If there was something in the world that could peacefully live amongst sea monstersā¦ what else could it be aside from other sea monsters?
Although Xia Yi still had the smallest sliver of hope that perhaps the monster didnāt eat merpeopleāsince there was one merman, there were surely more out thereāwhat kind of merfolk could throw a hundred-something-pound marlin right onto land?!
Furthermore, he was certain someone had said āI will devour all of you if you do not throw a marlin up this instant!ā earlier. So, if we assumed that this angry demand was made by a talking tiger, then it would make a little more sense. But what if it came from an innocent-looking merman that was described as gentle and kind in all the storybooks?
Xia Yi discreetly inched backwards.
He realised that he mightāve mistaken something fundamental.
Previously, he was sure that heād fallen into the ocean and lost consciousness just as heād glimpsed something light silver, but then had woke up lying in shallow waters. There was also that āHuman, you will not escape!ā āhallucinationā heād had ā¦ Then there was how the area around him was empty in the beginning, but all of a sudden had been filled with sardines. And now that he thought about it, the mermanās silver fish tail looked quite familiar!
Xia Yi couldnāt help but to internally ridicule himself. Iām really an idiot for being fooled by mere appearances.
Not all pretty and naive-looking beings are harmless! The Little Mermaid who turned into foam exists only in fairytales, just like how thereās no āhappily ever afterā in the real world. Of course there wouldnāt be kind and fragile mer-anythings! If they really were that weak, they wouldnāt have survived out here in the open seas!
The mermanās slender and pale fingers were slightly curved and webbed, appearing like something out of a fantasy novel. At the same time, the glaring impression of them being ānot human hands!ā was very hard to ignore; the nails, though shaped as perfect ovals, could easily slice open a fishās belly. He shouldāve long realised how dangerous this merman was.
While cats were arrogant, that was because they had a family caring for them. Once they lost that, they had no choice but to wander feral in the streets.
As for the wild creature in front of him, how could it roam freely in the ocean if it didnāt have the strength to do so?
The poor marlin thrashed about with what little life it had, smacking its tail against the ground. This made Siren extremely angry. Though Xia Yi didnāt know where said anger came from, it was written all over the mermanās face since it never concealed its expressions.
Truth be told, it was because Siren realised it couldnāt move at all. After some effort, the merman managed to push its body up by using its elbows, but there was still quite a distance between it and the marlin. Those deep amethyst eyes no longer shone with a dream-like mist; instead, they were focused on the flailing fish until their owner couldnāt take it any longer.
Siren opened its colourless lips, clearly about to take a deep breath. Xia Yi immediately grew alarmed, however that didnāt stop the needle-like pang from piercing through his head.
The pain disappeared as quickly as it came. When Xia Yi finally calmed himself down, the merman was staring intently at him with those ever-so-pure and innocent eyes. It lifted its hand and pointed at the fish on the ground with a serious face.
The marlin laid motionlessly on the shoal rock, its twitching mouth the only sign of life leftā other than that, the fish no longer struggled.
Xia Yiās rationality told him not to go, but he was so starved that, like this, there was no likelihood of him ever escaping the island and the treacherous waters surrounding it.
As he had yet to figure out how heād acquired his new ability, there was no way he would use it carelessly. There wasnāt a way to create a whirlpool on land anyways, and his capability to create a large portion of fresh water from thin air was, at best, useful for drinking and showering. It absolutely had zero chance of causing any damage. If this merman wanted to kill him, it had many chances to do so already.
Given the current circumstances, Xia Yi could only hope that his reasoning was correct.
Marlins were a type of large saltwater fish. Their length of fourāfive meters gave them a weight of over four hundred pounds. Xia Yi carefully crept over the unmoving fish, wary of its head despite its sword-like jaw being strangely snapped. Frankly speaking, heād never seen this species before, but anyone who saw their large dorsal fins and huge bodies would never assume them to be docile creatures.
After futilely attempting to drag it by the tail, Xia Yi paused to think.
What he needed now was a very sharp knife.
Unfortunately, that meant Xia Yi only had one choice left.
His breathing quickened uncontrollably as he turned around and walked towards the merman, all stiff-limbed. He was physically restraining himself from running away when he reached out his hand.
In the beginning, Xia Yi was cautiously half-supporting the merman. Heād decided to dash backwards at the first sign of danger.
His anxiety and fear caused Siren to look at him with curiosity.
Subconsciously licking its colourless lips with its scarlet tongue, Siren couldnāt help but size Xia Yi up again. It would be a lie to say that the merman was put off by the delicious scent that had suddenly appeared, however, the lure wasnāt too strong. It merely made Xia Yi look a lot more pleasing in Sirenās eyes. As a result, it didnāt question why Xia Yi chose to reach over instead of bringing the fish here.
In reality, merfolk rarely had the chance to come into contact with humans.
Staying in the water meant being very far away from the people aboard the ships. Take Siren, for exampleā it had no idea that humans were so warm and comfortable to hug before it met Xia Yi.
Thatās why Siren not only didnāt refuse Xia Yiās action, but even leaned into it. This position is so much better than the previous one. At least I donāt feel like Iām going to slip down and fall to the ground .
Due to starvation, Xia Yi barely had any strength left in him; while the merman wasnāt particularly heavy, if he attempted to carry it on his back, there was no way he could stand back up again. Thus, Xia Yi could only reach out to hug him. He was very mindful of the mermanās hands. If Siren so much as lifted its wrist, Xia Yi would probably sidestep as far away as possible.
His blood ran cold as he imagined himself replacing the sardine from earlier.
Xia Yi was barely successful with his trip. Stumbling a number of steps, he couldnāt even stand straight as he moved. Specifically angling his āfallā to not startle the merman into attacking, Xia Yi painfully collided against the rocks. The merman, on the other hand, fell onto the tail of the gently-twitching marlin. This was inevitable since Xia Yi had no other choice but to take the risk of getting the āknifeā as he was unable to drag a marlin weighing over four hundred pounds.
In all honesty, Siren was growing hungry after all that had gone on; especially with the scent that Xia Yi was emitting. Siren felt that it had to eat something soon in order to stop staring at this treasure the way it was.
The faint smell of iron filled the air.
Fresh blood stained the pale fingers like a gorgeous painting of swirls and colours. Sirenās other hand carefully peeled away the scales and sliced a piece of thin, white meat off of the fishās side.
But it didnāt hand the morsel to Xia Yi.
Siren raised its head and brushed its wet hair to the back. Without a care about the blood on its hands, it ate the piece of meat and chewed it thoroughly. When eating, the merman didnāt appear like an inherently aggressive creature at all. Its silver tail curled against the rock that was warmed by the sun and its eyes fluttered closed. The pearl-like skin was a little dry after leaving the ocean, yet even without the glossy reflection of water, the mermanās naked top half was still as perfectly chiseled as a marbled statue.
Xia Yi was this close to overturning his previous guesses.
As expected, it really was difficult for him to forget his first impressions. The mermanās curves were smooth and elegant, filled with an exotic charisma. If Xia Yi had any less self control, tearing his eyes away wouldāve been impossible.
When he snapped out of his thoughts, Xia Yi saw a piece of fish that was purposely cut even thinner in front of him.
Siren couldāve definitely handed the food to Xia Yi first, but it hadnāt forgotten about the poisonous sardines.
It wasnāt easy for Siren to meet someone it liked, and itād be terrible if the human didnāt give it his trust. That was the reason it was so careful, attempting to eradicate any chance of misunderstandings (even though they had existed since the very beginning). But at the same time, its actions were a little pointless since sea monsters could gobble down almost anything that a human couldnāt.
The ocean was calm, giving the illusion of ānothing has ever happened hereā. Like last time, the mermanās purple eyes were clear and bright, with a seemingly mist-like quality to them when they were half-lidded. Xia Yi caught himself falling into a dazed state.
This creature can entice me way too easily!
Xia Yi pinched himself hard and accepted the food with a blank face.
He didnāt believe that he couldnāt find food in a post-apocalyptic world. Regardless of whether other people had good or bad intentions, Xia Yi knew that he was on his own with a future that no one could predict, living every day as if it was the last. He didnāt want to stay with these oddly incredible monsters, nor did he want to sit and wait to be fed.
In this world, kindness wouldnāt sprout from nowhere.
The marlin tasted surprisingly good. The tender meat was simply delectable, and of course, it wouldāve been astronomically expensive in luxurious restaurants. Xia Yi had never tasted anything like this before.
The small morsel didnāt satisfy his painfully twitching stomach. Rather, it only hurt more.
This caused Xia Yiās determination to only eat one slice of fish to waver.
If nothing else happenedā no, Iām already in debt to the merman. It doesnāt look like it needs my help either. Despite Xia Yi not wanting to owe Siren anything more, he couldnāt do anything about these unexpected occurrences.
Siren was baffled by Xia Yiās emotions. Was eating an action that made him feel bad? Humans are truly bizarre!
Though the āmealā didnāt last a very long time, Xia Yi still felt as if several agonising centuries had passed. When he saw the merman was content and began to lazily lean against him, he picked it up after a moment of hesitation.
This time, the trip was very smooth. Seawater gradually covered his feet, calvesā¦ Xia Yi then put the merman down.
Though the water was still quite shallow, Siren slid into the deeper regions with a quick swish of its tail.
Watching Sirenās fearless and unhesitant movements, Xia Yi confirmed his earlier hypothesis. He looked into those curious purple eyes and said, quietly but seriously, āIām going to leave this place.ā
Sadly, Siren had no idea what he was saying. Instead, it stared back with interest and even reached out its hand to poke his face.
Xia Yi grasped the icy fingers and didnāt know what else to say. Finally, after a moment of silence, he continued, āThank youā¦ā
He then followed the currents into the ocean and began swimming towards another direction.
The ocean was calm, with no sign of that horrifyingly-long monster anywhere. There were only a few sardines that scuttled around.
Suddenly, a strange and awful voice sounded, āSiren, are you two coming back? Then hurry up! Itās so hot here that Iām probably dying!ā