CH 93

“Xiao Xiu, do you not want me to give him a scale?” Jun Ye gently pressed down on the back of his companion’s neck to calm him, asking with a hint of surprise.

It felt rather strange; he had assumed that in this world, his companion had lost his memories and regressed to the mentality of a young bird. He thought the bird would only have feelings of gratitude towards him as a caretaker.

But now, with his companion reacting so strongly, why was that?

“Chirp?” The big fish called me?

Xiao Xiu turned his head and nudged Jun Ye’s hand with his head. “Chirp chirp—” Let’s go back to the fish nest. Don’t give him the scale.

Although Jun Ye couldn’t understand his companion’s bird language, he felt a strange sense of peace. He ran his hand over his companion, petting him from head to tail.

Xiao Xiu protested weakly, “Chirp… I said go back to the fish nest, not play with me… Chirp, but it feels good chirp.”

The eagle chief puffed out his chest and looked down at Xiao Xiu disdainfully. “Coo coo coo—” A young bird that can’t even speak the common language should stay in school. Discussions between adult birds and fish aren’t for you to interrupt.

“Chirp!” Xiao Xiu, who had just been petted into submission by Jun Ye, instantly fluffed up his feathers in anger.

“Chirp chirp chirp!” The big fish won’t give you a scale!

Jun Ye looked at the eagle chief, who had suddenly started speaking bird language, then at his chirping companion in his arms. He sensed something was off.

“You can understand each other?” Although their tones were completely different, they seemed to be having a back-and-forth argument, not just making random noises.

The eagle chief replied, “We are both part of the eagle tribe, so of course we can communicate.”

Jun Ye lifted his companion up and said, “But he’s so young, a bird that has just been born. Do all the young birds in your tribe communicate this well?”

Xiao Xiu, feeling wronged, kicked his legs. “Chirp…” Does the big fish want to send me away too?

The eagle chief was taken aback, then looked at Xiao Xiu. He finally realized, “You’re right. How can this young bird speak so much? The ones in our tribe only say ‘ba ba’. Do all young ones raised by mermen have such bright minds?”

That was the confirmation Jun Ye needed. He carefully held his companion back in his arms and rejected the eagle chief’s request for a scale. He promised that if he encountered other mermen, he would try to get a scale from them.

The eagle chief sighed, “Mermen often mate with other species and have great difficulty reproducing. Nowadays, most mermen are just stories passed down by our tribe’s elders. You are the only living merman I’ve seen in the last ten years.”

Jun Ye had intended to leave, but this statement made him turn back to the eagle chief.

The eagle chief shivered, stepping back and waving his hands quickly. “Don’t look at me like that! I’m the tribe chief with many female eagles pursuing me. My dream is to have a chick with my mate every year. Even though I don’t have a mate yet, I definitely won’t mate with a fish!”

“…Oh.”

Xiao Xiu anxiously fluttered his small wings. “Chirp chirp?” What’s going on?

—Why did the big fish stop? What’s that big guy saying? Did my big fish propose to that big guy???

The eagle chief continued to dig his grave, “I see you have a flat chest. You haven’t differentiated your gender yet, right? Don’t differentiate into a female for me, I won’t take responsibility!”

Xiao Xiu fluffed up again. “Chirp chirp chirp!” The big fish wouldn’t differentiate into a female for you!

—If he does, it will be for… for whom?

Jun Ye was speechless.

Flat. Chest.

As a merman, he was agile, with a slender and lean build. He didn’t have the developed chest muscles of the eagle chief…

Jun Ye suppressed the sudden urge to eat roasted bird and said, “I just wanted to say—if there really are no other mermen left…”

“Then I still can’t be with you!” The eagle chief interrupted hurriedly. “Mermen are too hard to reproduce with. I aim to have a chick with my mate every year and grow the tribe!”

Jun Ye took a deep breath. “Then you won’t get the scale.”

“Ah…”

The eagle chief hesitated, thought about his grand dream, and decided to give up the scale to avoid any misunderstandings. “I don’t need the scale anymore!”

Even without the scale, he believed he could attract an excellent female eagle through his other qualities.

Jun Ye breathed a sigh of relief, finally getting through to him.

He glanced up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, then turned back to the eagle chief and said, “The sun has reached the top of the mountain. Lead the way.”

“Alright…” The merman’s cold demeanor after his courtship was rejected took the eagle chief by surprise.

The eagle chief dared not delay any further, afraid that this merman might bear a grudge and back out of their cooperation with the tribe. He quickly spread his wings.

The large man, standing at 1.9 meters tall, was bare-chested, with a string of feathers tied around his waist. As he spread his wings, the airflow lifted and dropped the feather string.

The eagle chief, oblivious to this, extended his hand but saw that the merman had no intention of handing over the young bird. Embarrassed, he explained, “Our school is set up in the trees. You can’t get up there.”

Jun Ye had already covered his companion’s eyes in advance. “Just lead the way.”

The eagle chief put his hand down and walked into the forest, turning back every few steps.

The merman, still upright as before, moved with an ‘S’ shaped motion, resembling a snake as he slithered smoothly through the grass. Although his pace appeared slow, he consistently maintained a fixed distance from the eagle chief.

As they went deeper into the forest, the eagle chief started looking back more frequently, shifting from every few steps to every three steps.

The merman’s ability to walk on land for such a long time without showing any signs of fatigue was intimidating. The dense foliage and branches prevented him from flying. If the merman decided to attack now, it was uncertain who would come out on top.

According to the tales passed down by the tribe’s elders, mermen were known to forcibly mate regardless of their partner’s consent.

Jun Ye paid no attention to the eagle chief’s frequent glances back. His fingers gently stroked the back of his quiet companion.

Xiao Xiu knew that the big fish had been rejected, and although he felt a moment of joy, he quickly became listless.

The big fish must be feeling sad and hurt now. Xiao Xiu didn’t know how to comfort him. He couldn’t encourage the big fish to continue pursuing that big fool, nor did he want the big fish to court anyone else.

If only the big fish belonged to him…

The big fish’s hand had somehow moved to his chest, checking if he was hungry.

As usual, Xiao Xiu puffed out his chest. A certain hidden desire grew even stronger.

He had liked the big fish since the first time he saw him.

Xiao Xiu knew he was different from other young birds. He remembered many things, including how he had squeezed out of a sturdy eggshell and how he had survived on the food in the nest without the care of his parents.

Many large birds had flown past his nest, not taking the food from his nest but not giving him any either.

The nights were cold, and he had to burrow under the down at the bottom of the nest, curling up tightly. The wind would blow through the down, and he could feel the temperature leaving his body, making him gradually stiff.

Every morning when the sun shone on him, he was grateful to be alive.

He tried very hard to survive. He felt that he had come into this world to meet someone. He wanted to see who he was waiting for. If he died before meeting that person, wouldn’t the other be lonely?

The food in the nest was gone, and the leaves within reach had also been eaten. He had to crawl to the edge of the nest to reach the farther leaves.

At that moment, the nest tipped over. He clung tightly to the nest, using his beak and claws to anchor himself to the small branches that held the nest together.

The nest fell from nearly a hundred meters high, tumbling a few times in the air. Fortunately, there was deep water below, and even more fortunately, the nest didn’t flip over.

He released his almost numb beak and claws, collapsing into the nest.

See, he had survived again.

But now, there were no more leaves around. The tribe wouldn’t protect young birds that had fallen out of the trees. The nest would eventually sink. He might starve, be eaten by predators, or drown.

He hoped it wouldn’t be the latter; he didn’t like water, even though it had just saved his life.

He was starving and groggy when he saw a big fish swimming toward him. It was beautiful, like an unattainable dream.

He saw the big fish turn around as if to leave, and he used his last bit of strength to cry out.

That was the first time he had ever made a sound. It was strange; his kin didn’t call out like that, but he couldn’t care less.

The big fish swam over and touched him. He heard the big fish call out something, a syllable that sounded incredibly beautiful from the other’s mouth.

At that moment, he felt that perhaps he had been waiting for this beautiful fish all along, the one he couldn’t take his eyes off.

Whether it was hunger or something else occupying his mind, he bit the big fish, wanting to swallow it whole.

Why did you come so late…

But at least, I finally found you.

After meeting the big fish, he experienced for the first time what it felt like to be full, to not freeze at night, to feel cared for…

Xiao Xiu snapped out of his memories and nuzzled the big fish’s fingers affectionately.

He thought, if he could just grow up faster, he could catch fish for the big fish, find many beautiful treasures to give to the big fish, and mate with the big fish. Then the big fish wouldn’t need to court anyone else.

The big fish could transform into a female merman for him.

If the big fish liked offspring, he would work very hard. Even if mermen had low fertility, they could try every day—twice a day, even three times…

He had never seen a male eagle mate three times in one night in the tribe, but he needed to grow even stronger than that big fool of a chief.

He would definitely be able to help the big fish bear their offspring. It could be a small merman or an eagle like him.

No matter what kind of offspring it was, he hoped it would be well-behaved.

Actually, as long as the offspring didn’t make the big fish angry or sad, it would be fine. He would do everything he could to make the big fish happy.

akjdskjsdkjds xiao xiu you’re so cute my little fool ;-; (maybe he’ll be the one carrying the babies if there’s any since he’s a bird)

Thank you for reading