QWAPMP Chapter 93

Chapter 93 The Merman Comes Ashore

The next day, those who came to Owen’s house to find him discovered he wasn’t home. Everyone discussed it amongst themselves and only found Owen at the beach.

The old man nodded in satisfaction, very pleased with Owen’s attitude, while the others pouted.

“Owen, coming here so early, have you discovered anything?” the old man asked.

After a while, not hearing a response, he walked over, touched Owen, and was startled by Owen’s temperature, retreating slightly. “Why is he so cold? You didn’t stay here all night, did you?”

Indeed, Owen had stayed by the sea all night. He had been staring blankly in the direction where Chris left.

The arrival of these people only made him lift his eyelids slightly.

“Is he sick? Staying by the sea all night.” Someone cursed softly.

“What a weirdo. If you want to die, don’t do it on our island!”

“Shut up, watch your words.” The old man’s voice grew cold, and no one spoke again.

Seeing how cold Owen’s body was, the old man didn’t dare let Owen look for any monsters with them here and told him to go back immediately.

Owen’s voice was hoarse, “I’m waiting for a friend here.”

“Friend? What friends could he have?”

“Who would dare be friends with him?”

“Have you two said enough? Don’t forget Owen saved your son’s life back then!”

The woman and man fell silent, but they were still resentful inside. They didn’t believe this monster had saved their son.

Seeing that he couldn’t get Owen to move, the old man waved his hand and told everyone else to go back first.

That afternoon, Chris found Yan Ye and their ship. She boarded and asked them how she could get a ship as big as theirs. She also wanted a ship so she could take Owen with her.

Chris hadn’t actually gone too far from Owen at first. When it heard those humans cursing Owen and being unfriendly, Chris immediately felt sad and wanted to take Owen away.

But Owen no longer had a tail and couldn’t live underwater for long like it could.

Chris thought for a long time before remembering Yan Ye and Song Qiuyi’s ship, and only then did it return to find them.

“Building a ship costs money and takes a long time. Of course, you can also buy one,” Yan Ye explained gently after asking why it wanted a ship.

Chris showed a troubled expression. Well, it didn’t have any money.

It pondered for a while, then carefully spoke, “I don’t have money, I can’t afford a ship. Can you let Owen stay on the ship with you?”

This sentence was immediately opposed by Song Qiuyi. Under his murderous gaze, Chris cast a pleading look at Yan Ye.

Yan Ye gave it a helpless expression.

Song Qiuyi suddenly spoke at this moment, “I can give you money, but not much, just enough for you to buy a very ordinary ship.”

Chris’s eyes lit up, and after saying thank you excitedly, it was about to go back to find Owen.

After it left, Yan Ye asked, “If we’re going to buy a ship, do we have to go back to land?”

Song Qiuyi nodded, thinking he was worried about something, “I won’t let anyone discover your existence.”

Yan Ye saw his misunderstanding and smiled, “Okay, I believe you. Our ship might be lively for a few days during this time.”

Finally, they were about to meet the legendary male lead, Owen.

When Yan Ye said “lively,” Song Qiuyi’s brow furrowed slightly, but seeing Yan Ye’s smiling expression, his mood changed as well.

Chris quickly found Owen. Under its persuasion, Owen, half-believing, half-doubting, followed Chris away from Silver Sand Island and swam towards a huge ship.

A rope ladder was lowered from above. Chris urged, “Let’s go up quickly, Yan Ye and the others must be waiting for us.”

A few minutes passed, and Chris and Owen successfully climbed onto the ship and met Yan Ye and Song Qiuyi.

With Chris’s happy introduction, the three of them learned each other’s names. That was all; there were no further interactions.

Soon, their ship set sail again. This time, the direction was the largest underground trading center in Country A, where a ship was being auctioned. This was information Song Qiuyi had found out recently.

In order to prevent the ship from being bought by others, they waited for Chris to bring Owen back, and then rushed towards Country A without stopping.

On the way, they discovered a few familiar figures on the sea. There were four people, floating on the surface holding onto a piece of driftwood.

In just two short days, Cliff and the others had experienced going from life to death and then to despair twice. Just when they thought they would starve to death in this vast ocean, a streak of white entered their vision, bringing them a glimmer of hope for survival.

“Look, a ship, a ship.” Cliff gasped, shouting excitedly, his eyes brimming with tears of excitement.

Tan Fei was equally excited, yelling with all his might, “Here, look here, there are people here.” He didn’t forget to tell Duke and Tony next to him to shout too, “You guys shout too, so they can hear us.”

Duke and Tony swallowed their throats that were nearly dry, “Here, we need your help.”

Since their ship met disaster and everyone fell into the sea, besides saving their lives, they hadn’t eaten for two days and two nights, exhausted from hunger. Now, if it weren’t for calling out for help to the ship that suddenly appeared, they wouldn’t even have the strength to speak.

Their shouting with all their might was not in vain; someone on the ship did discover them.

Yan Ye’s vision was better than others. Before getting close, he could see from a distance who these people were. Seeing their situation, it wasn’t hard to guess that these few people had also encountered the typhoon and storm two days ago.

It was just that they weren’t as lucky as Song Qiuyi and himself.

Song Qiuyi came out of the cockpit, “The radar detected people nearby.”

“Hmm, it must be those few people.” Yan Ye turned back to look at the young man walking over and motioned for him to come over and look.

Song Qiuyi pulled out a telescope from somewhere and looked in the direction Yan Ye was looking.

“They seem to be calling for help from us.” Yan Ye said with a half-smile, wondering if those few people would still ask for help if they discovered that the person on this ship was Song Qiuyi.

A rare smile appeared at the corner of Song Qiuyi’s lips, but it was far from friendly.

Yan Ye also smiled. The next second, he saw Song Qiuyi enter the cockpit.

The ship sailed forward for a little while, and the propeller speed gradually slowed down, stopping the ship’s forward movement.

Cliff was ecstatic. Great, God really was looking after him. The ship had found them.

A hint of a smile finally appeared on Tan Fei’s ashen face.

Duke and Tony were so excited they wanted to hug each other.

At this thrilling moment, someone came to the side of the ship. That person lowered their head to look at them, and what came into view was a familiar yet indifferent face.

Tan Fei’s smile immediately froze. How… how could it be him?

The others were no less shocked than Tan Fei at this moment.

How is it Professor Song? Can they still be saved then?

How could it be Professor Song?

God, wasn’t this my previous big boss? Cliff screamed inwardly.

Among the four people, only Cliff was the first to shout, “Professor Song, it’s really lucky to meet you, help!”

Song Qiuyi looked down at the four people below the ship. His eyes rarely held a smile, but it was a look of schadenfreude.

Yan Ye came over at this moment and, like him, also lowered his head to look at the people on the sea.

His appearance changed the gaze of the three people below – greed and desire to possess.

It’s the merman from before!

Their scrutinizing gaze alone made Song Qiuyi uncomfortable, let alone the thoughts revealed in their eyes.

“Should we save them?” Yan Ye asked casually, leaving the decision to Song Qiuyi.

Saving these few people was simply effortless for them.

Song Qiuyi coldly spat out two words, “Don’t save.”

He wouldn’t keep ticking time bombs by his side.

The two words “Don’t save” were heard by the people below, and Cliff became anxious. “No, Big Boss, please save me, please save me for the sake of me sailing the ship for you last time.”

Duke and Tony were startled by Professor Song’s words. Seeing that the expression on his face wasn’t a joke, they also became anxious, “Professor Song, please save us. We’ve been drifting at sea for two days and can barely hold on anymore.”

Tan Fei had always disliked Professor Song. At this critical moment between life and death, he couldn’t care less about anything else, “Professor Song, I was wrong to you before. We were colleagues. Please save us!”

Professor Song didn’t soften his heart. He looked at them expressionlessly, wondering if there were any benefits or drawbacks to saving them.

Yan Ye looked down and offered an idea, “Didn’t Chris want to borrow money from you to buy a ship? How about we let each of them pay some US dollars, and then we save them?”

Song Qiuyi’s eyes lit up. He wouldn’t have to worry about not having enough money for Chris to buy the ship.

One must know that Song Qiuyi, currently unemployed, was not as wealthy as before. Although he had a box of gems, they were all given by Yan Ye, and Song Qiuyi couldn’t bear to sell them for money.

Song Qiuyi said to the people below, “I can save you, but it’s two million US dollars per person.”

Two million US dollars was not much for Tan Fei, but it was a considerable sum for Duke and Tony.

The first to speak was Cliff, “Okay, I promise you. As long as you save me, I will definitely pay you two million US dollars.”

Fortunately, the money the big boss gave him before hadn’t been spent yet.

This was also the reason why Cliff readily agreed.

Seeing that Cliff had agreed, Duke and Tony also spoke up and agreed.

Tan Fei didn’t feel any heartache for the two million US dollars at all. He was just about to agree, “I also agree, after we get back…”

His voice was interrupted, and he only heard Song Qiuyi’s voice, as cold as death, say, “I don’t need your money, because I don’t plan to save you.”

The rope ladder was lowered. After Cliff, Duke, and the three of them climbed up, the rope ladder was pulled away just as Tan Fei was also trying to climb up.

The ship started up again, with a roaring sound. Tan Fei’s desperate curses were drowned out by the ship’s horn. He watched helplessly as the ship moved further and further away from him, until it disappeared from sight.

Only he was left on the driftwood that had supported four people. Tired of cursing with no one responding, Tan Fei finally stopped, his tears flowing like water. He regretted that he shouldn’t have come looking for the merman himself. He hated the injustice of this world; both were doing merman experiments, so why did Song Qiuyi gain the merman’s trust…

A giant wave crashed over, sweeping Tan Fei’s full-blown resentment into the depths of the sea. Seawater couldn’t wash away the filth in a person’s heart, nor could it make a person sober.

Chris saw that there were three more humans on the ship and was somewhat hesitant to appear on the deck. However, after learning that these people were rich fools and would give them money to buy a ship, Chris became enthusiastic. At sea, the food for these people was caught by Chris diving into the sea.

Duke and Tony were truly shocked once again when they discovered there was another merman besides Yan Ye.

Yan Ye noticed that they were always secretly looking at Chris. When the ship was approaching Country A, he said to the few people with a smile, “The ocean is not like land; any storm can take your lives. The next time you go out to sea, you won’t be so lucky to run into us.”

Duke and Tony withdrew their gaze to look at the merman who was speaking. The merman’s eyes were very beautiful, like the abyss of the sea. They were captivating yet terrifying, and his words also sent shivers down their spines.

This was the merman warning them not to think about going out to sea to find any merman for experiments again, otherwise the sea would be their eternal resting place.

Cliff, on the other hand, didn’t need Yan Ye to lecture him. He was a person who valued his life and had no interest in mermaids.

After Song Qiuyi arrived in Country A, he didn’t immediately let Cliff and the others leave. He kept a close watch, wanting to buy Chris’s ship, and then let Cliff and the others go after leaving Country A. This way, he wouldn’t have to worry about Duke transmitting his information to the research institute.

Three days later, two ships simultaneously departed from Country A. They sailed together for two days before separating and sailing in different directions. This would be another voyage without a destination, but no one cared. What they cared about was whether the people they wanted to accompany were on the ship.

A year later, a burst of heartbreaking wails erupted on the beach of Silver Sand Island. A woman held a boy with a purple face, constantly calling out “son, son,” but the boy kept his eyes closed and gave no response.

The older man couldn’t bear to watch anymore. He walked over and said, “Stop patting him. He’s already stopped breathing. Let Qiangzi go in peace.”

“What are you talking about? My son isn’t dead, he’s not dead.” The woman seemed to be in a trance.

The old man shook his head, feeling pity for the woman. Six months ago, her husband died at sea, and now her son had drowned.

Alas, if Owen were still here, maybe… After all is said and done, this is fate!

A year ago, Qiangzi also played here and was swept away by a large wave. It was Owen, who often went diving, who found and saved him.

Unfortunately, the woman didn’t believe Owen had saved her son and didn’t speak ill of Owen behind his back.

If Owen were still on Silver Sand Island, he would probably be diving around here again today and would have discovered Qiangzi drowning, and he wouldn’t have been found already lifeless.

The old man sighed deeply again, told the young people on the island to help the woman with her son’s funeral arrangements, and walked towards Owen’s house with his hands behind his back.

Unconsciously, decades passed drifting at sea. Song Qiuyi returned to land again to attend a funeral; his teacher’s wife had passed away.

The day he attended the funeral, Song Qiuyi went alone. It was also when his teacher and his wife were buried together that he placed his teacher’s diary into their tomb.

Song Qiuyi was not good with words. In front of his teacher’s tombstone, he only said, “Teacher, I have returned your diary.”

After decades of being with the merman Yan Ye, the diary which originally had only a few pages of records had long been filled with dense writing, all about Song Qiuyi’s observations of the merman.

Now, while returning it to its rightful owner, Song Qiuyi thanked his teacher from the bottom of his heart. Because of his teacher, he met the person he loved. It was also by being with this person that he slowly realized that he didn’t have an obsession with all merfolk; he only had an obsession with the merman in front of him, and this obsession would not disappear until death.

On a bright morning, the sea breeze was gentle, bringing a hint of ease within the warmth. Song Qiuyi passed away on this very day. He took his last breath in the merman’s embrace, and the pearl in his palm rolled onto the deck.

With a splash, the merman took Song Qiuyi back to the seabed. The merman’s lifespan was too long, so long that Song Qiuyi had grown white-haired and showed his old age, while Yan Ye was still as handsome as he was when they first met.

He wrapped his fish tail around Song Qiuyi’s waist. The two bodies clung tightly together, fingers intertwined. Yan Ye chose to sleep forever in the sea where they met, on the same day as Song Qiuyi.

As Yan Ye’s soul departed, a wisp of emotional thread detached from Song Qiuyi’s body and disappeared along with the soul.

Finally, it merged into Yan Ye’s body in the bookstore, returning the emotions he should have possessed. His past memories were also peeled back layer by layer.

“Song Zigui…” his former lover.