Chapter 211: Volume 1, Chapter 211 – Merperson? Merfolk? (28)

She could only hastily call a taxi, telling the driver, "Come quickly, I'll pay you five times the fare."

Upon hearing this, the driver put the pedal to the metal, turning the taxi into a race car, and the road became a racetrack.

In less than twenty minutes, they arrived at the destination.

Jiang Zhi paid the fare and ran out.

It was deep autumn, night fell quickly, a late rain fell silently, the roadside greenery withered leaving only dead branches; under the dim night, the rain grew fiercer, and the girl's silhouette quickly vanished into the rainy night.

The driver watched for a moment, then sighed.

He guessed the girl was in such a hurry because of her feelings.

…

Running to her residence, she found the empty room, the merperson nowhere to be seen, and she turned and ran out.

"Brother Seven, can you find A Ting's address?"

"777 is heavily restricted, taking the risk of possible punishment, I searched anxiously and said, 'Host, I've located the villain; I've sent you the address. I also found that he is severely wounded right now—if you don't find him soon, he will die.'"

The more urgent the situation, the calmer Jiang Zhi became; she took a deep breath, did not respond to the system, and carefully examined the address.

The location turned out to be near a residential area.

She followed the address, searched a while in the secluded, winding alleys, and spotted the merperson hidden in a corner.

Heavy rain pelted his body; in the dim light, the merperson's exposed skin was covered in dark gold scales, both legs transformed into a fish tail that drooped into a filthy puddle, blood seeping from the tail and mixing with the rain along the fins.

He was unconscious, his life slipping away rapidly; the originally golden scales grew ever duller and lost their color.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhi grabbed her phone, rented a car, lifted him in, and raced toward the seaside.

Only by reaching the sea could his wounds heal.

As the male lead Chen Qi Bai said, when merpeople come ashore, their legs are a weakness, greatly slowing their healing.

The merperson lying flat in the passenger seat was trapped in a nightmare, suffering terribly, the lower half constantly shifting—from fish tail to legs, then back to tail—extremely unstable.

Jiang Zhi sped toward the sea as fast as possible, seeing the merperson's condition, she could not bear it.

"A Ting! I'm here, you'll be fine, A Ting."

The merperson seemed to hear her voice, and the pain eased somewhat.

After an unknown amount of time, they finally reached the shore where the tide was beginning to rise, and she helped him to the seaside.

The moment the merperson touched seawater, he awoke, consciousness fuzzy, his pure black pupils tinged with blood red, a blood speck at the corner of his eye faintly visible, his lips pale and colorless, weakened to the extreme.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhi's mind filled with one question after another.

Even though his ability on land was weakened and his legs were his weakness, with what little strength he had left he should have been able to deal with those people—he shouldn't have suffered such severe injuries.

At this point in her thoughts, A Ting weakly spoke:

"Zhizhi… I didn't… kill anyone…"

He repeated it over and over, as if afraid she would be scared and flee, clutching her wrist as he explained.

Jiang Zhi's body suddenly stiffened, she stared blankly at the merperson before her.

"I… promised… promised you…… I didn't… kill anyone……" the merperson said, each word deliberate, taking a necklace from his bosom and handing it to her, he continued softly: "I… can now… stay with you… stay with you until old age…"

"Zhizhi… wait for me…"

After speaking weakly, he summoned all his strength to press a devout kiss to her lips, then turned and surged into the seabed.

In the blink of an eye.

The merperson vanished from her sight, leaving only the sound of surging waves crashing against the shore in her ears.

Only when the system's voice sounded did she barely regain her senses.

"Host, that is the merperson's heart scale, located over the heart, formed from heart's blood; if pulled out, the merperson's life will begin to count down, his lifespan becoming like a human's—birth, aging, sickness, death, no longer immortal."

Birth, aging, sickness, death—no longer immortal.

What does this mean for a merperson who possesses endless life?

It is like dragging a god down into the mortal world, making him an ordinary person.

Jiang Zhi never imagined letting the merperson accompany her for the rest of her life; that was impossible, she thought she would finish the mission and leave.

But to her surprise, the merperson removed his scale merely to be with her.

Even because he promised her he would no longer kill humans, he suffered such grave injuries.

Jiang Zhi's emotions were tangled; she sat on the beach, arms wrapped around her knees, eyes vacant as she stared ahead.

"Is it worth it?"

"777 knew this question wasn't directed at it, but at the merperson in the sea."

However, it guessed that if the merperson heard this, he would surely reply that it was worth it.

A merperson loves only one person in a lifetime, devoted and single‑hearted.

Yet they can sacrifice their mates for reproduction.

As the merperson king, the villain ought to have a deeper understanding of bloodline propagation, yet he never considered sacrificing the host to breed young merpeople.

Therefore the villain is different.

"Host, the villain needs a long time to recover from his injuries; you might as well go home first, it's still raining." It said worriedly.

Jiang Zhi was still thinking things over, weighing whether to stay and finish the mission.

The next world had already been decided; she had to help the system complete the S‑rank villain world's mission.

If she stayed, that world's mission would become increasingly difficult.

She needed to figure this out now.

At that moment the shore lamps lit up, illuminating the beach before her; far on the horizon, ink‑black splashes intertwined with warm golden beams, rendering the scene at the edge of the sea.

Jiang Zhi looked for a while, then lowered her gaze to the scale in her hand.

No wonder it's a heart scale born from the merperson's heart's blood — it shines with a splendid golden luster, radiant and colorful; no worldly treasure can match even half of its brilliance.

She lifted her hand, turned it over and over to look at it, then after a moment stood up from the ground.

Suddenly a voice spoke: "I've figured it out."

777 didn't know what she had figured out, wanted to ask but didn't dare.

After driving back, Jiang Zhi took a hot shower, lay on the bed, and then said to it: "Brother Seven, after this world's mission is completed, I will choose to stay."

Until this body dies.

777 was not surprised by her decision: "All right! I know, Host."

It respected her choice.

Jiang Zhi buried her head and slept.

She slept until noon the next day, waking to the sound of knocking on the door.

Jiang Zhi got up slowly and saw Chen Qi Bai standing in front of the door.

He examined her body with his naked eye, and seeing she was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Zhizhi, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Jiang Zhi yawned, too lazy to pretend, and said: "I'm not uncomfortable anywhere; Chen Qi Bai, what exactly do you want?"

She truly wished she had the ability to erase others' memories, to erase Chen Qi Bai's memory of liking her, so she wouldn't have to see him again.

Although he is also a clone of the old pervert Yun Jin, she is not the type to hedge her bets; her goal is only one — the merperson Ah Jin.

Not Chen Qi Bai.

Chen Qi Bai saw her impatience, took off his glasses, revealing his narrow, deep eyes — different from when he wore glasses, filled with a compelling charm.

He only gave a light laugh, with a hint of humility: "Won't you give me even a chance?"