MASG chapter 170: Extra 10

◎ “Of course not! I’m not going back!” ◎

 

Mo An immediately covered Xia Yu’s eyes because A’Dairi was not wearing clothes.

“How can you have such poor morals? Running around everywhere naked,” Mo An accused, highlighting his own morality.

“Oh, give it a rest. When you were little, didn’t you run around with your butt bare too?” Lao Gui said, watching the excitement unfold. It wasn’t just Mi Dou and Boden who were excited—this whole matter with Xi Ban was not simple either.

As soon as Mo An heard that, he retorted, “Don’t talk nonsense. When I was little…”

“I took photos and videos, too,” Lao Gui emphasized deliberately. “With how advanced electronic devices are now, should we have Nuwa pull up the surveillance footage?”

Nuwa: [I can do that. Need it?]

Jingwei: [I also have some in storage!]

A face crisis had arrived, and of course, Mo An refused. “No need. It couldn’t be helped, after all, we’re mermaids. Who prepared clothes when we first came ashore from the sea? Not even Meng Qingqing.”

“Oh, right. You wore Meng Qingqing’s dress before,” Lao Gui pressed on, trying to ignite a “bare butt crisis” among the mermaids. There was not a single fish in the world that could escape it.

This time, Mo An stopped resisting. Instead, he leaned against Xia Yu’s shoulder and calmly waved his hand. “Anyway, I’m different from him. I’m a siren—the world’s only male siren. He’s just a Black Siren…”

“So what if I’m a Black Siren? We’re the only branch capable of prophecy. We have unique black horns and ear fins. We also have abilities you don’t have.” A’Dairi and Mo An could argue anytime, anywhere. “Can your scales secrete medicine? When you get injured, you still need our care!”

About that… Mo An had nothing to say. He had truly been carefully looked after by Aituoda and Aibaoyin. “Then don’t cry, all right? You’re already this big and still crying?”

Blue diamonds fell one by one, making little sound as they hit the stone. Yet, their brilliance was dazzling, making them hard to look away from. Mo An looked at the diamonds as if they were A’Dairi’s most embarrassing secret. “Oh? Crying this many diamonds? Are you even a mermaid?”

Xia Xiaoxiao picked up the hot tea on the table and quietly drank half a cup while signaling to his younger brother. “Can you control him a little? He’s really too smug.”

“You cried plenty before, too.” But before Xia Yu could respond, Lao Gui struck again—and this time, it was fatal. “When you were little, your tears filled the bay at Port A. A whole bottle of pink diamonds, and in the end you even cried out something like… ‘Siren’s Tears.’ You were the fish with the loudest cry in the sea.”

“What? What?” A’Dairi instantly looked over. “You—Siren’s Tears was you?”

Mo An nodded proudly. “That’s me.”

“Can you stop crying? The whole clan can’t have peace every time you cry.” Unexpectedly, A’Dairi changed his tone, sounding a bit disgusted. “You cry at the slightest thing,” he sighed. After finishing with Mo An, he firmly turned back around. “And you, too—you’re an irresponsible double-tail!”

Xi Ban hadn’t dared to speak the whole time because he felt guilty. He first moved the corner of his mouth into a smile: “A’Dairi…”

“But I won’t stay angry for long!” A’Dairi snorted. “When are you coming back with me? I’m about to become an adult. Do you know how hard it was to swim all the way here?”

“How would we know? Maybe you drifted on the ocean current or slept on the back of an Abyssal beast the whole way,” Mo An whispered.

A’Dairi was furious. “You!”

“All right, all right, everyone, stop arguing.” Xia Yu stopped the quarrel in time. “If anyone has questions, talk them out properly, okay? Mo An and A’Dairi, go chat on the side first. Lao Gui, take Xiaoxiao and Doudou upstairs to study Talos. Xi Ban, come with me for a moment.”

Thanks to Xia Yu’s control of the situation, the heated conversation stopped, and everyone behaved. Boden naturally followed Mi Dou upstairs. Meanwhile, Mo An unwillingly found a skirt for A’Dairi and threw it over. “Here, make do with this first.”

“But…” A’Dairi brought his legs together. “Although I’m not very familiar with human society, I know this is a skirt. Skirts are for women.”

“Some men wear skirts, too. You don’t understand this world at all.” Mo An deliberately lowered his eyelid and rolled his eyes. “If you won’t wear it, then stay naked.”

Hearing this, A’Dairi realized he had no other choice and slowly put on Meng Qingqing’s red long skirt. “Hmph, it’s all because of you…”

“How is it because of me? Why are you being so childish?” Rarely did Mo An sit down and properly communicate with him. “Xi Ban didn’t return to the sea, which means there are things on shore he can’t let go of. You can’t force him.”

“Then… what if you’re all forcing him?” A’Dairi naturally understood it that way. “What mermaid doesn’t miss their homeland?”

“Me.” Mo An pointed to himself and said solemnly, “I don’t miss it.”

A’Dairi looked as if he were hearing an absurd tale. “That can’t be possible. Can’t you hear the ocean calling? Don’t you want to cry?”

This touched Mo An’s heart. In truth, the sound of the waves was their homeland calling to them. When it rained, Mo An also wanted to shed tears. He had seen every branch in the sea, made many good friends, and proven his determination to Haisiruola. However, the person he liked could not follow him into the deep sea.

So he would surface.

“How should I put it… Actually, I also want to go back and take a look, but I know it won’t be forever. I’ll just visit my friends once. When I think of Xia Yu, I’ll come back without hesitation. Right? You swam from a distant sea area to Qingyao City, despite the danger, and you didn’t find it difficult,” Mo An said slowly.

The mermaid, who was very empathetic, became very quiet at that moment. A’Dairi nodded. It was indeed like that. He thought the journey would be very long, but swimming day and night without stopping made it seem shorter.

“Besides… a mermaid’s lifespan is not infinitely long. There will come a day when I turn to foam and return to my homeland. My soul will stay wherever I was born forever, but before that day comes, I will stay by Xia Yu’s side and guard our love.” Mo An looked at A’Dairi. The two of them shared the same sentiment, and the previous tension disappeared. “Your coming-of-age ceremony is almost here. Mine is almost here, too.”

A’Dairi walked a few steps closer and sat beside Mo An. The two mermaids looked at the shimmering sea together. Suddenly, A’Dairi asked, “Wait, you’re older than me. You’re already an adult mermaid. Why haven’t you had your coming-of-age ceremony yet?”

“Because I saved the world!” Mo An was most afraid of him asking this question.

“You haven’t built a nest yet, have you?” A’Dairi insisted on asking. “Oh? You look so strong, yet as a male, you’ve never shown the ability to build a nest. Have you ever gone through a breeding period?”

Mo An smiled and placed his left hand on A’Dairi’s head.

A’Dairi looked at the hand on his head and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Off you go!” Mo An swung his arm and threw A’Dairi into the seawater. “Hmph! You said I haven’t built a nest. I’ll build one tonight!”

On the spiral staircase inside the lighthouse, Xia Yu and Xi Ban leaned against the carved railing, both equally worried. Xi Ban didn’t know what to say, but Xia Yu spoke first. “A’Dairi… came for you. He’s very brave.”

“I know. He has always been the bravest child in the hatching ground.” It wasn’t that Xi Ban didn’t remember him. “When I first met him, his horns had just started to develop. I knew early on that he was a Black Siren. His scales still couldn’t secrete mucus, but he had already learned to protect his territory.”

“Then why don’t you go back and take a look? You really don’t want to?” Xia Yu cared very much about this question, not only because of Xi Ban, but also because of Mo An.

What mermaid lives on land? After all, they are fish, not humans.

Xi Ban shook his head, clearly having something on his mind.

“Go on. Don’t keep it inside,” Xia Yu encouraged him.

Only then did Xi Ban speak. “I’ve taken care of you all for too long. Long ago, I became unwilling to let go. Besides, there are so many things in Qingyao City, and Xiaoxiao is not fully mature yet. She still needs guidance.”

“Don’t think like that. I know double-tails are soft-hearted, but you should put your own wishes first.” Xia Yu continued to encourage him. “Mo An and I aren’t young anymore. Mo An is an adult now. Doudou has Xiang Xing and Professor Wang and has become an independent researcher. Xiaoxiao can already fly aircraft, so maybe she’ll leave Qingyao City and explore the world. But what about you? You can’t stay trapped here forever.”

“This isn’t being trapped,” Xi Ban explained.

“If you want to go to the sea, but have to stay, then that is being trapped.” Xia Yu hugged Xi Ban. “You’ve already done far too much for us. I hope you can be the happiest, freest mermaid.”

Xi Ban froze for a moment, then raised his hand and patted Xia Yu on the head. “I’m surprised—you can actually talk like this now. You’ve really grown up.”

“Just because I look eighteen doesn’t mean I’m really eighteen.” Xia Yu smiled. “Also, I’m actually a little uneasy too. Tell me, do you think Mo An wants to go back too?”

Xi Ban frowned, not understanding.

Xia Yu explained, “Look, he always stares at the sea, and sometimes he cries. I can only swim with him in shallow water. Any deeper, and my body can’t handle the water pressure. In this life, I’ll never see the deep sea or go to his homeland. What if Mo An wants to go back? Would he tell me?”

“Of course not! I’m not going back!”

Mo An interrupted Xia Yu’s guess with his voice.

Xia Yu turned around and saw the person who had unknowingly appeared behind him. His expression showed anger. “Why are you here? Where’s A’Dairi?”

“In the sea,” Mo An answered honestly. “I threw him down.”

“Ah!” Xia Ban screamed and rushed down the spiral staircase without saying a word. Xia Yu’s feet left the ground instantly, as if gravity had lost all function at that moment. Mo An’s anger turned into silent irritation. His handsome face darkened, and the corners of his brows trembled with anger.

“Well, well. I had just finished talking with A’Dairi about our love, and you were upstairs, hesitating about throwing me back into the sea?” Mo An was truly angry. He carried Xia Yu horizontally and brought him to the second-floor bedroom. This was where Talos had lived before. Meng Qingqing always cleaned it, so it was tidy.

Before Xia Yu could explain, Mo An threw him onto the big bed. “Mo An, you—”

“A’Dairi was right. I haven’t built a nest. I haven’t had a coming-of-age ceremony. I have nothing.” Mo An bent down and pinned Xia Yu beneath him. He braced both hands beside Xia Yu’s ears and rubbed against his cheek like an angry little dog. “Tonight is my coming-of-age ceremony.”

Xia Yu did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Listen to me, A’Ni. I…”

“I want it. I insist!” Mo An could not endure it anymore. “It’s precisely because I’ve never displayed my reproductive capabilities that you always want to throw me back into the sea!”

Snap—with one motion, the tactical belt on Xia Yu’s pants was torn apart by the mermaid’s claws.

 

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[Author’s Note]

Talos: Fine, fine, so you’re doing this in my room, right?