The Top-Tier Alpha Is Lured and Captured by a Green Tea Merman - Chapter 18

Pei Yan pursed his lips and scanned his surroundings, suddenly realizing that the group of people monitoring them seemed to have vanished.

Had they already received orders to return?

Xie Yu wrapped an arm around his waist to assert his dominance. “Brother, let’s go back. I’ll treat your wounds for you.”

The memory of Xie Yu’s specific “method” of treating wounds instantly flashed through Pei Yan’s mind. His cheeks flushed with heat, and he gave the younger man a sharp, chiding look.

Before leaving, he exchanged contact information with Gu Xibai and said, “Little Highness, I have adopted your suggestion.”

Xie Yu half-embraced him as they walked away together. “What suggestion?”

Pei Yan arched an eyebrow. “You don’t need to know.”

Xie Yu clung to him persistently. “Brother, tell me, please.”

Watching the two figures gradually recede into the distance, Gu Xibai remained silent for a long time before clicking his tongue. “A-Chi, your King’s face changes faster than the weather.”

By the way, “Honghong” had already changed his name; he was now called Chi Han.

Gu Xibai had spent a long time thinking of that name. It was meant to describe Chi Han’s attitude toward him—alternating between cold and hot.

Chi Han remained silent.

He never expected that their noble King of the deep sea would actually lower himself to such an extent to please a human. He was even beginning to doubt—was this truly the same King whose strength was terrifying and who harbored a deep distaste for humans?

“But…” Gu Xibai tilted his head to look at Chi Han, the corners of his mouth curling up uncontrollably. “Why did you come here? Were you afraid I’d be with someone else…”

“How could that be!” Chi Han interrupted him unpleasantly. “Don’t overthink it. I was just taking a boring stroll and happened to walk this way.”

“You ‘happened’ to walk all the way here from the Imperial Palace?”

Gu Xibai’s face was written all over with disbelief.

Chi Han turned his head away arrogantly. “If you don’t believe me, then fine.”

Despite being given the cold shoulder, Gu Xibai didn’t get angry. Instead, he laughed happily. “I believe you.”

“Then what are you laughing at?”

“Am I not allowed to laugh? Why are you so overbearing?”

Chi Han’s lips suddenly tightened as he asked awkwardly, “He said just now… that he adopted your suggestion. What suggestion was that?”

“Oh, you’re asking about that~”

Gu Xibai deliberately dragged out the end of his sentence. “Does A-Chi really want to know?”

Chi Han’s expression soured. He turned around to leave. “If you don’t want to say it, then forget it.”

“Hey, wait, don’t go! I’ll tell you.”

Gu Xibai stopped him, gazing into his eyes as he spoke slowly: “The suggestion was… that I continue to stay in contact with him.”

Chi Han’s face fell instantly, and he started walking away.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Xibai ran a few steps to jump in front of him, walking backward as he asked expectantly, “Are you angry?”

Chi Han’s eyes grew red with anger. “The rules left by the ancestors were right. You humans are all liars!”

Gu Xibai was stunned. This was the first time he had seen Chi Han look so resolute and heartbroken. He apologized immediately, “I’m sorry! It’s not what you think between me and Commander Pei. This is just an expedient measure—it’s only to show our elders. It’s not for real… Hey, A-Chi, where are you going?”

Without looking back, Chi Han roared, “I’m going back to the deep sea!”

“Don’t do that, A-Chi! I was wrong…”

On the other side, after Xie Yu had finished “licking” the wounds for Pei Yan, he also heard the explanation of the suggestion, which was met with a long silence.

Pei Yan pulled out a tissue to wipe the saliva from his face, explaining, “It’s all fake. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Xie Yu narrowed his eyes and smiled. “I believe in Brother. Brother wouldn’t do anything to betray me.”

Pei Yan threw the tissue into the trash can and rubbed Xie Yu’s head, praising him, “So well-behaved.”

“Then shouldn’t Brother give me a little reward?”

Xie Yu wrapped his arms around Pei Yan’s waist, the veins on the back of his hands bulging. He was almost unable to restrain himself.

He wanted Brother’s entire being to be stained with his scent, so that others could tell Brother belonged to him just by the smell, rather than through some empty titles.

Pei Yan stroked his features and asked, “What reward?”

Xie Yu didn’t say a word as he leaned in. And then, for an entire afternoon, Pei Yan never stepped foot out of the room again.

Ever since they had shared their feelings, Xie Yu often found it impossible to control his desire for Pei Yan, and each time became more intense than the last.

Pei Yan lay powerless on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Suddenly remembering something, he said, “Xie Yu, let me ask you…”

He turned on his side, his eyes fixed on Xie Yu. “When you first exposed your true form to me, weren’t you afraid I would actually hand you over to the Alliance?”

A flash of sadness flickered in Xie Yu’s eyes. He pulled Pei Yan into a close embrace, his legs intertwining with his. “You wouldn’t. The Brother I know wouldn’t do that.”

Sensing something, Pei Yan pressed his hands against Xie Yu’s chest to push him back, asking suspiciously, “The way you say that… did you know me before this? And don’t give me that ‘love at first sight’ talk.”

Because the way Xie Yu treated him didn’t feel like they had just met; it felt as if they had known each other for a very long time.

Xie Yu stiffened.

Pei Yan: “…”

It seemed there really was a hidden story. To think he had believed his reputation was so widespread that a merman who had just come ashore would know his name and risk everything just to seek his protection.

Seeing that Xie Yu remained silent for a long time, Pei Yan felt a sense of nervousness. His palms began to sweat.

He was afraid—afraid that this merman had approached him with some ulterior motive.

He pulled at the corners of his mouth but found he couldn’t laugh. For the first time, he felt the urge to escape.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, then forget it.”

Pei Yan turned his head, wanting to get up and leave to give them both time to organize their thoughts and forget the awkwardness. But in the next second, he was pinned down by his shoulders. Xie Yu flipped over and braced his hands on either side of Pei Yan’s head, leaving him no room to flee.

“Brother, don’t you remember?”

Pei Yan was stunned for a few seconds—first by the shock that this kid dared to climb on top of him, and then by Xie Yu’s words. He asked in confusion, “Remember what?”

He was certain they had never met; otherwise, with Xie Yu’s breathtaking looks, it would have been impossible for him to forget.

Xie Yu pressed against his lips, nibbling lightly. “Brother, you are truly heartless.”

Pei Yan remained in a daze.

Did I really forget something?

Logically speaking, if they had met, it would have been around seven years ago…

Seeing his total lack of memory, Xie Yu angrily bit Pei Yan’s lip.

Pei Yan hissed in pain. Xie Yu immediately felt regretful and tenderly licked the wound, swirling every drop of blood into his mouth.

Having done this, he lifted his head and looked directly into Pei Yan’s eyes. “Brother, half a year ago, we met. You saved me.”

Pei Yan: “…”

He had saved a lot of people.

Xie Yu said gloomily, “At that time, I was still in my merman form.”

Pei Yan asked tentatively, “…Which one?”

Actually, he had saved quite a few mermen.

When the warships crossed the sea, they would occasionally capture mermen by accident—sometimes truly by mistake, sometimes out of curiosity by the crew. But Pei Yan would always order them to be released. He always remembered that in the ocean, humans were the intruders. Unless a merman came ashore and committed an act of violence, he would only follow the law.

After all, humans and mermen currently didn’t have much contact or deep-seated grudges. There was no need to worsen the relationship between the two races. It was only the Imperial Research Department that had unilaterally declared mermen to be cruel and bloodthirsty, thus planting a seed of fear and hatred in the hearts of the common people.

Pei Yan held the opposite opinion.

Xie Yu: “…”

His eyes gradually turned dark.

Pei Yan’s survival instinct immediately kicked in. He racked his brain and managed to recall some fragments of memory.

Half a year ago, on the deck of a warship.

Pei Yan and Lu Xiao stood side by side, listening to a subordinate’s report.

Suddenly, a strong gale swept in, bringing massive waves. The steadily moving warship rocked violently.

Pei Yan stumbled and was caught just in time by Lu Xiao.

Immediately after, he heard a nearby subordinate shout, “Boss, a merman has been washed up by the waves!”

Pei Yan steadied himself, glanced over casually, and said as if it were routine, “Release it. Don’t bother me with these things in the future.”

The subordinate replied, “Copy that!”

As they worked, they muttered in confusion, “How strange. Why is it that every time we go out on a mission with the Boss, a merman jumps on board?”

Poor Xie Yu. He had finally managed to see the person he longed for, only to watch him stand with another male, his eyes filled with nothing but cold unfamiliarity.

He wanted to chase after him, to snatch the person away, but…

The warship surged violently again. A crew member pointed in shock at a dark, unidentified object lurking nearby. “Look! What is that?!”

It didn’t fully reveal itself—only half its head was visible—but it was already half the size of the warship. Its dorsal fin looked like a small mountain. The churning waves were clearly its doing.

Pei Yan frowned. Just as he was about to order an attack, he saw that merman jump back into the sea without hesitation. A moment later, the unidentified creature followed suit.

Everyone was stunned by the sheer scale of the behemoth. It took a long time to react, and they were still left with lingering fear.

A subordinate clutched his chest and asked, “Boss, do you think that merman just now was trying to escape from that thing?”

“Probably not,” another subordinate said. “If he was, why would he jump back down?”

“True…”

Later, by the time Xie Yu had tamed the giant beast and ridden it back, the warship had long since disappeared. Pei Yan was nowhere to be found in the vast ocean, and in his rage, Xie Yu gave the beast another beating.

Seeing that Pei Yan seemed to believe this explanation, Xie Yu breathed a sigh of relief. But in the next second, he buried his head in Pei Yan’s shoulder, deeply inhaling the pheromones clinging to his skin, his eyes full of jealousy.

If he hadn’t been afraid of Brother getting hurt back then, he wouldn’t have cared if those humans lived or died—especially that man who was inseparable from Brother!

Pei Yan blinked. “But… that doesn’t really count as me saving you…”

“I don’t care,” Xie Yu said. “Either way, from that day on, I thought of you day and night. To find you, I crossed more than half the ocean…”

He paused, kissing the corner of Pei Yan’s eye. His voice was deep and filled with infinite tenderness. “Fortunately, I finally found you. I love you, Brother.”

Pei Yan felt as if his heart had been struck. His mind went blank. He never expected this to be the reason—that because of a simple, fleeting encounter, someone would be willing to travel thousands of miles to find him and offer their most sincere affection.

It seemed this was the first time he had been chosen so firmly and directly, without any ulterior motives, without any schemes—just a love so intense and pure.

Pei Yan’s eyes felt sore. He reached out and embraced Xie Yu.

He was used to war and political intrigue. The sudden appearance of this pure white soul crashing into his vision and falling into his heart made him want to grasp it with all his might—like a drowning man clutching at a final straw.

Sensing Pei Yan’s emotional turmoil, Xie Yu lowered his eyes. Outside, the sky began to darken, and the bedroom fell into dim light. The emotions in his eyes merged with the darkness, making them impossible to see or understand.