IBFV CHAPTER 62

“No.”

Bai Zhi instantly denied it, his brows furrowing deeply: “They will hurt you, I won’t.”

There were several hints of ridicule in the mermaid’s pretty eyes: “Oh?”

“I will protect you, I will treasure you.” Bai Zhi said word for word: “Not because you are the only living mermaid left in this word, but because of you.”

The mermaid didn’t speak. He looked calmly at the Bai Zhi in front, seeming to ponder the authenticity in his words.

Seeing this, Bai Zhi slowly walked towards him, saying extremely seriously: “I know that you may not believe it now, but I hope you can give me the opportunity to prove this.”

“Although a mermaid’s identity is noble, it is not what I came for.”

“Perhaps you may feel that I am boasting about sweet nothings, but I still wanted to say this.”

“Even if you were not a mermaid, and were a normal person, a passerby rubbing shoulders among thousands of people, I would have also come here for you, and then…”

“Protect you, treasure you.”

Bai Zhi clenched his hands, his demeanor serious. The white-haired mermaid looked at him for a long while, then suddenly said:

“What are you called?”

With the sudden change in topic, Bai Zhi was dazed for a while before he reacted: “Ah? I, I am called Ming Xin, but…”

“You can call me Bai Zhi.”

“Bai, Zhi.” The mermmaid lowered his head, softly saying these two words twice. After a long period of deep silence, he suddenly smiled lightly:

“Humans really are the same as in stories.”

“What?” Bai Zhi didn’t understand what he meant.

Translated by moss || mosstranslations.wordpress.com

The mermaid’s eyes moved slightly, and his mood couldn’t be deciphered from his tone. He spoke slowly: “You must have heard about a story … .the beautiful little mermaid was attracted to the prince on the deck, drank the witch’s poison to meet him, and in the end turned into sea foam.”

Bai Zhi’s forehead wrinkled tightly: “This…”

“This is your human version, I’m telling you the true story.”

“The prince used the mermaid’s favorite moonstone to draw her in, used sweet nothings to deceive her. The little mermaid died on the deck they met on, and the sea foam dug out mermaid tears [1] from her body.”

“Mermaid tears are a mermaid’s most precious belonging.” The white-haired mermaid lightly told the cruel story: “You see, you humans have always been this smart, with confessions at your fingertips. This is what I believe.”

Bai Zhi’s heart skipped a beat, and his voice quivered: “You, you feel that…what I said just now, were all to deceive you?”

“Seems like you aren’t too stupid. My story was not in vain, I—”

“Shut up.” Bai Zhi interrupted his words, took a deep breath, chewed on his lips, and twisted his head to look sideways. Only after he calmed his state of mind did he speak to that mermaid again: “You not believing me, this is very normal.”

Bai Zhi’s tone was very low. His heart hurt with astringent pain, his heart was full of grievances. He knew that the mermaid’s disbelief was very normal, but the words just now, that one word, wasn’t it dug out of his own heart because he earnestly wanted to show him.

He had sincerely placed his heart full of enthusiasm in front of that person, yet the results he obtained were worse than a rock sinking to the bottom of the ocean. [2]

The person in his heart didn’t believe him.

Didn’t believe his every word, didn’t believe his every affection.

Bai Zhi lowered his head, clenching his hand tighter and tighter. Several seconds passed like this. He slowly lifted his head and looked towards that mermaid, almost pleading:

“I ask you for one thing.”

“I don’t want to kill you anymore.” The mermaid assumed he wanted to keep his life and instantly followed up: “You–”

“Ask you to come with me.”

The surroundings were silent for a while. The mermaid slowly crooked his head, several hints of doubt appearing in his eyes:

“…What?”

“Come with me.”

Bai Zhi then repeated again: “This area of the ocean has already been targeted by the poachers. You will be in danger, come with me.”

“You…” The mermaid was stuck, and wasn’t able to speak for a while. Only after a long time did he struggle to reply: “I don’t believe you.”

“I know.” Bai Zhi said: “But your safety is something I must ensure.”

“…” Hearing this, astonishment appeared on the mermaid’s face. As if he were dodging something, he hastily averted his gaze, plunging into the waves in the blink of an eye.
The system’s prompt abruptly sounded within his mind: “Nephew you’re not wearing protective gear, go back!”

Bai Zhi froze, then was suddenly hit by a wave.

Translated by moss || mosstranslations.wordpress.com

[1] 鲛珠 (lit. mermaid pearls) –  formed from their tears turning into pearls (鲛 can refer to other mythical sea creatures too, but it’s mermaid in this case)

[2] 石沉大海 (lit. rock sinking into a large ocean) – can mean “no response” like how you get no response when the rock sinks, can also mean “irretrievable” like how you can’t get the rock back. In this case, from Bai Zhi’s POV, the mermaid’s response was worse than no response at all