Chapter 21: The Scale-Stripped Mermaid (1)

Bai Qian froze for two seconds before she began struggling in earnest.

To a high-ranking mermaid, the feeble resistance of a lowly human was as laughable as a kitten with barely any teeth trying to bite someone to death.

The pad of her thumb, holding the woman’s jaw in place, pressed into the dimple there. With just a little force, she pried open those tightly clenched lips.

Even for a creature like a mermaid, the urge to claim was pure instinct.

No one had to teach her. She extended her tongue, forcing her way past the woman’s desperate pushes and shoves into that warm, wet haven.

It was like dry tinder meeting a spark—flames erupted instantly.

Color slowly returned to the girl’s cyan-purple face. The hand resting in the dimple slid backward, brushing over her cheek before settling into the woman’s silky black hair. The gesture hovered between tenderness and ambiguity, laced with an unconscious intimacy.

When Bai Qian snapped back to herself, she realized the strength that telekinesis had drained from her had fully returned.

Sated, Yu Shaoling reclined in the bathtub. The chill in her expression had thawed considerably, and her narrow eyes flicked toward Bai Qian like a supreme ruler granting a boon. “Lowly human,” she said, lips parting in magnanimous indulgence, “come here. In gratitude for your help, I permit you to serve me.”

Bai Qian ignored the imperious tone and latched onto something else instead. “I can understand you now?”

At those words, Yu Shaoling’s fine brows furrowed slightly, as if she too were puzzling over why she could suddenly comprehend the words of the human before her.

Before she could arrive at an answer, Bai Qian had scrambled to her feet and crouched back down beside the tub.

“Do you remember me?”

Noble arrogance etched every exquisite line of Yu Shaoling’s face. “Hah. You’re not worth remembering.”

Bai Qian: “…”

The Princess bristled at the slight. “What are you dawdling for, lowly human? Serve me at once.”

With that, she rolled onto her side toward Bai Qian, lifting one hand in a motion that was careless yet brimmed with innate allure and seduction.

“Clean this hand for me. Or else—” Her gaze raked over Bai Qian’s slender, vulnerable neck, her eyes sharpening like blades, brimming with cold menace.

Bai Qian refused to bicker with this ungrateful creature. She simply took the delicate hand as instructed and set to cleaning it, just as she had before.

Yu Shaoling rested her head against the edge of the tub. From her vantage, she had a perfect view of the woman’s graceful jawline, her seductive red lips, her pert nose, and those eyes that seemed to hold an entire galaxy of stars.

Unbidden, she found herself entranced, like a spectator lost in the beauty of a landscape painting.

“That’s enough. Take a proper bath now. I’ll fetch some clothes for you.”

The woman’s soft voice pulled the girl from her reverie.

Yu Shaoling’s face stiffened, annoyance flaring at her own momentary lapse.

“Hey, lowly human,” she demanded. “You still haven’t answered me. Where is this place? Why am I here?”

The gentle warmth on Bai Qian’s face finally crumbled under the repeated barb of “lowly human.” “I have a name,” she said evenly. “You can call me Bai Qian.”

The mermaid girl let out a disdainful snort. “A human name isn’t worth my breath.”

Bai Qian stopped what she was doing, rose to her feet, and headed straight for the door.

“Hey, lowly human—answer me!” Yu Shaoling called after her, irritation sharpening her voice. “Lowly wretch, aren’t you afraid I’ll use telekinesis on you again?”

No matter how she threatened or cajoled, Bai Qian didn’t so much as glance back.

Yu Shaoling muttered to herself for a good long while. Only when the bathroom door swung open did she fall abruptly silent, her eyes brimming with resentment as she glared at the intruder.

Bai Qian carried a set of pajamas. She hung them up without a word, paid no heed to the mermaid girl seething in the tub, and turned to leave once more.

Unable to contain herself any longer, Yu Shaoling spat, “Bai Qian! You damned lowly human!”

Bai Qian halted. She turned slowly, her expression caught somewhere between amusement and indifference.

The icy mask on Yu Shaoling’s face had melted away in the heat of her fury. Her dark tea-colored eyes blazed with scorching fire.

Bai Qian met her gaze steadily, her naturally rosy lips pressed into a firm line.

“You damned lowly human, I command you—answer me!”

Bai Qian’s smile never touched her eyes. She merely curved her lips at the outburst, then walked out without a word.

The door slammed shut behind her, muffling the girl’s furious tirade completely.

Yu Shaoling surged up from the bathtub. Her long, straight legs hit the floor, and she stormed forward two steps, intent on confronting the insolent human.

Then fury gave way to shock. She froze, staring down at herself in disbelief.

Her face drained to a ghostly white.

Where was her fish tail?

Bai Qian had just started downstairs to scrounge up some food when a shrill, heart-wrenching mermaid’s wail pierced the air from the bathroom.

The sharp screech of untrimmed human nails raking across a blackboard was even more chilling to the heart.

She instantly forgot her earlier displeasure and rushed back.

Flinging open the door, she saw the girl with eyes blazing red, pounding her perfectly human legs in utter humiliation and desperation.

Agonized groans bubbled from her throat. Each blow from her clenched fist left a shocking red welt on that delicate skin.

Yu Shaoling’s hand was caught midair. She looked up and saw the unmistakable pity in the woman’s eyes.

The girl thrashed like a wild animal, her beautiful eyes venomous with hatred and resentment as she screamed at her, “It was you! It was you! You filthy lowborn human! I want you dead! I want you dead!”

A mermaid’s tail severance was like a human losing a limb.

In truth, Bai Qian had witnessed this exact horror before.

In the final act of the Original Plot, the barely breathing Female Protagonist was hauled from her cage by the Scumbag Man. Drugged and powerless to summon her telekinesis or even struggle, she could only watch in helpless terror as the vicious man callously pried her scales away, one by one.

Blood pooled across the floor. The mermaid’s throat unleashed shrill cries of agony, her once-pure eyes dulled to lifeless voids, shrouded in a murky haze that extinguished every spark of life.

With the last scale torn free, she was worth nothing more—a discarded rag, tossed aside without a second thought.

The girl’s rigid, ice-cold body crumpled into the sea of blood. The hatred in her eyes crystallized into Blood Tears, tracing pale paths down her ashen cheeks to mingle with the crimson nightmare below.

Bai Qian shoved the gruesome memory aside.

Reality had veered wildly from the Original Plot, but there was no time to dissect what had gone wrong. Her immediate task was to soothe the girl teetering on the edge of insanity from her tail’s torment.

The woman seized the girl’s flailing hand and drew her into a gentle embrace. Softly, she whispered in her ear, “I know you’ve lost something. Forgotten things, too. But trust me—I’ll help you get it back.”

Bai Qian carried an indescribable scent.

Like gardenias kissed by morning dew—fresh, subtle, profoundly reassuring.

Yu Shaoling’s struggles faltered for a heartbeat, then surged fiercer than before.

Her voice was raw from screaming. “It was you! You’re the one who did this! Who else? And you dragged me to this strange place! You vicious lowborn human! I’ll never forgive you!”

Mermaids were creatures of emotional extremes.

Trust one, and they offered their heart with foolish abandon.

Doubt one, and no plea or proof could pierce their conviction—not a single word believed.

Bai Qian knew this all too well. Empty reassurances wouldn’t suffice. She eased the girl back from her arms. In that unguarded moment, Yu Shaoling’s raised hand lashed out, her sharp nails raking one side of Bai Qian’s cheek.

Drip.

Blood beaded from the woman’s soft skin, plummeting into the bathtub below and blooming into a faint red haze.

Yu Shaoling caught the metallic tang in the air and froze, stunned. That split-second hesitation let Bai Qian’s warm hands cup her chilled cheeks.

A mermaid’s skin was cool to the touch; the sudden warmth made her shiver.

Snapping back to herself, Yu Shaoling’s glare turned arctic at the brazen contact. She swung her hand down hard on the woman’s arm.

Bai Qian didn’t flinch. The impact split her cut wider, forcing out another crimson drop. It didn’t scatter this time—instead, it traced a slender line down her flawless cheek.

She paid the sting no mind. Her gaze softened like moonlight shattered and strewn across a starry sea.

“I know you won’t believe me easily.”

The girl scoffed silently, her cold stare raking over Bai Qian. In her periphery, that streak of red made her pupils contract before she schooled her features back to loathing and rage.

Still cradling her face, Bai Qian murmured on, “I’m human. You’re a mermaid. If you wanted, you could kill me with telekinesis anytime. Right?”

Yu Shaoling’s expression betrayed the truth of it.

Though a flicker of unease darted through her eyes.

Bai Qian noted it but feigned ignorance.

—Mermaids’ innate telekinesis, before Mermaid Tail Severance Rebirth, couldn’t claim lives.

She knew the limitation. Clearly, so did Yu Shaoling, even with her partial amnesia.

“So, I want to make a promise with you.” Bai Qian released one hand and lifted it in front of the girl, forming the familiar gesture humans used for verbal agreements.

The woman’s smile was like winter sunlight, warm and captivating in a way that made it impossible to look away: “I’ll help you recover your severed fish tail. Until then, you have to stay by my side. Don’t worry about me going back on my word—after all, my life is yours to take at any time, right?”

Yu Shaoling stared straight at her for a long while. The woman’s expression never wavered, and the sincerity in her eyes betrayed no hint of deception.

Bai Qian didn’t press her, waiting patiently until she finally spoke.

“What do you want from me in return?”

There was no emotion in her voice, but Bai Qian knew this meant she trusted her—that she wasn’t someone out to harm her.

She reached out first, gently hooking her pinky around the mermaid girl’s slender finger. As their thumbs touched, her thin lips parted: “All I need is for you to stay away from a man named Tong Shaoqing.”

Yu Shaoling frowned. “Who’s Tong Shaoqing?”

“That doesn’t matter right now. What’s more important is that you tell me what else you remember.”

Yu Shaoling fell silent for a long time before speaking slowly. “I remember the Black Octopus chasing me all the way to the shore. I don’t recall anything after that. Then I woke up here.”

~~~

She was willing to answer, which meant the agreement was now in effect.

Bai Qian understood this and finally relaxed with a sigh of relief.

The Black Octopus couldn’t come ashore, so that villain could be put on hold for now.

Her current tasks were straightforward: prevent the male and female leads from meeting, and recover the female protagonist’s fish tail.

By this point, Yu Shaoling had calmed down completely, her wits returning after that earlier burst of agitation. “He killed my father and mother, and he wanted to kill me too. If it hadn’t been for… Where did you find me?”

“By the sea.”

The girl sneered. “So he’s the one behind my missing tail. You say you can help me get it back—when? I need to return and exact my revenge, and the sooner, the better!”

There was a unique charm to Yu Shaoling’s proud, confident demeanor. Bai Qian watched her, unable to stop her lips from curving into a smile.

Perfect. This was exactly the career-driven female lead she’d hoped to see.

“Honestly, I don’t know how to do it yet. But since I promised you, I’ll find a way as quickly as possible.”

Yu Shaoling decided to trust Bai Qian, and her attitude softened noticeably. “Thank you. It seems not all you lowly humans are as cunning and repulsive as the Sea Master described.”

Bai Qian’s gentle smile shattered. “Call me a lowly human one more time, and I’ll throw you right out of here.”

The girl opened her mouth to argue, then seemed to remember something and pressed her lips together, swallowing her retort.

“In gratitude for your help in retrieving my tail, I’ll permit you to speak my name. You’re Bai Qian, right? Fine. I’ll remember it.”

Even though she already knew the name, Bai Qian had to play along with the formalities. “Then what should I call you?”

Yu Shaoling let out a disdainful scoff. “Low… You’re not worthy of uttering my noble name directly.”

“…”

Bai Qian stood up. “Then get yourself washed and changed, and come downstairs. I’ll be waiting in the restaurant on the first floor.”

Yu Shaoling called out to stop her. “I am the future ruler of the Mermaid Kingdom. Do you expect me to handle something as trivial as bathing myself? Come here—I command you to wash me clean. Also, this outfit formed by telekinesis can’t be exposed to sunlight. You have to soak it in the pool to preserve it. Understood?”

What she got in response was the sharp bang of the bathroom door slamming shut once more.

The future queen of the Mermaid Kingdom seethed with fury at this lowly human. “Bai Qian! Get back here, you insolent lowly… you insolent woman! I’ll kill you with telekinesis, see if I don’t!”

Mermaids were born with hearing several times more acute than a human’s. After her tirade, she heard no sound of the woman returning—only the receding footsteps as she descended the stairs.

The mermaid princess, who had been waited on hand and foot by sea maids her entire life, turned green with rage.

This infuriating lowly human!

The moment her tail returned, the first thing she’d do was kill this ungrateful wretch!

…

Bai Qian prepared two dishes and a soup.

It took her half an hour.

When she finished plating the last dish, Yu Shaoling still hadn’t come down, so she untied her apron and headed upstairs to fetch her.

She pushed open the door but saw no one in the bathtub.

Taking a couple of steps forward, she realized the other woman had turned the bathtub into a bed and was reclining in the water, resting.

The sound of footsteps disturbed the mermaid girl. She opened her eyes, her long lashes stirring gentle ripples across the surface.

With a splash,

Yu Shaoling sat up straight.

Bai Qian hadn’t noticed Yu Shaoling’s outfit before, but now that she was staring so openly, she realized just how sexy and alluring it was.

Beneath her slender swan’s neck, her exquisite collarbones were on full display.

Playful droplets of water trailed down her pale skin, slipping into the lofty curves and nearly sweeping away all reason with that snowy whiteness.

She wore a bikini top conjured by telekinesis, her flat little abdomen and those perfect mermaid lines laid bare.

Anything further down couldn’t be described.

Bai Qian was like a gender-swapped Liu Xiahui—beauty in her lap, yet her heart unmoved. Expression unchanged, she strode to the edge of the bathtub and peered down at her.

“I told you to wash up, not soak.”

Yu Shaoling glared at her. “Bai Qian, I command you to serve me! You’ve already promised to help me get my tail back and insisted I stick by your side. In return, shouldn’t you handle my daily needs?”

Bai Qian shot back, “Not charging you rent or food costs is already going above and beyond. And now you want me to be your servant?”

Yu Shaoling shot to her feet in an instant, sending a spray of water droplets onto Bai Qian.

The girl towered half a head over her. The shift in posture filled her with sudden confidence, her chin tilting down in haughty arrogance.

“It’s an honor for you to bathe me. Do you know how many in the Mermaid Kingdom would kill to be my maids? Only the ones I handpicked get to stay by my side—got it?”

Bai Qian felt a mix of irritation and amusement at her confident entitlement. In the end, she could only shake her head helplessly.

They weren’t the same species, after all—their worldviews were worlds apart from birth. There was no point in belaboring it.

Yu Shaoling caught the headshake loud and clear. Fury ignited in her eyes. “Bai Qian! What the hell was that shake? You don’t believe me?! You damn low… damn woman! I’ll use my telekinesis to turn you into the most hated sea pig!”

Bai Qian: “…”

She was at a loss for words. “By mermaid standards, you’ve lived over a century. How are you still this childish? Besides, right now, all your telekinesis does is sap people’s strength. That’s it, isn’t it?”

Yu Shaoling blurted, “How did you… Er, no, it’s not!”

Bai Qian took a step back, arms crossed over her chest. “Fine, I won’t dodge. Go ahead and turn me into a pig. If you pull it off, not just today—I’ll bathe you every time from now on.”

The girl’s face cycled through a storm of expressions. At last, unwilling and stubborn, she pressed, “Bai Qian, hurry up and wash me! Or else! Or else I’ll soak your bed and you won’t sleep a wink tonight!”

Bai Qian was utterly defeated by the childish threat. With a sigh, she returned to the girl’s side.

“I’ll do it this one time. Starting tomorrow, handle everything yourself. This is the human world—we value equality here. None of that ‘kings rule all’ nonsense from the mermaid realm. If you want to stay put peacefully until I get your fish tail back, follow our rules. Understand?”

Yu Shaoling’s face screamed defiance, her lips pursed. Before she could speak, a cool glance from Bai Qian silenced her. After a beat, she muttered unwillingly, “Fine. Humans suck!”

Hmph, inferior, detestable humans!

Just wait until I get my tail back—I’ll make you pay!

As long as she dropped the “inferior” bit before “humans,” Bai Qian could let it slide.

“Enough. My food’s still downstairs going cold. Off with it.”

“Off with what?”

Bai Qian frowned. “Your clothes. How else are you supposed to wash?”

The mermaid girl rolled her eyes, seized Bai Qian’s hand, and slapped it onto a certain spot on her body without a care.

“Bai Qian, that’s part of your job too!”