All along the way, Shu Tang pondered what exactly the mermaid was keeping from her.
Just think, one day your boyfriend asks you to pack up and immediately escape with him to an island; you could freely choose between him having robbed a bank or started a fire.
So, although the sea view was beautiful, Shu Tang felt somewhat indifferent to it.
She put a black plastic bag with two holes over her head and leaned in to ask the mermaid, “Little Rose, did you rob a bank?”
The mermaid turned around, and his eyes met with Shu Tang’s, covered by the plastic bag: “…”
Shu Tang thought about the boat. Another possibility was that the mermaid and the fleet from the Southern Island base had clashed at sea. Even though the opposition might be fully armed and overwhelming in number, looking at the mermaid beside her, she felt he must have had the upper hand.
But fleeing overnight must mean they were in serious trouble.
Zhu Yan, although he had been a man of high rank and power, had already retired.
Shu Tang went to question the mermaid, who responded with silence, as if he was tacitly confirming her suspicions.
Shu Tang became very nervous and began to go back to tally up their food and fresh water.
After worrying for quite a while, she emerged from the cabin to find the mermaid leisurely fishing—using her fishing rod.
Shu Tang thought: He could just catch fish in the sea, why bother with this?
She walked over and began gesturing, “Your rod’s angle is all wrong, did you even use the bait?”
After her pointers, the mermaid lazily flicked the hook, casting occasional, odd glances at her.
After watching the mermaid fish for a while, Shu Tang suddenly realized something.
Wait, if there really was a problem, why would the mermaid be here fishing? He would have surely whisked her far away by now.
The fish had become cunning; he was actually playing with her.
Shu Tang turned around, incredulous.
The mermaid lazily looked at her, even reached out to ruffle her hair as if he were petting a not-so-smart kitten, and gently patted her head.
Shu Tang: What kind of look was that?!
Shu Tang lunged to snatch his fishing rod, but the mermaid caught her and pinned her against the railings.
The mermaid laughed tremblingly at her neck.
Shu Tang furiously shoved at the fish but, finding it immovable, sulked and flopped down, sliding out of the mermaid’s embrace like a salted fish, limbs sprawled out.
The mermaid reached out to poke her, but Shu Tang refused to budge.
Determined to ignore the mermaid, Shu Tang lay flat.
That was until the mermaid let out a harsh cry toward Zhen Zhen—
Just before Zhen Zhen could spout water, Shu Tang swiftly scrambled into the cabin.
Shu Tang: “Little Rose, you’re too despicable!”
The mermaid’s laughter from outside was very pleasant to hear. Shu Tang angrily poked her head out, only to find the mermaid’s laughter rather charming, especially in the sunlight, resembling the spirited figure in that photo.
—She quite liked it.
After realizing her thoughts, Shu Tang was stunned for a moment, thinking:
It’s over, she had really fallen hard.
…
The mermaid was terrible at fishing, having caught no fish the entire afternoon.
Shu Tang mercilessly ridiculed him.
The mermaid turned and handed her the fishing rod, as if to say, if you’re so capable, you do it.
Shu Tang finally found something the mermaid wasn’t good at. She took out the fishing rod and continued fishing, intending to show off her skills in front of the mermaid. After all, she had been honing her fishing skills since kindergarten, learning from her father.
But Shu Tang fished for a long time and caught nothing.
At first, Shu Tang thought her skills had regressed from years without practice.
Shu Tang grew anxious, especially since the mermaid had just left and hadn’t come back. If she couldn’t catch any fish before his return, she wouldn’t be able to live up to her boasts.
Until Shu Tang ran to the side of the boat and saw—
A mermaid next to her fishing rod.
Every time a fish neared her rod, the mermaid would swiftly flick its tail, driving all the nearby fish away.
Shu Tang: “…”
Shu Tang was utterly baffled.
Shu Tang yelled: “Little Rose, you’re too despicable!”
Then, the mermaid lazily glanced at her and vanished into the sea.
Shu Tang thought that without the mermaid’s interference, she could definitely catch something.
Sure enough, a while later, her fishing rod dipped.
Shu Tang felt a thrill.
Feeling the weight, Shu Tang believed it must be a big fish.
She hastily reeled in.
And then, she caught a mermaid.
The mermaid leisurely climbed ashore, shaking off the water from its tail.
Asking her if she was satisfied with this catch?
Shu Tang: “…”
*
The ship stopped at an island.
The island was located further away than the power station, surrounded by the sea on all sides, and was very beautiful.
Most importantly, as soon as Shu Tang landed on the island, she saw banana trees not far away and coconuts all over the ground. In the 21st century, Shu Tang wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic about these fruits, but after staying in the safe zone for a long time, she felt she might have devolved into a monkey, crazily craving bananas.
She followed the mermaid, picking bananas along the way until she could carry no more. Then she walked over to the mermaid and casually placed his hand on her collar.
The mermaid looked down and made eye contact with her.
Shu Tang: “……”
mermaid: “……”
Thus, the mermaid’s mobility device was activated, and Shu Tang successfully brought the bananas to their temporary dwelling.
On the island, there was a cliff, not very high, but right below it was a cave. The cave was dry and well-ventilated, very suitable for a holiday.
After setting up a temporary tent, Shu Tang used the mermaid’s tail to open a coconut.
She smashed two bananas into the coconut shell to make a banana coconut milkshake, inserted a spoon, and propped up a parasol.
Shu Tang felt her life had been elevated.
The island wasn’t large, with its light-colored sandy beaches reflecting the azure sea and sky outside.
Shu Tang’s favorite way to travel was not hiking or sightseeing, but to find a scenic spot to lie down and enjoy the breeze.
She lay in the cave, feeling the wind and exclaimed:
“This is life!”
The mermaid flicked his tail in agreement.
Then, both of them lay still, lazily together, watching a beautiful sunset.
However, lying there, Shu Tang felt they resembled a retired old couple.
And she wondered if it was a case of being influenced by proximity—now the mermaid seemed to have become lazy too.
But laziness has its benefits; after all, the mermaid used to always look gloomy, but now, he was much more cheerful and lively.
—Clearly, only Shu Tang would consider the mermaid “cheerful”.
After sharing this observation with the mermaid, he coldly pointed out: the only one lacking vitality and very lazy was Shu Tang.
—And the mermaid was still very energetic. At least he could drag a group of killer whales by hand to keep as pets for Shu Tang.
Shu Tang: “……”
Shu Tang was extremely angry. Taking advantage of the moment when the mermaid turned his head to flick his tail, Shu Tang bit the mermaid’s face.
The mermaid fell eerily silent for a moment, then turned his head, bearing the bite mark, and dragged the attempting-to-escape Shu Tang back.
By now, Shu Tang was experienced. She simply lay there, allowing the mermaid to bite her back.
In this matter, Shu Tang had an absolute advantage because the mermaid could not control his strength well and never dared to bite too hard.
Shu Tang gloated, “Go on, bite! Oh, with one bite, you’ll kill your lifetime love!”
The mermaid just gave a cold laugh.
And then she began to strip Shu Tang’s clothes.
Shu Tang was horrified.
—How could such a thing be done under broad daylight!
The more she struggled in the mermaid’s grasp, the colder the mermaid’s expression became, and the more chilling the laugh.
But then Shu Tang realized there was no one around, so she let go of her grip on her clothes and lay flat.
The mermaid asked her why she stopped struggling.
Shu Tang countered, “Do you enjoy it when I struggle?”
The mermaid pondered, seeming to realize: It really does seem so.
Shu Tang was furious.
She decided to play dead like a salted fish, to make the mermaid lose interest.
However, she found out the mermaid was not fussy; although she no longer struggled, he seemed very interested in every part of her body, even pausing after pinching Shu Tang’s soft belly.
The mermaid’s abdomen was firm muscle, but Shu Tang’s, who disliked exercising, was soft. It felt very nice to the touch. The mermaid prodded it curiously.
Shu Tang felt like a stress toy, her eyes starting to shoot fire.
But as the mermaid began to move upward, the atmosphere shifted.
What started as playful scuffling turned into a scene that needed dimmed lights.
The setting sun was also quite fitting.
Under the warm hues of the sunset, the contrasting sensations of cold and warmth became very enticing.
Until that beautiful hand started moving from her waist downwards, Shu Tang finally snapped out of it, shouting loudly, “Zhen Zhen, Zhen Zhen is still watching!”
Startled by her shout, the mermaid paused.
Then Shu Tang covered her clothes and swiftly scurried into the direction of the tent.
However, once inside, Shu Tang was still trembling with residual fear.
Upon further thought: No, that’s not right. She is the alpha. She should be the one acting devilishly wild; it’s that fish outside that should be hiding.
In the tent, the more she thought about it, the angrier she got. After devising a series of sneak attack strategies, she poked her head out of the tent.
She then discovered that the mermaid had already started preparing dinner—fish soup and deliciously aromatic hairy crabs.
Moreover, Shu Tang noticed that the mermaid, who was cooking the soup, had a beautiful side profile softened by the light, which diminished his usual cold sharpness and perseverance. Under the sunset, he even seemed to possess the demeanor of a virtuous wife.
The entire island was filled with the scent of dinner and a homely atmosphere.
The enchanting ambiance had also vanished.
While Shu Tang was still struggling internally, the mermaid turned around and handed her a shelled crab leg.
The meat was crystal clear and looked appetizing in his cold, pale, slender hand.
It tasted so good that Shu Tang immediately forgave him.
…
On the second day of her island vacation.
In the morning, Shu Tang was fishing in the shallow waters.
At that time, a buzzing roar came from the sky.
Shu Tang looked up to see a helicopter swooping down, dropping bundles of paper. But quickly, the mermaid glanced up, and the helicopter swiftly flew away, dropping all the paper bundles into the sea at a high speed.
Shu Tang said, “Who does that, such poor manners.”
To think someone would travel all this distance just to litter in the sea.
Shu Tang thought this was yet another sign of the decline in people’s manners in the federation and didn’t pursue it further.
The mermaid squinted at the helicopter disappearing into the sky, his gaze quite unfriendly.
Shu Tang didn’t take the incident to heart.
She could vaguely sense that the mermaid was hiding something from her, but she tried asking him twice.
The first time, the mermaid fed her crab legs.
The second time, the mermaid took her diving in the sea and showed her a very beautiful jellyfish.
Thus, although Shu Tang always had her suspicions, she kept getting distracted and never had time to think deeply about it.
As for her communicator having no signal, Shu Tang simply assumed it was because they were too far from the base station.
However, after the airdrop failed, the people on the other side still did not give up trying to contact Shu Tang.
So, that night, while Shu Tang was drinking a banana milkshake by the sea, she found a message in a bottle.
Shu Tang thought to herself, “What era is it now, and why is someone still doing such an ancient thing?” But when she opened it, she found a letter inside.
The sender was Old Wu.
Shu Tang looked at the message in the bottle.
She thought: “Why don’t they hide a book in a fish’s belly, and make it about King Chen Sheng when you open it?”
The letter was very simple, containing an unpublished paper.
Shu Tang, being a therapist, quickly grasped the significance of the research findings after reading it.
Almost immediately, Shu Tang put on her slippers and ran towards the mermaid on the other side of the island.
Shu Tang had always been somewhat concerned about the mental state of the mermaid. Becoming stronger wasn’t necessarily a good thing, as it might mean the dangers of a potential mental outburst could become even greater.
Though the mermaid was now taking medication on schedule and its mental state had gradually stabilized, it was like a ticking time bomb. If it were to relapse one day, no one could predict what might happen.
But as Shu Tang approached the cave, she suddenly stopped.
She remembered how the mermaid had abruptly brought her to the island, then thought about the message in a bottle—why would Chen and the others use such a roundabout way to contact her if they could do so openly?
There was only one answer: the mermaid did not want to return for treatment.
It felt like the mermaid had something to hide from her, a kind of understanding that almost allowed it to predict her reactions, which is why it decisively brought her to this secluded island.
Shu Tang stopped walking.
Not far away, among the waves, the mermaid on the rocks also saw her but did not come closer.
Because the mermaid also saw what was in Shu Tang’s hands.
In the darkness, the monster’s fins fluttered, staring at the item in Shu Tang’s hand and uttered a low “Tang”.
The mermaid was signaling Shu Tang to discard what she was holding.
Put someone else in her situation: isolated on a strange island, with a communication device that no longer had a signal, facing a powerful creature. They would certainly think this capricious beast meant to harm her.
But Shu Tang knew this creature—it was her lover.
So, naturally, she threw the message in the bottle into the sea.
Then she walked towards the creature by the rocks and naturally wrapped her arms around the mermaid’s waist.
Thus, the beast gradually relaxed and affectionately nuzzled her shoulder.
They embraced quietly for a while.
Shu Tang felt the mermaid was like a clingy big cat that, after hissing at you, would immediately come over to nuzzle and please you. However, she hesitated for a moment and then decided to have an honest conversation with the mermaid.
Yet, as soon as Shu Tang spoke, the mermaid stared at her with a fierce look, lips tightly pressed together, appearing very uncooperative.
Anyone else would have been frightened to death by now, but Shu Tang, with her rich experience of arguing with the mermaid, sensed a confrontation brewing. Just when it seemed they would clash, the mermaid suddenly bowed its head, lifted her chin, and kissed her fiercely.
Shu Tang: ?
Hadn’t they just been confronting each other and brewing an atmosphere for an argument?
The mermaid’s kiss was ferocious, like a burning liquor in icy water, matching the beastly nature of the creature itself, filled with animalistic desire yet laden with a paranoid affection.
Shu Tang was left dizzy and light-headed from lack of blood supply to her brain until the mermaid finally released her, even taking a bite at the corner of her lip.
When she regained her breath, Shu Tang wanted to bring up the topic of the drift bottle again.
But the mermaid continued to kiss down her neck.
Shu Tang: ?
Shu Tang: Wait, weren’t we supposed to discuss a matter of life and death?
Their skins touched amidst the sea breeze.
The cold kisses trailed downwards, unspeakably chilly in the summer.
The mermaid then picked up Shu Tang and placed her on the rocks.
Thus, she became like a piece of candy melting in low temperatures.
She felt the atmosphere growing increasingly ominous, seemingly trending in a certain direction.
But this wasn’t right—
They were supposed to start with an argument.
Shu Tang tried to steer the conversation back.
She put on the most serious expression of her life: “Little Rose, I just found out…”
But then the mermaid lifted his eyes and looked at her for a moment.
Just as Shu Tang thought the mermaid finally felt it was inappropriate and decided to start a serious conversation—
He decisively lowered his head, and a cold kiss landed on her waist.
And he even casually covered Shu Tang’s mouth.
Shu Tang: “…”
Shu Tang felt like she had fallen for the legendary “beauty fish trap.”