Chapter 23: He Will Die

The silly fish’s downcast eyes overflowed with a smile, the slightly raised end of his eyebrows revealing a hint of smugness. His thin lips lightly hummed, “Indeed, he’s already on his second marriage, you definitely won’t be interested in him.”

“He has someone he likes too, and he at least gave us some herbs. Don’t make assumptions about him,” Jiang Yang continued grinding the herbs.

“Alright, if you don’t want to talk about it, we won’t. I don’t want to mention him anyway,” the silly fish instantly closed his mouth.

The tree hollow was quiet and peaceful, with only the sound of Jiang Yang grinding herbs and stones colliding. While it was cool and damp inside the hollow, outside the sun was blazing. A few streaks of bright light broke through the banyan tree’s aerial roots and shone inside. The dim light fell on Jiang Yang’s cold, clear, and beautiful features, like a divine halo.

Chi Mei’s palms were tightly clenched, his heart trembling secretly. He instantly forgot that he had just agreed to keep quiet.

“Ah Yang, once my wound heals, can we leave this place?” Although Jiang Yang had said she didn’t like married men, she was just too beautiful.

He was afraid of thieves stealing, and also of thieves coveting. Just thinking that there were other males on this island besides him made Chi Mei feel uncomfortable.

“Leave? What for? Your wound will take at least a few months to heal. Besides, aren’t you just worried about Chun Jian? Rest assured, he and his two sons combined are no match for me,” Jiang Yang said.

“But…” Chi Mei wanted to speak but stopped, too embarrassed to voice his little jealous thoughts.

“But what?” Jiang Yang interrupted him, “You, the noble merman prince, are you really going to retreat from an exiled former tribesman? Have you forgotten what you said before? This island is your territory. If anyone should leave, it’s him.”

Chi Mei’s eyes widened slightly, and after a while, he said, “Ah Yang, are you standing up for me?”

Jiang Yang paused for a moment, not saying anything.

Chi Mei leaned on her shoulder, giggling, “I knew you would stand up for me.”

“…” Jiang Yang remained silent, not refuting.

Finally finishing grinding the herbs into powder, Jiang Yang rubbed her wrist, feeling sore and painful as if it was about to be useless.

“This medicine is a bit stimulating. It might hurt a bit when first applied. Try to endure it,” she said to Chi Mei.

The medicinal properties of the herbs were actually ordinary, not considered top-grade, and not very potent. Applied to normal wounds, it wouldn’t really hurt.

But the silly fish’s scales had completely fallen off, exposing large areas of blurred flesh. Even a slight touch would cause heart-piercing pain, let alone applying medicine.

Chi Mei took a sharp breath, tightly hugging her clothes, closing his eyes as if facing death bravely, “Go ahead- mmph—”

As the medicinal powder fell on the wound, Chi Mei immediately let out a muffled groan. Blue veins instantly bulged on the back of his hand, large beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, his lips turned pale and colorless, and his tail fin even cramped from the pain.

Jiang Yang firmly pressed down on his trembling tail fin. The medicine wasn’t fully applied yet, it couldn’t be stopped halfway.

“It hurts so much, Ah Yang, it hurts so much,” Chi Mei said with his eyes tightly shut, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes and disappearing in an instant, his voice trembling with pain.

He knew it would hurt, but he didn’t expect it to hurt this much. The burning pain felt as if his scales were being peeled off alive, the stabbing, gnawing agony almost instantly overwhelming him.

“It’s almost done, hang on a bit longer,” Jiang Yang pressed on his tail fin, evenly spreading the medicine on it, then tore a piece of cloth from her clothes to bandage the wound.

When she looked up again, Chi Mei’s face was only weakly pale, as if he only had one last breath left. His breath was feeble and powerless as he leaned on her shoulder, unable to say a word.

Jiang Yang hurriedly fed him some coconut water and stayed by his side. After about a quarter of an hour, his complexion finally began to recover a little.

“Feeling better?” Jiang Yang gently wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Chi Mei looked weak and tired. He nuzzled her palm, his voice hoarse, “Much better.”

Jiang Yang looked at the sky outside. It was now high noon, probably around one o’clock.

Because of treating the wound, they hadn’t eaten lunch yet. The injured patient now needed nourishment the most. “You rest well and take a nap. I’ll go out and catch a couple of fish to help you recover.”

Chi Mei shook his head lightly, saying very considerately, “You’ve just made a trip. You’re too tired, rest for a while. I’m not hungry.”

“I’m not tired. What’s there to be tired about for a grown woman to make a couple of trips? Just wait,” Jiang Yang patted the dust off herself and crawled out of the tree hollow.

The scorching sunlight shone directly in, causing Jiang Yang to unconsciously squint her eyes.

She found a long, pointed wooden stick, tied up her skirt at her waist, rolled up her pant legs to her knees, and rubbed her hands as she went into the water.

It was high noon, the hottest time of day. The shimmering water surface reflected light that hurt her eyes. Several times she was dazzled by the water’s reflection, her head full of sweat. Sweat beads flowed into her eyes, interfering with her vision. Fish that were almost in her grasp slipped away from the wooden stick.

What should have taken only a quarter of an hour to catch fish ended up taking her half an hour. Fortunately, the five mullets she caught were plump and would be delicious whether stewed in soup or grilled.

Jiang Yang found a long, grass-like plant and strung the five fish together through their gills. Hmm… protein taken care of, now to supplement some vitamins. She went to the place where she had previously discovered raspberries, only to find that the area once full of raspberries now had very few left. Only a few pitiful, wilted raspberries were hanging on the branches.

There weren’t just her and the silly fish on this island. Probably Chun Jian’s two greedy little ones had picked and eaten them.

Jiang Yang quickly picked all the remaining raspberries and climbed up a tree to pick two coconuts. Just as she was about to head back, she saw Chun Jian coming towards her with his two children.

The two little ones were happily playing without a care in the world, their small hands clutching some raspberries, eating as they played.

After the experience of Jiang Yang borrowing medicine in the morning, the two little ones weren’t as afraid of her as before. Having never seen a female before, they even began to curiously look her over.

But Chun Jian was still full of resistance, maintaining a safe distance. Seeing the string of fish in her hand, even though he took the initiative to ask, his tone was far from friendly: “How is he? Dead yet?”

Jiang Yang slightly furrowed her brows. In the past, she didn’t understand why he had been so hostile and disgusted with her from their first meeting. It was only after learning about Chun Jian’s past from Chi Mei that she understood. After being abandoned by his unfaithful woman, Chun Jian’s entire mentality had undergone a huge change.

In the memories of his tribesmen, Chun Jian used to be the gentlest and kindest, like a spring flower.

But after being abandoned by Xu San Niang and then exiled by the tribe, raising two children alone on a lonely island, the isolated life made him continuously wallow in past pain. His mentality became increasingly distorted, and he was full of hostility towards women.

He was also a pitiful person. Considering that he had voluntarily given medicine in the morning, Jiang Yang took off two mullets and gave them to him: “Thank you for the medicine. After Chi Mei used it, he’s much better. In a few days, he’ll be as lively as a dragon. He won’t die.”

Seeing Jiang Yang voluntarily offer food, Chun Jian didn’t stand on ceremony and directly accepted it. His tone was light and casual: “If he doesn’t die now, he’ll die later. It’s destined. I gave you the herbs because I don’t want him to die too early. He should experience the feeling of being abandoned like me, and then slowly die in despair.”

Jiang Yang frowned tightly: “You have a grudge against the Merman King, what does that have to do with Chi Mei? Don’t take it out on him and curse him casually.”

“You don’t know?” Chun Jian raised an eyebrow, his tone a bit surprised and incredulous.

“Don’t know what?”

“…Nothing.” Chun Jian seemed to think of something, the corner of his mouth curling into a strange smile.

Jiang Yang couldn’t be bothered with him and walked back to the tree hollow.

The silly fish was leaning against the stone wall, sleeping deeply. The wound on his tail fin had made him extremely weak.

Only now did Jiang Yang understand why, since arriving on the island, this fish hadn’t been as lively as before, always lazily lying on the rocks. It wasn’t laziness at all, he was clearly sickly, and she hadn’t even noticed.

To avoid disturbing his rest, she made a fire outside the tree hollow to grill the fish. The island didn’t have various spices, but fortunately, sea fish itself was very delicious, with its own sweet taste. Soon, the aroma of grilled meat wafted out.

Chi Mei hadn’t woken up yet, so Jiang Yang slowly grilled one fish after another. She wasn’t in a hurry anyway. The isolated island kept her away from the troubles on the mainland. She didn’t have to watch her brothers and sisters openly and secretly compete, nor did she have to worry about when the emperor’s anger hanging over her head would fall on her. Overall, she felt more relaxed and at ease on this island than at home.

It would be even better if it weren’t for that strange man, Chun Jian. Thinking of Chun Jian, that meaningful smile he had just given reappeared in Jiang Yang’s mind. Obviously, he knew some unspeakable secret, while she was kept in the dark.

“What does he mean by ‘if he doesn’t die now, he’ll die later’?” Jiang Yang murmured to herself. Why was Chun Jian so certain? He and the silly fish were both mermen, did he know some secret that she didn’t?