“Oh?” Li Shu was surprised. He didn’t know what Yasu needed his help with. Could it be something related to Lu Xi? If it really was about Lu Xi, he would help without hesitation, there was no need for Yasu to even ask.
“It’s about Lin Luo,” Yasu lowered his head as if pondering whether to ask the question. After some hesitation, he finally spoke, “Lin Luo hasn’t been acting strange lately. I want to know what’s going on.”
“You can ask Lin Luo directly about these things, I can’t help you much,” Li Shu replied, not agreeing to intervene. If there really was an issue between Yasu and Lin Luo, it wasn’t something he could resolve. Matters of the heart needed to be handled by those involved, and it wasn’t appropriate for an outsider like him to interfere.
Ask Lin Luo? Yasu had already tried, and Lin Luo had given him some reasons. But deep down, Yasu knew those weren’t the real reasons.
Their race was skilled at sensing emotions, and since Lin Luo was his chosen mate, Yasu paid even more attention to him. Even if Lin Luo wanted to hide something, it was impossible.
He shook his head and said, “I’ve asked, but the answers I got weren’t genuine. Mr. Li, have you noticed that Lin Luo is different this time compared to last time?”
Li Shu had indeed noticed that Lin Luo was keeping something to himself, but he had never been the type to meddle in other people’s affairs. His relationship with Lin Luo wasn’t close enough to warrant asking personal questions. If Lin Luo didn’t bring it up, he wouldn’t pry.
“Please, Mr. Li, help me this once.” Yasu placed his right hand over his chest and gave a deep bow in the siren’s customary gesture of respect.
“Fine, I can ask, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll get the answer you’re looking for.” If Lin Luo hadn’t even told his lover, Li Shu doubted he would share it with him.
“Thank you.” After Li Shu agreed, Yasu prepared to leave. He shouldn’t stay too long near the king’s mate. If it weren’t for his deep concern for Lin Luo, he wouldn’t have come to see Li Shu alone.
In their tribe, meeting another siren’s mate alone was considered a challenge to that siren. No one would be foolish enough to challenge the king as that would be courting death. The Sirens were synonymous with killing, and they showed no mercy, even to their own kind.
“Wait,” Li Shu called out to Yasu just as he was about to leave. “I want to ask you about someone.”
Why ask him about someone? Yasu then realized that Li Shu wasn’t asking about a human, but a Siren. He stopped in his tracks. “Who do you want to ask about?”
“Daniel.” Li Shu didn’t beat around the bush. That’s the great thing about talking to smart people, you didn’t need to say much. Just a hint, and they would understand your meaning.
“Daniel?” Yasu repeated the name, his expression turning a bit strange. “Why do you want to know about him, Mr. Li?”
“I don’t have to answer that, do I?” Sensing something from Yasu’s reaction, Li Shu suppressed what he initially wanted to say.
“Of course not. Daniel… he’s not in the ocean. He came to land a few months ago. As for where he is now, I’m sorry, but I don’t know.” Yasu quickly adjusted his expression, revealing no further hints.
‘A few months ago…’ Li Shu rubbed his chin. So, just as the plot had indicated, Daniel had already come to land. But despite all his efforts, why hadn’t he been able to find him? Was he secretly captured for experiments like in the original plot, or…?
No matter how much he thought about it now, he couldn’t come to any useful conclusions. Li Shu lowered his eyes and said, “I see.”
All he learned was that the male protagonist wasn’t in the ocean. The clue from Yasu was practically worthless. Li Shu shook his head. With the vastness of the land, finding someone who was intent on hiding wouldn’t be easy.
So, where was the male protagonist?
It’s worthy of being a punishment world—he couldn’t even find the male protagonist, so how was he supposed to complete his mission?
Worrying was pointless. Li Shu arranged for his people to continue searching non-stop. The Li family had significant influence in this world, and he couldn’t believe that with persistent searching, they wouldn’t find him. Once the authorities established policies regarding relations between the two races, finding a merfolk would be easier than it was now.
Li Shu stood in the room for a while, then went to the pool upstairs. Lu Xi was soaking in the water, and Yasu, who had just left, was there too. The two seemed to be discussing matters concerning the Siren tribe. Li Shu didn’t disturb them and turned to leave.
Lin Luo was on the balcony on the second floor. When Li Shu saw him, he was slowly sipping some black tea. Li Shu’s sudden appearance startled him.
“Brother Li Shu, what brings you here?” Lin Luo placed the teacup on the low table beside him.
Li Shu walked over, sat cross-legged across from Lin Luo, and calmly poured himself a cup of tea. “I came to check on you. You seem to have something on your mind. Can you talk to me about it?”
Lin Luo let out a bitter laugh. “Brother Li Shu, you’re really perceptive. I just got myself into a mess. L kept thinking in circles and trapped myself.”
“If only I could be as open-minded as you, Brother Li Shu,” Lin Luo looked down at his fingertips with a sigh.
“I’m not that open-minded.” Noticing the confused look in Lin Luo’s eyes, Li Shu smiled and continued, “When it comes to things that truly matter to us, I don’t think anyone can be completely open-minded. What we call open-mindedness is really just not caring much about the matter in question.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard of Brother Li Shu’s point of view.” Lin Luo laughed himself, “Yes, if we truly care, how could we be completely open-minded? Growing up, I always had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards many things, so I considered myself quite open-minded. But it turns out I didn’t care about those things as much as I thought. Now that I’ve encountered something I truly care about, I’ve become completely petty.”
Lin Luo poured himself another cup of hot tea, held the cup in his hands, and looked out through the rising steam. Everything was blurry, just like his current state of mind, he was unclear about everything.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Even though I know I shouldn’t care about such things, I still can’t control myself.”
Lin Luo’s words floated over, his voice was light and his tone equally light. Li Shu didn’t respond. If Lin Luo wanted to talk, he would do so without prompting.
Sure enough, Li Shu didn’t have to wait long before Lin Luo began to speak.
“Yasu and I met by accident. I fell in love with him at first sight, even though I didn’t know he was an intelligent being at that time, capable of communicating with humans easily and controlling their minds. I was prepared to take care of him for the rest of my life. I did everything I could to get close to him and bring him home. It was the most outrageous idea I’d ever had.”
What happened afterward was simple. On a moonlit night, Lin Luo saw the merman again by the sea. Regardless of whether the other party could understand him, he confessed his feelings as planned. To his surprise, the other party responded. The joy he felt in that moment was something Lin Luo would never forget, no matter how much time passed.
They quickly fell in love. Lin Luo arranged for Yasu to have a new identity and kept him by his side until that day when they met Li Shu.
“I know I shouldn’t doubt it, but I’ve been thinking these past few days, is this sudden, overwhelming feeling really coming from my heart? I’m very sure I love him now, but I’m not certain if there are other things mixed in with that love. Just thinking about our first meeting, I feel like my love at first sight might have been calculated, and it makes me feel like I have something stuck in my throat.”
Lin Luo covered his face and continued, “If everything is as I suspect, I won’t be able to continue with this relationship. I can’t stand it.”
“Are you suspecting that Yasu controlled your mind?” Li Shu had been quietly listening and only spoke after Lin Luo finished. Although it was phrased as a question, his tone was certain.
Lin Luo didn’t hide his thoughts anymore. “I know he isn’t controlling me now, but I’m not sure if he did at the beginning. My feelings for Yasu came on too strongly. If it hadn’t happened to me, I wouldn’t have believed that one day I could feel such intense emotions for a non-human I had just met. It’s completely unlike me.”
“You’ve been troubled by this matter these past few days?” No wonder Yasu couldn’t get an answer. If Lin Luo hadn’t said it himself, who would have thought he was troubled by this?
The tea in the cup had cooled. Lin Luo took a small sip and nodded slightly.
“Is it because of what I told you earlier about merfolk being able to control human minds? This matter… it’s not as complicated as you think. Based on what you’ve told me, I can be one hundred percent certain that Yasu hasn’t controlled you in this way.”
Lin Luo looked up, surprised. “Why?”
Li Shu: “Merfolk can control people’s behavior, but they aren’t as omnipotent as you think. If you were being controlled, you wouldn’t be able to retain your own thoughts. When being controlled, your connection to the outside world would be severed. Think carefully—since you and Yasu met, has anything like that happened?”
No. Lin Luo could definitely answer that. Unconsciously, he felt relieved, as if a heavy stone had been removed from his heart. As for how Li Shu knew all this, he wisely chose not to ask further.
“Now you know the reason, right?”
Just as Lin Luo was about to thank Li Shu, he heard him say this. Before he could react, he saw a tall figure step out from behind the curtain. Who else could it be but Yasu?
Yasu couldn’t care about anything else now. He walked straight to Lin Luo and hugged him from behind. He had considered all sorts of reasons for Lin Luo’s low spirits, but he never expected it to be this. The issue actually lay within himself.
“Yasu, I’m sorry, I…”
Yasu placed a finger on Lin Luo’s lips. “It’s my fault.”
“No, it’s mine,” Lin Luo’s voice choked, and at the same time, he belatedly felt embarrassment. He stammered, “It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”
Watching the two of them embrace, Li Shu quietly stepped out. As soon as he left the balcony, someone grabbed him.
Before he could speak, he was pulled into an empty room.
The sun had already set, and the room was dark. The door closed, cutting off the only source of light. Li Shu blinked, adjusting to the sudden darkness.
“Lu Xi…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the man bent down and sealed his lips with a kiss.
It was not a gentle kiss. Stripped of his gentlemanly facade, the man’s true nature was fully revealed. His aggressive aura was released without any concealment, and the fire in his eyes flickered as if he wanted to devour the person in his arms, not even leaving a bone behind.
