Chapter 50 - Deeply In Love With You [Quick Transmigration]

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Chapter 50: The Yellow Sparrow (3)

 

 

The appearance of deep-sea merfolk proved the legends surrounding the Moon-Jade Sea were not mere myths. Though the Three Great Families would not initiate forced exploration or capture, the shadows held many opportunists impossible to guard against.

 

They might not match the merfolk in strength, but human cunning was both intelligent and ruthless. Zong Que could only hope that this encounter had taught Yue something—that he wouldn't rely solely on strength. Overconfidence could lead to a crushing fall.

 

[Those people are awful,] 1314 huffed indignantly. [How could they bear to harm such a beautiful merman?]

 

[Didn't you tell me to be wary of him before?] Zong Que ran a hand through his wet hair.

 

[But he's so beautiful…] 1314 twiddled its virtual fingers. [And now we'll never see him again…]

 

A dream-fish, a dream long lost.

 

So beautiful, and he had even willingly fed the host the drug… The host had managed to restrain himself, didn't even bring him home, and instead let him go! It was beyond all logic!

 

"Mm." Zong Que took a towel and dried himself off. But instead of switching on his smart terminal, he walked over to a well-organized craft box and pulled out a palm-sized block of wood.

 

He laid out a cloth over the table and, under the warm lamp light, began to carve. At first, the shape was indiscernible. But once the outline of a tail fin began to form, 1314 leaned in for a closer look.

 

Zong Que switched tools a few times. Fine wood shavings fluttered down as he carved each individual scale with care. The tail, the body, the hair—then came the face.

 

Even Zong Que held his breath as he worked on that face. Every cut of the blade had to be precise, until finally the eyes were carved—seven parts resembling the real thing.

 

[Wow! It's stunning! Host, you're basically a modern-day Lu Ban*!] 1314 only found its voice once he set the tool down, unable to stop the flood of praise. [It's so beautiful. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!]

 

[T/N: Lu Ban was a Chinese architect or master carpenter, structural engineer, and inventor, during the Zhou Dynasty. He is revered as the Chinese Deity of builders and contractors.]

 

[Still lacking something.] Zong Que brushed the shavings off the surface. The carving was delicate, yes, but it could never compare to the real thing. And without color, the ocean's elegance couldn't be captured at all.

 

[It's already amazing!] 1314 gave it a perfect ten.

 

Zong Que put down his tools and opened his paint box. He mixed colors with shimmering pearl medium and began to apply them.

 

Every single scale was painted one by one, a true test of patience. But each stroke was meticulous—tail, strands of hair, eyes and brows. When the final touch was added, the figure resembled the real Yue almost nine-tenths over. From the water-glazed eyes to the faintly smiling lips, it was lifelike—save for one missing thing: a soul.

 

1314 was stunned, then burst out giddily: [Such a gorgeous fish! Host, your hands are magical! It's too beautiful! Just too beautiful!]

 

[It's yours. When you miss him, you can look at it.] Zong Que began to clean up the paint.

 

[Really?!] 1314 was overjoyed, on the verge of tears. If it had a physical body, it would have hugged the carving and twirled around in circles, proudly showing it off to all the other systems. [Thank you, Host! You're the best! I'm so touched! Love you, love you, love you—]

 

[Mm.] Zong Que replied.

 

Such an easily satisfied system—consider it his apology for manipulating it earlier.

 

With the tools put away, the research facility fell silent once again.

 

…

 

Days passed. The research vessel had yet to return, with no signals received, no replies. Even Luo Xin was growing uneasy.

 

"Doctor… do you think something's really gone wrong out there?" Luo Xin asked anxiously.

 

"Do you have a way to fix it?" Zong Que looked up from his experiment.

 

Luo Xin faltered. "No."

 

"Then take a walk if you can't calm down."

 

"…Okay." Luo Xin took a deep breath, pulled off his protective suit, and left the lab.

 

Waves crashed against the shore as he walked along the edge of the sea—then all of a sudden, he took off running and shouted toward the sea.

 

"AHHHHHHH!!!!!"

 

"AHHHHHH!!"

 

"…"

 

The cries echoed wide and far, like they were sweeping away all the frustration pent up in his chest.

 

Once he had screamed himself breathless, Luo Xin bent over, catching his breath—and just as he looked up, a glimmer of silver flashed across his vision. But when he blinked again, it was gone.

 

"Shouting until I'm seeing stars… brilliant." Luo Xin rubbed his eyes and started heading back to the institute.

 

Those people had entered the Moon-Jade Sea of their own will, ignoring all protocols. Even if the incident were reported, no rescue team would dare to dive that deep—there was no hope of survival. Sending people would be sending them to their deaths.

 

Still, the thought of never seeing the people he'd worked alongside again did bring a pang of sorrow.

 

As Luo Xin's figure disappeared, behind the sea rocks, a silhouette surfaced, brushing away the water as it leaned back. "Noisy."

 

Not all humans were clever. At least the one shouting at the ocean certainly wasn't.

 

The day passed quickly. When night fell, the research institute was once again steeped in stillness.

 

A few shells shot through the air, shattering the surveillance. From the sea rose a pair of legs, unsteady on land. Step by step, the figure ascended the slope until it stopped outside a window veiled by curtains.

 

He remembered last time… it opened this way.

 

Fingers pressed against the glass, but it didn't budge. He leaned in, his slender fingers twitching slightly. Inside the room, water threads wrapped around the window's latch. With a soft click, it opened.

 

"You think you can keep me out?" he murmured with a smooth, magnetic voice. But just as he lifted the curtain and prepared to climb inside, moonlight poured over something on the desk—something that made him freeze.

 

It was an ornament, bathed in moonlight. Golden hair, a shimmering fish tail—so beautiful it felt like a dream.

 

Azure eyes blinked slowly. He reached out and took the wooden figure that looked strikingly like himself, fingertips brushing gently over its surface.

 

If you didn't look closely, you'd think it was only a miniature Silver Moon clan mermaid.

 

No one on land had seen his true appearance. The only one who could carve him this precisely… was someone who had observed him deeply.

 

Observed, remembered—every detail etched into their mind—only then could such a likeness be created.

 

Yue's gaze shimmered with awe, but his chest ached dully beneath it. Something stirred within him—pain, yes, but mixed with something he wasn't quite familiar with… something he almost enjoyed.

 

This man had sculpted him and hidden the piece away in his room. And Yue… Yue wanted to steal the man and take him back to the sea—but he hesitated.

 

He wasn't afraid of the man's anger.

 

He was afraid of that calmness. Because even if he stole him away, that man would only say goodbye again.

 

He couldn't believe he now felt fear. It was new. But now, his chest was strangely warm, as if scorched by the other's lingering heat—his heart pounding, thudding.

 

Yue stood there for a long time before gently closing the window again. Holding the exquisitely carved mermaid, he returned to the sea.

 

Since it was made in his image… then it was his.

 

...

 

As the morning light slowly crept across the sky, Zong Que had just opened his eyes when he heard a soft, stifled sniffle from the system—as if it was trying not to disturb anyone.

 

[What's wrong?]

 

[My fish was stolen by a fish!] 1314 whimpered in pure distress. [My fish…]

 

That was the gift the host had made for it! It had stared at it for so long—only to watch it vanish, and it couldn't even wake the host to stop it.

 

Zong Que didn't quite follow its logic right away. But stepping into the living room, he saw the sculpture missing from the desk, and a glance at the window latch told him everything.

 

His warning hadn't worked.

 

But if he'd spoken too harshly, there was a real risk it would have cost him his life.

 

[I'll make you another one tonight.] Zong Que felt like he was coaxing a puppy who'd had its toy stolen.

 

[Really?!] 1314 immediately stopped sniffling, voice beaming. "You're the best, Host!"

 

Zong Que: […]

 

It really was like a dog.

 

Wood carving was no trouble for Zong Que. To him, it was a simple pastime—a matter of practice and habit.

 

But this time, the merman he crafted wasn't based on Yue. He gave it new features, a different color scheme, even changed the tail to that of a golden koi. It lost a hint of that ethereal coolness, but gained a sunlit, boyish charm.

 

Thrilled with its new "friend," the system was overjoyed, chattering excitedly about naming it.

 

Its enthusiasm lasted until Zong Que went to bed. It declared that it had searched through the entire system database and decided to give its most perfect number—One—as the name for its new companion.

 

Zong Que made no comment. He placed the sculpture on a shelf, cleaned up every trace of water in the room, and finally drifted off to sleep.

 

He thought he'd sleep through the night undisturbed—until, in the middle of the night, he was awakened by the unmistakable sound of glass shattering. He pinched the bridge of his nose and got up, only to hear the system's panicked voice: [No, no, no!!!]

 

Opening the bedroom door, Zong Que was greeted by the surreal sight of a naked man in the living room—holding a half-crushed wooden sculpture.

 

Every inch of the stranger was beautiful, but beauty didn't change the fact that he was very much unclothed.

 

Before Zong Que could say anything, the man's ocean-blue eyes snapped up to meet his. They burned with fury. In just a few strides, he was standing before Zong Que, holding up the deformed sculpture like evidence.

 

"Who is this?!" he demanded. "Is it because you've fallen for another merman that you don't want to see me anymore?"

 

1314 had already begun sobbing as if it, too, had been crushed: [My One…]

 

"It's just a carving based on imagination," Zong Que replied calmly, taking the sculpture from him. "What are you doing here?"

 

Yue's eyes flickered in surprise. Meeting Zong Que's gaze head-on, the pressure in his chest surged—pain mixing with a sharp, unfamiliar bitterness. "Do you prefer mermen who look like this?" he asked quietly.

 

Zong Que narrowed his eyes slightly. He had seen that expression before—just not here.

 

Yue looked at the sculpture in Zong Que's hands, and all the joy he'd felt upon seeing his own image carved in wood earlier seemed to collapse in an instant. In its place was a deep, icy ache that stung his eyes. "Then why did you carve me in the first place?" he asked. "Answer me."

 

His eyes were like frozen glass, determined to get the truth.

 

Deep-sea mermen had their pride. If the man had fallen in love with someone else—another merman—then he didn't want him anymore.

 

In love…

 

Had he fallen in love with a human?

 

Was this what humans called love? Why did it hurt so much? Why did it make his chest feel like it was being torn open?

 

"It was a gift for someone else," Zong Que said, looking down at the slightly warped sculpture in his hands. "Didn't you already take the one you liked?"

 

Yue's expression softened slightly, his tense shoulders easing a bit. "So that one was…" For me?

 

Just then, a knock came at the door, accompanied by Luo Xin's worried voice: "Doctor, is everything all right?"

 

"A rock broke the glass," Zong Que answered evenly.

 

Yue watched him lie without so much as blinking, and a glimmer of excitement lit up in his eyes.

 

"Oh, the institute has spare glass. I'll go grab some to replace it, otherwise the wind'll mess up the room all night," Luo Xin called through the door before hurried footsteps retreated down the corridor.

 

Zong Que didn't get a chance to respond. His gaze shifted to the merman standing at the side. "Go back for now—"

 

"I'm not leaving. You've seen my legs, now you have to take responsibility," Yue said with a smirk, folding his arms.

 

Zong Que heard footsteps returning outside and said quickly, "Get in the bedroom. Don't make a sound."

 

"Mm? This feels like an affair," Yue leaned in close, kissed him lightly on the cheek, then strode lazily into the bedroom. "But I quite like it."

 

Zong Que: "…"

 

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