Blue Mermaid (First Update)

Lu Jiu froze, only reacting a few seconds later. "You mean the permanent mark you left on Chi Li before?"

Si Jinyan's deep voice came through the phone. "Yes."

Before considering why Si Jinyan was asking, Lu Jiu stated with certainty, "It can't disappear."

A permanent mark was irreversible. Unlike a temporary mark, a permanent mark involved an alpha's sexually targeted genes fully integrating with an omega's gland. Unless the omega had the mark removed, there was no possibility of a permanent mark disappearing.

What was more, Si Jinyan was an Enigma, and his genes were superior even to an alpha's. That made the possibility of his mark disappearing nearly nonexistent.

Lu Jiu briefly explained this to Si Jinyan.

Silence fell on Si Jinyan's end. Lu Jiu asked again, uncertainly, "Are you sure the mark really disappeared?"

Si Jinyan answered with certainty, "It's disappearing, like a temporary mark."

After a mark was made, the omega retained the other party's scent. Yet when Si Jinyan had been intimate with Chi Li two days ago and nuzzled the back of Chi Li's neck, he discovered that the trace of his scent on Chi Li was fading. Yesterday, Si Jinyan had confirmed it further. It was indeed happening.

Lu Jiu's brows drew tightly together. What Si Jinyan described practically overturned decades of his physiological knowledge and some of his research achievements.

Lu Jiu said, "Bring him to me. I'll examine him and see exactly what's causing it."

Si Jinyan replied, "All right."

That day, Chi Li was on his way to Bai Qi Manor.

Two days earlier, he had suddenly received an invitation from Bai Qi, who had invited him to visit the manor.

Chi Li had been puzzled for a moment, then remembered that Bai Qi had helped him last time. He should have visited to thank him, but had not found the time. So he asked Si Jinyan for permission. Si Jinyan agreed and arranged guards to escort Chi Li both ways.

Chi Li arrived at the manor gates carrying a gift of thanks. A servant had already been waiting for him, then led him into the estate and finally stopped before a pavilion.

Bai Qi said, "Long time no see."

Chi Li apologized, "I owe you my thanks for helping me last time, Mr. Bai. I should have come to visit you first."

Bai Qi had Chi Li sit down. "I already said it was no trouble. Don't take it to heart."

Chi Li had sprayed pheromone blocker on himself. Others might only be able to smell the faint yet more dominant pheromones of another "alpha" on him.

But from the moment Chi Li entered the garden, Bai Qi had sensed another scent on him—a mark that only a Mermaid could leave behind.

Bai Qi raised a brow slightly. He had not expected Chi Li and Si Jinyan's relationship to progress so quickly.

Bai Qi said, "Your injuries have mostly healed."

Chi Li nodded. "Thanks to you."

After chatting for a few moments, Chi Li finally asked, "Did you invite me here today for something, Mr. Bai?"

Bai Qi set down his teacup and looked straight at Chi Li. "There is indeed something I want to ask you."

Chi Li's heart skipped, and unease suddenly spread through him. "Please, go ahead."

Bai Qi said slowly, "There was another reason I found you that night. I didn't tell you then."

This had indeed been one of Chi Li's doubts. He immediately asked, "Then how did you find me?"

"This is..." Bai Qi paused before saying, "a secret known only to my people. When one of our people encounters danger, those of the same bloodline nearby will receive a summons."

Bai Qi's identity had always been mysterious. His distinctly exotic features were unlike those of the Empire's people, so hearing him personally claim to come from some mysterious tribe did not seem out of place.

Yet Chi Li was not superstitious. Such a fantastical explanation was difficult to account for scientifically, and he frowned in confusion.

Noticing the doubt on Chi Li's face, Bai Qi smiled. "I knew you might not be able to accept it, so I didn't tell you then. I was afraid you'd think I was joking."

Bai Qi added firmly, "But it's true. The specific method may be difficult to explain, but such ancient arts do exist."

Hearing Bai Qi say it himself, Chi Li was still somewhat shaken. Suppressing the doubts in his heart, he said, "So you were searching for one of your people that night, but you only found me?"

Bai Qi nodded.

Chi Li said, "I might not be the person you're looking for."

Bai Qi nodded. "That's why I wanted to ask whether you have any connection to my people."

Chi Li shook his head. "I've never had contact with anyone from... people like the ones you described."

He had never encountered anyone with such distinct exotic features as Bai Qi, much less heard of a clan possessing the "illusion arts" Bai Qi spoke of.

At the end, Chi Li added, "As far as I remember."

Bai Qi's expression visibly fell.

Chi Li opened his mouth and tried to comfort him. "Perhaps I could help you look?"

Bai Qi forced a smile. "No need. They once..."

Sorrow filled Bai Qi's expression, and Chi Li stopped there without asking further. He drank his tea and waited for Bai Qi's mood to improve.

When Chi Li opened his eyes again, his consciousness had not yet fully returned. He stared at the pavilion ceiling, briefly unsure where he was. A few seconds later, he realized he had fallen asleep.

The servant beside him saw that he was awake. "You're awake."

Chi Li pressed a hand to his muddled head, frowning slightly. He only remembered talking with Bai Qi for a long time, but could not recall at all when he had fallen asleep.

Bai Qi had already left. The servant beside him said that Mr. Bai had gone back to rest first, then presented a gift Bai Qi had specially prepared for him and led Chi Li toward the exit.

Deep within the estate, a handsome man sat in a pool formed from a natural hot spring. The next second, a blue fish tail leaped out of the water, moving with the man's will.

Yet a closer look revealed an utterly horrifying sight.

Below the man's waist, his legs had transformed into a blue fish tail covered in beautiful scales. Where there should have been fan-shaped tail fins, however, there was only a bare, fleshy point like a snake's tail, without even a single scale.

The bald, snake-like tail tip curled around a black chess piece representing the "general" on the board by the shore and moved it forward one square.

The white pieces on the board moved by themselves. Just as they were about to capture the general, Bai Qi suddenly used his tail to knock over two white pieces one by one, then curled around the black king and sent it directly to the king's position within the white side's territory.

The smart chessboard let out a helpless sigh. "Little Qi, you're cheating again. I told you, you can't play like that. You've broken the rules again."

If anyone had been present, they would have realized that the male voice was identical to the former Emperor's, even down to the tone.

Bai Qi spoke willfully, just as he had countless times when acting spoiled with Yao He in the past. "I'll play however I want."

Bai Qi's tail tip pressed down on that chess piece as he murmured, "This is where you should be sitting."

He did not treat it like an artificial intelligence at all.

The electronic voice paused for several seconds, then gave a low laugh. "All right. Little Qi can play however he wants. The rules were made for you."

"Can I do anything I want?" Bai Qi's voice suddenly became low and desolate.

"Of course, my Little Qi. You can do anything you want. I will always be by your side, watching over you and keeping you company. Whenever you need me, I will always be here."

"Then why have you been gone for so long? Why aren't you coming back?"

Yet it could only answer questions that had long been programmed into it.

"Little Qi, I have always been here."

"Yes, you are." Though Bai Qi clearly knew that Yao He was no longer here, he still acted as he did now, or as he had in the past, time and time again—acting spoiled, asking questions, chatting with "Yao He."

Over the past nearly ten years, this scene had replayed tens of thousands of times.

But it could never answer every one of Bai Qi's questions or fulfill any of his demands as the real Yao He could.

When the servant entered, he knelt on the ground and wiped away the blood Bai Qi had coughed up. It was the same servant who had bandaged Chi Li's wound last time. The servant said worriedly, "Sir, you can't use your ability again."

Bai Qi had used his ability to explore Chi Li's memories, only to suffer backlash.

Bai Qi merely held his chessboard in silence.

Pearls that had formed on his lashes rolled down soundlessly, one after another.

The next day, after Chi Li finished breakfast, Si Jinyan suddenly said, "Come with me to Lu Jiu's today for an examination."

Chi Li thought they were going to check his old injuries or that he was accompanying Si Jinyan for an examination. He did not ask further and followed Si Jinyan.

Si Jinyan gave Chi Li a heavy look.

After Chi Li finished the examination, Si Jinyan had yet to come out.

In Lu Jiu's private office, Lu Jiu held Chi Li's examination report, his brows tightly furrowed in confusion. "It's true. The genetic levels of your genes in Chi Li's body are decreasing."

Lu Jiu proposed several possibilities. "There are almost no cases where an alpha and omega cannot form a permanent mark, unless one party has defective glands. You don't have that problem. And you're an Enigma—how could you fail to mark Chi Li, an omega?"

Lu Jiu added, "I examined Chi Li's physical condition long ago. Every one of his bodily functions is as healthy as can be. Otherwise, he wouldn't have passed the selection back then."

As soon as Lu Jiu finished speaking, Si Jinyan suddenly said, "What if he isn't an omega?"