Chapter 89 – The Siren Family Situation
Si Xu didn’t allow the Elton family to meet Lin Jiu privately. Even though they claimed to come in secret, there was no guarantee that they hadn’t been followed.
It could be explained if the two children visited the shop for food, but if both the current and former heads of the Elton family went to the Mo Yu shop, it would essentially make Lin Jiu’s identity public—especially to those who knew the background of the Elton family.
That evening, after Si Xu got off work, Lin Jiu asked him to accompany him to deliver some caviar to his grandparents.
Seeing how much Lin Jiu cared for them made the three elders very happy. They had seemingly agreed in advance—each of them gave Lin Jiu a thick red envelope. His grandparents gave him four in total: two to make up for their previous visit and two for this time.
Lin Jiu felt a bit embarrassed. He hadn’t intended to ask for red envelopes. He was simply delivering the caviar because he had too much, and it was highly nutritious. Yet, in the end, he returned home with a large stack of envelopes.
Lin Jiu didn’t want to accept the gifts, but Si Xu told him to take them. After all, it was a gesture of affection from his elders.
The timing of Lin Jiu’s caviar delivery was perfect. Si Xu’s grandfather had a comrade whose grandson worked in a coastal city and had been exposed to high radiation levels, already showing signs of discomfort. His family was very worried and had bought a lot of mutant seafood for him to eat, but it hadn’t helped. They had tried to get an appointment on the Mo Yu app but couldn’t secure one.
Si Xu’s grandfather asked Lin Jiu if he could send a box of caviar to his old comrade.
Lin Jiu responded, “Of course. I brought a few extra boxes, just in case you might need them. If you need more next time, feel free to call me. If there’s one thing I have plenty of, it’s seafood with various energy benefits.”
Grandma Si chuckled. “You’re all so busy. Your grandfather didn’t want to bother you, so he didn’t say anything.”
Lin Jiu replied, “It’s no trouble. Next time, just let me know or tell Si Xu.”
Grandma Si nodded enthusiastically.
The elders wouldn’t bother the younger generation unless it was something they couldn’t handle on their own.
A few days later, Si Xu arranged for Lin Jiu to meet with the Elton family.
Si Xu accompanied Lin Jiu to the meeting. When they arrived, the entire Elton family was already there.
As the two entered, all eyes from the Elton family immediately focused on the long-haired young man.
The young man wore a black mask, his figure tall and slender, with long, smooth, ink-black hair. Other than the color of his eyes, his exposed features and long hair were almost identical to the mermaid publicly revealed by country H.
The Elton family hardly needed further confirmation—this young man was undoubtedly the mermaid.
Old Elton, frail and thin, fixed his cloudy eyes on Lin Jiu. Trembling, he tried to stand up, but the blonde middle-aged man beside him hurriedly supported him.
Seated on the sofa, little Hailey, dressed in a cute skirt and boots, was overjoyed to see Lin Jiu. She jumped off the sofa and ran over.
Lifting her skirt delicately, she shyly asked, “Lin, can you give me a hug?”
Lin Jiu was speechless.
He glanced at the other members of the Elton family.
Lottie, standing behind, quickly scooped up her sister, who was trying to act ladylike. “Now is not the time to fool around. Can you behave?”
Little Hailey strongly disagreed. “I’m not fooling around. I’m showing affection. We’re family.”
As she spoke, her gem-like eyes stayed fixed on Lin Jiu. “Lin, do you want to be part of our family?”
Lin Jiu was taken aback by the question.
The Elton family, upon seeing Lin Jiu, seemed a bit tense, trying hard to contain their emotions.
The handsome middle-aged man with blonde hair handed the elderly man to a beautiful woman and walked over to introduce himself.
“Hello, I’m Ansael Elton, the current head of the Elton family.”
Ansael introduced himself, then introduced the elderly man and the beautiful woman as Lawson Elton and his wife, Nadia Limo.
Lin Jiu had already met Lottie and Hailey.
The entire branch of the Elton family was present, hoping to confirm whether Lin Jiu was related to their missing child.
Lin Jiu introduced himself and Si Xu, noticing how frail the old man looked, barely able to stand.
“Let’s sit down and talk,” Lin Jiu suggested.
Both sides sat down, with the Elton family eagerly watching Lin Jiu.
Old Elton spoke in a frail voice, but Lin Jiu couldn’t understand the words, though he could sense the careful and cautious tone.
Ansael explained, “My father wants to confirm if you are a merfolk.”
In silence, Lin Jiu had already asked the system to check if they truly had merfolk genes.
The system’s results showed that all members of the Elton family present had sea creature genes. Even Ansael’s wife, Nadia, carried the gene, which surprised Lin Jiu. Had the sea creature family been “internally digesting” its members?
Lin Jiu glanced at Si Xu, who nodded, signaling his support for Lin Jiu’s decision.
Lin Jiu then said, “Yes, I am a siren.”
Hailey, excited, exclaimed, “Is the mermaid in the photo really you? Your merfolk form is so beautiful!”
Little Hailey touched her legs, clearly having long fantasized about her own sea creature form.
Lin Jiu thanked Hailey for the compliment.
“Yes, that mermaid is indeed me. Can you now tell me why my mother ended up abandoned?”
Ansael, full of apology, said, “I am very sorry. We wanted to confirm your identity in person, as what I am about to share involves the secrets of our entire merfolk family.”
Ansael placed a bottle of water on the table.
Lin Jiu raised an eyebrow. “Sea water?”
Ansael’s eyes lit up. “Yes.”
According to the ancient records of the merfolk family, a merfolk in human form would reveal their true merfolk form only upon contact with seawater.
Having already admitted his identity, Lin Jiu didn’t mind confirming it in front of everyone.
Lin Jiu reached for the bottle, but Si Xu took it first. He unscrewed the cap and poured some of the liquid onto his hand, making sure it was just water before handing it to Lin Jiu.
Lin Jiu looked at him helplessly. Si Xu was worried that the liquid in the bottle might harm him, but Lin Jiu was equally concerned about Si Xu getting hurt.
Taking the bottle, Lin Jiu placed his right hand on the table, took a deep breath, and poured the seawater onto his hand.
A sharp pain shot through him. Lin Jiu tried to maintain a calm expression, but Si Xu still caught the subtle signs of discomfort.
As the seawater touched his right hand, it began to transform, as if melting. His pale, slender fingers quickly turned into webbed fingers with long, sharp tips. Throughout the transformation, they could almost hear the sound of bones compressing and extending.
The change was so extreme that it was clear the process wasn’t painless.
Si Xu tightly pressed his lips together, staring at the webbed hand. Once it was no longer in contact with the seawater, it reverted to its normal human form.
Si Xu swept the remaining seawater off the table, worried that Lin Jiu might accidentally touch it again.
Lin Jiu exhaled slowly. “Can you tell me now?”
The members of the Elton family snapped out of their shock.
Suppressing his excitement, Ansael glanced at Si Xu and asked, “Can we speak to him alone?”
“No need,” Lin Jiu replied, gripping Si Xu’s hand. “He’s my partner.”
Si Xu, who had been feeling gloomy, immediately brightened, his lips curving into a smile.
Lin Jiu’s open acknowledgment of their relationship pleased Si Xu greatly.
The Elton family was once again stunned.
Ansael’s gaze swept over their clasped hands. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re only 20 years old?”
Lin Jiu corrected him. “I’ll be 21 after the new year.”
Suddenly, the sound of sobbing echoed. Little Hailey stared at Lin Jiu, tears streaming down her face.
Lin Jiu was confused. “???”
Hailey threw herself into her brother’s arms, sobbing softly. “My boyfriend… is gone, boohoo…”
Lin Jiu: “…”
Si Xu: “…”
Even a little kid wanted to steal his boyfriend?
Lottie tried to console her. “A lady shouldn’t behave so rudely.”
Hailey tried hard to stifle her sobs, stretching her arms out for her mother to hold.
Nadia took Hailey into her arms and comforted her. Hailey stopped crying but lay weakly against her mother, full of grievance.
Lin Jiu’s face darkened. “I should be your brother. There’s no way that could happen.”
Hailey’s tears, which had just stopped, began flowing again. “We’re cousins; we can get married.”
Lin Jiu had a headache. How could such a young child have so much adult logic? Was it because her merfolk genes were the strongest?
According to the recent test results, Hailey had the most concentrated merfolk genes in the Elton family. She might awaken when she grew up, and without enough magical energy to support her, she could end up like Si Xu had.
Lin Jiu’s hand was tightly gripped by Si Xu, so he quickly reassured him by intertwining their fingers.
Lin Jiu knew Hailey didn’t understand romantic love. She was most likely just fond of or envious of his merfolk form.
Lin Jiu said, “Hailey, you’ll turn into a cute little siren.”
Hailey wiped her tears. “Really? Even though we all have merfolk genes, no one can actually transform.”
So, she really did envy his merfolk form.
Lin Jiu explained, “Times have changed. The radiation energy in the environment is now the energy we depend on to survive. When you have enough energy, you’ll transform into a little siren, with golden hair and a golden tail.”
Hailey’s watery eyes widened with excitement as she looked down at her legs again.
Lin Jiu couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed she truly longed to become a siren.
With Hailey’s interruption, Ansael hesitated but eventually began to speak about what had happened to Lin Jiu’s mother.
Ansael said, “Our sea creature clan and the Haiga clan have had a tradition of intermarriage for centuries.”
Lin Jiu’s suspicion was confirmed—the Haiga clan was involved.
Ansael continued, “All the ancient clans have records stating that we arrived here due to a great catastrophe. This place is not our original homeland; we don’t belong here. For generations, the ancient clans have been trying to find a way back. This environment isn’t suitable for us. To survive, our ancestors took drastic measures—abandoning our pure and powerful bloodlines by marrying humans, diluting our bloodline again and again.
“This practice lasted a long time. Among the ancient clans, anyone with a pure bloodline would die young. Only those with diluted bloodlines could survive, so the ancestors continued marrying humans.
“The power of the ancient clans grew weaker and weaker. If things continued this way, we would eventually be assimilated by this world, and no one would remember our origins or identity.”
“Later, some members of the ancient clans refused to give up their original identity and sought ways to restore the increasingly diluted bloodline. At that time, the Haiga clan approached the merfolk clan, proposing to restore intermarriage to purify the bloodline and recover the strength that was rightfully ours.
“In addition to purifying the bloodline, the Haiga clan also sought to obtain the magical energy crystals from the merfolk clan. With these crystals, if any pure-blood descendants were born, they could use the crystals to extend their lifespan.”
The Haiga clan lacked magic crystals, or rather, they had depleted all the magic crystals they had brought with them. They were in desperate need of more.
For the merfolk clan to produce a pure-blooded descendant, it could only happen by chance. However, the Haiga clan had a method to strengthen their ancient bloodline using magic crystal core, which would result in powerful clan members—something the sea creature clan couldn’t do. After strengthening the ancient bloodline, they needed magic crystals to provide the necessary energy to keep these individuals alive. This was why the merfolk clan and the Haiga clan resumed intermarriage, supporting one another.
Ansael continued, “After many generations of intermarriage, by the time of my grandfather, the practice was still ongoing. My aunt, who is your maternal grandmother, Veena, fell in love with a handsome Asian man before the Haiga clan came seeking her hand in marriage.”
Lin Jiu’s grandmother was a strong-willed woman. She despised marriages without love and didn’t want to be used as a pawn in the family’s political alliances. She longed for freedom and chose her own love, refusing to marry into the Haiga clan.
However, Veena’s father was a weak and mediocre head of the family. The Haiga clan was growing more powerful, and he didn’t dare offend them. Since their ancestors had resumed intermarriage, he couldn’t break the tradition nor had the courage to do so. Under pressure from the Haiga clan, he forced Veena to marry a member of the Haiga family, Vannes.
Before the wedding, Veena attempted to escape multiple times but failed. Her father used the life of her beloved Asian man to coerce her, and not wanting her lover to die, Veena had no choice but to marry into the Haiga family.
Unable to be with her lover and with her family not supporting her, Veena was heartbroken.
Her marriage to Vannes was merely a means to maintain the interests of both families. They had no affection for each other. Veena didn’t allow Vannes to touch her, and he had no shortage of women by his side. Though they lived in the same estate, they led separate lives.
Two months later, Veena discovered she was pregnant and knew exactly who the father was. This news brought a glimmer of hope to her bleak life. She shared the news with her father, hoping he would help her divorce Vannes. If not, the fact that she was carrying another man’s child would certainly enrage the Haiga clan, which could spell disaster for the entire merfolk clan.
Veena’s father was furious and terrified that the Haiga clan might find out. He threatened her again, saying that if she revealed the truth to Vannes, not only would the merfolk clan face the Haiga clan’s wrath, but her lover and unborn child would be the first to die.
Terrified, Veena decided to give birth to the child before considering her escape from the Haiga clan. She used the excuse of Vannes’s many mistresses to start a huge argument with him and, out of anger, moved out of the Haiga estate to live on her own property.
There, Veena secretly gave birth to the child and carefully hid her with a peasant woman. She tried to contact her lover, hoping to escape with him and their child.
However, when Veena arrived at their agreed meeting place, all she found was her lover’s lifeless body, hung up for display.
Believing her father had betrayed her, Veena didn’t return to her estate or contact the merfolk clan. Instead, she fled with her daughter in the dead of night. They wandered from place to place, and no one knew where they went. Every time someone found out where they were, by the time they arrived, Veena and her daughter had already moved on.
Years later, Vannes spread word that if Veena returned, he would accept the child.
The sea creature clan had endured the Haiga clan’s wrath for several years and was fed up. Vannes had killed Veena’s lover but framed her father for it, causing a rift between Veena and the merfolk clan. This left her father furious and filled with regret.
More than a decade later, Vannes finally caught Veena. He tortured her, demanding to know where the child was. Veena knew that if they found her child, she wouldn’t survive. She hated them deeply, hating both the Haiga clan and her own merfolk clan. Vannes used extremely cruel methods to kill her.
Upon hearing the news, Veena’s father fell gravely ill and died shortly afterward.
With his sister brutally murdered and his father dead, all of this left a deep scar on Lawson’s heart. He hated the Haiga clan but was powerless to fight them directly. He silently endured, waiting for the day when the sea creature clan would grow strong.
Lawson never sought marriage with the Haiga clan. Instead, he secretly had a child with a common woman, and that child was Ansael.
A few days after Ansael was born, his mother was murdered in her bedroom. Ansael survived only because his relatives protected him with their lives.
Since Veena’s tragic fate, the merfolk clan had suffered continuous persecution from the Haiga clan. After the two clans broke off all ties, the Haiga clan began kidnapping young members of the merfolk clan, especially the women. They were taken to the Haiga clan to bear pure-blooded descendants.
Not only the Elton branch of the sea creature clan, but even the Limo branch was affected, nearly driven to extinction.
The Limo clan sought help from the Elton clan, and the two families formed an alliance, deciding to intermarry and join forces against the Haiga clan.
Ansael married a daughter from the Limo family, Nadia, and together they had Lottie and Leilei—two outstanding children with strong sea creature genes. They became the hope of the entire merfolk clan.
Now, both families are pinning their hopes on raising Lottie and Leilei to adulthood, especially Hailey, who has faced numerous dangers and survived against the odds.
Lawson never gave up searching for his sister’s descendants, particularly since the child was a girl. He feared the Haiga clan would find her first.
Lawson’s health deteriorated, but his only obsession was finding that child. He didn’t dare to die, fearing he wouldn’t be able to answer to his sister even in death. He has barely held on until now.
Recently, they finally received accurate information that Veena may have sent the child to Z Country all those years ago. That’s why the Elton family secretly applied for entry to search for their kin.
They hadn’t expected to find the child, but they did find her descendant.
Ansael said, “The Haiga clan will never let go of any pure-blooded sea creature. We’re very worried about your safety. Sooner or later, they’ll find you. We hope you can remain safe.”
