Chapter 31 He is special!
Luo Qingyan stared in astonishment at the little male merman in the wardrobe, stunned for about a minute, while the other party also looked at her silently.
The little male merman sat in the largest area where long coats were hung. Although there weren't many clothes hanging there, it still looked quite full. Luo Qingyan had initially thought that since the goal was to hide, clothes would be needed for concealment, so she had hung up only long dresses and coats.
The little merman inside felt a sense of unease, surrounded by clothes. One can imagine how even more constrained he would be sitting inside the closet with the door closed; his long legs certainly wouldn't be able to stretch out, they would have to be curled up, his hands couldn't move freely, as they might touch the clothes, perhaps placed on his abdomen, or perhaps hugging his legs.
She looked wronged but was still adorable.
"You! You...you...your fishtail has turned into legs?" Luo Qingyan's words were filled with astonishment.
The little merman remained relatively calm. He glanced at his leg and said, "Hmm."
"Are you fully recovered? Your fishtail can actually turn into legs!" Luo Qingyan couldn't contain her surprise. "Can it... turn back?"
The little male merman tilted his head slightly, his eyes flashing: "Yes."
"You can switch between them at will? That's amazing... Why... Why didn't you tell me sooner? Is this another mermaid secret?"
"Yes, it's a secret. Don't tell anyone else."
"I won't tell you, but don't worry, humans know that mermaids' tails can turn into legs. It's depicted in all sorts of works of art, you must have seen them, right?"
The little merman pursed his lips and didn't speak, only nodding.
Luo Qingyan stretched out a hand to the other person: "Come out first, it's not comfortable sitting in the closet."
“Okay…I…” A troubled expression appeared on the little merman’s face.
"Are you not used to your fishtail turning into legs?" Luo Qingyan noticed that the little male merman looked a bit weak. "Then turn back into a fishtail! Do you want to go back into the pearl, or should I get you a sliding chair to push you around?"
The little male merman lowered his eyes, his expression serious, as if he were thinking.
"Oh, you used a pearl when the paramedics came, right? I'll go get some..." Luo Qingyan remembered that the little male merman used pearls at intervals, but something felt off. "Hey! Your leg... you walked over here, right? I vaguely remember seeing that, so you didn't use a pearl... then..."
The more Luo Qingyan thought about it, the more confused she became. She suddenly realized that things were not simple. She looked at the little male fish without saying anything, but her eyes were full of curiosity.
The little male merman pondered seriously for several seconds, his brow twitching slightly: "I can't go back into the pearl for the time being, nor can I turn back into a fish tail for the time being."
-
Earlier, when Luo Qingyan decisively left the bathroom, the little merman's emotions were genuinely flustered. Therefore, when he later heard the sound of a glass breaking in the kitchen, he became even more anxious; he could sense that something was wrong with Luo Qingyan.
He tried calling out to the other person, trying to communicate with them using bubbles, and even trying to touch them with water. He then discovered that the other person had not only fallen to the ground but was also disoriented.
He knew that in the human world, the best thing to do at this moment was to call for emergency help. Before the paramedics arrived, he could use water to open the door, hide himself, and wait for other humans to come and rescue Luo Qingyan.
However, he did not do that. He didn't know why, but in an instant, he made another choice, another irrational choice.
His fish tail transformed into legs, and he went to the kitchen to check on Luo Qingyan's condition. He then used his abilities to detoxify Luo Qingyan, making him more comfortable.
He was weakened by the sudden loss of his leg strength, and he couldn't guarantee that he could completely detoxify Luo Qingyan, so he still dialed the emergency number.
He also made the call to Tao Xingyou, only after the ambulance arrived downstairs. He knew there were many things he couldn't explain clearly, so he gave a general overview first. If the other party had any further questions, he would call back, and a professional would answer them then.
After making the call, he hid in the closet in his bedroom, silently listening to the sounds outside. He only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Luo Qingyan had been taken away by medical staff. However, he wasn't completely at ease and was still worried. In addition, his physical condition was not good, so he stayed in the closet until Luo Qingyan returned.
He didn't want to deceive Luo Qingyan, and besides, the fish tail had already transformed into legs, so he told Luo Qingyan the truth.
-
After hearing the little merman's explanation, Luo Qingyan was speechless for a moment, only feeling her heart pounding faster and harder. Her mind went blank, yet she felt she should say something: "Uh... I vaguely remember seeing someone approaching and feeling someone with me. It really was you. I even... I thought I was having a mental breakdown!"
The little merman leaned against the wardrobe wall, slightly moving his head, unsure of what to say.
"Mermaids actually have healing abilities, that's really amazing, another superpower that humans envy." Luo Qingyan tried to find something to say, thinking as he spoke, "Um... the mermaid's fishtail turning into legs is a very important thing, right? It shouldn't be that simple."
Little Mermaid: "Mmm."
"Can you say a little more?" Luo Qingyan asked cautiously. "Or rather, how can I help you? You look so weak, how will you recover? I'm afraid you... You even helped me detoxify, is that why you're so weak? Sigh... You transformed your legs because of me... because you helped me. I, I feel this matter isn't that simple, I'm not at ease."
The little male merman glanced into Luo Qingyan's eyes, then looked away. He sighed softly, "Mermaids all have one chance to go ashore. If they are willing to go ashore, their fishtails can transform into legs, and they can then live on land as humans."
"I don't know about that; there are mermaids who manage these things."
"What will the mermaids look like after they transform into humans? Mermaids can live for thousands of years, while human lifespans are much shorter. You can't always have an ageless face, can you? With the internet and surveillance so advanced these days, it's hard to hide, isn't it? Or are you only staying for a few years? Hey! What about your household registration? In the information age, you can't do without a household registration, can you?"
Hearing a barrage of questions, the little male merman remained calm and answered them one by one: "After we come ashore, we live our lives as humans. Like humans, we grow old. After we die as humans, we return to the sea and resume our merman state. There are quite a few mermen who come ashore, and they keep coming in, so there are special organizations on land that manage and handle the mermen here."
Indeed, the little male merman not only had his tail turn into legs, but the scales on his face also disappeared, and his ears became those of a normal human.
The little merman's eyes darted around: "Normally, there aren't any."
"Under abnormal circumstances?" Luo Qingyan seized the key point. "Are you in an abnormal situation right now?"
The little male merman didn't answer, which meant he agreed.
"Why?" Luo Qingyan was genuinely curious. "Oh right, you even used your ability to help me detoxify earlier. You... do you have some special reason? Hey! Could it really be like what I initially said, that you got involved in some war of the sea gods, were accidentally injured and came ashore, and became a prince in distress?" Luo Qingyan laughed at himself as he spoke.
"More or less..."
"Pretty much! Is that really true? I've found a prince in distress?"
"No...no!" The little merman was startled by Luo Qingyan's surprise and quickly denied and explained, "It's just that there were some...it can't really be called war, it's just...an accident...something special..." The little merman's voice grew softer and softer, as if he wanted to explain but felt that there were things he really couldn't say.
"Hmph! If it's hard to say, then let's not say! Although I'm very curious, but... I won't force anyone." Luo Qingyan waved his hand. "But... your fishtail has turned into legs. Does that mean you're going to live as a human for the rest of your life? Or are you special in this respect?"
The little merman paused for a moment before nodding: "Yes, it's special."
"Oh." Luo Qingyan's tone instantly turned colder. "So you'll leave once you've recovered?"
"I... can stay a little longer."
Luo Qingyan's lips curled into a smile, and she quickly said, "It's also an option... It sounds like you're reluctant to accept it as a backup plan?"
"You want me to leave sooner?" the little merman asked instinctively, then explained, "You, you said you wanted to travel."
Do you want to stay?
"think."
No one expected the conversation to be so abrupt, so a silence followed.
After a moment of silence, Luo Qingyan sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed: "Fine, stay if you want. But I don't have much time left."
The little merman's eyes darkened slightly. He pondered for a moment before speaking, "I... I didn't have any training before coming ashore, so I might seem a bit strange to humans. I will train. If you think I've done something wrong, you can tell me directly."
"Training? How do we train?"
"Go to the mermaid management organization on land; they will help me."
When are you going?
"Let's wait a few days until I regain my strength and get used to my legs."
"I can't go, can I?"
"Um."
"Sigh..." Luo Qingyan sighed again, placed his hands on either side of the bed to support himself, and leaned back.
"I'm sorry." The little male merman sensed Luo Qingyan's sadness and quickly apologized.
“No need to apologize, it’s not because of you.” Luo Qingyan looked at the little male merman, his expression still somber. “I suddenly thought about going to the hospital today, and I realized… actually, this was a good opportunity. I’ve always been unsure how to tell my family about my illness, so I figured I could take this chance to pretend I don’t know anything, get a checkup, and then my family would naturally… sigh… what a pity, why didn’t I think of that! Hiding it… it’s so tiring…”
The little merman thought for a moment and said seriously, "Life and death are both inevitable, and we have to accept them no matter what. If you're afraid, you can imagine that there might be a better world after death?"
"Huh?" Luo Qingyan's mouth was agape.
"Didn't that comfort you?" the little male merman said, feeling insecure. "I know humans are afraid of death, but actually, it's best not to think about it. Just seize the moment until death comes."
Luo Qingyan smiled helplessly: "Your words of comfort are really interesting. Thank you so much."
You are not happy.
"Of course, I'm just an ordinary person. How could I be happy when I'm about to die?" Luo Qingyan's face fell, and his tone was hard. "Hey! Can you use your superpower to help me eliminate a little bit of cancer cells every day and then cure my cancer?"
The little merman blinked and shook his head.
"Sigh... What am I thinking! Like an idiot!" Luo Qingyan suddenly spoke loudly, venting her frustration.
She looked up at the ceiling, wanting to say something more to vent her frustration, but she didn't know what to say, so she just yelled twice.
Looking down at the little merman, he found him quietly watching him.
In a moment of stunned silence, she realized that the little merman had been bearing the brunt of all her mood swings.
When a person falls ill, especially with a terminal illness, their psychology will inevitably change. It's perfectly normal to become sentimental, irritable, and easily angered. Even if one tries to suppress their emotions for the sake of their family, some emotions will still inadvertently leak out.
Disappointment, anxiety, disagreements, unease, grief, anger, resentment, arguments... there will be no shortage of these feelings. Family members may not say anything to avoid upsetting the patient's emotions, but those negative feelings remain and will eventually hurt them.
So, it can be said that the little male merman helped her by bearing her negative emotions, which allowed her to be peaceful with her family and saved her from feeling guilty later, which would have made her more erratic and extremely uncomfortable.
She didn't seem to feel any guilt towards the little male merman because she had saved him. The little male merman's behavior was different from humans and could make people angry, so she felt that everything was justified.
Shouldn't you feel a little apologetic?
-
"What can I do to make you happy?" After thinking for a long time, the little merman suddenly spoke, his voice full of sincerity.
Luo Qingyan snapped out of her thoughts, her mood suddenly improving. She smiled slightly and said, "I don't know yet. But let's have a good meal first! We haven't had dinner yet!"
Seeing Luo Qingyan smile, the little male merman was also happy: "Great!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com