Chapter 6

“Are you also caught by the ‘octopus’?”

Since Wensir was also grabbed by the tentacles, Lance suddenly felt a sense of camaraderie with him. He asked, “Have you seen the true form of the ‘octopus’? How big is it?”

Wensir’s expression suddenly became strange as he replied, “It’s not an octopus.”

“Not an octopus?”

Lance thought for a moment, drawing on his limited knowledge of the ocean, and associated it with the giant squid that could battle sperm whales in the deep sea. So he asked again, “Is it a squid?”

Wensir’s voice sounded a bit aggrieved: “No.”

This was beyond Lance’s understanding. He waved his hand dismissively and said, “Then it doesn’t matter what it is.”

Lance glanced at the seaweed tied to his fingertips and quickly leaned in to ask, “The thing that healed me, does that mean there’s seaweed nearby?”

Wensir hesitated for a moment and nodded.

“Bro, you’re amazing!”

Lance looked at Wensir as if he were a treasure. “You’re like a healer. Perfect! After we escape, I’m sticking with you!”

Wensir: “…”

Wensir was clearly taken aback by Lance’s shameless remarks. After a while, he asked, “Do you like me?”

Now it was Lance’s turn to be stunned.

To be fair, the appearance and figure of the black-tailed mermaid in front of him were impeccable, even extremely aligned with Lance’s aesthetic. But to jump straight to asking “Do you like me?” was a bit much.

Moreover…

Lance secretly glanced at the other party.

The other person was indeed beautiful, but the “non-human” aura around him made it hard for Lance to open his heart to Wensir.

Right now, his feelings for Wensir were quite simple: he just wanted to find a “prison break partner.”

Lance wasn’t sure if the mermaid’s “like” was the same as the “like” in human language.

After all, in human language, “like” has two meanings.

Lance hesitated for a moment and said tactfully, “I don’t dislike you.”

Wensir seemed to ponder this: “From your expression, are you a bit afraid of me?”

Lance felt a bit awkward and lowered his head, not daring to look at Wensir.

He was indeed a little scared; the previous ease was all an act.

Like a child who had done something wrong, Lance felt a bit guilty, especially since Wensir was his savior. After a moment of struggle, he raised his head and said, “I’m sorry, I’m just getting used to…”

The rest of the words, Lance looked at Wensir’s face and silently swallowed them back.

This time, the black-tailed mermaid’s appearance left Lance in a daze again—

This time it wasn’t because of the stunning beauty, but because Lance noticed that the other person’s features seemed to have changed a bit, the angles softened considerably, and the cold aura around him melted away.

The other person’s features seemed to have adjusted to a look that matched Lance’s preferences in that brief moment.

Lance realized he wasn’t afraid of Wensir anymore.

Was the previous feeling just an illusion?

Lance wondered.

Maybe he was just confused, seeing things.

How could someone change their appearance in such a short time?

Lance shook his head, wanting to shake off these trivial thoughts.

He swam around Wensir and took a look above the coral bone—

The little fish with blue flames flickered, the ghostly light blurred all boundaries between the inside and outside world, and it just happened to block the prying eyes from above.

Confirming that the tentacles outside couldn’t come in for the time being, Lance grabbed Wensir’s hand and said seriously, “Wensir, let’s break out together!”

“Break out?”

Wensir raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

Lance lowered his voice and told Wensir, “I’ve been secretly digging an escape tunnel, and I’m about to break through.”

Wensir lowered his gaze, looking at Lance’s hands, and asked, “Did you get hurt because of this?”

“Yeah.”

Lance followed Wensir’s gaze and then raised his hand to explain, “With a little effort, I can dig through the coral bone behind. Once we break through, we can go out together.”

Wensir looked at Lance and gently held his injured hands. He asked, “Are you sure you can break through that coral bone?”

Lance’s smile froze.

Then there was a long silence.

Indeed, the last layer of coral bone was incredibly hard, and Lance’s idea of breaking through it was a bit fanciful.

He had even broken his nails but still hadn’t succeeded.

Wensir saw that the white mermaid’s ear fins had drooped down.

Seeing this, something shifted in Wensir’s eyes, and finally, his tone softened as he gently asked, “Isn’t it good to stay here?”

Lance tilted his head and retorted, “Why would staying here be a good thing?”

Lance swished his tail and swam around the coral bone, saying, “Although becoming a mermaid shocked me… the vast ocean also scared me… but I’m free, I shouldn’t be bound.”

“But you can’t even swim.”

Wensir pointed this out sharply, saying, “In your current state, you can’t even swim out of the abyss.”

“It doesn’t matter, I can learn.”

Lance remained optimistic. He swam in front of Wensir and cautiously asked, “Can you teach me?”

Wensir chuckled: “So, no matter what I say, you’re sticking to me?”

“Is that okay?”

Lance cupped his face with his webbed claws, trying to cool his face with the coldness.

He was actually a bit shy.

Wensir’s smile faded, and he frowned slightly, as if considering the proposal.

“If you consider me your teacher, I’ll do everything you say.”

Lance, fearing Wensir would refuse, quickly added, “I won’t resist!”

“Really?”

“Really!”

Wensir shook his head, showing a helpless expression.

In the end, Wensir nodded slightly.

“You agreed?”

Lance’s eyes squinted with joy.

He quickly grabbed Wensir’s hand and urged, “Then teach me how to swim.”

“Not in a hurry.”

Wensir didn’t go along with Lance’s enthusiasm. He rubbed Lance’s hand and said, “Your body isn’t healed yet; go rest.”

“But…”

“Mm?”

Remembering the promise he had just made, Lance finally quieted down and listlessly swam over to the sea anemone.

As soon as Lance lay on the soft sea anemone, he stuck to it, feeling drowsy.

His previous liveliness was all an act.

Lance was just overly excited to see other mermaids, which had forced his body into action.

Now, once his spirit relaxed, Lance turned back into a patient.

Lance closed his eyes, and in just a few seconds, he opened them again, seeing Wensir’s figure outside the sea anemone.

After hesitating for a moment, Lance gritted his teeth, sat up, and pushed out the pearls he had hidden inside the sea anemone.

Wensir, who was about to leave outside, suddenly heard a strange sound behind him. Turning around, he saw pearls of all sizes falling out of the sea anemone, scattering everywhere.

In the midst of Wensir’s confusion, Lance pushed aside the sea anemone and said to Wensir, “Wensir, you should come in and rest too.”

“You, inviting me in?”

Wensir was taken aback.

“Yeah, don’t you need to rest?”

Lance was puzzled, and then he suddenly realized that Wensir might be afraid of being squeezed if he came in, so he casually said, “Don’t worry, the sea anemone is big enough to fit both of us.”

Wensir hesitated for a moment but eventually relented and entered the sea anemone.

“Wensir, can you tell me about mermaids?”

Lance lay back on the sea anemone, and through the tentacles, he could see the dim blue deep sea.

“There’s nothing much to say.”

Wensir replied lazily, “Mermaids don’t have kin; you are unique.”

Lance didn’t take Wensir’s words to heart.

At that moment, Wensir’s words sounded contradictory.

If there were no kin, why was there a Wensir beside Lance?

“Then why do you think the ‘octopus’ wants to catch us?” Lance asked.

“Perhaps its intentions are good.”

Wensir leaned closer, covering Lance’s hand with his own, saying, “It’s dangerous outside.”

“I don’t believe it.”

Lance disagreed with Wensir’s thoughts. He believed that pets and reserve food were just a thin line apart; who knows, one day they might be eaten by their “master.”

Rather than sitting and waiting for death, it was better to take action.

Wensir quietly squinted his eyes, not refuting.

He tilted his head, looking at Lance’s expression, and reached out to touch Lance’s stomach.

Lance: “…”

Under Wensir’s pressure, Lance felt his stomach slightly bulging, but it was still quite empty; even though he had muscles, it felt soft to the touch.

Wensir also seemed quite satisfied with this feeling. He stroked Lance’s abdomen, his face showing an expression of keen interest, as if he were a curious child who had found a toy.

Lance felt a bit helpless about Wensir’s actions, but since Wensir didn’t seem to have any harmful intentions, he didn’t mind Wensir’s actions. His tail gently swayed under Wensir’s touch, feeling quite comfortable: “Be gentle.”

The gentle caress made Lance drowsy, and he slowly closed his eyes, gradually losing his train of thought.

After seeing Lance close his eyes, Wensir’s gaze gradually focused on Lance’s face. His pupils shifted, and there seemed to be a current hidden beneath the still waters of his eyes, as if anticipating something, hinting at some complex desire.

Wensir looked up and down at the mermaid, feeling the smooth and delicate skin beneath his hand, like fine silk, while observing the white mermaid’s body structure.

After a few soft sounds, Wensir’s tail sprouted a few more fins, becoming more and more similar to Lance’s, and his features gradually underwent subtle changes, aligning more with Lance’s aesthetic.

Lance was unaware of Wensir’s actions. Under Wensir’s touch, he gradually relaxed his body, exposing his vulnerable abdomen, retracting the sharp fins on his tail, pressing them close to his tail, showing unparalleled trust in Wensir.

Wensir’s eyes flickered as he placed his palm on Lance’s relaxed abdomen, gently stroking along his muscle lines, moving down, finally brushing over the scales on his waist, reaching the tail, lightly fiddling with a spot where the scales were denser than the surrounding ones.

At that moment, Lance, who had been drowsy, suddenly woke up. He sat up and pushed Wensir’s hand away.

Wensir blinked and withdrew his webbed claw: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

Lance instinctively touched the scales that Wensir had just stroked. He didn’t know why he reacted so strongly, but his intuition told him that spot was not to be touched. At the same time, a wave of shame surged in his heart.

“That place can’t be touched.”

Lance turned his head and said to Wensir.

“Why?”

Wensir showed a puzzled expression, saying, “I like your scales.”

Lance was momentarily speechless.

Perhaps for mermaids, touching each other’s scales was no different from cats grooming each other, but Lance still considered himself human deep down.

Realizing he couldn’t impose human concepts, Lance just shook his head and repeated, “Can’t touch.”

Then he lay back down.

But this time, Lance turned his back to Wensir, curling his long tail and using the gauzy tail fin to cover his upper body.

Seeing this scene, Wensir showed a look of frustration.