Li Shu instinctively felt the danger. He wanted to escape, but was held tightly.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” Lu Xi leaned closer, their cheeks almost touching, their breaths clearly audible and intertwined, indistinguishable from each other.
It was too close. Li Shu couldn’t see Lu Xi’s expression, but he could feel Lu Xi’s mood. Merfolk never bothered to hide their emotions, whether they were happy or unhappy, it was always clear.
Lu Xi was very happy now. This was the emotion Li Shu felt from the merman wrapped around him. At the same time, Lu Xi was very dangerous. This was a strong sixth sense.
His sixth sense never deceived him. If Li Shu were in his true form now, his fur would have been standing on end.
The source of the danger was the merman holding him tightly.
“Lu Xi?” Li Shu called tentatively.
“How did I only realize now?” Lu Xi was immersed in his new discovery. He had obtained the answer he had always wanted and understood the problem that had troubled him for a long time. At the same time, he understood his feelings for Li Shu.
Why did he want to drag him back to his lair and hide him instead of eating him? Why did he like being close to this human? If it was for this reason, everything made sense.
When he first told Li Shu why their race appeared before humans, why didn’t he think about his relationship with Li Shu? Now he understood. He wanted to take Li Shu back to his lair because he saw Li Shu as his mate. The only ones allowed in a merfolk’s nest, apart from food, were mates, right?
He had been stuck in his own misconceptions, never considering this possibility. Why wouldn’t it be possible? Thinking back on some of his previous behaviors, it was already very obvious, wasn’t it?
He nuzzled Li Shu’s cheek affectionately, his heart filled with undisguised joy and an uncontrollable possessiveness. Although Lu Xi had always liked to stick close to him, Li Shu still felt something was off.
He tried to push Lu Xi away a bit, only to realize a few minutes later that he was just wasting his efforts. No matter what method he used this time, the merman wouldn’t move.
The water temperature was a bit low, but fortunately, the merman’s body was warm this time, so soaking in the water for a while wasn’t unbearable.
Realizing Lu Xi’s determination, he stopped struggling and let Lu Xi hang on him.
The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the occasional sound of the wind and Lu Xi’s tail hitting the water. In the boundless silence, the senses would be amplified. Li Shu felt a cool, moist sensation on his cheek. When he slightly turned his head to avoid it, Lu Xi brought him back without giving him any room refuse.
This was followed by a series of delicate kisses on the neck.
Light, continuous, and winding downwards. He was wearing a loose T-shirt, and the continuous sensation forced him to raise his head, which conveniently allowed the other party to continue.
Now Li Shu was sure that the warm, moist sensation was Lu Xi’s lips.
Those lips seemed to open a path on his body, exploring various places and leaving marks everywhere.
The water was cold, but the bodies were warm. The places where they touched were also warm, a heat that could scorch if not careful, but he couldn’t care less now. He let this temperature rampage, as if it would burn everything.
This kind of kiss was a first for Li Shu. He wanted to say something, but he was immersed in a strange feeling of lethargy, unwillingness to move, and letting others do as they pleased.
Li Shu didn’t like this out-of-control feeling, so he struggled hard in the warm swamp, trying to break free. But the harder he struggled, the deeper he sank, something he hadn’t expected.
In the center of the empty pool, the merman buried his head in the neck of the neck of his hard-won mate. His long seaweed-like hair wrapped around them, making them seem as one.
Li Shu felt like he was suffocating. His thoughts had stagnanted and he forced to accept the continuous flow of love from the merman, the overwhelming emotions almost drowning him.
What saved him was a phone call.
The call was from someone downstairs, saying there was a visitor.
Li Shu struggled out of Lu Xi’s embrace, gasping for air, his cheeks flushed. After calming his breath, he was curious about who had come at this critical moment.
“I need to go see.” Li Shu tried to soothe the overly clingy Lu Xi.
Lu Xi lay by the pool, grabbing his clothes and not letting him go.
“This is a critical moment. We can’t have any mishaps,” Li Shu said helplessly. Lu Xi was very strong, and if he forced himself away, his clothes might end up destroyed, along with some things here.
“I’ll just go down and take a look. I’ll be back soon.”
“Let them come up,” Lu Xi looked directly into Li Shu’s eyes and said reluctantly when he saw that there was no room for maneuver.
“Let them come here?” Suddenly thinking of something, Li Shu was surprised. “Do you know who it is?”
Li Shu soon found out the answer. There was a rhythmic knock on the door. Li Shu went to open it, and this time Lu Xi didn’t stop him.
Standing outside the door was the protagonist Li Shu had recently seen in the newspaper, and the person in his arms was…
“Lin Luo?”
“Brother Li Shu, it’s me. Sorry to disturb you.”
The Lin and Li families had a cooperative relationship and were close. The younger generations played together when they were kids. Lin Luo was the youngest of the Lin family. He just turned eighteen and was still in school. He was a lively person and loved new things.
“Why are you here?” Li Shu led them in. He glanced at the man protecting Lin Luo in his arms. He happened to meet the man’s probing eyes, and he quickly realized this was one of Lu Xi’s kin.
Lin Luo was also confused. He was clearly out having fun with his boyfriend, so how did he end up here all of a sudden?
Seeing his bewildered expression, Li Shu roughly guessed that it was probably the siren’s doing.
Li Shu had no intention of meddling in the siren clan’s affairs. After a brief introduction, he led Lin Luo downstairs. Lu Xi had mentioned that the sirens were looking for mates this time, and Lin Luo was clearly chosen by the siren. He needed to gather more information to increase their chances.
For instance, whether sirens could use their powerful mental abilities to control humans, how they switched between tails and legs, whether it was through external means or their own ability… The more he knew, the more leverage he had.
Sitting on the sofa with a cup of hot tea, Lin Luo still looked dazed. He hadn’t expected to find a merman at Li Shu’s place.
He opened his mouth, met Li Shu’s calm gaze, and inexplicably swallowed his questions. He wanted to ask where Li Shu had found the merman, if he was in a relationship with the merman like him, and why this merman hadn’t transformed his tail into legs…
He had so many questions, but he didn’t know if he should ask. He was the only one who knew that his boyfriend was a mermaid, and he hadn’t even told his family. He knew the appearance of merfolk would bring a storm to human society, and his boyfriend’s identity of a merman meant they would be at the center of it, but he couldn’t protect his boyfriend now.
If his boyfriend’s identity was revealed, he didn’t even dare to imagine the consequences. He had been avoiding this issue, but avoidance would never solve the problem.
“Brother Li Shu, do you know…”
He didn’t finish his question, but Li Shu knew what he wanted to ask and nodded. “I came here to solve this problem.”
He took a sip of hot tea, the steam masking his expression. Lin Luo could only hear his cold and calm voice. “Since the secret can’t be kept, we must take control.”
The two exchanged the information they knew. Lu Xi had told Li Shu many things about their race, and Lin Luo knew mostly about the sirens’ mate selection.
Sirens were very loyal, having only one mate for life, but their selection criteria were very strict. If they couldn’t find the right one, they would rather stay single. This trait made them unwilling to settle and resulted in many bachelors and low birth rates. Even though they were strong and long-lived, they couldn’t compensate for the decreasing birth rate. If they didn’t find a solution, the outcome was inevitable.
This was also why they had exposed their existence. Male sirens were naturally incompatible, and female sirens were rare. The sea creatures were too ugly, so they had to set their sights on the land.
Finally, Li Shu asked the boy who was a few years younger than him, “Is he good to you?”
“Very good,” Lin Luo nodded with a red face. “I am very happy with Yasu.”
Through his conversation with Lin Luo, Li Shu gained some understanding about how sirens chose their mates.
Meanwhile, by the poolside, a serious conversation was also taking place.
They were discussing the clan’s arrangements and what to do next. When Lu Xi had disappeared so suddenly, it took several months for the clan to confirm that their king had been taken to the land. Thus, a small team of elite members was sent to the land to find him.
Lu Xi checked the timeline and found that these people had blended into human society earlier than he had thought. This meant they had stayed in human society for a while before deciding to reveal the clan’s existence.
Actually, this was a risky move because they couldn’t find any trace of the king, and losing their king was a huge loss they couldn’t afford.
“King, is that the person you chose?” After discussing official matters, Yasu couldn’t contain his curiosity.
The king, who had just confirmed his feelings, nodded.
“Then, can the king transform his tail into legs?” Yasu was a bit puzzled. Since the king had chosen a mate, why was he always in tail form? It was known that tails were less convenient than legs on land.
And those siren features were too conspicuous.
Yasu was in complete human form now, except for his crimson eyes. But these were easy to cover in modern society.
“I cannot transform into human form,” Lu Xi stated plainly.
“That shouldn’t be. After I was with Xiao Luo, I could transform freely,” Yasu was surprised.
Lu Xi: “Together?”
Yasu: “Well, after mating.”
Lu Xi: “Did you do anything else?”
Yasu explained everything. “I don’t think those are the main reasons. I could transform into human form after I truly got together with Xiao Luo.”
Lu Xi: “I see.”
Coincidentally, Li Shu had asked Lin Luo the same question. Lin Luo answered with a red face. Li Shu rubbed the rim of his cup, thinking that the siren race in this world was truly amazing and indeed domineering.
That night, Li Shu was ambushed.
He woke up in a humid atmosphere and met a pair of glowing red eyes.
Sorry everyone, I missed last week’s updates but I’ll try to compensate this week. Thank you for reading!!
