LSDWTWHA chapter 35

Chapter 34

Xiang Chen used the instruments he brought to examine Qi Hanyi’s body. Qi Hanyi was somewhat hypothermic, as if he had been submerged in cold water for a long time. Fortunately, his SSS-level genes were strong; with some rest, he could recover by himself.

The tricky part was his mental force collapse syndrome, which had not received any treatment and had instead worsened dramatically after the onset.

Xiang Chen’s brows were tightly furrowed.

Su Su curiously stared at the numbers flashing on the instrument, glancing at Qi Hanyi, who sat before it bare-chested, looking unfazed.

He asked Xiang Chen, “How’s he doing?”

“Not far from death,” Xiang Chen said coldly. Looking at the fully alarmed mental force indicators for Qi Hanyi, the anger he had just suppressed flared up again.

He wanted to explode at Qi Hanyi, but considering Su Su was present, he turned to Su Su and politely requested, “Could you help me find the butler and get a first aid kit from downstairs?”

“Oh, sure.”

Su Su nodded without a second thought, just as he was preparing to leave when his wrist was grabbed by Qi Hanyi.

Qi Hanyi operated the terminal, and a hidden cabinet popped out, filled with a row of bottles and jars that Su Su couldn’t understand, along with various tools.

“The medicine is in the room. If you have something to say, just say it. You don’t need to specially send him away.”

He had already decided to speak frankly with Su Su. Since that was the case, letting him understand the situation early was not a bad thing.

“Well, I won’t be polite then.” Xiang Chen, initially wanting to give Qi Hanyi some face, directly lost his temper upon seeing Qi Hanyi’s nonchalant demeanor.

“You’re really something, marrying back a mermaid hybrid who knows nothing about anything while keeping it from everyone. Of course, I’m not saying he’s bad, but you didn’t even explain your own situation. If it weren’t for Xiao He accidentally encountering him during a live stream today, do you think you’d still be alive here for examination?”

Su Su couldn’t help but interject, “Xiao He is your person?”

“She’s my assistant at the research institute.” Xiang Chen answered Su Su’s question gently, but his expression changed in an instant as he continued to glare at Qi Hanyi, “If it weren’t for her guessing that Su Su was your family, I’d still be kept in the dark by you.”

Qi Hanyi was not surprised: “Thanks for your help with today’s matter.”

“Do you think I went through all this trouble just to hear you say thank you?” Xiang Chen was completely displeased.

With his gaze downcast, Qi Hanyi appeared unusually weakened, adding to his pale complexion: “I underestimated the situation.”

According to the last examination, he thought he still had at least a month of time left.

“Underestimated? I thought you simply didn’t want to live anymore!” Xiang Chen was irritated by Qi Hanyi’s show of weakness, running a hand through his hair anxiously. “I’ve told you many times, mental force collapse syndrome is very dangerous! It could flare up any day, and it would be too late once it does! This time, Su Su woke you up and brought you back from the brink. What about next time? What if you completely lose control of your mental force and go mad or die?”

Qi Hanyi did not respond. He calmly looked at the instrument’s display screen, indifferent as he stared at the whole row of indicators that were lit up in alarm, revealing deep exhaustion and weariness hidden in his gaze.

Xiang Chen realized that his diligent, robotic-like friend, had probably long harbored feelings of nihilism and a wish to end it all. Perhaps he was merely living out of responsibility, subconsciously hoping that he could just sleep and not wake up. Otherwise, with his cautious nature, he shouldn’t have let things escalate to the point of being brought to the Qi family’s patriarch’s attention.

Xiang Chen said sternly: “Qi Hanyi, be honest with me. Do you really want to treat your illness and live, or have you given up and left everything to fate?”

“Of course, I want to live. I promised my grandfather.” Qi Hanyi half-lowered his eyes, gazing at the buzzing machine in front of him, “Besides, the Bai Ze is still waiting for me to return.”

As he said this, Xiang Chen could not detect a hint of longing for life in his tone. He was merely existing out of duty. He had not yet found meaning in the desire to keep living.

However, currently, Xiang Chen saw no way to persuade him further and simply hoped that Qi Hanyi was still willing to cooperate with him subjectively.

“Then you need to listen to me and find an undeveloped mermaid. Spend some good time together for a few days and let the other person sing to heal you.”

“Finding a mermaid is impossible.” Qi Hanyi outright refused.

“Why are you so stubborn? Even if you’re lucky enough to wake up once or twice, do you think you can maintain that luck indefinitely? I’ve reviewed all the cases of mental force collapse syndrome. If patients do not receive mermaid treatment, they will die within six months at most. The higher the mental force level, the shorter the time to death. Yang Yuanshan lasted two months; your time will be even less!”

“There’s no time. The development of treatment methods takes time, and experiments take time. I’m afraid I won’t make it to save you. Do you understand, Qi Hanyi?”

Qi Hanyi remained unmoved: “Then let’s switch to medication. You have a drug that can completely block mental force.”

Hearing this, Xiang Chen stood up in anger: “Qi Hanyi! You’d rather take that drug than accept mermaid treatment?”

“What’s wrong with that drug?” Su Su curiously leaned in, seemingly watching the argument with interest, completely unfazed by the tension between the two.

“Taking that medication means Qi Hanyi’s mental force genes cannot be passed on to his descendants; his offspring could only be ordinary people without mental force. If Qi Hanyi takes the medication, it’s equivalent to giving up his claim to family inheritance.”

“Oh, that’s not so bad.” Su Su didn’t find this to be a major issue.

Xiang Chen looked at Su Su in disbelief, unable to believe this was coming from a mermaid who loved Qi Hanyi: “Not so bad? Don’t you want to have children with Qi Hanyi in the future? Do you understand what it means to have an heir without mental force?”

Xiang Chen did not know that Su Su was male. He was beautiful, had long hair, and had once appeared in public wearing a dress. Although his current outfit was more masculine, Xiang Chen still subconsciously considered him a female mermaid.

He thought that since both of them had feelings for each other, having children would naturally follow.

But Su Su showed a strange expression. Having a child with Qi Hanyi? They were both males. Can current medical technology allow males to give birth?

Su Su sincerely asked, “Which one of us is giving birth?”

Xiang Chen was momentarily stunned by Su Su’s question. What do you mean, “which one of you is giving birth?”

Qi Hanyi, observing the two in their miscommunication, could not help but interject: “I don’t plan on having descendants, so this issue doesn’t exist. I can bear the risks associated with the medication myself.”

“Have you lost your mind? You’re the heir yet don’t plan on having offspring? Fine, that’s your freedom, but you’re not yet the head of the family. If people find out you can’t have the best heirs, those relatives of yours will surely attack you fiercely, trying to seize your inheritance. You’re now standing on unstable ground, and if you lose your inheritance over this matter, Qi Xingli won’t shelter you anymore. Without the family’s backing, you’ll find it difficult to advance in the military!”

Xiang Chen felt a headache coming on: “If the drug could cure it, that would be one thing, but it can only delay for three months. And during those three months, you won’t have mental force. What if someone takes advantage of that? I’m worried you might not even last until the drug works.”

“I have no other options, Xiang Chen.” Qi Hanyi said calmly, “I need your help.”

“I… I really owe you one.” Xiang Chen squatted on the ground with a pained expression.

He forcefully rubbed his face until it turned red, then raised his head: “Can’t we compromise just this once? I know you hate mermaids, but you can’t hate them to the point of putting your life on the line, right?”

He stood up and pulled Su Su over: “Look, aren’t there lovely mermaids? There must be other good mermaids. You can’t blame an entire group for the actions of a few, right?”

“I’m not resentful.” Qi Hanyi didn’t want to say too much, but seeing how anxious Xiang Chen was for his sake, he explained further: “I admit, I used to hate mermaids. I blamed my father’s death on my mother, on mermaids. I hated them for hurting my father. They suffered unjustly, but those injustices weren’t caused by my father. Why should he bear the burden?”

“But I’ve come to understand that taking out my anger over my father’s predicament on innocent mermaids is no different from repaying my father’s vengeance through them.”

“What truly caused the tragedy is humanity’s attitude toward mermaids. If that doesn’t change, tragedies will happen countless times again.”

“What I should hate isn’t the mermaids, but the way humans treat mermaids. I should hate not my mother, but the rules that turned my parents into enemies.”

“My father was right; he understood this point long ago and worked hard to break the rules, even though he failed.”

Xiang Chen was delighted to hear Qi Hanyi saying this. He had once thought that event would be a burden Qi Hanyi would carry for a lifetime, but unexpectedly, Qi Hanyi was now able to calmly discuss it with him: “Since you’ve realized all this, then you should accept mermaid treatment…”

“No, Xiang Chen.” Qi Hanyi said, “Viewing mermaids as tools for treatment is just adhering to an unjust rule. Today, if I compromise to live, then tomorrow, what grounds do I have to oppose it? To change it?”

“I know you oppose this rule too, which is why you want to research drugs to treat mental force collapse syndrome, right?”

“But you’re different. You’re the admiral of the expeditionary force. Your life can save many people. If it were you… if it were you…” Xiang Chen said with difficulty. He knew he had already been convinced by Qi Hanyi; he could never win an argument against him.

But he wanted Qi Hanyi to live.

Xiang Chen turned his pleading gaze to Su Su: “Don’t you like him? Help convince him! Given his situation now, even if he takes the medication, he may not last until a treatment method is developed. It’s still safer to have a mermaid’s help. Don’t worry, we can find a willing mermaid to come ashore, negotiate well with her, and once she cures Qi Hanyi, we’ll let her go. We can give her whatever she desires.”

“But Qi Hanyi doesn’t want that.” Su Su remained steadfast, showing no intention of helping in persuading him. Qi Hanyi had already made his choice, and he wasn’t in the habit of interfering in others’ choices.

“Aren’t you afraid? If Qi Hanyi dies, the fact that you’re a mermaid hybrid will inevitably be exposed. Not only will you die, but your family and even the mermaid royal family will face repercussions.” Xiang Chen reminded. He knew his current demeanor was rather despicable; he was saying many things against his conscience, but he had to ensure Qi Hanyi lived.

“I’m not afraid.” Su Su replied.

He was afraid of many things, most of all being hungry, afraid of dying, afraid of pain, afraid of not becoming a person, and also afraid of getting caught by Qi Hanyi while playing games.

But the kind of situation Xiang Chen mentioned didn’t scare him. Su Su counted on his fingers: “After taking the medicine, we still have three months. Everything is within our power. If all else fails, he can just sleep like today, and I will wake him.”

The young mermaid stood before Xiang Chen, tall and elegant, with delicate and enchanting features. But at that moment, as he looked at Xiang Chen, his eyes were straightforward and sincere, carrying an almost innocent fearlessness: “No matter how many times, I will find a way to wake him up.”

At that moment, Xiang Chen suddenly understood why Qi Hanyi treated him differently.

Qi Hanyi looked at the youth before him, feeling a surge of unfamiliar emotions stirring in his chest.

He liked Su Su, even though he had the blood of a mermaid.

Qi Hanyi wanted to hold him tightly in his arms, to embrace him fiercely.

But he merely moved forward, placing a gentle hand on Su Su’s shoulder and lightly ruffling his hair.

As his head was ruffled, Su Su suddenly felt a sense of familiarity, as if someone had done the same a short while ago.

Su Su stood there dumbfounded, looking up at the top of his head, trying to recall: Who was it?