Ren Shuhan turned and left, and He Ze’s heart felt ice-cold.
“Don’t be sad, Zeze,” only Zheng Zhilai comforted her, “you’ve just come of age. In the future, you will know that when you truly like someone, they will be the only one in your eyes. So, when you’re hesitating in choosing, it means you haven’t genuinely fallen for either of them.”
“Like the two of them? I feel they can only see each other,” He Ze said dejectedly, lowering her head, “but other mermaids are not like that.”
Zheng Zhilai understood. Relationships like theirs, similar to hers and Jiang Chen’s, were actually rare. They were rare to encounter, difficult to seek, because after mermaid couples were together, if they relied solely on their hormones to sustain their relationship, the prolonged separation would lead to insufficient hormone intake, and the fairy tale-like fidelity between mermaids would also break.
So Zheng Zhilai didn’t say anything, quietly put He Ze’s little dried fish into her arms, and patted her head.
“Qingqing?”
The mountain was gentle, but the vegetation was lush, making the path difficult to traverse. However, Ren Shuhan walked quickly, and in just a few minutes, he reached a small hot spring where the two often played. Sitting by the pond, he asked, “What’s wrong? At this age, you’re still playing hide and seek with me?”
He knew Jiang Qingyue must be feeling shy because his little mermaid was easy to understand. When he felt shy, he liked to hide in the water and not come out.
The pond was calm with no ripples, and there was no echo.
Ren Shuhan had no choice but to kick off his shoes and jump into the water.
His movements were neat and beautiful, with very small water splashes that quickly subsided. Under the water, everything was quiet and clean, not a single fish in sight.
Ren Shuhan swam a few steps in the direction flowing towards the island. Immediately, a pair of soft arms wrapped around him, covering his eyes. Dominantly, the voice said, “Don’t go.”
Don’t go to the sea.
Jiang Qingyue, who was being spoiled by him, acted like a little beast, completely treating him as his partner. He didn’t want him to be seen by other mermaids.
Ren Shuhan chuckled and, reaching around, grabbed his slender waist, carrying him on his shoulders. In an instant, he glided across the water, wiping his face.
He gently placed Jiang Qingyue on the shore, pressing him down with one hand on his slender waist and the other on the shore, lifting himself up, looking down at him with a smile. “Caught you. What’s going on? You’re already this old and still playing hide and seek with me?”
Jiang Qingyue forgot to answer, earnestly watching his wet upper body – his jaw, Adam’s apple, arms, chest muscles, abdominal muscles…
Watching and watching, Jiang Qingyue liked it too much, couldn’t help but tightly hug him, rubbing against his neck, fish tail also winding around his waist and moving, even softly humming, not knowing what to say: “Brother, I…”
This is troublesome.
Jiang Qingyue’s awakening was late, probably realizing this kind of feeling recently, not knowing how to release it, and having nowhere to release it. He just liked to rub against him when nothing was happening. The scale around the area of his buttocks was soft and tender, somewhat itchy. Especially with the opening in front about to develop, he always wanted to rub against it.
How could Ren Shuhan stand this?
Ren Shuhan didn’t have a fish tail, and he was a boy. His reaction in this regard was straightforward, like a dog… Since entering puberty, he had often felt uneasy in front of Jiang Qingyue, embarrassed. Even if he tried his best to conceal it, he couldn’t avoid being exposed. Faced with Jiang Qingyue’s questioning, he could only seek help from Zheng Zhilai. But dealing with the elders and Jiang Qingyue, and not knowing if Jiang Qingyue was deliberately causing trouble, he couldn’t help it.
He wanted to push away Jiang Qingyue, but Jiang Qingyue didn’t let go, still holding him and saying in his ear, “I don’t want to go back. I’ve read books in the morning. Accompany me in the afternoon, let’s play house. How about it?”
Jiang Qingyue’s words and actions were still innocent, like a child, but his body was about to mature rapidly, always stirring Ren Shuhan’s blood in an instant.
“You play dad, and I’ll play mom,” Jiang Qingyue whispered, “just like when we were kids. It’s been so many years since we played.”
Ren Shuhan was speechless, rubbing his forehead. He pulled Jiang Qingyue off him, sat on the shore, and marveled at his own willpower. Pinching his nose, he said, “You’re this old already, still playing these games?”
“How about we play a more exciting game?” Jiang Qingyue looked at him, a hint of guilty pleasure in his eyes. “How about playing hide and seek for a longer time? I’ll hide far away, and you give me half a day. I guarantee you won’t find me.”
Ren Shuhan thought for a moment and agreed, “But you’re not allowed to leave the island.”
Jiang Qingyue’s eyes flickered, nodding.
In Ren Shuhan’s eyes, he was still an adorable little sea puppy. It’s good for him to move around occasionally. After all, it’s not good to be confined on land and in the river for a long time. Traveling through the underground river leading to the ocean could provide more space for him. He should feel more comfortable that way.
“I’ll wait for you to hide here. Blow the conch shell and call me if you encounter bad mermaids.”
Ren Shuhan took out a seashell pendant from the system, turned it into a bracelet, and tied it for him. He used a black elastic band to tie up his hair, forming a thick and black twist braid that reached down to his waist, preventing his hair from obstructing his vision. After numerous instructions, he finally let him go.
Before leaving, Jiang Qingyue hugged him again and rubbed against him. He was mentally prepared.
He swam fast, having already scouted the area twice before. There was an underwater cave emitting a faint glow in the distance. It must be hiding a pearl. This time, he would follow the nearest route to retrieve it and return before the day ended.
This might seem impossible for ordinary mermaids, even Jiang Chen couldn’t do it. But Jiang Qingyue could.
He didn’t know why his physique was so strong, but his brother was also very powerful. Comparing the two, it seemed like there wasn’t much differences. So, he had been quietly concealing it, planning to give his brother a surprise today. Let him know that he could also protect him like his mother. Even if he couldn’t go fishing in the sea in the future and ran out of food, he could still take care of him. This way, his brother would definitely agree to his pursuit.
Ren Shuhan trusted him a lot. Sitting alone on the shore, he began to browse through the system store.
Recently, there was no activity at home, so he started learning interstellar knowledge and checking the system’s superpowers.
Except for a highlighted “Rebirth” button, according to the system, all functions were ready to use. There were various abilities such as invisibility, flight, and even some items in the store with superpower attributes. Ren Shuhan had never tried using them.
But now was different. He had to prepare for revenge.
However…
“These things,” he took out a dazzling sword, looking left and right, “always feel a bit redundant.”
If he could use the system’s “Enhance” function, Ren Shuhan could easily crush a bear with his bare hands. Why bother using props?
“For the host, the purpose of cultivating props is not to enhance strength but to control,” the system replied. “Because it detected that the host’s physique has exceeded the normal values of this world by hundreds of times, using props can help control strength easily and avoid tearing through the void unintentionally.”
Ren Shuhan: “?”
Am I this strong?
But why does it sound embarrassing…
He put away the sword and picked an inconspicuous harpoon, swung it a few times, always feeling that there was nothing special about him. So, he placed it beside him and started reading the interstellar guide.
His parents would arrive near the islands soon, bringing a repaired spaceship. Therefore, he planned to return to the main star alone after Jiang Qingyue came of age. He would quickly handle things there and return to pick up his little mermaid.
This trip might cause some trouble, and his little mermaid was too fragile, too cute. He needed to protect him well, so he had to go quickly and come back quickly.
“Woo—”
Ren Shuhan sat by the lake for a while when he suddenly heard the sound of a conch shell from a distance.
His fragile little mermaid was in danger!
Ren Shuhan immediately leaped into the water.
This was the first time Jiang Qingyue had blown the conch shell for help. He had two conch shells, each with a different frequency – one for Ren Shuhan to hear and one for his parents. Both sounds were audible to everyone, but the urgency levels were different. The former was just calling someone over, while the latter was a distress call. So, Ren Shuhan shouldn’t have been nervous, but his hearing was strong enough to discern that the sound came from the deep sea.
Qingqing, you dared not listen? I’ll settle the score later. Right now, the priority is to protect his delicate little mermaid…
Then he arrived at the bottom of the deep sea and saw a Hu family mermaid lying in front of Jiang Qingyue, his face bruised and swollen.
A few seconds ago.
“You dare to call your family?” Another Hu family mermaid said to Jiang Qingyue, “Coward!”
“I didn’t!” Jiang Qingyue clenched the conch shell, “I was just calling my brother.”
“Oh, that human?” The other Hu family mermaid sneered. “What use can a human have in the water? Besides, do you think he can make it in time?”
Jiang Qingyue pursed his lips, holding the pearl tightly in his arms.
He hadn’t intended to call his brother. After all, humans couldn’t enter the deep sea. He just wanted to escape quickly. When he was close to the shore, he would let his brother catch up a few steps, and his brother would carry him away. Then these Hu family mermaids wouldn’t be able to catch up.
Although he was surrounded by several Hu family mermaids now, it would be easy to escape.
“Qingqing, I heard you get along well with that human,” another Hu family mermaid swam above his head, trying to block his way. “But is it useful? He can’t even swim, and you have to find the pearls yourself. You’d be better off marrying me.”
This mermaid’s name was Hu Yang, the son of the Hu family chief.
He had liked Jiang Qingyue since he was a child, was tall and handsome, but somewhat sinister. His teeth were very sharp, and his combat power was comparable to a shark. He always wandered around the northern shore of the Jiang family tribe, paying attention to Jiang Qingyue’s figure. Today, he finally caught him.
“Who said my brother can’t swim?” Jiang Qingyue had already planned an escape route. There was a small stone cave entrance in a certain river, just enough for a slender mermaid like him to enter and exit. When the time came, he would block all these little sharks outside the cave. “My brother swims very fast!”
The other mermaids laughed, “What is he saying?”
“He says humans swim fast.”
“I like Qingqing’s innocent appearance,” Hu Yang grinned. “But today, both this pearl and you will stay with me. Even if you blow the conch shell, no one will come to save you!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a wave stirred in front of everyone. After a few seconds, the waves stabilized, and they saw a human swimming quickly towards them.
“…”
“?”
“???”
Hu Yang’s eyes were about to pop out. Jiang Qingyue had just blown the conch shell, right?
He only said a few words. Hasn’t it only been a few seconds???
Anyways, what did Jiang Qingyue mean by this?
“To avoid tearing through the void unintentionally”…. Just…how strong….is Ren Shuhan…. Rip those Hu guys…
