Chapter 138 – Getting More Criminal, Getting More Convictable

“Mii… miiing…”

This was the pitiful cry of the mermaid girl tightly bound by invisible chains.

At this moment, the delicate and petite mermaid sat slumped on the ground, surrounded by a man and a woman, appearing as helpless and pitiful as if she were about to be captured and sold by evil traffickers.

Su Ming and Xu Qianqian looked at each other, and both eventually noticed a trace of barely concealed guilt in the other’s eyes.

Undoubtedly, both of them felt as if they were doing something bad.

However, this feeling was clearly somewhat misplaced.

“I say, Young Miss,” Su Ming said gloomily, “we chose to save her, keep her, and prevent her from escaping to avoid plunging Longyao City into chaos and to repay her for saving us before, right?”

The implication was that they weren’t actually doing anything wrong but rather something good, right?

“So why do I feel like we’re the villains here?”

Su Ming was utterly baffled.

“I don’t see anything inappropriate about our actions either,” Xu Qianqian remained silent for a moment before speaking. “After all, this child is still a Phantom Demon, an existence inherently opposed to humans. We didn’t kill her outright or use her to extract her Bloodline, which is already more than generous. There’s no reason for us to feel any condemnation.”

These words, coming from Xu Qianqian, lacked her usual calm and decisiveness, instead filled with an unprecedented sense of wavering.

It was obvious that Xu Qianqian wasn’t trying to convince anyone else but herself.

It was easy to imagine that carrying out such actions left Xu Qianqian feeling quite conflicted.

As for Su Ming, it went without saying—the fact that he, who usually had few moral boundaries, felt like he was doing something bad spoke volumes.

But there was no helping it; the mermaid girl before them simply appeared too pitiful.

Her delicate body trembled slightly.

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes.

Her ice-blue eyes seemed to hold a pleading emotion, making anyone who saw her heart ache and involuntarily overflow with sympathy.

Faced with such a scene, even the most hard-hearted person would likely feel their resolve soften.

Xu Qianqian had initially intended to say something more to the mermaid girl, but upon seeing her like this, she simply retreated.

“I’ll leave this to you.”

Xu Qianqian turned around and decisively distanced herself from the scene.

“Hey!” Su Ming was taken aback and quickly called out to Xu Qianqian, “What do you mean, ‘leave it to me’? What do you want me to do?”

Su Ming seemed somewhat flustered.

Unfortunately, he was dealing with the ruthless and taciturn Young Miss Xu. No matter how flustered he appeared, she showed no intention of intervening.

“You caught her, and you’re the one controlling her. Strictly speaking, this child is your possession, or rather, your spoils of war. So, isn’t it only natural for you to handle her?”

Xu Qianqian said this with an expressionless face, making Su Ming want to curse.

She was the one who discovered her, and now she’s pushing this mess onto me? Does she think I fit the image of this scenario?

A grown man, in the middle of nowhere, using invisible ropes to play bondage games with a pitiful young girl?

This scene would make anyone call the police in a heartbeat!

“Miiing! Miiing miiing!”

Just as Su Ming was about to seriously argue with Xu Qianqian, the mermaid girl cried out anxiously.

Su Ming couldn’t help but turn back to look at the mermaid girl, gazing at her fair skin, delicate and slender figure, exquisite face, and dreamy, fairy-tale-like aura, swallowing hard despite himself.

This reaction naturally earned him a scornful glare.

Su Ming didn’t need to look back to know who it came from.

Su Ming quickly averted his eyes, focusing inward to suppress the increasingly criminal and sentence-worthy lewd thoughts rising in his heart.

Then, Su Ming took a deep breath and composed himself.

Su Ming’s opening line was as follows:

“Don’t worry,” Su Ming said. “We’re not bad people.”

Behind him, Xu Qianqian’s eye twitched violently.

That opening line sounded exactly like something a seasoned villain would say, didn’t it?

But Su Ming remained completely unaware and continued speaking.

“Stop calling out,” Su Ming said. “Even if you scream until your throat breaks, no one will come to save you.”

Xu Qianqian felt an impulse but restrained herself.

“How about this: why don’t you come with me first?” Su Ming remained oblivious to how terrible his words sounded and kept going. “I’ll treat you to some lollipops and show you my big treas— Ouch!”

Before he could finish his sentence, Su Ming’s head was sharply slapped.

Xu Qianqian had finally reached her limit and rushed over, slapping him to interrupt his awful remarks.

“What was that for?”

Su Ming protested.

“Just stop talking,” Xu Qianqian looked at Su Ming as if he were garbage and said firmly, “It was my mistake to entrust such an important task to you. I’ll handle it myself.”

With that, ignoring Su Ming’s dissatisfied glare and protesting expression, Xu Qianqian walked over to stand before the mermaid girl.

“You should be able to understand what we’re saying, right?”

Xu Qianqian looked down at the mermaid girl, speaking in a cold tone.

“Miiing.”

The mermaid girl clearly hesitated, then nervously nodded her little head.

It seemed this Phantom Demon Cub could indeed understand human language and grasp the meaning behind the words.

This wasn’t uncommon.

In the Spirit Demon Abyss, while lower-level Phantom Demons were considered cannon fodder, higher-level Phantom Demons, after evolving, generally possessed intelligence and wisdom not far inferior to humans, capable of behavior indistinguishable from humans.

Hazardous Species were somewhat better; though they possessed intelligence comparable to humans, their instincts were deeply ingrained with the concepts of survival of the fittest and feeding on blood. Thus, even if they were more humane than lower-level Phantom Demons, their nature still retained some bestial and brutal traits. Once provoked, they rarely acted rationally.

But if they evolved into Nightmare Species, their intelligence and minds were no worse than humans, sometimes even surpassing them. Some Nightmare Species would learn human language and habits, gradually aligning their behavior with humans, even communicating with them. This once led humans in the present world to consider negotiating peace with Phantom Demons, but ultimately, due to their blood-feeding nature, such fantasies collapsed.

It was said that the legendary Terror Species’ every move was indistinguishable from humans. If they didn’t reveal their identities, no one could uncover their true nature as Phantom Demons.

Therefore, as a being inheriting the Bloodline of a higher-level Phantom Demon with a high likelihood of evolving into a Nightmare Species, it wasn’t strange that the mermaid girl could understand human speech and comprehend its meaning.

After realizing this, Xu Qianqian’s cold expression softened slightly.

Being able to communicate was good; at least they could convey their intentions to this child.

“Calm down and listen to me carefully,” Xu Qianqian said. “We saved you, just like you saved us before.”

Xu Qianqian wanted to imply that they could ease the tension between both sides.

At this, the mermaid girl blinked, glanced at Xu Qianqian, then at Su Ming, and as if recognizing them, her beautiful large eyes showed surprise.

Earlier, due to her panic, the mermaid girl hadn’t recognized Su Ming and Xu Qianqian.

She had been chased and captured many times, always fleeing, escaping, running for her life, and had developed the habit of running away at the sight of humans.

Under such circumstances, she didn’t recognize Su Ming and Xu Qianqian at first, assuming they were like the previous bad humans who wanted to harm, imprison, or capture her.

Only now, reminded by Xu Qianqian, did the mermaid girl realize the identities of the two before her.

No mistake.

These two were the humans who helped her escape that desperate night.

The mermaid girl hadn’t forgotten; at that time, she was about to be captured again by those bad humans.

Fortunately, just as she was about to be caught, a human girl suddenly attacked those bad humans.

And the human male who had just said frightening things and still looked dissatisfied now was the one who had cut the chains binding her, allowing her to escape.

The mermaid girl remembered these two quite well.

For no other reason than that they were the only two humans since her birth into this world who hadn’t attacked her.

That was why she couldn’t help but turn back that time and intervene when she saw these two about to be harmed by the bad humans.

She never expected their reunion to be under such circumstances.

“Miiing! Miiing!”

The mermaid girl called out a few times, though it was unclear what she was saying.

She could understand Xu Qianqian’s words, but that didn’t mean Xu Qianqian could understand hers.

However, judging by her expression, she seemed to realize that Su Ming and Xu Qianqian had saved her once again.

Thus, the mermaid girl relaxed slightly.

Seeing this, Xu Qianqian pressed her advantage.

“Although this might sound deceptive, we currently have no ill intentions toward you,” Xu Qianqian looked directly at the mermaid girl. “However, we can’t simply let you go, because we’re afraid you might fall into someone else’s hands.”

Hearing this, the mermaid girl lowered her little head, looking dejected, though it was unclear whether it was because she realized she couldn’t escape or because she acknowledged Xu Qianqian’s words and understood that many people coveted her.

“You don’t seem to have anywhere to go, right?” Xu Qianqian continued. “In that case, why not try coming with us for now?”

Xu Qianqian’s words made the mermaid girl lift her head.

Her water-blue eyes first swept over Xu Qianqian, then over Su Ming, before falling into an anxious silence.

Xu Qianqian didn’t rush her, quietly waiting instead.

Meanwhile, Su Ming chose this moment to act up.

“Come on, I’ll take good care of you, hehehe.”

Su Ming ultimately let out a creepy laugh that deserved a sentence.

“Miiing miiing!”

The mermaid girl was frightened, tears welling in her eyes as she tried to turn and flee.

Xu Qianqian quickly hugged the little girl, turned her head, and shot Su Ming a glare filled with Killing Intent.

“Can you shut up?”

Xu Qianqian said coldly.

“Okay! (￣▽￣)ノ”

Having finished his antics, Su Ming promptly ran away.

Poor Xu Qianqian, who was never particularly eloquent, had to spend considerable effort calming the mermaid girl after Su Ming’s mischief.

In the end, although the mermaid girl didn’t explicitly agree, she was still taken back to the small cabin by Su Ming and Xu Qianqian.

(End of Chapter)