Chapter 16 Overturned

“Chi Mei……” Jiang Yang walked towards him.

Chi Mei was almost completely submerged in the water, his entire body emanating a damp, cold mist with no warmth at all. Only his slightly reddened eyes held an emptiness that made one’s heart uneasy.

His gaze briefly lingered on Jiang Yang for a moment, then he turned away, his back to her, cold and lonely like a solitary moon.

Lan Qian tactfully closed the door and stood guard outside, but she could still vaguely hear Jiang Yang’s voice speaking inside.

“Chi Mei,” Jiang Yang approached him, her palm hesitating for a moment just before touching his shoulder, then retracting.

Chi Mei remained silent, still not responding.

“The bracelet I gave you before wasn’t meant to show affection. I only considered it a small item that could be casually bestowed. Letting you misunderstand and fall for me was my fault.” Jiang Yang sighed, laying everything bare.

“It’s not your fault, I was too stupid.” Chi Mei laughed, his tone calm, too calm to be like himself.

The tribe’s people were right, the thoughts of humans were ever-changing. He was too foolish, thinking he had found someone to entrust his life to, but he was just her plaything, a tool to please the human king. And then what? When the human king got tired of him, they would peel off his scales and painstakingly scrape off his flesh to refine oil.

She had known his fate all along, yet she was still willing to play along with him, giving him the care he yearned for. Not only his body that humans coveted, but even his heart was cast in, easily toyed with in the palm of her hand. How gentle, how cruel such a person was.

Chi Mei lowered his head, a sense of desolation emerging from his slightly reddened eyes.

Jiang Yang had seen Chi Mei’s innocence and simplicity, that kind of vivid, passionate fire that seemed to be infused with an overwhelming life force, capable of infecting those around him. But now, she watched helplessly as that fire was extinguished, dimmed.

Jiang Yang’s heart felt like it was stuffed with cotton, guilt and discomfort clogging her chest: “I’m sorry.”

A thousand words, in the end only one apology.

“About last night, just pretend nothing happened. Rest assured, as long as we keep our distance from now on, no one will know.” A man’s reputation was extremely important. Past mistakes couldn’t be undone, she could only do her best to help him preserve his reputation.

Chi Mei’s dark, deep pupils seemed to be ruthlessly cut by a knife: “Did I… embarrass you?” Even his touch, she was so guarded and resistant against.

“That’s not what I meant. After all, yesterday you…” Jiang Yang started to say but stopped.

Sure enough, Chi Mei covered his eyes in pain, both laughing and hurting, tears unknowingly welling up in his eyes, flowing out uncontrollably.

Jiang Yang could only see Chi Mei’s slightly trembling shoulders, ripples constantly spreading on the water’s surface.

Jiang Yang couldn’t help but worry about him after all. She placed her hand on his shoulder, concerned: “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! Don’t touch me!” Chi Mei brushed her hand away, the bitter taste choking his throat, his voice tearful: “Didn’t you want to keep your distance from me? Then don’t touch me, go away! Go away!”

“I don’t want to see you anymore, I hate you! I hate you more than anyone! Go away! I never want to see you again!” He suddenly raised his voice, driving her away like a madman, his fish tail frantically swaying, the splashing water on her body seeming to carry its owner’s anger and resentment.

Jiang Yang was completely drenched. She touched her face, the water splash was big but not painful at all. Her drooping long lashes covered the dejection in her eyes: “Then… I’ll go.”

Chi Mei suddenly stopped moving, stunned for a moment, tightly clenching his teeth. Angrily, he sank into the water, refusing to surface again.

The water’s surface returned to stillness, not a single ripple.

Jiang Yang actually felt a bit nostalgic for before, when she would push the door open and this fish would excitedly almost fall out of the water barrel, chattering away, splashing water all over her. At that time, he was purely innocent, like a little sparrow leaping in the clouds, not knowing what sorrow was.

She pushed the door open and walked out despondently.

Lan Qian followed behind Jiang Yang. She couldn’t hear the conversation inside clearly, but she heard Jiang Yang’s words “About last night, just pretend nothing happened” and the merman’s tearful, resentful “Didn’t you want to keep your distance from me? Then don’t touch me, go away! Go away!” very clearly.

Although Lan Qian didn’t like the way that despicable fish had two faces on a daily basis, to be fair, this matter was ultimately the fault of their Second Miss.

If you slept with him, you slept with him, no big deal. Which woman isn’t promiscuous? But you can’t sleep with him and then not acknowledge it, that’s a bit beastly.

Lan Qian watched the drenched Jiang Yang seemingly carry some heavy burden in her heart, slowly walking back to her room step by step, sitting by the window for a long, long time.

Usually, Jiang Yang loathed the scorching sun at sea the most, even calling it “ultraviolet rays”, saying it was extremely damaging and avoiding it like the plague. But now she just sat there alone, motionless, until the sunset gold melted, the huge orange light seeming to scorch her shadow.

“Second Miss.” Lan Qian called to her.

Jiang Yang came back to her senses in a daze, looked at the sky, and belatedly responded: “It’s already so late.”

Lan Qian nodded: “Yes, do you need dinner served?”

Jiang Yang shook her head, the sun-burned face like a scar branded on her face. She said, “Have the kitchen make some shrimp chips and cook some spicy little octopus to send over to Chi Mei, he likes to eat that.”

Soaking the fish, then turning your face and not acknowledging him, now why are you acting like a lovesick woman, making it seem like you’re the one who was abandoned. Lan Qian sighed and left.

The kitchen thought it was for Jiang Yang to eat and quickly made the shrimp chips and spicy little octopus.

By the time Lan Qian carried the dishes out of the kitchen, the sky had already completely darkened. The first mate was organizing the sailors to pull down the sails, saying there would be a storm tonight. The waves were already starting to rise, the ship swaying and shaking, making it a bit difficult to walk steadily.

Lan Qian managed to steady the dishes and pushed open the door to Chi Mei’s room. Usually, the despicable fish who lazily floated on the water’s surface, going crazy like a dog seeing its owner the moment he saw Jiang Yang, ready to bark, the room was unusually quiet and silent for once.

He wasn’t seen on the water’s surface. Lan Qian boldly leaned in closer. The bottom of the water was dark and nothing could be clearly seen, only the outline of a fish tail could be vaguely made out.

“Hey, come out and eat.” Lan Qian called out.

Chi Mei didn’t move. Lan Qian spoke again: “Second Miss specially had the kitchen make this for you. She said you love to eat it.”

“……” Still no response. Only the water in the barrel kept swaying with the gently rocking ship.

Lan Qian could only put the dishes on the small table beside and go back to report. In just a short fifteen minutes, the waves became more turbulent, constantly hitting the deck. The thick, dark sky seemed to be pressing down heavily. Lan Qian had to hold onto the railing to barely make it back.

“Did he eat?” Back in the room, Jiang Yang’s first question was this.

Lan Qian shook her head.

“He really is……” Jiang Yang felt like something heavy was pressing down on her, making it hard to breathe.

Lan Qian couldn’t hold back anymore: “Second Miss, you’re the one who did wrong. Why are you talking about that fish like that?”

“What did you say?” Jiang Yang frowned.

“Nothing.” Lan Qian pursed her lips: “I’m just a bit righteous. I can’t stand your actions. You can play with the fish, but we have to play openly and aboveboard, that’s what a great woman does.”

Jiang Yang slammed the table and stood up, angrily saying: “What nonsense are you talking about? I already told you there’s nothing between me and Chi Mei. If you keep saying things that will ruin his reputation, I’ll cut out your tongue!”

Faced with her master’s anger for the first time, the slightly righteous but not much Lan Qian weakly cowered: “…… Is… is that so? Then… then this servant misunderstood.”

“Get out!” Jiang Yang angrily waved her sleeve.

Lan Qian awkwardly rubbed her nose: “Yes.”

Outside the door, Lan Qian slapped herself, full of remorse: “Why can’t I control this mouth of mine!”

There was no going back to Jiang Yang’s place. The wind and waves on the sea suddenly rose, the sea wind howling and raging. The raindrops were blown by the fierce wind like hail pelting the body. Lan Qian covered her face, feeling like the wind blades were going to cut her face open, hurting badly. She was about to go hide in the cabin when she happened to meet two crew members who had just come out from changing the water in the merman’s room. Unlike usual, today these two were acting sneaky and fearful like thieves.

Lan Qian became suspicious and called out from behind them: “Stop right there!”

The two crew members instantly shuddered, shrinking into their clothes as they turned around: “Sister Lan, the wind and waves are so strong, why aren’t you back in your room avoiding them?”

Lan Qian suspiciously looked at the two who were clearly flustered: “What are you hiding in your pockets? Take it out.”

“N-nothing, it’s just too cold today, so we’re wrapping our clothes tighter, that’s all.” The two crew members immediately tightened their clothes even more.

Lan Qian’s hand had already touched the sword sheath: “Everything on this ship belongs to the Second Miss. Whatever you two took from the merman’s room, take it out right now or I’ll chop off your hands.”

The two crew members fell to their knees with a thud, clasping their hands together and begging for mercy: “Sister Lan, spare us, we really didn’t steal anything.”

Lan Qian narrowed her eyes. Even with her threat, these two still weren’t confessing. It must be something of great value.

She was about to draw her sword when suddenly a thunderous boom resounded in the sky. An eerie lightning bolt tore through the dark night curtain. A towering, sky-blocking giant wave came crashing over from the horizon. Even the wide body of the ocean-going ship seemed incomparably small in front of it. The ship abruptly tilted to one side, instantly throwing everyone and everything on board into disarray.

Lan Qian quickly hugged the railing, but those two crew members weren’t so lucky. They fell directly from the upper deck onto the main deck. At the same time, the items in their bosoms also rolled out one by one, emitting a dazzling glow in the pitch-black night.

“Is this… is this merman’s tears?!”

“What? Merman’s tears?!”

“Where are the merman’s tears?”

The crew members who had luckily survived the giant wave, upon hearing about merman’s tears, were like sharks smelling blood, swarming onto the deck to snatch them.

“Merman’s tears are formed from the tears shed by merfolk in their most desperate and sorrowful moments. Even the Empress’s phoenix crown only has one. A single merman’s tear can be worth a fortune, yet there are actually so many merman’s tears here.” An elderly crew member marveled while holding a merman’s tear.

“Old thing, this merman’s tear is mine! With something so valuable, I’ll get rich as soon as I reach shore, hahaha!”

“You… how can you snatch things? Give it back to me.”

“Get lost!”

Countless crew members had already lost their humanity under the stimulation of the huge and rare benefits, fighting over the legendary merman’s tears. Lan Qian looked at this scene on the deck in shock.

“What’s going on, what are they fighting over?” Jiang Yang was irritated by the violently shaking ship. As soon as she opened the door, she saw the people on the deck frantically grabbing something.

“Second Miss, they’re snatching… Second Miss, be careful!” Lan Qian’s face suddenly changed drastically.

Jiang Yang looked behind her. On the sea surface, a towering wave, carrying the momentum of devouring the heavens and shaking the earth, came crashing down heavily towards the stern of Jiang Yang’s ship. She had no time to react before tons of seawater slammed into her body. Seawater poured into her mouth, nose, and ears, surrounding her completely.

Jiang Yang held her breath and flailed in the sea, struggling to open her eyes. The blurry light from above shone down. The ocean-going ship kept sinking into the depths of the sea. All around were the figures of surviving crew members striving to float to the surface.

Suddenly, a dark figure swiftly darted past a crew member, extremely fast. That was…

Jiang Yang’s eyes widened. A human upper body and a fish tail, it was clearly a merman. Before the crew member could react, his leg was grabbed by it and he was dragged into the deep sea. Sinking at such a rapid speed, before even reaching the bottom of the sea, a person would die from the water pressure causing bleeding from the seven orifices. Soon, in just the blink of an eye, the surrounding crew members were dragged one by one into the deep sea by a group of merfolk that appeared out of nowhere.

A chilling sensation gripped Jiang Yang’s ankle. She looked down and met the hateful gaze of an unfamiliar merman. It was over.

In an instant, Jiang Yang felt her body plummeting as if tied to a huge rock, sinking rapidly at a speed of over ten meters per second. The water pressure ruptured her eardrums, a coppery sweetness in her mouth. Her vision gradually blurred, unable to see the faint light on the sea surface anymore.

The prince’s rescue team has arrived.