The Mermaid and Her Keeper (GL) - Chapter 22
Zhouling Village wasn’t too big, but not too small either—about two hundred permanent residents lived there.
A few hundred years ago, a solar storm caused a virus outbreak, and since then, the human population had dropped from a peak of seven billion to just seven or eight hundred million. Many places had reverted back to primitive forests. Once-thriving cities fell into decline because of the low population. Even a village as big as Zhouling now had only a handful of families.
Zhao Shuqing had just taken a nap and felt very refreshed. Now, she was lying on a hillside, watching a road junction in the distance. There was a car parked there, with at least four people inside.
Four strong, well-built men, all armed.
Zhao Shuqing made a mental note and pulled Lin Feng along to scout other places.
As she expected, that group had blocked several important checkpoints, even guarding the narrow riverside.
Not good…
From a distance, Zhao Shuqing looked at the car and thought it was better not to act rashly. Quietly waiting for Xu Tang and his team to come rescue them would be safer.
Not wanting to take risks, Zhao Shuqing glanced back at Lin Feng, who was watching her. Lin Feng’s eyes in the dark looked like a faint, eerie blue light. Mermaids often dive deep into the ocean, where no light reaches—but that’s no problem for them.
“Let’s go back,” Zhao Shuqing said softly, carefully climbing down.
Lin Feng nodded, and they turned to return the way they came.
They hadn’t gone far when Lin Feng suddenly stopped and looked back at a small red dot glowing in the sky not far away.
“What’s wrong?” Zhao Shuqing asked, turning her head.
Lin Feng looked at her and then pointed to the red dot in the sky, signaling her to look.
Zhao Shuqing looked up and froze. The red dot hung quietly in the air, blinking softly, flying silently—it was a new drone.
They’d been discovered.
“Run!” Zhao Shuqing quickly grabbed Lin Feng and ran without looking back. Lin Feng didn’t realize what the red dot was at first and kept looking back at it. Only then did she realize it wasn’t something good.
The drone was very quiet and had probably been hovering for a long time. Zhao Shuqing hurriedly led Lin Feng into an alley, soon hearing car engines revving all around—clearly, they’d been exposed.
“Tsk.” Zhao Shuqing rubbed her temple in frustration. She thought to herself, I should have just hidden with Lin Feng instead of acting recklessly.
The drone came chasing again. Zhao Shuqing frowned and glanced at Lin Feng. “Can you deal with that thing?”
Lin Feng looked up at the drone and nodded slightly.
“Go,” Zhao Shuqing said. “We can’t let it keep following us.”
Lin Feng understood, picked up a palm-sized stone from the ground, and flicked her big tail into the air. There was a loud boom—the drone was destroyed instantly, falling with sparks.
“Awesome,” Zhao Shuqing praised. “If I had even half your skills, I wouldn’t be running around so badly.”
Lin Feng smiled happily, looking a bit silly.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the alley’s entrance. Four or five people blocked the way, all armed, staring grimly at Lin Feng’s long tail.
“Catch the mermaid alive.”
Zhao Shuqing heard one of them say that.
In an instant, Lin Feng whipped her tail and charged. Her sharp claws glimmered coldly in the moonlight as she tore through one man’s throat. With a swift flick of her tail, the man standing at the edge was slammed into a nearby wall, which crumbled under the impact with a loud crash, burying him under rubble.
Two men were dead in a flash. The rest panicked. Someone even fired a gun at Lin Feng.
Bang! The shot made Zhao Shuqing’s scalp tingle, but Lin Feng dodged quickly, twisted her waist, and struck the shooter from behind, snapping his neck.
The last man fired a few shots and tried to run but was smashed in the back of the head by a fist-sized stone. His skull dented deeply—he was dead cold.
Lin Feng stood calmly among the bodies and looked back at Zhao Shuqing.
Zhao Shuqing’s throat tightened. Without caring if the men were truly dead, she grabbed Lin Feng’s hand, and they ran.
Her heart pounded so hard she thought it would explode. She couldn’t stop thinking about Lin Feng’s expression while killing. She knew Lin Feng was protecting her, but after all, she was just an ordinary academic who had never seen such a scene before.
They ran for what felt like ages. Lin Feng was pulled along by Zhao Shuqing, who held her wrist tightly.
They ran into a few more groups. Lin Feng charged without hesitation, while Zhao Shuqing hid quietly nearby. When Lin Feng finished with each group and came back, she was covered in bl00d.
Her eerie blue eyes stared straight at Zhao Shuqing. Fresh red bl00d splattered her cheeks, her hands were soaked in it, and even the torn cloth wrapped around her tail smelled strongly of bl00d.
Like a midnight demon.
Zhao Shuqing gently raised her hand and wiped the warm bl00d off Lin Feng’s face with her thumb. Lin Feng tilted her head to look at her, then obediently closed her eyes.
“Zhao Shuqing…” Lin Feng rubbed her cheek against Zhao Shuqing’s palm and whispered, “Let’s go.”
Zhao Shuqing’s heart tightened. She knew they couldn’t stay there long—they had to keep running.
Things were already noisy, and Zhao Shuqing felt that running around like this would only cause trouble. After calming down, she came up with an idea.
She returned to the car, took out her phone—which was powering off and charging—and turned it on.
Lin Feng panicked when she saw the phone turn on and grabbed it from Zhao Shuqing. But she didn’t know how to use it and couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. Sweat started to form on her forehead from anxiety.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Zhao Shuqing reached out and gently stroked Lin Feng’s head, explaining to her, “Right now, they’re searching everywhere for us. We need to draw their attention away so we can contact our senior sister, understand?”
Lin Feng held onto the phone tightly, staring at Zhao Shuqing, slowly trying to grasp what she meant.
Zhao Shuqing carefully pulled Lin Feng’s fingers apart one by one, noticing that Lin Feng had pinched and damaged one corner of the phone screen, but luckily it still worked.
“We might need to split up,” Zhao Shuqing said to Lin Feng. “But before that, I have to call senior sister first.”
Although it was early morning, Xu Tang answered the phone quickly.
“Shuqing?” Xu Tang was surprised to get a call at this hour and nervously asked, “How are you guys? Are you safe?”
“We’re safe for now, senior sister,” Zhao Shuqing didn’t mention Lin Feng’s attack but briefly explained the situation. “They’re tracking my phone signal. I plan to split up with Lin Feng. Where are you now?”
“We’re at the highway toll station about 30 kilometers away,” Xu Tang replied in a low voice. “We’re driving over right now.”
“Okay.”
Without wasting more time, Zhao Shuqing hung up and looked at Lin Feng. She said, “There isn’t much time. They’ll be here soon. I’ll drive south with the phone, and you follow this road to find my senior sister. Got it?”
Lin Feng understood but shook her head, furrowing her delicate brows as she said, “Together…”
Zhao Shuqing’s heart tightened but she forced a bitter smile and shook her head. “You’re more important than me. You have to live.”
Lin Feng shook her head, clutching Zhao Shuqing’s clothes tightly. “Together.”
“But someone has to take the phone.”
“Together.”
“Listen to me,” Zhao Shuqing said sternly. “You can’t get caught. Trust me and go find my senior sister.”
Lin Feng bit her thin lips and shook her head again. Then suddenly, she grabbed the phone from Zhao Shuqing’s hand, opened the door, and jumped out.
“Lin Feng!” Zhao Shuqing’s heart tightened. She hurriedly called out to her.
But Lin Feng looked back and said, “Soon… wait for me…”
Then she ran off. Zhao Shuqing saw she was too fast to catch and quickly started the car to follow.
“Lin Feng, let’s talk this through. Give me the phone back.”
Zhao Shuqing rolled down the car window and shouted after Lin Feng while driving, “Don’t do anything stupid!”
Lin Feng glanced at her but didn’t stop her tail. Within a few strokes, she reached the riverbank and stood still.
Zhao Shuqing slammed on the brakes. Lin Feng stood in front of the car’s headlights facing the river. Suddenly, she straightened up and began to sing.
Her voice was light and clear, like a nightingale waking in the night wind or a dancing spirit. Zhao Shuqing suddenly remembered a dream she had on the boat—a group of mermaids singing beautiful songs, drawing her toward them…
What was Lin Feng trying to do?
What was she trying to attract?
Before Zhao Shuqing could figure it out, the once calm river suddenly stirred. Countless waves rolled violently with Lin Feng’s song, boiling like water on the stove.
Soon, in the car’s headlights, Zhao Shuqing saw jumping river dolphins and various large fish all drawn by Lin Feng’s singing, gathering not far from her on the water’s surface.
Lin Feng stopped singing. She calmly looked at the creatures on the river, then slowly turned and glanced at Zhao Shuqing. With a slight flick of her tail, she signaled that they could help.
Zhao Shuqing immediately understood. She grabbed her waterproof backpack, shook it dry, jumped out of the car, and went over to Lin Feng. She saw Lin Feng put the phone inside the bag, then Zhao Shuqing tied a tight knot to secure it.
Lin Feng picked up the backpack and walked to the river. The fish and dolphins swam over respectfully, pressing their heads to the shore, excitedly flicking their tails as if waiting for their queen to give orders.
Finally, Lin Feng chose the strongest river dolphin. The dolphin immediately lifted its head, bit onto the backpack, flicked its tail, and swam back into the river.
Zhao Shuqing was stunned.
She pointed at the dolphin disappearing into the water and asked carefully, “That’s it?”
Lin Feng nodded obediently.