CH 38.1

“Which one is that?” Bai Lixin still asked the question with the academic mindset of seeking truth and pragmatism.

The scarred merman and the bald merman looked at each other, and the bald merman stretched out both hands, palm to palm, and put his hands together in a clapping motion.

Bai Lixin: “……”

He thought too much. Why did he think there would be other results?

But Dijia had said that the colour wasn’t right yet.

Bai Lixin bit the bullet and asked again, “That… is there another colour? Like a dark purple or something like that.”

When he said the word “dark purple,” not only did the uninitiated Green Hair blush, but even the battle-hardened bald merman and scarred merman were flushed.

The bald merman coughed technically, “*It’s really the back waves of the Yangtze River pushing the front waves, isn’t it?”

“The little thing probably hasn’t even been kissed before. He wants to learn how to run before he learns how to crawl?”

“Playing so wild?”

“I don’t know about dark purple, but the best color should be pink-purple, but I’ve only heard of this in fairy tales. I’ve never even seen a merfolk with purple tears in reality. The tears that come out of everyone are usually blue or purple.”

“…… ” This Mary Sue setting of seven-coloured tears coming out of a lamprey-mouthed merfolk was simply outrageous.

“You have fairy tales?” Bai Lixin’s eyes flash with curiosity, “What kind of fairy tales?”

Oral culture was a good way to study the core of a race, and he was always interested in the culture that had been passed down from generation to generation.

The fat merman, “That, I do know.”

“My mother used to tell me the story of The Warrior and the Princess when I was young. The brave warrior saved the princess from the sea monster that held her captive. The princess appreciated the warrior’s prowess by shedding a pink-purple pearl.”

Green Hair, “I’ve heard that before. I don’t know the name of this story, but the gist of it is that on the day a warrior and his wife were married, the warrior went off to war for the honor of his race and was gone for three years, returning as a man in his prime. The wife waited day and night for her husband, and that night, she shed a pink-purple pearl.”

“I never thought that you were studying this in earnest so that you could satisfy me as soon as possible.” Bai Lixin’s ears suddenly heard Dijia’s voice, “How can such things be done by just asking? You have to practice to know what it’s like.”

Bai Lixin’s shoulders stiffened, and he heard the fat merman exclaim, “Huh? Bai Lixin, the wings on your back seem to have moved twice.”

He then rubbed his eyes, “Did I see it wrong?”

Bai Lixin had something to ask Dijia, so he made an excuse of needing rest and drove away the four mermen who were watching.

Only when all four mermen had swum away did Bai Lixin ask in a low voice, “Did you drag my consciousness out earlier?”

Dijia, “That’s probably correct, so you’re driving these people away with the intention of thanking me personally, right?”

Bai Lixin almost jumped, and he hurriedly said, “Of course not, there’s something……”

Before he could finish his words, a black shadow suddenly stretched out from his back, and the wide open shell was closed with a quick “bang”.

The water rushed out of the mouth of the shell, sending a small ripple through it.

The mermen, who had just swam away, looked back at the closed shell in confusion. Finally, it was the bald merman who was considerate, “He needs to rest. Let’s go and finish the rest of the work first.”

The shell was huge. It was a good four meters long, and the space inside it was about two meters high.

With the opening closed, what little faint light there was outside was also cut off.

Yet Bai Lixin did not feel that it was dim.

In the bed of seaweed were many pearls, and in the darkness, these pearls emitted a faint white glow.

The glow was like glittering snow, coating the entire shell’s interior with a faint white-golden hazy glow.

Several long, thin tentacles quickly stretched out from the shadowy butterfly behind Bai Lixin.

They wrapped around Bai Lixin’s hands and waist with ease, binding him securely to the seaweed.

A human-shaped figure emerged from the shadow, his hands cupping Bai Lixin’s jaw and pulling it forward.

“I’ll *abolish the power of nine cows and two tigers to enlighten you.” The black fog’s face came up and pressed against the side of Bai Lixin’s cheek, rubbing gently over it.

*To do your best.

Because of the lack of natural light, Bai Lixin’s body was a milky white.

His face was covered with a small, untraceable layer of transparent scales, and as the black shadow rubbed it, a tingling sensation immediately penetrated through the gaps in the scales and into Bai Lixin’s body.

Bai Lixin was forced to open his mouth, his eyes looking into the mysterious black fog.

“There is actually another version of this story.” A tentacle reached out from the black fog and curled around Bai Lixin’s waist, gently pulling him into a slightly curled position, “The story of the mermaid princess and the human prince.”

“While exploring the deep sea, the mermaid princess saved the human prince. The mermaid princess immediately fell in love on seeing the blond prince.”

At that moment, Bai Lixin’s hands were bound by tentacles and held above his head.

His face was wrapped in black shadows, and tentacles were curled around his waist.

He was in a position to be slaughtered, unable to fight back but forced to accept it.

A tentacle came to rest on the dark scales of his tail, poking and prodding tentatively.

With a little more force, it could easily pry the scales open and drive straight in.

The dark eyes were hidden in the fog and they looked at Bai Lixin intently, wanting to see a hint of fear in the other’s eyes.

But apart from calmness and desire, he did not see a hint of trepidation or fear.

Dijia, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll use a little more force?”

As he said this, the tentacle resting on the scales threateningly increased its strength.

The scales were pried open, faintly revealing a hint of pale pink.

Bai Lixin looked into the black fog, finally looking into one spot, “Then I have to ask you, will you use violence against me?”

Dijia met Bai Lixin’s aggressive gaze that was filled with rose thorns, and his movements stalled.

Pretty and beautiful but not delicate. Like a thousand-year-old ice flower growing on a high mountain. It looked fragile enough to break at the slightest touch, yet it could give a person frostbite if he dared to touch.

The young man in front of him seemed unaware of how much possessiveness and desire for conquest his stubborn expression could provoke in a man.

The desire to make him cry, to see his beautiful and arrogant face have an expression of begging for mercy, the desire to make tears slide down from the corners of his eyes.

The emotions screamed inside him, and Dijia chuckled, “I disdain using force, and in such matters, of course, it is best if you are willing. I will wait for you to take the initiative to invite me.”

“Do you want to continue listening to me tell this story?”

Bai Lixin took a deep breath, “Then to gain the love of the human prince, the mermaid princess gave up the sea and her tail, and came to shore to become human. But the human prince loved the princess of the next country, and the mermaid princess ended up dying?”

Did he really think he had never heard the story of the mermaid princess?

“Heh,” Dijia chuckled, “that’s not a bad guess, but that’s not the truth.”

“The real development is that, because of that shipwreck, the human prince lost his eyesight. The mermaid princess was ugly, but possessed a heavenly voice. On that lonely island, the mermaid princess did her best to look after the human prince. She brought him food and fresh water, and sang him beautiful songs every day.”

“During this time, the human prince learned of the mermaid’s identity as a deep-sea creature. On that uninhabited island, he confessed his love for the mermaid princess again and again. He loved her kindness and her unparalleled voice. After two weeks of getting along like that, a human fishing boat rescued the prince. The prince left a message on the shore before he left, telling the mermaid princess to come to him in his country. That she was his consort and he would take her as his wife.”

“When the mermaid princess saw the human prince’s message, she immediately swam from the deep sea to the shore. She gave up her life in the sea and her tail for a pair of legs.”

Dijia paused and *sold guanzi, “Guess what happened after that?”

Bai Lixin was silent for two seconds, “If it were a fairy tale, it would be a prince and princess living happily ever after.”

Dijia’s voice took on a guiding allure, “What if it’s not a fairy tale?”

Bai Lixin, “If it’s a tragedy, then the human prince would be scared out of his wits when he regains his sight and sees the incredibly ugly looking mermaid princess.”

Dijia was silent for two seconds, and continued with a light laugh, “You’re right. The mermaid princess put on a veil and begged to see the human prince. The prince was ecstatic at the sound of a familiar voice, but on seeing her true face beneath the veil, He was horrified. He didn’t mention the marriage contract, only saying that the monster before him had killed his beloved mermaid princess and taken away the other’s voice to deceive him.”

“The mermaid princess had left the water she depended on, her sharp claws and strong body no more, and she was finally clubbed to death. The human prince also extracted the moving voice of the mermaid princess and gave it to a beautiful princess from a neighboring country.”

The tentacle stroked Bai Lixin’s delicate cheek, “Guess my purpose in telling you this story?”

Bai Lixin, “To tell me to beware of those who only care about looks instead of love?”

“Huh.”

A tentacle caressed the blue fish’s tail, “No, I was telling you that when you leave the water, this tail of yours will turn into the legs of a human, and you’ll be naked.”

The clam shell was suddenly pried open by a small gap, and the small amount of water in the shell all flowed outwards.

The shell was closed again, so that while the sea water poured outside, the clam shell was a small, separate, enclosed space where no water could enter.

The small gills hidden beneath the ventral fins were suddenly deprived of water, and Bai Lixin immediately felt a sense of suffocation.

His eyes widened slightly, and his shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

A foggy head came up and pried Bai Lixin’s lips open, sending oxygen down his throat and into his chest.

Bai Lixin immediately chased and lapped up the life-saving oxygen like a treasure.

Because of the lack of water, his body gradually began to change.

The small fan-like transparent ears contracted and turned into round, fleshy ears.

The tiny translucent scales that littered his body slowly disappeared, and the once slightly rough skin was left delicate and smooth to the touch.

The gills degenerated and the nose began to try to breathe in air.

Only when he saw that Bai Lixin could breathe through his nose did Dijia regretfully leave the lips.

He looked down at Bai Lixin, whose lips were already slightly swollen and red.

The biggest change was the part of the fish tail.

The tentacle released Bai Lixin’s hands and half propped him up, allowing him to see the changes in his lower body.

The glittering scales slowly degraded and the tail retracted. Within a few moments, the big beautiful tail had turned into two slender legs.

Dijia’s eyes flashed with surprise.

This was his first time actually seeing Bai Lixin in a tangible way.

The first few times had been through the memories of his soul fragments and the time he had invaded his room in the tower. However, he got ejected before he could get a proper look.