Transmigrated as the Cannon Fodder Spouse of the Disabled Beauty - Chapter 36

A sudden torrential rain stormed into City A, its grand scale quickly becoming a top trending topic locally.

Dark clouds rolled over the city, accompanied by thunder and lightning. A streak of purple lightning tore through the sky, casting a startling glow against the curtains. Song Yunran raised her hand to cover the ears of the person beside her.

Thunder followed immediately after.

“Don’t be afraid, it’s just thunder,” Song Yunran comforted the person next to her.

The one being comforted sat cross-legged beside her. Feeling her ears covered, she lifted her gaze; her clear pupils held only curiosity, without a trace of fear.

Meeting those eyes, Song Yunran realized she had made a mistake. Because her partner’s intellect had regressed, she had subconsciously treated her as fragile, but the girl wasn’t actually afraid of thunder.

Song Yunran paused for a moment. Upon realizing this, she withdrew her hand, gently pinching the other’s earlobe before letting go.

Footsteps sounded from upstairs as Grandma Fu appeared at the top of the staircase.

The elderly woman was followed by an employee from a domestic service company. The two were in conversation; the worker wanted to return to the company, but the old woman felt the rain was too heavy and suggested she leave after it stopped. The worker insisted on going, and the two went back and forth on the matter. In the end, the housekeeper gained the upper hand, and Grandma Fu conceded by offering to contact a driver to take her home.

Everything seemed perfectly ordinary.

Song Yunran’s gaze lingered on Grandma Fu for a long time.

Did she not find the document?

Song Yunran was lost in thought. She didn’t go upstairs to check if the file had been touched she didn’t care to that extent yet. Song Yunran’s light-colored eyes, which naturally gave off a gentle feeling, revealed a hint of coldness under the lamplight at that moment.

She watched Grandma Fu see the worker off. Even after the person had long since left, the old woman remained standing at the door, facing the courtyard, motionless, as if she had forgotten to come back inside.

Now, she did not look quite normal.

However, this unsettling feeling lasted only a short while. Soon, the old woman turned and walked back. She wore a plain-colored qipao, appearing as warm, kind, and refined as warm tea, just as she always did.

In the living room, Xu Luo, who was teasing the cat with a wand, suddenly seemed to sense something. She abruptly jerked her head up to look at the old woman.

In that instant, she caught a peculiar scent.

Merfolk can always precisely find suitable prey from a massive crowd. They can smell things other creatures cannot: the weak, the aging, and… the decaying scent of impending death.

Wrapped in the pungent smell of death, Xu Luo who was trapped in a mental haze for unknown reasons.

didn’t know how to process it and began to cry.

Grandma Fu collapsed suddenly two days later at noon. She was looking after Xu Luo, who was playing with water in the backyard, when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart. She struggled for a moment but couldn’t recover, falling forward and nearly tumbling into the pool.

Xu Luo’s screams brought Li-shen running from the kitchen. Li-shen knew about Grandma Fu’s condition and hurriedly called the hospital.

This was Grandma Fu’s second emergency admission in a short period, but she wasn’t as lucky as the first time. She was resuscitated for a long while before being transferred to a ward. This didn’t mean she was out of danger; being transferred to a ward was just another way of saying she was waiting for the end.

The old woman’s body had truly broken down. She remained conscious for only short periods. During one waking moment, she saw Xu Luo keeping watch by her side and struggled to take Xu Luo’s hand. She said she had contacted a top neurologist and made an appointment for Xu Luo, telling her she must go see the doctor.

The old woman didn’t understand how Xu Luo had become so dazed and dull-witted. Out of respect for her employer’s wishes, she hadn’t asked, but she worried for Xu Luo deep down. Behind Song Yunran’s back, she had specially booked an appointment with a doctor who was very difficult to see. She had intended to find an opportunity to take Xu Luo there, but she had suddenly fallen ill. Since her collapse, her memory had faded significantly; she didn’t realize that she repeated these same words every time she woke up and saw Xu Luo.

There was someone else she couldn’t stop worrying about her employer.

She looked at her employer, her eyes filled with complexity. She owed this person a birthday. Years ago, she had declined the child’s birthday invitation, missing the chance to pull her back from her loneliness and cutting off the girl’s expectations of humanity. She had always felt guilty about this and wanted to make up for it with another birthday.

But in the end, there was no more time.

And that wasn’t the only thing she was too late for.

She had originally planned to return to her hometown after Song Yunran’s birthday. That was where she belonged. The friend she had sought for many years was there; she had to go back to her side. She had something she needed to say to her.

She wanted so badly to tell her.

Why? Why was her life always a series of missed opportunities?

She was unwilling. So unwilling.

Urgency clogged her chest, and tears overflowed from her eyes. She wanted… she wanted so badly to borrow a little more time from the heavens, at least enough to return to her old home, so that her life’s journey could end beside her friend.

On the third night of the grandmother’s hospitalization, Xu Luo, who was sleeping fitfully, suddenly jolted awake. A sliver of clarity pierced her mind like a thin needle through the chaos. She immediately sensed her own abnormality.

The memories of the past few days squeezed into her mind like they were veiled in gauze. While forced to organize these memories, she also felt a searing heat.

“Ha…”

She let out an uncontrollable moan.

Her memories cleared quickly, and she finally had the energy to analyze her own condition. What was happening to her wasn’t unfamiliar it was a fever but unlike before, the burning sensation was locked in her lower body, entangling her limbs below the waist.

She reached out and felt a cold, smooth texture against her hip. Her mind jolted as a thought occurred to her. Could this be…

“Luo Luo?”

Beside her came Song Yunran’s sleepy murmur. Without thinking, Xu Luo lunged out of bed and, stumbling in the dark, ducked into the bathroom.

Bang—

She slammed the bathroom door shut.

With such a loud noise, even someone sleeping like a pig would have woken up, let alone the light-sleeping Song Yunran. She opened her eyes and looked toward the bathroom.

After a long moment, she switched on the bedroom light.

On the other side, Xu Luo had ducked into the bathroom. Her legs were weak, and she nearly fell, luckily grabbing the sink just in time. She leaned limply against the vanity, her heart pounding as she watched the light coming from outside.

Song Yunran is awake? What should I do?

She seemed to be… turning into a fish.

She had been getting along well with Song Yunran lately. During the days she was “fever-stupid,” Song Yunran had taken meticulous care of her, acting like a true friend. But if the secret of her being a mermaid was exposed, wouldn’t it be too much of a shock for Song Yunran?

Moreover, once her identity was revealed, Song Yunran would surely realize that she wasn’t the Xu Luo the woman had married. She had deceived Song Yunran would she be angry?

Xu Luo’s mind was a mess. She felt her legs getting hotter and hotter as mermaid scales spread from her waist down to her legs.

Just then.

Knock, knock.

There were two knocks on the door. Xu Luo’s breath hitched, her large eyes wide with alarm.

“Luo Luo, are you in the bathroom?” Song Yunran’s voice drifted in from outside.

Xu Luo didn’t answer. She didn’t dare.

Knock, knock.

Two more knocks. Xu Luo’s heart leaped… she answered in a tiny, tiny voice: “Luo Luo isn’t here.”

“Pfft—”

Laughter came from outside. Xu Luo puffed out her cheeks.

“Luo Luo is better?” Song Yunran said with a laugh through the door. “I haven’t heard Luo Luo speak in a long time; I’ve missed it a bit.”

Predicting that Xu Luo wouldn’t answer her, Song Yunran didn’t wait for a response and said directly: “Luo Luo, open the door.”

She didn’t use a forceful or demanding tone, but rather a soft, smiling voice.

The door didn’t open. The noises inside vanished as well.

Song Yunran waited with immense patience. After a good while, just as she was about to speak again, the door was suddenly flung open with great force Clang! making a loud sound.

Song Yunran looked over.

The lights weren’t on in the bathroom, but the light from the bedroom was enough for her to see the situation inside. In that instant, a fish tail burst into her vision. A blue fish tail, two meters long, was coiled on the bathroom floor. The color deepened toward the end, showing a natural and perfect gradient from the waist to the tip. The translucent tail fin looked like the finest gauze woven by a master craftswoman; one could imagine its graceful posture if it were in water.

Song Yunran’s gaze shifted slightly upward to the hand gripping the sink. It was different from the hand in her memory it had become more slender and bony, with an extra knuckle and long, very sharp nails. It rested on the marble vanity, where bits of cracked stone debris were scattered on the flat surface.

The face was still the same face, though its perfection was clearly non-human, and there were fins by her ears.

So this is a mermaid.

The thought crossed Song Yunran’s mind.

Witnessing someone she lived with turn into a mermaid, Song Yunran’s heart remained remarkably calm. This was likely because she had long ago decided that this person belonged to her; whether she was human or mermaid didn’t really change anything.

Opposite her, Xu Luo didn’t know she had been labeled as “property” by a human. Seeing Song Yunran staring at her, she felt panicked inside but feigned composure on the surface.

She puffed out her chest, forcing a calm tone: “Hey, Song Yunran, as things stand, I have to inform you—your partner Xu Luo is dead. I am not your partner; I am a mermaid.”

“I can give you ten seconds to mourn for a bit. After ten seconds, forget your partner, and we’ll continue being friends.”

“Don’t be too sad; the one you’ve been with this whole time was me.”

“And don’t be too surprised. You’ve heard mermaid stories, so you should be somewhat prepared.”

“Also…”

“You…”

Song Yunran interrupted her non-stop rambling.

Xu Luo’s feigned composure broke. Her eyes flickered away for a moment before she bared her teeth at the other woman, acting fierce: “What?!”

Song Yunran glanced at the scraps of fabric on the bathroom floor evidently the remains of the pajamas that had burst when Xu Luo transformed. Song Yunran asked, “Do you want to change into a nightgown? To cover your tail?”

She wasn’t a mermaid; she didn’t know if having an exposed tail counted as being naked.

Xu Luo: “…”

She also looked down at the scraps on the floor and fell silent for a few seconds. she hadn’t expected Song Yunran’s main concern to be that. “We merfolk never cover our tails.”

Song Yunran said “Oh,” then smiled slightly. “Then continue. What else?”

Xu Luo glanced at Song Yunran. Song Yunran truly lived up to her reputation as the ruthless villain of the book to be this calm after seeing a mermaid, she really had seen it all!

She unconsciously lost some of her momentum. “Al-also… help me keep the secret.”

As soon as she said it, she realized she shouldn’t have acted that way. She wasn’t a fragile human anymore; even if Song Yunran was ruthless, she was just a human!

So, she readjusted her stance, head held high, and made sure to show off her small, sharp fangs. She suddenly whipped her tail; that beautiful fish tail cut through the air and struck the sink. Bang! A corner was sheared off the vanity.

Stone fragments flew.

Feeling her own power, Xu Luo became confident.

“Keep my secret, or I’ll crush you!”

She was radiant, a far cry from the coward she used to be in front of Song Yunran. “You should know, when mermaids get fierce, there is no ‘love and peace’!”

Xu Luo felt her intimidation was sufficient. She waited for a response.

“I understand.”

“I will keep the secret.”

Just as she wished, Song Yunran answered.

“So my friend, what is your name?” Song Yunran asked.

“Xu Luo,” Xu Luo said. “My name is also Xu Luo.”

Song Yunran smiled slightly and called out to her: “Luo Luo.”

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