Chapter 26 As Long as the Merman Can Bear It

Outside the door, Qin Min stood before the sealed entrance, listening to the faint sound of water. He reached up to touch his lips, his gaze darkening.

Yun Fu’s attitude toward that peacock had pleased him; he thought he might try to trust her. Perhaps she truly did dislike the peacock and genuinely intended to cherish his scale.

[Oh my, is the supporting female lead's heart made of stone? To endure such beauty from a merman—was she a ninja in her past life?]
[I specifically returned to my bedroom, face flushed, waiting for them to get to the good part, and then it just abruptly ends? It’s like going to the bathroom and finding no toilet paper, damn it!]
[The merman is still a bit too restrained. If he turned up the heat on his seduction, I’d be so anxious I’d want to send him study materials.]

Qin Min’s brow furrowed. He felt an instinctive repulsion at the thought of others seeing Yun Fu’s flushed, stunningly alluring appearance. That was a sight meant only for his eyes; what right did these people have to witness it?

Drawing on his experience from last time, he focused his intense disdain on the barrage of comments, and soon, the screen was cleared.

Qin Min cast one final look at the door, thinking of the android in the villa who acted far too human around Yun Fu. With a cautious, empathetic sense of prevention, he sealed the door with his mental power, ensuring that a certain someone would have no chance of sneaking inside.

Inside the room, Yun Fu, having finished her bath, took out the scale to play with it. The iridescent scale was magnificent in her hands, growing more beautiful the longer she looked at it. She pondered whether she should have it made into an accessory to wear.

Suddenly, her System, which had been off playing games with other systems, spoke up.

"It’s best not to. This is a heart-guarding scale, the most precious one on a merman's body. It can effectively block three fatal attacks. You should keep it intact; don't destroy its protective properties."

Yun Fu looked at the scale in her hand, suddenly feeling like it was burning to the touch.

"Why would Qin Min give me such an important scale? And he even said it fell off naturally."
"Don't tell me he’s actually fallen in love with me."

As she said this, she found it hard to believe and asked, "Can you check Qin Min’s favorability rating toward me?"

The System tapped into the testing program, feeling a bit suspicious itself. "His favorability is at 30%, but he risked a decline in his mental strength to rip that heart-guarding scale off for you. It looks like he’s deeply in love with you; it shouldn't be this low."

Yun Fu felt relieved. "For a man like Qin Min, who has such high internal defenses and a deep, calculating mind, it’s only normal that he wouldn’t easily fall for a woman."
"As for this scale, perhaps it was a whim? Maybe he’s testing me to see if I’d give it to another beast?"
"Or perhaps he’s silently monitoring me; the moment I interact with Qing Ze, he’ll appear to strangle me, and he’ll already have his excuse ready."

The System shuddered. "Surely not. Qin Min has been quite good to you; he doesn't seem like the type to kill you."

Yun Fu replied, "The thoughts of a dark, twisted man are hard to guess. Who knows what he’s thinking? Either way, when the time comes, he’ll either strangle me or lock me away."

Still, a forced-romance scenario could be quite interesting. If the merman really did make a move, she might even play along.

As long as the merman could handle it, that is.

The System watched Yun Fu’s meaningful expression, feeling utterly baffled. It scratched its head, thinking that compared to Qin Min, its own host seemed even more dangerous. But seeing Yun Fu’s delicate and stunning appearance, it chose to believe it was just overthinking. The host had almost zero combat ability; how could she be more dangerous than a powerful merman beast?

Soon, a friend messaged it to play, and the System pushed the thought to the back of its mind. It never occurred to it to check the man’s love—checking the love value would have been much more accurate.

Had the System paid closer attention, it would have discovered that the merman’s love value was already off the charts.

Yun Fu leaned against the headboard, watching the scale shimmer and refract light. Thinking of its utility, she touched it repeatedly before tucking it under her pillow. Such an important item was incredibly useful for a fragile human like her; she should definitely carry it with her from now on.

What Yun Fu did not know was that, as she stroked the scale, the merman currently soaking in the villa's pool was undergoing a change. A brilliant, crimson flush spread across his jade-white face, his eyes shimmering with boundless, sultry desire. His breath came in low, ragged gasps, and in the dim light, the sounds he made were enough to make anyone’s face burn.