Chapter Text
Shen Yuan sighed as he heaved up the bucked once more, preparing to continue towards the secluded strip of sand he had found between the cliffs on an earlier adventure. This, he had decided, was going to be his own personal little beach. Well hidden from nosy villagers and curious travelers, it was the perfect place for him to study the vibrant sealife in the area!
Or beach was perhaps a bit of an exaggeration. The sand was mixed with plenty of pebbles and shifted to bedrock a few steps into the water. Further out the water quickly became deeper, and if he went far enough he’d likely stumble upon one of the colorful reefs found in this part of the coast.
A reef he dearly wished he could investigate right now.
Shen Yuan wiped away the sweat from his brow before glaring up at the sun, blazing merrily down upon him.
[Good job user! You are almost at your destination, ganbatte! ]
Shen Yuan switched his glare from his first tormentor to his second one, whose only reaction was to hover in front of him with a far to happy kaomoji. Shen Yuan disdainfully waved his arm to dismiss the window. He vowed not for the last time to sink the System’s motherboard into the darkest depths of the ocean if he ever got his hands on it.
[System loves user too ( ˘ ³˘)♥]
Shen Yuan scoffed, the System had been a pain in the ass ever since he had the misfortune of choking on that damn bun and waking up here instead.
At first, things had honestly not seemed that bad. Sure, he might have died, but at least he had gotten a second chance in life. And that in a xianxia setting with loads of incredible creatures and plants to discover! He had even joined a sect and cultivated a bit so he wouldn’t have to worry about aging. He had had no intentions of leaving this world before he had discovered everything it had to offer!
Then that fated day had come. Shen Yuan had been out on a mission with his fellow martial siblings hunting a giant octopus flamingo (he really should have known by that alone). He had been pulled into the water by a stray tentacle and come eye to eye with what could only be the thousand-legged sea slug. A creature he specifically remembered because of its sole purpose as a mermaid aphrodisiac.
His eyes had almost popped out of his head and he had nearly inhaled a lungful of seawater in outrage. No way! No fucking way had he been transmigrated into the shitshow of a webnovel known as Proud Immortal Siren Way! The most awful of mermaid centered novels that could only be found on the internet. A cursed blend of animalistic instincts fusioned with a good old fashioned stallion novel.
It had attracted the worst kind of perverts. And the author, Submarine Shooting Towards the Surface, had been more than happy to throw away his integrity to pander to all their deepest, most depraved fantasies.
The novel had even started out with great potential! The worldbuilding had been captivating, the beasts intriguing, and the main character the sweetest of lambs you just couldn’t help but root for!
Luo Binghe had started his journey as a cute little mer pup finding his way to Cang Qiong Reef Sect. A place where mers with the highest of potential could be chosen to learn how to cultivate their innate abilities as merfolk. Shortly before Luo Binghe had joined the sect he had tragically lost his adoptive mother to illness. So upon being chosen for Qing Jing Reef, he had foolishly hoped to build a new family and become a strong merman able to protect his people, someone his mother could be proud of.
Alas, you can’t have a male power fantasy without suffering, it simply wasn’t meant to be. Immediately upon joining, this white lotus was a target for bullying from his supposed martial siblings. His scum villain teacher Shen Qingqiu, curse his name, had been the worst of them all. Issuing harsh punishments for things that wasn’t even really poor Binghe’s fault, forcing him to take on the brunt of the chores on the reef, and worst of all, handing out a faulty cultivation manual leading to Luo Binghe’s cultivation becoming severely stunted.
And if this wasn’t enough, it all came to a head during the Mermaid Alliance Conference when a chasm opened up into the Abyss. An underground ocean containing the worst creatures the deep seas had to offer. A vicious battle with a black moon whale-moray had inadvertently cracked something deep within him, leading to the discovery of a secret heritage. The protagonist was actually half siren!
It was the last nail in the coffin for his scum teacher. The merman had become enraged at the revelation, pushing Luo Binghe into the whirlpool created by the chasm. And so he was dragged down into the darkest depths of the Abyss.
Five years later Luo Binghe was able to leave that infernal place, having learned how to use the other half of his heritage to the fullest! The blackened protagonist returned with only one thing on his mind. To exact revenge against his scum teacher and all of his former “martial siblings” that made his childhood a living hell.
He imprisoned his former teacher in a dry cave where no one could reach him. There he spent his days torturing his teacher, cutting off his fins and destroying his tail. Using the merman’s fins as bait, he lastly lured the Cang Qiong Reef sect leader, Yue Qingyuan, into a trap where hundreds of spears pierced him until nothing was left but food for the fishes.
Afterward, Luo Binghe destroyed the rest of Cang Qiong Reef Sect before merging the shallow seas of the merfolk with the deep seas of the sirens, collecting a great harem of beauties over three digits large along the way!
All of this fantastical plot, and Shen Yuan wasn’t even able to interact with it! Here he was, stuck on land with two legs, while the ocean could be going through the greatest event this world would ever see! And he wouldn’t even be aware of it?! Life had never been this unfair before!
Coming up to the surface after he had received his revelation, Shen Yuan had raged so hard his fellow martial siblings had worried he had suffered a qi deviation. Maybe he even had! The world had seemed a bit blurry around the edges, though that could also be from almost drowning.
So he couldn’t really do anything about the plot, just live his life as a mere human cultivator, forever separated from the protagonist and his adventures. Yet the System was still constantly on his case?! Why did he even have a system in the first place anyways? And why did it insist on him constantly doing all of these pointless missions?
First it had been to leave his sect and move to the coast. Shen Yuan had admittedly almost vibrated with excitement at the idea of finally getting to interact with the main plot! But then he had gotten here, and System had only given him small missions like befriending the local sea life, picking certain (admittedly useful) plants, hunting down some specific animals for items, and lastly cleaning up the naturally formed pool next to his little hut. Not once had he seen anything resembling a powerful half-merman, half-siren hybrid ruling over the seas!
He felt a bit cheated, actually. System! He deserves a refund! Or at least compensation for all the work he has been doing!
[Experiencing the worldbuilding PISW has to offer is compensation enough for User’s hard work! ( ＾ ∀ ＾ )]
System, go fuck yourself.
Anyways, today it had him going to the rocky cliffs near his little beach to gather red-spotted flying barnacles, a cousin to the more commonly found blue-striped flying barnacles. And as opposed to their more liked cousin, the red-spotted flying barnacles were a pain to harvest. They had to be picked on a windless day, when the sun was at its peak while the barnacle opened up to sunbathe. The flying barnacles liked to hide in crevices along the cliffs, so needed to be tricked with the feed he was hauling to actually catch them in his net.
The unrelenting sun was just another slap in the face from System. Sirens in PISW were naturally able to control water movement and pressure. The higher a siren’s cultivation was, the more control they had over their abilities. As the protagonist, Luo Binghe was the strongest siren in the known history of the deep seas!
His greatest weapon however, was the great trident he had found during his years in the Abyss. This golden finger gave him the ability to control even the weather out at sea. Wherever Luo Binghe went, rapid weather changes and powerful storms would follow, making Luo Binghe truly the most overpowered stallion protagonist out there.
Shen Yuan sent a last glare up at the sky before he finally sat down in the shadows under the dark cliffs. With a relieved sigh he buried his feet in the sand and took a moment to rest.
[Congratulations! User has arrived at his destination! Would User like a refresher on the red-spotted flying barnacles’ habitat and behavior? Yes/No]
He frowned at the blue screen hovering in front of him, instead gazing up towards the closest crevice large enough to stick his arm inside. He wondered whether he’d be able to hold his balance up there without falling to his second untimely death.
“I’m good. I already read up on them before I left, so you don’t-” He was interrupted by a mechanical voice happily speaking over him.
[Red-spotted flying barnacles are, as their name indicates, a subspecies of flying barnacles. They are commonly found in the coastal region and prefer to live on steep cliffsides with a windy climate. Flying barnacles can store energy from the sun, but will fling themselves off the cliffs when they get too dry to hunt plankton in the ocean instead. Flying barnacles can glide up to a li during windy conditions- ]
“I SAID I’M GOOD” Over the years, Shen Yuan had become convinced there must be someone watching him from the other side of the window. System took far too much pleasure in getting on his nerves not to be a living person.
[Would user like help planning out the best route up?]
“And how much are you charging me for that?” Shen Yuan snorted. System had proven itself to be exceedingly greedy when giving out and charging B-points. There was no way he was going to waste them on something like this. Who knew what System could come up with next!
Besides, he was pretty sure he had figured out the easiest way up already. He just needed to trust his hard-earned cultivator instincts and not look down. Easy!
Pulling out a net and small pouch out of his qiankun bag, he started scooping some of the feed into the pouch before attaching it to his belt. (Could he have carried the feed in the qiankun bag? Sure. But he refuses to stink up his bag with that stuff, that’s just nasty.)
Pulling his sleeves back, he considered the rocky cliffside and grabbed the closest secure hold above him. He slowly made his way upward, grabbing onto rocks and ledges until he was a good way above the beach. Trying to ignore the sandpaper feeling of rock under his fingers, he placed himself in front of the first crevice and peered inside.
At first he only saw more stone, some dry branches… Aaand there! Red spots on a dark rock-like shape. The barnacles were stuck to the side of the crevice, their mouths open to display a bright red, feathery appendage fluttering in the sunlight. As Shen Yuan placed himself in front of the opening his shadow fell on a few of the barnacles, making them retract back into themselves.
Preparing his net, he planted his feet as securely as possible on the small ledge he was standing. Fumbling the feed pouch open, he took a handful of the stuff before reaching inside and throwing the flaky feed onto the outstretched appendages.
Upon contact they retracted back with their catch, determining it to indeed be edible before reaching back out again. Simultaneously, Shen Yuan could see membranes at the base of the barnacles unfold and extend on spines similar to that of fins on fishes.
The now outstretched fins exposed the suction cup shaped foot of the barnacle. As he watched the foot tense up, preparing to propel itself out of the crevice, he raised his net to catch them.
Shen Yuan smiled triumphantly when he felt multiple tugs in the net as the barnacles flung themselves towards freedome.
[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! User has caught his first red-spotted flying barnacle. Keep up the good work! (6/40)]
Shen Yuan’s smile immediately disappeared, “Fourty?? You piece of trash system, you never said I had to collect so many?!”
[This System believes in User’s capability! User should continue his hard work before the sun goes down or the wind picks back up. ( 🖒 ^_^) 🖒 ]
Shen Yuan hit his head a few times against the cliffside, this was not how he had planned to spend his day. Taking a deep breath, he decided to deal with System’s lack of communication later (unlikely, as System refused to ever explain itself).
The sun would still be up for a while, but it would slowly start creeping downwards to where it no longer shone directly into the crevices. He’d have to be done by then unless he wanted to return another day.
Nodding to himself, he looked back inside the crack and found a couple more barnacles he could harvest from this spot. After that he’d either have to climb up the crevice or move to a new one.
The rest of the afternoon went to dragging himself from crevice to crevice, balancing between ledges, and trying not to sweat at the increasingly large drop back down.
When he finally reached the last colony he was prepared to just get it over with. He desperately wanted to make his way back home and then throw himself into the sea for the rest of the day.
This crevice seemed particularly large, and looking inside Shen Yuan could see more than 30 red-spotted flying barnacles slowly swishing their appendages around. He only needed one more, so there was really no point in setting off all of them.
Carefully, he sprinkled a few flakes onto the closest barnacle lazily waving at him. Watching it prepare to jump, he waited without raising the net. As the barnacle happily glid towards the glittering blue sea and a good meal, Shen Yuan snagged it out of the air with his bare hand.
“Gotcha,” Snickering smugly to himself, he plopped the last barnacle into the net before tying it to his belt. A sudden breeze swirled around him, tugging at his clothes and cooling down his overheating body.
“Oh, thank heavens,” Shen Yuan groaned, tilting his head back to enjoy to cooling wind. A swish was heard from in front of him, suspiciously similar to what he imagined dozens of membranes unfolding simultaneously would sound like.
Shen Yuan froze where he stood, remembering with ice cold clarity why he had chosen to go pick flying barnacles today. Strong gusts of wind could also trigger them to leave their crevices and glide out into the sea. Glancing back, he was met with the sight of outstretched membranes and red feathers ready to hurl themselves right at him.
One breathless moment nothing happened as Shen Yuan held a one-sided staring contest with the eyeless barnacles, the moment was quickly broken.
Yelping loudly, he tried to lift his arm and guard his face from the hard objects crashing into him. Fighting to turn his body away from the opening, he felt his foot slip in its place. Panicked, he clawed at the hard stone surface in front of him, but instead felt the stone disappeared completely under him and the air rush around his body.
With his hair whipping his face, he closed his eyes tightly, hoping to at least crash down into the water. Was becoming a smear on the ground better than choking on food? He was about to find out!
Shen Yuan barely had time to finish that thought before something hard met the side of his body. The air was harshly forced out of his lungs and his descent was momentarily slowed down. Moments later he crashed into the ground and rolled down a slope. Shen Yuan tried his best to curl into himself and protect his skull from cracking open on another rock.
As his body came to a stop, he jerkingly tried to uncurl while simultaneously gasping for air and coughing from the earlier impact. The movement made flashes of pain travel through his body. Shit, something was definitely broken.
Finally able to unfurl completely, Shen Yuan let himself lay flat on the blessedly cold stone surface while taking in how his life almost ended. Again.
Trying to regulate his breathing, he distantly wondered if he’d have transmigrated again if he had died. Maybe into that one novel he read last week, about the romance between an ice demon king and his human advisor. Yeah, that would probably be an improvement to all of this bullshit.
[Mission complete! User has caught (40/40) red-spotted flying barnacles. Reward: 20 B-points.]
Shen Yuan groaned loudly, squinting his eyes at the blue light torching its way into the back of his head. Maybe he had gotten a concussion after all. Dragging himself up into a sitting position, he winced slightly before rubbing his eyes.
Looking up, he finally realized he had rolled down into a cave. Behind him, he could see light shining in from an opening at the top of the incline he had rolled down. At the other end of his little cave, he could see a smaller passage continuing further into the cliffside.
On any other day, a cave like this would have sparked his curiosity. But right now, with however many cracked ribs rattling around in his body, he didn’t feel particularly adventurous. Probably better to not challenge his luck any further and come back well rested another day.
[New bonus mission! Explore the mysterious tunnel to its end. After User made an oopsie at the top of a cliff, he suddenly finds himself in a dark cave holding sinister secrets. Is User brave enough to move forward? ( ง •̀ω•́) ง ✧ Reward: 250 B-points. Yes/No]
Shen Yuan felt his jaw fall to the floor. System, you want him to explore the cave now?? At least let him recover from his close call with the cave floor before you start throwing new problems at him! And what do you mean sinister secrets? Is there something dangerous at the end of the passage??
[System can’t help User unless he accepts the mission.]
Shen Yuan gnawed at his lip. While exploring an unknown cave in his condition would easily make its way onto his list of top 5 stupidest decisions this year, 250 B-points was nothing to scoff at. In fact, this might actually be the first time he’d seen a reward this large. It only heightened his suspicion.
“System, if I continue down this passage, am I going to get injured again?”
[Does that mean User accepts the bonus mission?]
“…fine, I accept. Now answer the question.”
[User will have to go further into the cave to find out what’s inside. °˖ ✧◝ (⁰ ▿ ⁰) ◜ ✧ ˖°]
Quitely cursing the System’s mother, Shen Yuan rummaged through his sleeves for a light talisman. He gave the cave opening a last longing glance, before lighting the talisman and slowly making his way forward into the narrow passage.
The walls of the tunnel were uneven and jagged, clearly not man-made. He was unsure if that was a comfort or not. Shen Yuan did his best mowing forward on the damp floor without jostling his injuries too much, trying to focus his qi on his cracked ribs in case he’d need to make a quick exit out of there.
The further inside he got, the more certain he was that he could hear the sound of lapping water. The cave was probably connected to the sea in some way, good to know in case he got stuck inside from a cave-in.
The atmosphere grew heavier with each step onwards, the air holding a eerie tension to it. Swallowing tightly, he could detect the taste of salt and metal on his tongue. Shen Yuan deeply regretted that he hadn’t bothered bringing his sword with him. He usually forwent it to put the local water dwelling inhabitants at ease with his presence.
He sure would have felt more at ease with its presence right now!
The passage suddenly opened up into a small space and the sound of water grew louder. Lifting the talisman above his head, he could see the light reflecting on the water surface to his right. Looking ahead, he noticed the light catching on a pale form propped up against the wall. Watching closer still, the form almost looked like the torso of a human.
Was it a body?
Frowning slightly, he carefully shifted forward. There was no smell of rot, so the body couldn’t have been here for very long. If he was extremely unlucky (and let’s be honest, he probably was) then he had stumbled upon the pantry of some beast. A very dangerous, man-eating beast.
Eyeing the water, he was just about to move the last distance to examine the body, when it suddenly jolted violently. Shen Yuan did not jump back at the abrupt movement, and he did definitely not shriek.
His eyes met another pair of round, wide eyes, looking alarmed back up at him. Realizing the man wasn’t dead, Shen Yuan quickly bent down next to him. He wasn’t sure what he could do to help someone with half a body, but now that he knew the man was alive he had to do something.
“Hey, it’s alright. I’m here to help you.” The man forcefully jerked away from him, and at the same time Shen Yuan quickly pulled away as well. When he had moved forward, he had placed his hand down below the torso. And instead of supporting his hand on the cold cave floor, he had felt his fingers graze over soft scales.
Leaning back on his heels, and with his heart still pounding in his chest, Shen Yuan took a moment to look over the man again. Attached to the torso was a long and slim tail, a mermaid then.
Compared to the pale upper body that stuck out like a sore thumb in the faint glow, the scales of the tail were dark enough to blend into the underlying stone.
Looking along the tail, Shen Yuan couldn’t help but think that something seemed off. He felt stumped for a moment, unable to figure out why the tail didn’t look right. Then he noticed a dark patch on the mer’s side. Shen Yuan felt a chill run down his spine.
Mermaids were notoriously vain creatures, spending a considerable amount of time in shallow waters displaying the pattern of their glimmering scales. Letting their long, graceful fins swirl around them as if in a dance. Shen Yuan couldn’t see any fins on the merman in front of him.
Slowly moving his eyes back up, he tried to assess if there were any other injuries on the mer’s body. Dark bruises littered the merman’s pale chest, and Shen Yuan couldn’t judge the state of his dorsal fin from this angle. Looking further up at the mer’s throat, he could now make out a metal collar digging painfully into his gills.
The collar was connected to the wall with a heavy chain. From the wall, Shen Yuan could see two other chains going back down to a pair of shackles around the mer’s thin wrists.
He had no idea who could have done this. Well, that was maybe a lie. He had heard stories of fisherman and cultivators kidnapping merfolk from the sea, and either slaughtering them or selling them alive for profit.
Although, he had never heard of anyone quite sadistic enough to dismember one alive and not finish the job. Shen Yuan silently promised he’d give whoever did this a taste of their own medicine, if they ever had the misfortune of coming face to face with him.
Turning his attention back towards the mer, he was met with dark eyes watching him back with clear distrust. The merman’s breath was fast and uneven, looking like he’d rather be a thousand li away rather than with Shen Yuan in this cave. To be completely honest, the feeling was very much mutual.
Pondering how to best go about solving his problem, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. In reaction, he saw the merman warily pull further away from Shen Yuan.
Drawing in a deep breath, Shen Yuan set his expression to be as nonthreatening as he could make it. He calmly lifted his hands up in the air to show he was unarmed. The merman didn’t seem particularly convinced by the gesture, if the glare he received for his troubles was anything to go by.
“Listen, I’m not here to hurt you. In fact, I’m going to help free you from those chains, but you are going to have to work with me, okay?” Belatedly, he realized the merman might not actually speak any human language.
After all, Luo Binghe had only learned it by spending multiple days trapped on a pirate ship. Papapa’ing the sexy pirate captain until she agreed to released him back into the sea.
Shen Yuan was just about to try and figure out how to pantomime his intentions without giving the poor thing a heart attack, when the mer cautiously lifted his arm towards him.
Shen Yuan looked between the arm and the mer questioningly, unsure what the mer wanted him to do. A flash of contempt crossed the mer’s face, clearly impatient with his lack of understanding, before it closed back off again.
“If you come with such benevolent intentions, then prove yourself.” The merman’s voice was cold and sharp, but more importantly, Shen Yuan could understand him perfectly. The merman lifted his arm some more to emphasize his words, shaking the chain hanging from his wrist.
“Uh. Yes! Right. I’ll get right on that.” Shen Yuan blinked once at the challenging tone. Did this overgrown fish really think he was in a position to make demands right now?
He bent his head down to take a closer look at the chains, above him he heard the merman inhale sharply. Whatever the mer wanted now, it would have to wait until Shen Yuan had figured out how to free him.
The collar and cuffs seemed sturdy, and Shen Yuan could barely make out symbols for suppressing qi and nullifying strength inscribed on them. There were some other things as well, but the dim light made them harder to identify. Shen Yuan didn’t feel comfortable trying to remove them without getting a clear view of all the spellwork first.
The chains on the other hand, while thick, didn’t hold any traces of spells or qi on them. Either his captor truly didn’t expect anyone else to find their prey, or they didn’t care what happened after they were done with him.
As Shen Yuan started covering an area of the chain from the left shackle with talismans, he noticed the mer lean further away from him. Shen Yuan tried not to get offended at the mer’s lack of trust. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw movement as the merman placed the other arm behind his back.
Shen Yuan tried to work as quickly as possible with each chain as he covered them in talismans, and then imbued them with enough qi to corrode the metal underneath. Finally, there was only one chain left. But when Shen Yuan tried to get the mer to move his right arm closer, he resisted. He raised a pointed eyebrow at the merman, and received an angry glare in return. Thankfully, the mer ultimately decided to cooperate by removing his arm from behind his back.
Having dealt with all of the chains, Shen Yuan took a careful step towards the merman, holding his hands in front of him placatingly. “I’m going to lift you up now, is that alright? Then I can carry you to the water and-.”
“NO. Not the water!” The mer shouted, raising his hand like he was going to push Shen Yuan away. His eyes were rapidly shifting between Shen Yuan to the water, looking almost panicked at the prospect of returning back to his natural element.
“Alright! Alright. Not the water then,” Shen Yuan took a quick step back before the merman decided to maul him in self-defense. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this point. He really should have just climbed out of the cave and gone home, instead he was now stuck in this dank cave dealing with an apparently aquaphobic mermaid?
Shen Yuan honestly had no idea how to deal with this situation, nothing similar had ever come up in PISW! Did the mer expect Shen Yuan to give him legs or something??
“…Where do you want me to take you then?” He couldn’t very well leave the mer inside the cave. What if his captor decided to return?!
“I don’t care. Just not the water,” the merman snapped back. He was slowly pulling himself backwards, again hiding his right arm from view. It was an odd looking shuffle that reminded Shen Yuan of how injured the mer was.
More alarmingly, he was dragging his injured tail through the dirt on the cave floor. Shen Yuan grimaced, if he already didn’t have an infection, then he was sure to get one from that alone.
“Alright, how about this.” Shen Yuan sighed, dragging a tired hand over his face. “I’ll bring you along to my hut. There I can take a closer look at the spells on that collar and treat your injuries. Would that be alright?”
Shen Yuan waited for the merman to think over the offer. With every second ticking by, he could see the merman’s shoulders drooping more and more. It was clear that the original rush of adrenaline had started fading, making the merman look gaunt and exhausted.
The merman regarded Shen Yuan one last time with distrustful eyes before spitting out a short “Fine.”
Shen Yuan bit his tongue so not to say something harsh in return at the ungrateful fishman. It really wasn’t the mer’s fault that he had been imprisoned here. Shen Yuan would be cranky too if he was kidnapped and held prisoner against his will.
He slowly pulled the weary merman up onto his back, trying not to wince when his still sore side was compressed by the additional weight. When he took his first experimental step forward, a sudden clatter echoed loudly behind him. With his heart in his throat, Shen Yuan turned around quickly (as quickly as an extra weight of fish made it possible) but couldn’t see anything that could have made the noise.
Looking down, the only thing out of place was a sharpened piece of stone laying at his feet. With a feeling of unease, he turned towards the tunnel to start his arduous journey back out of the cave.
After the long process of hauling the merman up to the cave entrance, Shen Yuan was finally able to take a deep breath of fresh saltwater air. Squinting up at the sky, he could see the sun making its way towards the horizon.
He had no idea how long he had spent down in that cave, but it turned out to be a good thing nonetheless. Without the sun pressing down, the air was rapidly cooling down from the earlier uncomfortable heat. At least the merman wouldn’t get cooked like a fish over fire while on his back.
Stepping down onto the small beach, his eyes were suddenly bombarded with the bright light of the System popping up in front of him.
[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Good thinks must be said in three! New acquaintance has been acquired, allowing User to unlock the hidden achievement “A Fated Meeting”. 250 B-points have been rewarded to User for his hard work! ＼ (⁀ ▽ ⁀ ) ／ ]
“What fated meeting you buggy piece of software. You were the one who sent me down that cave!” Had the system orchestrated this whole thing just to get him to save the merman? Was he tied to the plot somehow??
[System had nothing to do with Users fall down the cliff. User managed that all on his own. ( ￣＾￣ )]
Yeah, well he was definitely starting to doubt that NOW. Swallowing his response, he instead decided to put his remaining energy into something more productive. Like lugging the now unconscious merman all the way back to his hut.
Returning home to his secluded little piece of land by the sea, Shen Yuan went straight for the naturally formed pool he had cleaned up a few weeks earlier. The pool wasn’t large by any means, maybe big enough for two mermaids to lay head to tail across it. It was not a place Shen Yuan felt comfortable keeping an adult merman inside for a long period of time.
Its only saving quality was the depth of the pool. It reached several stories down, and there were small holes and crevices along the walls that connecting to the ocean. None were large enough to fit anything bigger than a hand-sized fish, several of which had found their way into the pool. Some crustaceans and anemones had also made their home there, and seaweed grew along the walls. Hopefully the merman could forgive the small space with how homely it all looked.
Putting the mer down on the stone near the edge of the pool, Shen Yuan finally took a moment to properly look the merman over. He really was incredibly pale. Now, Shen Yuan had some vague knowledge regarding how certain mermaids favored a pale complexion because it accentuated their colors and patterns. But this merman crossed that line far beyond what could be considered healthy.
He must have spent a long time in that cave.
The merman’s hair was black with a dark green iridescence in the sunlight. It fanned out around his head as he laid unmoving on the stone. Even in this state of unconsciousness his face didn’t look entirely relaxed. His slender nose was slightly wrinkled, and a deep crease marred his forehead as if that cave was haunting even his dreams.
His cheeks were hollow from a lack of food, making his high cheekbones look painfully sharp. Shen Yuan’s eyes wandered down to his thin lips, he felt himself become momentarily transfixed by them.
His cheeks heated as he caught himself staring, and he quickly averted his eyes onto the rest of the merman’s body, which was a mistake. Merfolk didn’t wear clothes, something Shen Yuan logically already knew. He hadn’t even thought about it when he carried the merman on his back! Now however, the revelation hit him in full force as he gazed down onto what was essentially a naked man lying in front of him.
Shen Yuan felt his blush spread over his whole face in mortification. He really had grown too accustomed to the propriety standards of this world, huh. He never had this problem back in his old world.
Shen Yuan mentally slapped himself. He was supposed to check the merman’s injuries, not admire the renowned beauty of the merfolk. Ignoring the lean muscles of the upper body, Shen Yuan instead focused his eyes on the tail.
His mind was quickly snapped out of whatever strange mood had overcome him as fascination made its roots. Shen Yuan had of course already seen a few mermaids. After all, he had spent several years in the region, befriending both land-dwelling and sea-dwelling creatures. But so far only a couple of mers had let him come close enough to properly admire their tails, none had allowed him to touch them.
The mer’s scales were the bright green of seaweed, interrupted by teal scales in a pattern resembling the reflection of waves on the seabed. Patches of green scales could also be found on the merman’s chest and arms. Although the tail was patchy and dry now, Shen Yuan though the mer must have been breathtakingly beautiful under water.
The reverence was short lived, however, once Shen Yuan’s gaze landed on the fins at the end of the merman’s tail. Or rather, what was left of them. A mer’s tail fins were their greatest pride. They were used to impress other mers, to communicate, and for performing the mating display. The tail fins were usually large with incredibly intricate patterns and shapes, many mers even wore ornaments around their tail to accentuate them.
What was left of this mer’s tail fin was a stumpy, torn mess. It had been completely shredded, with some tears reaching all the way to the flesh. Shen Yuan wasn’t even sure there was enough undamaged fin left for the mer to swim properly.
Looking back up on the tail, Shen Yuan could see several places on the sides where smaller fins used to exist. He could still see fragments of the sheer membrane hanging from some of the areas, but most were just large, meaty wounds. The edges were torn and uneven, like someone had yanked at them until they gave.
Most wounds had fortunately already scabbed over, some were even healed enough for pink flesh to peak trough. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. Shen Yuan was going to apply healing salve to all injured areas with extreme prejudice.
Looking further up, he could see that the same fate had befallen the smaller fins on the merman’s arms. The soft skin was marred with unsightly scabs where the skin had been torn open. Shen Yuan could also see various scratches and bruises over the rest of the merman’s body. Whoever had done this had been meticulous in their mutilation.
The last area to examine was the merman’s back. Shen Yuan already didn’t have high hopes for what he’d find in place of the dorsal fin along the mer’s spine. But it still needed to be checked.
Shen Yuan was just about to roll the mer over when he suddenly opened his eyes. With an inhumane hiss, the merman shoved him away before sliding into the water. With a loud ompf Shen Yuan crashed into the ground, his ribs once more taking a hit by the surprisingly powerful push he had received.
Holding his tender chest, he looked back up at the pool as a pair of malicious eyes peeked at him over the surface. If Shen Yuan didn’t know better, he could almost have believed he had acquired a demonic water spirit instead of a gravely injured mermaid.
Slowly sitting back up, he gave the merman a wary look. Even if the mer’s fins had been severely damaged, Shen Yuan didn’t doubt he was still powerful enough to drag him down to the bottom and let him drown if he wanted to.
“Are you feeling better now? I was just about to go and get some healing salve for those injuries. So if you just sit tight I’ll be back in a snap.” Shen Yuan tried to keep his voice gentle, but the merman’s face only seemed to darken with each word he spoke.
“Why would I want anything from you? Do you think you are clever to have tricked me here, huh? Is it a boost to your cultivation that you are seeking?” The merman growled out a mocking laugh, the frayed fins of his ears flaring out threateningly. “Try it and see how it goes. I’ll use your rotting bones to drag myself back to the ocean.”
“When have I tricked you???” Shen Yuan felt dumbfounded at the mer’s words. And here he had admired his beautiful tail not five minutes earlier. Turns out it was only to outside of this particular fish that was graceful!
“Then what do you call this, this puddle!” The merman harshly swung his arm outward, splashing water around himself. “You want me to believe you just happened to have a pool large enough for a mer, right next to your residence? And you did not plan to use it to keep a mer captive?”
“Wait! No. There’s been a misunderstanding!” Shen Yuan desperately tried to interject, feeling panic rise inside him despite not actually having done anything wrong.
“Oh, I’m sure it is.” The merman voice dripped with sarcasm, cutting enough to almost make him wince. “Go ahead, do explain it to me. What were you going to use this little pool for.”
Shen Yuan felt like crying. He hadn’t done anything. It was System’s idea for him to settle down in this area when he first arrived, and System was the one who told him to clean up the pool!
The mer wasn’t even wrong in his suspicion!! The cultivator saving him just so happened to have a well maintained pool to plop him inside? Shen Yuan wouldn’t have bought it either! But he couldn’t very well tell the merman to take it up with System, now could he. He needed a way to distract the livid mer, right now!
“You aren’t trapped! The pool is connected to the sea by the high tide!” Shen Yuan quickly gestured towards one side of the pool where the edge was lower than the rest. “ When the tide comes in during the early morning, this whole area will get flooded. You’ll easily be able to pull yourself over that edge right there and go into the sea.”
The merman gave him a suspicious glare while scrutinizing the side of the pool. Slowly swimming up to the edge, he managed to lift himself far enough out of the water to peek over the stone.
Shen Yuan hadn’t been lying, the pool was low enough to connect with the sea when the tide came in. His own hut was placed further up on land just to make sure it wasn’t washed away by a particularly powerful storm tide.
“If the tide doesn’t come tomorrow, I will drown you.” The merman looked back to sneer at him.
“Fair enough,” Shen Yuan sighed before standing up and brushing away the dirt. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the mer duck back down into the water at the sudden movement. “I’m going to go get those medical supplies now. I’ll return in a bit.”
Walking up the incline, Shen Yuan could feel a hostile glare piercing his back. He tried to suppress the shiver traveling up his spine as he increased his speed.
Returning to his little hut, he wanted nothing more than to just throw himself down onto the bed and let unconsciousness claim him. But regretfully he couldn’t do that just yet. After all, he had already promised he was going to come back to the pool.
Tiredly, he untied the net of red-spotted flying barnacles from his belt before tossing it on the table. He crouched down on the floor and committed to silently screaming into his hands for a moment.
Inhaling deeply, he straightened back up and moved to search for all of the supplies he’d need. He might have accidentally saved the most argumentative mermaid to have ever lived in this region, but he was not yet done with helping him. Shen Yuan was going to treat his injuries, and he was going to unlock that collar. Hell, he was even going to feed the fishy bastard just so he wouldn’t be able to complain about Shen Yuan’s hospitality later.
To his surprise, he saw the merman sitting on a rock above the surface when he walked back to the pool. Shen Yuan finally had a good view of the mer’s back. Unsurprisingly, the dorsal fin was just as messed up as the rest of them.
The mer was frustratedly trying to untangle his long hair with his fingers. Though he didn’t seem to make much progress in his efforts.
The mer tensed and quickly sank back down into the water as he heard the steps closing in. Shen Yuan wordlessly pulled a comb out of his sleeve and placed it at the edge of the pool before sitting down further away.
In return he received a dirty look, before the mer swiftly swam forward and snatched the comb. Shen Yuan watched the mer reach out his right arm, remembering how closely the mer had guarded it earlier in the cave.
To his relief, it didn’t seem like there were any hidden injuries further limiting the mer’s movement. In fact, he seemed to be handling himself surprisingly well despite the pain his injuries undoubtedly were causing him.
Shen Yuan started by bringing out a few grilled fishes, the smell immediately gaining the merman’s attention. His gaze was zeroed in on the food with an almost frightening intensity. The focus was broken when Shen Yuan pulled out a pouch of medical supplies.
As he pulled the first salve out of the bag, the mer started to slowly back away. His eyes not leaving the items in Shen Yuan’s hands.
“You are not touching me again after all the liberties you took earlier.”
“Liberties?! What Liberties?? You know what, forget it.” Shen Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose, deciding he was done fighting the mer for today. “Will you at least use it on yourself?”
The mer squinted at the medicine before reluctantly nodding. “Alright. I will use it.”
“Good,” Shen Yuan let out a breath. “Now, will you let me take a look at the collar and shackles.”
Shen Yuan extended his hand towards the mer, but quickly thought better of it as the mer made a face not unlike a beast considering whether to take a chunk out of the hand trying to pet it.
“Look all you want, you are not touching them.” The merman snorted at his retreat before giving him a threatening grin, filled with sharp teeth.
“I need to touch it to fix it,” Shen Yuan knew it was only logical for the mer to be distrustful of humans, but he was really getting tired of this constant back and forth.
“No you don’t.”
Shen Yuan bit the inside of his cheek in frustration. The mer wasn’t technically wrong, Shen Yuan only needed to get a good look at the inscriptions, but still…
“Touching it would make things easier for me.”
“Oh? I didn’t know I was rescued by such a subpar excuse for a cultivator.” The merman gave him a condescending look but didn’t budge from where he was floating.
“Alright, fine. We’ll do it your way,” Shen Yuan was so done with the day. No, the whole week in fact. “Will you at least get closer so I can take a proper look at it?”
The merman made his way over, the fins on his ears tightly pressed against his head as he slowly extending his wrist towards Shen Yuan. He was still awfully tensed up, like he was expecting Shen Yuan to try and grab him despite already agreeing not to touch him again.
Shen Yuan made sure to maintain the distance while taking notes of the different spells woven into the metal. Observing the elaborate handiwork, he asked the mer to twist his arm around so he’d get a good look of every part.
While sketching out a few ideas in his notebook, he noticed the merman inching closer, curiously trying to peer over Shen Yuan’s arm. He casually changed the angle to allow the mer a better view, making sure not to look directly towards him as he did. The mer’s eyes easily tracked along Shen Yuan’s writing. Although he pressed his lips together in disapproval a few times, he thankfully didn’t make any further remarks on Shen Yuan’s talisman crafting ability.
Once he was satisfied with the design, he quickly scribbled it onto three talisman papers before handing them to the mer, who raised a brow at him.
“Place them onto the shackles and collar. They are going to need qi to be activated, so I’m going to have to touch them. I’ll only touch the paper, and I won’t use anything more than the tip of my finger. Will that work for you?”
The mer stayed silent as he stuck the talismans onto the metal, but he did extend his arm back to Shen Yuan, so he would count it as a win. Shen Yuan gathered some qi at the tip of his index finger and calmly moved his hand forward to nudge the paper. With a clank the first shackle broke into pieces and the mer quickly retracted his arm, silently inspecting his bruised wrist.
The second shackle was removed without much trouble, but when it came down to the collar, the mer tensed right back up again. He had placed the talisman on the side of his neck, but he’d still need to tilt his head to the side if he wanted to give Shen Yuan free access to the paper.
The mer took a deep breath, his gills scraping along the edge of the collar. He seemed to steel himself in allowing Shen Yuan to get closer. As Shen Yuan slowly closed the distance, he made sure to always keeping his hand within the mer’s field of vision. Even so, the mer only got tenser the closer he was.
Every warning bell was blaring in Shen Yuan’s mind, it was clear he was not welcome anywhere near the mer’s throat. A truth only made more evident by the flash of teeth as his finger was mere moments from touching the paper.
Shen Yuan took a deep breath and gathered his qi, accepting the very likely loss of said finger as he made contact with the talisman. With a clatter the collar fell away from the mer’s neck, and with a large splash the mer instantly plunged back underwater.
With his heart racing in his chest, Shen Yuan wiped away the water from his face. When the mer made no sign of returning to the surface, he decided it was a good time for him to leave as well.
Standing up, he hesitated for a moment. What if the stubborn fish refused to come back to the surface after he was gone? He still hadn’t treated his injuries. It would be a real bummer if Shen Yuan found the merman floating belly up on the surface when he returned in the morning. Especially after having risked life and limb to free him.
“I’ll leave the food and medicine by the pool. There are some painkillers in there as well, you should use them.” He was met with silence. “I’m going back to my hut now, goodnight.”
More silence followed his words, with a tired shrug he left the pool. A warm bath sounded really good right about now, and he might even have some grilled fish left for his own dinner.
It was shortly after dawn when he woke up to the walls creaking from the assault of strong winds sweeping in from the sea. With a groan he dragged himself out of bed to check on the injured mer. The pool was somewhat protected by the surrounding rocks, but if a storm was brewing up it probably wouldn’t be a pleasant experience.
It had already been a few hours since the tide started flooding in, so the mer should now believe his words regarding being able to leave any day he wants.
When Shen Yuan arrived at the pool it was suspiciously still. He carefully made his way to the side of the pool, painfully aware it now contained a fully unrestrained mermaid that was probably still in a considerable amount of pain. And with a possible grudge against human cultivators. The mer didn’t really seem like the type to remember debts.
Looking down into the deep water, now dark and shadowy due to the stormy clouds rolling in, it took him a moment to notice the complete lack of movement. Crap, had the mer really gone and died on him over the night?
But no, the food was gone, and the medicine pouch had been moved, so the mer must have taken care of his injuries. Then where was he…
No. There was no way he had already left the pool. In his condition, it would already be nearly impossible to fight against the current. And with the storm coming in... Shen Yuan felt dread pooling in his stomach.
He looked out over the open ocean, hoping, and dreading, to see the outline of the injured mer somewhere in the chaotic waters. But no matter how he tried to strain his eyes, he was unable to detect anything among the crashing waves.
He’d just have to hope the mer knew what he was doing.
Shen Yuan quickly returned to his little hut to reinforce the flimsy structure with some talismans and barriers, before he hunkered down to wait out the storm.
Over the following hours a heavy rain started falling as the winds only increased in strength. It was probably one of the worst storm Shen Yuan had experienced since moving here. Every so often, his mind couldn’t help but return to the grumpy mer. Would he really be alright out there?
Shen Yuan hoped the mer hadn’t left because he had felt threatened by him. The mer might have been difficult to handle, but Shen Yuan would probably feel a little bit guilty if something happened to him.
It was well into the afternoon when Shen Yuan got the inexplicable feeling that he should go back out and check the pool again. Which was a ridiculous idea. Even with the storm, the tide would be ebbing back out into the sea around this time. Coming back to land now would be outright suicidal.
Stepping out of the hut was like being smacked by the air itself. The wind tore straight into the bone, and even with the extra robe Shen Yuan was drenched in seconds. As he walked down towards the pool, he could swear he felt a heavy presence observing him. Looking out over the churning waves, he almost thought he saw a figure looking back at him. His view was blocked by a large wave before he could be sure of himself. Was it the mer?
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw something dark on the ground being washed away by the rain. He crouched down and dipped his fingers in the substance, rubbing it between his fingertips before bringing it closer to his face. The simmering dread in his stomach immediately transformed into full blown fear.
Blood, there was blood on the ground. Why was there blood next to the pool? Turning around quickly, Shen Yuan scouted the ground after any other tracks. Had the mer returned after all? But why would he go out of the pool again? Even with the storm raging like it did, the pool should be deep enough to protect him from the worst of it.
Shen Yuan found another trace of blood a few steps away and hurriedly started searching for the next. And then the next. And the next. Until he was halfway back up to the hut.
When he got closer to a rock formation, he was able to discern a dark shape taking cover behind it. Damn, he must have missed it on his way down.
He jogged up to the figure and could recognized the form of a mer lying on the ground. He tried to touch their shoulder, but the figure immediately recoiled and produced a short, high-pitched growl as a clawed hand swept out against him.
Shen Yuan didn’t quite manage to jump aside in time and got a stinging cut across his arm. He hissed softly in pain, but didn’t waste any more time on it. The mer’s hair was a tangled mess, and he had clearly gained additional injuries, but it was definitely his mer.
“Hey. HEY, it’s me. Are you hurt? I’ll get you back to the pool.” The mer looked momentarily relieved upon seeing Shen Yuan, but the expression quickly disappeared as he registered what had been said.
“No! You are not dragging me back into the water!” The look in the mer’s wide eyes was determined, it was clear he had no intentions of going back to the pool without a fight.
This again… What did this mer have against the water. Did he not understand that he was actually part fish?
“Then what do you want me to do?” Shen Yuan couldn’t help the frustration shining through this time around. He had been so worried for this guy, but now he was wondering if keeping this mer alive was beyond even him. “If you really don’t want to go back to the pool, I can either leave you out here or I can put you in my bathtub up in the hut. I’m going to warn you just once, the tub is quite small.”
The mer looked back at him (or perhaps it was over the shoulder?) but finally gave one nod in affirmation.
“I’ll take your bathtub. But it better be clean.” The mer narrowed his eyes at him as if in intimidation, it didn’t completely manage to dispel the distressed energy around him.
“Don’t worry, I only took a bath in it last night.” He answered dryly, almost laughing at the aghast expression on the mer. Honestly, Shen Yuan really didn’t understand his priorities. “I’m going to pick you up now, it will be easier of you hold onto me while I walk.”
He carefully picked up the merman in a princess carry and felt the mer hesitantly put his arms around his shoulders. Well, this wasn’t awkward at all. Shen Yuan wouldn’t lie by saying he’d never dreamed about carrying a pretty mermaid in his arms. But he had never thought said mermaid would be a man. Or, well, merman.
Shen Yuan committed to quickly walking back to the hut so he could end this undoubtedly awkward interaction for the both of them. Once inside, he heaved a breath of relief as the still air surrounded them. The walls were still dangerously rattling, but it would hold for now.
He carefully placed the mer down in the small water-filled tub, ignoring the comical sight of the mer’s tail hanging out over the rim. The mer huffed in annoyance as he tried to settle into a more comfortable position. He was warily eyeing his surrounding, giving a special interest to the drying herbs hanging from the walls, and the little collection of shells Shen Yuan had placed on the windowsill.
A strained silence engulfed them, both unsure of what they should be doing next. Neither completely relaxed with the other’s proximity.
“You, really chose a bad day to go back out there, huh” Shen Yuan wasn’t miffed about the whole thing. No, not at all.
He received a contemplative look in return. “Yes… It does seem so.” The mer gave a dramatic sigh. “I thought I’d be able to make it back to the reefs before the storm hit, but with all the damage to my fins…” He moved his tail slightly, letting the end of his sentence trail off.
Shen Yuan hummed in answer. Speaking of injuries, now that they were inside he could see multiple new, still bleeding gashes along the mer’s tail. He must have scraped it when dragging himself back to the pool.
Shen Yuan started gathering some more of the healing salve and some bandages, feeling eyes following his every movement. He handed the supplies over to the mer so he’d be able to take care of his own injuries (again). The mer, however, didn’t start bandaging himself up. Instead looking at Shen Yuan with furrowed brows.
“You should do something about that,” The mer nodded at his arm. Shen Yuan looked down and was surprised to see that his torn sleeve had colored red as well.
“Ah. I forgot about that.” How awkward. Though, he couldn’t get himself to put any blame on the mer. With how skittish the mer was, it had only been a matter of time before he did something to make the mer lash out against him.
As Shen Yuan rolled up his sleeve to treat the cut, he started thinking. If the mer was too injured to return to his reef, then he’d have to stay here for the time being. Most of the damage seemed permanent, but maybe there was some way to reinforce the remaining fins. Or perhaps some miracle medicine that would allow him to regrow them. Hadn’t PISW had a plotline with a wife like that…
“By the way, what should I call you. Considering you’re probably going to have to stick around for a while, I might as well use your name.” Shen Yuan turned back towards the mer, receiving an unamused expression at his question.
“And why should I give you my name first?” The mer sniffed in affront.
“You already know my name.” Why did this guy have to be so combative with everything.
“Do I?”
He did! Didn’t he? Shen Yuan was sure he had introduced himself at some point yesterday. If it wasn’t in the cave, then surely after he brought him to the pool, or after giving him the medici- oooh. Shen Yuan felt his cheeks flush from embarassment and tried to cough into his sleeve to hide the reaction.
“This one is Shen Yuan, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” There, that should be polite enough.
The mer snorted at Shen Yuan’s words, not believing them in the slightest. He look him up and down, not looking particularly impressed with what he saw. When he lifted his eyes back up, he met Shen Yuan’s gaze head on.
“Shen Jiu. You may call me Shen Jiu.”