Chapter 6: Is He Just a Tool to Be Used?

Fish scales again. Is she so desperate to gift his scales to that unsightly beastman outside?

And why soothe that black dragon first, and then him? Is he really just a tool to her, so easily forgotten?

Darkness gathered in Qin Min’s eyes.

"Do you want to take my scales and give them to another beastman?"

[The female supporting character is playing with fire. She keeps mentioning fish scales—is she trying to provoke the merman even more?]

[Plucking your own husband’s scales to give to a male outsider... any beastman would lose his temper. Look, the usually composed merman has been angered until he’s flushed red.]

[But in the past, her four beastmen were deathly cold toward her. They had high mental power but were untouchable, and they were often away. That peacock beastman acts so gentle; it’s no wonder she’s tempted.]

[Exactly. Yun Fu doesn't seem to have no feelings for the merman. This big-tailed fish is so handsome—if he just reached out his tail, he could definitely hook Yun Fu’s heart back!]

Qin Min’s gaze faltered.

Actively seduce her? He is Yun Fu’s legitimate husband; why should he resort to the shameless tactics of those outsiders?

"How could I possibly give them away? You are mine, and your fish scales can only be mine. Why would I give them to anyone else?"

Yun Fu blinked, firmly denying it. Anyway, Qin Min hadn't caught her interacting with that peacock.

Her face was too beautiful and spirited. Qin Min was dazzled by the flickering light in her eyes. Watching the text scrolling before his eyes, he strangely, tentatively, rested his fish tail against her hand.

The tail was icy and slightly damp. Upon closer inspection, Yun Fu noticed that while it looked silver, the scales reflected iridescent colors, more dazzling than the rarest gems.

*Ding—Purification Value +1*

"You help me with the soothing. In exchange, when the scales shed, I will give them all to you."

A merman’s scales do indeed shed every year; it was just that Qin Min had never cared to collect them before. Fearing that Yun Fu might think the wait was too long and grow impatient, he added, "The scales will fall off in the next few days. You won't have to wait long."

Yun Fu looked at the merman’s brilliant scales and nodded. "Alright. Go wash up, and I’ll provide the mental soothing in a little while."

With that, she touched his cool, smooth tail, had 01 assist the somewhat weak merman, and walked out.

Yun Fu mainly wanted to ask the system about this suddenly appearing "Purification Value."

"I’ve researched the 'Beastman Charm Halo.' Whenever the host comes into contact with a beastman, the beastman's contamination value drops, and this number rises."

"When the host snuggles with a beastman, the halo’s inherent purification effect cleanses their mental pollution. So, I created a program for you to check it easily," the system replied, appearing proud of solving its host’s troubles.

Yun Fu praised the system generously and pulled up the upgraded interface. Sure enough, the Purification Value content had been added.

[Beastman Charm Halo Lv1 (Allows C-rank mental power beastmen to initiate snuggling with you and prevents them from harboring malice toward you. Touching them provides a certain degree of soothing and purification.)]

[Current Beastman Purification Value: 11 (Reach 100 to upgrade to Lv2)]

Seeing that each level required an extra zero, the difficulty was not small. The current value, aside from the 1 point provided by Qin Min, must have come from Gu Lin.

Looking at it this way, lowering their contamination levels so they wouldn't suffer mental breakdowns and threaten her safety didn't seem so difficult anymore.

Seeing the effects of the halo, Yun Fu’s eyes brightened. She had thought the halo was useless, but it seemed it was just a low level that couldn't exert a significant influence on 3S-rank beastmen like Gu Lin and Qin Min.

However, it must have had some effect. She suspected she hadn't truly marked Gu Lin. She had only stayed with him for one night, and under the halo’s influence, his contamination value had dropped, causing him to misunderstand.

While Yun Fu was thinking about how to pet more fluffy creatures to upgrade the halo as quickly as possible, Qin Min finished cleaning up and invited her over. Because he was a merman, his room contained a massive pool.

When Yun Fu arrived, she saw Qin Min swimming. The silver-haired, silver-tailed merman in the water, amidst the rippling waves, was so enchanting and beautiful that it was impossible to look away.

Yun Fu approached the pool, watching the silver tail break the surface from time to time. The droplets rolling off the scales looked like dazzling pearls. She wondered absentmindedly if Qin Min ate fish food. Standing by the pool, she had the strange illusion that it would be polite to feed him something.

[The merman is truly beautiful. The supporting character is stunned.]

[Hehe, if the merman and the supporting character were to mate, given their god-tier looks, the baby merman would definitely be twice as beautiful!]

[Now that you mention it, I suddenly don't want the merman to be with the female lead so quickly. I want to see the baby merman too.]

Qin Min’s earlobes turned red in the water. Baby merman? That was way too early to discuss. Besides, was Yun Fu really stunned?

Qin Min suddenly surfaced. Yun Fu, just about to lean over to call him, was startled and nearly fell in. Qin Min reached out to steady her. When she stood firm, he didn't let go, and Yun Fu pursed her lips.

"You got my clothes wet."

Qin Min looked down. Her dress was indeed soaked, clinging tightly to her skin and revealing a faint, translucent whiteness. He felt as if his hands were burning and retracted them.

"Apologies," he murmured.

Yun Fu looked up. Qin Min’s long silver hair was draped down, his thin lips were vivid red, and his appearance was stunning, like an alluring spirit that had just emerged from the water. He was born with a face that could easily quench one's anger, and Yun Fu wasn't truly upset anyway.

She sat on the edge of the clean pool and held out her hand. "It’s fine. Let’s start the soothing. Your hand."

Qin Min glanced at her slender, fair fingers, wiped his hand dry, and placed it on hers. As their palms met, the Purification Value rose by another point. Yun Fu tentatively interlaced her fingers with his, pressing their palms completely together.

*Purification Value +2*

Understood. Does the contact area determine the rate of increase?

Yun Fu kept track of the time. The value jumped every 30 minutes. After an hour of holding hands, the value had increased by 4 points.

[Purification Value +4, Current Purification Value: 17]

The two just held hands like that, doing nothing else. Qin Min’s eyes grew suspicious. What kind of new soothing method was this?

[Cough, is the supporting character really not just taking advantage of the merman?]

[I told you, Yun Fu hasn't awakened her mental power; how could she possibly soothe a beastman? The thing with the black dragon must have been an accident; she’s deceiving the beast.]

[What do you mean "deceiving"? This is a matter between a husband and his female master; you can't call it deception. At most, it's... flirting. You know, flirting.]

Qin Min frowned. Was Yun Fu tricking him? But why would she do that—just to hold his hand?

He was about to speak when he felt the mental stinging caused by his high contamination value diminish slightly. He hurriedly checked his monitoring bracelet. The contamination value had actually dropped by 6%!

Yun Fu could really soothe beastmen; she hadn't been lying.