Chapter 17: Alright
After a living shell is dehydrated, it can only survive for a single day in high temperatures. For deep-sea creatures, the twenty-something degrees Celsius suitable for the human body is already considered a high-temperature period. When the room temperature drops to zero to a few degrees, they can survive for about three days.
Unfortunately, the next day, a large sun rose over the sea. The sky was clear for thousands of miles, the clouds and mist had all dispersed, and sunlight scattered all over the entire ocean.
Fortunately, when Deng Xi woke up and pulled the little mute to go see, the giant clam’s shell was already fully open and would never automatically close again. The pearly white flesh and organs inside were clearly visible.
Deng Xi’s eyes lit up.
The flesh of a giant clam was super delicious, and there was a super, super lot of it. He and the little mute could eat for a long time.
The last time Deng Xi had eaten a giant clam was when he had found the shell bed he was currently sleeping in. He had eaten for several days to finish that large shell, and every day, he didn’t have to go hunting and still had meat for every meal.
Deng Xi generously prepared to give more than half to the little mute. He imitated how he had eaten the giant clam from memory, using a small stone flake to cut off all the organs inside the shell.
In the past, Deng Xi would have just hugged the large shell and gnawed on it raw. Now, he had learned to be like the little mute, delicately and elegantly cutting a slice of the shell meat with a small stone flake and handing it to him.
After waiting for a while, he found that the little mute didn’t take it.
Deng Xi turned his head and realized that the silver-tail was looking down at the shell meat on the reef, but his gaze was not focused.
He seemed to be in a daze.
It was a bit strange. Normally, the little mute was the one who handled the food, but now, even after Deng Xi had finished, the silver-tail hadn’t reacted at all.
Deng Xi reached out his other hand and waved it in front of the little mute’s eyes. Si Jisheng slightly raised his gaze and subconsciously tilted his head, expressing confusion.
A gesture he had learned from Deng Xi had now become a habit.
So good.
Deng Xi’s eyes curved. He tentatively brought the thin slice of meat held between his fingertips to the silver-tail’s lips, attempting to feed the somewhat adorable little mute.
The cool shell meat was pressed against his lips. Si Jisheng subconsciously parted his lips slightly, and the cold, expressionless Jiaoren was fed a slice of sweet, salty, and fragrant meat by the golden-haired, blue-tailed little merman.
The moment the flavor exploded on his taste buds, Si Jisheng finally reacted. He belatedly realized that he had been fed by the blue Jiaoren as if he were a pet.
Si Jisheng’s fingertips curled slightly, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. He stiffly swallowed the slice of meat, feeling uncomfortable. He took a deep breath, preparing to handle the giant clam himself.
But Deng Xi, who had discovered the joy of feeding, rushed to press down the silver-tail’s hand, saying repeatedly, “Let me, let me!”
Deng Xi volunteered, “I’ve already learned how!”
Super smart! I can definitely do it!
The blue Jiaoren seemed to be in high spirits.
Si Jisheng pressed his thin lips together, his expression rigid.
Deng Xi cut another slice of shell meat with the small stone flake and placed it by the silver-tail’s lips. “Ah—”
As if coaxing a child.
Si Jisheng’s expression grew even colder, and a chill began to emanate from his entire body. But Deng Xi was not afraid at all. He stared at the silver-tail expectantly, seemingly determined to play this game of house.
Finally, Si Jisheng opened his lips very slightly, and Deng Xi quickly stuffed the meat in.
Si Jisheng swallowed the sweet shell meat uncomfortably, as if swallowing a stone, although it was very delicious.
The damp golden hair on Deng Xi’s back blew in the opposing sea breeze. A few strands stuck to his smiling eyes, the dimples that formed, and the tip of his small, pink nose.
He suddenly reached out and poked Si Jisheng’s long face, pressing the corners of his lips and hooking them upwards.
“Don’t be angry.”
Deng Xi felt that he was being too mean for deliberately teasing the little mute. He withdrew his hand and placed the small stone flake in Si Jisheng’s hand. “Little Mute can feed me too.”
A damp mark from the blue Jiaoren’s wet fingertips remained on his face. Si Jisheng wiped it with the back of his hand and sighed very lightly before starting to handle the large shell.
He took a look and found that Deng Xi had already handled it very well.
The small stone flake in his hand had been sharpened. The organs that needed to be removed from the giant clam had been cut out and thrown away. The shell meat had also been cut into appropriately thick slices and arranged in rows.
It was hard to imagine that just a month ago, Deng Xi had been a blue Jiaoren who only ate his food raw, gnawing on any fish he saw.
Deng Xi was actually very smart.
He accepted new things very quickly, whether it was the silver-tail or that iron ring. His learning ability was also very strong. As long as he had seen the silver-tail process food once, he could replicate it the next time.
Although he was a bit clumsy, he generally didn’t make mistakes.
He was also very good at abandoning bad habits and would no longer eat food without processing it first.
The blue Jiaoren was actually very suitable for being brought into a new world.
It might be a bit dangerous, a bit noisy, and completely unfamiliar to the blue Jiaoren.
But he was there.
Si Jisheng’s brow furrowed slightly. He casually picked up a thin slice of shell meat and placed it by Deng Xi’s lips, one slice after another, until Deng Xi’s wronged voice suddenly sounded by his ear, “Little Mute, I can’t eat anymore.”
Only then did Si Jisheng realize that he had been lost in thought again.
Deng Xi gently pushed away the hand that was feeding him, his blue eyes clear. “You haven’t eaten yet. You should eat.”
Si Jisheng slowly shook his head again.
Deng Xi was confused. “Little Mute isn’t eating?”
Si Jisheng shook his head again.
He was not refusing the same question.
Si Jisheng glanced at the azure sky and the deep blue sea. Further in the distance, the sea and sky merged into one line, the colors transitioning just like the blue Jiaoren’s tail. It was as clean and gentle as nature itself, not to be tainted by the slightest haze.
Si Jisheng’s tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly, and he began to eat. But Deng Xi felt that for a moment, the little mute seemed a little more relaxed.
Deng Xi blinked blankly.
After they finished eating, they cut off all the remaining half of the shell meat and wrapped it in seaweed.
Deng Xi held the shell meat.
Si Jisheng dragged the shell.
They returned to the lair together. Deng Xi placed the silver-tail’s seaweed bed into his own exquisite old shell, then moved the seaweed that had been folded in his old shell into the new one.
He clapped his hands, his work complete.
When he turned back, he found that the silver-tail had dragged the shell into a corner. Deng Xi looked at his own lonely shell bed in the large, empty space.
The silver-tail turned and left the lair, off to do who knows what.
Deng Xi, who had been pretending to obediently tidy up his new bed while secretly peeking at the silver-tail, instantly had his eyes light up.
Time for action!
Deng Xi swam to the old shell that the silver-tail had easily dragged into the corner. He placed his hands on the shell lid and counted silently in his heart, 1, 2, 3! Go!!!
The little merman used all his might, his entire face turning red from the effort. The veins on his pale skin became visible, making him look even more fragile. Deng Xi’s fingertips gripped the shell so tightly they turned white, and he pulled and pulled with all his might.
A minute later, the old shell hadn’t budged an inch.
Deng Xi collapsed onto the shell lid, his strength gone.
When he had moved this shell initially, he had first asked Big Whale to carry it, then called upon a dolphin to help him push the shell into the lair with its head.
So it wasn’t that the shell had gotten lighter, but that the little mute was strong.
Deng Xi rested for a while, then changed his strategy. He closed the shell and tried a different direction. If he couldn’t drag it, he could at least push it, right?
The little merman desperately flapped his blue tail fin, stirring up the currents in the lair. When Si Jisheng returned, he saw Deng Xi collapsed on the old shell, which had moved about half a meter from its original spot. His gills were fluttering very fast, as if he were exhausted.
Si Jisheng slowly closed his eyes and stopped at the entrance of the lair without going in. The moment Deng Xi saw the silver-tail return, he instantly shot up from the old shell bed, put his hands behind his back, and lowered his head. “I-I wanted to… I’m sorry.”
The old shell was now the little mute’s shell. It was very rude of him to move it without permission.
Si Jisheng’s expression didn’t change. He swam over, placed his hand on the shell, and then just quietly looked at Deng Xi without moving.
Deng Xi suddenly understood what the little mute meant. He didn’t mind. Instead, he was asking him what he wanted to do; he could help.
The dejected little merman pursed his lips and smiled. Deng Xi pointed to the spot next to his new shell. “I want to move it next to my shell. I want to sleep with Little Mute.”
Si Jisheng’s breath hitched. He looked at the foolishly smiling blue Jiaoren, who had no idea how ambiguous his words had just been.
Deng Xi waited until the silver-tail had silently dragged the old shell to the spot he had designated before sitting on the wide-open, rose-red shell. His long blue tail curled on the ground, and his golden hair floated in the seawater.
Now, Deng Xi’s and Si Jisheng’s shells were next to each other, about a meter apart, their openings facing each other. When Si Jisheng also sat down, they were face to face, the distance between them as close as it could be.
Deng Xi was very happy. He swayed his tail. “Little Mute, where did you go just now?”
Si Jisheng lowered his eyes and opened his palm. There was some clay and some colorful coral branches. Because he had dug the clay with his hands, the crevices between his fingers were black with dirt.
Deng Xi was stunned for a moment, then pointed at himself. “For me?”
Si Jisheng nodded and offered it to him.
Deng Xi cupped his hands and took it. The clay and coral branches were placed in his two cupped palms, and his hands also got dirty from the clay.
Deng Xi accepted it preciously, not minding the dirt at all.
Because he knew that the little mute had specially found these for him, tools for him to decorate his new shell.
Deng Xi turned to the side and carefully dabbed a bit of clay with a coral branch. “Mmm…” He thought hard. “Where should I stick it?”
Si Jisheng quietly watched as the blue Jiaoren worked, decorating his new bed.
The colorful, rose-red shell, paired with the colorful coral branches and the dirty black clay—even though Deng Xi wracked his brains, constantly changing the decorations, it didn’t look good at all. Its aesthetic value had dropped by more than one degree compared to the old shell.
Even Si Jisheng, who had never cared about appearances, couldn’t help but look away.
Deng Xi was busy for half a day with no results. He had also gotten himself covered in dirt, with specks of clay on his face, turning into a dirty little merman.
He smiled, not minding at all.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind him and pulled off a cluster of coral branches that Deng Xi had just painstakingly stuck on. Deng Xi’s eyes widened, and he got angry. “Little Mute! What are you doing?”
Si Jisheng’s destructive hand paused. He pointed at the two shells, and even without a word, the difference between them was clearly displayed.
Deng Xi also understood what the silver-tail meant. “Does Little Mute think it’s ugly?” He stuck the coral branches that the little mute had pulled off back on, then got up and swam away, perfectly presenting the decorated new shell to the silver-tail.
The golden-haired, blue-tailed little merman tilted his head and smiled. “But I think it’s very beautiful. We searched for a long, long time to find this shell, and Little Mute specially found the coral branches and gave them to me.”
“It’s clearly very meaningful, and also very beautiful.”
Beautiful?
Si Jisheng’s brow furrowed, expressing his confusion.
Deng Xi explained, “It’s beautiful not because of its appearance, but because Little Mute is here, so it’s beautiful.”
Si Jisheng’s silver eyes went blank for a moment, and he instantly made a connection.
Deng Xi continued, “Because Little Mute is here, I dare to move to a dangerous sea area with lots of fish. This shell will be a memento of Little Mute always, always living in our new home.”
Without him.
Deng Xi would still be a very pitiful blue Jiaoren, never having enough to eat, a carnivore who could only eat seaweed every day.
If he were not here.
Deng Xi would still be afraid of those large creatures and would often be chased by dangerous sea creatures. Even if he was terrified, he would have to sing. If one day his song didn’t work… then after he was gone, Deng Xi would die in a place he would never see.
Si Jisheng had never been so clearly aware.
Just how weak the blue Jiaoren before him was, and how difficult it would be for him to live without him.
The silver-tail slowly raised his hand and caressed Deng Xi’s cheek. He gently wiped the specks of dirt from the blue Jiaoren’s face with his fingertips. These specks of dirt only highlighted how clean Deng Xi originally was.
Si Jisheng wiped all the specks of dirt from Deng Xi’s face, but without them, the blue Jiaoren would become even cleaner.
Si Jisheng said in a hoarse, low voice, “Deng… Xi?”
Deng Xi’s eyes lit up, and he nodded. “Mmm-hmm!”
He’s here.
Si Jisheng repeated the sentence in his heart many times. Because it was too long, it would take a lot of time for his broken language system to say it smoothly. The first time, the second time, the third time… the tenth time…
Every time he spoke, even Si Jisheng himself couldn’t understand, but Deng Xi looked up, never tired of it, listening attentively over and over again, as if he could never get enough.
The thirty-sixth time.
Si Jisheng finally managed to say a relatively normal sentence. “If… I have to leave… to a, very distant… place.”
“Will you come with me?”
Thirty-six times, the anticipation in Deng Xi’s eyes had not diminished at all. His eyes only reflected the figure of the little mute, who was trying to move a little closer to him each time.
Deng Xi’s eyes curved into a smile. “Where are we going?”
Si Jisheng said hoarsely, “Very… far, very… far.”
“Alright.”
