The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 21

After running around nonstop for the past two days, Zhao Shuqing fell asleep almost the moment her head hit the pillow. When she woke up again, the sun was already sinking toward the west.

She felt a heavy pressure on her chest. Looking down, she realized Lin Feng was lying on top of her, pressing so hard that Zhao Shuqing was almost struggling to breathe. Lin Feng seemed still asleep. Her long hair spread out over both of them, and her beautiful blue tail was pressed tightly against Zhao Shuqing’s leg—actually, it was even wrapped around it a little.

Zhao Shuqing propped herself up and gently lifted Lin Feng’s neck to move her aside. Then she sat in the car, watching the outside.

It seemed nothing had happened while they were asleep.

That was a huge relief.

Zhao Shuqing let out a breath and turned back to look at the sleeping mermaid.

Lin Feng’s eyes were tightly shut, her long translucent eyelashes trembling slightly with each breath. Her orange pajamas were wrinkled and dirty, tangled around her waist, exposing her slender stomach and the blue scales below her navel.

And the special scale cover that had already closed up.

Zhao Shuqing still remembered the first time they met—it was because she had dared to lift that patch of scales, and Lin Feng had slapped her hard, leaving her face swollen for two whole days. Thinking back, Zhao Shuqing felt amazed again at how stunning the mermaid’s figure was.

She really couldn’t believe such a beautiful creature could also be so fierce.

Lin Feng seemed to sense Zhao Shuqing’s gaze. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes, meeting Zhao Shuqing’s.

“Hey, you’re awake?” Zhao Shuqing smiled warmly, not at all embarrassed at being caught watching. “Are you still sleepy? If not, get up and eat something.”

Lin Feng obediently stayed lying down, her hands naturally resting near her ears. Her eyes looked at Zhao Shuqing with a dazed expression, as if she didn’t quite understand what was said.

The sleepy little mermaid was just too adorable. Zhao Shuqing’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly looked away.

She pinched herself quietly.

How could she be having feelings for a mermaid?

This was a national treasure, after all.

Just as Zhao Shuqing pretended to be busy, Lin Feng slowly sat up and stared at her tail for a long time before quietly saying one word:

“Hurts.”

Zhao Shuqing immediately asked, “Where does it hurt? Are you injured?”

Lin Feng frowned and pointed at her big tail. “Hurts.”

Her tail hurt?

Zhao Shuqing thought her tail might be injured again. She picked it up and examined it closely, but saw no obvious wounds. However, the scales felt very dry. The patch that often rubbed against the ground was even peeling slightly, showing the soft, pale flesh underneath.

“Is it… too dry?” Zhao Shuqing gently touched the scales and softly asked, “Does your tail hurt?”

Lin Feng nodded and softly said, pointing to the scales, “Hurts…”

Zhao Shuqing understood: Lin Feng was seriously dehydrated.

For the past few days, Lin Feng had been living on land with her. As a mermaid, lacking water was really tough. After all the running and hiding, her scales were practically drying out and cracking.

“Wait here a moment.” Zhao Shuqing grabbed a bottle of mineral water nearby, soaked her own T-shirt in it, and applied it to Lin Feng’s tail. The cracked scales looked like dry earth desperately soaking up the moisture from the wet fabric.

Zhao Shuqing poured the entire bottle of water onto Lin Feng’s tail. The dull, lifeless scales soaked it up and started to shine with shimmering colors again.

Lin Feng flicked her tail and seemed to feel the pain ease.

“Better?” Zhao Shuqing gently asked, stroking her tail.

Lin Feng said nothing. She just stared intently at Zhao Shuqing’s hand as it touched her tail, making a barely noticeable movement.

Zhao Shuqing didn’t notice anything strange and continued carefully “replenishing” the moisture. Fortunately, Lin Feng’s dehydration wasn’t too severe, and as the tail became wet, the scales visibly recovered.

At the end, Zhao Shuqing looked at the unusual patch of scales on Lin Feng’s lower belly. Suddenly, she felt a faint sting on her own cheek but shut her eyes and placed the damp T-shirt over that patch anyway.

Lin Feng wanted to resist but only twitched her tail slightly and tightly gripped the chair beneath her.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Zhao Shuqing looked up at Lin Feng and whispered, “I don’t mean anything inappropriate. This part just needs some water too.”

Right after saying that, Zhao Shuqing wanted to bite her own tongue.

What did she mean by “needs some water”?

That sounded way too weird, right???

Luckily, Lin Feng didn’t understand much human language yet, so she didn’t catch the awkwardness in Zhao Shuqing’s words. Instead, she tensed her whole body, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

Zhao Shuqing kept her hand on the damp cloth, watching Lin Feng’s shy, flushed face. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it might burst. She quickly lowered her head—and saw Lin Feng’s tail tremble softly, wet and gently curling around her waist…

The atmosphere seemed to be getting worse and worse.

She poured the last bit of water from the bottle onto Lin Feng. Outside, the sky was already starting to darken.

Zhao Shuqing screwed the cap back on, thinking that when she had time, she’d bring some water in with the empty bottle. At this rate, Lin Feng would have to rough it with her for a while, so she had to remember to keep her hydrated.

With a ‘rip’ sound, Zhao Shuqing tore her soaked T-shirt into strips and then wrapped them simply around Lin Feng’s tail.

Lin Feng flicked her tail, looking at her confused.

Zhao Shuqing tied a flat knot on the tail and said, “If your tail feels dry, just take a bottle of water and splash some on it. That should keep it wet for a while.” Then she opened another bottle to demonstrate. Lin Feng immediately understood.

Turning on the car’s interior light, Zhao Shuqing quickly tidied up the back seat. She crushed a pack of instant noodles with one punch, shook the dry powder seasoning packet, and handed it to Lin Feng, signaling that she could eat.

The two of them sat in the car eating instant noodles. Lin Feng wasn’t new to this snack, but she always ate it very seriously, which Zhao Shuqing found amusing.

She looked out the window and thought about how to escape from this village safely.

Zhao Shuqing took out a map. While eating a sausage, she took a pen and marked some spots.

Zhouling Township was a small town, not very big. There were only two roads nearby: one was an abandoned provincial road, and the other was the only way out.

To the west of Zhouling Township was Tuoluo Ridge—a large dense forest that was impossible to cross on foot. To the east was the Tuoluo River, which flowed into the Huai River.

Even if they crossed Huai River to reach the city to find Xu Tang, there were only a few main roads they could use.

Zhao Shuqing marked several “X”s on those roads. As long as those people weren’t stupid, they would definitely be waiting at those spots once the signal disappeared.

How could they break through the blockade?

They had a car—faster than walking—and Lin Feng’s flashy tail made it obviously safer to stay in the car.

Just as Zhao Shuqing was thinking about how to break through, she heard a ‘pfft’ behind her. Then water splashed onto her back. She quickly turned around and saw Lin Feng holding an unopened bottle of mineral water, probably trying to open it, but her sharp claws pierced right through the thin plastic bottle.

Zhao Shuqing hurriedly put down her pen, moved closer, and wiped the seat with a towel. “What are you doing?”

Lin Feng blinked and softly said, “Water.”

Zhao Shuqing was surprised. She looked at Lin Feng’s tail. Didn’t she just water it? Why again?

Though puzzled, Zhao Shuqing opened the bottle cap and poured some water on the cloth strips around Lin Feng’s tail. Lin Feng flicked her tail happily. After watering, Zhao Shuqing asked, “Is that enough now?”

Lin Feng shook the water droplets off her tail fin, opened her mouth, pointed to her throat, and said again, “Water.”

Zhao Shuqing froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. She quickly apologized and handed her the bottle. “Haha, sorry! I thought you meant your tail needed water, didn’t expect you were thirsty. Here, drink up! There’s still half left. If it’s not enough, I’ll open another.”

Lin Feng was very thirsty. She drank two bottles and finally let out a satisfied burp. Seeing Zhao Shuqing sit back down and study the map seriously, Lin Feng moved closer and lay on Zhao Shuqing’s back, drinking water slowly.

Zhao Shuqing felt her shoulder get heavy and saw Lin Feng snuggling closer.

With her body fully hydrated, Lin Feng felt cool and comfortable leaning against Zhao Shuqing. Zhao Shuqing didn’t mind.

Since Lin Feng couldn’t read the map, she got bored and started flicking the seat with her tail fin, making wet ‘pat pat’ sounds that made Zhao Shuqing’s scalp tingle.

“Don’t move around,” Zhao Shuqing said, holding Lin Feng’s tail and stroking it. “You’re making too much noise.”

“Noisy?” Lin Feng blinked at her.

Zhao Shuqing nodded, lifted Lin Feng’s big tail onto her lap, and hugged her. “Be good. When I finish studying this, we’ll go out and check the area.”

Lin Feng understood and leaned on Zhao Shuqing’s shoulder without moving. Half an hour passed as Zhao Shuqing studied the map. During that time, Lin Feng stayed curled in her arms, clutching the water bottle obediently.

Who would have thought such a well-behaved mermaid was the ruler of the ocean?

Zhao Shuqing rolled up the map and said to Lin Feng, “We won’t drive later. We’re going to scout the nearby area. Do you want to come with me?”

Lin Feng understood and softly squeezed Zhao Shuqing’s wrist, signaling she wanted to go too.

“Okay.” Zhao Shuqing didn’t feel safe going alone. With Lin Feng, at least she had some protection. She quickly packed her bag, checked Lin Feng’s scales, then quietly opened the car door and got out. She turned to Lin Feng and whispered, “Let’s go. We’ll check out the area first.”