Ch 145: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

Merman?

Mu Xing tried hard to recall the original plot settings. Did this world even have merfolk?

There had been no mention of them.

His sleeve was tugged. The newborn little merman, barely bigger than an adult’s palm, looked up at him with bright, watery eyes, mouth opening and closing.

Mu Xing had once been a merman himself—he knew what this meant. The little one was hungry.

He froze. Merfolk usually lived on Shark Island and loved to eat small fish. But on Medicine Peak, there were no fish to feed them.

His gaze swept around and fell on the shards of the pure white eggshells. Picking up a piece, he held it out.

The little merman wasn’t picky—his chubby hands clumsily grasped it and began crunching away.

The second egg soon cracked open as well. As expected, another small merman emerged.

Mu Xing carried the two little ones to see Yao Wushi.

Yao Wushi, upon seeing these two with human torsos and fish tails, clicked his tongue in wonder. “I have never seen such peculiar beings.”

He reached out to check their meridians, but the tiny merfolk grew frightened and burrowed into Mu Xing’s arms.

Mu Xing quickly stroked their soft curls, soothing them gently. “This is my master, not a bad person. Don’t be afraid.”

Reassured, the little ones calmed down enough to let Yao Wushi hold their hands.

Yao Wushi chuckled. “Do I really look like some terrible monster?”

But despite his words, his touch was careful, afraid of hurting them. After a long moment, he marveled: “Innate single water spiritual roots. I can feel it—the water element is more active around them by several folds. Born cultivation talents.”

He studied them intently. “Human bodies with fish tails, meridians like humans, and excellent talent. Could this be a new race never before discovered?”

He summoned Yu Hongyao.

She was startled when she saw the two, and even more so when she learned they had hatched from the spirit beast eggs she’d given to her junior brother.

Sensing the matter wasn’t simple, she recalled carefully. “After we entered the secret realm, we were transported to a strange place—it should have been underwater. There were grand ruins, countless deadly traps and mazes. Many cultivators fell there. There weren’t any magic treasures, just mountains of jewels and gold.”

She glanced at Mu Xing. “That chest I gave you came from there.”

As she spoke, one of the merfolk in Mu Xing’s arms began whimpering weakly, struggling without strength. Its little mouth opened with a pitiful cry, and tears slid down its cheeks. Before they even touched the ground, they turned into round, lustrous pearls.

“…His tears turned into pearls?” Yu Hongyao gasped.

Clearly, this world had no legends of merfolk.

Mu Xing was confused at first, then quickly understood. “They need water.”

He summoned spiritual energy, and a gentle rain formed above, falling over the little ones.

The moment the water touched them, they stopped crying and happily blew a bubble.

Mu Xing sighed in relief, but when he looked up, he found Yao Wushi and Yu Hongyao staring at him intently.

“Little junior brother, how did you know they needed water?” Yu Hongyao asked.

Mu Xing pointed at their tails. “Just a guess. You said they were found in an underwater secret realm, and they have fish tails. I thought maybe they were like fish. Fish can’t leave water for long, so I tried. And it worked.”

The reasoning was sound, and the two said no more.

Yao Wushi then asked, “What do you plan to do with them?”

These two clearly looked human—it wouldn’t be right to treat them as spirit beasts. But Mu Xing himself was only a boy of ten. Could he really take care of two children?

Even Yao Wushi, usually a hands-off master, found it excessive.

But after a pause, Mu Xing said softly, “Disciple thinks… I’ll raise them for now.”

“Can you?” Yao Wushi frowned. “You’re still a child yourself. My advice is not to let others know about them yet.”

Mu Xing lowered his head. Warm images flashed through his mind, and he smiled. “They seem very well-behaved. I’ll try. If I can’t manage, I’ll ask Master for help. When they’re older, I can even teach them cultivation.”

“Hmph. I’ve no patience for raising children,” Yao Wushi scoffed.

Yu Hongyao, meanwhile, was almost coveting them with her eyes, hands itching with excitement. “Junior brother, when they grow a little sturdier, you can bring them to me—I’ll help care for them.”

Not now, though. They looked too fragile. If anything happened, she’d never forgive herself.

So Mu Xing brought the little merfolk back to his small courtyard.

He set up a formation and dug a wide pool where they could soak and play.

When Li Xuanya heard, he came to visit. Mu Xing quickly realized his tall, imposing senior brother was a complete softie for children—because the very next day, he arrived with an armful of toys.

Specially carved by craftsmen: hollow wooden ducks, fish, kittens, puppies, painted in bright colors, every edge smoothed so they wouldn’t scratch the merfolk’s delicate skin.

The two little merfolk clearly loved those colorful little toys, clutching them tightly and refusing to let go.

As the little merfolk grew older, Yu Hongyao also began visiting every day.

Ever since one time she discovered that the little merfolk loved shiny things, each visit she would scatter a handful of gold and jade. The bottom of the small pool was soon layered with glittering jewels, and under the sunlight the rippling water refracted rainbow-colored light, dazzlingly beautiful.

The little merfolk had gentle temperaments, cheerful every day, growing up delicate and lovely like celestial children. Whoever saw them couldn’t help but like them.

Without a doubt, Mu Xing was no longer the most adored little one in the sect.

On the entire Medicine Peak, only Lingbao wasn’t very pleased.

More than once, Mu Xing caught sight of Lingbao standing by the water, baring its teeth at the two little merfolk to scare them. But the little merfolk only thought Lingbao was playing with them, happily patting the water and splashing Lingbao all over.

*

Compared to the joy on Medicine Peak, Xue Zhongyu’s days were undoubtedly far more painful.

He no longer thought about finding any opportunity from Mu Xing—he only wanted to survive.

Not long ago, Xue Wuya emerged from seclusion.

The Crescent Moon Peak master, a sword cultivator, came out radiating murderous intent. After delegating his peak’s affairs to a few senior disciples, he descended the mountain with his sword, killing intent surging.

He wanted to slay the demon.

He had fallen to a heart demon; unless he killed Xue Zhongyu, his cultivation could never advance again.

Even without the heart demon, he bore a deep blood feud against this demon seed. His dao companion, his “child,” all were gone.

If it were only Xue Wuya, it would still be manageable. A cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage was formidable, but with the Netherfire hiding his demonic aura, Xue Zhongyu could barely evade him—albeit in a wretched state.

But those hunting him were not only Xue Wuya.

The demon clan was after him too.

When it came to sensing demonic aura and using underhanded tricks to hunt prey, ten Xue Wuyas couldn’t compare to the demon clan.

And yet, Xue Zhongyu had a strange feeling: several times, the demons were about to discover his whereabouts, but then passed by as if nothing had happened.

He didn’t even know whether they had truly noticed him or not.

But whenever he recalled being Xue Zhongyu, the slave ring on his ankle, and the dense aura of darkness surrounding Princess Jiang Ling, he was certain—he must never fall into the demon clan’s hands.

He still couldn’t understand why Jiang Ling’s temperament had suddenly changed, why she had tried to kill him.

Were demons all so fickle and capricious?

But he had no courage to ask. The way Jiang Ling had smiled so sweetly, so cheerfully, while clasping the slave ring onto him—had left him scarred.

A premonition grew inside him: he must never fall into Jiang Ling’s hands.

The consequences would be unbearable.

What he did not know was that the demons had indeed noticed him—but because someone had ordered them to pretend otherwise.

“Brother Xiao Yu, are you very frightened now? Panicked and unsettled?” In a luxurious palace, a beautiful young girl showed an innocent yet cruel smile. “Like a pitiful little mouse, darting about in hiding, exhausted from fleeing the hunter’s gaze, unable to rest for even a moment.”

She sighed softly. “So pitiful.”

Lifting her gaze toward the distance, she murmured, “Go on and play by yourself for now. Once my formation is complete, I’ll personally come fetch you back.”

In a bustling mortal marketplace, a middle-aged man wearing a straw hat and ragged clothes suddenly shivered.

It was Xue Zhongyu, hiding as a mortal to avoid Xue Wuya’s pursuit.

The chaotic mortal auras, the crowds, and the filth perfectly masked his own presence.

—Though it was hard on the nose. Sniffing the sour stench from who-knows-where, Xue Zhongyu thought blankly.

*

When the two little merfolk Yin and Lan turned one year old, they finally learned to speak. Their very first word was to Mu Xing, calling him “Mother.”

Mu Xing: “…”

Because of that, Li Xuanyao and Yu Hongyao laughed at him for a whole month.

Until one day, while the two little merfolk were blowing bubbles in the pool, they suddenly sank to the bottom with a plop, then paddled back up with their short limbs.

Mu Xing then noticed—their fish tails had turned into two chubby little legs.

This immediately drew Medicine Peak’s great master Yao Wushi and his two disciples rushing over. They stared in astonishment at the little merfolk’s legs, which soon reverted back into tails.

Over the next few hours, they watched as tails turned to legs, then back to tails again—like some sort of game.

Clearly, the little merfolk could not yet control this ability.

Yao Wushi was intrigued, teasing them for a while, before recalling something. “Junior Brother Xue came back briefly, said that demon seed is extremely cunning. Taixu will soon issue a bounty.”

Once a bounty was issued, it meant the sect and that demon seed would be locked in a fight to the death.

Anyone—whether providing the demon seed’s whereabouts or slaying it—would receive an immense reward from Taixu Sect.

Yao Wushi said, “Junior Brother Xue’s heart demon has become a grave threat. To prevent his fall to demonic ways, the demon seed must be killed as soon as possible.”

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