Chapter 23: The Scale-Stripped Mermaid (3) Part 3

She shook her head frantically, looking for all the world like a mother cat fiercely guarding her kittens. “I like it. Can’t throw it away! Besides, it cost over fifty. That’s expensive. Wouldn’t it be such a waste to just toss it?”

Bai Qian: “……You make a good point. And look, it says ‘drink’ right there. Since it’s so pricey, you’ll drink every last drop for me when the time comes. Otherwise, don’t expect me to buy you anything else next time.”

“Okay! But I don’t want to drink it right now. And it’s so pretty. Let me admire it a bit longer, then I’ll drink every last drop. Deal?”

Bai Qian nodded. “Fine. Drink it in front of me. I’ll check.”

~~~

Though Bai Qian was pinning her hopes on this like a last-ditch remedy for a dying horse, she didn’t dare slather some mystery substance from who-knows-where onto Yu Shaoling just like that.

She tested it on herself first. The stuff was very slippery, and when it touched her skin, it simply felt like water had been smeared on.

After applying it and monitoring herself closely for a full month—with no itching, swelling, rotting, or any other adverse reactions—Bai Qian finally relaxed.

“You can use it now. Apply it twice a day, morning and night.”

Yu Shaoling stood and planted herself right in front of Bai Qian, grabbing the hem of her long skirt and hiking it up without a hint of modesty. “Bai Qian, you apply it for me.”

Bai Qian nearly choked on her own saliva. She coughed twice and scolded her in exasperation. “Didn’t I teach you? When you’re wearing a skirt, you can’t just lift it up in front of other people like that! And where are the leggings I put on top of the skirt? Why aren’t you wearing them!”

The girl, who had her skirt pressed back down by the dark-faced woman, blinked up at her with wide, innocent eyes. “Those pants are too tight. I don’t like them. They’re too uncomfortable.”

Her voice took on a note of grievance. “How can you yell at me? I did exactly what you said. You told me not to show anyone else, and I didn’t. Bai Qian, how could you yell at me!”

Plop.

The girl seemed to have been kneaded from water itself by her creator. She let out a couple of pitiful whimpers, and her reddened eyes brimmed once more with crystalline pink tears.

“Wahhh. I didn’t show anyone else, but you’re still yelling at me. Wahhh.”

Bai Qian’s temples throbbed. She had no idea what had gone wrong. Ever since they returned from that shop, Yu Shaoling had turned into a total crybaby.

She’d burst into tears every few days, always over things that seemed utterly trivial to Bai Qian.

Bai Qian had tried scolding her and even flicking her forehead like she used to, but instead of stopping, the girl only cried harder.

Just a few days earlier, while Bai Qian had been busy sketching and ignoring her, the little one had curled up on the sofa and sobbed herself into a ball. The pink pearls that fell were nearly enough to carpet the entire thing.

Bai Qian hadn’t noticed until she went out to fetch some water. By then, the girl was almost gasping for breath, her eyes swollen like a pair of walnuts. She looked utterly heartbreaking.

A mermaid’s body was fragile to begin with. After crying that hard, Yu Shaoling had needed two full days of rest before her energy returned to normal.

From then on, Bai Qian never dared let this little ancestor turn into a tearful mess again. Even when she was so furious she felt like gutting the fish on the spot, one look at those watery eyes brimming with the threat of a fresh outburst was enough to make her swallow her anger.

It was the same this time. The crybaby mermaid, thoroughly accustomed to being coaxed, let out pitiful sniffles while bending at the waist toward Bai Qian of her own accord.

Bai Qian sighed helplessly and drew the girl—who was actually a bit taller than her—into her arms. Her voice softened. “I wasn’t yelling. I was explaining things to you. Didn’t I tell you last time? No lifting your skirt in front of anyone, no matter who it is. Did you forget?”

The little one’s chin rested on her shoulder as she whined in self-defense. “I didn’t show anyone else. I only showed you. You’re not anyone else!”

“……”

“Bai Qian, you’re the most important person to me in the whole world. I want to give you everything of mine—including that precious thing under my skirt that I can’t show to anyone else. I want to show it to you.”

The warm atmosphere turned profoundly awkward in an instant.

Bai Qian’s mouth twitched. “I’m touched by what you said at first, but I really have zero interest in seeing what’s under your skirt. Thanks.”

Yu Shaoling abruptly pulled away from her embrace. Her tearless eyes were red and puffy like a rabbit’s, and she looked displeased. “Are you disgusted with me? Why else wouldn’t you look?”

Bai Qian let out a quiet sigh of relief inwardly and reined in her turbulent emotions. “Fine, let’s drop that topic. First, we need to talk about you applying the medicine to your legs to regrow your fish tail.”

The innocent mermaid girl was successfully distracted. She nodded. “Then you apply it for me.”

“Apply it yourself. I’m busy—my manuscript is due tomorrow, and I’ve still got more than half to finish.” Bai Qian lied without batting an eye or missing a beat.

Normally, the mere mention of work would send Yu Shaoling off to obediently play on her phone by herself.

But today, the little one seemed unusually sharp. Not only did she not leave, she even offered advice of her own accord. “It’s fine. If you can’t finish, I won’t sleep tonight. I’ll keep you company and pull an all-nighter.”

Bai Qian: ? Are you trying to kill me?

Yu Shaoling tugged symbolically at the hem of her skirt. “Bai Qian, apply the medicine for me first. You can work after.”

“I refuse.”

The girl’s lips flattened in displeasure. Bai Qian’s eyelid twitched, but instead of resorting to tears this time, Yu Shaoling quietly hiked her skirt up a bit, revealing a generous expanse of alluring, pale skin glowing with a faint pink sheen.

“Either apply the medicine for me, or look!”

“…”

How had this foolish fish veered so far off course!

With a dark expression, Bai Qian applied the medicine for her, then unceremoniously shooed her out of the studio.

Finally, the room fell quiet. Bai Qian massaged her increasingly throbbing temples and settled in to start her work for the day.

The enormous fish tank that Yu Shaoling had bought was ultimately installed in the master bedroom.

The room was spacious enough that even after accommodating the mermaid princess’s “new bed,” there was still plenty of space left over.

Bai Qian dutifully blow-dried the mermaid princess’s hair, combing through the strands as she urged her, “Go to sleep already.”

Yu Shaoling clutched the ends of her hair and sniffed at the faint cherry blossom scent still lingering on them. “Why do I have to wash my hair every other day? I’m sleeping in water anyway—won’t it just get wet again once I lie down?”

Bai Qian paused in her ministrations. It was a good question.

“It’s like how I make you brush your teeth twice a day, morning and night. If you have to put it into words, think of it as a sense of ritual.”

“A sense of ritual?” The girl’s lips curved into a smile. “I think I like that phrase.”

“Alright, it’s getting late. Get back in your tank and go to sleep. I’m turning off the lights.”

“I still have something to do.”

Yu Shaoling had been half-squatting with her head resting on Bai Qian’s lap for the blow-dry. As she spoke, she stood up straight in front of her, head slightly bowed, her lively tea-colored eyes fixed earnestly on Bai Qian. “Bai Qian, don’t you really want to see the most precious thing on my body?”

“…” Bai Qian was speechless. “Thanks, but I really don’t need it. If you truly want to thank me, cry a few fewer times from now on. That would make me happier.”

The girl didn’t let herself get sidetracked and pressed on with her earlier point. “Since you don’t want to look, then… let you touch it.”

Bai Qian’s eyelid twitched again. She’d just registered the shocking implications of those words when, before she could react, her hand was seized by the other girl and guided toward that forbidden territory.

Yu Shaoling’s expression remained as innocently harmless as ever. “You’ve been so good to me, and I want to give you something in return. I can’t give you sea cow meat right now, but you told me this is my most precious possession. I don’t really understand why, but since it’s you who said it, Bai Qian, I know it must be important.”

The unusual softness beneath her hand made Bai Qian’s face erupt like a volcano, flushing so red it seemed blood might drip from her cheeks.

Stunned by the girl’s outrageous behavior, she froze for a moment, then tried to pull her hand back.

“Hiss—”

The hand that had been gently holding hers suddenly tightened with force. Amid the sharp pain, she even heard a faint crack.

Bai Qian’s features twisted uncontrollably in agony. She drew in a sharp breath and glared furiously at the suddenly deranged girl.

The warmth and shyness vanished from Yu Shaoling’s face without a trace. Her entire demeanor transformed.

She was shrouded in an aura like dark clouds, her jawline taut, her tea-brown eyes cold and impenetrable, not a glimmer of light escaping them.

With evident disgust, she yanked Bai Qian’s hand out from under her skirt—as if it had touched something filthy—and flung aside the wrist she’d been gripping. She wiped her own hand on her clothes.

Her tightly pressed lips parted slightly, and though the words that emerged were incomprehensible, they carried an icy, merciless chill.

“××××××” (Who sent you here? What do you intend to do to me? You lowly, filthy human.)

Bai Qian: “……”

This girl had lost her memory again!

And she was the innocent one here, wasn’t she? This same girl had grabbed her hand and forced her to touch, and now she was the one putting on a sinister face and turning the tables to interrogate her!

Those thoughts raced through Bai Qian’s mind, but the woman didn’t dare zone out for long.

The Yu Shaoling before her now was clearly even more terrifying than last time.

Bai Qian flicked her gaze sideways to check their positions. Good—she still had a shot at escaping.

She couldn’t understand a word Yu Shaoling was saying. To avoid making things worse due to the language barrier, her best bet was to bolt.

She had just shifted her left leg to the side when the sharp-minded mermaid caught on to her escape attempt. With a cold sneer, she raised her hand and tapped the center of Bai Qian’s forehead. That familiar, long-forgotten jolt of electricity surged through her body in an instant.

The girl lowered her gaze, fixing Bai Qian with a dangerous stare.

“××××××” (You think I’d give you a chance to run? Stupid human.)

Bai Qian slumped powerlessly back onto the bed. Escape was hopeless now, so she gave up struggling.

A mermaid whose tail hadn’t regenerated couldn’t use telekinesis to kill—and that was exactly why she hadn’t panicked too much.

Her life wasn’t in any immediate danger, after all.

But no sooner had the thought crossed her mind than a dark shadow fell over her.

The girl drew closer, her face icy cold, those delicate hands—made for playing piano—clamping down like ice on the woman’s slender white neck.

She curled her lips, the arc of her smile brimming with cruelty.

“××××××” (What a shame. Looks like I’ll have to finish you off myself.)

The instant her throat tightened under the grip, the girl’s expression shifted dramatically.

Bai Qian felt the air cut off—just as suddenly, her captor let go.

She coughed in discomfort and cracked her eyes open to figure out why, only to have her throat seized again.

The motion was the same, but this time it carried an undercurrent of unmistakable intimacy.

The mermaid, gripped by her sudden affliction, claimed her prey without hesitation.

Two hours earlier.

Bai Qian had just endured a kiss from the girl atop her.

She’d kept it to exactly ten seconds.

Her long history with kissing missions had honed her sense of duration. Now, locked in another kiss, the moment her internal clock hit ten seconds, Bai Qian instinctively reached up to push her away.

But the telekinesis that could sap her strength had fizzled out the instant Yu Shaoling’s lips met hers.

Bai Qian’s hand pressed against the girl’s chest. The amnesiac mermaid, far from obediently pulling back like before, felt a spark of irritation flare in her chest. She seized the woman’s restless hand, pinning it firmly overhead.

At the same time, the palm on her neck deftly pressed a sensitive spot, forcing Bai Qian’s mouth open in a gasp. She had no choice but to submit as the girl’s long tongue invaded deep.

All the while claiming her, Yu Shaoling released her snowy neck and slid her hand lower, wrapping it possessively around her slim waist.