The Supporting Male Characters Who Died Alone All Those Years Later

Hua Xue’s headache caused her to lose consciousness, but when she woke up, she regained her memory.

Xi Ya came to see her.

“Princess!” Hua Xue exclaimed excitedly, “That’s great! You’re still alive!”

Xi Ya avoided her, her tone ambiguous as she said, “Yes, I almost didn’t wake up.”

She had been sleeping at the bottom of the sea for 10 years, nearly not waking up, while Hua Xue had taken her place as Princess, enjoying the protection. Amnesia was indeed a good excuse, able to wash away sins completely, leaving only the victim to sigh at the twists of fate.

Xi Ya closed her eyes, then opened them again, regaining her calm.

Hua Xue shrugged her shoulders and lowered her head, feeling guilty as she said, “I’m sorry.”

“But it’s really good that Princess is back! That way, I can be with Yanshang! Otherwise, I’ll always feel guilty towards the Clan Leader; he’s been so good to me.” Hua Xue shook her head and spoke without a care.

Xi Ya’s mood, which had just been restored, instantly fell to a low point, as if her return was only for Hua Xue to hand the situation to her.

Moreover, the thought of how He Dongchen had cared for Hua Xue over the past 10 years made Xi Ya feel uneasy all over.

She gave Hua Xue a cold glance and scoffed, “The Mermaid Clan almost got exposed, and all you can think about is that man?!… Whatever….”

Xi Ya had originally planned to persuade Hua Xue to turn back, but now she couldn’t be bothered with more words and directly left.

The method for humans to become merfolk was simple and crude; mix mermaid blood, have the human soak in it, add a special herb, and once the blood exchange was complete, add the human’s name to the Mermaid Lineage Book to finish the process.

Xi Ya had prepared the special herb before leaving the sea.

So the next day, Hua Xue and An Yanshang were placed into the same glass room, which had a massive crystal fish tank.

Hua Xue and An Yanshang were all over each other, hugging and looking at each other, making He Dongchen and others seem like villains trying to break up the couple.

Xi Ya glanced at He Dongchen, who had a blank expression, pressed her lips together, and nodded, “Let’s begin.”

She then walked over, grabbed Hua Xue’s wrist, and pressed it against the edge of the fish tank. Producing a shiny dagger from somewhere, she swiftly sliced the wrist, letting the bright red blood flow into the tank.

Hua Xue groaned in pain, leaning against An Yanshang’s embrace, her face gradually paling.

An Yanshang watched the blood flowing like a faucet, horrified, and licked his lips, asking, “Can’t you just use phlebotomy?”

“Phlebotomy? What’s phlebotomy?” Xi Ya raised an eyebrow, wiping the dagger.

(T/N: Phlebotomy = Phlebotomy is the process of making a puncture in a vein, usually in the arm, with a medical tube for the purpose of drawing blood.)

An Yanshang choked. Didn’t these merfolk use speed boats and tranquilizer guns? How could they not understand what phlebotomy was!

He Dongchen, standing to the side, explained leisurely, “Xi Ya just came up from the sea and doesn’t really understand these things.”

An Yanshang stared at him as if saying, “You don’t understand either?”

He Dongchen smiled without speaking. The mermaid constitution was robust; even if Hua Xue was only a half-mermaid, she wouldn’t die from blood loss.

Although she wouldn’t die, it would be very painful. By the time the blood in the tank reached a layer, Hua Xue was already dizzy and unconscious.

An Yanshang felt heartache, his whole heart twisted together.

***

“Alright,” Xi Ya instructed the attendants to move Hua Xue aside and signaled An Yanshang to undress and enter the tank.

Seeing that Xi Ya was standing to the side with her arms crossed, showing no intention of leaving, He Dongchen cleared his throat and said, “Let’s step outside for a moment.”

Xi Ya, puzzled, followed him out.

An Yanshang sighed with relief, quickly undressed, and stepped into the tank. The warm blood enveloped him, and the scene was somewhat gruesome.

Before long, they returned. Xi Ya took out a small shell from her pearl pouch and sprinkled some blue powder evenly into the blood.

The moment the powder mixed with the blood, a blue light flashed, followed by An Yanshang’s agonized scream piercing the sky.

Xi Ya clicked her tongue, “Useless man.”

An Yanshang was drenched in sweat, his hair sticking to his scalp, large beads of sweat dripping into the blood. His hands gripped the edge of the tank, veins bulging, and his whole body trembled.

Such pain would continue for an entire day.

He Dongchen seemed to take pleasure in the situation and asked Xi Ya to leave, suggesting they take a break and return later.

An Yanshang didn’t know how long he endured the pain, fainting several times only to be woken by the pain, his consciousness nearing collapse. At one point, half in a dream and half awake, he seemed to see a huge fish head in the glass window.

He couldn’t help but mock himself, realizing he was in so much pain that he was hallucinating.

“Why does he have a fish head and a human body?” A hesitant voice drifted from the front.

Immediately, someone replied, “Oh no, I think I used the wrong herb!”

An Yanshang froze, suddenly springing up, causing blood to splatter everywhere.

He looked at the glass window, trembling hands lightly touching his head. In the window, the fish head was being touched.

Ahhhhh!!!!

With a splash, An Yanshang’s fish eyes rolled back, and he collapsed into the tank, losing consciousness.

Xi Ya blinked and slowly finished her words, “There’s still a chance to save him.”

He Dongchen chuckled softly. He realized that Xi Ya was indeed quite ruthless.

***

An Yanshang woke up again, and his first reaction was to touch his head. Finding the familiar face still there, he sighed with relief, then was filled with intense rage.

These merfolk were truly despicable! They were mocking me like this!

An Yanshang gritted his teeth, his mind already calculating. Now that he had become a merman, he could swim away from here. Once he got out, he would definitely take revenge!

“I advise you not to have such thoughts.”

Who!? An Yanshang looked up abruptly, his hatred still visible on his face.

He Dongchen walked into the room, looking down at An Yanshang, speaking slowly, “Our Mermaid Clan has something called the Mermaid Lineage Book. Those who commit crimes have their names crossed out and become ordinary fish.”

An Yanshang swallowed nervously, fear in his eyes.

He Dongchen, satisfied, spoke cruelly in the softest tone, “At that point, we’ll see whether your actions cause trouble faster or we cross names off the roster faster. By the time you become a fish and get caught to be gutted, fried, and cooked; Well, just imagine…”

“Stop talking!” An Yanshang’s scalp tingled, his whole body trembling. His mind was filled with images of fish being fried, stewed, and roasted. He bent over the bed, gagging, wanting to vomit out the horrifying images from his mind.

He Dongchen smiled gently, “So, be obedient, understand? Otherwise, I might just turn you into a dish and serve you to the An family.”

An Yanshang was horrified, “You’re a devil!”

Turning him into a fish for the selfish An family to eat him! To end up in the enemies’ stomachs!

He Dongchen patted An Yanshang’s shoulder and suddenly changed the subject, “Let’s see your tail.”

An Yanshang, unable to refuse, concentrated. After a moment, a sharp pain shot through his lower body, and his legs merged into a thick fish tail covered in dull, gray scales, looking just like a common grass carp.

He Dongchen scrutinized and remarked, “It’s indeed ugly.”

An Yanshang looked at the tail in silence. Maybe it was because he had become a mermaid that he also inherited a sense of aesthetics. An Yanshang thought his tail looked ugly! How much better it would be if it were shiny!

He had previously hated flashy colors and only wore gray, white, and black, which was why he had praised Hua Xue’s silver-gray tail.

But now, as a mermaid, he had inexplicably developed a thing for tails.

An Yanshang was in a daze, holding his tail with a blank expression.

Hua Xue had lost most of her blood and had slept for several days before waking up. She now held her increasingly gray tail and cried silently.

The two of them looked like ordinary grass carp among a group of beautiful ornamental fish; dull and out of place.

Both held their tails in silence.

“It’s so ugly,” Hua Xue muttered, looking at An Yanshang’s tail.

Before An Yanshang became a merman, Hua Xue judged him by his face. Now that he was a merman, the tail was the only standard for attractiveness!

Hua Xue pouted, feeling a bit regretful.

An Yanshang, holding his tail, felt quite depressed.

He Dongchen hadn’t expected that a tail would cause them to dislike each other so much. It could only be said that the obsession with tails among merfolk had deeply ingrained itself.

Given An Yanshang’s resentment, He Dongchen left them on the island, but not without tasks. They were assigned the job of opening oysters to collect pearls. Their constant work made them stink and look even more unkempt, leading to mutual disdain.

***

With their situation resolved, He Dongchen prepared to return to H City, where he had some business matters to handle.

Xi Ya, visiting the land for the first time, was fascinated by everything and wanted to explore the big city.

However, because it was her first time being away from the sea for such a long period, Xi Ya was very uncomfortable and longed to be submerged in water.

“It would be great if I could shrink and stay in a small fish tank, so I could be submerged wherever I went,” Xi Ya said, sitting in the car, feeling listless.

He Dongchen paused his work, finding this idea quite interesting. He thought back to the books he had read in the library and formulated a plan in his mind.

The car suddenly made a sharp turn, and the limp Xi Ya leaned onto He Dongchen’s shoulder. Noticing the laptop in front of them with dense human text, she curiously poked at it and asked, “What’s this?”

“Company documents,” He Dongchen replied, briefly explaining the Mermaid Clan’s sources of income on land.

Xi Ya straightened up, looking thoughtful.

After settling in H City, the next day, after He Dongchen swam a few laps in the pool, Xi Ya suddenly came downstairs with red, swollen eyes, holding a palm-sized box.

“What’s wrong?” He Dongchen frowned.

“Here, this is my meal allowance,” Xi Ya said, handing the box to He Dongchen.

He Dongchen had a bad feeling. He opened the box to find it filled with pearls that dazzled his eyes.

Xi Ya wiped her slightly dry eyes and urged, “Hurry and take it. I cried all night. I checked last night, and humans like these pearls. With the quality of the pearls I cried over, if they are designed and processed into jewelry, they should fetch a good price. After coming ashore, I can’t just keep eating and drinking for free. I’m grateful for your help.”

Xi Ya spoke as if it were only natural. Under the sea, merfolk hunted, and on land, they had to earn money. The essence was the same.

He Dongchen was both amused and helpless, “There are many ways to make money. Don’t use this method in the future, and don’t make yourself sad.”

Tears didn’t flow just because one wished them to. She must have thought of something painful.