The Little Mermaid Fell for the Jiaoren 12

Chapter 12: Very Nice to Hear

Beneath the boundless surface of the sea lurked a behemoth. A shadow could be clearly seen swimming swiftly under the water.

The blue whale was nearly thirty meters long and could weigh hundreds of thousands of pounds. Like the mermen, it was one of the oldest creatures on this planet.

When a whale falls, ten thousand things are born.

They had accompanied this planet through countless years. In life, they enjoyed the gifts of the sea; in death, they selflessly offered themselves back to it.

A ripple suddenly appeared on the sea surface, caressed by the gentle breeze. The blue whale broke through the water without warning. The massive whale leaped into the air, and for a moment, it seemed to connect the sky and the sea. A whale’s call echoed through the clouds at that moment, before it plunged back into the ocean.

A wave dozens of meters high suddenly rose, disrupting the calm of the sea.

Deng Xi was swept up by the churning waves, tumbling over and over with them. His wet golden hair was plastered to his face, and he scrambled to pull it away. His head was spinning, and he swayed his tail dizzily.

In the rushing current, the silver-tail swam against it towards him, took Deng Xi’s hand, and turned to swim forward.

Deng Xi followed the silver-tail’s lead, flicking his tail fin. He gradually learned to master the constantly churning waves. His weak tail was no longer at the mercy of the currents as before, but could ride the waves at will, then quickly dive and swim through.

Deng Xi grabbed onto the blue whale, which was swimming leisurely ahead after causing trouble, and lectured it in the merman’s language with a stern little face, “How childish.”

Si Jisheng placed Deng Xi’s large shell on the blue whale’s back. He and Deng Xi sat together on the whale’s back, their long tails dangling into the sea.

Deng Xi turned to look at Si Jisheng. “You don’t know, do you? They love to play pranks, especially Big Whale.” He pointed at the blue whale’s back. “He’s the worst. He always deliberately flips me over with the waves and runs away, leaving me all alone.”

The blue whale let out a low call, as if wronged and protesting its innocence.

Deng Xi snorted, “Admitting your mistake? Too late.”

Si Jisheng stroked the barnacles on the blue whale’s body with his palm. In the interstellar age, creatures like whales were on the brink of extinction, let alone an ancient blue whale of this size. It was hard to imagine that such a complete marine ecosystem still existed on this backward, fringe planet.

He suddenly raised his eyes and looked at Deng Xi quietly.

The blue Jiaoren, riding on the blue whale’s back, was flicking his tail fin back and forth. The sparkling sunlight pierced through the white clouds and shone on him, gilding the edges of his hair. He was smiling and chatting with the ancient, natural creature in an unfamiliar language.

The wind was light, the waves were calm.

The world seemed to fall silent at that moment.

“Little Mute?”

Si Jisheng was suddenly brought back to his senses. An enlarged, palm-sized face suddenly appeared before his eyes. Deng Xi blinked his crystal-clear blue eyes and said ingratiatingly, “I want to borrow your claws for a bit.”

The little merman held up two fingers and gestured a tiny amount with his fingertips. “It’ll be quick.”

The barnacles on a blue whale’s body were actually very difficult to remove. More often than not, the purpose of a whale’s wanton splashing in the ocean was to use the power of the sea to wash off the barnacles. They would even rub their bodies vigorously against reefs to scrape them off.

For a human, it was impossible to pick them off by hand.

In the past, Deng Xi would use some sharp shells as tools. For a massive whale like Big Whale, he might have to spend a dozen days or even a month cleaning it with great effort.

But, the silver-tail’s fingertips were even sharper than those shell tools. They must be very useful!

Deng Xi solemnly took Si Jisheng’s hand, held up the silver-tail’s index finger, and scraped at a barnacle on the blue whale’s back.

Si Jisheng slightly bent his fingertip, and the barnacle instantly fell off.

Deng Xi’s eyes widened in admiration. He smiled and asked cautiously, “Little Mute, can I borrow it for a little longer?”

He had originally intended to just have the little mute help with a small part, but now! He wanted the silver-tail to take care of all of it.

Deng Xi mentally scorned himself.

Deng Xi’s thoughts were written all over his face. Si Jisheng could see it at a glance, but the blue whale was simply too enormous. Even for him, it would take more than a day to meticulously clean every spot.

And he only had three days.

Si Jisheng pursed his lips slightly, shook his head, and was about to withdraw his hand, but Deng Xi threw his arms around it. “How about I teach you to sing?”

The silver eyes instantly focused. Si Jisheng thought for a long time before nodding in agreement.

Deng Xi leaned over and wrapped his arms around the blue whale. Even though he was as small as a tiny fish or shrimp on its back, he said cheerfully, “Come on, Big Whale, let’s give you a good scrubbing!”

The blue whale found a safe area of the sea and stopped. Deng Xi leaped into the sea and swam in front of Big Whale. The blue whale gently nudged Deng Xi with its head.

The two fish played happily, while only the great Marshal was doing the hard labor.

Si Jisheng’s fingertips tensed slightly, and the Jiaoren’s sharp claws instantly appeared, reflecting a cold, icy light.

Si Jisheng had killed many Zerg with his Jiaoren claws, but he never thought that one day he would willingly give a whale a bath.

For a blue whale, barnacles were like a skin disease for humans. And removing the barnacles was just like scratching an itch for the blue whale; it didn’t hurt at all.

Si Jisheng worked until the dead of night before he finally finished cleaning this behemoth. Deng Xi had already slept on the blue whale’s back for a whole day, from dozing off under the sun to waking up drowsily under the moonlight, stretching lazily.

All the barnacles on the blue whale’s body had been removed. It shook its body, creating a huge wave. The next moment, the blue whale happily spouted a high column of water from its blowhole.

The moment after Deng Xi finished stretching, he was suddenly shot into the sky by the column of water. He was momentarily dazed before he realized he was ascending to the heavens. He woke up in a panic. “Little Mute!!!”

Si Jisheng’s tail fin struck the water heavily, and he shot out of the water, steadily catching the rapidly falling Deng Xi. The next moment, they fell together onto the blue whale’s back.

Having been scratched again, Big Whale twitched its thick tail.

Deng Xi, who had landed on the soft, fleshy cushion and was completely unharmed, stared blankly at the silver eyes that were so close to him. He blinked and stammered, “Actually, I wouldn’t have been hurt even if I had fallen. Big Whale often plays this kind of trick on me.”

Si Jisheng looked at the blue Jiaoren in his arms, and after a moment of stunned silence, he suddenly rolled over and lay on the blue whale’s back, closing his eyes.

Of course, he knew.

Deng Xi took a deep breath and turned to look at the silver-tail beside him, a corner of his lips curling up. “But… I subconsciously called your name.”

Si Jisheng’s fingertips instantly tensed. He opened his eyes and looked at Deng Xi. The Jiaoren’s naturally cold body temperature seemed to be warming up at this moment.

Deng Xi rolled over and lay on his stomach on Big Whale’s back, reaching out to grab the small fish and shrimp on its back. These had been carried up in the column of water that had just been spouted. He caught a small fish within his reach, even though there were bigger fish in the distance.

Deng Xi generously placed it by the silver-tail’s hand, his snowy cheek pressed against his white arm. “Little Mute, I want to break our deal.”

Si Jisheng propped himself up and looked at the small fish in his hand, then looked at Deng Xi with a deep gaze.

His long, curly golden hair was scattered across Deng Xi’s back, arms, and the side of his face. He said seriously, “I don’t want those hundred fish anymore.” His wet eyelids curved slightly, and a smile bloomed on Deng Xi’s delicate features, revealing the small dimple at the corner of his lips. “Little Mute, let’s find a new lair together.”

“One that you like, and I like too.”

The silver-tail was silent for a long time. It was a meaningless thing. He would definitely leave, and the blue Jiaoren couldn’t leave the sea.

After a long while, Si Jisheng gave a slight nod.

Deng Xi was overjoyed. “Then what kind of lair should we look for? I like ones that glow. We can find a fluorescent jellyfish…”

Si Jisheng lowered his head and began to process the fish that had been stuffed into his hand.

Deng Xi continued to talk as he accepted the fish meat handed over by the little mute. “As long as you can call Big Whale, you’ll be safe even if you go out alone when I’m not in the lair.”

“As long as Big Whale isn’t lazing around, it will definitely come if it hears you.”

Deng Xi was a man of action. He asked, “Little Mute, were you born unable to speak?”

Si Jisheng shook his head.

Deng Xi: “Then is it because of an injury?”

Si Jisheng shook his head.

Deng Xi tilted his head. “Then why?”

Si Jisheng’s thin lips were tightly pressed together, and he gave no indication.

Since he wasn’t born unable to speak and his vocal cords were fine, Deng Xi was puzzled for a moment before asking tentatively, “Is it that you don’t want to speak?”

Si Jisheng nodded.

Deng Xi breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s okay. If you don’t want to talk, then don’t. You should be able to sing, right?”

Si Jisheng furrowed his brow in confusion.

If one couldn’t speak, wouldn’t that also mean one couldn’t sing?

Deng Xi felt that there was no problem with his logic. In their merman clan, since ancient times, the first words spoken by a newly hatched little merman were not the merman language, but a song.

A song that could make the ocean respond.

For a merman, singing was as simple as eating and drinking.

Finally, Deng Xi sensed something was wrong from Si Jisheng’s silence. “Little Mute, don’t tell me you can’t sing?”

Si Jisheng nodded.

Deng Xi couldn’t believe it.

So, where exactly was the little mute hatched? How did he not inherit any of the merman’s legacy?

After wandering for so many years, he couldn’t even sing. This was too pitiful.

Deng Xi thought for a moment, troubled, then his eyes lit up. “Little Mute, let’s close our eyes first and wait.”

The blue whale swam slowly forward in the sea. They were the only solitary boat on the surface, small but not cold. Specks of light dotted the night sky, and when the sea breeze blew, a low, light hum suddenly sounded.

There were no words.

It was chaotic and unrestrained, yet as graceful as the moonlight scattering across the sea surface, clear and pure.

When the sea breeze left, the singing stopped abruptly.

Deng Xi wanted to explain his innate ability clearly to the ignorant silver-tail. “Our singing is like the wind. It blows when it wants to, and stops where it wants to.”

“When it starts, when it ends, it’s all up to us. Careful preparation will only ruin our talent.”

The Marshal, who had never sung before, was at a loss in the face of Deng Xi’s encouragement. Si Jisheng was about to shake his head and refuse, but Deng Xi suddenly took his hand.

“Little Mute, don’t hesitate, don’t be afraid, and don’t shrink back. This is an ability we were born with. You just need to follow the ocean and find it again.”

Si Jisheng looked into Deng Xi’s determined eyes. His blue eyes were clear, like the color of the ocean, and the ocean was the most tolerant of all things.

The sea breeze began to blow gently again at this moment. A meaningless low hum sounded along with the sea breeze, and then gradually drifted away.

Si Jisheng’s psychological barrier was those names. When he was detached from the familiar interstellar language and didn’t utter a single syllable, the casual, unrestrained low hum happened to reduce the cost he had to face.

Because he hadn’t spoken normally for a long time, his voice was exceptionally hoarse, and the melody he hummed was also particularly noisy and unpleasant, like an adult learning to speak, or a monster roaring.

Si Jisheng was not a blindly confident person. He knew his own limitations. Being able to make a sound and take the first step was already very good.

“It’s very nice to hear.”

Si Jisheng was stunned and slowly opened his eyes.

Deng Xi’s eyes curved into a smile, and he repeated.

“It’s very nice to hear. I like it a lot.”

Author’s Note:

Kid, I didn’t expect you to be such a big flirt.