet-talking enough, there was nothing Bu Yan wouldn’t agree to.

Sure enough, by the second round of Ian rubbing against her, Bu Yan relented. Her body softened as she opened up her posture, letting Ian embrace her freely. “You said it yourself… the last time…”

“Mm-hmm!” Without waiting for Bu Yan to finish, Ian impatiently pressed against the human’s hot, warm skin. Her fingers wandered over it, feeling the skin texture and muscle fibers that were so different from her own.

“Humans are beautiful.”

Ian kissed Bu Yan and seemed to mutter to herself, “But Bu Yan is the most beautiful—the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

Bu Yan heard her, but her immense fatigue wouldn’t allow her brain to ponder the meaning of the sentence. She instinctively hummed a few incoherent responses before uncontrollably falling into a deep sleep.

The sound of steady breathing came from above Ian’s head. Ian found Bu Yan’s response amusing. Bu Yan was indeed too naive; she understood nothing and wanted to understand nothing.

But it didn’t matter. Her Bu Yan just needed to follow her. She had the power to protect Bu Yan and let her spend the rest of her life in peace.

Perhaps because the outside world was unsafe lately, or because many strangers had gathered outside the house, or because of those three people from the Legion that afternoon—whatever the reason, Bu Yan’s sleep was extremely restless.

This was very rare.

Ever since Ian started sleeping with Bu Yan, Bu Yan had always slept very soundly.

The Legion people Ian kept for a purpose; she couldn’t kill them.

Consequently, the single-minded Ian placed all the blame on those strangers outside.

It’s them. It’s all their fault!

They are the ones preventing Bu Yan from sleeping well.

As a “perfect partner,” she had to deal with these people for Bu Yan.

Ian was a woman of action. She cautiously let go of Bu Yan, stood up, threw on a dress, and left the room. After pinpointing the locations of those people, she teleported behind them. Accompanied by a thick, salty scent, they fell into a coma and perished in their dreams.

Humans are too fragile.

After finishing this, Ian knit her brows and slapped her hands together in disgust. She went inside and scrubbed her hands heavily with dish soap, body wash, soap, toothpaste, and every other cleaning product she could find. Only after confirming there was no disgusting smell of blood did she go upstairs and burrow back into Bu Yan’s quilt.

But Yan was better. It was clean near Bu Yan, and Bu Yan smelled good. She loved Bu Yan.

But Yan’s hair was very long. When she lay still, it spread across the bed like seaweed. Ian loved to pillow her head on it, falling asleep to the unique fragrance of Bu Yan’s body.

Her phone said that sleeping like this all the time would make her wife scold her, but Bu Yan had never scolded her. Ian didn’t believe the things on the phone; she liked it this way!

With no annoying people left, Bu Yan could finally sleep well~

…

Lin Ling knew this rabbit. It was her rabbit.

She had once stayed up countless nights, picking it out from tens of thousands of rabbits. It had successfully passed the genetic experiments to become the Empire’s ninth synthetic C-rank anomaly.

But that was in the past. Now—

Lin Ling saw the high-voltage electric shock collar on the rabbit’s neck. It was clearly engraved with five characters: RA003.

It was the third synthetic A-rank anomaly. She had leveled up.

This meant her previous work had not been in vain; the effort invested in the past was worth it.

“Why are you here?” Lin Ling spoke while secretly gesturing to Kara and Yoshitani Kaede, signaling them to call it in and report to the Guard Squad.

Anomalies were under strict supervision and were not allowed to leave the laboratory at all.

But such tricks didn’t seem to fool an A-rank anomaly. The rabbit-head reacted quickly. Green vines appeared out of nowhere from the corner of the room, first small sprouts, then gradually turning into slender stems and leaves, winding up the walls and hanging in the air, gently entangling Lin Ling’s fidgeting hands.

At the same time, Kara and Yoshitani Kaede noticed something was wrong. Just as they grabbed their weapons to stage a rescue, the ground beneath them vanished, and they were suddenly suspended in the air.

Fortunately, the call had been connected in advance. Just as Kara was about to shout for help, a vine stuffed itself into her mouth like a living thing, turning her words into indignant whimpers.

“Let them go!” Lin Ling gave a cold command.

The rabbit-head remained unmoved, even tightening the grip. Her red eyes flashed a playful smile.

Lin Ling frowned, deeply dissatisfied with this situation. She was the one who had created RA003; she was her “mother” in name.

Since ancient times, no child dared to disobey their mother. Moreover, RA003 had been very obedient when she was young. Lin Ling couldn’t believe her “child” had the audacity to defy her orders after a trip outside.

With her authority challenged and her friends’ lives in danger, Lin Ling forced herself to stay calm, calling out the rabbit’s former designation and issuing the command again as she used to: “RC009, let them go!”

The rabbit’s eyes flickered, as if reminiscing about something, but she quickly regained her composure.

“Professor Lin,” the rabbit’s two lips opened and closed, asking that question again with extreme tenderness, “Do you still remember me?”

I remember.

Lin Ling answered in her heart.

How could she not remember her first successfully modified anomaly, her “child”?

“Let them go.” Lin Ling shook her head, forcing herself not to recall the past, her tone becoming heavier.

The repeated lack of cooperation seemed to provoke the rabbit.

Suddenly, the vines behind her tightened. Lin Ling stumbled forward. The moment she was about to hit the floor, the vines transformed into a soft cradle to catch her.

“Call me by my name, Professor Lin.”

The voice came from behind. Lin Ling’s abdomen suddenly tightened as a furry hand shed its white fur, revealing a delicate, fragile human arm that encircled her.

In her peripheral vision, Lin Ling saw that the rabbit face had somehow turned into a human face.

A-rank anomalies could switch between their original and human forms at will, though the transformation was often incomplete, leaving animal characteristics.

What kind of face was it? Lin Ling couldn’t say, but she felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if she had seen it a long time ago.

Furthermore… The rabbit’s human form was just as she had predicted: cute, with watery eyes that appeared timid and innocent. Her lips hadn’t fully regressed from the animal form; there was still a slight cleft in the middle of the upper lip.

In reality, however, this rabbit was wicked and mischievous, playfully kneading the soft flesh of Lin Ling’s abdomen and messing with her hair.

“Call me by my name, Professor Lin.” Tired of playing, the rabbit repeated herself with immense patience.

Seeing Lin Ling’s continued refusal, the rabbit seemed to think of something and let out a light laugh. Her voice was seductive and magnetic as she pressed her body tightly against Lin Ling’s back, her tone filled with longing. “Mother, you weren’t like this before…”

She seemed to be acting spoiled.

Whether intentional or not, her hot breath brushed against the most sensitive spots. Lin Ling felt overwhelmed with shame; her thoughts were successfully pulled back by the word “Mother,” but she quickly fell into another quagmire.

What kind of mother and daughter would hold each other like this!

The rabbit’s voice wasn’t quiet; Kara and Yoshitani Kaede behind her could surely hear. Lin Ling felt her dignity vanishing; her image as a cold scientist, built over many years, was collapsing.

It was better to just give in to the rabbit’s wish and call her name.

She thought almost through self-hypnosis: the rabbit still wore the Empire’s exclusive anomaly collar, meaning she had been domesticated and was still serving the Empire and staying loyal to humanity. Perhaps she was on leave or out on an important mission, having followed her current breeder back.

It was just that the breeder was walking too slowly, and she had arrived first.

If that were the case, visiting her wasn’t out of line. Plus… rabbits were a healing species; they wouldn’t cause harm to people, they just looked scary.

“Bai Yan…” As the temperature behind her grew higher and the tingling sensation behind her ear became more intense, Lin Ling’s consciousness wavered. She could no longer restrain herself and called out those two words.

Like a magic spell, the moment she spoke to them, her consciousness regained clarity. She covered her mouth in disbelief, her eyes filled with panic.

Anomalies—or more accurately, experimental subjects were not allowed to be given names; that was the rule.

Once they had a name, it was inevitable to develop feelings for them. Just like between humans, exchanging names creates a connection, and connections trigger emotions.

And for an anomaly researcher, superfluous emotions were the most meaningless entanglements.

Lin Ling used to think nothing of it and stubbornly named her subjects. The result was that every time an experiment failed and a creature died, she would cry once—crying for many days.

Out of so many rabbits, only Bai Yan survived.

From then on, she only called them by their designations.

But now… she had actually called her by name again…

“Ling, I’m so happy.” Bai Yan reverted to her rabbit form, rubbing against Lin Ling’s chest, her words filled with immense satisfaction. The vines released the others, leaving only the cradle beneath Lin Ling.

Kara rubbed her aching arms, about to ask Lin Ling what to do next, but Yoshitani Kaede covered her mouth.

Kara: “Mmph mmph!”

Yoshitani Kaede typed a reply: [Wait and see. I’ve already sent a message.]

As if sharing a telepathic link, Lin Ling also knew Yoshitani Kaede’s move, so she waited patiently, going along with Bai Yan.

When Bai Yan was still a small rabbit, she had always followed Lin Ling. After going through many experiments, the one by her side was still Lin Ling. She had an inexplicable, unspeakable affection for her.

Ever since she gained human consciousness, she had decided to follow Lin Ling forever—her owner. But she hadn’t expected to be sent away!

That separation had lasted a very long time.

Only now did she have the chance to sneak a look at her.

Originally, she just wanted to watch from afar, but for some reason, the moment she actually saw her, her thoughts changed abruptly. She wanted Lin Ling’s hug again, and she wanted to hear her call her name again.

Finally, she had her wish.

Bai Yan appeared in human form again, nestling against Lin Ling’s side, soaking in the familiar scent.

She missed her owner very much. She really wanted to be with Ling forever.

A long time passed long enough that Bai Yan was about to fall asleep in this comfortable environment when a needle flew from afar, accurately piercing her body.

She knit her brows, returning to the cold, dark cage amidst her owner’s gentle stroking.

…

It was time to go out for a walk.

That night, Bu Yan had a terrifying dream. In the future world, ninety percent of the planet’s land would become ocean. Most species would go extinct, and parts of the landscape would be submerged under the sea, never to be seen again.

The world was so big; she wanted to take Ian to see it. They couldn’t just stay home and rot. Isn’t the point of a human life to eat, drink, and have fun?

So the next day, the first thing Bu Yan did upon opening her eyes was list a travel itinerary.

Known: there were six days until the apocalypse. The supernatural catastrophe would begin on the second-to-last day, meaning they had four days left.

Distant places were out of the question, but nearby ones were fine.

Bu Yan opened the map on her phone and listed all the nearby mountains, forests, and grasslands. No need to look at the sea; A-City was coastal, just a few steps away.

Just as she finished the plan and was about to wake Ian, she received an answer from Ian that she didn’t want to go with her.

“Huh? Why?” Bu Yan was baffled and confused.

“Because I want to stay home properly with Sister~”

Seeing Bu Yan’s expression looking like it was about to crack, Ian hurriedly comforted her: “In that case, let’s go to the aquarium.”

“Sister, I want to see mermaids.”