Chapter 101: The Mermaid’s Heat
The moment Gu Tang said it, he was the first to grow embarrassed.
If he had not turned into a mermaid, and if his skin still had pores, he would definitely have broken out in goosebumps all over.
It was the first time he had ever said something so shameless.
It felt especially thick-skinned.
Mainly because he usually never had the chance to say things like that. Even when he did nothing, Young Master Gu would still pounce on him. If he were any more proactive, he probably would not even be able to get out of bed…
But the Young Master Gu inside the dream fragment still had a teenager’s restraint.
The little mermaid had willingly offered himself up to the black panther, yet the other’s body went rigid, stiff as a board, unmoving.
Only his cheeks and neck flushed with a faint layer of red.
The fish had already placed himself on the plate, and Young Master Gu could still hold back?
Was teenage Young Master Gu’s self-control really that terrifying?!
Gu Tang kept trying. He gently blew on the soft fur of the other’s ear and softly called out, “Qinian…”
The boy’s black cat ear twitched abruptly.
Gu Tang only felt a blur before his eyes.
The cat-eared boy holding him suddenly turned into an enormous black panther and pinned him beneath his body.
In the little mermaid’s amber eyes was reflected the strong, solid form of the black panther.
Being pinned down by a beast several times bigger than himself, with claws and sharp teeth that could slice open his throat with ease, he should have been afraid.
But because he knew this black panther was Young Master Gu, Gu Tang did not panic.
He only felt curious.
He raised a hand and touched the fluffy underside of the black panther’s jaw.
The black panther half-narrowed its eyes, its black pupils fixed directly on him.
“So beautiful…”
Gu Tang could not help sighing in admiration, unwilling to stop petting the fluffy creature in front of him.
The black panther had a sleek, graceful physique, every line of muscle on its body strong and powerful. Its glossy black fur felt especially wonderful under his hand, as smooth and soft as the finest silk.
Even in animal form, the beast’s features were still sharp and elegant, as if perfectly sculpted.
The black panther lowered its head. Its breath was hot, and a low rumble came from its throat.
It sounded as though it was calling the little mermaid’s name.
“Can I kiss you?”
This time Gu Tang deliberately asked first, so he would not startle this overly sensitive feline species again.
The other did not refuse.
He reached out, cupped the black panther’s fluffy head in both hands, tilted up his face, and kissed its muzzle.
At once, the black panther’s gaze turned burning hot, and it let out a low growl.
Before Gu Tang could react, the huge paw wrapped in thick fur ripped apart the cloth covering him.
Gu Tang: “!”
The black panther narrowed its eyes and extended its tongue, covered with tiny barbs, to lick over the little mermaid’s soft body again and again.
Those little barbs did not scratch his skin, but they felt like a slightly rough brush, stimulating the little mermaid’s senses.
Gu Tang had always been ticklish. After turning into a mermaid, his skin had become even more sensitive, and the other seemed to deliberately target his weakest spots.
It did not take long before he could not endure it anymore.
“N-no more…”
The little mermaid twisted and struggled, his tail fin slapping the ground repeatedly.
But the black panther still did not stop. Like a true beast, Gu Qinian seemed intent on leaving his own scent all over his prey.
Only when the tip of its tongue brushed against a cool, smooth sensation
did the black panther suddenly freeze.
Below the little mermaid’s waist, his body was wrapped in scales. The scales were as smooth as mirrors, covering his body and protecting the soft, vulnerable tail beneath.
Because of what the panther had been doing, the little mermaid’s tail had curled up, and his amber eyes had filled with mist.
The black panther froze for a moment, as though it had suddenly realized it had done something wrong.
Without even taking the time to change back into human form, it turned and ran.
Gu Tang: “???”
What was it running for?
At least put him back in the water first!
Gu Tang failed to wake the other, and in frustration smacked the ground with his tail. “Hmph, cowardly Nian Nian!”
Adolescent Young Master Gu was timid and conflicted.
To put it simply, he had the desires of a thief but not the courage to act like one.
On the one hand, he could not stop himself from wanting to possess the person he liked. On the other hand, he was bound by all kinds of objective and subjective restraints.
That was how such a bizarre dream fragment had split off in the first place.
In the real world, Gu Tang had actually been able to understand why Young Master Gu had not dared confess to him back then.
There were only two reasons. First, they were both boys. Second, they had grown up together like brothers. Whether the confession succeeded or failed, their relationship would change.
Those were the only things Young Master Gu had worried about back then.
So then, what was big-cat Nian Nian inside this dream fragment worried about?
It was rare for Gu Tang to suffer from insomnia.
He rolled over again and again on the crystal shell bed without being able to fall asleep, his mind full of thoughts about how he was supposed to wake Young Master Gu up.
In a drowsy haze, he heard some noisy sounds.
Gu Tang opened the shell bed and, through the blue seawater and the glass wall of the aquarium, saw several people moving things into the room where he was staying.
Among them was one familiar face—
Jiang Yiwen was there, busily directing them.
Swishing his fish tail, Gu Tang swam up to the top of the aquarium and stuck his head out of the water, asking curiously, “What are you doing?”
A mermaid’s voice was beautiful and alluring, carrying a bewitching magic.
The people moving things were all ordinary humans, with only average self-control. They had no way to resist it. At just one simple question, they all dropped what they were holding and turned to look toward the little mermaid.
In some eyes there was pure fondness. In others, desire and greed.
“The young master is going to work here.”
Jiang Yiwen still had relatively strong willpower and managed to answer the little mermaid’s question. Then he warned, “Don’t talk to them. A mermaid’s voice can stimulate the desires hidden inside people and magnify them without limit. If someone’s willpower is even a little weak, they won’t be able to withstand it.”
Gu Tang had not expected that merely speaking would have such destructive power. He quickly covered his mouth and nodded at Jiang Yiwen.
At the same time, he thought that Young Master Gu’s willpower really was unusually strong.
He could still have normal conversations with him.
Then he thought of the way the other had lost control after turning into the black panther, and how he had hurriedly run off once he came back to his senses. Gu Tang suddenly understood.
So Young Master Gu had thought he was being bewitched by the mermaid, and that was why he had done those out-of-line things. But if that was the case, why was he not staying far away from him instead of specially coming here to work in his room?
Was his main goal simply companionship???
Since everyone was busy, and one word from him could disrupt their work, Gu Tang had no choice but to dive back into the crystal shell bed and continue sleeping.
He finally drifted off in a muddled state.
But he was woken up by an itch in his tail.
Gu Tang opened his eyes irritably and stared at his tail.
From the outside, the pearly fish tail did not look any different, but at the base of every scale, strands of itchiness spread outward, making him want to tie his tail in a knot.
Not only was it itchy, it was also faintly hot.
The sensation made it impossible to sleep, and Gu Tang sat up uncomfortably.
He opened the shell bed again and found that all the staff working in the room were gone.
Only one familiar back remained seated at the desk not far away.
—It was Nian Nian!
Gu Tang’s eyes lit up. He could not care less whether his tail felt comfortable or not. He swished his tail and swam over, knocking on the glass of the aquarium from inside.
It was hard to tell whether Young Master Gu heard him or not. He sat facing away from him as still as a monk in meditation, not moving at all.
Gu Tang wanted to call out to him.
But the moment he opened his mouth, no sound came out. Instead, a string of bubbles floated upward.
Gu Tang: “…”
He could not speak underwater.
Seeing that no one else was around, Gu Tang swished his tail and surfaced. “Nian Nian!”
Gu Qinian did not turn around.
But his back visibly stiffened.
Gu Tang narrowed his eyes. With his keen eyesight, he noticed that the two cat ears on top of Young Master Gu’s head twitched slightly.
He did not turn his head, but the ears tilted faintly outward.
Trying not to miss a single word from the little mermaid.
It was just like how they used to text each other.
No matter how many messages Gu Tang sent, or how many words were in them, Young Master Gu mostly replied with just one word: “Mm.”
At first, Gu Tang had been very annoyed, so annoyed that he had angrily decided to stop texting Young Master Gu altogether.
Until one time, after sending a message, he noticed the interface show: The other party is typing.
So Gu Tang hugged his phone and waited to see what Young Master Gu would send him.
Who would have thought that after more than ten minutes, the screen still showed: The other party is typing.
Gu Tang: “?”
Just when he thought there must be something wrong with the system, the new message finally arrived.
It was still just one “Mm.”
Gu Tang had exploded on the spot and furiously typed back.
[You spent all that time just typing ‘Mm’?]
[Is that character really that hard to type?!]
This time, Young Master Gu’s reply came very quickly.
[Nian Nian: I typed a lot. Then I thought it was too wordy, so I deleted it.]
Gu Tang: “…”
Wasn’t being clingy and talkative how other people usually fell in love?
Only Young Master Gu would worry about being too wordy.
But in fact, Young Master Gu loved listening to him chatter on and on. He was simply afraid Gu Tang would find him annoying.
Young Master Gu, who had never been in love before, was always overly cautious about the strangest things.
After Gu Tang found out what he was thinking, he immediately started a video call and happily blew him a kiss through the screen, telling Young Master Gu that he would never find him annoying, that he could send as many messages as he wanted, and that Gu Tang loved being bothered by Nian Nian.
And what happened as a result…?
Gu Tang had never expected that “bothering him” would not only mean calls and text messages.
Whenever he could no longer take it, Young Master Gu would cling to him with that aggrieved, tea-like tone and whisper in his ear, “Didn’t you say you’d never get annoyed?”
“That doesn’t mean that many times!”
Gu Tang could only let out a miserable howl and bury his face in the pillow.
Then keep up his promise of never getting annoyed while making all sorts of helpless sounds.
Sometimes Gu Tang even felt that it was only after marriage that he had truly stepped into Young Master Gu’s heart and started to understand this person.
If it were the seventeen- or eighteen-year-old him back then, he probably would not have known how to handle the awkward Young Master Gu in front of him.
But now, he was very skilled at it.
Gu Tang leaned against the edge of the pool and deliberately said in a soft, weak voice, “Nian Nian, I don’t feel well.”
Sure enough, it was a direct hit.
The cat-eared boy turned around nervously. “What’s wrong?”
Gu Tang suppressed the satisfied smile at the corners of his lips and murmured as if embarrassed, “My tail is itchy…”
Wasn’t it just acting tea-like? Who didn’t know how?
He watched the tea-like Young Master Gu every day. Of course he had learned seven or eight parts out of ten.
Hearing the little mermaid say in that soft, sweet voice that his tail itched, Gu Qinian’s Adam’s apple rolled impatiently.
A mermaid’s mating display was the swaying of the tail.
And now the other was telling him that this alluring body part used to attract a mate was itching…
That did not even count as a hint anymore, did it?
Still, the little mermaid really had clearly said before that he wanted to mate with him.
Gu Qinian took a deep breath.
He had always thought the little mermaid had only said that as a means of self-protection.
He had assumed the mermaid was afraid of being sent back to his original waters, so he had deliberately spoken like that.
He had not expected him to be serious…
“Nian Nian, I feel so awful.”
The little mermaid whined softly, his beautiful pearly fish tail swaying this way and that in the water toward him. “Will you help touch it for me?”
“!!!”
Young Master Gu’s face turned bright red at once. He coughed lightly and emphasized, “You can’t say things like that to other people.”
Gu Tang nodded obediently. “Of course not.”
“I only say them to you.”
To a human, wasn’t a fish tail basically the same as legs?
If they were not in a legitimate relationship, who would let someone casually touch their legs?
Knowing that he was the one the little mermaid considered most special, Young Master Gu felt secretly delighted, though he still said with forced seriousness, “I’m working.”
“Then can you do it after work is over?”
Gu Tang drooped limply against the edge, his soft cheek resting on his arm, his lips pushed into a slight pout from the pressure. “Then hurry up.”
Gu Qinian: “…”
No one could refuse a little mermaid like that.
He could not either.
He shut his eyes. When he opened them again, the cat-eared boy’s voice was hoarse. “J-just one touch.”
The listless little mermaid’s eyes immediately lit up, and he nodded hard. “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm!”
The door to the little mermaid’s room was locked.
Jiang Yiwen came to deliver documents to his young master, only to be mercilessly shut outside.
The other subordinates saw the rabbit-eared special assistant standing there like a statue and asked curiously, “Special Assistant, why aren’t you going in?”
After being shut out, Assistant Jiang turned around with a professional smile on his face, trying to salvage his dignity. “It’s the young master’s lunch break, so it wouldn’t be convenient to disturb him. I’ll come back later.”
The subordinates refused to let it go. “But the young master never used to take lunch breaks.”
Jiang Yiwen: “…”
If you’re so tactless, why don’t you go inside and die yourselves?
The subordinates continued staring eagerly at him, clearly hoping he would charge in first so they could follow after him.
There was only this much work to report—better to get it done early.
Then they heard Assistant Jiang say coolly, “The young master may not take lunch breaks, but the one inside does. All of you, go back!”
Only then did the subordinates understand.
So the little mermaid in that room was the real boss.
After all, he had their young master completely wrapped around his finger.
Inside the room.
Gu Tang was lifted out of the water.
He strongly suspected that in the dream, Young Master Gu had turned him into a mermaid precisely to satisfy this constant urge to pick him up and carry him around.
He had discovered it before, back in the dormitory.
Young Master Gu had always loved holding him. After marriage, he practically never gave him a chance to walk.
If he had not stubbornly refused, he probably would not even have had to walk himself to the bathroom.
That would have been terrifying!
Gu Tang was settled onto a soft couch beside the pool.
The cat-eared boy was applying ointment for maintaining his scales.
The cool ointment spread over his tail, moisturizing, soothing, and reducing inflammation. In no time, the itching faded, and the heat in his tail also began to recede.
What wonderful stuff!
Gu Tang casually picked up the ointment jar to take a look, wanting to see what brand it was so he could buy it himself if he ever needed it later.
But when he turned it over and saw the price on the bottom, he quickly put it back down.
Sorry for disturbing you.
Such a tiny bottle was actually that expensive!
Young Master Gu’s dream fragment was based on reality, so the price system was probably similar. A bottle this small cost enough to buy an entire house!
And yet he was just scooping it out and slathering it all over his tail without a care.
One bottle was not even close to enough.
To cover his whole tail, it would take at least three to five bottles.
Old memories started reviving again in his mind.
It reminded Gu Tang of the way Young Master Gu treated his legs—exactly the same attitude.
A few times before, the insides of his thighs had been rubbed raw, leaving several red marks. As the culprit, Young Master Gu had anxiously gone and bought some absurdly expensive medicinal cream for him.
As he applied it, he would keep blowing on it, heartbroken.
It had to be said, that ridiculously expensive scale-care ointment worked incredibly well.
His whole fish tail felt cool and comfortable.
Gu Tang half-closed his eyes, getting drowsy. His tail moved unconsciously and came to rest on Young Master Gu’s lap.
The narrowest part of the tail fin was suddenly clasped in one hand.
Young Master Gu’s voice turned low. “Don’t move.”
Gu Tang lazily lifted his eyelids.
Gu Qinian licked his carnivore-sharp canine teeth. “Did you do that on purpose?”
Such a huge tail, waving back and forth in front of him.
Gu Tang looked confused. “Huh?”
“Is seducing people your special skill?”
Gu Qinian held onto that section of tail without releasing it, speaking through clenched teeth.
Gu Tang: “???”
This time he truly had done nothing.
Seeing the little mermaid’s blank, innocent expression, Gu Qinian did not say anything more. He lowered his head and continued applying ointment to the tail fin.
Only, the way he did it was no longer just simple application like before.
His long fingers, slick with ointment, slid one by one along the seams between the scales.
Gu Tang suddenly shuddered.
He felt his tail starting to itch again.
Only this time the itch was different. It was a numb, tingling itch that seemed to run straight through the cracks in his bones.
“I don’t want any more ointment…”
Gu Tang tried to pull his tail back.
But Gu Qinian curved his lips into a smile and toyed with the edge of the tail fin. “Wasn’t it you who put it in my hands?”
In an instant, Gu Tang felt everything below his waist trembling faintly.
“Nian Nian!”
He called to him unhappily. “Let go of me…”
Gu Qinian’s gaze deepened. He stared at the little mermaid for a moment, then slowly let go.
As if frightened, Gu Tang hurriedly jumped back into the pool.
He stumbled all the way down to the bottom and curled back into the shell bed.
Then he snapped the shell shut with a firm clap.
No wonder the little system had chosen this form. At certain times, a shell really did provide a great sense of security!
Only after hiding himself properly did Gu Tang suddenly realize something.
Oh no, he had just missed a perfect chance to wake Young Master Gu up.
But there was nothing he could do.
He really was incredibly ticklish.
The type who would be completely defeated by just a light scratch from Young Master Gu.
Standing on the shore, Gu Qinian stared with dark eyes at the crystal shell at the bottom of the water, unconsciously rubbing the fingers hidden behind his back together.
The little mermaid’s tail fin was very smooth.
Very nice to touch…
That night, Gu Tang was once again woken by discomfort in his tail.
His whole tail felt hot and itchy.
There was even a pain that felt as though it were about to split open.
For some reason, he desperately, desperately wanted to see Young Master Gu.
The craving was as physical as a traveler in the desert wanting water.
In his blurred state, it seemed he saw someone approaching the aquarium.
“Nian Nian?”
Gu Tang was just about to feel happy when, after seeing who had come, his heart sank.
No, it was not Young Master Gu.
There were several people.
Looking more closely, some of the faces were familiar—those were the same people from earlier in the day who had shown greedy expressions when they looked at him while moving furniture.
“What are you trying to do?”
Gu Tang struggled to swim up to the top of the aquarium and demanded an answer.
None of them replied. They only climbed the spiral staircase step by step.
The leader was even carrying a sack.
There was definitely enough room to stuff him inside.
They were here to capture him?!
Gu Tang tensed instantly, but his tail was burning and aching so badly that even moving it hurt.
Just as he was hesitating over how to escape, chaos suddenly broke out among the group.
First, the person at the very back let out a startled cry. Before the others in front could react, a few sharp cracking sounds rang out.
All of them collapsed to the ground at the same time.
The cat-eared boy withdrew his fist from behind them and instructed the special assistant at his side, “Drag them out.”
“Don’t let them dirty the water in here.”
Jiang Yiwen: “Yes, young master.”
In the shimmering reflections, the little mermaid was flushed red as he clung to the edge of the pool, exposing shoulder blades as delicate as butterfly wings and two small hollows at the base of his back. Below that, his beautiful fish tail was submerged in the water, glowing faintly red.
Gu Tang’s breathing was ragged, his body rising and falling badly.
Gu Qinian crouched down and placed a hand against the little mermaid’s burning cheek. “How are you?”
Gu Tang had never felt this miserable, not even when he had a fever. He whimpered, “I don’t know… my tail is so itchy. Could I be growing legs…”
Gu Qinian: “…”
The little mermaid’s face was red like a blooming crabapple flower, mist filling his eyes.
“It’s probably your heat.”
Gu Qinian touched his cheek. “Don’t be scared. I’ll call a doctor. A suppressor shot should help.”
What kind of doctor did someone in heat need?!
Gu Tang shook his head desperately. “No!”
As he shook his head, the little mermaid reached toward the cat-eared boy, clearly asking to be held.
Gu Qinian had no choice but to lift him out of the pool.
The heat in his tail was spreading through his whole body.
Gu Tang was delirious from it. Pressed against Young Master Gu’s slightly cool body felt even better than soaking in the water. Without thinking, he grabbed the other’s hand and placed it on his burning-hot tail. “Y-you… help touch it again…”
This time was different from before.
A little mermaid in heat asking him to touch his tail was something he could not agree to.
Gu Qinian’s voice turned hoarse. “No. There’s reproductive isolation between different species.”
Gu Tang could not make sense of any of that nonsense. All he wanted was Young Master Gu. Nestled in his arms, he rubbed against him again and again. “Want Nian Nian…”
“Different species. If you and I… there’s no way for you to get pregnant.”
Gu Qinian was still trying to reason with the little mermaid.
Gu Tang grew exasperated. “We couldn’t anyway!”
They were both male. There was no way they could produce a baby no matter what!
What in the world did Young Master Gu spend all day worrying about?!
Gu Tang had no patience left. He cupped the cat-eared boy’s head and pecked at his face one kiss after another like a little fish nibbling at food. “Hurry up. If you keep dragging it out, I’ll go find someone else—”
“You can’t!”
Before he could finish, Young Master Gu cut him off.
Gu Tang felt wronged. “This doesn’t work, that doesn’t work—then what am I supposed to do during my heat? Just die from the pain, mmm—”
The other kissed him hard on the lips.
Sucking fiercely so he would not have another chance to speak.
Their breaths tangled together.
The pearly fish tail trembled faintly.
At some unknown moment, the scales gradually faded away, transforming into two smooth, fair legs.
His straight, slender calves trembled, even his toes tensed tight…
Gu Tang was panting hard. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on the soft sand.
The sky was already dark, and the tide dampened his fingers.
The man lowered his legs, then lifted his hand and kissed it gently. “Awake now?”
“It’s already dark. If you stay in the sea any longer, you really will turn into a little mermaid.”
Gu Tang blinked, his thick lashes trembling.
So while he had been trapped inside the dream fragment, Young Master Gu had been fooling around with him in broad daylight for the entire afternoon!
Gu Qinian licked his lips with obvious satisfaction.
Their wedding anniversary had left behind a beautiful experience and a beautiful memory. In such a good mood, he leaned down, intending to give his little spouse a gentle after-kiss.
Only to receive a slap directly across the face from his little spouse.
“What kind of dreams are you even having?!!!”
Red with shame and anger, Gu Tang yanked over a bathrobe and wrapped himself tightly from head to toe, hiding even his two legs.
