Chapter 26#
The Innocent and Naive Fool#
Lin Xiaodong couldn’t quite figure out the situation, so he simply gave his tail a flick and swam toward the shore.
Gu Xi crouched down, watching the little merman resting against the bank. He tilted his head and said happily: “From now on, we can converse normally.”
After a pause, he re-introduced himself: “My name is Lin Xiaodong. What’s yours?”
“Gu Xi,” Gu Xi answered subconsciously.
“You remembered?” Lin Xiaodong said in surprise.
The man shook his head silently.
Seeing his gloomy expression, the merman slapped his tail in the water, suddenly cleared his throat, and began to hum softly.
Singing was a natural talent of the merfolk. Their voices were ethereal and far-reaching, possessing a resonance like a high-end sound system with built-in reverb in a thousand-person theater. Most crucially, merman song had the effect of uplifting one’s spirit, relieving anxiety, and helping insomniacs fall into a deep sleep.
Back then, the imperial family had captured so many merfolk specifically to force them to sing, aiming to alleviate the “head-wind” disease caused by the aristocrats’ genetic defects. But no matter how they threatened or bribed them, the merfolk would rather die than sing even a single word for their enemies.
Merfolk were a race that valued dignity and freedom more than life itself.
Gu Xi had been listening intently when he noticed a bald patch on Lin Xiaodong’s tail from the corner of his eye. He couldn’t help but frown and ask: “What happened? You’re injured?”
“Ah, this?” Lin Xiaodong glanced at it. “It’s no big deal.”
Under Gu Xi’s repeated questioning, he eventually told the truth in a nonchalant tone.
Gu Xi pressed his lips tight and carefully touched the spot.
Without the protection of the scales, the flesh beneath was directly exposed to the air, slightly reddish in color and looking exceptionally jarring.
A merman’s tail scales only had one chance to fall off naturally in a lifetime, just like a human’s teeth; once the permanent teeth fall out, no new ones grow back. Although he hadn’t reached his descaling period yet, it was an emergency and couldn’t be helped.
“Don’t touch it, it’s a bit itchy,” Lin Xiaodong said honestly.
The man’s stroking motion paused.
His fingers curled involuntarily as he whispered: “We are just strangers who met by chance. Why are you so good to me?”
“Because I like you!”
The little merman leaning against the bank looked up at him, speaking in a tone full of joy.
It seemed that in this little fool’s world, there would never be hatred, enmity, calculation, or lies. He looked at the man with sparkling eyes, his words carrying a pure intimacy that almost made one feel a sun-like warmth.
But unexpectedly, hearing such a passionate confession, Gu Xi had no reaction.
Lin Xiaodong raised an eyebrow, thinking was he not blunt enough?
Better to go all the way—he simply reached out, grabbed the man’s wrist, and with a splash, pulled him into the water too.
Looking at the man’s disheveled state, far from feeling guilty, he tilted his head and began to admire the view with a beaming face, arms crossed.
Gu Xi wiped his face and leaned against the bank. He was soaked through, black hair dripping water. His wet white shirt became semi-transparent, clinging to his solid chest, his vaguely visible abs radiating a tempting heat. The upgraded “wet uniform temptation” was a sight to behold.
Despite being abruptly pulled into the water, the man’s expression showed no sign of anger, only a hint of confusion.
“Why?” he asked.
“Abba said, when you meet someone you like, you must take the initiative.” The little merman wrapped both arms around his neck, his tail coiling around him. He leaned in to stare into those deep, dark eyes, and with a bit of shyness but still trying to keep his voice low, he asked:
“So, are you willing to have little cubs with me?”
Hearing this, Gu Xi, pinned in his arms, was stunned for a moment before bursting into an uncontrollable low laugh.
“What’s so funny?” The little merman pouted, seemingly dissatisfied.
“Merfolk and humans cannot have children,” Gu Xi said, his voice softening. “But I thought you didn’t understand anything. If I had known…”
He reached out, tucked a stray lock of hair behind the little merman’s ear, and then kissed him deeply.
Lin Xiaodong, playing dumb: Yes, plan successful!
The System said earnestly: “One cannot—or at least should not—hang oneself on a single tree.”
But Lin Xiaodong acted as if he didn’t hear it.
He wasn’t one to wrong himself. He had finally nursed Gu Xi’s wounds back to health, but to only be able to look and not “eat”—what kind of sense did that make?
A real man must have the courage to take the initiative!
More than half a month passed after this.
One afternoon, with the sun just right, Gu Xi sat under the shade by the lakeside, quietly flipping through a book salvaged from the trash heap. The little merman rested his head on Gu Xi’s lap, absent-mindedly flicking his large tail, a blade of grass in his hand that he used to occasionally tickle the man.
Gu Xi didn’t even look up as he grabbed that slender white wrist: “Stop it.”
Different world, same personality—still loves reading books this much. Lin Xiaodong rolled his eyes, lay on the man, and gave his tail a dissatisfied wiggle, thinking could this book be better looking than me?
And it had been so many days, yet their interaction was still limited to kissing.
Lin Xiaodong thought resentfully: As a wild horse, even if I’m currently disguised as a My Little Pony for task requirements, I still need some excitement to spice up life!
Gu Xi, who had wanted to read quietly, couldn’t take the wiggling anymore.
He silently closed the book and gave the troublesome little merman in his arms a thorough “bullying” on the grass.
Finally, Lin Xiaodong stopped making a scene.
The little merman’s mouth was open as he took small gasps of air, his eyes looking up at him soft and bright, like the waters of Garan Lake rippling with gentle light.
Gu Xi’s throat tightened, and his expression gradually became dangerous.
Just as the plot was about to develop toward a restricted rating, suddenly, a deafening roar came from the sky.
The earth began to shake, and even the calm lake surface rippled. Gu Xi abruptly stopped what he was doing, instinctively pulled Lin Xiaodong behind him, and only then looked up toward the source of the sound.
An all-black steel vessel tore through the air. A piercing searchlight instantly illuminated the silver-white tail behind Lin Xiaodong and the intimate posture of the two huddled together on the lawn.
“A merman…!?”
The commander stared in disbelief at the screen, and the pilots behind him also gasped.
The starship transmitted them to the ground. The few men stood before the barrier, their expressions very excited as they looked at Gu Xi.
“Major General!” “Sir!”
But Gu Xi only looked at them with an expressionless gaze: “Coming with such fanfare, what do you intend to do?”
“What do you mean?” His adjutant stepped forward, saying urgently, “We’ve come to take you back! Everyone has been very worried about you since your accident. We finally discovered the coordinates of your escape pod and I immediately brought men here!”
“Is that so?” the man said indifferently. “Then you can go back now.”
“Wh…” The adjutant’s eyes widened, then he abruptly turned to look at the silver-white merman standing inside the barrier. “Major General, is it because of him that you’re unwilling to leave with us?”
“No,” Gu Xi denied.
From the massive amount of trash dumped daily and the wreckage of the escape pod, he had already roughly reconstructed his identity and how he came to this planet—nothing more than factional struggles and power grabs between the aristocracy and the military.
Perhaps these things seemed very important to his former self, but now he only wanted to live quietly, far from the turmoil and pointless struggles.
Of course, Lin Xiaodong was also a key factor.
But the adjutant clearly didn’t believe his reasoning. He frowned and asked: “Major General, you surely couldn’t be unaware of the past history between the imperial family and the merfolk, could you?”
Gu Xi stared at him: “What are you trying to say?”
“To be honest with you,” the adjutant said, “we brought so many people this time intending to welcome you back openly. After all, interstellar brainworms are currently rampant, the situation is critical, and the entire military needs you to take charge. But I truly didn’t expect a merman to be with you. Now the aristocrats will certainly know too. Do you understand what I mean?”
He hesitated to continue, but Gu Xi certainly knew what the adjutant wanted to say to him.
With his status, even if he insisted on not returning, he was destined never to live a peaceful life again.
Lin Xiaodong watched them talking over there. Staying inside the barrier with nothing to do, he could only boredly pluck leaves from the lawn to blow on for fun.
But before long, Gu Xi walked toward him.
He said to the System: “I’ll bet fifty cents he’s asking me to go back with him.”
System: “A merman cannot stay too far from Garan Lake, or their spiritual power will daily weaken until death.”
“I know,” Lin Xiaodong said indifferently. “Since interstellar travel exists, what’s there to worry about with distance? At most, I’ll just come home often to visit.”
And it had been nearly a month, yet the task progress hadn’t moved at all. It seemed his previous guess was correct: Gu Xi’s current situation was special and he couldn’t provide any help.
The five Good Person Cards he needed to collect should all be related to human factions.
“Major General,” the adjutant said without much hope. He also knew the level of hostility merfolk felt toward humans; asking them to abandon their principles and the home they grew up in was nothing short of a fantasy. “Regardless… please try your best to persuade him.”
Gu Xi walked silently to the barrier.
He looked at the silver-tailed merman before him, who was watching him with clear eyes. He opened his mouth but for a moment didn’t know what to say.
If it hadn’t been for my arrival, the man clenched his fists and couldn’t help but think, would he have never faced such a difficult choice?
But right before everyone’s eyes.
Without waiting for anyone to persuade him, Lin Xiaodong proactively stepped out of the barrier and threw himself into his arms.
The little merman’s arms tightly circled Gu Xi’s neck, his silver-white tail held high as if encrusted with countless shimmering diamonds, and the smile on his face was as bright as today’s sunshine.
“I’ll go with you,” he said.