Chapter 18 Rebirth

After being together for so long, this was the first time Jiang Yang saw the beautiful merman cry. He looked so haggard and fragile, a pitiful sight to behold. Pearl tears streamed down his face, their color and luster surpassing even the finest quality seawater pearls.

Although the beautiful merman looked pitifully distressed, Jiang Yang’s eyes couldn’t help but stray to the fallen pearls. If she collected and sold them, wouldn’t they fetch a good price? Perhaps it could even make up for her wrongdoings.

Should she let him cry a bit longer?

Jiang Yang shook her head. Forget it, he had saved her after all. She couldn’t be too heartless.

She patted the beautiful merman who was crying his heart out, as if trying to shed all the grievances he had endured in his decades of fish life: “Stop crying. I wasn’t planning to leave. I just couldn’t see you, so I went out to find some food.”

In reality, this island was surrounded by sea on all sides. Calling for help would be futile, no one would come to rescue her even if she shouted herself hoarse. Run? One big wave would be enough to finish her off.

Hearing Jiang Yang say she hadn’t left, Chi Mei stopped crying, but still hiccupped out of habit. His watery eyes still glistened faintly, tears hanging on his long lashes that trembled slightly. His voice was hoarse, like something gently scratching at her heart: “I went out to find food for you.”

As he spoke, he tossed out two bright red goldfish from the water. The two fish flopped desperately beside Jiang Yang, who decisively picked up the coconut crab and used its hard shell to stun the two fish.

“That’s great, I was worried what I found wouldn’t be enough for both of us.” Jiang Yang sat cross-legged on a protruding rock, cleaning the scales and innards of the goldfish. She then went outside to break off two tree branches, skewered the two fish, and placed them over the fire to roast.

After so many years of transmigration, this was the first time Jiang Yang had to do things herself. Although a bit clumsy and unfamiliar, it actually felt somewhat novel.

The bonfire blazed freely, and Jiang Yang squatted to the side, waiting for the food to cook.

Chi Mei had somehow crawled back onto the rock where he had been lying before. Perhaps it was because the light in the tree hollow was too dim, but she felt the beautiful merman’s complexion seemed even paler.

Three-quarters of his body was submerged in water, only his chest and above resting on the rock. His eyes, swollen from crying, were closed. He seemed tired and sleepy, his fishtail powerlessly sinking into the water.

Before, when he was still trapped in the water barrel on the ship, his tail fin had been like an electric motor, seemingly unable to stop moving for even a moment. Now that it suddenly hung quietly in the water, Jiang Yang felt somewhat unaccustomed.

The roasted goldfish and coconut crab were ready, along with a cracked coconut. It could barely pass as a meal of two dishes and one soup.

Jiang Yang took a portion of each and placed them on the rock where the beautiful merman was lying.

The beautiful merman heard the movement and listlessly raised his eyelids to look at her, his tone weak as if just waking up: “…Ah Yang?”

“Mm.” Jiang Yang responded: “You used to be so lively. Even when such a big □□ pierced your tail, you recovered in a short time. How come you’re so listless now that you’re free?”

Chi Mei’s gaze shifted slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he said: “It’s because I was so happy to be back in the sea, I swam around everywhere. I’m just resting for a bit because I’m tired from swimming.”

The light in the tree hollow was dim, the rippling water casting shimmering shadows, making his gaze seem almost illusory.

Jiang Yang didn’t think much of it and pushed the food closer to him: “Don’t play too hard. Eat up.”

“I’m a bit tired now and don’t feel like eating. You eat first.” The beautiful merman said softly, continuing to lie on the rock as if it had some magical attraction.

Jiang Yang raised an eyebrow: “Not eating? Fine, I’ll eat it myself then.” Saying this, Jiang Yang picked up a fish and a crab, preparing to leave.

“You—” The beautiful merman’s weak voice carried a hint of disbelieving anger as he tugged at her skirt: “I brought back this fish… How can you not let me eat… Are you trying to starve me?”

Jiang Yang shrugged: “You said you didn’t want to eat.”

“Who said I’m not eating? I’ll, I’ll eat now.” The beautiful merman became energized with anger. No longer lazily sprawled on the rock, he snatched a fish and a crab from her hands and began eating voraciously.

Jiang Yang chuckled lightly and returned to her own rock to eat.

The beautiful merman was full of resentment. As he gnawed on the fish, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes glared fiercely at her, his heart bitterly complaining: “Bad woman… I saved you, and you won’t even give me food.”

Chi Mei ate mechanically. The waves of intense pain from his tail fin had severed his sense of taste, making him unable to discern the flavor of the food. In fact, when he had snatched the food from Jiang Yang’s hands earlier, it had aggravated the wound on his tail fin. The tearing pain was like being cut by a knife. He had to clench his teeth tightly to avoid crying out.

The tail fin was both a merman’s weapon and their most vulnerable, sensitive part. Even a small wound would cause magnified pain in the tail fin.

Fortunately, the merman’s pearl inside their body had powerful healing abilities. Not only could it reduce the pain from wounds, but it could also greatly accelerate the healing process. This was why he had been able to recover so quickly and become lively again just a few days after his tail fin was shot through by the □□ on the ocean-going ship.

Without the merman’s pearl, the pain after being injured would be unbearable, and the recovery of wounds would be extremely slow.

Compared to the merman’s tears that humans eagerly sought after, the merman’s pearl was what the merman race valued most, considering it their life essence.

Of course, humans also knew about this precious item. In recent years, they had been hunting mermen on a large scale. Refining fish oil was just the most insignificant reason; their ultimate goal was the merman’s pearl.

Once humans possessed a merman’s pearl, not only could they bring a dying person back to life, but they could also prolong life and maintain youth.

However, obtaining a merman’s pearl required the merman’s willingness. Even the most noble human emperor could only dream about it, possibly never seeing a merman’s pearl in their entire life.

Chi Mei endured the pain, pretending to be fine, but cold sweat kept beading on his temples due to the intense pain. He watched Jiang Yang, who was quietly eating fish and staring at the water surface, lost in thought.

In his pain-induced near-spasmodic state, a slow, secret joy arose in his mind. It was good that she was still alive.

That night, the left and right elders of the merman clan had used a forbidden technique that hurt the enemy a thousand for every eight hundred self-inflicted wounds. They summoned terrifying waves that engulfed the entire ship into the deep sea. The clan members, finally able to vent years of pent-up resentment, dragged the fallen crew members one by one into the deep sea for revenge.

By the time Chi Mei escaped from the sinking ship, there were very few people left alive in the water.

His heart suddenly trembled, and he searched around in panic and helplessness. Finally, he saw Jiang Yang being dragged into the deep sea by his clan members. Her eyes were tightly shut, her body sinking lifelessly, clearly no longer breathing.

It felt as if he had suddenly been slapped hard, his mind in chaos, as if he had fallen into an ice pit. When he came to his senses, he was already fighting madly with his clan members. Ignoring the persuasion and obstruction of the left and right elders, he embraced the no-longer-breathing Jiang Yang and fled from his clan members.