Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ji Ranxi looked worriedly at Xie Huai.

An ordinary person bumping their head on the ground could be unlucky enough to end up on a funeral bier.

Within seconds, Xie Huai sprang up agilely, wiping his face with his left hand to draw a streak of blood, instantly transforming his foolish expression into one of wild allure.

"It's nothing. I've trained my body with the Iron Shirt and Golden Bell Cover techniques; even my eyes are not afraid of bee stings."

Ranxi laughed, reassured. As expected of the lead with more scenes, he truly lived up to the title of the world's second best.

Xie Huai softened his voice, gently saying, "Let's go, I'll take you out. My junior brother has prepared a carriage outside."

How would he take me away?

With such a huge "tail" dragging behind me. Ranxi obediently extended his slender arms towards Xie Huai, allowing him to carry him.

Xie Huai: "..."

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes tightly, resisting the urge to gaze upon the mermaid's delicate face, those large purple eyes filled with his reflection, and wrapped his arms around that slender waist. Gathering his energy to the crown of his head, he lightly tapped his toes and leaped onto the roof beam, over ten meters above.

Ranxi, a bit afraid of heights, saw himself suddenly breaking away from Earth's gravity and immediately wrapped his arms tightly around Xie Huai's neck, his face snuggled close to his chest.

The world's second greatest expert immediately slipped and began to free fall.

Ranxi: "QAQ"

Author, come out! Is this the second best in the world you wrote about?!

……

A guest at the auction jeered, "Bring out the merman already, can't we take a good look now when we can't beat the beauty?"

The black market boss nodded and gestured for someone to be brought out.

Just then, a loud shout came from the beam above.

A man in gray, holding a pure white little merman, plummeted straight down from the beam of the hall, a dozen meters high!

The black market boss let out a scream to rival that of a merman: "That's a merman!"

"Someone is stealing my merman!!!"

"A merman that starts at a million taels!"

"A million taels, ahhhhhhhh!"

In mid-air, Ranxi desperately thought, "If they emphasized saving me over my worth of a million taels, might there still be a chance to be saved?"

The attendees and the auction house's bodyguards, not skilled enough in martial arts, truly couldn't react in time after hearing the boss's four shouts.

Only the leader of the demonic cult, Qu Zhanxia, reacted swiftly, leaping up, first throwing his folding fan to knock the man in gray away, then catching the little merman.

Xie Huai kicked thrice in mid-air to stabilize himself, kicked away the fan imbued with the third greatest expert's icy inner power, turned around in the air, back down, cushioning the little merman beneath himself as they crashed heavily to the ground.

Dazed, Ranxi sat up, rubbed his eyes, and upon seeing he had safely landed, joyfully muttered to himself, "I landed without a scratch; are merpeople's physiques really this incredible?"

Xie Huai let out a muffled groan beneath him.

Ranxi: "..."

It turns out that Xie Huai was acting as a human cushion beneath him. Xie Huai is truly a good person!

Lying atop Xie Huai, he cautiously patted his chest, feeling the strong heartbeat beneath his hand, then noticed the greedy gazes surrounding them as he looked around.

Everyone fell silent.

The merman's innocent, exquisite face and dreamlike, dazzling tail were completely out of place in the blood-scented auction house.

Everyone genuinely wanted to give him the best life possible, to create a vast blue sea for him, catch the freshest fish, and adorn his flawless face with pearls and gems.

Ran Xi, patting Xie Huai's face anxiously, said, "Xie Huai, wake up, there are so many bad people here!"

The merman's voice was as gentle and pleasant as a babbling brook.

Though they couldn't understand what he was saying, everyone felt invigorated and more eager to have him.

"Little darling, this is a bad man with ill intentions," Qu Zhanxia, jumping in front of Ran Xi and gracefully waving a folding fan (just picked up from under the table), said.

His voice was melodious and magnetic, with a local dialect accent that made his statements end on a high note, much like the voices of scoundrels in TV dramas, and he spoke shamelessly and incessantly.

"He intends to steal you away, which shows he doesn't have enough money to participate in the auction.

I guess he must have promised to take you back to the sea, so little cutie, you should go with him.

Can such a poor boy really afford to send you back to the sea? Wouldn't he sell you off somewhere else?"

That seemed to make a lot of sense.

Ran Xi looked up, wanting to see what this wise man looked like, and was immediately shocked by his charming aura.

It was my first time seeing such a... flamboyant man in reality.

Dressed in black, accented with striking purple, his long black hair framed his face, leaving two strands to fall to his collar, with a ponytail held high by a delicate silver crown reaching his waist. His eyebrows and eyes carried a hint of coquettish charm, yet his nose was straight and his face angular, embodying both allure and fierceness, no makeup needed to cosplay as a major character from a historical series at a comic convention.

With such distinctive looks, he must be a character named in the original story.

Who exactly is he?

The merman looked down and scratched a few words into the floor with his fingernail.

Lifting his head, he stared at Qu Zhanxia curiously and very politely, his lips curling into a slight, adorable smile.

Qu Zhanxia's smile froze.

The merman wrote: "Uncle, may I ask who you are?"

He even included a "please."

It was clear the merman really knew his manners.