Taming the Merman - Chapter 6

Fortunately, he had not lost his memory, or the whole village would have been eating grilled fish today.

Once Lan Shiyu remembered everything he had done over the past month, his face turned deathly white.

Relieved to have cleared myself of all pervert-related suspicion, I was about to mock him from the moral high ground when he pulled the hairpin from my hair and pointed it at his own throat.

“I have dishonored Junior Sister,” he said resolutely. “Only my death can atone for it.”

What?!

I lunged forward and snatched the pin away. “That is completely unnecessary! Calm down!”

“You need not excuse me.” Grief filled his eyes, tears already glimmering in them. “I know you have always despised me. If I do not die today, your hatred will never be appeased.”

Forget mocking him. If I made my tone one shade harsher, I would be visiting his grave on this date next year.

Did one bury a fish at sea or on land?

“You misunderstand.” I forced a friendly smile. “How could I despise you? We belong to the same sect. Isn’t it perfectly normal for fellow disciples to help each other while away from home?”

No. It was not normal. Children, absolutely do not imitate us.

Lan Shiyu raised his head, not quite convinced. When his beautiful eyes blinked, a falling tear transformed into a lustrous pearl.

“You aren’t lying? But if you truly don’t dislike me, then why did you always…”

I stared at the pearl in shock and finally understood why Lan Shiyu, a fellow sword cultivator, lived so comfortably.

I worked myself to death on missions for spirit stones, while this fellow only needed to cry twice for money?

I hated all overpowered cheats equally.

“…I really don’t hate you,” I said with a dry laugh. “I was only teasing you before. If I hated you, why would I waste so much time on you?”

Lan Shiyu thought about it and somehow believed me.

“Like those young boys who pull the braids of girls they fancy?”

“That is not remotely—”

When he looked ready to dash his head against a rock, I changed course at once.

“Yes. Exactly. I am just as sick in the head as they are.”

I had no idea how matters had come to this.

I was the one who had been ravaged for a month. Why was I also comforting him?

In the end, Lan Shiyu even gave me a lecture in the same tone he used with the sect’s youngest disciples.

“If Junior Sister wishes to be close to me, you needn’t invent such clumsy excuses.” Smiling, he patted my head. “I have always wanted to be your friend too.”

Thank you, but no one here wanted that.

Yet under his hopeful gaze, I tugged awkwardly at my hair and finally muttered, “Fine.”

By the time we left the cave, Lan Shiyu had already begun chatting as if we were lifelong confidants.

When he learned that I had descended the mountain in search of meteorite iron for my bonded sword, he stopped in surprise.

“If that is all…” He rummaged in his storage pouch and produced an absurdly flawless chunk of meteorite iron. “I happened to acquire this recently and had no idea what to do with it.”

What?

He pushed it into my hands. “It would only gather dust with me. Please use it.”

I stared at it for a long time.

My bonded sword was unusual. It was immensely powerful; if I ever awakened its full strength, I might become the next Sword Immortal.

The problem was that the wretched thing devoured money.

Until I found enough materials to temper it, it was little better than a fire poker. Only my absurd luck in stumbling across rare materials had allowed it to resemble a sword at all.

What it needed most now was high-grade meteorite iron—a substance so rare that searching three or five years without finding any would be normal.

I had prepared to spend years wandering the mortal realm, yet Lan Shiyu had tossed me a huge piece as casually as rubbish.

My pride urged me to throw it back and tell him serenely that cultivation depended on oneself and I needed no charity.

On the other hand, pride was no reason to reject a bargain.

Afraid he might reconsider, I stuffed it inside my robes.

“Consider this a loan. If you ever need anything, tell me. I’ll help if I can.”

Of course, what problem could a rich fish like him have that he could not solve himself?

Precisely. My promise meant nothing.

Lan Shiyu failed to notice. I had traded an empty sentence for a priceless treasure, yet he looked as if he had gained the better part of the bargain.

“Truly?” His cheeks flushed, and even his breathing quickened with delight. “You will help me from now on?”

My thoughts were full of meteorite iron. I answered without thinking, “Mm-hm. No problem. I’m invincible below the Nascent Soul stage.”

So was he. He would never need my help. I was a cunning woman indeed.

We retrieved my poor money-eating sword, which had spent the last month stuck in a windy hillside.

The lust demon’s corpse still lay nearby. Lan Shiyu walked over, thrust a branch into its heart, and flicked out a dark purple core.

“You can temper this into your sword as well. At worst, you will waste a little time. If it succeeds, however, it may give you another way to protect yourself.”

Lan Shiyu knew so much that he resembled a walking catalogue of treasures. If he singled something out, it had to be special.

Delighted, I stored the core beside the meteorite iron.

What a harvest. This journey had been worth every moment!

Lan Shiyu also looked deeply satisfied, despite leaving empty-handed after giving me a massive chunk of meteorite iron.

What, exactly, was he so pleased about?

The world of the wealthy was incomprehensible.