The Creature Keeper - chapter 25

A sharp pain pierced Tang Rou’s mind, as if some unknown force was forcibly altering her will, causing her agony.

“This shouldn’t be happening, it’s not logical…”

Even heavy weapons couldn’t kill the Experimental Subjects in Sector S, so it was impossible for the Security Officers to shoot them down one by one, and they couldn’t have escaped.

At that moment, the scene shifted again.

Time rewound to the moment before the woman pushed the Security Officer. The two Experimental Subjects discovered each other and began to fight, both suffering serious injuries, allowing the man and woman to escape successfully.

The gears of time froze at that instant.

They turned in unison and asked again, “What about this?”

Tang Rou’s vision went black. She loosened her grip, and just before she fell into the pool, someone caught her, pulling her into her embrace.

A voice sounded by her ear, tinged with slight confusion, “Why doesn’t this work either?”

Tang Rou’s thoughts were in chaos. She felt like someone trapped in a dream-everything was illogical, yet because she was inside the dream, she couldn’t tell what was wrong, drifting in a daze with her eyes closed.

The beautiful non-human creature showed a concern that contradicted her cold nature. “What exactly are you suffering from?”

Tang Rou finally found her voice. Watched by the Abyss, the answer slipped out, “I don’t want to interfere with her fate. Whether she lives or dies has nothing to do with me.”

Not interfering was already the greatest mercy she could offer.

Her pain came from witnessing the bloody scenes firsthand, from seeing death with her own eyes, from watching vibrant lives extinguished in cruel ways.

In human understanding, death is the end of life, the final conclusion. This cognitive bias made it impossible for the Mermaid to comprehend why simply witnessing the death of someone unrelated to Tang Rou would cause her such distress.

Unable to understand, but willing to try.

Death, to humans, is a very serious matter.

The Mermaid nodded in innocent confusion. “So that’s how it is.”

Their values were utterly different. The cold-blooded creature from the deep sea had no emotions, was indifferent, lacked warmth, and was almost devoid of all universal feelings-joy, anger, sorrow, happiness; resentment, obsession, greed, longing.

Cold fingers threaded through her hair, again and again, patiently smoothing out the tangled strands.

“You did well.” For a rule-breaker to stand by and watch-this was the only thing the Mermaid could approve of.

Silvery eyes, like a sliver of moonlight in endless darkness, forced her to meet her gaze.

“You did well. Don’t let foolish kindness torment you. Saving someone who wields a butcher’s knife is no different from killing.”

Tang Rou stared into those eyes and suddenly lost consciousness.

Humans are three-dimensional beings who survive under the rules of time, living in four-dimensional space but with three-dimensional bodies.

Thus, anything beyond the rules of time becomes chaos, impossible to perceive.

Time was quietly shattered and reassembled, yet the humans within remained completely unaware.

When Tang Rou opened her eyes again, a segment of her memory was inexplicably missing. She thought she had only blinked, but found that night had fallen completely.

As if a third hand had switched off the world’s lights.

Tang Rou floated in the water, watching the Mermaid’s tail. She came back to herself in a daze, put down the chain in her hands, and apologized, “Sorry, I don’t think I can remove it.”

“It’s alright.” This time, the Mermaid’s reply was light and cheerful.

But Tang Rou noticed she looked exhausted. “What’s wrong?”

“I overexerted myself a bit. Don’t worry about it.”

She swam over. Tang Rou didn’t realize what she intended, until she reached out her long arms, grasped Tang Rou’s waist, and lifted her onto the shore.
The other party looked up at her from below. “It’s cold in the water. You sit on top.”

It was an extremely awkward position-at the very least, this arrangement of up and down felt uncomfortable.

“Thank you.” Tang Rou moved her dry eyes, but couldn’t help looking into her eyes.

Those platinum-silver eyes seemed to carry a mysterious allure; just meeting her gaze made Tang Rou feel dazed.

Ethereal and distant, they easily reminded one of dazzling, translucent ice crystals refracted by sunlight. But in such a dark environment, why could she still see her eyes so clearly?

The next second, Tang Rou’s eyes widened abruptly.

The Mermaid had somehow taken hold of her foot. Her cold fingertips brushed over the wound on Tang Rou’s sole, then she lowered her gaze and, in Tang Rou’s shocked stare, kissed it without a trace of flirtation.

Tang Rou froze for several seconds before realizing she should struggle, but the Mermaid gripped her ankle, her slender fingers like icy shackles, holding her firmly so that Tang Rou couldn’t move at all.

The Mermaid lifted her lashes, looking at Tang Rou with no discernible expression, her demeanor serious and cold. Tang Rou’s mouth parted slightly as she watched the Mermaid lower her eyes again, silently kissing her injured skin.

It was hard to describe the sensation-like ants crawling over her.

Legend has it that Mermaids possess beautiful appearances, yet are extremely dangerous creatures. Many movies and myths depict this mysterious species as both alluring and deadly: their sharp fingertips can easily gut deep-sea fish, their voices enchant sailors and cause shipwrecks, their teeth tear into prey, devouring flesh and blood.

But witnessing it in person was a different experience.

The Mermaid was as aloof and noble as ice and snow, making one reluctant to approach.

Yet, she was kissing Tang Rou’s foot?

The moist, gentle touch soothed the pain of her wound. Tang Rou felt her cheeks slowly flush, growing hotter and hotter; she didn’t need to look to know she must be very red.

Every second was pure torment.

Finally, the Mermaid let her go.

Her fingertip lingered almost imperceptibly on Tang Rou’s wrist bone for a moment. Her expression remained cold and distant as she silently swam to the side, lowering her head to rest on her arm, looking lazy and exhausted.

Tang Rou couldn’t help but pull her foot from the water and place it on the shore, only to be surprised to find that the wound, once pierced by shards of glass, had healed.

She realized belatedly, “Were you just treating my wound?”

The Mermaid didn’t speak, but nodded slightly in response.

Tang Rou felt even more embarrassed.

What on earth had she been thinking just now!

During that time, the rampaging Experimental Subjects wandering the Hexagonal Plaza seemed to have all left. Yet Sector S still hadn’t received any rescue personnel, and the Base seemed to have taken no action to save them.

She couldn’t let things go on like this; she had to find a way to save herself.

Tang Rou remembered Aselan mentioning she was also at the Hexagonal Plaza, so she decided to take a chance.

“I’m going to find my companion.”

She slowly stood up, supporting herself against the glass wall, and said to the Mermaid, “Thank you for treating my wound just now. I hope you recover soon too.”

After speaking, Tang Rou turned to look for an empty passage. The Mermaid suddenly raised her head, her pupils contracting.

“Clang-”

The Chain was pulled, striking the glass wall with a crisp sound.

“Don’t go…”

She reached out, but grasped nothing.

Tang Rou seemed determined to leave, and had already walked several meters away.

The Mermaid stared at her empty fingers, as if something occurred to her, a subtle light flickering in her eyes.