Chapter 37: Separation

Jiang Yang waved at him, her wet sleeves splashing water that was clear and transparent in the sunlight.

Winter ran excitedly to Jiang Yang’s side, his snow-white little face flushed red from the scorching sun. He said excitedly, “Elder Sister Jiang, it’s so good that you didn’t die. Father told me you were taken by the merpeople and surely wouldn’t survive. My brother and I were so sad. It’s really great that you’re not dead.”

Chi Mei rolled his eyes, grumbling unhappily, “Don’t listen to your father’s nonsense. We merpeople would never harm A’Yang…” As he spoke, his voice trailed off uncertainly as he lowered his head. Weren’t they escaping to shore now to avoid being hunted down?

Jiang Yang stepped on the soft sand, wringing out her heavily wet clothes as she walked ashore.

Winter obediently accompanied her. With his slender eyebrows and eyes, though still young, one could already see his future stunning beauty.

Chi Mei, without legs, couldn’t come ashore and could only swim near the coast. His wet gaze watched the silhouettes of Jiang Yang and Winter standing together, looking very much like mother and son. Just missing a gentle father to complete a warm family of three. Chi Mei bit his lip, deeply resenting why he was a fish and not human. That way, he could always live with Jiang Yang on this isolated island, living a secluded life away from the world.

Fortunately, Jiang Yang was not heartless. After wringing the water from her clothes, she scooped up Chi Mei, who was about to be stranded, back into the water, while she sat on a reef.

The scorching sun hung high in the sky. With her back to the blazing sun, Jiang Yang’s pupils appeared an intoxicating amber color. She said, “Now, I certainly can’t go into the water anymore. The tree hollow is definitely not an option to return to. There’s no guarantee they won’t track us there. From now on, I can only live in the center of this isolated island, far from the coast. The mermaid pearl isn’t something indispensable to me, but for you, it’s a matter of life and death. If you don’t take it back, I’ll feel guilty and uneasy.”

“But…” Chi Mei lowered his head, wanting to say something.

Jiang Yang didn’t give him the chance and continued, “Moreover, I’ll be living in the center of the isolated island from now on, unable to enter the water. Even if I want to eat fish, I won’t be able to. But you can come to see me often and provide for me. Isn’t that better?”

Chi Mei’s ink-black eyes flashed like jewels. Thinking that he would still be of use to Jiang Yang in the future and that they could meet often, he nodded without any hesitation, easily convinced.

Jiang Yang smiled and beckoned to him. Chi Mei propped himself up on the reef with both hands, his fishtail wagging like a dog’s tail. The waves washed over his tail fins as he nervously and expectantly approached Jiang Yang’s naturally red lips.

Jiang Yang smiled faintly. Chi Mei’s falling strands of hair were like entangling seaweed intertwining with her fingers.

Winter covered his eyes, but his eyeballs still peeked shyly through the gaps between his fingers.

Just as Chi Mei’s lips touched Jiang Yang’s, she keenly noticed an unusual movement beneath the sea surface. With the mermaid pearl still inside her, the scent hidden under the sea surface reached Jiang Yang’s nose.

They move quite fast… Has learning Go really improved their intelligence? Jiang Yang thought to herself.

The situation was urgent. Jiang Yang, disregarding the gentleness of her actions, roughly pulled Chi Mei’s collar, pressing her lips tightly against his, and returned the mermaid pearl as quickly as possible.

Before the blush could even crawl up to the corners of Chi Mei’s eyes, Jiang Yang flipped her body, her toes lightly tapping the reef as she leapt back to the beach like an agile bird. However, before she could steady herself—

Swoosh—Swoosh—Swoosh—

Over a dozen sharp gusts came fiercely towards Jiang Yang’s face. The silver light was dazzling and intimidating under the blazing sun. Winter didn’t even know what was happening before he felt a force lift him into the air. One moment he was in the treetops, the next hiding behind a rock, making him dizzy and disoriented. Before he could react, he found himself in the forest, his body hidden behind a huge tree.

“Elder Sister Jiang?” Winter said, covering the surging nausea in his chest.

Jiang Yang put her index finger to her lips: “Don’t go out.”

Winter nodded and looked at where he had been standing earlier. A sharp needle was stuck straight into the soft sand. Winter was so scared that his heart was pounding, clutching his chest in lingering fear.

“Elder Sister Jiang, why do they want to stab you with needles?” Winter asked.

Jiang Yang chuckled softly: “Probably because I stole their tribe’s treasure.”

Having lived with the merpeople for so long, Jiang Yang hadn’t been idle. She had indirectly inquired about the skills of the left and right elders. The right elder specialized in prohibited rituals and spells. The wave that capsized the ship last time was the right elder’s handiwork.

The left elder was most skilled at using venom extracted from sea snake fangs to coat the spines of stonefish to harm people. The toxin was almost incurable. Simply put, one was magical attack, the other physical attack.

Jiang Yang was skilled in qinggong, but she didn’t dare to rashly expose herself in a situation where the poison attack was 100% effective. She could only wait for an opportunity.

“Damn it, that woman escaped again,” the left elder said.

“Left Elder, Right Elder?” Chi Mei also saw the poisonous spines that nearly took Jiang Yang’s life and angrily said, “Who told you to harm her?”

The left elder said loudly, “This damned woman has blinded your eyes, even making you fake a pregnancy to save her life. Fortunately, Yue Gui was clever enough to see through her tricks, otherwise our entire tribe would have been deceived by her. Now that she has spit out the mermaid pearl, it’s the perfect time to kill her and satisfy my hatred!”

Chi Mei stared intently: “You dare!”

The left elder was not to be outdone, glaring angrily: “You’ll see if I dare or not.”

As a male, his status was inherently not as noble as a female’s. If it weren’t for the fact that the Mermaid King had died young and had no daughters, if there had been even a little princess, he wouldn’t have had the right to speak.

The right elder quickly stepped between the two and said, “Old Stone, say a few words less, don’t offend the prince. Since Jiang Yang has already returned the mermaid pearl to the prince, and the prince is still a virgin, why don’t you announce publicly now that you’ll cut all ties with this woman from now on, and never associate with her again. After some time, we will certainly find you an outstanding wife-master, both in character and appearance.”

Chi Mei’s eyes were gloomy: “Stop dreaming. I will never cut ties with A’Yang, and I’m not interested in whatever wife-master you find for me.”

The right elder’s eyelid twitched violently. He thought, the prince has already been firmly grasped by that woman. Let alone now that she can’t enter the water and can only live on the isolated island, even if that woman becomes a manual laborer in the future, the prince would still happily go to her. This is truly… hopeless!

The right elder rubbed his temples in pain: “If that’s the case, Jin Yu, Yin Feng, escort the prince back.”

If soft methods don’t work, then we’ll use hard ones. Jin Yu and Yin Feng were both top-tier warriors of the merpeople tribe, their strength and speed unmatched by males. Moreover, both had cold, wooden faces, not understanding the concept of being gentle with the fairer sex.

The two fish forcibly restrained Chi Mei’s arms on both sides. Just as Chi Mei was about to struggle, the left elder delivered a knockout blow to the back of his head. His body immediately went limp, and a group of merpeople dragged the unconscious Chi Mei into the water.

Jiang Yang had intended to wait until the commotion on the sea surface had subsided before poking her head out, but suddenly it became eerily quiet outside. Feeling something was amiss, she peeked out half her body to check, only to see a vast emptiness outside, with no sign of the merpeople who wanted her life, nor Chi Mei.

Winter reached out his little hand and tugged at Jiang Yang’s sleeve: “Elder Sister Jiang, have those merpeople left? They were so fierce. Will they come back for revenge in the future?”

“…” Jiang Yang remained silent. She wasn’t worried about the merpeople seeking revenge, but rather concerned about that stupid fish.

Given his temperament, even if he truly left with his people, he shouldn’t have done so without saying goodbye. Just then, a person suddenly surfaced on the sea. Jiang Yang warily watched the approaching figure, while Winter fearfully hid behind her.

The newcomer was the right elder, which made Jiang Yang relax a little. Magical attacks generally took longer to charge, giving her plenty of time to be on guard.

The right elder stared at Jiang Yang with a gloomy expression and said, “Since you’ve already returned the mermaid pearl, we don’t want to entangle with you anymore. As long as you promise never to seduce our prince again, we merpeople can let you go.”

Jiang Yang narrowed her eyes: “What have you done to Chi Mei?”

The right elder sneered: “He is our prince. No matter what, we will take good care of him, unlike you, who only treats our prince as a plaything, a pet, not valuing him at all, let alone keeping him in your heart. He is naturally much better off with us than with you.”

These words were not wrong. Chi Mei was now the only remaining bloodline of the Mermaid King. The inheritance rules of the merpeople were not as chaotic as those of humans. The position of Mermaid King had been hereditary for thousands of years without interruption, and the merpeople had never thought of rebelling, crowning themselves king, or perhaps they didn’t even have this concept in their minds. Therefore, based on bloodline alone, Chi Mei could live a smooth life underwater, which was indeed better than living on an isolated island with her, eating one meal to fullness and going hungry the next.

So she directly agreed to the right elder’s words: “Rest assured, I won’t seduce Chi Mei.” Besides, she had never seduced him in the first place, okay?

That stupid fish, from the moment on the ship, had misunderstood that she had feelings for him, which led to the subsequent absurd events.

The right elder left satisfied.

Jiang Yang looked at the sea surface that had returned to calm, then turned back to look at the lush island rainforest. The sea breeze made the coconut trees sway slightly, and the vibrant, unfading flame trees scattered petals at her feet. Jiang Yang bent down to pick up a flame tree flower, her gaze fixed for a good while.

“Elder Sister Jiang, where are we going now? The banyan tree hollow where you and Brother Chi Mei lived before has been destroyed by those merpeople and is no longer habitable. You…” Winter glanced at Jiang Yang and finally expressed his thoughts, “Why don’t you come live with us, Elder Sister Jiang?”

“?” Jiang Yang smiled and rubbed his little head, saying, “Your father doesn’t like me. Why should I make him unhappy? I’ll put up a small shed for these couple of days and make do, then cut some wood to build a wooden house.”

Since she was here, she might as well make the best of it. Since there was no way to leave the isolated island, she might as well improve her living conditions.

“Sigh—” Winter felt somewhat regretful, not knowing why his father didn’t like Elder Sister Jiang. She was so good – young, beautiful, gentle, much better than the mother he had never seen. More importantly, she was the only woman on the island. Although Winter and Summer had grown up with their father, and Spring was very good to them, they were still children after all, and their hearts longed for maternal love.