Chapter 113: Side Story: Little Jiaoren Raising Little Fish 9
“Brother, don’t move!” Xixi sniffled, holding back his tears, and his tone was fierce.
The little silver Jiaoren, who was lying on the reef, stiffened. He silently and slightly swayed his tail fin. At least his suppressed upper body was not moving.
The merman cub was extremely fierce. He pressed the little silver Jiaoren’s shoulder and back with his small hand. Seeing that his brother was not moving, he then went to wring the red medicinal herb on the hideous scrape on his back.
That was what the little silver Jiaoren had gotten when he was fighting with a sea creature, and his back had accidentally scraped against a sharp reef. Because the wound was too large, he didn’t want to scare Xixi, so he had chosen to hide it and wait for the Jiaoren’s self-healing ability to take effect.
It was probably because he was not yet proficient in lying that a single oversight had been discovered by the merman cub.
Xixi had even discovered the sea creature’s corpse that the little silver Jiaoren had hidden behind the little dolphin. It was a fangtooth fish, with an extremely terrifying appearance, and it was inedible.
Xixi was very angry.
Xixi didn’t want to talk to his brother anymore.
But the merman cub still endured his desire to cry and angrily helped the little silver Jiaoren treat his wound.
Fortunately, there was still a little of the red medicinal herb that he had just used on the little dolphin. Otherwise, Xixi wouldn’t have known what to do.
The little silver Jiaoren’s healing speed was even faster than the little dolphin’s. Not long after the red medicinal herb juice had spread in the seawater, the moment it touched the wound, the fresh blood had already stopped flowing.
Only then did Xixi let out a small sigh of relief, not so angry anymore.
“Was that fierce fishie, like the big fishie that me and brother met before, attracted by the blood?” Xixi asked in a small voice. That “big fishie” was referring to the great white shark they had met before.
The journey back to the lair to get the red grass and then back was so long, so dark, and he didn’t know if he would encounter any danger. After the merman cub had thought about it seriously, he had discovered that if it were a normal day, the little silver Jiaoren would definitely not let him do such a dangerous thing.
Since the silver Jiaoren cub had let Xixi leave, it must have been because staying would have been even more dangerous.
It was a problem that Xixi couldn’t solve.
So his brother was injured, also for the sake of the little dolphin and him.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry…”
Two “I’m sorry”s were said at the same time, overlapping. One was a little low, and the speech was fast. The other had a long, drawn-out last syllable, and was a little soft.
Both the little silver Jiaoren and Xixi were stunned.
Xixi was stunned for a moment. The cub’s voice was small and light, and a little guilty. “I’m not angry with brother anymore. Brother was protecting the little dolphin and Xixi.”
The little silver Jiaoren pursed his lips, and his voice was a little muffled and uncomfortable. “I won’t hide it from you next time.”
His blue eyes curved again. Xixi nodded his head vigorously. “Mmm!” he said. He swayed his little tail and pounced over, hugging the little silver Jiaoren and rubbing his brother’s face. “Brother promised Xixi, so you can’t lie to me again.”
The little silver Jiaoren, who had a cold face, was so rubbed by Xixi that he couldn’t even maintain his cold expression. He replied with a low “hmm.”
Xixi thought of something, let go of the little silver Jiaoren, and, as if he were very busy, swam over to look at the little dolphin’s wound, and then swam back to look at his brother’s wound.
“When will brother’s wound heal?”
He was a little worried.
The little silver Jiaoren couldn’t see the wound on his back and could only guess based on the pain. “At the latest, tomorrow night.”
Xixi nodded his head. “Then what about the dolphin?”
The little silver Jiaoren paused for a moment. “I don’t know.”
He was telling the truth. The little silver Jiaoren had lived in the human world before and had rarely had the chance to come into contact with sea creatures. If it weren’t for Xixi having mentioned that red medicinal herb, the silver Jiaoren cub would also not have known how to heal a sea creature’s wound and apply medicine, let alone the speed of the wound’s healing.
But they couldn’t just leave the little dolphin here.
This place was too dangerous.
Xixi swam to the side of the little dolphin. “Dolphin?”
The tired little dolphin had just closed its eyes again.
Xixi called out again, “Dolphin!”
The little dolphin struggled to open its eyes and let out a low cry, short and weak, a soft response.
Xixi touched the little dolphin’s head with his small hand with heartache. “This place is very dangerous. Brother said that fresh blood will attract a lot of fierce fishies. We have to go home to be safe.”
Although the inheritance ground was barren, the tunnel that led from the outside sea area into the abyss was dark and long, and it was very hidden. Generally, no other sea creatures would rashly enter, and the bloody smell would not spread outside. It was a place where a merman cub could grow up safely.
The little dolphin let out a weak, low cry.
Xixi continued, “Then, dolphin, can you still swim?”
The little silver Jiaoren watched quietly. If the little dolphin couldn’t swim, he would stay here alone and wait for the little dolphin’s wound to heal to the point where it could swim, and let Xixi go back to the safe inheritance ground first.
But Xixi would not agree.
The little dolphin struggled to let out a cry. This cry was longer and more distant than before. Slowly, its fins moved, but soon, they stopped again.
Xixi watched nervously. “Go, dolphin, go!”
The merman cub was at a loss, not knowing what he could do. He encouraged him in the merman’s language in a small voice, and the cub’s soft and sticky voice soothed the painful wound.
The effect of the merman’s language was slowly showing.
Perhaps even Xixi himself didn’t know what he had done, but the little silver Jiaoren on the side saw it clearly. His silver eyes were focused on the merman cub who was encouraging the little dolphin to swim again and again.
The pain of the wound on his back also seemed to be not so painful anymore.
The little dolphin also swayed its fins on both sides again and again, and its cry was more distant and longer with each one, until it had penetrated the entire sea area. It was like a giant rock that was about to solidify. After it had loosened slightly, the entire mountain had begun to move.
The fins on both sides flicked hard, and the dolphin’s tail also used its strength.
Finally—
Xixi cheered with delight. “The dolphin is so amazing!”
The swimming little dolphin gently nudged Xixi’s cheek with its head and swam forward.
The little silver Jiaoren swam forward and held Xixi’s hand, and also swam along.
Xixi swam too slowly, and the little dolphin couldn’t last for long. They had to get back to the inheritance ground quickly.
The journey was without any danger.
After successfully returning to the lair, Xixi and the little silver Jiaoren both breathed a sigh of relief.
They still had to follow the little dolphin to the surface to breathe a breath of fresh air, and then swim back to the abyss, and tidy up the place where the red medicinal grass was growing at the bottom of the abyss for the little dolphin to live in.
By the time everything was done, the sky was already bright.
The little silver Jiaoren and Xixi were leaning against each other, crookedly, against the little dolphin behind them, and had fallen asleep on the spot, exhausted.
The little dolphin circled around them with its fins, encircling the two cubs, and also closed its eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
They were all safe.
