Chapter 20: Cold War
The conch shell was abandoned beneath the gray sand of the seabed. Its smooth, polished spirals were once again covered by grit, completely shrouded in darkness.
Before leaving, Deng Xi couldn’t help but look back one more time. The sandy seabed stretched for several thousand meters, covered in a dense layer of shells. A small conch shell was mixed in among them, too insignificant to be seen at a glance.
This conch shell was Deng Xi’s favorite. Its spirals were intricate, its whorls orderly. It was a beautiful blue-green, interspersed with specks of pearly white.
It was a very rare variety.
Deng Xi only had this one. He had given his only one to the little mute. He couldn’t produce a second one that was just as beautiful for him.
“Little Mute, why don’t we look for it a bit more?” Deng Xi turned around, wanting to ask the silver-tail if he wanted to stay. “Or you can go back and eat first, I’ll…”
The space behind the little merman was empty. The silver-tail had already swum away at some unknown time.
Deng Xi blinked blankly, stunned in place. The silver-tail’s swimming speed was much faster than his. In just a few seconds, he had already swum very, very far, a distance that Deng Xi’s short little tail could never catch up to.
In the past, the little mute wouldn’t have left him alone. But today, he had swum away without a word. Deng Xi thought that it was probably because he had lost the conch shell, and the little mute was a bit unhappy.
Deng Xi flicked his tail fin and followed, but because he swam too slowly and the silver-tail had no intention of waiting for him, he could only watch as the distance between himself and the little mute grew larger and larger.
The silver-tail looked very, very unhappy.
Deng Xi thought about whether he had any other conch shells in his collection that could also produce the sound of the waves and were just as beautiful. As he thought, he flicked his tail fin, trying his best to catch up to the silver-tail.
Slowly, Deng Xi went from being able to see the silver-tail clearly, to only being able to see a rough outline, and finally, only a speck of silver remained before it completely disappeared into the churning waves.
Deng Xi had no strength left and could only stop and drift with the current. After resting for a while, he didn’t know where he had been carried by the waves.
In the vast ocean, the underwater “architecture” was constantly changing. Deng Xi had only just moved to this sea area a few days ago and was not very familiar with the surroundings.
In short, Deng Xi was lost.
The little merman bobbed up and down on the surface of the sea, his head dizzy, unable to tell which way was the right direction. He was so tired he wanted to just sink into the sea right there.
Deng Xi suddenly felt as if the entire ocean was once again empty, with only himself. He lowered his head and rubbed his eyes. Seawater covered his face and flowed down his cheeks.
He was a little tired and a little sleepy.
He wanted to rest.
His stomach was also growling.
He wanted to eat.
Deng Xi sank into the water, wanting to look around for some edible seaweed to fill his stomach first.
When the underwater world unfolded before his eyes in an instant, Deng Xi couldn’t help but rub his eyes again, suspecting that he had seen wrong.
A speck of silver, which would disappear in the blink of an eye, was waiting quietly in the distance.
Deng Xi’s eyes lit up.
The little mute had been in the sea all along, he hadn’t abandoned him.
Deng Xi stopped looking for food. He swam towards that speck of bright silver until he had swum back to the familiar sea area, and then the bright silver disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Deng Xi felt much more at ease than before. He found some edible seaweed, nibbled on a few clumps, and after replenishing his energy, he swam towards the lair.
After returning to the lair.
Deng Xi found that the shell meat he had left behind had not been touched by the silver-tail. Instead, the little mute had placed it on his new shell.
As for the old shell, it had been pulled back into the corner by the silver-tail, its opening facing the wall. From Deng Xi’s angle, he could only see the translucent silver, fan-shaped tail fin hanging out of the shell.
The little mute had run off to a corner to sulk by himself.
Deng Xi’s eyes curved. He picked up the shell meat and quietly swam to the top of the old shell, lying on his stomach on the shell lid and looking down. “Little Mute?”
Si Jisheng’s tail was curled up on the seaweed bed. He was sitting on the shell, facing the corner wall. Hearing the movement behind him, he silently turned off his comm and turned his head sideways with a cold expression.
Deng Xi: “Are you hungry?”
He let go, and the shell meat floated down in the seawater, landing precisely in front of Si Jisheng.
Deng Xi lectured like an adult, “You can’t skip meals even if you’re angry. I’ve already eaten, I’m not hungry, you don’t have to leave it for me.”
Si Jisheng’s silver eyes drooped slightly. He took the shell meat in his hand, and his long, sharp claws instantly appeared. In the blink of an eye, he tore the shell meat into pieces.
It looked particularly scary.
But Deng Xi was not afraid at all, nor was he scared away. “Little Mute, I don’t have any other conch shells.”
On his way back to the lair, Deng Xi had thought it over carefully. He didn’t have any better-looking conch shells in his collection. But since it was lost, he had to find a better one to replace the old one, so that the silver-tail wouldn’t be angry.
Deng Xi thought for a moment. “I’ll find a new conch shell for Little Mute.”
The silver-tail kept his head down, staring at the shell meat on his fingertips, neither nodding nor shaking his head, giving no indication.
Deng Xi suddenly leaned over, his tail fin pointing towards the top of the lair, easily propping himself up on the shell lid. His body tilted down, and he reached out and patted the top of the silver-tail’s head.
The floating silver strands were exceptionally soft and surprisingly nice to touch.
Deng Xi’s touch was very light, like a feather brushing over the top of his head. Si Jisheng’s body stiffened. He slowly raised his head to look, and what met his eyes were Deng Xi’s blue eyes, which were curved even though he was very tired. His voice was very soft and gentle. “I’m not angry, so Little Mute can’t be angry either.”
The lost gift was from Deng Xi, but Deng Xi was not angry. Instead, he was comforting the little mute, who he thought was sulking with him. But he didn’t know that the silver-tail’s thoughts were completely opposite to his.
Si Jisheng closed his eyes, hiding the fleeting hint of self-mockery in them.
Deng Xi didn’t get a response from the silver-tail. In the silence, he swam around the old shell, at a loss. The silver-tail ignored him the entire time, so he had no choice but to slowly swim back and shrink into his new shell.
In the quiet and oppressive atmosphere, he silently closed his large shell, curled up on the seaweed bed, and hugged his big tail, his mood low, his face hidden behind it.
A merman’s emotions were very sensitive.
Deng Xi always felt that the little mute seemed to be angry with him.
So angry that he didn’t want to talk to him anymore.
But Deng Xi had no idea what he had done, or where he had made the silver-tail unhappy. He hated being distanced for no reason, but he had been the one to say from the beginning that he had to be considerate of the fact that the little mute couldn’t speak.
Deng Xi closed his eyes, feeling very, very tired.
Maybe it will be better after today?
The lair was quiet for a long, long time.
Only then did Si Jisheng leave the old shell and swim out of the lair very quietly. Before leaving, he looked at the tightly closed, rose-red shell for a long time.
The silver-tail turned and swam away.
Not long after Si Jisheng left, the rose-red shell was suddenly opened a crack, and a pair of blue eyes peeked out.
Deng Xi, hugging his big tail, had not fallen asleep. Instead, he had heard the movement outside the shell. He watched the silver-tail’s departing figure, thought for a moment, and secretly followed him.
But the silver-tail’s speed was simply too fast. No matter how hard Deng Xi chased, he couldn’t catch up, and he lost him after a short while.
Deng Xi thought quietly for a moment, then suddenly flicked his tail fin and swam in a certain direction. Even though he was very tired along the way, he never stopped.
He returned to the gray, sandy seabed he had been to during the day.
In the same place, he saw the same bright silver.
Deng Xi saw the little mute, who had secretly swum out behind his back and returned here to look for the conch shell.
***
Author’s Note:
I’ll scold you first, you can’t talk, right? Blah blah blah…
